Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. president Donald Trump gestures during the Republican National Convention, July 15, in Milwaukee.Matt Rourke/The Associated Press
Channel change
Re “A gift from gunshots: Donald Trump gets a picture-perfect campaign moment” (July 16): I wish journalists would stop predicting and encouraging the rhetoric that Donald Trump will return to the White House. Instead, there should be an emphasis on his disgraceful conduct, corruption and crimes, which seem to have been washed away by partisan judges.
And now there is more news to impart: the character and words of his vice-presidential running mate J.D. Vance. It’s all too scary, and it should be repeated over and over again to warn people of what’s in store for the future.
Marianne Freeman Vancouver
Many, I expect, would prefer that your next article concerning U.S. politics be published Nov. 6 advising who won the election. Imagine how much space that would free up in the meantime.
At present, to quote Macbeth, much of the coverage is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Peter Hambly Hanover, Ont.
Us vs. them
Re “A Liberal tax windfall that could cost Canada dearly” (Editorial, July 13): You did a fine job of making the case for a Canadian digital services tax. So I was disappointed when you more or less conclude that Canada should instead cower in the face of American threats.
Could Canada have a little spine, please? Bullies should be faced down, whether Russian, Chinese – or American. And no, it will not be painless.
Jim Paulin Ottawa
Well spent?
Re “Industry should reduce number of carbon capture hubs for Alberta, ATCO says” (July 9): The idea of capturing anything, including carbon, once it has been released into the environment should be a non-starter because of the amount of energy required to recapture it. That does not even include the enormous upfront carbon footprint of building such facilities.
Nine million tonnes of carbon captured since 2015 is a drop in the bucket. Stop wasting money; put the resources into generating solar power instead.
Nigel Bunce Guelph, Ont.
Math problem
Re “Canada’s next housing crisis: Who is going to build millions of new homes?” (Report on Business, July 13): As pointed out, Canada simply cannot build the 3.9 million net-new houses required by 2031 to alleviate the housing crisis.
Couple that with urban planning orthodoxy which prohibits new home construction on suburban greenfields, and the situation is even more dire. Why? Because urban densification almost always results in the loss of existing housing to redevelopment.
For example, replacing 20 single-family homes with 80 townhomes results in only 60 (75 per cent) net-new housing units. At that optimistic new-unit ratio, Canada needs to build 4.9 million homes by 2031 to achieve housing affordability.
Given that Canada’s 2023 housing starts were only 240,000, biologist Thomas Huxley (with apologies) said it best: It is “the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.”
Andrew Bond Central Saanich, B.C.
Lesson plan
Re “Back-to-basics education is having a moment” (July 10): I remember well when it wasn’t.
In the 1980s, I worked in a consultant role with a large Ontario board. It was in those most holy days of whole-language instruction.
I happened upon a “special edition” of the journal Exceptional Children that examined the research on effective teaching. What works? In a nutshell, as the series of articles roundly concluded, direct instruction works.
I promptly invited one of the article writers to conduct a seminar on her DI approach at the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction in Utah. It was a tough sell, inviting this phonics-teaching fox to the whole-language henhouse. Just another page in the never-ending feud between whole-language and direct teaching.
In the end, I’m thinking columnist Gary Mason nails it: the idea that good teaching involves both.
Rob Kerr Guelph, Ont.
Back to basics? Why does everyone think reading, writing and mathematics are the basics?
I find it useless for students to have those skills if they don’t also know how to ask questions, sift through facts to make useful conclusions and evaluate their own skill levels. If schools teach to the test, students will likely pass. That is a low bar.
Effective education is so much more than the transfer of information. Creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving are basic skills and can’t be accurately measured by written tests.
Kathleen Moore, EdD, Toronto
Real life
Re “Alice Munro still belongs on your bookshelf” (July 15): I believe Alice Munro’s transgressions, along with her role in society, have everything in common with those of Jean Vanier.
Her art seemed to show us that she “got” these unspeakable things that happen between humans. But it’s now apparent that she herself was complicit in the worst type of betrayal possible, and in its justification by the perpetrator.
I can never read her work the same way again.
Anne Francis Toronto
Alice Munro‘s legacy is the body of her work as an unexcelled short story writer. Period.
Others may judge her character and personal life if they wish, but take care of the biblical admonition of “judge not, lest ye be judged,” which has the wisdom of the ages behind it. Let’s not judge authors and other artists, medical professionals or even politicians on their personal lives, but on the quality of their works and service.
On the public stage, that’s all that should matter. And keep one’s moralizing to one’s self.
Mike Priaro Calgary
Discussions about Alice Munro’s work raise an old, fraught question about the relationship between artists and their products.
Should we hold artists accountable for their life decisions in relationship to their accomplishments? It boils down to how one conceives of the relationship between art and life. Either art is an aesthetic construct to be judged purely by technical measures, or it is some form of truth-telling, with the maker communicating fundamental values about life.
For me, art is an important purveyor of essential values. So Ezra Pound being endowed with the Bollingen Prize in 1949 for The Pisan Cantos was a profound betrayal of art’s function in society to convey ethical and moral mores.
Ms. Munro’s writing drew from her life. Now what are the values presented, given her life choices?
May instructors guide students to contemplate the darkness in her work in the context of art safeguarding humanity.
Rachelle Lerner Toronto
I believe the ultimate betrayal resides with those “in the industry” who knew and kept silent – the enablers.
Elizabeth Caskey Vancouver
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