Canadians Michael Kovrig, right, and Michael Spavor, left, stand as they are recognized before an address from U.S. President Joe Biden in the Canadian House of Commons on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, on March 24.POOL/Reuters
Hush money?
Re “Ottawa prepared to pay millions in settlements to two Michaels” (Dec. 26): I sympathize with the hardship endured by the two Michaels. However, I disagree that the government should make them millionaires as a result.
If the government of Canada bears any responsibility for their detention, then it should be aired in court if Michael Spavor (or Michael Kovrig) sues. Accountability to Parliament and the Canadian people should not be perverted by secret deals and payments to shut the two Michaels up.
Any payment would suggest the government has something to hide (despite its claims that the Global Security Reporting Program is not a covert intelligence program) and give some credibility to Chinese claims of espionage.
Also, looked at from a very different angle: Are not the thousands of homeless Canadians relying on food banks and shelters equally or even more deserving of being made millionaires for their long and continuous hardship?
Stéphane Lefebvre Ottawa
China kidnapped these Canadians. Why is Canada paying them millions as compensation for being kidnapped?
Frank Johnson Winnipeg
What justification is there for the Canadian taxpayers to fund multimillion-dollar settlements to these gentlemen? Should the Canadian taxpayer fund awards to any individual detained by a foreign country? While we may empathize with the ordeal they endured, this seems absurd.
One can only wonder whether the incentive for the Canadian government is to suppress information that would otherwise be presented as evidence in a court of law should either of these individuals pursue a civil case.
Alan Gorman Sudbury
In the hole
Re “It’s time for an honest talk about our broken immigration system” (Report on Business, Dec. 23): When you’re in a hole, the first rule is to stop digging. Canada is currently in quite a few holes – most notably the health care hole and the housing hole.
No sane government would continue to add demands to these already overburdened areas. Yet that is exactly what our current government is doing. And no, that is not blaming immigrants or temporary foreign workers or foreign students for these problems. Like all the rest of us, they are the victims of bad government policy.
Patty Benjamin Victoria
Home necessities
Re “B.C. drafted a bold housing blueprint. The rest of Canada should copy it” (Editorial, Dec. 20): Plants and pipes – this issue needs significantly more attention. Without expanded sanitary and water capacity in place, there can be no shovels in the ground.
This is where federal funding can be the most effective. It should be directed to municipalities and upper-tier governments that build infrastructure, to expedite the process of getting new plants and pipes built.
Kevin Anderson Whitby, Ont.
Re “Bring on the standardized housing catalogue – we desperately need it” (Dec. 18): In 1947, my parents and their infant son moved into a wartime Victory home in Brantford, Ont. There came to be blocks of these “temporary” homes. I was born a couple of years later.
In 1953, my father prematurely died. My mother returned to the company she worked for during the war and was just able to pay the mortgage so we could stay in our home. She remained in that temporary home for more than 60 years until a year before she died in 2009.
That home kept my brother and I safe and warm while growing up with our mother. Thanks to the policy makers and builders of those wartime homes that remain functional and affordable.
That government is now thinking of repeating this model in some form is a good thing
Jane Darville Toronto
Black gold
Re “Canada must stop treating its Big Oil as some sacred cow” (Report on Business, Dec. 21): Canada’s oil and gas industry is our golden goose, and also the foundation of modern civilization.
People can cover their eyes and ears while chanting “solar panels and windmills” all they want, but that won’t build any hospitals, schools, housing – or even solar panels and windmills.
David Korchinski Calgary
Private matters
Letters to the editor often revolve around whether government activity should be devolved to the private sector. Are people ideologically opposed to the private sector, or do they like the status quo and are uncomfortable with change?
I think means-testing for the Canadian Dental Care Plan is terrific because wealthier people pay more (”All smiles?” – Letters, Dec. 24). The private sector also generally does a better job at running things (think the Phoenix pay system). And I don’t believe the Canada Health Act reflects how health care should be managed today; it should be put out to pasture.
On beer sales in Ontario (”How convenient” – Letters, Dec. 19), consumers should be entitled to freedom of choice. The province shouldn’t be one of the few jurisdictions in the Western world that doesn’t allow corner stores to sell alcohol.
I hope that challenges to the status quo will be even more frequent in your columns in 2024. The country needs that.
Adam Plackett Toronto
No. 21 in the program …
Re “All-powerful NFL steamrolls its way onto the Christmas schedule” (Sports, Dec. 23): Cathal Kelly’s column struck a chord.
In 1970, for Christmas, I was given Bobby Baun’s No. 21 Toronto Maple Leafs hockey sweater. I wore it all the time. This was before the days of the ubiquitous sweaters you see today with player names on them.
Mr. Baun retired in 1972, and in 1973 a young Swede named Borje Salming joined the Leafs and inherited No. 21. Many thought I was prescient when they saw my jersey; little did they know it was Mr. Baun’s sweater, not Mr. Salming’s.
To this day the hockey sweater hangs on a wall in my basement and, like Mr. Kelly’s Joe Montana practice jersey, I daren’t try it on, for the same reasons. Given that both Mr. Salming and Mr. Baun died this year, it hangs with greater poignancy.
Tim Sellers Toronto
Poor imitations
Re “Eye of the beholder” (Letters, Dec. 22): A letter-writer believes it doesn’t “really matter who, if not J.E.H. MacDonald, painted” fake oil sketches under his name. I suspect his opinion would change if it were his paintings that were copied and sold under false pretenses.
Originality matters.
Michael McQuay Hampstead Parish, N.B.
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