Ebola strategy
Canada's chief public health officer says current measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases "should be adequate" for handling Ebola (Canada To Review Ebola Strategy – Oct. 14) .
I regard this assertion in the same light as I do the response to the spread of the MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) and VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococcus) scourges. Both are attributable to a failure by health professionals to follow garden-variety disease-prevention protocols.
Before we get into the greater challenge of Ebola, let's address this laxity, which would go a long way in restoring our faith in hospitals as places where you get healthy, not sick.
Joan Hotson, St. Catharines, Ont.
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Death, by choice
Re Supreme Court To Re-Examine Position On Assisted Death (Oct. 14): The characterization of the Carter case as pitting "terminally ill people against disabled people" is inflammatory.
Physician-assisted suicide has been legal in Oregon since 1994 and the Netherlands since 2002. Studies have shown that the empirical evidence gathered in the two jurisdictions doesn't support the hypothesis that physician-assisted death has created a particular risk to socially vulnerable populations.
Data in the 11 other jurisdictions around the world that allow assisted suicide would undoubtedly show the same.
This is about choice.
Kerrie Hale, Calgary
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Greater acceptance
Re Vatican Hints at Greater Acceptance Of Gays, Civil Unions (Oct. 14): The recent midterm report from the synod of bishops is certainly not a change in Catholic doctrine; nothing new is being said. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, for instance, that homosexuals "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity" and should not be discriminated against.
At best, this preliminary report is a change in tone that embraces the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, using more positive and inclusive language.
The report is a work in progress which will, in all likelihood, be noticeably modified before it is accepted by the bishops. Even then, it will lay the groundwork for another, albeit larger, summit of bishops in 2015.
Kevin Pettit, Toronto
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While the Vatican (not the most malleable of organizations) opens its eyes to the fact that times have changed, we still have people advocating for "traditional families" (Family Dreams – letters, Oct. 14)
Social mores, like the proverbial times, change. An assumption that the nuclear family is the ideal denies that there are some people who really shouldn't have children. We'd all love it if everyone was a Ward Cleaver-ish dad, or had June as the mother. But that was TV, not reality.
The truth is that there are good parents and bad ones. There are single moms and dads who love and nurture their children. There are gay couples who are good parents. And there are families who qualify as traditional or nuclear who are dysfunctional disasters.
Any energy spent worrying about 21st-century families would be better invested in one's own.
Justin Laflamme, Toronto
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Two uplifting articles on the same day: the Vatican becoming more humane toward homosexuals and the Supreme Court rethinking physician-assisted suicide.
A great day for emancipated thinkers. More of the same please.
Ann Strickland-Clark, Mississauga
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Refine it in Canada
There has been a softening approach by the EU toward the oil sands bitumen (Canadian Oil Scores A Win Overseas – editorial, Oct. 14). Really?
What about the balance of imports/exports of fuels into Ontario, a market that exists in the centre of this country. In 2012, 37 per cent of the gasoline and 27 per cent of diesel consumed in this province was imported. Why are we importing fuels into Ontario when Alberta is endeavouring to find markets for ever-increasing volumes of bitumen?
Sarnia-Lambton, an Ontario location and the birth of refining and commercial operations of oil extraction in Canada, could take advantage of this extraordinary resource and contribute to balancing the fuel supply – let alone compete in the export of its products to the largest market in North America, the mid-continent. Sarnia-Lambton knows oil!
Walter F. Petryschuk, Sarnia, Ont.
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It's no to uranium
Re Uncertainty Clouds Quebec Investment Outlook (Report on Business, Oct. 14): The James Bay Crees have never opposed sustainable and equitable resource development in our territory.
Au contraire, we welcome and participate in extensive resource activity with major progressive partners in the energy, mining and forestry sectors.
Our opposition to uranium exploration and mining in Eeyou Istchee is a special case. Radioactive and toxic emissions and wastes from these activities will remain for hundreds of thousands of years. Uranium exploration and mining activities are incompatible with our well-being and survival as the original people of these lands and waters.
All other resource sectors active in our territory in northern Quebec undergo social and environmental scrutiny under our treaty, and are certainly not opposed by my people – so long as our established and constitutionally protected status and rights are respected. These "constraints" are not a barrier to these other resource sectors, including gold, diamonds, iron ore, vanadium, hydroelectricity and timber, to name a few.
A single bleat from Strateco re-garding its ill-advised incursion into our territory (and its anachronistic assertions that the Crees have no rights or say) does not suggest there is mining or resource uncertainty in Quebec.
There is not.
Matthew Coon Come, Grand Chief, Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)
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The daily show, eh
Lawrence Martin proffers an exciting idea that many have shared for years: Why not give Rick Mercer a CBC slot for a satirical take on news events à la Jon Stewart's The Daily Show (Ottawa Needs Mercerizing – Oct. 14)?
CBC TV is struggling for relevancy, and hasn't provided a popular news format since This Hour Has Seven Days, more than 40 years ago. It needs to get with it and give Rick the resources.
David P. Ross, Ottawa
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We've been enjoying two dramas on CBC this fall, An Honourable Woman and Janet King, both products of other national broadcasters. It seems a pity that our federal government doesn't recognize the significance and impact of local productions that tell stories from a Canadian perspective. Never mind the economic gains to local writers, actors, directors, film companies – hence, tax revenues.
How about Stephen Harper on Spirit Quest Discovers the Franklin Expedition or Whatever Happened to Peter MacKay? No residuals required for either suggestion.
J. Halton Doyle, Ajax, Ont.