Michael Spavor talks during an interview in Yanji, China, in a still image made from a March 2, 2017 video.The Associated Press
Paid in full
Re “Michael Spavor reaches multimillion-dollar settlement with Ottawa for Chinese imprisonment” (March 7): After this country united against the villainy of China unjustly holding Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, now comes word of millions of our tax dollars being paid to Mr. Spavor for the injustice he suffered because of this country’s alleged covert malpractice.
China must be delighted.
Peter Keleghan Toronto
Why no outcry from taxpayers when our government can make large financial settlements to avoid lawsuits, yet it is not required to provide full details about such settlements?
It’s our money being given away. We should have every right to know such details, and to hold officials to account for any wrongdoing or incompetence.
It’s beginning to look like the ArriveCan scandal is just one of many to come – unless, of course, officials are successful in keeping them hidden.
John Arbuckle Ottawa
The cozy relationship Michael Spavor shared with Kim Jong-un always felt like grounds for concern. Now an out-of-court settlement seems to lay bare the lie, long maintained by the Trudeau government, that Mr. Spavor and Michael Kovrig were detained arbitrarily by China.
Hopefully, at some point, the curtain will be pulled back, allowing Canadians to discover the truth behind this sordid affair.
Mick Welch Toronto
Toxic history
Re “Canadian study into Agent Orange use at Gagetown base was incorrect, biased, says U.S. inquiry” (March 2): So in 1966 and 1967, Canada allowed the U.S. Army to test Agent Orange and Agent Purple on a Canadian Army base. There is so much wrong with this.
Camp Gagetown in New Brunswick was home to not only army personnel but also their families. My father was one of them and we were his family. He died of heart disease in 1986, while my mother had a rare liver disease not previously known in her family. I have had my own unusual health issues.
We did not deserve the poison sprayed on Camp Gagetown. Canadians should be angry, but we are not. Both Liberals and Conservatives knew this, and a government report playing down the dangers is now said to be biased and incorrect.
Compensation of $20,000 for former personnel who can prove life-threatening illnesses is inadequate. There’s been nothing for the children and spouses of these Canadian soldiers.
Lynda Allan Guelph, Ont.
Diminishing returns
Re “Senior business leaders support proposal asking pension funds to invest more in Canada” (March 6): Do we think executives who support directing pension funds to less productive investments have much of a need for government pensions?
As company leaders, would they put limited capital into projects that might be ranked 7th, 9th and 14th in terms of return on investment? Not for long.
Pensions should be left alone and managers allowed to find the best returns with the least risk. I hope it’s not news that Canada isn’t the most attractive place to invest.
Stephen Kouri Toronto
Re “Handcuffing pension funds is not the answer to Canada’s economic woes” (Editorial, March 7): Since this is such a bad idea that would further damage the Canadian economy beyond the daily slings and arrows thrown at it by the current government, I expect that it can and will proceed before the end of this government’s mandate.
Being an optimist in Canada has become a Herculean task.
Clay Atcheson North Vancouver
Nursing help
Re “New Brunswick Auditor-General to probe travel nurse contracts” (March 7): The creep of private care into publicly funded health care is an issue many Canadians should care about, especially if these short-term solutions turned long-term funding nightmares become more frequent.
Higher pay for public nurses is important. However, higher pay alone likely won’t fix the root problem of nursing shortages that lead to private-contract nursing in the first place.
British Columbia recently announced nurse-to-patient ratios for particular care settings, as well as a $237-million investment to bolster the retainment and recruitment of registered nurses, including tuition credits, signing bonuses to work in rural and remote communities and bursaries for licensing exams.
The investigation of the situation in Eastern Canada shines a new light on health care spending in Canada. While it unfolds, let’s assess health human resource strategies, such as the B.C. investment, for fit in other locales.
Natasha Newman Vancouver
Her choice
Re “Treating menopause as an illness to be medicated does women a disservice, experts say” (March 6): Provided with facts, women should decide for themselves if they want hormone replacement therapy. Menopause symptoms can last more than a decade. Once a woman is in menopause, the risks for bone density loss, heart disease and more skyrocket.
Menopause should be treated even though it is “natural.” One can argue that dementia is “natural,” too, but we do not let that happen without a fight (women are also at increased risk for dementia as hormones drop).
Although not with some risk, HRT should be seen as a game-changer for women. Why would we not take advantage of modern medicine?
Erika McDonald London, Ont.
Common goal
Re “It’s difficult to get treatment for a rare disease – this must change” (First Person, Feb. 29): Essay-writer Brenda Lloyd’s experience seeking help for her ultrarare condition was pithy and poignant, and I applaud her activism. We need to do better than just putting out the wildfires of the pandemic and overdoses, however urgent.
I hope making Feb. 29 Rare Disease Day is not a sign that we only will consider this issue every four years.
Ann Cowan Vancouver
Stop it
Re “Jewish organizations granted injunction against protesters in Montreal” (March 7): There should be no need to protest an event about selling property in illegally occupied territories. The Canadian government should simply not allow such an event to happen.
Would it allow an event flogging real estate in Russian-occupied Crimea or Donetsk? I doubt it.
Tom MacDonald Ottawa
Burning up
Re “Coming soon: a couple of old fossils – the rematch” (Editorial cartoon, March 7): The thought of two old fossils running for U.S. president should provide enough fuel to make any paleontologist pale.
T.M. Dickey Toronto
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