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Politics, priorities
Re Personal Turns Political As Veil Lifted On Ugly Side Of Niqab Debate Oct. 5): I object to veils, they're un-Canadian. I don't mean the niqab, I mean the veil of secrecy that the Conservatives have thrown over the findings of our scientists.
I object to hiding your face in public. I don't mean the niqab, I mean killing the long-form census because that hides the face of Canada from its citizens.
I object to oppressing women. I don't mean the niqab, I mean ignoring the hundreds of aboriginal women and girls who've gone missing in Canada.
These are threats to Canadian values, a few women wearing veils are not.
Rob MacLean, Belle River, PEI
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As an electorate, we are being played for fools. The true election questions centre on issues of policy, governance and management of the economy. Of late, however, the campaign has been hijacked by a discussion of cultural values, which will ultimately be settled by the Supreme Court, regardless of the election's outcome.
Only weeks ago, the country shared an overwhelming desire to do our part to help millions of refugees fleeing war and insecurity. Somehow this has been overtaken by highly divisive debate over two women wearing a niqab.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi is correct that the politicization of this issue is disgusting and dangerous. The desire to help in one of history's greatest refugee crises is being overshadowed by manufactured fear and xenophobia. If we have any integrity as a nation, those responsible for this should be punished at the polls.
Michael Young, Halifax
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With his rabble-rousing in Quebec, Stephen Harper has at last taken off his veil.
Donald McWilliams, Montreal
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Canadian 'values'
It's rich that those in high dudgeon over Canadians who oppose the niqab at citizenship ceremonies point to our so-called emotional overreaction.
I am adamantly opposed to the niqab and my reasons involve the clear, certain logic that those who cannot stand with the values the great majority of Canadians hold dear, including gender equality, at so pivotal and symbolic a moment, do not deserve the right to call themselves "Canadian."
I am grateful to Stephen Harper for standing up for Canada and refusing to be cowed by oh-so-political niqab correctness.
Meghan O'Neill, St. John's
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It is absolutely disgraceful of a Prime Minister to fan the flames of Islamopohobia to win votes.
We are now witnessing attacks on niqab-wearing women in public. If further violence erupts, Mr. Harper is personally responsible for inciting such crimes. He tries to defend his policy as protecting Canadian values, which include freedom and openness, but he purposely omits tolerance.
Olivia Fung, Toronto
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The Globe editorial, From Campaign To Culture War (Oct. 2), asks several questions of those who support the niqab ban at citizenship ceremonies.
Q: "Have you ever been to a citizenship ceremony?"
A: Yes, my own.
Q: "Do you actively follow who is being sworn in as Canadian citizens every week?"
A: No, I rely on the government to monitor that activity.
Q:"Have you ever given this a moment's thought before the Tories and the BQ made it an issue?"
A:Yes, just as I think of all kinds of issues, cultural, religious or otherwise.
Having grown up in a society where nobody covers their face, I am not comfortable with the custom. Seeing someone's face when interacting with them is an important part of communication.
Colin Lowe, Nanaimo, B.C.
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Trudeau, profiled
Re The Contender (front page, Oct. 3): Since there are several contenders for the prime ministership, how does Justin Trudeau become "the" contender?
After this hagiography's seven additional pages of text and glamour photos in the Focus section, an editorial endorsement would be redundant.
John Beckwith, Toronto
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The Justin Trudeau profile with Kennedy-esque black-and-white photos in Saturday's paper was over the top. It was worthy of Vanity Fair, but dubious judgment for a self-styled national journal in the final days of a close election campaign.
James Cullingham, Toronto
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60 as a label
Re Hey, Kid. Stop Calling Me A Senior! (Oct. 3): I sympathize with Margaret Wente greatly.
I know exactly what it feels like to be branded with with a derisive, reductionist label every time someone feels the urge to make generalizations about my generation. That's why I'd like to offer her a deal. I will stop calling Ms. Wente a senior if she will stop calling me a "millennial" from the "entitlement generation."
Sound fair?
Adam Stikuts, Montreal
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I'm sorry to have to tell Margaret Wente this, but 60 is not the new 40. Sixty is the exact same 60 that it's always been.
Adam Waiser, Thornhill, Ont.
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Living on $1.90 day
It's reassuring to hear from the World Bank that extreme global poverty (those living on less than $1.25 a day) has fallen from 902 million in 2012 to 702 million today – and from 1.9 billion in 1990 (Record Low Living In Extreme Poverty – Oct. 5).
A 63 per cent drop in 15 years and a 22 per cent drop in three is almost unbelievable. In fact, it's not believable: The Bank's own calculation in its 1990 World Development Report put the number at a little more than a billion, not 1.9 billion.
The most recent drop, however, is the interesting one. If we can cut absolute poverty by 22 per cent in three years, we can probably wipe it out completely in another four or five by simply continuing what we have been doing, which isn't much.
The more sensible statistic from the Bank is its decision to raise the poverty line from $1.25 to $1.90 a day. This places something between two and three billion people below the line, as much as 40 per cent of the world's population. That number warrants a lot more attention than dubious claims of success.
Ian Smillie, development consultant, author of The Charity of Nations and Freedom from Want; Ottawa
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Barbarism alert?
Re Tories Promise To Establish A 'Barbaric Practices' Tip Line (Oct. 3): I'd like to report Stephen Harper for the "barbaric practice" of stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment during an election in an attempt to gain political advantage.
Margaret Smith, Toronto
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Does this mean no more haggis on Robbie Burns Day? No more kissing the cod in Newfoundland? Will this be the last Oktoberfest in Kitchener-Waterloo?
Cockeye MacDonald, Midland, Ont.