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Alberta's future
Your coverage of the Alberta election built a case for change. But then you endorse the Conservatives (Prentice Is The Best Choice – editorial, May 2). The New Democratic Party's platform is just as credible as that of the Conservatives.
Forty-four years of Conservative rule has squandered Alberta's wealth, with more than 90,000 children living in poverty, unprecedented homelessness, weak environmental laws, and a non-existent climate-change policy that echoes the federal government. A change from such rule will bring fresh ideas, new energy, and open debate about Alberta's future.
Thanks for the coverage. No thanks for the endorsement.
Bill Phipps, Calgary
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You forget that Albertans are thinking long-term, that the Conservative dynasty became dysfunctional a long time ago, and that Jim Prentice is not its saviour, but rather, like its most recent emperors, wears no clothes.
Roderick MacGregor, Ponoka, Alta.
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Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi suggests the Alberta election lacked issues (Alberta Election Comes Down To Three-way Race – online, May 4). But one topic that arose was coal-fired electricity, and the extraordinary consensus among opposition parties that it should be phased out. That right and left are now largely united on this policy is one of the most significant developments in recent Alberta history.
Gideon Forman, Toronto
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Military change
By providing specific examples of how her daughter, fallen soldier Nichola Goddard, was able to effect change in the sexist military culture, Sally Goddard gives us insights into the strength of character and common sense of an uncommon woman (As My Daughter Knew, The Military Can Change Its Ways – May 4). Let us hope that there will be transformational change in our country's military so that Nichola's legacy is not forgotten.
Susan Silverman, Toronto
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It is not much comfort to learn that Maj.-Gen. Christine Whitecross will travel to the United States on a fact-finding mission to learn how to solve sexual harassment problems in the Canadian military, given that 8,500 women in the U.S. military experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2014 (The New Front On Sexual Harassment – May 2). This behaviour needs close attention, with serious consequences for violators, which is certainly not the case now. In a different U.S. situation, we keep hearing that black lives matter. Well, women's lives matter, too.
Peter D. Hambly, Hanover, Ont.
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Leadership lapse
Re Real Leadership Is About Transformation – May 4: Ronald Reagan looked impressive on television and delivered his lines well. No disputing that. But a transformative leader?
For political reasons, he refused to mention AIDS or the AIDS crisis throughout the first four years of his presidency. Who knows how many lives could have been saved if he had taken charge. Real leadership, as Brian Mulroney suggests, takes courage, and that, alas, was missing in action.
Kegan Doyle, Vancouver
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Baby business
Re Childless? Whose Business Is It Anyway – May 2: The advent of reproductive technology and the collective hand-wringing about women who are perceived to prioritize career over family has led most women to answer prying questions tinged with moral judgment. Any woman with twins will tell you she can't count number of times she's been asked, "Are they natural?"
Rebecca Law, Toronto
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Margaret Wente raises sensible questions about the surge in memoirs by people who are "childless by choice," an already tiresome publishing fad. Self-confident adults choosing their own path in life should be able to manage fretful would-be grandparents, and support friends who have children without feeling themselves pressured.
Graham Barnes, Ottawa
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Prison meds
So many people are passing through the jail or prison system because their psychiatric care is mishandled (Step Messing With Inmates' Health – editorial, May 4). People who cannot appreciate that they have a medical condition that affects their mind may not accept medication easily; they need professionals to help them do that.
Long periods of solitary confinement for such individuals would be unnecessary if medications to stabilize their conditions were resumed promptly. Denying insulin to a diabetic is a crime; so is denying psychiatric medication.
Patricia Forsdyke, Kingston
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Decision makers
Jeffrey Simpson's stinging contrast of Canada's national accomplishments on public transit compared with those of northeastern Asian countries ends with the conclusion that those governments do what they're suppose to do: They decide (Asia Doesn't Vote For Subways, It Builds Them – May 2).
It's time for North Americans to understand why our governments decide so little, but pander so much. Could it be because we have allowed politics and public governance to fuse into a spectator sport, where the only thing that matters is staying in power?
Andreas Souvaliotis, Toronto
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Crowned champ
Please give Cathal Kelly a leave of absence so he can write a book (A Hollow Victory In Vegas – May 4). Day after day I am spellbound by his prose. From the World Cup to his stories on the attempted renewal of boxing in Las Vegas, his writing is witty, learned and pithy. More please.
Nancy DeClerq, Nepean, Ont.
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I suppose Cathal Kelly had to participate in this scene worthy of Hieronymus Bosch in the interests of objective journalism (Lords Of The Ring – May 2). The reported payout for Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is obscene. Even if they each contributed all but $1-million of their booty – say, to rebuild maybe a thousand villages in Nepal – their take would still be excessive.
Dennis Dicks, Senneville, Que.
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One dodo to another
Gary Mason may be unhappy about his name's loss of status, but I can't sympathize (Gary Goes The Way Of The Dodo – May 1). My first name ranks 1,280th, with only 135 new Perrys in the United States in 2013 (boys, that is; there were 61 girls, maybe because of Katy Perry). We hit our peak in the 1950s and early '60s, perhaps thanks to the twin icons of Perry Como and Perry Mason.
Perry Bowker, Burlington, Ont.