Letters to the editor, Aug. 17: ‘If Canada was a business … it would be bankrupt'

Globe and Mail

14 hours ago

Re 'Nuclear threats, Ukraine's fate cast long shadow as Putin, Trump prepare to meet' (Aug. 8): The Russian and Chinese navies carried out 'a joint drill in which they practised hunting and destroying an enemy submarine.' As a former surface ship sonarman in the Royal Canadian Navy, I can say with some authority that Western allies have been regularly doing this very thing for decades.
If asked during the 1960s, the Navy would have admitted that antisubmarine warfare was our raison d'être. Indeed when, a few years into my career, I served in Canada's submarine service, a major part of our job was to act as a target for allied forces trying to hone their skills.
It should be noted that in those war games, the submarines usually won.
Gord Hunter Regina
Re 'Ontario universities must be released from their financial chokehold' (Aug. 11): I believe educating our youth is of paramount importance, and entrance fees must be affordable for all. Allowing our institutions to increase fees as needed would produce a U.S. model of unaffordable postsecondary education.
Ontario and Canada are prioritizing government dollars for health care for older citizens over accessible education for the young. This makes no sense to me when about nearly three-quarters of all health care dollars are spent on patients over 60, while a similar amount of all personal wealth is in the hands of the same 60-plus crowd, including myself.
It is time to start asking us old folks to open our wallets and free up public funds for better university access. Those who are not affluent can be dealt with under the tax system to support their needs.
If Canada was a business, with inadequate focus on rebuilding its workforce, it would be bankrupt.
David Parkes Ottawa
Re 'Ontario labour group urges more worker protections amid rising air quality concerns' (Online, Aug. 6): Good for the Ontario Federation of Labour for taking the threat of wildfire smoke seriously and pushing for stronger worker protections. We find ourselves in a time of rapid change, and our policies and procedures should adapt accordingly.
I think it's also worth taking a moment to reflect on how summer air quality is now a mainstream concern in Southern Ontario. As recently as three years ago, many would have found the OFL's advocacy radical. 'Smoke days' have only been a regular occurrence here since the summer of 2023.
We can sit and ponder the reasons why wildfire season has gotten so much worse, but the science points pretty convincingly toward climate change.
Let's remember that smoky skies in Toronto aren't some freak occurrence. If we want to stop this situation from getting much, much worse, we need to fight climate change, and that means reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
Mary Blake Rose London, Ont.
Re 'It's not a bird! It's a Super Scooper plane, Canada's most powerful waterbombing tool to fight against wildfires' (Opinion, Aug. 9) and 'You can't fly sovereignty on foreign fuel' (Aug. 14): Thanks for publishing creative proposals to shake us out of the plodding complacency that won't cut it any longer in this time of multiple crises.
We could use canola oil produced by tariff-battered Prairie farmers to ramp up production of low-emission aviation fuel. At the same time, we desperately need more water bombers to fight forest fires that threaten to become a permanent feature of summer; Canada produces one of the world's best in the 'Super Scooper.'
Foreseeing an increase in global demand for water bombers and low-emission fuels, let's invest in our farmers and aerospace sector, strengthening our economy while combatting both the main cause and worst effects of that other existential crisis: climate change.
Norm Beach Toronto
Re 'Toronto the Grind: Making your way around has never been such a slog' (Opinion, Aug. 9): I think most everybody can agree that, at base, the issue comes down to having either condo construction at a breakneck pace, or the ability to travel around Toronto more seamlessly. We can't have both.
Many voices have urged solutions to the traffic problem for years while still being able to build condos, but I find that all these ideas just nibble around the edges. Ultimately, it appears that the 'leadership,' developers and majority of the city's politicians have made one choice in favour of erecting condos – and I believe the vast majority of citizens have made the opposite choice.
Ross Hollingshead Toronto
I'm always struck by how those who once lived in Toronto, when returning after a long period away, invariably talk traffic chaos. Why is it that those of us who live here simply put up with it and don't demand change and progress?
It feels like millions of us are simply the frog in the pot on the stove. We've been in the hot water so long, we've simply accepted it. We shouldn't.
Traffic chaos should be an absolute priority at city hall.
Stephen Kouri Toronto
Blaming Toronto traffic and transit woes on a lack of leadership feels rather a cop-out. Whose leadership?
When Toronto consults with residents and produces plans to deal with transportation or housing issues, they most often get shot down by the province. These decisions are then almost always upheld by the courts because, after all, the city 'is a creature of the province.'
The province ordering the city to rip out bike lanes? More than 14 years (and counting) for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT? Historic underfunding of public transit? Road and construction deadlock? In whose mind is that acceptable transportation planning for a big city?
Unless Toronto has real power under the Constitution to make its own decisions and real authority to raise needed funds, the power and politics and blame games between the city, the province and the feds will continue.
And so will Toronto's transportation and transit woes.
Monica Franklin Toronto
Poor planning, political meddling and financial profligacy has steadily degraded nearly all methods of mobility in and around Toronto. Rather than focusing on transit improvements by studying global best practices and optimizing modal integration, it seems our provincial government has a better answer: Make space for more cars and spend tons of taxpayer money in the process – for what?
This populist, tail-chasing process ensures that mobility woes remain entrenched. Exacerbating the problem is that new public transportation infrastructure costs in Toronto are among the highest in the world on a per-kilometre basis, and involved provincial departments seem to be doing little to correct this. Who is accountable for the fact that the three-stop Scarborough subway extension cost has now doubled from $5.5-billion to $10.2-billion?
Making Toronto into a world-class city would mean replacing populism with foresight and pragmatism, by investing rather than spending. We continue to suffer the consequences.
Kenneth Westcar Woodstock, Ont.
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