iStockphoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Business gospel
Re Ottawa Freezes small-business tax rate in break from campaign pledge (online, March 23):
The Report on Business never fails to entertain. Had your reporters covered the Sermon on the Mount, the headline would be Gathering a great failure: bread and fish only – no dessert. H.J. Whidden, Wolfville, N.S.
Re A government-imposed housing correction is the last thing canada needs (March 22):
According to Dr. Sherry Cooper, housing, "particularly in the Toronto and Vancouver markets, remains one of the pillars of the Canadian economy." Unfortunately, those pillars were built upon the oil sands and other natural resources currently struggling in the global economy. It calls to mind Matthew 7:24: "A foolish man … built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Kathleen Donohue, Toronto
Cheque in the mail
Re Basic income schemes have a basic problem (March 18):
Eric Reguly is right to fear that a cheque in the mail every month can dissuade many people from training to improve their lot or working at all, as EI and welfare payments seem to do now in many cases. Indeed, payment at the scale proposed in Switzerland would do just that unless the inflation caused by it reduces its effective size. However, if the basic income were enough for the family to get by and no more, both inflation and reluctance to prepare for and find employment will be greatly reduced. To encourage low-skilled workers into the employment pool, income-tax levels should be set such that the deductions are insignificant at low incomes.
The replacement of the birth-to-death social welfare complex by one payment will be simpler and cheaper to operate and the money and human resources saved by it can be directed toward social problems caused by addiction and individual inadequacies. Win-win, if there ever was one. Sudhir Jain, Calgary
Mr. Reguly says the better way to create sustainable jobs "is to help the unskilled and semi-skilled adapt."
Adapt to what? Work for these willing Canadians has vanished, disappeared, been exported, made redundant, automated. In other words, it's gone. Period. So exactly what they are to adapt to is the bigger question – still unanswered. Mary Dixon, Winnipeg
Here's regressive
Re Is low tuition a good thing, or a socially regressive policy? (March 18):
There are nearly two million Canadians enrolled in our universities and colleges, yet a growing number of these students come from high-income backgrounds. With tuition alone rising by 20 per cent since 2009, there is a demonstrated need to expand aid to low-income students.
Brian Lee Crowley fails to mention that those graduating debt-free are largely from higher-income families. What this proves is evidence of the regressive problems of failing to properly support low-income students. He also alludes that the economic return from a liberal-arts education is substandard. This is untrue; public perceptions about the value of social science and humanities degrees must be changed. Outcomes for these graduates are actually very strong, as has been shown recently by Prof. Ross Finnie of the University of Ottawa.
Making sure the rising costs of postsecondary education don't restrict access to education should be a top priority for any government. Those who question these progressive policies should ask themselves: How does a highly indebted population benefit taxpayers? Forcing a segment of the population to delay major life milestones and hindering its ability to contribute to the economy is socially regressive. Viviane Bartlett, interim executive director, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, Ottawa
Letters to the editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Submit to letters@globeandmail.com.