The Confederation Building is pictured through a window of West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 16.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Security clearance
Re “Political parties need to step up and fight foreign interference” (Editorial, June 14): Collusion with foreign powers by MPs unknown is a serious political and parliamentary matter. These MPs will likely be seeking re-election.
Therefore my suggestion is for each party leader to request, from all caucus members seeking a nomination, a certificate from Canada’s security agencies stating that they are not under investigation. Party leaders might wish to query MPs unable to provide certification.
This procedure would enhance the likelihood that MPs under scrutiny might wish to reconsider their options.
Monte McMurchy Toronto
Full circle
Re “Deporting Jaskirat Singh Sidhu lessens us as a country” (June 7): I’ve written to the Saskatchewan government suggesting that a fitting highway redesign would be the construction of a traffic circle to replace the intersection, with a memorial dedicated to the Humboldt Broncos hockey team in the middle.
A well-designed roundabout would eliminate the risk of another T-bone crash. But Saskatchewan did not seem interested, so I expect more of the same tragedies as traffic increases.
I presented the same idea to Manitoba after a 2023 bus crash near the town of Carberry (”Families, friends set to remember victims on anniversary of Manitoba bus crash” – June 10). There was a world of difference in the province’s response. I hope it will follow through with better intersection design and set an example for all provinces.
Those who design roads should bear some responsibility, as should those who ensure clear lines of sight at intersections.
John Newell Toronto
Don’t have a cow
Re “Cattlemen’s worries grow as Guelph slaughterhouse strike backs up supply chain” (Report on Business, June 10): We are told that “few people want to work in the difficult and unsavoury environment of a slaughterhouse.” Indeed, they don’t.
The federal job bank has information on jobs at the plant, including a position I saw posted in February with starting pay of $19.25 an hour. The job description begins as follows: “Slaughter livestock and remove viscera and other inedible parts from carcasses.”
The Globe reports that Cargill offered workers increases that total 16 per cent over four years. Let’s do the math: That offer would roughly increase a $19.25 hourly wage to the princely sum of $22.33 – by 2028.
Don LePan Nanaimo, B.C.
I genuinely feel for cattlemen. The costs against their investment are significant and Cargill seems to care little.
But perhaps it is time to skip the euphemistic language surrounding the “handling” (killing or slaughter) and “processing” (butchering) of cattle. I find it a sad comment on our use of sentient beings for food.
There is seeming concern over shipping animals further, as it is not good for animal welfare. But I am not sure the length of journey is an issue when being sent to one’s own death. I am under the impression that a stressed animal is likely to result in tougher meat.
It may be obvious that I stopped eating animals years ago.
Paul Moulton Brewster, N.Y.
Gut check
Re “Steady decline in youth hockey participation in Canada raises concerns about future of the sport” (Sports, June 12): As a former hockey coach, I agree that skyrocketing expenses have reduced hockey registrations. The other major factor is a fear of serious injury, with a threefold increase in risk due to body checking in rep hockey.
Hockey Canada should grasp the nettle and ban body checking at all levels of youth hockey. Evidence shows it exacts an enormous, avoidable cost without much benefit.
Furthermore, Hockey Canada should make its board membership more inclusive by adding persons with disabilities, a major deficit in its governance when there are thousands of Canadians with hearing, sight and walking impairment playing hockey and para hockey.
The elephant in the room is that some of them were disabled by a bodycheck in the first place.
Bill Barrable CEO, Praxis Spinal Cord Institute; Vancouver
Fair fees
Re “New fee for streaming companies serves Canadian interests at Americans’ expense, U.S. says” (Report on Business, June 7): Canada has more than 60 years of history regulating broadcasters that have contributed large amounts toward Canadian content. U.S. streaming companies taking market share from Canadian broadcasters should pay their fair share to support Canadian news and cultural industries.
Perhaps the 5-per-cent fee should be smaller. But the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council’s idea, that U.S. companies should not have to “fund the work of people in another country,” is the kind of self-serving mischaracterization we see too often from American partisans.
Jeremy Thorn Northern Bruce Peninsula, Ont.
From the ashes
Re “Loss of historic St. Anne’s Anglican Church in Toronto ‘catastrophe for Canadian architecture’” (June 10): That dome was absolutely stunning. One of my favourite buildings in the world.
The cultural, artistic and heritage loss is massive. For the congregation and community, it is awful.
I can only hope that a massive fundraising effort and government support similarly do what is being done for Notre-Dame in Paris. Redo the dome: not by copying the Group of Seven, but with a top-flight group of 10 contemporary Canadian artists of all cultural backgrounds.
David Ferry Toronto
One of a kind
Re “Magical thinking: On artistic inspiration in the age of AI” (Opinion, June 8): It is argued that what human artists do is no different from what generative (or, more properly, regurgitative) artificial intelligence can do, which “has exposed a fundamental truth about the creative act – that creativity never did emerge from own special souls.”
Well, yes, up to a point all art, and all artists, begin with imitation. Art, like all other human activities, exists in a matrix of what came before.
But feed all of Mozart and Haydn into an AI model and the result would be more Mozart-ish music – never Beethoven. AI can copy, but it takes a Beethoven to create something new, revolutionary and all his own.
Andrew Leith Macrae Toronto
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.)
Why do I write letters? Answering that could be a lengthy essay about the psychological need to connect with others, to have one’s say, to get things off one’s chest and just to fulminate. Let’s just say I get a kick out of writing them and a bigger kick when they’re published.
The changes I’ve seen on the Letters page, naturally enough, reflect changes in Canadian society. But only to a degree. The Globe has always tried to publish letters that come from different perspectives or offer something thought-provoking.
The rise of populist politics isn’t often reflected because populists in general have little to say, but make a point of saying it over and over at high volume. I’m grateful to The Globe for weeding out most of those letters, but they do crop up occasionally in the interest of diverse opinions.
That’s what I like about the letters page.
Steve Soloman Toronto
The letters are my go-to page after doing, or trying to do, the sudoku to wake me up. What I like are their humour, references to songs, sayings and brevity.
I’m always surprised, but thrilled, to have my letters published, it makes my day. Writing letters I find fun, and an outlet for my thoughts. I definitely wish I take more time to edit my letters, but I seem to react quickly.
Each birthday and Christmas, I write a letter to my sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I feel fortunate to have computer skills, which makes writing easier than pen and paper.
Marianne Freeman Vancouver
I write letters because I enjoy the demands of concise expression. It’s the joy of composing short verse; I rarely reach the 150-word limit.
I remember with fondness The Globe’s confirmation calls. It’s long discontinued, but at one time it was an institution.
You ring me up. An editor says, warmly, “Hello, I’m calling from The Globe and Mail to confirm you sent a letter.”
I say, “Yes I did, thank you.”
Then the response: “We’re considering it for inclusion in the paper.”
The call would make me merry all day; almost always it meant the letter would be printed. And it had the power to double the pleasure: anticipation of publication, coupled with publication itself.
Gideon Forman 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