Sprinter Andre De Grasse, of Markham, Ont., centre, competes in the men’s 100m semi-finals at the 2024 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 4, in Saint-Denis, France.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Olympic spirit?
Re “The Paris Olympics are the greenest Games ever – and none of the athletes like it” (Aug. 1): While athletes are baking in the heat and eating plant-based food, the bigwigs are enjoying steaks in air-conditioned dining salons. Should anyone be surprised?
The Olympics now seem about one thing: raking in the bucks. They haven’t been about the athletes since at least 1936, when Germany made them about proving Aryan superiority; the 1960s, when Russia made them about proving the superiority of communism; the 1990s, when television made them about corporate advertising.
The International Olympic Committee offers, for billions of dollars, to lend its trademark to anyone who will build new facilities and provide administration for nothing. The worst? The IOC turns some of that money back to national Olympic committees to guarantee the future supply of free product. It’s a perpetual motion machine that prints dollars.
If we must have the Olympics, can’t we at least have Games that are about the athletes, not the owners?
Tom Curran Prince Edward County, Ont.
Go electric
Re “Chinese EV maker BYD tells Ottawa it plans to enter Canadian market” (Report on Business, July 31): Chinese electric vehicles also “could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector.” I have zero sympathy for the U.S. auto sector.
U.S. manufacturing was outsourced in earlier decades (ultimately helping to develop engineering expertise in China) and pushed free trade, which was good for the country at the time. Then, when the subprime mortgage scandal rocked the world, U.S. automakers got a big bailout.
Now, the spectre of competition has them crying foul and wanting tariffs. They can talk from any point on the political-economic circle when it suits them, and why not? Their trading partners usually let them get away with it.
I’ll happily consider a Chinese EV for my next purchase. If the United States has taught me anything, it’s to look out for No. 1.
Ronald Kelly Surrey, B.C.
Re “But not if” (Letters, Aug. 1): Your headline over concerns about gas vehicles and climate change feels so apt, a reversal of the biblical phrase “but if not.”
That phrase is also appropriate in a climate context, as in: “We hope to succeed in our fight against climate change, but if not, we will continue to drive gas-powered SUVs and trucks.”
Henry Van Drunen Stratford, Ont.
Ahead by a century
Re “The devastation in Jasper highlights the impact of more damaging wildfires on Canadian tourism” (Report on Business, Aug. 1): As another summer of forest fires in North America demonstrates the consequences of global warming, I’m struck by the preoccupation of governments and media to quantify the damage in primarily human and commercial terms. While it is horrible for people who have lost homes and a way of life in their communities, what about the toll on forests and the animals they support?
The brave but foolish sentiment is that the Jasper townsite is only 30-per-cent destroyed, and rebuilding the homes, hotels, restaurants, and bars will bring back tourists. The reality I see is that they won’t come back for a long time, as long as 100 years. Why would someone plan to vacation in a landscape of burnt-out stumps?
Neither the eventual return of residents nor tears from Danielle Smith will help bring back the forest and wildlife, which made the park in Jasper what it was.
Christine Reissmann Ottawa
Saving for…
Re “As the Toronto condo market sags, maybe renting is better after all” (Report on Business, July 31): Renting may seem better in the immediate term when young and short of funds. However, given that we are living longer, with much longer periods of retirement, it is important to take a longer view.
It is suggested that there is now a savings of $800 a month by renting. One should either save that difference toward a retirement fund, or put it toward a house purchase. The alternative is to spend now and be prepared to rent for life.
There is much to be said for being mortgage-free in old age.
Diana Burns Toronto
Time to digest
Re “Read this before you bite into A&W’s proposed new publicly traded company” (Report on Business, July 29): One can read the forthcoming management information circular, postulate about earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization or salivate over past shareholder returns. But that wouldn’t offer much insight into posterity.
To determine if the merged company A&W Food Services NewCo can deliver above-average growth to shareholders, the only question one should ask is this: Is the enduring bond that A&W enjoys with baby boomers, who grew up on the chain, as strong and likely to continue with millennials and Gen Z?
Answer that and all the small stuff (costs pressures, competition) should take care of itself.
Michael Grotsky Calgary
Road rules
Re “Too many pedestrians and cyclists are killed by cars. There are solutions” (Editorial, July 31): What is really needed is enforcement of basic rules of the road. Things such as stopping at red lights and stop signs, not gunning for a yellow light and respecting posted speed limits.
Without enforcement, all initiatives under Vision Zero would be useless. Who believes drivers doing 60 kilometres an hour in a 40 km/h zone would suddenly slow down because the sign is changed to 30 km/h?
Many Toronto drivers ignore the rules of the road because they believe they can do so with total impunity. More red-light cameras, photo radars and hefty fines for scofflaws would be more effective and cheaper than road redesigns and similar actions.
Plus, the money collected from all those fines would more than pay for the cost of the cameras and radars.
Rob Lachance Toronto
One serious problem in Toronto is blocked bike lanes.
As someone who commutes to work year-round, I’m alarmed by how often cars and trucks park in designated bike lanes, forcing cyclists to veer out into traffic. The cyclist recently killed by a large truck near my downtown medical office was in exactly that situation.
When will the city start enforcing clear bike lanes? Our lives depend on it.
Gordon Yanchyshyn Toronto
Souvenir
Re “A choose-your-own-adventure in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula” (July 31): A note of caution for those contemplating natural cenote adventures: Many of these attractions lack the necessary water flow to keep nasty biology at bay.
While I really enjoyed swimming and floating around in one, my intestines were mad at me for the next three months.
John Budreski Whistler, B.C.
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