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Wisdom, benched?
Re Judge Under Fire For Claiming 'A Drunk Can Consent' In Sex-Assault Case (March 3): "Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?" asks one jurist.
"A drunk can consent …" says another jurist.
No wonder the government has difficulty finding suitable material for the bench.
Larry Wade, Ottawa
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Ontario's hydro 'farce'
The politicians are being called out for the mess that is hydro in Ontario. Rightfully so.
But where are the boards of directors, management and unions in supporting or defending their roles in this fiasco? Nepotism, excessive pay and retirement benefits unknown to most of us, together with a general sense of entitlement, never make for an effective organization.
Doug Gould, London, Ont.
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Farce. Then more farce. Then, appallingly, still more farce. The Ontario government's multiple and ill-conceived plans to manage its re-election chances all include one factor: increasing debt for the longer and very-much-longer term.
If they were to seek counselling from a debt-management company or even a non-profit, the final bill could be less.
The first step in getting help is admitting a need for it. But that time has passed – as has the life of this Ontario Liberal government. Look for the corpse to be interred in the spring of 2018.
Clay Atcheson, North Vancouver
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I am expected to believe that using my tax dollars to subsidize my hydro bill will make me better off. Just who do these geniuses think they are kidding!
Brian Swinney, Burlington, Ont.
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Greenbacks, diplomacy and war
A letter writer suggests that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be "more emboldened … when he believes the U.S. military is weaker than at any time in its recent history" (Uncle Sam's Clout, March 2). There is no reason whatsoever for Mr. Putin to believe that the United States is particularly weak right now: According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the U.S. defence budget is still almost 10 times that of Russia's.
But apparently President Donald Trump feels the United States needs "to start winning wars again" (Trump Lays Out Budget Plans To Boost Defence, Cut Foreign Aid, EPA, Feb. 28).
Well, there is a good chance he will get more wars, since he plans to help fund his defence spending by cutting back on diplomacy. As his Secretary of Defence James Mattis said in 2013 when he was Commander of U.S. Central Command, "If you don't fully fund the State Department, then I need to buy more ammunition …"
Nigel Brachi, Edmonton
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Donald Trump's address to Congress was warm and fuzzy, but the threats were as prevalent as ever. A wolf in sheep's clothing is all the more dangerous. So the riddle of the day is: When will we be able to see clearly again? Answer: 2020.
Dave Benjamin, Beaver Bank, N.S.
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Four billion … and counting
Wow! There is evidence that the oldest signs of life on Earth may be as old as the supposedly 4.28 billion-year-old rock containing them (Quebec Rocks May Hold Oldest Signs Of Life, March 2).
And to think that today there are folks in this world worth at least $4.28-billion each. Evolution sure is a wonderful thing, eh, Mr. Darwin?
George Todd, Guelph, Ont.
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Bathroom? Or vacuuming?
Re Stephen Marche On Why Squalor Is The Solution To Domestic Gender Politics (online, March 1): I read this article with some degree of bemusement. When my husband and I moved in together 35 years ago, I asked him whether he wanted to clean the bathroom or do the vacuuming. That has been the tone and tenor of our lives ever since. Each Sunday, we decide who is doing what and go at it. Not hard.
If men are still avoiding these basic but essential tasks, they need to give their heads a shake.
Jane McCall, Delta, B.C.
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Massey's place in our history
Re The First Canadian-Born Governor-General (Moment In Time, Feb. 28): Vincent Massey, Canada's first Canadian-born governor-general, was one of our country's most generous and important art philanthropists, a man who, as stated, helped Canada become more Canadian.
Why is it that someone who played such an important role in our history is not better remembered by the town where he has his roots, Port Hope, Ont., and where he and his wife are buried in near-anonymity? His grave is marked by a simple flat stone with his name on it, his wife's stone with her name on it is next to his. Except for a stained-glass window inside St. Mark's Anglican Church, there is no significant mention at the church cemetery or in the town of Vincent Massey.
As we approach Canada's 150th birthday, very few Canadians probably even know he is buried in Port Hope. This in stark contrast with the pride that Kingston takes in its citizen: John A. Macdonald. When will Vincent Massey be honoured as someone who played an important role in Canadian history?
Yvonne Temple-Vermeulen, Ottawa