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Mountie mentality
It is telling that the initial RCMP reaction to The Globe and Mail's reporting of "unfounded" cases, unlike the other police forces noted, was to decline to review sex-assault cases (RCMP Declines To Review Sex-Assault Cases, Feb. 9).
Presumably Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale's office had something to say about this as the RCMP subsequently (grudgingly?) agreed it would review 2016 cases (National Strategy Sought For Sex-Assault Cases, Feb. 10).
In contrast, most of the other police forces indicated that they would review as far back as 2014.
Furthermore, the RCMP has yet to meet data requests by The Globe for 140 RCMP jurisdictions. Add to this the sexual harassment class action suit the RCMP faces from its own female members and it is clear that there is still something fundamentally wrong with the culture and management of the force.
Richard Cooper, Ottawa
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PM on reform
Re: Trudeau Cites Leitch, Fringe Voices When Questioned On Electoral Reform (Feb. 10): Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that "the strength of our democracy is that we have to pull people into big parties that have all the diversity of Canada and we learn to get along."
I say that the strength of our democracy is representation. Pooling different perspectives into a single party dilutes and weakens the voices of Canadians and our democracy.
It is the duty of Parliament, and the parties represented, to negotiate, compromise and govern responsibly in the interest of all Canadians.
It is not in the interest of our democracy for Canadians to compromise on their values for the sake of political alignment. Don't muffle the voices before they're even at the table.
Michael Holota, Toronto
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Whatever the deficiencies of the first-past-the-post electoral system, its critics' claim that people whose choice does not win are "wasting their votes" is misleading. This is like claiming that when I play tennis for an hour and lose, I have "wasted my time." People's participation in the electoral process in and of itself legitimizes the process and attests to the voters' commitment to abide by the outcome.
FPTP is simple, easily understood by ordinary citizens and rewards political parties whose moderate policies appeal to a wide spectrum of voters.
Proportional representation promotes single-issue politics and often creates deadlock or gives disproportionate influence to fringe parties. To paraphrase Winston Churchill on democracy, FPTP is the worst electoral system – except for all the others.
Johnston Smith, Winnipeg
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Refugee unknowns
Re Canada's Path To Taking Trump's Refugees (Feb. 10): Gary Mason writes that there are many Canadians who share Americans' worries about not always knowing what we (and they) are getting by accepting refugees.
Perhaps a brief glimpse into the past will underscore that uncertainty. A quick look on online reveals that the following were refugees or children of refugees: Marc Chagall (painter), Michael Marks (Marks & Spencer), Gloria Estefan and Freddie Mercury (singers), Rachel Weisz (actor), Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger (former U.S. secretaries of state), Adrienne Clarkson and Michaëlle Jean (former governors- general of Canada), Joe Schlesinger (former CBC correspondent), Sergey Brin (Google co-founder), Isabel Allende (author), Albert Einstein …
Yes, we never know what we're getting.
Victor Nerenberg, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.
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Stay the pay
I would have a lot more support for the taxpayer-funded "cash infusion" to Bombardier if it were accompanied by a commitment to reduce the compensation of the company's executives by say, 50 per cent, until the loan is repaid (Bombardier Loan Risks Brazil Relations, Feb. 10).
And please don't tell me that bloated C-suite paycheques are necessary to attract and retain talent in a competitive marketplace – they too often sure don't seem to be justified by strong company performance.
Executive compensation is out of whack, kept in place by a self-supporting rich boys and girls club, and here the federal government has some leverage to point out that fact and, one hopes, do something about it.
Michael Farrell, Oakville, Ont.
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Aging and elephants
You suggest that we should "make it easier, and more rewarding to keep working" (Baby Boomers, Please Don't Retire – editorial, Feb. 8). The next day, another article, Job Shift: How Older Canadians Are Leading A Part-Time Change (Report on Business) suggested the grim reality: A third of 55-plus workers are working part-time because they can't find full-time work.
An Advisory Council on Economic Growth report recommends steps to improve workplace participation for older workers (and other targeted segments), chiefly skill acquisition and more flexible work arrangements. Ageism, a key barrier for older workers, is given brief mention and the report leaves it to employers to address, without indicating incentives or mechanisms to do so.
Research indicates that ageism perpetuates powerful negative stereotypes and biases in hiring and in the workplace. We need to acknowledge and address the (grey) elephant in the room.
Chester Fedoruk, Toronto
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Ouch, Mr. President
When it comes to pique in connection with the daughter of a U.S. president, Donald Trump, father of Ivanka, has nothing on president Harry S. Truman (Trump Slams Nordstrom In Tweet – Report on Business, Feb. 10). In 1950, Truman blasted Washington Post music critic Paul Hume for his review of Truman's daughter Margaret's singing. Hume wrote that Margaret "cannot sing very well" and "is flat a good deal of the time."
Harry S. fired off the following to him: "I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an 'eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay' [Whatever that is].
"It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.
"Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!
[Newspaper columnist Westbrook] Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry."
Wow, talk about vindictive. I bet Donald Trump can't match that for eloquence.
David McCray, Walkerton, Ont.