The National Library and Archives building on Wellington Street in Ottawa.The Globe and Mail
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Celebrate, criticize
I, too, am a Canadian who has worn a Canadian flag on my pack while travelling abroad, but recently with mixed emotions. As Jeffrey Simpson states in his opening paragraph (Lots To Criticize, But Much To Celebrate – July 1), there is lots to criticize our country for and increasingly so. But it's much like being a member of a family.
Arguments, disagreements, sometimes a need to escape an imperfect union, but Canada is my home and like my family, it's where I feel most comfortable, most myself and most proud.
Kit Gagnon, Burlington, Ont.
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While immigrants recently integrated into Canadian society might be perplexed, as Mr. Simpson suggests, by the claims of aboriginal peoples, it is worth pointing out that such claims are not for "special privileges." As a former federal negotiator of aboriginal land-claim and self-government agreements, I can assure you that First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are not striving for special privileges but, rather, for the fundamental rights that ought to be theirs as the former sole inhabitants, governors, custodians and owners of this land. (See the Royal Proclamation of 1763).
One might characterize such rights as special in that they apply to a distinct group, but they are hardly "privileges."
Daniel Mandin, Ottawa
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Heritage lost
Another major building opened as a major part of Canada's centennial celebrations (When Our Country Was Built – Life & Arts, June 30) was the National Library and Archives building on Wellington Street in Ottawa.
Canada was one of the few countries in the world without a national library until 1953. It started without staff and without collections. The building, designed by Mathers & Haldenby, fulfilled decades of lobbying by Canada's libraries, librarians and academics and was described in the House of Commons as "real source of pride to all Canadians." The building permitted the development of a national infrastructure in support of libraries and research in Canada.
In contrast to the spirit of optimism and nation-building in 1967, the past decade under the Conservative government has been unkind to this federally designated heritage building and to the national institutions, collections, services and staff it permitted.
Paul McCormick, Ottawa
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Laura Beeston asserts that the National Arts Centre was "the first true performing arts centre" in Ottawa that allowed visiting symphonies "something grander than a high-school auditorium." Not so.
Opened in 1920, the Capitol Theatre on downtown Bank Street was one of the grandest venues in all of Canada. Built primarily as a cinema, it also regularly featured live performances by such famous names as Nelson Eddy, the TSO, the MSO, Victor Borge, Maurice Chevalier, the Metropolitan Opera, Glenn Gould and Jimi Hendrix, to mention but a few.
The Capitol, sadly, was demolished in 1970, the year after the NAC opened. Canada does not have an enviable track record of preserving its built heritage, and the loss of the wonderful Capitol is a shining example. It should have been a loud and clear wakeup call. Alas, the demolition derby continues.
The federal government's best architectural gift to us all for Canada 150 would be the much-needed tax incentives and regulatory safeguards to preserve our built heritage for future generations.
Brian Anthony, NAC alumnus, Toronto
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Greece's lenders
If Greece's lenders had stopped lending earlier (letters, July 1), the country would have been able to take less harsh measures to put its house in order. But the same people who criticize them now would have criticized them for being patronizing and imposing those less harsh but still harsh measures on the Greek people. They would not have praised the lenders' prudence – they would have implored them to lend more to stimulate the economy. Maybe if they had known that Greece was intentionally and fraudulently falsifying their own books, they would have turned off the tap before things got so out of hand.
There is plenty to criticize in the lenders' behaviour. But if it's up to them to save borrowers from themselves, then the borrowers simply aren't credit-worthy.
Darryl Squires, Ottawa
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Hoopla and polish
The world has changed a great deal since I stood on the podium at the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg but so, too, have the Games. Things were simpler then. Athletes competed for the joy of sport and the public were both welcomed and happy to attend. Venues were accessible and tickets were affordable; there were no cost overruns or multimillion-dollar contingency budgets.
Now, big sporting events have become a cash cow, with athletes as window dressing. Everyone covets a piece of the action. Sure, Southern Ontario will benefit from the much-appreciated and overdue infrastructure for this year's Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, but what about the bitter aftertaste for the public? Traffic gridlock, road closings, restricted highway lanes, exclusive ticket seating, overpriced security. It isn't a question of whether you are pro- or anti-sport, but rather that the public is fed up with being taken to the bank.
In 1967, we didn't have the same hoopla and polish, yet we managed just fine. Athletes enjoyed fair competition in great facilities, before enthusiastic capacity crowds.
Make the venues affordable and accessible for everyone and allow the athletes to simply compete. Then take the rest of the budget and disperse it to underfunded social programs. I have a hunch that the Games would manage without all the trinkets and toys, that the athletes would still compete at their best and that the public would gladly come.
Elaine Tanner, five-time Pan Am Games medalist, White Rock, B.C.
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A broader memorial
Memorializing victims of human rights violations is a noble objective worthy of a monument in Ottawa (Memorial-Site Plan Sparks Legal Action – June 27). But why "victims of communism"? Is it only communist countries that commit human-rights violations? Why did we need the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in that case?
Communism is an ideology. In Canada we enjoy the freedom to follow any political ideology that we choose. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects our right to believe in a communist system of governance, which simply means a social system of sharing property and work product, if we wish.
Communism is not inherently evil. Let's call this memorial what it really is – a "Memorial for Victims of Human Rights Violations." Let's take this opportunity to affirm that in this beautiful, free country of Canada we do not tolerate human-rights violations, whether they are committed by democratic or communist regimes, at home or abroad.
Deborah Hall, Vancouver