Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, top left, looks on as Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, bottom left, Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister for North America Jesus Seade, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, bottom right sign documents during a meeting in Mexico City on Dec. 10, 2019.HENRY ROMERO/Reuters
Trade-off
Re “Former U.S. trade official Lighthizer reveals relations with Canada during NAFTA talks were at their worst since 1812 War” (July 8): It seems the Trump-appointed free-trade negotiator had his boss’s odd definition of “free” when confronting Canada in talks. Which is to say, Donald Trump’s America was free to get whatever it wanted.
In his memoir, Robert Lighthizer describes Canada’s trade negotiators as “hypocritical,” “protectionist” and “sneaky” for meeting with members of U.S. Congress to help Canada’s position. I find it intelligent and fair, not sneaky, for Canadian officials to have sought support from U.S. state representatives, whose own industries would have been thrown into turmoil by an “America First” strategy that ignored signs pointing to disastrous consequences for both sides.
On the other hand, the approach from Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s chief negotiator, strikes me as very Canadian and consistent with her Ukrainian heritage: she defended us against unfair, belligerent forces and would not submit to bully-boy brutality.
Ken DeLuca Arnprior, Ont.
To the right
Re “Former prime minister Stephen Harper seeks closer ties between federal Conservative Party and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán” (Politics Briefing, July 6): When former U.S. president Jimmy Carter left office, he devoted his life to projects such as building cheap housing and monitoring elections for fairness in developing countries, all in addition to teaching Sunday school.
Stephen Harper swans around the world meeting right-wing leaders, some of whom have been castigated for violating European Union migration laws. Not exactly the same legacy.
Chris Phillips Hamilton
When Stephen Harper was prime minister, the Liberals warned Canadians of his hidden hard-right agenda, an accusation he roundly denied. It appears we had to be patient to see Mr. Harper’s true intentions: promoting close ties with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.
Today, Pierre Poilievre has adopted a hide-nothing, show-everything approach. How times have changed.
Marty Cutler Toronto
By the numbers
Re “Harassment complaints in House of Commons increased by 63 per cent in past year” (July 3): Attributing the sharp increase in sexual misconduct complaints to training could be one explanation. But a more plausible conclusion would be that training is not doing the job. If it were, the number of incidents would be decreasing.
Canada has been notoriously bad at reading #MeToo signals. The requirement to disclose statistics on the number of sexual misconduct and bullying complaints across the broader public sector came into effect in 2021 as part of Bill C-65.
Two years on, I still haven’t seen any numbers. Dragging its feet on banning non-disclosure agreements, which are widely known to perpetuate a climate of fear and silence that allows bad actors to thrive, is another area where Canada falls behind.
When the numbers are still going the wrong way, and too many women are at risk, maybe it’s time to look at the training of those at the top of Canada’s public institutions
Kathleen Finlay Founder, The ZeroNow Campaign Toronto
Make a deal
Re “West Coast port strike risks derailing the economy – auto sector may suffer particularly” (Report on Business, July 6): It seems incredible that Canadians and their economy are once more held hostage by a labour dispute. Where what is at stake between parties is dwarfed by the associated social and economic costs of an extended strike, the right to strike should be withheld.
If the parties cannot arrive at an acceptable settlement by collective bargaining, they should be subjected to binding arbitration, with the arbitrator restricted to choosing between final offers from both parties. Knowing that an unreasonable offer is unlikely to be selected, both parties would be discouraged from economically foolhardy behaviour.
Essential services are characterized by disproportionate private and social costs when withheld. What we should require of our governments is the courage to designate such services as indeed essential and subject to binding arbitration.
John Allan Kingston
Productive work
Re “The shocking collapse in Canadian productivity: in spite of the Liberals’ best efforts, or because of them?” (July 5): Sixty years ago, when I was director of the economics branch of Ontario’s Department of Economics and Development, I discovered to my horror that Ontario’s productivity level was comparable to that of Alabama.
It was in large part because our business investment was markedly below that in the United States. Much of Ontario’s manufacturing, especially its leading automotive industry, was characterized by branch plants of U.S. companies.
Ontario’s productivity levels were given a boost by the 1965 Canada-US Auto Pact. This led to the establishment of several world-beating Canadian auto parts companies and to an investment boom in many communities in Southern Ontario.
We also developed an index of economic health for Ontario counties, using such indicators as life expectancy and levels of education. They showed, as they would today, levels of well-being comparable to the richest, not the poorest, U.S. states.
Don Stevenson, Former Ontario deputy minister Toronto
February data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations International Labour Organization reveals that Canada’s public sector employed about 22 people for every 78 folks in the private sector. So for roughly every eight people within the private sector creating measurable wealth, two are distributing it.
While avoiding the sticky subject of whether public-sector folk work as hard, or as efficiently, as private-sector folk, few would dispute that the former enjoy better salaries and benefits than do the latter. Furthermore, the same sources showed Canada had the second-largest public sector in the G7 by percentage, and the sixth-largest in the G20.
No one should be shocked. But they should perhaps sober up.
Lorrie Naylor Stratford, Ont.
Many more
Re “Canada’s most endangered mammal, the Vancouver Island marmot, is staging a comeback” (July 5): My brother Lloyd kept a colony of marmots on his property.
He would raid (with the blessings of a manager) a supermarket throw-out box and take all the carrots, lettuce and other vegetables to his colony. There was always at least one marmot standing guard, who seemed to know that my brother’s truck meant feeding time to bring out all the marmots.
Seeing them hold and eat a carrot in their front feet, while listening to their whistle, was such a treat. They found natural housing in a pile of lumber that Lloyd kept for future projects.
Three years ago, there were about 30 marmots. I don’t know how the colony is doing, as my brother passed away about four years ago.
Ken Stock Port Hope, Ont.
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