Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com
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Prime residence?
It's a sad state of affairs when some of those appointed to provide sober second thought cannot understand what almost every other Canadian would if asked: What is your prime residence?
Garry DeGeer, Toronto
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Mike Duffy appears to justify his behaviour by pointing fingers at the government and a lack of clear rules on expenditures. What about personal responsibility, integrity and respect for not only what the Senate is supposed to stand for but, most importantly, respect for the taxpayer?
The only innocent party here is the long-suffering taxpayer.
Delia Schoor, Toronto
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In my experience, whenever you submit an expense report there is someone who verifies its validity before approving the claim.
Where is the thorough scrutiny of senators' expenses? Without that, an open invitation exists to take full advantage.
Kathleen Hanna, Picton, Ont.
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It appears from testimony at Mike Duffy's trial that rules around residency requirements for senators were loose and therefore potentially open to abuse for gain – albeit small, in the scheme of things. There is, however, another aspect to the issue – the elephant in the room. The Senate is populated on a regional basis.
The challenge for those who appoint people to the Senate is that the accomplished, prominent people we would like to have as senators are likely not still living in these regional areas.
Said another way, to get the experience and depth required, individuals had to leave PEI or Saskatchewan for larger centres, where the power, experience and exposure is to be found.
They may have been from the region and can represent its sensibilities, but to require them to actually still live there full time is likely not realistic.
(Can you please provide me with anonymity from letter writers in Saskatchewan and PEI?)
John Madill, Oshawa, Ont.
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We need an inquiry
Re RCMP Confirms Controversial Statistics Used By Minister (April 10): It is well established that most murder victims are known to their killers and that many murders occur within family contexts. It would therefore not be surprising that a large proportion of aboriginal women are murdered by aboriginal men.
We need to know, however, the circumstances of the deaths of non-aboriginal women and their perpetrators to judge the significance of the figure of 70 per cent. What are the comparable figures for other groups in Canadian society over a comparable period?
The issue that strikes me is that 30 per cent of aboriginal women are killed by non-aboriginal people, one might suspect primarily men. And of the 1,181 missing and murdered aboriginal women we know little, except that in Vancouver, Winnipeg and The Pas there are many well-documented cases – and many that aren't.
There is much that we don't know, although there are dark suspicions. Despite what Stephen Harper's government has determined, a good many questions could be answered by an independent inquiry.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt, seeking support from the RCMP Commissioner to buttress a dangerously controversial statement without context, hardly allays those suspicions.
Graham Johnson, Vancouver
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The public's stake
Re Five Reasons To Stop Obsessing About Balanced Budget (online, April 9): Reason No. 6 is that unlike the way businesses or families manage their finances, government "deficits" do not separate out the purchase and sale of long-lived assets from ongoing operating revenue and expenses.
This leads to the absurd fire sale of assets like Highway 407 or Hydro One to make the numbers look good, in order to fool voters who aren't paying close attention.
It is time for governments to find a new method of accounting – one that is more transparent, accurate and less open to such abuses.
Brian Graff, Toronto
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The federal government used "hard-working taxpayers' " money to bail out General Motors during the 2008-09 recession. It has now sold that public stake to help balance its budget for this year.
The result? GM is happy. The Conservative government is happy. But what, exactly, have "hard-working taxpayers" gained from this shell game?
We've supported a private company, propped up a partisan government, but other than that we are no better off than before.
I'm sure I could balance my own budget by selling off everything I'd happened to own (or inherit), but this would hardly make me a good fiscal steward.
David Bright, St. Catharines, Ont.
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A letter writer, commenting on predictions by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, says: "Most economists are about as accurate as weather forecasters in making short-term predictions."
As a retired meteorologist, I take offence to being compared to economists. Weather forecasts, which are quite accurate in the near term (one to three days), are based on sound physical principles. The economy is entirely a human construct; as such, it is possible to structure it as economists wish. Hence economists should be able to predict its outcomes quite handily.
Richard Miller (meteorologist, retired), Mermaid, PEI
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Strange Fruit: 2015
James Adams reminded readers of the centenary of Billie Holiday's birth (Why Billie Holiday Is As Relevant As Ever – Life & Arts, April 7). She lived a short, difficult and troubled life.
We will never know if her greatness as a jazz singer was fuelled by her difficult experiences. But what we do know is that in 1939, she began singing what became her signature piece, Strange Fruit. It captured the lynching of a black man and was one of the most famous protest songs of that time.
One hundred years after Billie Holiday's birth, and on the same date, a white policeman in North Charleston, S.C., repeatedly discharged his weapon into the back of a fleeing black man, who had been stopped because his vehicle's tail light was out. We have to ask ourselves: What has really changed since 1939?
Steve Sanderson, Quispamsis, N.B.
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Raccoon vs. human
I struggled for two years with green bin locks. If those raccoons can figure them out, they deserve whatever benefit they get.
Murray Citron, Ottawa
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The thing with raccoons raiding the green bin is that they need to tip it over to get the goods.
When we lived in Toronto, I tried to secure the lid, but I think I actually saw a raccoon laughing at me as he dismantled my lame assembly. However, once I secured it to the exterior wall so it couldn't be tipped over, they were stymied.
Four hooks on your exterior wall – two on either side, top and bottom, with bungee cords or ropes making top and bottom tie-offs, so the bin can't be tipped over. Even raccoons don't want to dive into a hole with no exit. We lived right next to the Humber River valley and it worked.
Darryl Squires, Ottawa