Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Get the Opinion newsletter. Sign up today.
Sans souvenirs
Re Scandals, COVID-19 Cases Have Already Tarnished Tokyo (July 23): I am even less interested in these Olympics than I am in the Leafs next season. My only hope is that participants manage to return safely, and without bringing anything home for families and friends.
Louis Desjardins Belleville, Ont.
And counting
Re The Upside Of Vaccine Passports (July 23): My youngest grandson Nathan has been tested for COVID-19 11 times in nine months. The last result was negative, same as every other time.
Nathan turns 2 in August. Sniffles and runny noses are part of growing up and being in daycare. And for most of his wee life, so too have nasal swabs.
For Nathan to be allowed into daycare in the first place, his parents were required to provide proof of inoculation against measles, mumps and rubella. Yet, for reasons ranging from ignorance to conspiratorial thinking, from laziness to orneriness, people are allowed to simply say No to COVID-19 vaccines.
Unless someone has a compelling medical reason, vaccination should be mandatory. This is a matter of public health.
Until that happens, I propose that anyone who chooses not to get a freely available vaccine be required to get swabbed every time Nathan does.
Richard Murzin Milton, Ont.
French fracas
Re Probing Simon’s Nomination For Governor-General Is A Colonialist Insult (July 23): More than 400 people have complained that Mary Simon does not speak French. A prime objective of the probe (which I find to be a waste of taxpayer money) should be to determine whether this statistically insignificant number of people can claim fluency in a third language.
Like many civil servants, Ms. Simon will become bilingual at taxpayer expense and I for one think that is money well spent. I welcome all her other positive attributes.
Let’s ignore small noises and embrace bold initiatives.
John Arnott Toronto
Surely the Official Languages Commissioner is improperly embarked on “investigating” a matter as to which he firmly and legally should have declined jurisdiction. I find his authority in the Official Languages Act clearly limited to “federal institutions,” a defined term that does not include the governor-general, nor the exercise of the Crown’s prerogative reserved to the Queen to review and approve the recommended appointment.
The defence of examining “process” is unacceptable to me. The complaints seem ill-spirited and political, and unfairly discount the experience and abilities of Mary Simon.
This investigation should cease without delay.
Kenneth Peel Toronto
Mary Simon will likely help strengthen our efforts toward reconciliation. I believe, however, it is inappropriate to select a governor-general who doesn’t speak French.
What if Ms. Simon spoke Inuktitut and French? I don’t think many people would agree if she did not speak English.
Surely the Prime Minister could have chosen another worthy Indigenous governor-general.
Guy Lefebvre Ottawa
Let’s remind everyone that anglophones in Quebec have access to three English universities, one daily newspaper, multiple hospitals, public schools and television and radio stations.
I am a French Quebecker who has been in Toronto for 30 years. I can only dream of having access to the same level of services. Quebeckers may not care too much about the governor-general as a remain of colonialism, but as long as her salary is paid with Quebec tax money, they have every right to be en maudit.
Bruno Lamagnere Toronto
I believe that requiring applicants to high office to speak English and French is a vivid example of systemic discrimination. It ensures they are unlikely to be from so-called minority groups in which their mother tongue is neither official language.
Where I live, Punjabi is the predominant language. Are none of my neighbours qualified to serve as governor-general or Supreme Court judges?
If we expect to move forward as a multicultural country, there are many colonial habits we should discard.
Brenda Taylor Surrey, B.C.
I’m grateful for columnist Gary Mason’s calling out of the unrepentant colonialism inherent in demands that Mary Simon be bilingual in French and English.
For balance, I suggest our next governor-general be bilingual in French and Cree, the next in English and Mi’kmaq, then French and Innu and so on. It is long past time that Canada should respect all the beautiful languages of Turtle Island and the spirituality inherent in them.
Donna Sinclair North Bay, Ont.
Mirror, mirror
Re Pallister Has Shattered His Government’s Relationship With Indigenous People (Opinion, July 24): In 1985, many Canadians were outraged when Glenn Babb, South Africa’s ambassador during apartheid, went on a coast-to-coast publicity blitz, saying that we could preach to no one about race given our treatment of Indigenous people.
Labelled “racist scum” and pelted with eggs, we reviled him, wanted to shut him up. Tragically, the never-ending numbers of residential school gravesites seem to prove Mr. Babb correct.
John Sudlow Oakville, Ont.
Relax tensions
Re Halifax Security Forum To Stage Conference In Taiwan (July 22): The organizers of the Halifax International Security Forum seem to have come up with yet another way of adding to tensions in Southeast Asia. Whether by willful blindness or deliberate intent, this move could well serve as the flashpoint for a major international crisis that could end badly for the region and globally.
While organizers appear to be hoping for a definitive confrontation to put an end to China’s growing military prowess, hopefully the Biden administration and the Trudeau government will ensure that wiser heads prevail, and that this ill-advised initiative doesn’t happen.
Scott Burbidge Port Williams, N.S.
Come on over
Re The Pope’s Reversal On Latin Mass Shows The Split In The Catholic Church (July 22): Early in the millennium, we spent a weekend in Victoria. Walking to our hotel after dinner on Saturday evening, my London Irish wife said, “This is a cathedral city, we should see if there’s a sung mass tomorrow.”
I assumed she meant the Catholic St. Andrew’s Cathedral we were passing, but “oh no, that’ll be all guitars and things.” I ran up the steps to check the notice board and sure enough … guitars and things.
We checked the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral a few blocks away and sure enough … sung mass at 10:30 a.m., after a more prosaic early service. We attended and it was beautiful. Surprisingly, some of it was even in Latin!
Perhaps die-hard Catholic traditionalists should consider joining the heretics?
Doug Hatlelid North Vancouver
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