Without parole
Re New Law To Create Life Sentences Without Parole (online, March 4): The Prime Minister should stop campaigning on criminal justice issues that make great headlines but are void of reason and evidence to support them. The continuous campaign of fear promoted by this government is a stranger to reliable information and debate.
I suspect, however, that the tide is shifting in this country and many, no matter what party they support, are starting to ask: Why?
William Trudell, Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers
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Oil's harsh side
Decades of subsidization by resource wealth has created an unshakable sense of entitlement among Albertans (Prentice Warns Of Harsh New Fiscal Reality – March 4). The challenge Premier Jim Prentice faces is not to find a way to make up for billions of dollars in lost oil revenues. Implementing a consumption tax and adjusting income tax rates would eliminate the shortfall overnight.
The challenge lies in convincing four million truculent, resource-royalty welfare bums that henceforth they will have to pay in full for the services they demand.
I wish him luck. God knows, he's going to need it.
Jonathan Skrimshire, Pincher Creek, Alta.
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Jim Prentice is happily engaging in what Naomi Klein calls "disaster capitalism." He is toot-tooting along, warning Albertans daily about the dire circumstances engendered by the price of oil.
At the same time, he's threatening public-sector workers. Instead of creating a robust public sphere that will be able to withstand the ups and downs of corporate oil, he'll decimate that sphere so that it is unrecognizable. Meanwhile, compare Alberta's low royalties to those collected elsewhere in the world. Where are the creative solutions? It's same old, same old.
Cathy Harrop, nurse, Canmore, Alta.
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Netanyahu's pitch
Here's my recap of Benjamin Netanyahu's speech (Netanyahu's Historic Speech Shines Spotlight On Iran – March 4): With the Israeli election two weeks away, Israel's Prime Minister stood before Congress and declared it was never his intention that his speech be perceived as "political." Hmm.
He said a deal between the U.S. and Iran is dangerous because it would pave the way for a Middle East "littered with nuclear bombs." This from the PM of a country that has nuclear weapons – not to mention that he gave the same warning in 1992, 1995, 2002, 2009 and 2012.
Mr. Netanyahu stood on American soil and publicly criticized the strategy of President Barack Obama; Congress responded with 26 standing ovations. All in all, the guy sure knows how to give a speech. But his blatant hypocrisy and nonsensical advice shows the U.S. would be foolish to continue to listen to a word he says.
Alaa Akbik, Milton, Ont.
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A degree's price
The budgetary problems of Canadian universities are not due to the salaries paid to "tenured academics who may spend more than a third of their time engaged in research" (Labour Strife Underscores Funding Woes Transforming Universities – Feb. 4).
In the past 15 years, university expenditures in Canada more than doubled, from $15-billion in 1997 to $32-billion in 2012. During the same period, the share of expenditures spent on academic-rank salaries decreased from 26 per cent to 20 per cent.
The root cause of university budget problems is not academic salaries, but the continuously growing expenditures on university administrations and peripheral services, such as leadership development offices and public relations offices that provide questionable contributions to the delivery and quality of undergraduate education.
A useful starting point would be to look at where the 80 per cent of the $32-billion is going.
V. Ismet Ugursal, professor, mechanical engineering, Dalhousie University
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Deficits: then, now
Lawrence Martin is too kind in his assessment of both the Conservatives' budgetary discipline and the Liberals' punchless messaging (Tories, Liberals: Who Are The Better Economic Managers? – March 3).
The last Tory government to run a surplus more than two years removed from a preceding Liberal administration was led by Arthur Meighen, in 1921. And his party was technically the National Liberal and Conservative Party, bolstered as it was by some Liberals who supported conscription during the First World War.
Canadians' post-1990s obsession with budget surpluses sometimes does us a disservice. Deficits are not always squandered money: They can be used to make growth-enhancing investments.
It's the Tories, not the Liberals, who are best placed to teach us the difference. Sir John A. Macdonald's governments ran deficits and produced the national railway. After years of deficits under Stephen Harper, Canadians have benefited from tax breaks for consumption, kitchen renovations and hockey equipment.
Trineesh Biswas, Geneva, Switzerland
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In lives to come
Re The Ultimate In Fresh Fish (Life & Arts, March 4): What a repugnant article this was, with restaurateurs and chefs rationalizing their way around eating live octopus, among other creatures.
Jon Sufrin quotes a "veteran seafood purveyor" who asks: "You have to ask yourself … 'why?' Is it better if it's alive, or are you just eating it for the thrill of it?" I think Mr. Sufrin answered that question at the start of his piece, when he gleefully declares: "With one bite, I became an irrevocably terrible person. What I did was this: I ate a sentient creature while it was still alive."
And then he did it again.
Since he mentions karma, would it be too much to ask that in some future life he comes back as an octopus?
Nigel Brachi, Edmonton
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On the road again
We just embarked on our bucket list tour. Just two women who love hockey. Our goal is to visit every rink in the NHL.
We kicked it off with a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and took in the Feb. 21 game, Toronto vs. Winnipeg. We weren't sure what kind of a welcome we'd receive, wearing Calgary Flames jerseys into a different barn, and had "bucket list tour" printed on the back as we entered the Air Canada Centre.
We were overwhelmed with the kindness shown to us – everything from being offered help getting tickets to other venues, to people just wanting to know where we've been. The Toronto faithful are true hockey fans, still willing to talk hockey during a dismal year. We had a great time.
We're thankful for the tips and hope we brought fans a little bit of luck with that Leafs win. Next, it's Vancouver, then Colorado!
Thank you to T.O. for showing us what a great venue the ACC is.
Susan Cutt, Janice Morken; Calgary