Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to a question as he appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa, on Oct. 16.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
End game?
Re “With Sinwar dead, is there hope the bloodshed could end in the Middle East?” (Oct. 19): Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in armed conflict may be compared with the 2011 U.S. targeted killing of Osama bin Laden.
The unmourned deaths of these terrorists do not, however, erase nor overwrite the records of thousands of civilian deaths on Sept. 11 and the hundreds of thousands of deaths following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, nor the 1,000-plus Oct. 7 slayings by Hamas and the tens of thousands of deaths of Gazan non-combatants by Israel since then.
Mr. Sinwar’s death seems unlikely to stop Israel’s deadly warfare in Gaza.
Garfield Emerson Toronto
Re “Lebanon contemplates a possible Hezbollah-free future as Israel pounds the Iran-backed guerrilla force” (Oct. 15): I’m pretty sure that the Lebanese people realize by now that their country’s enemy comes from within – not Israel.
If there is hope that Lebanon can reinvent itself if Hezbollah is downgraded, I would like to take the liberty of suggesting it might want to join Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and others who wish to remain nameless at this time in establishing normalization with Israel.
David Honigsberg Toronto
Can’t say
Re “Mr. Trudeau plays the name game on foreign interference” (Editorial, Oct. 18): Since the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians report was tabled in June, and The Globe and Mail began to call for the names of people who may have wittingly or unwittingly aided a foreign government, I have disagreed with releasing any names outside of a judicial process.
In my opinion, no Canadian should be forced to defend their good name based on allegations in a secret report. Public opinion has historically been prone to error. That cannot be the method by which justice will be achieved.
Karlis Poruks Edmonton
Re “The Liberals’ naked disdain for Parliament is showing” (Editorial, Oct. 16): This makes clear to me the degree to which our politicians, Liberal and Conservative alike, are neglecting their responsibilities.
As a whole, the behaviour of our political class can now be summed up as follows:
1. When accused of misdeeds, deny, deny, deny.
2. When denial becomes implausible, keep doing it anyway.
3. Reinforce the denials with obfuscation and lies.
4. If the accusations won’t go away and the evidence mounts, employ deflection. Claim that poor behaviour is somebody else’s fault.
5. In a worst-case scenario, where there is no alternative but to plead guilty, accuse the other side of doing the same thing.
It’s worth noting that anyone who has taught Grade 1 would immediately recognize this pattern. Of course, six-year-olds don’t hold elected office.
It’s a stark warning to the rest of us, as voters, that we should demand better.
Steve Soloman Toronto
Upload
Re “Ontario set to ban new bike lanes installed without provincial approval” (Oct. 16): Doug Ford seems intent on setting up a parallel municipal planning system in Ontario.
First there were minister’s zoning orders, then there was provincial upzoning of residential areas and now the Minister of Transportation’s office wants to determine whether a municipally approved bike lane is warranted. This seems strange coming from a Premier who claims to want to make government more efficient.
It would be costly to hire more provincial civil servants to analyze municipal requests for bike lines. Perhaps rules of thumb can be used to cut costs.
One rule might be: If a major donor to the Progressive Conservatives owns a bike shop in the municipality, approve the bike lane.
George Fallis Toronto
Field trip
Re “Ontario school board trustees will pay back expenses from $145,000 Italy trip” (Oct. 18): It defies belief that in Canada in 2024, a school board representative can attempt to provide a rationale for a $145,000 trip to Italy to acquire religious icons worthy of prominence in a new publicly funded school.
Apparently, the investment “will be a testament to Catholic education … for many years to come”. Really? When many schools are struggling to function within their budgets?
Perhaps Ontario should seriously reconsider following the lead of Quebec and Newfoundland, where church and state have been truly separated for many years without the sky falling. Parents should have the freedom to pursue whatever religious belief is important to them and their children, but not within an educational system open to all and funded through public taxes.
Jack Holland Toronto
Read on
Re “Five tips for helping a struggling child in school” (Oct. 14): Children struggling in school face long delays for publicly funded psychoeducational testing, required for diagnosis of specific learning disabilities. Early diagnosis and intervention is important to improve outcomes.
Private assessments are more timely, but not affordable for the majority of families. A lot is at stake as literacy is directly linked with many aspects of a child’s future, including health, economic and social outcomes.
It is time for British Columbia to follow Ontario’s lead and implement the recommendations from the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s 2022 “Right to Read” report. Many provinces have taken action to implement key recommendations, but not B.C.
Rather than expecting parents to access private resources, our public education system should identify struggling readers, with standardized screening of all children from kindergarten to Grade 2, and implement a science-based and standardized literacy curriculum.
This approach would remove some of the inequities in the education of our youth.
S. Jane Pegg Consulting pediatrician; co-founder, Roots to Read – Nanaimo Regional General Hospital Newborn Literacy Program
Tip off
Re “No tip” (Letters, Oct. 18): In addition to 18-, 20- and 25-per-cent tip options, all the credit card terminals that I’ve been handed here in Montreal have additional options for “no tip” or “other,” where one can key in either a lower percentage or an actual amount.
Unless one is intimidated by the suggested percentages offered, the choice to tip remains a personal one.
Wilfrid de Freitas Westmount, Que.
A friend works a part-time gig as a tour guide in Vancouver.
At the end of one outing, he asked his busload of tourists from Australia if they knew the difference between Canadian canoes and Australians.
None of them could provide the answer: “Canoes tip.”
David Cater Salt Spring Island, B.C.
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