The Peace Tower in Parliament Hill in morning light in Ottawa on March 7.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Dream on
Re “A federal budget two weeks after fiscal year begins – what’s the excuse?” (Report on Business, March 13): There is no excuse for presenting a federal budget two weeks into the fiscal year. But it is not a spending plan.
A federal budget is a blueprint for an overarching fiscal and economic agenda and a primary communications tool of government. Moreover, budgets are aspirational, in that they set out what a government would like to accomplish, but it often takes years for plans to come to fruition. For instance, the Canada Foundation for Innovation just announced projects based on funding set aside in the 2019 budget (“Batteries, genomes and climate satellites to share in $515-million for Canadian labs” – Report on Business, March 14).
Given the long lead time to transform aspirations into detailed programs, Finance Canada should commit to federal budgets in the fall and updates in the spring – the reverse of the current construct.
Brian Pagan, Former assistant secretary, expenditure management (retired), Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Ottawa
Close to home
Re “Stop undervaluing the contributions that international students make to Canada” (March 12): All the talk about the desirability or otherwise of international students has not included much consideration of Canadian students. How many potential Canadian students are being denied entrance to universities and colleges because of places being given to international students?
Given opportunities, most Canadians would undoubtedly stay here after graduation to add to our intellectual capital and provide meaningful ideas toward our wealth.
So, I ask, why are we undervaluing Canadian students?
Gordon Forbes Peterborough, Ont.
Max out
Re “Don’t meddle with Canada’s pension-plan model” (Report on Business, March 11): For nine years, I had the honour of sitting on the board of directors for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The mandate was simple: Maximize returns without undue risk of loss, all to ensure the longer-term viability of the plan for fellow Canadians, and without government interference.
Our plans are the envy of the rest of the world. If the environment in Canada was such that investments could meet the required risk-adjusted returns, they would be done.
No need for government intervention to get that accomplished.
Pierre Choquette, Former chief executive officer, Methanex Vancouver
Bad vibes
Re “The U.S. economy is riding high. So why is Joe Biden heading for election defeat?” (Report on Business, March 12): A “vibe-cession” is one of the many explanations presented as to why, given that the U.S. economy is strong by most measures, most people still feel awful.
Perhaps Bill Clinton was correct when he campaigned with the slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid.” While a market economy is, without doubt, the best way to generate wealth, it is not great at distributing wealth. The winner-take-all result has led to widespread inequalities of income and ability to satisfy the most basic of needs, and helped to fuel the growing number of “deplorables” who now support Donald Trump.
We can only hope that enlightened liberalism triumphs over the march to autocracy and even greater concentration of wealth, which is personified by Mr. Trump.
Bill Jennings Kingston
Help needed
Re “It is not wrong to memorialize a teen who died by suicide in a high school yearbook” (March 12): Thanks to columnist André Picard for his comments on one of the important issues today.
As educators, we must continue to fight for supports for suicide prevention and identification of warning signs, as well as professional development for educators as many continue to struggle with multiple demands and exploding expectations.
Schools cannot do this alone. Teachers and principals need help. And let’s not forget the parents who are dealing with other daily challenges as well, often in isolated settings.
Admittedly, many organizations and school districts are already working assiduously to address these issues. But, as pointed out, there are still suicide clusters in schools and Indigenous communities.
There is a need for us to listen, intently, once again to what teachers, principals, guidance counsellors, school psychologists and parents have been telling us they require, to provide the deliberate and authentic collaboration and actions needed to improve this mental-health concern.
Avis Glaze Delta, B.C.
Hardwire
Re “Pornography, Parliament and parents” (Editorial, March 13): In the 1990s, the nerd community was challenged to make the entire world wide web safe for children.
We introduced the same kind of parental controls that cable television used. Parents could block all pages with age-unsuitable content. When I last looked, we still had controls on phones and laptops, and the claimed usage is around 81 per cent.
But the new legislation requires sites to make sure their customers are of legal age. That’s easy to do in the physical world: A strip-club bouncer can tell if someone is a kid. Across the internet, nobody can even tell if someone is a dog, much less a kid.
Arguably, the only workable place for controls is in the physical devices that parents give their children. But that’s not what is being asked for.
Do parental controls no longer work? Have people forgotten about them? Or is this something else entirely?
David Collier-Brown Toronto
Must watch
Re “Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ is the Oscar snub that matters” (Opinion, March 9): Columnist Marsha Lederman conveyed to me once again the great human artistry in Ava DuVernay’s Origin.
Her fictionalization of Isabel Wilkerson’s non-fiction book Caste dramatically leads us to understand how it is possible for hierarchical divisions of race and class to arise. The director, actors and crew work seamlessly together to reveal how inhumane artificial constructs are created by those in power, in order to maintain power.
Ms. DuVernay’s invention is to artfully lead us through tears to understanding and action. Make time. Go see it.
Colleen Glass Ottawa
It was a relief to see the Oscars broadcast used by at least a few of the very privileged people in attendance to talk about events around the world causing inordinate human suffering.
Movies are meant to open minds, and their makers have a huge platform to influence thinking. The Oscars may be a glamorous night to celebrate the best of filmmaking, but that doesn’t mean serious issues cannot be showcased.
Brave individuals who use their moment to speak out against atrocities should be applauded even more loudly. They are not casting a shadow. They are shedding light.
Shirley Phillips Toronto
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