Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards her plane at Philadelphia International Airport on Oct. 24 in Pennsylvania.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
East, West
Re “Sunny ways” (Letters, Oct. 23): According to a letter-writer from Calgary, New Brunswickers voted for the longest list of promises – no relation to premier-elect Susan Holt’s talents and accomplishments.
Blaine Higgs’s loss, then, had nothing to do with his increasingly hard-right stance on social issues, contempt for bilingualism, transphobia and regressive tax proposals that would disproportionately benefit the rich.
Oh wait, that sounds like Danielle Smith’s Alberta. Well, we will at least try not to be condescending about their political choices “out there.”
Nicole St-Pierre Dieppe, N.B.
Re “BC Green Party leader talking to NDP, won’t take BC Conservative calls as election drama proceeds” (Oct. 24): The role of an opposition party is to question government actions, present alternatives and contribute to the effectiveness of British Columbia’s parliamentary democracy. Presumably this is for the good of the province and its people.
The opposition party’s role is not to bring the government down for its own gain.
Lillian Sawyer West Kelowna, B.C.
Take note
Re “Kamala Harris is losing the campaign” (Opinion, Oct. 19): “Ms. Harris has received largely uncritical coverage from most of the mainstream U.S. media.”
I find that U.S. media, while forced to acknowledge Kamala Harris’s meteoric rise to national prominence, have remained strangely skeptical of her throughout the campaign, and this while largely ignoring the unprecedented reality that the Republican candidate is a convicted felon.
Not to draw the public’s attention constantly to this obviously disqualifying fact should be tantamount to journalistic dereliction of duty.
Howard Dyck CM; Waterloo, Ont.
Hold up
Re “Our democracy is under attack. Do our leaders know it?” (Opinion, Oct. 19): Our politicians continue to spin their wheels without addressing Canada’s lack of defence and security problems from foreign threats, which have been occurring for years.
Why is the Prime Minister unable to name politicians who have acted on behalf of foreign governments against this country? In other G7 countries, such actions would be labelled treason. Why are our politicians dragging their feet in resolving these serious security issues?
Hopefully the RCMP are continuing their investigations and will lay charges against any enemy agents still operating in this country.
J.G. Gilmour Calgary
Too many?
Re “Ottawa to cut immigration targets in a major policy reversal” (Oct. 24): As someone who has strongly supported the idea that Canada has admitted far too many immigrants in recent years, I welcome reduced immigration levels even if the government is accused of “pandering” to my “xenophobic” ideas.
I do not think that groups who believe in 100 million people in Canada by 2100 have adequately explained why they are so sure it is an excellent idea.
Will more immigrants in Southern Ontario and along the west coast of British Columbia really enhance the quality of life for those there presently? Surely we do not expect new arrivals to live in small towns far away from anywhere.
With immigration, there are few questions asked about the environmental impact or why long-standing younger Canadians are not having children.
To rework a cliché from the investment business, past immigration success is not necessarily an indication of future immigration success.
Ian McKay Halton Hills, Ont.
System reboot
Re “Ontario should stop penalizing family doctors when their patients visit walk-in clinics” (Oct. 23): As a retired family physician who practised in Ontario for 40 years, I agree that the system needs to be revamped.
The payment model for family health organizations and family health networks should be changed back to the fee-for-service model, with a significant increase in physician fees. The current system of rostering patients provides little incentive to see more patients.
Physicians are paid regardless if they see patients or not. Hence longer wait times and then more physicians are required.
Doctor Jane Philpott should fundamentally change this broken system. But she doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel: Just pay primary care physicians for seeing more patients, and cancel the FHO and FHN payment models.
William Chepesiuk MD, Toronto
Re “Roster decisions” (Letters, Oct. 24): I want to say that I know what being rostered means. I have had a long conversation with my family doctor about the unfairness of this policy.
I was derostered due to a visit to an emergency room. My doctor has told me that my situation is challenging because he would 100-per-cent have recommended I use the ER. It was a Sunday, and the urgent care clinic at his office was not open.
I was unaware that the ER doctor had a billing code that would deroster me. How can this accounting even create this headache for me?
Now it is up to me to fill out a government form to reinstate my rostered position with my family doctor. I am the one being punished at the end of the day.
Charlotte Livingston King, Ont.
Teaching position
Re “A teacher’s role is to let students develop their own opinions (not force feed their own)” (First Person, Oct. 22): I couldn’t agree more. Yet I am dismayed with a swipe at universities as “rife with bias,” and particularly politics departments. I am the president of the Canadian Political Science Association, and though I write this letter solely in my personal capacity, I cannot let this go.
Accusations of “bias” are thrown at teachers at all levels, from kindergarten to graduate school. Undoubtedly some do overstep. But dumping on another level only divides us further, against those who are determined to shape or undermine the entire system to suit their own ends.
If one begins with the assumption that bias exists in an institution, they will always find it, because there is inevitably evidence to interpret in their preferred fashion. The real trick is stepping back and evaluating one’s own supposed lack of bias. We all have a responsibility to do so, and to pass that on to our students.
Jonathan Malloy Ottawa
Adieu
Re “What I learned from a tumultuous 16 years as The Globe’s theatre critic” (Arts & Books, Oct. 19): I was quite sad when I read that J. Kelly Nestruck is no longer to be The Globe’s theatre critic.
I think I have read every review that he has written, and I think him an excellent critic. He gave just the right amount of information about a play and he made every piece interesting and informative, even when I did not agree with him after seeing a play.
But it’s a much better gig for him to be the television critic given his family responsibilities, I know.
Mary Mogford Clarington, Ont.
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