The Queen's University sign sits at the corner of Union St. and University Ave. in Kingston, Ont., is photographed on Jan 20, 2021.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Speak now?
Re “Liberals trying to play both sides in Gaza conflict” (Jan. 15): I do not believe it is appropriate for Justin Trudeau, on behalf of Canada, to make a political statement about a legal matter, that Canada does not support South Africa’s case.
If Canada is really “a tremendous supporter of the international rules based order” and the International Court of Justice, then it should support whatever decision the court arrives at based on facts and the law.
Penny Becklumb Ottawa
I see that Justin Trudeau lives down to my expectations. I find his decision duplicitous and runs contrary to everything Canada stands for.
South Africa did not ask for our support. The correct decision would have been to remain silent.
Roger Emsley Delta, B.C.
Grounded
Re “Boeing isn’t the only one to blame for the Max 9′s problems” (Jan. 15): Questions regarding Boeing’s current woes with its 737 Max 9 aircraft should also include one critical factor: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration oversight and certification procedures.
Just as Boeing outsourced to save costs, so did the FAA. During U.S. congressional hearings in 2019 into the 737 Max 8 crashes, an FAA spokesperson testified that the agency did not have enough resources to properly execute its oversight and certification mandate.
Instead, it adopted a “business model” of delegating certification tasks to the in-house engineers of Boeing and its suppliers, including the makers of 737 Max fuselages. That’s akin to foxes guarding the henhouse: What could possibly go wrong?
U.S. Congress, which funds the FAA, also has some soul-searching to do.
Kevin Bishop Saanich, B.C.
The most important part of the 737 Max design change was to make its flying characteristics closely mimic previous versions of the plane.
This gave Boeing a selling advantage with airlines that already had 737 fleets, so they would not have the cost of training pilots on the new plane.
But the plane had major changes to the wings and engines. Therefore software was introduced to cancel out the differences, except Boeing did not tell airlines about this software and the effect on the plane.
Has a corporate mentality of cutting corners to increase profitability crept into the manufacturing of Boeing planes? Being transparent may have helped with the first problem, but it does not help with such a mentality.
Boeing has made significant organizational changes over the past 10 years. It seems to have gone from an engineering-focused company to one where accountants and marketers lead the organization.
David Bell Toronto
The suggestion that design decisions for commercial airliners should somehow be diffused to the travelling public through “more transparency” is difficult for me to understand.
These aircraft are hugely complicated machines. To suggest that their design should become a matter of public debate is likely to make things worse, rather than better.
Neville Taylor Toronto
International issue
Re “Queen’s University eyes drastic cutbacks to keep its doors open” (Jan. 13): Universities have become an industry unto themselves, complete with growth targets increasingly met by accessing foreign markets.
Result: oversupply. Consequence: market correction.
Let’s not listen to all the bleating about urgent funding needs. Who do they think they are, automakers?
Mike Firth Toronto
Re “Canada to consider cap on international students in the face of a housing shortage, Immigration Minister says” (Online, Jan. 13): A blanket cap would be a temporary step.
Adequate funding for universities is required. Building student housing is essential. Limiting the number of foreign students to the number of housing units provided by a school should be the way forward.
Because of inadequate funding, postsecondary institutions have turned to attracting foreign students who pay high tuition fees. Better funding would lessen the pressure to accept so many. Additionally, our governments should assist schools to build housing units equal to the number of foreign students.
Mary Kainer Toronto
Patient priority
Re “ER overcrowding won’t be solved by telling sick people to stay home” (Jan. 9): Last summer, I passed out while brushing my teeth. I fell backward and hit the back of my head on the edge of a low cabinet, which opened a four-inch gash. I woke up with blood everywhere.
My husband called an ambulance and we arrived at the emergency room around 2 p.m. We waited until midnight to get five stitches to close the wound in the back of my head.
I did not resent the immediate attention given to the young woman who was having a miscarriage nor to the man who’d had a stroke. But we had a very long wait with too much bleeding and oh so much fear.
May I suggest a first-aid station within these packed waiting rooms? Not every patient needs a hospital bed. A nurse could have easily calmed me, stitched me up and made room for more urgent patients.
Claudette Claereboudt Regina
Live to tell
Re “How The Globe covered two pandemics, a century apart” (A Nation’s Paper, Jan. 15): My generation, born shortly after the Second World War, is among the last to have heard firsthand accounts of the Spanish Flu from parents or grandparents.
My mother, born in 1911, caught the flu in 1919 in Montreal and almost died from it. She related how, in her delirium, an angel appeared at the foot of her bed shortly before the fever broke.
On my father’s side, my grandfather lost his business partner Cawthra Mulock, a prominent stockbroker in Toronto, to the flu on a business trip to New York in 1918. He died within a week of his arrival. He was only in his 30s and had been a healthy and vigorous man.
Fraser Laschinger Prescott, Ont.
Hockey highlights
Re “A hockey league of our own” (Amplify newsletter, Jan. 12): The most joyous thing I’ve seen so far this year, and hopefully for many years to come, is the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
The women are playing hockey at a high level and having so much fun doing it. Much more fun than the “leave no prisoners” attitude I see in the National Hockey League.
When was the last time fans saw two players crashing into the boards then coming up smiling and laughing with each other, one from each team? I wish the league many years of success.
Gregg Derrett Guelph, Ont.
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