Cans of Heineken non-alcoholic beer are seen on display at a sampling event at Pier 17 in New York City's Seaport District, on July 15, 2021.Joyce Philippe/Reuters
Closer to home
Re “With human rights chief debacle, the Liberals continue their string of blunders” (Aug. 14): Regarding the controversy over Birju Dattani, I find it noteworthy that no concrete evidence or independent investigation suggests he harbours prejudice against Jewish people.
The pressure to cancel Mr. Dattani’s appointment appears to be based primarily on his criticism of the actions of the state of Israel, and arguments by his opponents that his willingness to engage with controversial figures is evidence of prejudice rather than intellectual openness. It would appear that the opposition to his appointment is more based on the interests of Israel than of Canadians (other than those Canadians who object to criticism of the actions of Israel).
The mandate of the Canadian Human Rights Commission is primarily regarding human rights within Canada, not international affairs. I trust that any revisions to the vetting process will be to better support the human rights of all Canadians, without undue deference to foreign interests.
David Clarry Toronto
Lost in translation
Re “Talk about … ” (Letters, Aug. 13): I found the Toronto Police Service’s response to your commentary on the arrest of New Brunswick MLA Dominic Cardy (“Free speech is not a numbers game” – Editorial, Aug. 9) so blithely non-responsive, I propose it replace the motto of “To Serve and Protect” with something that better reflects the asymmetry with which it has served and protected here.
Consistent with its implied affirmation that a breach of the peace initiated by a majority should not be disturbed by the mildly expressed contrary view of a minority for fear of provoking violence, I propose “Mobile Vulgus.” Translated from the Latin, it means “the fickle crowd.”
Colloquially, it means “mob rule.”
R.L.K. Wright Vancouver
First aid
Re “Canada not planning to share mpox vaccines, as Africa warns of ‘another pandemic’ " (Aug. 12): Canada has a stockpile of vaccine that could prevent this outbreak becoming a pandemic, but our government is choosing to turn a blind eye.
I am tempted to point out that the West seems to have a long-standing unwritten policy of ignoring Africa, except when there are natural resources to be exploited: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, provides most of the world’s supply of the mineral coltan, which is used in every cellphone and laptop.
In the interest of avoiding inflammatory language, let’s just say that our government’s attitude is short-sighted. Once again, I see the Trudeau government humiliating Canadians on a global scale.
Steve Soloman Toronto
Re “Babies in African countries are dying in huge numbers as drug-resistant infections raise the threat of sepsis” (Aug. 8): While Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, it should also be noted that Paul Ehrlich discovered arsphenamine, or Salvarsan, in 1907 and it was introduced clinically, with success, for the treatment of syphilis in 1910.
Pamela Orr MD, FRCPC Winnipeg
Mixed signals
Re “CBC paid more than $18-million in bonuses in 2024 after eliminating hundreds of jobs, documents show” (Aug. 13): The usual rationale for big lumps of what CBC CEO Catherine Tait wants us to call “performance pay” is that employers have to ante up to compete for high-quality senior executives.
But seriously? If Ms. Tait and her executive team were really serving the CBC, one would think they would notice how damaging this can be to an organization that Pierre Poilievre argues is politicized and self-serving.
Who, now, can tell him he’s wrong?
Richard Littlemore Vancouver
Urban decay
Re “Why Toronto needs a city architect” (Aug. 13): A long time ago, Toronto hired Ken Greenberg to establish the city’s urban design department. This bold move inspired many Ontarian municipalities. He is a visionary architect and truly a builder of the city.
Unfortunately, the department was slowly diluted and absorbed by the planning bureaucracy after his departure. Other municipalities followed a similar path. What happened?
Urban designers and city architects are not lone warriors. They need the support and involvement of the community to effectively shape our cities.
This is a cultural problem, and it’s the difference between Europe and North America. Our city halls often become battlefields for well-organized and vicious single-goal groups, hindering the work of these professionals.
These days, we hear accolades about the spectacular city of Paris. It was fundamentally rebuilt in the 19th century in a mere 20 years. Can you imagine something similar done these days?
Vladimir Matus Toronto
Just curious
Re “I’m in my zero-proof summer era and I have zero shame about it” (Aug. 12): It is too bad that the contributor has friends who joke about his interest in sober-curiosity.
I’ve always found it curious why alcohol is the only drug we ask people why they don’t consume. We take it as a given that people should drink; if not, then something is wrong with them.
Sadly, many Canadians don’t understand the impact of alcohol consumption. More than 6,000 deaths in Ontario each year are attributable to alcohol use, far surpassing the numbers for opioid use, and dwarfed only by Canada’s leading deadly drug: tobacco. Alcohol is the leading drug when it comes to health care, lost productivity, criminal justice and other direct costs, totalling more than $7-billion per year in Ontario alone.
Why encourage more use when we can encourage and support sober-curious friends to make healthier decisions?
Isabella Tatar Toronto
Canadian connection
Re “Kamala Harris is mostly an unknown quantity. In 2024, that’s a political superpower” (Report on Business, Aug. 13): After learning that Kamala Harris is a graduate of Montreal’s Westmount High School, my alma mater, I fully expected the media to jump on this critical background information as soon as she became the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2020.
However, as pointed out, it is politically expedient to market her as a “child of the civil rights movement” and a “child of Berkeley activism.” But the facts are the facts, and I am still proud of Ms. Harris’s Westmount bona fides.
Judith Leznoff Toronto
Meltdown
Re “AI models ‘collapse’ and spout gibberish over time, research finds. But there could be a fix” (Report on Business, Aug. 14): The masses of irrelevant and often factually incorrect junk generated by artificial intelligence, which pollutes my Facebook feed, remind me of the old computer programmer’s maxim: garbage in, garbage out.
Tom Browne Montreal
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