Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as Canada's premiers meet in Ottawa on Feb. 7.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Come in
Re “In today’s incredibly destabilized world, Canada is increasingly a bystander” (Oct. 20): I believe much of the blame for Canada’s predicament rests with successive governments putting politics ahead of good governing.
For if Canada wants to be considered a player and expect a seat at the table, then the country would need to re-earn the respect of our allies, including NATO. A good place to start might be with the military and increase our NATO spending.
If done, we would be elevated to the table instead of watching from the sidelines, out in the cold.
Cecil Rorabeck London, Ont.
In other words
Re “Canada Border Services Agency paid millions to IT firms after receiving misconduct complaints” (Oct. 26): Hats off to Conservative MP Garnett Genuis for his skillful, plain-language committee questioning of Canada Border Services Agency officials about ArriveCan’s $54-million bill to the Canadian public, and what now appears to be even wider patterns of either corrupt or negligent subcontracting.
The contrast I heard between his straightforward questions and the fuzzy, accountability-dodging answers couldn’t be more stark. “Process mumbo-jumbo,” indeed.
John Merritt Ottawa
With thanks
Re “What to make of Alberta’s unrealistic CPP withdrawal demand of half the assets” (Report on Business, Oct. 26): The appropriate response of any Canadian to the proposed withdrawal of Alberta from the Canada Pension Plan should not be outrage and confusion, but astonishment that it took so long.
After decades of shouldering the bulk of financing Confederation, the appropriate response of the rest of the nation should be one of thanks, admiration and imitation.
The federal government should be organizing a “thank you, Alberta” parade down Wellington Street in Ottawa. Instead, much of the country has repaid this generosity with derision and scorn. This is baffling to me.
To Albertans: I sincerely apologize for the behaviour of my fellow citizens and thank them for their outsized contribution to this nation. I urge them to stand up for themselves, remove Alberta from the CPP and, please, take my province with them.
The rest of the country doesn’t deserve Alberta.
Shaun Unger Neuanlage, Sask.
Market forces
Re “Every little thing” (Letters, Oct. 19): The climate problem is indeed intricate but, according to science, not insoluble – yet.
With frustratingly slow progress so far, governments seek unprecedented levels of global co-operation in the climate process. More encouraging are the markets coaxing us toward benign choices.
Mounting financial losses, as well as human suffering from devastating weather events, have got insurers and clients paying attention. At the same time, alternative sources of renewable energy are becoming more efficient, prolific and persuasively less expensive than fossil fuels for a significant portion of our needs.
Canada may account for less than 2 per cent of global greenhouse gases, but any amount of what is known to be harmful should be seen as too much.
Self-interest can be rewarded when businesses and citizens take full account of the burning need to prioritize and accelerate the green transition. What, other than an abysmal lack of foresight, is to stop us?
Rick Carpenter Ottawa
Outside Quebec
Re “French only” (Letters, Oct. 24): A letter-writer indicates that, as a francophone Quebecker, he did not have the opportunity to deposit his children at a French university in Toronto. It seems implied that the existence of three English universities in Quebec is provided at the benevolence of the provincial government. They are not.
All three of McGill, Concordia (in an earlier form) and Bishop’s universities got their starts in the 1800s to serve a vibrant and significant English population. In all honesty, it was probably also because of the significant wealth within the English community.
The fact that there are not equally significant institutions in Toronto is because the French population was quite small and the demand wasn’t there. However, I would like to point out the Université de l’Ontario français, as well as Glendon College’s bilingual campus at York University.
Randy Tait Toronto
A francophone letter-writer from Quebec could have deposited his children at a public francophone university in Alberta – yes, Alberta: Campus Saint-Jean, part of the University of Alberta – and proud of it.
David Phillip Jones Edmonton
Behind the scenes
Re “Ford minister assured evangelical school it could get university status regardless of board review” (Oct. 23): It is alarming for university faculty, academic librarians and academic professionals that the former minister of colleges and universities promised assistance to bypass established educational review processes, to help a friend of the Premier get degree-granting status for an unaccredited, private religious college.
The application by Canada Christian College for degree-granting status was rejected by the government in 2021. The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations and others in the postsecondary system supported this rejection, arguing the government should have never pushed to grant university status to CCC, which we found to be woefully unqualified. Its leader, Charles McVety, is also known to hold Islamophobic, homophobic and transphobic views.
Now we know the government always intended to circumvent established procedure to help a well-connected friend. Unfortunately, this is another example of the government’s problematic approach to our universities, as well as its backroom methods of conducting politics in Ontario.
Nigmendra Narain President, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations; Toronto
Draw us lines
Re “49th parallel is designated as a territorial boundary” (Moment in Time, Oct. 20): The “49th parallel” may be Canada’s best-known geographic phrase.
It has symbolic importance to Canadians wherever they live. This is reflected in clothing brands and television series. We think of ourselves as hardy northerners, north of 49.
Not to detract from that, but the reality is otherwise. The majority of us live well south of that line. Only three provinces lie completely north of 49, the same number as lie completely south. The parallel comprises far less than half of our southern border, most of the rest stretching southward beyond 42 degrees north latitude.
Perhaps the 49th parallel’s appeal lies in the fact that it is a long, straight line. Or maybe because it is the final portion to be settled: the Prairie provinces in 1818, British Columbia in 1846.
Yet the myth of the 49th parallel is part of our identity, and sustains us. Long shall it remain so.
John Edmond Ottawa
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