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Eh, eh, Blue Jays
There's an American League Championship Series game on Monday, Oct. 19 (It's A Clinch – Oct. 1). So I was wondering: Could we get Elections Canada to push our election back – Thursday, Nov. 5, perhaps, the day after the last possible World Series game?
We've waited this long to vote, what's another couple of weeks?
Rob Young, Toronto
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My Baltimore son and I were in the stands as the Jays clinched the division flag on Wednesday.
Approaching the stadium during the 5th inning of the first game of the double-header, we had heard huge roars and naturally assumed that they were coming from Orioles fans.
We found ourselves seated along the third base line in the middle of a sea of blue – very happy Jays fans celebrating an 8-0 lead. To most Americans, of course, Canadians are an exotic species (we think Greenland and Iceland are Canadian provinces).
All we really know about Canadians is that they are probably the politest, least egoistic people on Earth. The Jays fans did nothing to contradict that perception.
Unlike most other teams' fans (think Yankees fans), even their celebrations were classy – no gloating over the one-sided outcome, no disparagement of the hapless Orioles – just a patriotic love-fest and an apparent sense of relief (first division title since the early 1990s). Even the stereotypical politeness came to the fore: Two Jays fans, seeing my son's Orioles cap, actually said "I'm sorry" to him.
Experiences like last night help renew my faith in the world. We'll root for the Jays in the playoffs – a great team with great fans.
George Conly, Mount Airy, Maryland
PS: A cheer for Canada: "C" eh? "N" eh? "D" eh?
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The Pope, the clerk
Re Pope Secretly Met With Kentucky County Clerk (Oct. 1): During his private discussions with Kim Davis – the law clerk who refuses to issue marriage licences to gay couples – I wonder if the Pope suggested that she refuse to provide this document to divorced Christians as well?
After all, Jesus is quite clear that divorce is strictly forbidden for any reason other than sexual immorality (Matthew 19).
Oh, right, Ms. Davis has been divorced three times and is now in her fourth marriage. Perhaps she believes, in her case at least, that her Lord and Saviour misspoke.
Brian Caines, Ottawa
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Really shocked
I thought I was shock-proof until I read Sex-Ed Protests Give Birth To Small Rash Of Private Schools (Oct. 1), but two points really, really shocked me:
1) "Private schools in Ontario do not need to follow provincial curriculums and are not inspected in more depth unless they want to offer Ontario Secondary School Diploma credits";
2) The director of a private elementary school in Oshawa considers having qualified teachers to be an "extravagance."
I shudder to think what kind of education the students in the private schools mentioned (and the many others like them) are getting – and what they are not getting. The parents boycotting the public school system because they disagree with teaching students about sex are harming the children, not the schools.
Sheila Dropkin, Toronto
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To allow so-called private schools to operate without credentialed teachers merits the same scorn as if one permitted untrained nurses in hospitals, unlicensed police officers to carry arms, or non-certified electricians to string power lines. Trained, accredited teachers are the bedrock of formal educational endeavours. We demean their role and expertise at the students' peril.
Jon Bradley, Montreal
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Canadian no longer
Re A Right, Not A Privilege (editorial, Sept. 29): You state Bill C-24 creates a separate class of citizenship. Yet, dual citizens are already in a class of citizenship which separates them from anybody who only holds Canadian citizenship, any legislation notwithstanding. Maintaining dual citizenship status constitutes a prima facie indication of divided loyalty.
Combine that with serious crimes against Canada, such as terrorism or joining foreign military or paramilitary forces like the Taliban or Islamic State for the purpose of fighting Canada or its allies, and you have an absolutely compelling case for revoking the Canadian citizenship.
Alfhard Brandl, Mississauga
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Car says 'no'
Once again, allegations of deadly drunk driving are in the news (Vaughan Crash, Sept. 30). The only way we are going to stop drunk driving is to stop drunks from driving! The only way to stop drunks from driving is to take away their ability to drive. Since they are drunk, they don't think about the repercussions of what they are about to do, they just want to get from point A to point B – often, in the fastest way possible: speeding.
There are mandatory air bags and mandatory seat belts, so why can't we insist there be a breathalyzer built into vehicles to stop a drunk driver from wiping out a family? You blow over, you can't start your car. Simple.
Linda McTaggart, Toronto
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Beauty beats novelty
Ever since Frank Gehry built the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, it seems every art museum wants a new building designed by a "starchitect," including the Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver Art Gallery Unveils New Design – Life & Arts, Sept. 30). But the VAG already has a building designed by a "starchitect": Its present building was built by Sir Francis Rattenbury as the B.C. law courts in 1906 and renovated as a gallery in 1983 by Arthur Erickson (a Canadian "starchitect"). At age 109, it's still Vancouver's most beautiful building. How will the stack of wooden crates proposed for the new VAG by a Swiss firm look in 109 years, or 29 years, for that matter?
The present VAG building's many advantages, besides its great beauty, are enough to make other museums jealous: generous parking, a location at the terminus of a busy pedestrian shopping street with a plaza that is a popular gathering place where buskers perform and crowds gather to sit on the steps and enjoy the sunshine (should there be any).
If there isn't enough exhibition space, why not open a storefront satellite gallery? If the issue is enough storage, why not rent a warehouse? It's hard to imagine why anyone would trade such a beautiful building in such a prime location for any reason other than the short-lived cachet of novelty.
Elizabeth Tumasonis, associate professor emerita, Department of Art History and Visual Studies, University of Victoria
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Hmm …
"A female panda at the Toronto Zoo is expecting twin cubs …" (Toronto Zoo Panda Pregnant With Twins – Oct. 1). Now if it had been a male panda, I would really have been impressed!
Lorna Simpson, Winnipeg