Right stuff
Re “What might a serious growth agenda look like? More labour, more capital, and more incentive to use both wisely” (Opinion, April 27): I once chaired a board meeting of a major charitable organization and argued that to remedy its financial problems, it had to be more productive.
A serious and well-educated associate responded that staff were already working very hard. In other words, we would not find answers there. My associate missed my point: We were not doing the right things.
Peter Drucker, the Austrian business guru, coined the invaluable management theory of doing the thing right versus doing the right thing, a distinction paramount to solving any productivity issue.
Canada should reorient its economy to doing the right thing. Not obvious or easy to achieve.
A.P. Bell Toronto
Too late?
Re “It’s time to retire subsidies to rich seniors” (Editorial, April 27): Hacking away at money that rich seniors get seems to be the thin end of the wedge. Eventually the “rich” become “middle class,” then benefits go only to the poor.
We have had this problem for decades. Programs that are universal will likely remain as strong programs, but clawbacks or inflation end up undercutting or eroding universal programs over time.
The risk is that programs only for the poor often end up being poor programs. Why not just increase taxes on the rich a little more, and on corporations as well?
Carried interest, and other tax breaks that benefit the wealthy, should be the first targets.
Brian Graff Toronto
The ship may have sailed on this possibility because of the large number of Canadian seniors (i.e. voters). No party dares reduce their Old Age Security benefits.
The opportunity to fix this mess was missed in 1996, when Paul Martin proposed merging the Guaranteed Income Supplement and OAS into a single seniors benefit that only needy seniors would benefit from. Canadians at the age of 60 and over in 1996 could have continued under the old system and not experienced any reductions.
Younger Canadians, who eventually would achieve adequate levels of other retirement income, would have received no benefits under the new program. That would have eliminated benefits for high-income baby boomers, and the fiscal problems we now face would have been avoided.
Baby boomers are now retired or close to it. Too bad Mr. Martin’s far-sighted plan was harpooned.
Alan Cooke Pensions actuary (retired), Vancouver
Safe space
Re “Trans youth deserve better” (Opinion, April 27): Gender identity is complicated and we should treat it as such.
I was a teacher-librarian at an arts school. It was a “magnet” school not only for its arts focus, but also because it was known as a safe place for students.
These young people were delightfully creative and compassionate adolescents who supported each other as they figured things out. They brought out the best in each other and inspired staff to do the same.
Now, 16 years after my retirement, I am truly a “hurtin’ Albertan.” The proposed provincial legislation feels motivated by crass political opportunism, not by compassionate, informed concern.
These kinds of cold-hearted political moves can only hurt our young people. “Shame, shame, shame,” as they say in British Parliament.
Our children deserve the best, not the worst, from us.
Dianne Harke Edmonton
Unexpected places
Re “Ottawa’s noble plan to fast-track francophone immigrants seems doomed to fail” (Opinion, April 27): Traditional francophone areas of Ontario may indeed be seeing a decline in French-speaking populations. But we can also point to non-traditional areas, such as Toronto, that have had increases.
The rapid expansion of Conseil scolaire Viamonde, the French-language school board, is but one example; the opening of Université de l’Ontario in downtown Toronto is another.
As for disappointed francophone immigrants moving to Quebec: One only need wait for a resurgence in the Parti Québécois to watch new immigrants flee once again, along with capital and career opportunities, should the province’s constitutional status come up for debate.
David Roy Toronto
I am …
Re “Literary critic Andy Lamey contemplates ‘The Canadian Mind’ and the future of CanLit” (Arts & Books, April 27): Literature by colonized peoples typically bears the influence of their colonizers. While the same is not always true in reverse, no one exclusively owns the stories of racialized people. The bottom line: Writers should do their homework and treat their subjects with care and authenticity.
That author Joseph Boyden did his homework and pulled this off in The Orenda isn’t in dispute, to my mind. But given the closed shop that is Canadian publishing, when an author misrepresents themselves, thereby taking space (including exposure, funding and awards) from those traditionally excluded, we should all take exception.
I will read literary critic Andy Lamey’s book with interest and hope that he devotes as much time to the need for all voices to be represented in the Canadian oeuvre as he does to making the case for Mr. Boyden’s place in it.
Shirley Phillips Toronto
So literary critic Andy Lamey thinks most Canadians read American lit. Well I, for one, don’t.
I primarily read Canadian and British lit. Canadian because I am one, and British because that’s my heritage.
Most American lit just doesn’t appeal to me. It doesn’t speak to my reality. I suspect I’m not the only one with this viewpoint.
Jane McCall Delta, B.C.
Read all about it
Re “An ode to independent Canadian bookstores” (Opinion, April 27): That independent bookstores still exist in Canada suggests that someone certainly needs them. However, the success of online book buying indicates that many, if not most, readers believe that is a better way to find reading material.
It is argued that a place lined with books, where one can sample different choices and draw on the advice and expertise of staff, is a better experience. It certainly does sound enticing. But it sounds like my local library.
David McGrath Kingston
I, too, love bookstores.
My passion is used bookshops, where I can spend hours with well-thumbed old books. The more disorganized and scruffy the shop, the greater the pleasure of finding that long out-of-print book.
Used books often come with history. Reading the comments scribbled in the margins by previous readers is like a book-club discussion from another time and place.
Reiner Jaakson Oakville, Ont.
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