The flooded parking lot at Grand Touring Automobiles, a luxury car dealership on Dundas Street in the east end of Toronto, on July 16.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Peace plan
Re “Canadians must face a difficult truth: Our military needs to prepare for war” (Opinion, July 13): No. Washington and Ottawa should recognize that the strategy of bringing Russia to its knees is a failure.
If we in the West are interested in European and global security, we should support negotiations and a ceasefire to end the killing in Ukraine.
Ed Lehman Regina
Aftermath
Re “Officials call for action to build Toronto’s flood resiliency after massive storm” (July 18): Isn’t the term “climate change” too benign? I think “global weather chaos” is what we actually experience – and fear.
Atmospheric carbon concentrations have now risen to some 400 parts per million and temperatures keep rising. We might expect climate to passively warm so that we could adapt. But what of the weather which is responding by becoming increasingly chaotic?
It is key that global atmospheric chemistry can be tracked and that we can monitor global weather. The extreme rainfall in southern Ontario is another chaotic event and gives more urgency to this warning.
We still have the opportunity to adapt to the extreme global weather chaos ahead.
Rod Allan Burlington, Ont.
The most important thing I have read on water is the excellent 2022 book Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge by Erica Gies.
Her writing explores badly planned, built and managed water infrastructure around the world, the problems created by this work and some solutions that have resulted in great improvements in water quality, flow, storage and natural habitat.
Neil Turnbull Brock, Ont.
Lead out
Re “After Calgary’s water crisis, a Globe analysis finds trouble brewing in Canada’s pipes” (July 11): We do need an open and frank debate on rehabilitating Canada’s drinking water infrastructure.
For example, everyone would agree lead does not belong in our drinking water because it is a serious health concern, especially for children. But in many Ontario cities and towns, lead levels in drinking water are still too high.
The primary remaining source of lead in Ontario drinking water are lead service lines between homes and street-level supply. Some schools and child-care centres still have high lead levels in their water, often because of lead solder in aging infrastructure.
The financial burden of replacing lead service lines too often falls to homeowners, who often don’t even know they are there. That cost can be prohibitive for many.
As we debate how to replace and pay for Canada’s aging water infrastructure, we should include a goal of getting the lead out of our drinking water.
Jacqueline Wilson Counsel, Canadian Environmental Law Association; Toronto
At the source
Re “As grocery prices soar, the dairy lobby’s supply management has got to go” (Report on Business, June 19): The argument that supply management “keeps food prices higher than they need to be” does not distinguish between farm gate and retail pricing. As well, farmers do not set retail prices.
Year-end data for 2023 indicates a 6.1-per-cent decrease in the farm gate price of chicken and a 0-per-cent increase in the farm gate price of eggs, based on a weighted national average of producer prices for large eggs. The farm gate price of milk only increased by 2.2 per cent.
We know that in some deregulated markets, like the United States, consumers pay for their dairy twice through their taxes and then at the store. To call for drastic changes to our food supply and the elimination of a time-tested system would be short-sighted.
Why would anyone suggest we are better off by compromising our food sovereignty and security?
David Wiens President, Dairy Farmers of Canada; Grunthal, Man.
Roger Pelissero Chair, Egg Farmers of Canada; West Lincoln, Ont.
Tim Klompmaker Chair, Chicken Farmers of Canada; Asphodel-Norwood, Ont.
Darren Ference Chair, Turkey Farmers of Canada; Monitor, Alta.
Brian Bilkes Chair, Canadian Hatching Egg Producers; Chilliwack, B.C.
Return to sender
Re “Companies need to stop giving corporate swag that people just throw in the trash” (Report on Business, July 11): I find corporate swag more than irritating, but charitable swag is unconscionable.
I have written to a number of charitable organizations informing them that I will no longer support them, because they are spending some of my donation on, in my case, tiny teddy bears, 5-cent pieces, ballpoint pens and thousands of stickers with my name and address.
It is sad to me, as they are all reputable organizations, but they seem to be taking bad advice from their fundraisers.
Suzanne Gobeil Ottawa
Canadian coda
Re “Why Ottawa won’t come to grips with Canada’s productivity problem” (July 17): This opinion on the futility of government productivity studies reminded me of a limerick that I wrote more than 30 years ago (while working with Finance Canada, ironically).
Here lies one more government study,
Whose goal was to help everybody.
But the outcome, in fact,
And its lasting impact
Was to make crystal waters quite muddy.
Alas, it seems to have become a truism.
Trent Reid Victoria
Meet the letter-writers
Throughout the late spring and summer, The Globe will feature personal insights and missives from some of our most frequent contributors every Sunday in Letters to the Editor. Survey responses were collected as a part of the research behind A Nation’s Paper: The Globe and Mail in the Life of Canada, a collection of history essays from Globe writers past and present, coming this fall from Signal/McClelland & Stewart.
(The following responses were received by The Globe after a call for submissions in May, 2023.)
May of 1991 is the oldest letter to The Globe that I have in my files. There is no indication that it was published; I had not yet mastered the art of brevity.
I read the letters because they often present alternative, and even corrective, views to those of your journalists and guest writers. I write the same sorts of letters. I am interested in government, educational and social public policy, because of the need to get it right for the good of us all.
I appreciate the opportunity to remind your readers that there are more sides and points of view than what may have been presented in an article. Would your editors find a whole page of letters worth reading?
There are many days when I would trade at least one of your opinion pieces for more thoughtful letters from the public.
Joanna Anderson Burlington, Ont.
What I like about The Globe’s letters is that, at their best, they are truly informed commentaries on the issues of the day, to the point, sometimes eloquent and on occasion humorous.
My own efforts rarely meet this high standard. While most of my efforts seem reasonably focused, they strike me as rather dull. On more than a few occasions, the editors have succeeded in livening up my plodding prose.
I fear for the future of newspapers such as The Globe and especially the opinion and letters section, one of the few places in our society where there is still some recognition that the written word is a vital part of the dialogue among Canadians on important questions. Given the rise of social media, and the relative decline of literacy and written communication skills, one wonders what proportion of younger generations even have the capacity to communicate clearly in writing.
Scott Burbidge Port Williams, N.S.
My observation is that writers and letters editors today are more open and direct. This is not The Globe of the 1970s. Good! I appreciate the balancing act that letters demand.
I regret writing a letter circa 2001 praising the achievements of former Nortel CEO John Roth. I allowed the achievements of the company to influence my estimation of Mr. Roth. The company later crashed and burned and it was reported that Mr. Roth was not the hero I portrayed.
I’m also grateful to editors who read my letters and said of some: “no way,” or “over the top.” My morning-after reread of some letters is, at times, greeted with my own “oh my.”
Having my letters published is a privileged opportunity to participate in the democratic process, to speak and be heard. It’s an opportunity to connect with other readers in our shared belief that open dialogue is important.
Marty Cutler Toronto
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com