Opposition supporters attend the 'Ganó Venezuela' opposition protest on Aug. 3, in Caracas.Jesus Vargas/Getty Images
Who cares?
Re “Other countries have taken a clear stand on Venezuela. Why hasn’t Canada?” (Aug. 7) and “Canada needs to call out Venezuela’s stolen election” (Editorial, Aug. 8): Canada’s response, such as it is, to the electoral crisis in Venezuela appears to be driven by both domestic and external factors.
First, Justin Trudeau has shown little interest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Perhaps he believes there are no votes in making the region a policy priority.
For the most part, he has permitted Chrystia Freeland to be the principal driver of Canada’s Venezuela policy. My guess is that she is waiting to see what others do first.
It is worth pointing out that the Biden administration eventually recognized Edmundo González as the president-elect of Venezuela. Now we wait to see whether the leaders of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico can convince President Nicolás Maduro to step aside. Fat chance.
In the end, though, I don’t think anyone really cares what Canada has to say about hemispheric affairs these days.
Peter McKenna Professor, department of political science, University of Prince Edward Island; Charlottetown
Bad reputation
Re “Let’s stop bashing Canada’s defence spending” (Aug. 1): There is a collective commitment in NATO to increase spending, in line with shared concerns about most notably Vladimir Putin, but also Chinese interest in the Arctic.
I suspect much of the cynicism among our allies about Canadian spending is not so much the actual number, but more so that our Prime Minister and Minister of Defence seem to think pronouncements about a submarine fleet to be delivered perhaps in eight years or more (and similar statements with no firm commitments) do not diminish our credibility.
Even more worrisome, neither leader seems to demonstrate any serious interest in our dedicated but thinly spread servicemen and servicewomen.
W. J. Anderson Orillia, Ont.
Private pros
Re “Don’t care for it” (Letters, Aug. 7): A letter-writer comments that those wanting private health care are mostly well-heeled. Likely, but they are also the people who pay the most in taxes, yet still can’t get health care when needed.
That’s why I took my son to Michigan to see an ear, nose and throat doctor: only a two-week wait, $200 fee, 45-minute appointment and encouragement from the emergency doctor who saw him in Canada. It was the best $200 I have ever spent.
Now, someone in Ontario just got bumped up in the line. You are welcome.
E.L. McDonald London, Ont.
A letter-writer asks why discussion focuses on private health care, which is more expensive. I’m not sure that is the case, but if the government is paying, say, $2,000 for a hip replacement, the private clinic is able to survive because it is more likely to be efficiently operated.
Where Canadian systems have run amok is with huge bureaucracies, both in government health ministries and hospitals. Shed the people who can make life miserable for care providers and hire more of the latter and we would make much progress.
Only if we do so would we then know whether we need to open up the whole system to private competition. It’s our money either way, rich or poor.
Tom Kent Seguin, Ont.
Electric future
Re “It’s a good thing that electric vehicles haven’t caught on yet – they’re inflationary” (Report on Business, Aug. 2): I believe the Big Three’s electric vehicle sales have plummeted for the reason that the production of EV versions of bloated SUV and pickup vehicles, which Detroit has convinced consumers they need for safety and status, is uneconomical.
Far behind on supply chain development, Detroit is not likely to catch up to foreign automakers coming out with smaller, lightweight EVs that are competitively priced, even without U.S. tax credits. Import tariffs on Chinese EVs may not keep smaller, more efficient EVs from generally appearing. So why not produce smaller EVs?
As for inflationary, what is inflationary about eliminating the costs of gasoline, repairs and maintenance, for almost nothing in electricity costs? Those savings alone should be worth a monthly loan payment.
EV adoption is proceeding at a nice clip, and EV owners are very pleased.
John Stonier CPA; president and principal consultant, Electric Advantage Systems; Vancouver
Missing in action
Re “Paris Olympics feel incomplete without the sporting event’s antagonist, Russia” (Sports, Aug. 6): The decision to exclude Russia from the Olympic Games was an unfortunate one. No athlete or country should ever be excluded from an international competition because of politics.
Sports represent what’s best in humanity. Something that is pure, clean and true should never be tainted by something that is not. Politics should have no business in sports.
Besides being a force for peace and for the good, sports help us forget that man is a political animal and remind us that man is, first and foremost, a social one.
Ronald Silley West Vancouver
Re “The COC owes Canadians the whole truth in wake of soccer and track scandals” (Aug. 7): Before Canadians rush out to buy hair shirts and obsess over the decline of Canadian values, it may be beneficial to remember that the two most recent coaches of the Canadian women’s soccer team implicated in this scandal are British. Meanwhile, the coach of Andre De Grasse is American.
If we continue to subcontract the coaching of Canadian Olympic athletes to non-Canadians, then we shouldn’t be surprised if their values do not mimic ours.
Ed White Toronto
Parisian charm
Re “In picture-perfect Paris, The Globe’s photographer stops to appreciate the mise-en-Seine” (Aug. 7): The Parisian backdrop has, indeed, contributed to the beauty and success of these Olympic Games. There is considerable irony, however, that the soaring and elegant Eiffel Tower is the centrepiece of it all.
When French engineer Gustave Eiffel won the bid to build the great iron edifice for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, many despised it. Just before construction was about to begin, some of France’s greatest artists, including Guy de Maupassant and Alexandre Dumas, wrote a letter of protest to organizers of the World’s Fair trying to stop its construction. They called the tower “the dishonour of Paris.”
Eiffel responded by saying, “I believe that the tower will have its own beauty.” History has proved him right.
The Eiffel Tower mesmerizes all who see it, and the architectural masterpiece has watched over these Olympics as an elegant piece of the city and its history, connecting with people the world over.
J. D. M. Stewart Toronto
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