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Overreacted: Really?

CP Rail's Hunter Harrison's audacity in claiming regulators have overreacted to the Lac-Mégantic derailment is breathtaking, but it is his assignment of all blame for the accident to "one person" that invites comment (Regulators 'Overreacted' To Disaster In Lac-Mégantic, CP CEO Says – Oct. 3).

When it comes to blaming an individual, I would suggest that there is one person in the Canadian rail industry who has contributed more than any other to the railway culture that created the perilous situation in which a single engineer was operating a poorly maintained locomotive on poorly maintained track.

That person is Hunter Harrison.

Liz Mayer, Montreal

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The Canadian Transportation Safety Board was very clear in its August report on the Lac-Mégantic disaster that the tragedy was a result of a series of systemic and operational failures on the part of the train's operator and, most importantly, Canada's railway safety regulator, Transport Canada. It was not simply the failure of "one person."

The disaster prompted very serious questions about Transport Canada's role and approach as a safety regulator, which the federal government has failed to date to address in any meaningful way. Hunter Harrison's ill-considered remarks add to the already powerful case for revisiting Transport Canada's "safety management system" regulatory model that effectively lets railways regulate themselves.

Mark S. Winfield, Toronto

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Forty-seven Canadians dead. "Overreacted"? Really?

Marie Pelletier, Quebec City

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'The enemy'

In the military, I learned the enemy must be attacked where it is weakest and with overwhelming force, employing as much as possible the element of surprise.

You must know in advance what you are going to do when a manoeuvre ends. All operations, including the war itself, should have a single aim.

Little of this is happening.

Canada's aim should be to contribute to restraining the terrorists, just as our aim in Europe was to contribute to the defeat of Germany within a reasonable time and at a reasonable cost.

Jeffrey Simpson's lengthy list of combatant groups shows that true victory is very unlikely (Our Mission, Should We Choose To Accept It – Oct. 3). Whatever the aim is, killing non-combatants will not advance it.

Tony Butler, Montreal

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There is a moral imperative at work here. Evil must be stopped. The Prime Minister has my full support in this.

Mike Hunter, Vancouver

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I'm taking bets on what date we'll see pictures of Mr. Harper in combat gear on the deck of a battleship, a "Mission Accomplished" banner behind him. Any takers?

Michael R. Conrad, Vancouver

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Turf and gender

The trouble with Cathal Kelly's commentary on female soccer stars' attempt to sue FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association is that it reveals a profoundly male interpretation of sport (The Turf War Over Grass – Folio Oct. 3).

The issue, he claims, is hurt feelings. The solution, he suggests, is more risk taking. These ideas reject an appreciation for feminine values (emotional, co-operative) and reveals the masculine bias that is built into our worldview of not only sports, but also business and politics (rational, exploitative). It is this bias that underlies the very nature of much discrimination in our society, and providing commentary from a similarly biased perspective does very little to help readers grasp the fundamental issues of unfairness and bigotry at play here.

Kai Lamertz, Montreal

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What if FIFA said that in the next World Cup all African nations will play on artificial turf but South American and European nations will play on real grass? Would Cathal Kelly attribute the resulting outcry to "hurt feelings"? Why isn't FIFA boycotting the tournament on behalf of women players until CSA does the right thing?

Julie Maciura, Toronto

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Budget, smudget

Re Joe Oliver Replies (letters, Oct. 2): I, Joe Schmo, reply. I wish politicians would stop promising balanced budgets. Once in power, governments use our taxes to bolster their own voter base. Talk of budgets and deficits is just a distraction with no real intention.

Conner Steacy, Kingston

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Pop the champagne. The federal deficit for 2013-2014 is down to only $5.2-billion (Deficit For Fiscal Year Projected At $5.2-Billion, Harper Says – Oct. 3). A surplus is sure to follow and the Conservatives will be able to cut taxes in time for the next election. How many of us will notice that the government lacks the moral authority to propose tax cuts?

The accumulated debt of the Canadian government is some $600-billion; Mr. Harper's share stands at some $147-billion. One quarter of the accumulated debt of the Canadian government is on Mr. Harper's shoulders. Conservatives – Mr. Harper and prime minister Brian Mulroney before him – have been unwilling to pay for the government they deliver.

The Conservatives should cut taxes only when the accumulated debt is back to what it was when they were first elected. Rather than lower taxes at the first whiff of surplus, they should bank one year of surplus and run the election on their record of high-debt government. That would be good stewardship. That would be responsible government.

Mark Verlinden, Oakville, Ont.

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Universities' choices

Re Canadian Universities Drop In Rankings (Oct. 2): Before we rush to judgment that Canadian universities need to be "differentiated" in terms of public funding, consider the evidence. Government funding for research chairs and centres of excellence favours larger, research-intensive universities. The 15 large universities account for 80 per cent of research funding in Canada. There is a correlation between the level of non-government monies as a share of total revenue and the research focus of universities.

McGill's Suzanne Fortier made the insightful comment that universities need more freedom to make choices regarding the allocation of their resources, public and private.

Introducing a modicum of privatization into universities would be a step in the right direction.

University presidents, senior administration, governing boards and faculty leaders are far more informed than governments when it comes to the frontiers of research. Their time horizon goes beyond election cycles. Greater freedom for universities to make independent spending decisions has the potential to enhance Canada's research stature.

Douglas Auld, adjunct professor, Department of Economics and Finance, University of Guelph

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Harry who?

Re Straight Out Of A Harry Potter Movie, Scientists Create Cloaking Device (Oct. 2): Hello. Star Trek. Cloaking device. Way back in the 1960s. Who's this Harry Potter copycat?

Carla Hagstrom, Gerstein Science Information Centre, Toronto

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