Thanks? No thanks
Re Graceless Goodbye (editorial, June 17): It was Dalton McGuinty who slunk out of Queen's Park, first resigning as Ontario's premier and then as an MP. His legacy of a dysfunctional relationship with teachers, a rural landscape marred by wind turbines and a provincial debt we can't afford to service is not the measure of – and these are your words – "a successful politician."
It is certainly not deserving of our thanks for his service.
Richard Holland, Grafton, Ont.
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Could you please advise, in the minds of The Globe's editorialists, how many billions a premier must be seen to have wasted not to deserve a "thank you" from the taxpayers and other citizens of his or her province?
Peter E. Rutherford, Mont Tremblant, Que.
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Verizon? Hm
Re Verizon Eyes Wireless Entry As Ottawa Aims To Salvage Competition (Report on Business, June 17): Isn't Verizon one of the carriers that is at the heart of the metadata storm in the U.S., where President Barack Obama is busy denying the government is listening in on citizens' calls?
Canada may want to rethink this. Just saying.
Karen Holmes, Oakville, Ont.
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More than gender
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin says that "When you get three or four women on a court of nine ... suddenly gender doesn't even become an issue" (Meet Canada's Longest-serving Chief Justice – June 15). Gender is not the issue – patriarchal attitudes are the issue. Women can be as patriarchal as men.
Having white women in positions of leadership – particularly those with patriarchal views – does not equal diversity. It's a diversity blind spot that white women fear having revealed. More women of "other ethnicity" and less patriarchal attitudes from women already in positions of power might be the next "conversation" that's needed.
Kevin Smith, Tung Chung, Hong Kong
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Sex's appeal
Re Are You Horny? If Not, You Have A Problem! (June 15): The use of male sexual-potency-enhancement drugs such as Cialis and Viagra might indicate that the standard of male potency – against which women are falsely judged – is itself an illusion. Women's sexuality and morality traditionally have been defined by males; they change when it is convenient to a male-ordered society.
But broadly speaking, perhaps a legitimate and overlooked "mental illness" besetting both modern men and women is the need to be defined as "normal" by being someone you aren't.
Doris Wrench Eisler, St. Albert, Alta.
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Sex for sale
Re Prostitution, Power (letters, June 17): What's so wrong about an entrepreneur starting up a business in which she offers personal services for income? The letters to the editor on prostitution seem to imply that the sex worker or her customer are doing something wrong. And is it not just that attitude that makes the Robert Picktons of the world feel justified in doing what they do?
Andy Mulcahy, Victoria
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Perceptions of Pride
Re Sadly, We Still Need To Have Prideas (june 17): As Konrad Yakabuski points out, homosexuality remains a stigma in many parts of the world, including Canada, where 14 per cent of Canadians said they think it is unacceptable. (How many others privately think the same?) He concludes that "Pride, for all its in-your-face tediousness, has yet to outlive its purpose."
Not so fast. Tedious, yes – but offensive, too.
Pride does the homosexual community at large no favours when its members march in public, naked body parts flinging in all directions. My advice: "Cool it."
Jack Tennier, Toronto
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Principles, democracy
Re In Defence Of An Appointed Senate (June 17): Is Mel Cappe suggesting we amend the Criminal Code to exclude "rule bending" and "abuse of privilege" for senators and politicians?
Who should differentiate between what is "really corrupt," versus collecting money by submitting erroneous expense accounts, billing for $16 orange juice, and claiming incorrect principal residences?
George Fleischmann, Toronto
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Twenty years ago, The Globe and Mail referred in an editorial to the politicians of our three major parties as a "cynical ring of kleptocrats" (Soft Soap – Aug. 28, 1993). What significant changes in the state of the Canadian kleptocracy does The Globe see today?
Michael J. Sidnell, Toronto
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Mel Cappe states clearly, eloquently and convincingly what I have always believed, but could never say as well. I don't want elected senators because that means that they will behave as, or be treated like, politicians seeking election.
I want successful, accomplished Canadians from a variety of backgrounds appointed to our Senate, thereby ensuring that it won't become a chamber of defeated politicians.
Three of the four senators who are in trouble were appointed by Stephen Harper. We absolutely require a PM who realizes that the quality of his or her appointments defines the future quality of governance provided by our Senate.
Jackie Stalker, Kingston
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David Suzuki, despite his demonstrated wisdom in many areas, displays a surprising level of naiveté in expecting that governments will represent the people's interests after those governments are elected (Principles Should Transcend Power – June 17). Politicians' interests lie in the ideology of their party, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper has so clearly demonstrated.
Michael Edwards, Bloomfield, Ont.
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A ripe old … 152?
Re World's Oldest Person And Oldest Man Ever, Dies In Japan At Age 116 (online, June 12): Thomas Parr was reportedly born in 1483 and, just before he died, was received by King Charles, who had heard about his longevity. The king listened to his tales of the reigns of the previous kings he had lived under and treated him to the rich food and alcohol at the palace, whereafter he soon died.
The king sent emissaries to research Parr's life to see if he really could be that old; they concluded that there seemed to be a great deal of consistency and support to his story. So Parr was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his tombstone records his age as 152.
W. G. Whitney, St. Albert, Alta.