Former prime minister Brian Mulroney leaves Parliament Hill on June 6, 2012.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Now and then
Re “When governments got things done: Mulroney, Chrétien and a lost age of capacity” (March 6): The lost political era of debate, conciliation, mediation and reasonable solutions has sadly been replaced by dangerous mudslinging and low-blow, attention-getting tricks.
It used to be civilized, but now it’s a wrestling match. It’s no longer classy, now it’s a cheap reality show.
Although Jean Chrétien is still here, he is no longer in the game. The death of Brian Mulroney is the death of an old style of politics that actually worked and got things done.
Political courtesy and etiquette have died, and a resurrection seems highly doubtful in the foreseeable future.
Douglas Cornish Ottawa
Price of peace
Re “Meetings not munitions” (Letters, March 1): A letter-writer suggests that international problems could be better solved by summits, election accountability and consultation, rather than spending on military weapons.
Think if that (borrowed) money was instead spent on things such as education, sanitation, housing or the environment. That could be framed as an evolution of our species.
However it does beg the question: Who has the most to lose if the world is at peace?
Martin O’Connell Burlington, Ont.
Rules are rules
Re “A Triple Dip with a Twist in ArriveCan’s parade of playing the system” (March 4): Having had a front-row seat to government procurement processes for more than three decades as a private management consultant (I had just the one job, thanks), I watched as layers upon layers of new rules were added.
The idea, I am sure, was to enhance fairness and value for money. But the side effect was to render the system so complicated as to repel all but the most stalwart of prospective service providers. Hence the rise of a class of players whose primary skill was, well, playing the system.
Will a comprehensive review lead to recommendations for yet more rules? And if so, what result might we expect?
Donald Hall Ottawa
No thanks
Re “Senior business leaders support proposal asking pension funds to invest more in Canada” (March 6): They should keep their hands off my money.
Underperforming Canadian executives have the gall to suggest that large pension funds should invest more in an underperforming Canadian stock market. With their multimillion-dollar salaries and pensions, they want Canada Pension Plan managers to risk our money to boost their stock prices.
The problem is not where CPP invests, it is the underperformance of the Canadian economy owing mainly to the lower productivity of our work force. Maybe these executives would better serve their shareholders by fixing their own performance issues. And, if government is interested, how about some policy initiatives to open up competition internationally and domestically?
The fixes are simple, the implementation harder. Just do the work.
Robert Hawkins Bedford, N.S.
Hypocritical is the only word that comes to mind regarding the letter campaign of top executives calling on Canadian pension funds to invest more domestically. Perhaps they should invest more of their time and effort into increasing the productive performance of their own firms first.
While they add that “government has the right, responsibility and obligation to regulate how this savings regime operates,” I as a pensioner should have the right, responsibility and obligation to see that these funds are managed to maximize the benefits to me, rather than improving stock prices that go into further inflating excessive executive bonuses.
Richard Westler Ottawa
What nonsense. This would be another form of corporate welfare or government subsidies, but at our expense.
Will executives also support a surcharge on profit when the Canada Pension Plan can’t pay or has to reduce benefits? Will they then call for government contributions to fund pension liabilities?
I would put my faith in an independently run pension fund rather than self-interested captains of industry. If they can’t raise funds at acceptable interest rates or become more efficient, it’s on them if they can’t successfully run their companies.
The CPP has been very successful. Please leave it alone.
Michael Di Paolo Toronto
Other options
Re “Danielle Smith’s attack on clean power is an attack on free enterprise” (Editorial, March 5): I consider Danielle Smith’s curtailing of investment in renewable energy a bad business decision.
Organizations that don’t understand the business they’re in eventually pay the price. Remember Blockbuster Video?
Alberta should know it is in the energy business, not the oil and gas business. As such, it should strive for leadership in all aspects of sourcing, both renewable and non-renewable.
The citizens of Alberta, then, are being short-changed by its politicians and their lack of basic business competence.
David Chalmers Toronto
Keep driving
Re “Tear down the provinces’ trade walls” (Editorial, March 1): One way for the federal government to encourage provinces to tear down trade walls is to build a national highway system.
Canada is the only country in the Western world without a national highway system, defined as a divided highway with limited access. One-third of Canada, from Ottawa and Parry Sound, Ont., to the Manitoba border, has a two-lane trail euphemistically called a highway.
If you’ve got it, a truck brought it. Let’s build a modern national highway capable of carrying all the trucks and goods, facilitated by interprovincial free trade.
Geoff Lee Thunder Bay
Friendly fires
Re “Burn away” (Letters, March 6): A number of anti-campfire letters of late.
Wood sequesters carbon as it grows, which is released on combustion. That is carbon-neutral. It is vastly different from releasing carbon in coal, oil and gas in hours that took millions of years to sequester.
Concentrations of wood fires in urban areas can be problematic for air quality, and perhaps there are overcrowded campgrounds. Fire for cooking and warmth has been key to our survival for millennia, and so sitting around a fire with family is primal and satisfying.
There are better targets in the fight against climate change.
Chris Stoate Oakville, Ont.
To many more
Re “As The Globe marks 180 years, its promise remains the same: To provide journalism that matters” (March 5): Happy 180th! For the past 55 years, reading the print edition of The Globe and Mail has been a major part of my morning routine – almost as important as my morning mug of coffee.
Russell David Smith Toronto
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com