Letters to the editor, June 15: ‘U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra claims America is a welcoming place. Really?'

Globe and Mail

9 hours ago

Re 'U.S. envoy says Canadians facing device searches, detainment at border 'not a pattern' ' (Online, June 7): U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra claims 'America is a welcoming place.' Really?
Sound hollow to me, coming days after 'Trump bans citizens of 12 countries from entering U.S., citing national security' (June 6). Banned not because of anything an individual might have done, but simply due to their nationality.
Eric LeGresley Ottawa
Re 'Massive fires burning across Alberta have helped put climate change back on the G7 agenda' (June 12): Senior Trump administration officials employ phrases such as 'secular, woke religion' to describe climate change, part of their justification for gutting environmental regulations. This resembles to me the reactionary part of the Vatican when, in 1633, it tried and condemned Galileo for the heretical view that the Earth is not the centre of the solar system.
As contributor Arno Kopecky previously points out ('Canada's air and water at risk as Trump administration guts environmental rules' – Opinion, May 31), carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from 313 parts per million in 1958 to 427 ppm today. A measure of 450 ppm, which we are projected to reach in 2034 or 2035, is associated with 2 C of warming, which is also when scientists anticipate that we will start tripping uncontrollable feedback loops.
When we cross our first tipping point, it could well demarcate the beginning of a climate apocalypse that Donald Trump and co. blithely dismiss.
Patrick Wolfe Victoria
Re ' 'National interest' must not be defined by economic interests alone. It must also reflect the rights of Indigenous peoples' (June 11): What better way to send a message to the U.S. President than to announce at the G7 that Canada's first ministers and Indigenous leadership affirm our commitment to Canada – with a focus on First Nations treaty rights and internal trade.
Although some leaders might believe and act otherwise, First Nations treaty rights are constitutionally protected. These rights, which belong as much to you and I as to First Nations peoples, bind us together in ways that make internal trade possible, which trade by itself could never achieve. Otherwise, we'd still be a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company.
So why does the Prime Minister seem to be relegating treaty rights to backroom dealings? In response to Donald Trump's insults, they deserve marquee billing.
Treaties should not be seen as obstacles to nation-building; they embrace the values which make us a nation, distinct and different from our American cousins.
David Roddick Toronto
Re 'Bus-only lanes can irritate drivers, but they help city dwellers share limited space' (Opinion, June 7): Please take blame away from the poor Uber drivers and delivery people. And stop with the trope that all bus riders take transit for environmental reasons.
We should have more subways in downtown Toronto. We are not in the suburbs of Richmond Hill.
What I see are public transit planners who have been horrible at their jobs, and have no choice but to implement a stop-gap measure that will likely destroy urban neighbourhoods.
Apologies to Jane Jacobs: They screwed up.
Rob Watson Toronto
Contributor Jarrett Walker broke the first rule of consulting: Never give great advice away for free. We owe him a debt of gratitude.
Advocating for 'transit priority' seems like common sense, but it also fundamentally contravenes what seems to be Doug Ford's 'common sense' belief that cars are God's gift to mankind.
Timely, reliable public transportation would be the least expensive way to fight traffic congestion, improve urban living and reduce the impact of climate change. If, as stated, our city planners are aware of the public's reluctance to accept change, then we should get our politicians, and then the motoring public, onside to see that change is indeed common sense.
I look forward to a photo op of the Premier getting to work faster on transit than by his car convoy.
Len Ashby FCMC, Toronto
Re 'Problematic smartphone use resembles a behavioural addiction, researchers say' (June 9): I read this after being without computer access for two days – days filled with failed short-term efforts to read (but the book was interesting the day before), jittering efforts to watch the Blue Jays (where last week it was a settle-in-for-two-hours pleasure), frenetic tidying and searching out recipes (suddenly I'm a neat freak or a cook?) and rummaging through on-demand television offerings.
The 1955 Frank Sinatra flick The Man with the Golden Arm appealed.
Ab Dukacz Mississauga
Re 'Eleven mystery novels for your summer reading list' (Arts & Books, June 7): True confessions: Contributor Margaret Cannon's book reviews are my favourite part of the weekend Globe and Mail. I have been reading and saving them since my retirement 23 years ago.
We seem to have a similar affinity for well-plotted murder mysteries. Recently I finished my 1,728th read: Murder your Employer (2023) by Rupert Holmes. (Not on Ms. Cannon's list, I believe; catchy title.)
Thanks to Ms. Cannon. She is an inspiration.
Edie Lewis Brantford, Ont.
Re 'Day of the Jackal thriller writer worked as an informant for MI6″ (Obituary, June 10): I was saddened to read about the death of Frederick Forsyth. It was not only his spy novels that made him a household name in Canada, but also his story of a young British pilot trying to get home for Christmas.
The Shepherd will be known to thousands of Canadian families, as it was read by Al Maitland on the CBC every Christmas eve. It has become a part of our family tradition on Dec. 24 to stop everything and be mesmerized by his incredible telling of this Christmas eve story.
Andy Thomson Toronto
Re 'Sunday morning' (Letters, June 7): A good reverend and letter-writer believes nature is 'God's first scripture' where we may go to find sanctuary.
Ever since Victorian times, the Garden of Eden myth has been exploded, leading to some existential despair. In Michel Houellebecq's The Elementary Particles (1998), a character watches a whole host of atrocities play out on a nature documentary every week, leading to his conviction that 'nature, taken as a whole, was a repulsive cesspit.'
I often partake in the therapeutic benefits of what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. But the 'spirit' involved is likely something very different than we'd like to believe.
Luc Bouchet Calgary
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