Karla Homolka. Today’s topics: Haunted by Homolka; the shameful reality for Canada’s first nations; coal as fuel; the right stuff and the men of Stromness; convocation wisdom ... and more
Haunted by Homolka
I felt ill, literally ill, reading that Karla Homolka is "still wary of strangers" (Karla Homolka Lives In Guadeloupe And Has Three Children, New Book Reveals – online, June 22).
After what she admitted doing to Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, she has good reason to know what evil strangers can bring. Not that being a relative did anything to help her sister.
At the time, I had two daughters the same age as her victims. All these years later, just the mention of her name makes me feel queasy.
The only thing comforting about this story is that she is living so far away. Let's hope it stays that way.
Mary Robertson, Toronto
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So Karla Homolka lives in Guadeloupe and has three children. Why on earth do we need to know that?
Dick Moutray, Kitchener, Ont.
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Shameful reality
National Chief Shawn Atleo is overly optimistic when he says Canadians are more willing to recognize the need for change after media attention has focused on the dire conditions in places like Attawapiskat (Atleo Slaps Back At Challengers – June 22).
Contrast his statement with that of James Bartleman, former lieutenant-governor of Ontario. After discussing the important role first nations played as allies to the English in the War of 1812, he said: "And today, Canadians don't want to know when told that the government provides less funding for the education of native children on reserve than it does for the children of mainstream society. They avert their eyes when told native youth in despair at their marginalization from society are taking their lives at astounding levels on isolated reserves in Northern Ontario."
The sad and shameful reality is that first nations can't count on public opinion leading to greater social justice for their young people. Parliamentarians study aspects of the situation, but little changes. Contenders for the position of national chief of the Assembly of First Nations face very tough choices in their efforts to address the poverty that exists in too many first nation communities.
Scott Serson, Ottawa
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Baby and salary
Re Baby Before Salary? (Life, June 22): Women can have both – children and a fulfilling career. I know of a woman who gets homeless and mentally ill people off Toronto and Hamilton streets and into homes, who gets them the care they need. She's held AIDS babies, found clients dead, gone into crack houses, dealt with prostitutes, answered distress calls at 2 a.m. and much more.
On top of this, she has three kids and a husband. She gets paid poorly for her work but does it because she loves her people and they deeply appreciate her. She will never make the news or win any prizes from celebrities. She goes about her job quietly, humbly and without media attention.
She will never be famous. Kim Kardashian is. Who is more fulfilled?
Byron Perry, Burlington, Ont.
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Malaysia's leader
Mark MacKinnon's article (A Roster Of The Modern Autocrats – June 9) states that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is a "false democrat."
In just three years, Mr. Razak has repealed Malaysia's colonial-era Internal Security Act, ended the 60-year state of emergency, introduced measures to increase media freedom, reformed the Universities and University Colleges Act, created the Peaceful Assembly Act, announced a review of the Sedition Act, repealed the Banishment Act and the Restricted Residences Act and implemented a raft electoral reforms – an impressive track record by anyone's standards.
Mr. MacKinnon describes Malaysia as a country where the government "hold(s) elections but [has] no intention of giving up power." This view does not tally with the fact that the opposition won an unprecedented number of seats in the last election. Next time round, Malaysians will again be free to choose who they want to lead their country – and while the Prime Minister takes nothing for granted, he hopes he will be given a mandate to continue Malaysia's transformation.
Ahmad Rozian Abdul Ghani, Undersecretary, Department of Information and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia
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Dirtiest fossil fuel
Clean coal. It has a nice ring to it. It is unfortunate that the term could not be further from the truth (Coal: The Rising Star Of Global Energy Production – Report on Business, June 20).
Burning coal for power generation emits numerous harmful components, including fine particulates, acid aerosols, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury; coal also emits substantially greater quantities of CO2 than using natural gas for electricity generation.
Burning coal contributes to air pollution, which leads to increased hospital admissions and premature deaths. At a time when humanity faces the daunting challenge of climate change, encouraging the use of the world's dirtiest fossil fuel hails from a bygone era.
Jordan Golubov, MD, Kitchener, Ont.
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'Right stuff' rigours
Re Beyond The Water Of Life (Life, June 21): Orkney Islanders played an important role in the formation of Canada, hundreds of years ago.
As Peter C. Newman explained in his book, The Company of Adventurers, the ships of the Hudson's Bay Company would routinely stop off in the Orkneys before setting out across the Atlantic. There they not only took on provisions, but also manpower. Many of the "factors" stationed in remote trading posts throughout the company's overseas domain (which later became Northern and Western Canada) came from the Orkney port town of Stromness.
Apparently the HBC brass found that men conditioned to the rugged lifestyle in the Orkneys had – to use Tom Wolfe's phrase – the "right stuff" for long, arduous postings in remote locations in the Hudson's Bay watershed.
The Stromness men's ability to carry on under such conditions was key to the long-term success of the HBC, laying the groundwork for the eventual creation of Canada.
George Parker, Cobourg, Ont.
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The difficult bit
Surely a few more words of advice from graduation ceremonies are worth a letter or two (Unease, Uncertainty Cloud Words Of Wisdom For Class Of 2012 – June 16). I have always found appealing this one from Robertson Davies, the esteemed author and man of letters. The sage advice was rendered in 1973, at Bishop Strachan School in Toronto. His words hold even more weight now in the age of all manner of gadgets.
"What you must do is to spend 23 hours of every day of your life doing whatever falls in your way whether it be duty or pleasure or what is necessary for your physical well-being but – and this is the difficult thing – you must set aside one hour of your life every day for yourself in which you attempt to understand what you are doing. Now you think that sounds easy – you try and find out."
J.D.M. Stewart, Toronto