Family dreams
Re The Modern Family Isn't France's Dream (Oct. 13): As a Conservative, I am not against surrogacy, same-sex adoption or IVF, but I am all for the traditional family.
Society as a whole needs to be cautious regarding this heated issue. We are sliding down a slippery slope here. With divorce rates through the roof, fatherless children looking for role models, half-brothers, stepsisters, stepparents, two dads, etc., will parentless children be the new "modern family"? The "modern family" as we know it is something that should be accepted for inclusion, but definitely not glorified.
Even the term "modern family" implies that it is something new and improved. This is wrong.
Traditional families have worked since the beginning of time, and should still be revered and protected.
James Ness, Ottawa
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I'll get the flu shot
Re Mandatory Flu Shots For Health-Care Workers? Not So Fast (Life & Arts, Oct. 13): I would feel a lot better, if I were in hospital, knowing that any attendants either had had the flu shot or were wearing a mask. You report that the flu shot is about 60-per-cent effective, on average, in healthy adults: That's not ideal, but it's a lot better than zero.
Of course, another alternative is for 100 per cent of hospital staff to wear a mask during flu season, including those who had the flu shot. Ideal, but not reasonable.
I don't like the no-shot odds: I go for the 60-per-cent each fall.
Frank O'Hara, Toronto
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Rights, not beliefs
Re Illness, Not Beliefs (editorial, Oct. 10): The rights of indigenous peoples with regards to indigenous medicines are outlined in the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Being indigenous is not a religion. There is no comparison between Jehovah's Witness parents refusing blood transfusions for their children and indigenous parents exercising their right to use indigenous medicines to treat their children's illnesses.
Veronica Smith, Brantford, Ont.
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New Cuba, old Cuba
Re A New Revolution: Cuban-Americans Welcome Closer Ties To Homeland (Oct. 13): The Castros' regime was and is one of deception. It is a decrepit revolution in desperate need of cash.
In the past, during crisis periods, they'd take some "liberal measures." When the worst (for them) was over, they returned to repression, rigid centralism and anti-imperialism. Translation: anti-Americanism (anti-Canadianism, too, if necessary). Look at what's happening in China and Russia, and you will have a picture of a hypothetical prosperous Cuba, still under the same rulers.
Raúl Colón, Ottawa
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Actor. Struggling
A New York friend of mine quipped to me once that Actors' Equity was formed to protect actors from themselves (The Backstage Struggle At Canadian Equity – Arts, Oct. 11).
Many actors will race each other to the financial bottom as quickly as possible for the opportunity to be seen on stage. Many who engage them will be happy to assist them. The arts are poorly funded in Canada; most producers can't be blamed for saving money where they can. The price of lumber for set-building only goes up, there is no negotiation. Not so with performers. Many of us have worked for free or reduced wages. We live in basements while out of town and seldom cover our basic living costs.
Canadian Actors' Equity Association is not perfect, but it is more flexible than most professional associations. Actors are professionals and should be regarded as such – and that needs to start with ourselves.
Annabel Kershaw, not for freelance performer (except that sometimes I am), Vancouver
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Welcome to Siberia
Re Russian Speakers Head East In Search Of New Lives (Oct. 13): Those who welcome invading armies are referred to as collaborators, not a term of esteem. That Alexander Ossichenko, who tried to join the separatist militia, has decamped to Siberia is, however, good news. The destination sounds just about right for him.
Lubomyr Luciuk, Kingston
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Climate charade
Re Canada's Perpetual Climate Charade (Oct. 11): The endless discussions about climate change rarely mention the inconvenient fact that – given world population levels and trends – effective climate-control measures, even if possible, would be socially and economically unacceptable.
The best we may hope to achieve by practicable means may be to delay the inevitable.
Jack Cassan, Toronto
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Unused capacity
Canada has too many under- and unemployed surgical specialists, and operating rooms that function an average of 38 weeks a year, a result of government-monopoly dysfunction (Stop Medical Tour-ism – letters, Oct. 11). Why not let this unused capacity serve a useful purpose? Even better, why not allow Canadians the option of accessing these resources?
Eric Pugash, MD, Vancouver
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OCAD's numbers
Re Tensions With Faculty Escalate At Toronto University (Oct. 9): The Ontario College of Art and Design University competes with the best art and design institutions in the world. With only a 2 per cent drop in overall undergraduate enrolment in 2014-15, OCAD is not experiencing a crisis.
While our direct high school-to-first year entries are lower, we attract increasing numbers of transfer, mature and international students. As well, we have created a dynamic recruitment campaign. OCAD is a 138-year-old gem that shines with creativity and talent – that of its faculty, students and alumni.
Sara Diamond, president and vice-chancellor, OCAD University
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Hat-tip to Regina
For the benefit of non-Saskatchewanians, former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson is right about Regina drivers' behaviour, even in highway gridlock (Canada Has Redefined What Citizenship Is – Oct. 11).
While I was shopping at Regina's Victoria Square Mall in the spring, a power outage disabled the electricity for the mall and the adjacent Victoria Avenue (Trans-Canada Highway) during rush hour. I needed to cross Victoria and found myself (too late, I thought) trapped in a queue of 10 vehicles approaching the six-lane motorway. I needn't have worried. Every driver stopped, as needed, and took turns. One by one, we all made it. I mused, "Only in Regina." Go figure!
Carolyn McBean, Regina