Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre speaks during a campaign rally in Ottawa on March 31.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
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Re Politicians, Journalists Among 61 Canadians Hit With Russian Sanctions (April 22): I strongly suspect that the 61 Canadians prohibited from entering Russia feel about as deprived as vegetarians being told they can’t eat steak tartare.
Paul Thiessen Vancouver
Must-haves
Re Fixing Long-term Care Is A Moral Obligation (April 19): Columnist André Picard lists seven critical goals by which our suffering long-term care service can be improved. All of them are admirable and badly needed. From personal experience, I would place No. 5 five at the top: “Design a more effective and responsive system of quality assurance.”
This is a polite way of saying, “Enforce the rules.” If existing procedures were enforced, we would have a workable service, albeit in need of updating in terms of salaries and benefits to staff.
Norman Paterson The Blue Mountains, Ont.
I believe that long-term care should be based on a holistic model rather than a medical one.
Care should revolve around the overall needs and wants of a person, including medical care, rather than medical care with other needs seen as add-ons. Such care should also provide for a “good death” focused on the preferences of the individual and family, rather than medical intervention until death occurs.
My father lived in long-term care for the last year-and-a-half of his life. The overall experience for him and his family were far from ideal, especially his last weeks.
Frank van Nie Toronto
Get in line
Re Poilievre’s Message Gets People To Stand In Line (April 21): Columnist Campbell Clark confirms what I fear: Pierre Poilievre’s message has hit home.
I have long thought and been reassured that Canadians are a moderate and decent people, an enviable example to the world. What I’m seeing now is Mr. Poilievre following in the footsteps of Donald Trump, Viktor Orban and others, using rallies and hyperbole to advance his populist cause and rise to power.
The $64,000 question: Will his message go viral and cause his party – and Canada – to succumb to the simplistic siren call for “freedom?”
Steven Diener Toronto
Stick it to him
Re Beyond Carbon Pricing, The Federal Budget Will Accelerate Canada’s Energy Transition (April 18): If Justin Trudeau believed in doing what citizens want, he would rescind carbon pricing.
It is quite a democratic thing to collect funds in order to finance government, but carbon pricing is designed to raise no revenue: Its sole purpose is to coerce Canadians into behaving in ways nearly all of them would rather not. They vote in favour of oil and gas every time they fill a gas tank or refrain from turning down a thermostat.
Doug Ford’s decision to stop taxing automobile licences is anti-democratic to me, in the sense that it returns to taxpayers money needed to fund government. The only purpose seems to be spiting Mr. Trudeau and, secondarily, winning a few extra votes in the Ontario election.
For those reasons, Mr. Ford’s plan probably enhances democracy. And here I thought I never would write a letter extolling as virtuous any policy of the Premier.
Patrick Cowan Toronto
Buy, buy, buy
Re Real Estate Groups Ready To Fight Plan To End Blind Bidding (Report on Business, April 19): Last year, I sold my home and purchased a new one.
I went through the process of bidding on five homes before being successful. All involved two to three rounds of blind bidding, and all bids were substantially over asking price.
I was not told my ranking nor the highest bid. Our agent even asked if we wanted to raise our bid a third time on the home that we bought. Had we done so, we would have topped our own second-round bid.
Blind bidding is unethical and unfair to the buyer. It seems to only increase prices and fees that agents make. Agents are probably the only profession in Canada to receive a 30- to 40-per-cent pay increase during the pandemic.
Government should make bidding transparent and accountable. I find no proof that open bidding would not also benefit the seller.
John Kerr Ottawa
The other day, a friend put his vintage car up for sale through a broker. Such is the demand for vintage cars, test drives were discouraged, although potential buyers could inspect it for a few minutes.
The vehicle was listed for $50,000, and several bids came in well over this. The broker convinced one bidder (who came in 25 per cent over asking) to improve her “blind” offer, as he knew she was anxious to “close the deal.” It sold for 30 per cent over asking.
The broker’s commission was 5 per cent, or $3,250. One presumes everyone was happy, especially the broker who continues to sell many more cars at this inflation-proofed percentage. Whatever he sells over asking is pure gravy.
Peter Saunders Toronto
I have a simple solution: Canadians can sell their homes themselves.
First, obtain an estimate of a property’s current value by employing a professional and independent real estate appraiser (members of the Appraisal Institute of Canada will do this). Then offer it for sale with a reasonable asking price based on that estimate. Finally, take the best offer to a lawyer to close the deal.
David Enns Cornwall, Ont.
At the same time
Re At The Time (Letters, April 19): Contrary to a letter-writer’s reading, I find that the Indian Act faced widespread Indigenous opposition in 1876.
Many Indigenous leaders were united in claiming the purpose of the act was to shatter the unity of Indigenous peoples and land, and to replace traditional leadership with band councils beholden to the government. Worst of all, it completely shut out Indigenous women which, along with residential schools, nearly led to the collapse of First Nations across Canada.
The events of 1876 were later replicated in the 1960s. The government not only conducted a “sham showing” of consultation with Indigenous peoples, but also ignored its own 1966 Hawthorn report in imposing an assimilation agenda in the 1969 White Paper.
Bob Burgel Fisher River Cree Nation, Man.
Excuse me?
Re Rogers Deal Would See Xplornet Take Over Freedom Mobile (April 20): As a rural Xplornet subscriber, I am in a position to comment on the benefits and drawbacks of this proposal.
The sooner Xplornet’s marketing department changes the company name, the better. They apparently have no idea how long it takes for someone to correctly spell “xplornet” every time I have to give my e-mail address.
Tom Curran Prince Edward County, Ont.
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