Emissions are released from a smokestack at the Teck Mining Company's zinc and lead smelting and refining complex in Trail, B.C., on Nov. 26, 2012.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Under a cloud of smoke
Re “Canada’s wildfires were a top global emitter last year, research shows” (Aug. 29): Canada’s piece of the global emissions pie is now the fourth largest in the world because of our horrific forest fires. We carry a big responsibility to do something about that.
We must contribute significantly to reducing the excess of greenhouse gases that are causing us to warm at twice the rate of the rest of the world and that is causing the excessively dry conditions. How?
We must address the primary cause. We must not allow any new oil, coal or gas infrastructure, and we must ramp down production of fossil fuels fast.
The industry will not take the lead on this as long as there are incredible profits involved. It is up to our government to regulate the playing field and put our money into renewable energy sources and energy conservation innovations. We have no time to lose.
Valerie Endicott Toronto
Precious resource
Re “Calgary water restrictions return as new repairs begin” (Aug. 27): Some years ago, there was a break in the city water pipe near our house in Calgary. The water supply to our local neighbourhood was cut off completely for a few days until a city crew could make the repair. To compensate, the city parked a large water tank on the street, so we could fill pots and buckets to meet our needs. This was during the middle of winter, so a water supply trip was a chilly affair.
The experience made me realize how much water I had been wasting each day, casually leaving the water running while I brushed my teeth or prepared a meal. Since then I have been more careful about how I use this limited resource. As I read about Calgary’s water main issues today, I hope that people will be inspired to make water conservation a habit rather than a necessity.
Douglas Campbell Victoria
Slow train coming
Re “The people’s railway” (Letters, Aug. 29): A letter-writer claims that “anyone … knows that CN is a much better railway now than it was before being privatized in 1995.” That depends on your perspective.
In 1995, VIA’s fastest Montreal-Toronto passenger service was 3 hours 59 minutes, including a stop at Dorval. Today, with Canadian National Railway’s additional freight congestion and its dispatchers’ penchant for putting freight trains ahead of passenger trains, the fastest scheduled Montreal-Toronto service is 5 hours 5 minutes. Most trains take much longer because of freight congestion.
Today, we are talking about paying billions of dollars for a new high-frequency rail line that will bring Montreal-Toronto travel times back to 1995.
The privatized CN has been a success for shippers. For the travelling public? Not so much.
Jason Shron Markham, Ont.
Drug policy dangers
Re “Doug Ford is making a fatal mistake” (Opinion, Aug. 26): Thank you for publishing Matthew Larventz’s opinion piece on Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to put drug users at risk of losing their lives by closing safe consumption sites. It is wrong-headed thinking in every way, and Mr. Larventz cites the evidence when arguing for them to remain open.
Mr. Ford, don’t tell me that supervised consumption sites are unsafe for communities. When you say this, you are saying what I hear so often – “not in my backyard.” If sites are not located where users will access them, then they are useless. And what that attitude demonstrates is only ignorance, and fear.
The stigma laid upon people with addictions is literally killing them every single day. The decision to close safe consumption sites is indeed a fatal mistake. Mr. Ford, you can change your mind and reverse this terrible decision. You’ve done it before. Please listen to the facts, and reconsider the long-term impact on our communities and lives.
Deborah Gold Toronto
The pain of Matthew Larventz is palpable. A cry in the wilderness, asking to be heard by those in power. Excuse my cynicism. I expect that Ontario Premier Doug Ford will not be listening.
I live in Calgary, a city that has some of the highest death rates from drug overdoses in the country. Premier Danielle Smith, like Mr. Ford, has ignored all research-based evidence and is slowly, excruciatingly, closing all safe consumption sites in the province. She is touting the “Alberta model of recovery” as a standalone method of treating the addicted. Meanwhile, hundreds of my fellow citizens are dying in dark alleys and hotel rooms, abandoned by the very people elected to care for them.
This plays well with Ms. Smith’s political base, as is the case in Ontario. Both premiers can claim that they are doing something. But it is a failed and dismal effort that does not save lives, but exposes the vulnerable to even more danger because of unsafe, unregulated street drugs.
Linda Hunter Calgary
Sorry we’re closed
Re “Dressew’s closing has Vancouverites asking hard questions” (Opinion, Aug. 28): Marsha Lederman’s elegy for a Vancouver store in a troubled neighborhood is a stark alert as the battle over safe injection sites grows. She is right, that a wealthy society like ours has no business allowing drug use to ruin cities, neighbourhoods and lives.
Safe injections sites are described by some as life savers – which they are, in a sense. While statistics seem to vary depending on who is quoting them, it should be clear that allowing addicts to use in a controlled environment, with health professionals present and on watch, will prevent deaths from overdoses that might otherwise have happened.
But we should also acknowledge that the sites are really palliative care. We know that drug addicts die much sooner than the general population.
We should recognize that a safe injection system is a crucial, front-line defence both to addiction and to safe streets. But without the next stage – addiction recovery treatments – nothing is actually being accomplished. Men and women will still die before their time. Our neighbourhoods will become less and less liveable. And stores like Dressew will continue to close and leave those neighbourhoods to rot.
Tom Curran Prince Edward County, Ont.
Shots and more shots
Re “WHO says its deal with Israel will allow limited pauses in Gaza fighting for polio vaccinations” (Online, Aug. 29): The irony was not lost on me when I read about the plan to pause hostilities in limited areas of Gaza to allow for a polio vaccine campaign. First the children of Gaza are given potentially life-saving shots. Then the shooting starts again.
Don Langille Halifax
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