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The Canadian Press

Royally roiled

Words fail me in trying to express my outrage that RBC is displacing Canadian workers with temporary foreign workers (Ottawa to Probe RBC Outsourcing – Report on Business, April 8).

That a Canadian bank, with its profits, should permit this to happen and then excuse itself from the hiring process is unbelievable. Outsourcing work offshore is bad enough, but to displace Canadian workers on our own soil is really rubbing our noses in it. The government must take immediate action to rectify this intolerable action on the part of any employer who tries it.

Monica Cullum, Ottawa

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It's not as if RBC is hard up for profits, given its record year in 2012. My question is: Have they no shame?

Barry Francis, Toronto

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It would be a tragedy if the Royal Bank of Canada, in a short-sighted move to reduce costs, followed the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland in its outsourcing policy. We all know how that turned out.

Reid Robinson, Regina

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The Oscar for the most callous quote of the year in the banking sector has to go to the human resources head of RBC: "We don't get involved in the hiring practices of our suppliers."

Any company that's socially responsible not only has an appropriate code of conduct for its staff but requires major suppliers to sign on to the same code before awarding service contracts. Attempts to whitewash the questionable use of foreign workers to replace Canadians speaks volumes about RBC.

Raphael Girard, Ottawa

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Is there a common thread between RBC and Lululemon? Their blame-the-supplier responses seem to be cut from the same cloth, which is not sufficiently transparent or accountable for investors or Canadians.

Jim Harrold, Victoria

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Let me guess: The Royal Bank outsourcing/downsizing scandal will be called "iGate-gate."

Ken DeLuca, Arnprior, Ont.

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Trudeau banner

The name Trudeau on its banner may help the Liberal Party of Canada win enough seats to ensure that Stephen Harper remains Prime Minister (Trudeau's Rise Brings Broken Liberal Party Machine Back Together – April 8).

Retiring the Conservatives requires some form of co-operation between the other parties to avoid splitting the vote. It's high time that Liberal insiders get the message that their top priority should not be the fortunes of their own party but rather the desire of the majority of Canadians to end the Harper era.

Pierre Beeckmans, Toronto

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Iron Lady's legacy

Re Margaret Thatcher Dies From Stroke At Age 87 (online, April 8): No one provoked a wider range of commentary than the Iron Lady, whether it was apoplexy or eulogy. She was the most polarizing politician since Lincoln. Who could forget the late François Mitterrand's assessment: "the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe"?

Adam de Pencier, Whitby, Ont.

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Margaret Thatcher changed her country and, tangentially, the world in a profound way.

Collectively, in the past 100 years, as a global society, we have completed the greatest social experiment since mankind descended from the trees. We've learned that the "all are equal and must be treated as equals" philosophy adopted by many states to redistribute society's economic output has been an abject failure – that Thatcherism works and Marxism doesn't.

Why? Because the human beast will always do what's best for that individual. Even great humanitarians who have dedicated themselves to a life of service, with disregard for their own finances, in the end are still receiving payment: The currency is their own satisfaction.

Most of us, while having a partial charitable focus, will be concerned with enhancing our own economic well-being. Do we all wish an equal piece of a small pie, or a bigger but unequal piece of a much bigger pie? Mrs. Thatcher chose the latter, and we're all the better for it.

P.J. Nelson, Murrieta, Calif.

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She was the toughest man in Britain.

Douglas Cornish, Ottawa

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Medical mistakes

Re Patients' Odds Of Winning Medical Malpractice Suits In Canada Aren't Good (Life & Arts – April 8 ): If SARS, instead of medical mistakes, wiped out 38,000 to 43,000 Canadian citizens a year, you bet the medical community would be publicizing it and making a huge deal to get it under control. It wouldn't be the big secret that medical malpractice has become.

Ever tried to get full disclosure, even where litigation isn't on the table? The government controls our health system; all medical mistakes should be regarded as public information. This is a serious issue in Canada. Let's stop ignoring it.

Andrea Marcus, Toronto

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10 pages too many

So, if Canadians wish to write a letter or talk to the National Energy Board about a pipeline review, they must now fill in a 10-page application requesting the privilege of having their voices heard (Energy Board Changes Pipeline Complaint Rules – Report on Business, April 6).

And if that's not perverse enough, the application must also be sent to the pipeline proponent. We can now assume that whatever vestiges of credibility Canadian environmental management still had, the remains have been flushed away by an act designed to stifle public participation and suppress debate about important energy projects. The Globe should have given this article a more prominent place, given what this policy represents for open government in Canada.

K.S. Hanna, Waterloo, Ont.

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Society's safety

Your editorial about criminal responsibility for those who kill while suffering from a perceived mental disorder misses the point (The Hardest Line To Draw – April 6). Yes, there are killers who may not be able to distinguish right from wrong because of schizophrenia or any number of psychoses. But the biggest issue is not whether these people are innocent or guilty in a court of law. The biggest issue is – or should be – the safety of society.

Unfortunately, our criminal justice system has a long history of making that a secondary concern behind the rights of the accused.

Jerry Amernic, Toronto

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Just wondering

Re International Tax Havens (April 5): Would it be too much to hope that those people who stashed money in offshore accounts to avoid taxes opted to put these funds into Cypriot banks?

Victor Emerson, Ottawa

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