An Air Canada plane takes off from Montreal Trudeau Airport in Montreal, on Dec. 5, 2021.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
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Mandates and exemptions
Re Religious Exemptions For Vaccine Rules Ottawa’s Duty, Airlines Say (Report on Business, Dec. 13): The most important question here should be whether such exemptions are offered at all.
Unlike medical exemptions, I believe the subjective nature of faith-based objections renders them impossible to prove, leading to arbitrary and inconsistent rulings. Moreover, they place religious freedom above the health of society at large.
To force vaccines on somebody claiming religious opposition would certainly violate their freedoms. But unlike belief and bodily autonomy, flying should be a privilege, not a right. Vaccinated travellers shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of unscientific views.
Those who hold such beliefs should be free to move – just not where they can harm others, be it the skies, cinemas or arenas.
Ryan Sharpe Oakville, Ont.
Re The Case For Vaccine Mandates Is Much Stronger Than The Case For Seatbelt Laws (Opinion, Dec. 11): It may be a useful thought experiment to extend the analogy: Imagine that each time a person takes their chances without a seat belt, they also reach randomly into the cars of friends, family and strangers and unbuckle them, too.
I think few people would opt to put others in harm’s way like that, yet this illustrates the consequences that non-immunization has for vulnerable members of the community.
Wendy Tamminen Toronto
In other words
Re Anand, Eyre Apologize To Survivors Of Military Sexual Misconduct (Dec. 14): To restore trust in this government, our new Defence Minister should have said, “I want to apologize for the Prime Minister not holding the previous defence minister accountable, nor demoting him from cabinet.”
Tom Ham Ottawa
Health management
Re Canada Is Suffering From A Health Care System Resourcing Crisis (Dec. 10): In organized health care, I believe we have succumbed to the numbing hegemony of management and administration culture.
When health care systems were run by nurses and physicians, administration served the goals of the clinical professionals. Now it is mostly the other way round: Clinicians are told what to do, how to do it and how much time to spend on it. The primary drivers of public health care seem to be cost containment, risk management and information gathering.
We have what I would call a “health services administration system.” Care occurs by the grace of clinical staff. Health care burnout is not occurring because of increased workloads (most health care workers I know are happy workaholics and compulsive caregivers), but more likely because work life is governed by non-clinicians who know numbers, but not always people or patients.
Kent Sargeant MD, FRCPC; clinical assistant professor, department of psychiatry, University of Calgary
It is argued that middle-level health care managers, to the exclusion of front-line staff, must act with “agile, adaptable and innovation-oriented mindsets” to chart a course for our health care system. Some front-line health care workers would say the bureaucratic appendages that weigh on our health systems drain resources, which could be used for patient care – and make a mockery of such concepts as agility and innovation.
Eric Pugash MD, FRCSC; Vancouver
Denise Pugash MD, FRCPC; Vancouver
Potato problems
Re PEI Premier Calls On Federal Government To Lift The Ban On Exports Of Crops To U.S. (Dec. 9): Three weeks ago, Canada suspended potato shipments from Prince Edward Island to the United States. There looks like no resolution in sight. Canadian and U.S. officials should understand the seriousness of this for Islanders and U.S. consumers.
Since the fungus was first detected in 2001, PEI’s testing regime for Synchytrium endobioticum (potato fungus) has prevented spread to anywhere PEI potatoes are shipped. Policy decisions are harming U.S. families too, preventing them from accessing a healthy, affordable food with inflation at a 30-year high.
The federal government should play hardball with Americans and take a stand to protect this sector so critical to the PEI economy. Nothing less should be acceptable. It is the only Christmas gift many Islanders want.
Mary VandenBroek Grant Cardigan Feed Services; Cardigan, PEI
Nobody like him
Re Toronto Mayor Excelled In Selling Politics And Appliances (Obituary, Dec. 13): I was deeply disappointed and frankly quite angry at the obituary for Mel Lastman. I found it focused inordinately on his gaffes and not enough on the lengths he went to make a difference in people’s lives.
Mr. Lastman was a people person. He loved his city and connected with its citizens. He had their wellbeing at heart. He was engaging and I think he had all the qualities one should seek in a mayor. The obituary did not emphasize all he did to make North York a vibrant city, and subsequently Toronto a world-class city, in which to live.
I have fond memories of Mr. Lastman. As an immigrant from South Africa, I was delighted to be a citizen of a city whose mayor constantly championed its citizens. I shall always treasure memories of this caring, lovely man.
Juliet Joseph Thornhill, Ont.
Then and now
Re Signs Of The Times (Letters, Dec. 14): A letter-writer asks Quebec teachers of different cultures to disregard Bill 21 that protects the distinct Québécois culture. Migrants to the province should respect and harmonize with the culture of their hosts. “Do in Rome as Romans do” has lubricated good relations for millenniums.
Muslims from Islamic countries have seen the deference shown by non-Muslim diplomats and visitors in covering their heads appropriately. The same respect should be shown to local customs, in reverse, in Quebec.
Jiti Khanna Vancouver
In 1956, in the last years of Maurice Duplessis, my parents, brother and I immigrated from India and settled in Montreal. With two university degrees, my mother achieved a teaching position in elementary school.
In 1959, she received a letter from the Quebec government requiring her to attest to her religion. There were two options: Christian and Jewish. She could confirm neither one. She lost her job.
Our mother persisted and three years later joined what would become Concordia University, beginning a 35-year career as one of Canada’s first female mathematicians. As part of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s, Quebec eventually changed its laws to prohibit such discrimination as our mother faced. But as of 2019, we are back where we came from.
Plus ça change.
Raj Anand Partner, WeirFoulds LLP; former chief commissioner, Ontario Human Rights Commission; Toronto
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