Shelving reality
John Allemang alludes to “hubris” (No Crash Can Kill The Cruise – Focus, Jan. 21) but there is another ancient Greek philosophical distinction between “appearance” and “reality.” In the 17th century, John Locke described colour and light in terms of secondary qualities, recognizing that invisible radiant energy is converted into something that we can see, by our visual system. There is a price to pay for this; reality is not necessarily as it seems.
A distinction can be made between the visible world, with which we are familiar, and the vast reality beyond, which requires great effort to interpret and fully comprehend. The phrase “pleasure cruise” is an indication that people on a cruise are subjectively focused, and wanting to shelve reality for a while. But for captains, this is not an option.
Gordon Watson, Rocky Mountain House, Alta.
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A uniform standard
Earlier this week, The Globe and Mail reported on the plan by provincial premiers to innovate in health-care delivery, thus all but signalling the end of the federal government in health care delivery.
In Saturday’s edition, you reported on the failure of provincial ambulance services to meet the standard for response times to 911 calls (Edmonton’s Ambulances In Need Of Emergency Care – Jan. 21). The day before, you reported on investigations into deaths associated with Ontario’s air ambulance service.
Every month, there are stories of rural hospitals being forced to close ERs because of a lack of physicians. Daily reports of crowded ERs in city hospitals are commonplace.
We have no long-term human resources plan for emergency medicine, no national guidelines for emergency department staffing and operation, no real systems approach to getting the acutely ill and injured to the right hospital.
It is the right of every Canadian to be guaranteed timely access for emergency care; it is the responsibility of the federal government to guarantee a uniform standard of care, whatever the patient’s postal code.
Alan Drummond, chair, public affairs, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians
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First comes food
Doug Saunders argues that conservatives in Tunisia and Egypt are driven by the belief that “social influence can now only be won through politics” (It’s Not A Safe And Easy Path To Modernity – Jan. 21). But the success of movements such as Hamas and Hezbollah suggests that the reverse may be true.
Due to endemic corruption or cynical efforts to prolong “the struggle,” comparatively secular regimes have left Palestinians desperate for a better life. By providing a comprehensive network of social assistance, these two parties have earned enormous political dividends. Bertolt Brecht reminds us that “First comes food, then comes morals.”
Farley Helfant, Toronto
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Ad matters
The Tories are eager to outsource more than ad work if PR consultants are, as your article states, “involved in the whole life cycle of a public program” (Tories Eager To Outsource More Ad Work – Jan. 20).
Programs are the expression of public policy and PR consultants should not be involved in developing public policy. If government-friendly profit-making PR companies develop programs, the programs will most certainly be more PR than policy. Machiavelli would be proud and Canadians concerned about democracy should be deeply troubled.
Sharon Sommerville, Waterloo, Ont.
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Re Tiny Ad Agency Gains Tories’ Favour (Jan. 21): Forty years ago, I was working for Transport Canada and put out calls for proposals for the development of an education program on child occupant protection.
After reviewing the five proposals submitted, a small unknown firm by the name of Acart was selected for the project. They had the best proposal, the lowest bid and they came with a shrewd, intelligent manager named Al Albania. It is satisfying to observe that the federal government’s process for choosing the best still applies.
Grant Smith, Markham, Ont.
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Long investigation
