Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a town hall meeting in Cambridge, Ont., on Tuesday April 16, 2019.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
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
Three-quarters were not
The display text on your front-page article, PMO Vets Potential Judges With Liberal Database (April 24), states: “Globe review of Elections Canada data finds one-quarter of appointments since 2016 were party donors.” From this alone, it is clear that three-quarters were not party donors.
You examined Elections Canada donation data sets, and found 1,187 contributions were matched to 83 of the 289 judges appointed since 2016 – or less than one-third (28.7 per cent). In other words, more than 70 per cent of judges appointed since 2016 did not donate to the Liberal Party.
Clearly, the facts overwhelmingly support the statement by Justice Minister David Lametti’s office that political leanings were not taken into consideration for judicial appointments. Your article’s tone and presentation, however, paints a different picture.
Does The Globe and Mail have a grasp of what is taught in even a basic statistics class, and/or are you relying on Canadians not to have one?
Veena Dwivedi, associate professor, psychology Brock University
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When you report what percentage of Conservative-appointed judges were Conservative Party donors – I’ll settle for the three-year-period of your choice to keep things even – I will take your “objectivity” seriously.
Until then, you are wearing your agenda on your statistical sleeve. Where’s the text that says: “Globe review of Elections Canada data finds three-quarters of appointments since 2016 were not party donors”?
Inga French, Winnipeg
China’s grip on Canada
Re Beijing Has Taken Our Citizens And Canola Producers Hostage. Ottawa Must Muscle Up (April 23): Colin Robertson makes sensible recommendations, but they do not go far enough.
Our spineless government has failed to protect Canadians from a bullying China, so Canadians will have to take the next steps: Avoid all travel to China, source manufacturing supplies from alternate countries, and boycott Chinese products. A message must be sent to China.
Gary Furrie, Ottawa
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The treatment that China has accorded to Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and subsequently to our canola farmers is, in a word, monstrous.
While Magnitsky sanctions and “naming and shaming” Chinese goods coming into Canada may sound appealing, what do you think will – not may – happen to the Canadians living and working in China?
Our country is caught between China on one side, and an imbecile masquerading as President of the United States on the other. Donald Trump is no more likely to do “more to help with the detained Canadians” than he is to divorce Melania and marry Stormy.
Any action against China will not be effective until every last Canadian is out of China and safe. Then we can go after the Chinese government, and I’ll be cheering.
Alan Rosenberg, Toronto
Bravo, Vancouver
Re Vancouver Mulls Action Against Gas-Powered Cars (April 24): Vancouver City Council should be strongly commended – this initiative would be a step in the right direction, and could serve as a model for other cities in Canada and internationally. Swift and dramatic action must be taken in the face of catastrophic climate change.
Frank de Jong, Faro, Yukon
Jokers in office
Re Ukraine’s President-Elect Has A Strong Mandate, But Few Clear Plans (April 23): While Volodymyr Zelensky’s achievement is remarkable, he is not the first comedian elected to high office. Some will claim that honour belongs to a former Toronto mayor – but the all-time champion must be the current U.S. President
Andrzej Derkowski, Oakville, Ont.
Always the poor …
Re Funding Cuts To Northern, Southern Ontario Library Systems Hit Rural And Indigenous Communities (April 23): I love to learn, and I love to read. I rely on my local library for both since I live 50 miles from the nearest large library.
So imagine my surprise when the local librarian told me I would have to return my interlibrary-loan book as soon as possible because the government had suddenly cut the Ontario Library Service budget in half, which will decimate the interlibrary program. I won’t be able to finish the book I’m reading, nor will I have access to the service any longer.
I am a veteran and a pensioner. I have had three heart attacks and a spinal cord injury. There is not much more that I ask of life than to pursue my love of studying history. Without the interlibrary program, I will be out of luck. I cannot afford to buy books, and as much as the younger generation might argue the point, not everything is available online.
Why is it that when there are cuts to be made, it’s always the poor who get hurt? What idiot would think it is cost effective to cut library services?
Rosalie Reber, Clinton, Ont.
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Claiming cuts to the Ontario Library Service will not impact the day-to-day running of libraries shows a gross lack of understanding of how libraries function. The cancellation of interlibrary loans immediately cancels several library programs and limits accessibility to books not available in smaller rural libraries. Perhaps, as usual, this government sees only Toronto when determining what does and what does not affect things.
We have a Premier who is a college dropout, was unsuccessful in his attempt to run for mayor of Toronto, who once declared he would shut a library “in a heartbeat,” and who thinks people really care about buck-a-beer. Is it any wonder his government doesn’t understand the impact of a 50-per-cent budget cut?
Odeen Probert, Thornbury, Ont.
Leave a gratuity
I was a chambermaid when I was 18 (Out Of Sight, But Not Out Of Mind, April 20). It was hard work, and not always pleasant (please dispose of your own toenails).
Some fellow maids at London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel stood in the corridor outside rooms when they expected guests to check out, hoping to be recognized with some cash. A little hard on the dignity, I’d say.
Especially for the sake of the older women who clean hotel rooms for a living, let’s be generous. Leave a gratuity.
Angela Shaw, London, Ont.
Cursed ...
Re Old Foes Inflict Fresh Pain On Leafs (April 24): The Maple Leafs do not need a new coach or goalie or better players. They need to hire an exorcist to remove the curse that has surely afflicted this franchise for the past 52 years.
Max Berger, Toronto
Express your views on global press freedom
On May 4, as part of its ingoing coverage of World Press Freedom Day, The Globe and Mail will devote the Opinion Section to examining the state of press freedom around the globe. We invite letter writers to share your views on the role of a free press, and will publish a cross-section of responses in the Letters to the Editor section on May 4. Letters addressing the role of a free press should be submitted no later than April 29, and be kept under 200 words. Letters to the editor must include a name and city of residence. E-mail: letters@globeandmail.com