Bearish on Crimea
Re Sanctions On Horizon As Crimea Votes To Join Russia (March 17): In the interests of the survival of Ukraine itself and the smaller nations bordering Russia, NATO and the U.S. must do more than mouth platitudes and talk of sanctions. They must provide military support rapidly and in force to help these regions maintain their hard-earned freedom from the Russian bear.
Vladimir Putin will back down only in the face of a determined, effective military opposition. The West must face up to that ugly reality in its dealings with him.
I hope common sense will prevail in time to save these peoples, otherwise Mr. Putin will take what he wants, one pawn at a time.
Michael Edwards, Bloomfield, Ont.
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Rather than the postured, photo-op visit to Ukraine that Stephen Harper is planning, Canada might facilitate the immigration of Crimean Tatars and other minorities who wish to leave before things get worse in what's likely to be an increasingly inhospitable region.
Linda Mowatt, Fergus, Ont.
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Economic sanctions against Russia can be likened to threatening to commit seppuku as a deterrent – not very effective. Europe will become quite agreeable to the new Russian borders by the time winter returns.
Just as Peter the Great looked out over swampland and saw beyond the curve to what might become a great city – St. Petersburg – it's essential to remember that some leaders think in generations, not in terms of office.
Alex Duhaney, Ottawa
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Parental paranoia
Re Do Anti-Vaxxers Need A 'Nudge'? More Like A Kick In The Pants (March 17): This is the wrong approach. Parents don't vaccinate their children for many reasons. It's self-interested, but it isn't always irrational.
Parents are bombarded with messages from public health and media telling them risks are everywhere: Baby formula, tummy sleeping, co-sleeping and contaminants in food, water and plastic are just the beginning.
The parental paranoia that ensues is normalized as part of being a "good parent." This, together with Health Canada's failure to prevent harms from numerous drugs, has created skeptical and frightened parents.
Yes, Houston, we have a problem. But rebuilding public trust is where the solution lies. Coercion might get you what you want in this particular instance, but you won't get these parents to see the greater good the next time round when the public-health stakes could be higher.
Alison Thompson, assistant professor, faculty of pharmacy, University of Toronto
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Sky-high mystery
Re Flight Search Stretches Over Vast Region (March 17): It puzzles me that we can send two rovers to Mars and know their exact locations, but on this planet a $260-million jet disappears and we have no idea where it is.
I cannot understand why, with the vast array of radar and satellite technology, planes are being built with the option to travel almost by stealth by turning off their transponders to the outside world.
Is there not something wrong with this picture?
Stuart Lyons, Dieppe, N.B.
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Novelist Frederick Forsyth, master of suspense, politics, technology and political intrigue in meticulous, real-world settings, must be sorely tempted to weave a tale around the disappearance of Malaysian Flight MH 370. The story is already stranger than fiction.
Neil Burk, Nepean, Ont.
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If Brazil can do it
Re Brazil's Radical Weight-Loss Plan (March 17): Why is Canada so behind the game when it comes to a real strategy for nutritional education? We are bombarded daily with a wealth of information on "healthy eating" that stems from the commercial advertising of a powerful food industry. Meanwhile, our national food guide is outdated and ignored.
Brazil fights the misinformation of its growing food industry by educating its citizens to be aware and critical, introducing a solid base of knowledge on dietary and lifestyle choices. Canadians are still being led to believe that choosing a diet beverage or "light" processed food is a healthy choice because we've allowed yogurt commercials to be our main source of information.
Dianna Brown, Toronto
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'Mother Canada'
Re Mother Canada (editorial, March 17): Given the Harper government's cuts to veterans' pensions and disability benefits, the design of the proposed "Mother Canada" memorial seems singularly appropriate. If it gets built, our veterans will be able to travel to Cape Breton and see Mother Canada turning her back on them.
Angus Burnett, Toronto
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The location and scale of the Mother Canada project need better artistic guidance if the objective is to reflect honour and reverence toward our fallen. Our Statue of Liberty? This sounds closer to Coney Island.
Keep the idea. The sentiments behind it are fine; the private founder of the scheme deserves credit. However, let our government first concentrate on its heavy responsibility toward supporting current veterans, lest efforts to lead the cheerleading for an overgrand statue leave us with not just a white elephant, but a monument to hypocrisy.
Sandy Leim, Halifax
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Against the grain
Re Command And Control From Ottawa Is No Way To Run Our Railways (online, March 17): It is a myth that railways are hampered by a "revenue cap" on Western grain shipments. There is no cap in the broad sense of the term – the more grain they ship, the more profit they can make.
As Geoff Hare, CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency, wrote in The Winnipeg Free Press, "it is not in fact a cap on how much grain the railways can move, rather it is a cap on the average rate that railways can charge. The railways have the flexibility to set differential rates for moving western grain as long as the total revenue they earn does not exceed the entitlement determined by the agency."
If the alternatives are "command and control" from Ottawa or opaque and monopolistic "command and control" from the railways, I will pick Ottawa every time.
Stewart Wells, grain farmer, Swift Current, Sask.
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Beards' bona fides
Re Chin Up, Mr. Mulcair: Style-wise, Beards Are Big Hairy Deals (Life, March 15): Columnist Sarah Hampson wanders far and wide in her attempt to ferret out the etiology of wearing beards.
She need not have complicated her task to such degree. Most men wear beards today for the same reason most men smoked pipes in the 1950s and 1960s: They want to be taken seriously.
Grant Forbes, Tsawwassen, B.C.