June 17: We the North a new national identity. Plus other letters to the editor

Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

..................................................................................................................................

National pride, identity

While the Raptors belong to Toronto proper, Canadians a mari usque ad mare (from sea to sea) stood behind the only Canadian NBA team as it brought home the NBA championship (Champions, June 14).

On the heels of the Raptors’ historic win, it is clear that We The North have longed for a cultural identity to get behind since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Between Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s praise of Canadian heckling after Game 1 and the crowd’s “un-Canadian” reaction to Kevin Durant’s injury in Game 5, the concept of what it means to be Canadian was discussed extensively during these Finals.

Beyond the Tim Hortons marketing and a diffuse reputation of “being nice,” this win and the ensuing national reaction may suffice to include a strong basketball culture under the nebulous umbrella of Canadian identity. Congratulations to the Raptors on the win and for setting our hearts on fire.

Swetha Prakash, Vancouver

......................................................

Watching the outpouring of joy in Toronto and country, this must be what some refer to as The Rapture (Champions, June 14).

Congratulations and thank you Toronto Raptors. The class and grace with which you carried yourselves portrayed us all in a great light.

Agostino Di Millo, Toronto

City of champions

The Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup in 1967. In 1993, 26 years later, the Blue Jays won their second World Series. Now, after another 26 years, the Raptors win the NBA title. I have now set my alarm clock to February of 2045, 26 years from now. I just gotta watch the Toronto Argonauts win the Super Bowl.

John P.A. Budreski, Vancouver, B.C.

......................................................

It’s great that the Raptors won the NBA Finals and have brought a championship to Toronto. And by the way, can Kawhi Leonard skate? Just wondering.

Jerry Amernic, Toronto

Pharmacare’s ‘promise’

The creation a single-payer national pharmacare program should be a no-brainer: better health outcomes for all at a cheaper overall price (Panel Calls For $15.3-Billion Pharmacare Plan; Five Decades In The Making, Our National Pharmacare Still Has A Long Way To Go, June 14).

It’s been done in many rich countries, and it has been done in Canada for the doctor and hospital parts of medicine.

Then again, introducing universal health coverage in the United States should also be a no-brainer. The inability of Americans to figure that one out provides Canadian media with no end of stories that make us feel good about how sensible we are, and how silly our neighbours are.

But Canadians are about to discover that national pharmacare means higher taxes and, for those who currently have private plans, it will mean less choice of drugs.

The rewards of pharmacare, meanwhile, are long-term, and rely on nearly unprecedented successful government co-operation.

The result is that rather than adopt universal pharmacare, Canadians, like our American neighbours, are more likely to become protective of the benefits they currently have – as short-sighted as that may be. And if so, Canadians will be getting a taste of our own medicine.

Ryan Hoskins, MD, North Vancouver, B.C.

A judicial solution

There are two people who can lawfully allow the release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, permitting her to fly home to China.

One is the Justice Minister, pursuant to the provisions of the Extradition Act. For the reasons cited by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and The Globe and Mail’s Campbell Clark, it would be a very bad idea for him do so (Freeland Is Right – It’s Too Late To Cancel Meng’s Extradition Process, June 14).

The second person who could release Ms. Meng is the judge hearing her case in Vancouver. Regardless of whether Ms. Meng was guilty of breaking a U.S. law, there are compelling reasons why the Canadian court should not allow itself to be a party to the process initiated by the U.S. extradition request.

Under the long-standing principle of abuse of process, criminal prosecutions are not to be employed for the purpose of achieving ulterior motives. There is ample evidence that the United States wanted to use Ms. Meng’s arrest as a bargaining tool to obtain leverage in its trade negotiations with China. The Trump White House may also have seen the arrest as a way of sabotaging trade relations between China and Canada (which it undoubtedly did), as furthering geopolitical pressure on its perceived Asian antagonist.

The Canadian officials have a duty to present all relevant arguments on the legality of Ms. Meng’s arrest before the judge, including those related to abuse of process. Let the matter be decided according to the rule of law, by the judge hearing the case. The sooner the better.

Peter Love, Toronto

Deer invaders

Re Don’t Fence Me In (June 14):

I live in Victoria’s Oak Bay area and we have a serious deer problem. We came home from a vacation last year and our whole backyard was decimated. All my years of work were destroyed.

As a result, we paid a lot and had the backyard totally fenced in, as deer won’t jump a fence if they cannot see the other side. Our neighbours used to enjoy looking at our lovely flowers, now all they see is fence.

Irene Robirtis, Victoria

Below the 49th

I am tired of seeing references to “the population north of the 49th parallel” in The Globe and Mail as a way to refer to Canada. The reference is almost always inaccurate, misleading – even meaningless.

The 49th parallel is (almost everywhere) our border with the United States, from Lake Superior to Vancouver. However, other than northern Newfoundland and Labrador, all Maritimers live below the 49th. Even the people in Victoria do.

A tiny bit of Ontario (Point Pelee) is to the south of a tiny bit of California (a sliver at the north of the state). How many Canadians live below the 49th parallel?

No less than 72 per cent of us!

Alain Gingras, Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, Que.

Gentle reminders

Re Why You Should Snooze Those Notifications (June 14):

That’s why I still use Post-it Notes. They don’t ring, buzz, bing or have to be turned off. I control them. They don’t control me.

Steven H. Brown, Toronto

Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Get the Opinion newsletter. Sign up today.