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Boomers, barn doors
Re Baby Boomers, Please Don't Retire (editorial, Feb. 8): So, you think there's going to be an "abrupt departure of the baby boomers from jobs and into retirement." Abrupt?! Boomers were born between 1946 and 1965, so the departures will be spread over several decades. Just exactly who has been asleep at the switch? If ever there was a time in history that came with a built-in opportunity for government and employers to plan, this was it.
And "just" 54 per cent of Canadians between 55 and 69 are working? As a (retired) HR professional, I can attest to one huge reason why they are not there. From the mid-1990s on, when "downsizing" became de rigueur, just who do you think were shown the door? Guess how successful they were at finding work again? And now, suddenly, they are valuable?
Perhaps making it harder for employers to toss aging employees into the abyss of involuntary retirement might help.
Images of horses and barn doors come to mind.
Helen Thibodeau, Cobourg, Ont.
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21st-century tribes
Re With Trump In The White House, The Balkans Whisper Of War (Feb. 7): In the melting pot of North America, we find the notion of ethnic nationalism reprehensible. Another Balkan war? How 19th century.
Mention of the 4,600 member NATO peacekeeping mission there reminds me of Cyprus. Decades of stalemate, abetted by a thin line of blue-helmeted Canadians, so there is no incentive for the two sides to work out a modus vivendi to seek the prosperity and mutual benefit that exists beyond the security and identity of tribe.
I realize that non-intervention in the Balkan conflict in the face of ethnic cleansing and mass murder would have been a terrible moral failure on the part of the West. But now, this conflict is frozen in time, positions have hardened, and the various sides' respective mythologies have taken on the certainty of truth. Really, was NATO planning to stand guard until the end of time?
Brian P.H. Green, Thunder Bay, Ont.
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Inside the police
Re Public Safety Minister Calls For Review Of Sexual-Assault Cases Across Canada (Feb. 8): The review of how police forces handle sex assault cases is probably long overdue, but recent situations within both municipal forces and the RCMP suggest there is a more fundamental issue. Canadians rely on the police to protect them from those who would harass and assault them. How can we trust police forces to provide that protection, when it is clear they are too often unable to protect their own members from those same problems?
We need to do a better job of recruiting only those prepared to live within the spirit and intent of the law, while supporting society's broader values. Police forces must weed out officers not prepared to live in a new age.
An ex-police colleague used to say: "When it comes to theft, there are three types of people. There are those who, regardless of the circumstances, will never steal. There are those who, if they think they can get away with it, will steal. There are those who, regardless of the circumstances, will steal." I suspect the adage can be applied to harassment and sexual assault. If we want to deal effectively with sexual assault, we must first ensure that those charged with that task are free from blame themselves.
David B. Wartman, Calgary
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All the Alexs
Re Alex's Story (editorial, Feb. 7): Alex Gervais's tragic story brings to the forefront the alarming reality facing youth who are aging out of the child welfare system. Through no fault of theirs, they lack almost everything most kids take for granted. Each year, about 2,300 Crown wards across Canada exit the system at age 18 or 19. Most haven't completed high school and have no support system, all while coping with the fallout of childhood trauma.
Without our help, they face homelessness, mental health issues, unemployment and poverty. Failing them also has broader implications – the 10-year impact of their lost earning potential alone is estimated at $7.5-billion.
The Children's Aid Foundation is involved in a growing number of donor-funded, national programs for youth leaving care, including: scholarships and bursaries, employability and life-skills training, nutrition, well-being and housing supports. For example, we recently launched the Slaight Family Foundation Right at Home program, focused on providing better housing supports to reduce the incidence of youth homelessness, which plagues this population.
In Alex's too-short life, he waited endlessly for the chance at a better future. While governments need to be held accountable for their important responsibilities for the safety and well-being of these vulnerable children and youth, a government is never going to be an adequate parent, and so we all have a role to play and a collective responsibility to fill the gaps. We need more Canadians to stand up for these kids.
Valerie McMurtry, CEO, Children's Aid Foundation
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To join AA
Re AA Opens Doors To Secular Groups (Feb. 7): AA's Third Tradition states: "The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking." This means that only the individual decides if they belong; there is no basis for shunning people on the basis of faith or any other belief.
Addiction is a disease of isolation. Alcoholics Anonymous groups or service organizations which exclude members on the basis of religious belief not only harm alcoholics, but are violating AA's own guiding principles.
Conrad Sichler, MD, family and addiction medicine, Burlington, Ont.
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A Speaker's role
Re Anarchy In The U.K. (Feb. 8): Your editorial staggered me both in its views regarding the Speaker's role in the British House of Commons and in its attitude toward Donald Trump. You say that Speaker of the House, John Bercow, "may or may not be right that Mr. Trump is a racist and a sexist." Come on. Judging by the online video, it's clear that the Mr. Bercow was telling the members what they wanted to hear (cue the cheers and the "hear, hears" – the latter in use in said parliamentary house since at least the late 17th century to denote enthusiastic agreement with the speaker as in "Hear him, hear him").
Further, a cursory glance at the various petitions regarding the – one hopes soon to be withdrawn – offer to Donald Trump (foolishly proffered by Theresa May) of a state visit (much bowing, scraping and Royals thrown in for free) will show close to two million Brits and counting with nothing but disdain for the hapless, socially challenged individual currently masquerading – courtesy of Vladimir Putin and Co.? – as the President of the United States.
Barry Devonald, Vancouver
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Brits should respectfully accept that it's the U.S. President coming to visit. Donald Trump will just happen to be there.
Craig Gordon, Fonthill, Ont.