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Milk. Wood. Worry
Facing some of the lowest ratings of any U.S. president, and with a 100-day review looming, Donald Trump has turned on Canada, the United States' best friend and long-time ally, for crass personal political gain (Canada Braces For Lengthy Softwood Battle As Trump Gets Tough On Trade, April 26).
While Mr. Trumps targets softwood lumber, knowing it will take years for Canada to once again get a favourable resolution in the trade forums, the United States continues to subsidize its agricultural sector, particularly corn, to the tune of billions.
The U.S. diary industry thrives on subsidized corn, overproduces and dumps in Canada to the tune of a dairy trade surplus of more than $400-million in 2016.
Mr. Trump seeks to increase that surplus by dumping more dairy products here. Canada must immediately react by imposing duties and dumping penalties on U.S. dairy and agricultural imports. The slogan should be one that Mr. Trump understands: Canada First.
Julian Polika, Tiny, Ont.
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Donald Trump is right. The softwood log-pricing regimes in the provinces should have been turned into auctions decades ago. That would assure transparency and fair prices for the citizens who own the forests, as well as for the mills purchasing the right to log them.
The "managed supply" system for dairy products is a euphemism for a monopoly. Like all monopolies, it benefits producers at consumers' expense.
Softwood and dairy have been serious irritants in our trade relationship with the United States for years; neither can be defended in a relationship based on free trade. The fact that most Canadians dislike Donald Trump does not mean he is wrong about these indefensible practices.
Ted Cape, Toronto
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Reading about struggling dairy farmers in Wisconsin and the prospect of discarded milk, I had to wonder if there isn't a way to see it powdered and provided to famine victims in Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria or Yemen. Surely that is better than pouring it on the ground, and makes more sense than trying to force Canadians to take the excess.
The number of Canadian producers has already shrunk 90 per cent (from 140,000 producers in the 1970s to fewer than 12,000), and the United States enjoys a large dairy trade surplus with Canada. How much smaller does the Canadian industry need to shrink before the U.S. can manage its overproduction?
Janet Griffin, Toronto
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Has Donald Trump devised a new way of funding the famous wall? If Mexico can't or won't pay for it, why not tap Canada's softwood lumber industry?
Susan Carter, Ottawa
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O'deary …
Re Kevin O'Leary Drops Out, Endorses Maxime Bernier For Conservative Leadership (online, April 26): When Kevin O'Leary was in the running, I thought my gods had feet o'clay. My attitude has changed, thanks to O'Leary's feat.
His namesake, Timothy, advocated dropping out and turning on. What Kevin has done is drop out – and turn a lot of people on.
Mark Christian Burgess, Cobourg, Ont.
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O'deary. No more O'Leary. How dreary. Where's the fun in that?
Sarah Rogers, Calgary
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I've figured out the best use for Kevin O'Leary! He should represent the Government of Canada's side negotiating future corporate welfare to Bombardier à la Dragon's Den: "And you should get our money because why?"
Richard Barrett, Mississauga
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GPs badly wanted
Re Doctor Shortage Becomes Election Issue (April 24): When will Canadians realize that training more doctors and relying on programs such as "A GP for Me" will never solve Canada's family doctor shortage?
Many young medical grads, even if trained in family medicine, are not interested in taking on the responsibility of running a medical office and caring for patients on a long-term basis. They prefer to work shifts in walk-in clinics, emergency rooms, or cover for family doctors on vacation. Here are two examples that I am aware of.
A family doctor in Victoria has decided to retire after 40 years of service. He has been searching for a replacement for more than a year and cannot find anyone interested in taking over his practice. This doctor has now decided that he will have to simply close his practice, leaving his several thousand patients without a family doctor.
Our family doctor has decided to retire at the end of this year. He hopes to have a replacement, but no doctor under the age of 40 has shown any interest. After my 38 years of practising medicine in British Columbia, serving on the board of the B.C. Medical Association as well as being the founding president of the Society of Specialist Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., I dread the thought of once again having to go from office to office to try and find a family doctor.
There is lots of blame to go around, including: federal and provincial governments, faculties of medicine, licensing authorities and medical associations. All of these organizations need to work together to find solutions that actually might work.
C. Peter Stockdill, MD, Nanoose Bay, B.C.
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All-natural, period
I particularly enjoyed Mary Jane McPhee's Facts & Argument's essay, When All-Natural Was All There Was (April 24).
My husband and I were so similar to her parents, albeit without quite as much access to local meats, but my husband hunted small game and fished for trout and salmon. We grew all kinds of vegetables in Newfoundland's thin soil and incredibly short growing season. The harvest was frozen, pickled etc. and no Newfoundlanders worth their salt would pass up the fabulous wild berries, picked by the gallons and not just made into jams and jellies but gorgeous wine! We did all this to save money, too.
I am so glad I am not a young parent today. We'd never be able to afford all the obligatory gear, never mind the certified wild fish and organic greens
Patricia Ploughman, St. John's
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Hockey diplomacy
Re Juggling Giants Is Trudeau's Task On Trade (April 24): It's not hard to deduce that the Stanley Cup playoffs are under way, even if one is reading opinion columns rather than the Sports section of The Globe and Mail.
Campbell Clark concludes his trade comments by stating that Justin Trudeau will "need to rag the puck with China while he closes a deal with Mr. Trump."
How likely is it that anyone in Beijing will have the first clue as to what that hockey analogy actually means?
As for our Prime Minister, he may want to call up legendary superstar Bobby Orr, who was arguably the best at that particular skill in the past 50 years, for a few pointers. After all, when one is "skating on thin ice," it's best to keep moving.
Jeffrey Peckitt, Oakville, Ont.