News

FEB. 9, 1:42 P.M. ET: Fifth Column returns after a bit of sick leave ... This is a bit late, but the discussion on Margaret Wente's weekend column about the global warming movement just has to be highlighted. There's no way to choose from 1,200+ comments, so we'll just point you straight there. Margaret has also been participating in a live discussion on this topic today.

FEB. 9, 12:04 P.M. ET: Union head Bob Kinnear tells the public to stop harassing his membership, as tension continues to rise in the row over the Toronto Transit Commission. Whatever the truth about this spat - and it's invariably more complicated than the complaints or the union's response suggest - reader Tired Torontonian's response suggests lecturing the public is a bad strategy:

"In case you haven't realized it yet Mr. Kinnear, you and your members work in a service oriented business. The entire premise of your job is to provide service to paying customers. When those customers feel like they are being taken advantage of, they have every right to complain. In today's world companies with exceptional customer service listen to their customers and look for ways to improve their service, they don't attack them."

FEB. 5, 9:41 A.M. ET: Jeffrey Simpson's column about the politics surrounding Quebec's asbestos industry has many readers seeing red, but no Bimmerluv, who sees this as a case of caveat emptor:

"If a particular area outlawed tobacco due to the known health issues, would our tobacco companies close up shop? No, they would simply focus on other markets which were still open to them. As is the case for asbestos production.

The bags of asbestos leaving this country for export have very large labels on them informing persons of the health risks....much like a pack of cigarettes......it's up to the end user if they want to continue to create a market for this or not."

FEB. 4, 12:13 P.M. ET: Dave Naylor blogs about the possibility of the St. Louis Rams being moved to Toronto, which intrigues Tom Beshoff and several other readers:

"With the era of no salary cap about to take place in the NFL, you're about to see an unprecedented spate of franchise removal (or 'carpet-bagging' as Howard Cosell used to call it). My picks are: Jacksonville, St. Louis, Detroit, Buffalo all to be moved. Where? LA for sure. Toronto's a good bet. After that, who knows."

FEB. 1, 11:47 A.M. ET: A big Flames-Leafs deal elicits a giant yawn from reader steamed, who sees nothing but an early golf season for Toronto's main acquisition:

"Apparently Phaneuf is in favour of the trade as he has desperately been trying to get his handicap down to single digits."

FEB. 1, 8:05 A.M. ET: Sheema Khan writes on burka-banning, much debated in France recently and sometimes in Canada. It's a topic that draws comments from many readers, including Stew Fair, Justice & Peace and Boozle:

"Tolerance of differences, not assimilation to eradicate those differences, makes for a tolerant society. That said, if someone wants to walk around in a burka all day, that's their right. Just don't force my wife or daughter to do the same. That's tolerance."

"What I find so wrong with all this attention on Muslim women is that it is specifically focussed on one rather defenceless group which is already under a great deal of pressure. If we ban face coverings, for some women it would be equivalent to condemning them to life of house arrest for no crime."

"Some posters have asked if we are losing our Canadian identity. In my view the Canadian identity has a lot to do with personal freedom. Freedom includes allowing women to wear whatever they want, but also to defend them vigorously should their freedom to self determination be violated by family or religion."

JAN. 28, 5:59 A.M. ET: Fifth Column has a rare treat to highlight today - a political opinion piece has prompted an almost fully rational, non-partisan debate on political reform. Lawrence Martin set the tone with a column acknowledging that both parties have contributed to concentration of power in the PMO, and readers followed suit (sorry, too many good contributions to credit them all). If you've been part of this debate or one like it, congratulations and thank you - it's what we love to see:

"Can't disagree with Mr Martin on the substance but the problem is much older and was packaged as a democratic reform more 80 years ago."

"It starts with, and can end with, individual members of Parliament. As many of the above (surprisingly thoughtful) posts have pointed out, the fact that the party system has strengthened even as individual MPs are weakened concentrates more and more power in the PMO."

"Maybe it is time for Canadians to test the PMO vs MP framework. Let us choose several ridings and put forward strong independently minded candidates that will speak/represent the interests of the local riding."

"So many good ideas here but how do you get change when the 'changers' are the problem you are trying to solve?"

"This is a thoughtful non-partisan column and Mr. Martin should be commended."

"I think I'll start reading the comments section earlier in the morning from now on. The majority of these posts are indeed intelligent, well thought out and not full of the usual name calling from both sides to which I have become accustomed."

"These are some of the most thoughtful and most intelligent posts ever to appear here. No vitriol and hatred aimed at Harper and 'neo-cons' or Iggy or Jack, but rational discussions by people who really care. Thanks, folks."

JAN. 27, 11:13 A.M. ET: Cancel Haiti's debt, says Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Reader Holden says it probably won't even cost us much:

"What do you think the likelihood would be collecting on Haitian debt? Zero ... Waiving the debt just lifts the burden of Haiti even attempting to service that debt, and it really doesn't cost us anything ..."

JAN. 27, 10:45 A.M. ET: Andre Dawson will enter baseball's Hall of Fame as an Expo, against his wishes. (Dawson wanted to wear a Cubs hat.) Reader Sillydebate appears to be among those who understand it really couldn't have been any other way:

"Giving the Hawk the spotlight as the lone inductee may be the Expos' last big hurrah. I know he may not be happy about that but the team deserves to be remembered, especially for the early 80s teams and the 1994 what-if."

JAN. 26, 11:06 A.M. ET: Researchers say technology and technique have left us better equipped to find life in other parts of the universe, and readers such as Dave F. and ronmac prove there truly is no subject completely removed from politics:

"They would never come to Canada, why travel 3 billion light years to get taxed to death?"

"So if we do find another world with intelligent life forms how long is it going to take for those vultures on Wall Street to descend on that unlucky place and privitize their air and water and screw up their economy?"

JAN. 25, 12:31 P.M. ET: The Globe's weekend story about Ken Taylor, the Canadian ambassador who sheltered American diplomats and actively spied for the CIA after the hostage-taking in Tehran 30 years ago, has touched a chord with many. Most readers are supportive, but there are others, such as manologic, who see a fly in the ointment:

"Next time a hostile government arrests hikers, foreign engineers, tourists, or gong-show hosts like Chuck Barris (who was a CIA assassin), we should refrain from braying with moral indignation about the paranoia and cruelty of the local government."

JAN. 25, 9:38 A.M. ET: Reader F. Young sums up how many saw Sunday's NFC championship game, won by the New Orleans Saints in overtime after Minnesota's Bret Favre threw a momentum-killing interception in the final seconds of regulation time:

"This game - like his last playoff appearance with the Packers - can sum up Favre's career. Long stretches of brilliance and inspirational leadership undermined by horrifying brain cramps."

JAN. 21, 12:32 P.M. ET: David Eaves examines the 200,000-strong Facebook group against prorogation, in an article for Globe Politics. Readers FDionne and the other windsor clearly have different takes on social media (and possibly democracy itself).

"Facebook, though it is often used as entertainment, is an extremely efficient organizational and informational tool. Those who joined CAPP understand it is just a tool to coordinate further involvement; it is not an end in itself."

"There is also the possibility that the Facebook group will have zero effect, other than deluding the participants into believing that they are making a difference."

JAN. 20, 6:39 A.M. ET: Jeffrey Simpson tut-tuts current Liberal leaders for being unprincipled. Readers shiftless2 and MickeyHickey push the discussion into the past, and other parties:

"The last Liberal that actually stood for something was Trudeau - much as I disliked the man and hate what he did to Canada at least he had a vision of what he thought the country should be and had the guts (and smarts, and charisma) to push that agenda."

"I agree Mulroney had the guts to do what had to be done for the good of the country. Chretien and Martin had the guts not to undo the GST. Harper/Flaherty are opportunists who put the party first and the country last."

JAN. 20, 12:17 A.M. ET: Konrad Yakabuski sees a crossroads for Barack Obama and his health-care reforms after a big loss in Massachusetts. Many are in agreement, but don't count reader CMC among them:

"Maybe this is a right turn, or maybe the Mass. voters just decided on a single issue: they didn't want to pay extra for federal health care that they already had in place at the state level."

JAN. 19, 12:10 A.M. ET: Globe Life tackles Conan O'Brien's flip-off to NBC as a reminder to most of us of how not to leave a job. Unclear whether reader Memo From Turner's response is tongue in cheek:

"Actually, what Conan is doing is called 'warming up the audience for the new (old) guy,' which is a tribute to his consummate professionalism. Ratings now for the show are through the roof. Mr. Leno will arrive to an audience waiting for him to top what went before, which I think will be the challenge."

JAN. 18, 9:41 A.M. ET: David Shribman's op-ed piece about Barack Obama's struggles has many in agreement. Reader Nick Wright, however, turns the critique on its head:

"What is Shribman trying to say, exactly? On one hand he talks about how much Obama is doing on policy; on the other he carps about Obama 'campaigning to be President' -- without providing any examples. Seems to me Obama's biggest problem is people like Shribman among his ostensible supporters who indeed expected everything to be plain sailing and are now 'coming down to earth.' "

JAN. 15, 4:52 P.M. ET: Globe Life writes about the stories we tell to end our personal relationships. Reader chanel(me) has some strong thoughts about the reason for these lies:

"Yes, sometimes you have to lie-- some folks will simply not accept you want out! No matter what you say! ... That should be enough-- but NO! People want all the ugly details so they can turn into a pretzel and 'become' what you want -- Well, why would anyone want someone that is a 'pretzel' anyway?"

JAN. 15, 1:02 A.M. ET: Reader Arthur Kidd tries to explain why the Leafs, Senators and Canadiens could miss the playoffs this year, as noted by Roy MacGregor:

"It`s because the Eastern conference is just so good. every team is a powerhouse. ... every team is overachieving. amazing scintillating hockey. Team Canada is stacked with Eastern conference players too. stacked. it`s unfair to ask Eastern Canadian teams to compete with that."

JAN. 14, 1:59 P.M. ET: Former Globe foreign correspondent and editor Paul Knox makes a cameo appearance taking questions about the situation in Haiti, and readers are more than up for the task, producing a raft of thoughtful questions about the country and its challenges.

"Security is most likely to become a burgeoning problem... do you think there's enough resources (ie. 2,000 U.S. Marines + UN troops) to maintain order in the coming weeks?"

"Hi Paul...am seeing all these reports of resources coming from all these different countries. you talk about the importance of coordination - who exactly will do the coordinating?"

"Is the Dominican Republic in a position to help their Haitian neighbors? what is the relationship between those two countries?"

JAN. 14, 9:16 A.M. ET: A new report finds that Canadians are mostly conservative with their real-estate borrowing, with 86 per cent buying fixed-term mortgages rather than playing the variable game. Count reader Henry Peters among those who still have reservations:

"Buying a house you can't afford at a fixed rate will only save you from rising interest rates for 5 years. And what happens if you lose your job during that time? You can still end up being forced to sell your home, and thus negative equity remains a serious risk."

JAN. 14, 7:58 A.M. ET: Margaret Wente writes about North America's crumbling infrastructure, and the money and expertise it will take to resuscitate it. Power to the engineers, says reader child of the north:

"Engineers, and the work they do, are a much neglected profession. ... Many people do not even know what they do or the huge impact they have on their lives. They just drive their cars, step into elevators, buy stuff from materials mined from the ground and expect it just magically appears and always works."

JAN. 13, 11:54 A.M. ET: Haiti starts to dig out from a devastating earthquake. Reader sailordavid is among those urging private and government aid:

"When Wall street billionaires needed multi billions to cover their losses world finance ministers rushed in almost falling over each other to give them all they wanted and more. You know the rest including their millions in bonus checks. The poor people of this country deserve the same considerations and more."

JAN. 12, 7:30 ET: Critics, including the Vatican, accuse James Cameron's Avatar of " everything from racism to promoting smoking to exacerbating depression." Reader Zarny disagrees, but says:

"Even if it were true who cares? It's a movie. Movies don't have to be politically correct."

JAN. 12, 1:58 P.M. ET: Curtis Joseph, who tended net for three Canadian teams over a long and venerable NHL career, hangs up his skates at 42, leaving readers such as Ed Flynn and barks to debate his legacy:

"I don't think he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Were Cujo to have put up the same exact numbers without having played in Toronto his potential candidacy wouldn't even be up for debate."

"The guy finishes fourth in wins all-time and people are slagging him as some mediocre goalie. Plus a great guy and good ambassador for the game. Who cares if he makes the Hall or not, his career won't be judged by that."

JAN. 12, 11:12 A.M. ET: Is a Harper cabinet shuffle imminent? Reader Bill.W suggests there's only one man who matters in this government:

"I don't see why he'd need to shuffle his cabinet. It's not like he uses any of them anyway."

JAN. 11, 12:39 P.M. ET: John Doyle tackles the Jay Leno fiasco, which came to a head over the weekend. Reader FabFour adds a pointed, reasoned critique:

"The problem with late night is not just the middle aged men but the tired formula. Carson perfected the monologue, created very funny recurring characters but beyond that, he often featured talented, funny, interesting guests that were NOT there just to promote a movie, tv show or album. They were great conversationalists and provocative."