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Going to pot
The tangled web the Conservative government has created for itself with medicinal marijuana is a Pythonesque classic in the ability of ideologues not being able to see the forest for the, er, weed (Anti-Pot Policies Help Industry Grow, July 3). Isn't capitalism all about supply and demand? About filling gaps where entrepreneurs spot them? About letting the market decide?
Maybe there should be a monument to the champions of capitalism – something along the lines of Mount Rushmore, with an "outraged" Rona Ambrose (hair standing on end) and a stone-faced Stephen Harper carved in ... hmmm, maybe clay?
Heather MacAndrew, Victoria
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Advocates of unregulated marijuana dispensaries argue that these storefront operations are necessary to meet the needs of medical cannabis patients, and that the product they sell is safe. Neither argument is true.
Canada's medical cannabis system, operating under Health Canada regulation, works well. Patients can order a range of products from their choice of 19 licensed producers. Legal medical cannabis is quality controlled and inspected, guaranteed not to contain contaminants.
Unregulated dispensaries sell cannabis grown illegally, under unknown conditions, and without any of the protections patients require.
Municipal governments should understand the importance of supporting the legitimate, regulated market for cannabis as medicine, and not encourage the spread of illegal operations.
Neil Belot, executive director, Canadian Medical Cannabis Industry Association, Toronto
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Paying for transit
Re Voters Reject Sales-Tax Hike To Fund Transit (July 3): It is interesting that the cities experiencing the fastest population growth are having problems funding infrastructure to support their boom. I suspect the problems go beyond the lack of adequate public transit. Sewage treatment, water supplies, schools and health care are other areas that are likely being stretched beyond capacity.
Experts say that Canada needs more people to maintain a robust economy, and the increase in tax revenue from the expanded population will offset rising costs. So why are the major Canadian centres looking for extra funding for public transit beyond the taxes already in place?
Bill Bousada, Carleton Place, Ont.
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Vancouver-area voters have not been flummoxed or fooled, but have wisely decided not to throw good money after bad by denying TransLink, the regional transit authority, the opportunity to waste billions of dollars. I've seen no sign that TransLink knows the difference between spending and investing. Polite language fails.
Zave Shapiro, Victoria
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Gary Mason's assessment of the Vancouver transit referendum is bang on (How Not To Hold A Referendum, July 3). The blame for this lies squarely at the door of the provincial government, forcing a referendum on public transit when none was needed to widen Highway 1 or to build a new bridge to replace the Massey Tunnel.
Like the Socreds before them, this Liberal government is committed to pouring concrete, not building tracks. You want a highway or bridge, you'll get it. If you want public transit, you are on your own. What a short-sighted vision!
Dorothy Watts, Vancouver
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Every referendum is a good democratic exercise. All levels of government – municipal, provincial, federal – should have compulsory referendums on any budget item that is expected to increase by a set amount (say, double the rate of inflation).
This would force the political machinery to transparently argue the merits in a convincing way, require the opponents to openly make their case, and the voter-taxpayer to pay attention, decide, and then pay the piper (pro or con).
Paul Bennett, Orillia, Ont.
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No ID? No problem
Re Advocacy Groups Fear Voting Rules Are Unduly Difficult, July 3: Amid the controversy about the strict new voting rules, it's interesting to consider the policies of the Toronto Public Library, which clearly has a more realistic understanding of many people's lives than does Pierre Poilievre, the minister responsible for democratic reform.
To get a library card, a person has to demonstrate that he or she lives in Toronto (or pays municipal taxes). If you don't have a driver's licence, a passport, a utility bill or a bank statement to prove your residence, the library allows you to fill out a self-addressed post card, which is mailed to you and can be brought back to the library to prove residency – not so very different from the voter information cards that are no longer acceptable identification at the ballot box.
Elizabeth Hulse, Toronto
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Fish out of water
Fish may not audibly scream when they are impaled on hooks, but their behaviour provides evidence that they do suffer (Eighty-Pound Boy Lands 600-Pound Fish, July 3). Neurobiologists have long recognized fish have nervous systems that respond to pain. Researchers have found more than 20 pain receptors in the mouth and head of fish, and researchers at the University of Guelph concluded that fish feel fear when they are chased.
Although this white sturgeon was ultimately released, no doubt the two-hour ordeal it went through caused pain and fear. People need to think seriously about the ethics of catch-and-release fishing for entertainment and competition.
Barbi Lazarus, Toronto
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Look past heritage
Re Beacons Of Light, July 3: The millions of dollars spent on saving and preserving old lighthouses could instead be used to support new technologies such as wind power; technologies that take us away from our dependency on fossil fuels, that protect human health, safeguard biodiversity and have the potential, like the lighthouse, of saving lives.
Rather than look to the defunct object of the past, we should be sending "beacons of light" toward the future.
J. Popowich, New Westminster, B.C.
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In the driver's seat
Re Toronto Cabbies Threaten Pan Am Mayhem (July 3): I have just returned from London, England, where the Uber ride-sharing company is not very popular. Mostly because the London taxis are clean, the drivers are professional and (imagine this) they know where they are going. If Toronto taxi drivers have an issue with Uber, I suggest that they take a long look in the mirror for the cause.
Joe Shlesinger, Toronto
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Wanted: 500 Uber drivers in Toronto! Make significant $$$ and establish your territory while cabbies strike!
Larry Stefan, Vancouver