President Donald Trump, left, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a meeting during a NATO leaders meeting in Watford, England, on Dec. 4, 2019.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
Don’t speak
Re “Should Trudeau refrain from addressing the Trump threat?” (Feb. 9): Yes, he should.
In no way should Canada be seen as picking sides or in any way interfering in U.S. elections. However, Canadian governments should be exploring a multitude of what-if scenarios and building relationships with sensible U.S. politicians from both parties.
No country in the world would be more at risk from Donald Trump’s return to power than Canada. He could succeed in eviscerating the United States’ democratic institutions and divisions of power. An unleashed Mr. Trump could easily be driven by his worst instincts and turn his attention north.
I view this as the single biggest threat Canada has faced in my lifetime, and I am a senior citizen. We should be prepared.
Mark Roberts Calgary
Get down
Re “Bank of Canada’s Tiff Macklem spells out limits of monetary policy, says interest rates won’t solve housing affordability” (Report on Business, Feb. 7): It’s unlikely that the Bank of Canada’s mathematical models take much account of the psychology and impact of falling rates on consumer confidence.
I suspect a rate reduction would have an outsized positive impact relative to the actual reduction. Rate reductions should be the primary short-term tool to improve housing affordability.
Tiff Macklem should know this, even if he won’t acknowledge it.
Frank Malone Aurora, Ont.
Do the evolution
Re “ESG isn’t dead, it’s just evolving” (Report on Business, Feb. 5): Reports of ESG’s death are greatly exaggerated.
Environmental, social and governance-informed investing may have recently faded as it became a popular political bogeyman, but the movement behind it – investors considering factors such as climate change or human rights – isn’t going anywhere.
The assets going into ESG funds, and where they are invested, can be a useful gauge of sustainable finance. Equally important is to consider how investors of all sizes use their voices to engage with companies through stewardship practices. One example is Climate Engagement Canada, a finance-led initiative to drive dialogue between investors and industry on a just transition to a net-zero economy.
ESG issues have gained relevance because responsible investors see them as financially material: If a company has no plan for net-zero emissions, how will it create shareholder value in a low-carbon economy? Whatever letters we use, ESG is here to stay.
Hugues Letourneau Associate director, responsible investment leadership, SHARE: Shareholder Association for Research and Education Vancouver
Bell tolls
Re “BCE cutting work force by 9% in biggest restructuring effort in almost 30 years” (Feb. 9): I am contemplating expansion of my financial consulting business by accessing office space at my local bank. They, of course, are reluctant to co-operate, but I feel empowered by the recent order for Bell to “open” its newly constructed fibre network to competitors.
I see a brilliant scheme: Let the “big guys” build and finance costly infrastructure, then let the “little guys” piggyback on the facilities at a nominal (read: hugely discounted) fee.
The person currently occupying “my” office at the bank would likely lose their job. But hey, that’s a small price to pay for “competition.”
The opportunities that the “open” network concept provides are staggering. We may all soon be rich.
Vic Bornell Niagara-on-the Lake, Ont.
Got to choose
Re “Canada’s cap on international students shows a university bias” (Report on Business, Feb. 7): I think the reason there is an exemption for graduate students is because they are the engine of university research programs. Without them, Canada’s research enterprise would grind to a halt.
Most Canadians choose not to pursue graduate school because it is often a road to nowhere. In my field of life sciences, more than half of MSc graduates are subemployed. Many of them return to polytechnics to find fulfilling work.
For Canada to be technologically savvy, it is important to keep the research engine humming. However, research institutions should address graduate subemployment and help more Canadians become technologically savvy.
While graduate students specialize in some minutia of science through research, they should also gain versatility skills to be employable. Most Canadian high-tech companies are small, and versatility skills help these firms transition from product development to business development.
Derrick Rancourt Calgary
Devil you know
Re “An ethical opioids policy needs data” (Editorial, Feb. 9): The sources of good data upon which sound policy is grounded can change over time.
Trying to determine the proportion of prescribed opioids purchased “on the street” reminds me of watching Omar Little and Avon Barksdale do their thing on the television series The Wire. That was 20 years ago.
Now we have the dark web, virtual IPs, cryptocurrency and a generation of young people extremely adept at online navigation. What proportion of prescribed opioids from British Columbia are being sold in these new marketplaces, far from where these policies are introduced?
Without data about where and how prescribed drugs become “street” drugs, our policy-making would not only be blind – it would be parochial.
Kenton Kroker Health and society, York University Toronto
Take this job
Re “Working benefits” (Letters, Feb. 8): A letter-writer suggests that the difference between a personal support worker at $41 per hour through an agency and $25 through direct employment is explained by premiums and pension contributions.
For my mother and mother-in-law, we hired privately to provide most hours of care. We were scrupulous in following provincial employment standards, including vacation pay and overtime, and remitting all required premiums and reporting. No doubt some people ignore the rules, which is a legitimate concern.
Every agency PSW we worked with said that their hourly wage was still significantly lower than what we paid privately. True, agencies provide recruiting, dispatching, scheduling and payroll functions including remittances, but there’s a healthy slice of profit.
Our governments could greatly improve the situation by increasing the publicly provided care hours available, perhaps subsidized on a means-tested basis.
Doug Hatlelid North Vancouver
Going home
Re “Understand?” (Letters, Jan. 27): I would look forward to one of Howard Greenfield’s regular contributions in your letters section, with their engaging, concise and astute commentaries on the issues of the day from which, as a fellow Montrealer, I also derived a small bit of reflected pride.
I happened to stumble upon Mr. Greenfield’s recent obituary. His missives will be missed by this reader.
Tony Sachs Montreal
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