Pope Francis prays during a penitential celebration service at St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican on March 25.VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images
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Other way around
Re Indigenous Delegates Ask Pope To Bring Abusers To Justice (March 29): Why is the Indigenous delegation in Rome asking for an apology?
The Pope and his bishops should be over here asking for forgiveness. And that they need to be convinced to come? It seems like the power balance is still profoundly wrong.
Nigel Smith Toronto
Buyer’s remorse?
Re Canada Picks Lockheed Martin Fighter Jets After Once Rejecting Them (March 29): Canada should have a twin-engine jet and nuclear mini submarines to protect Arctic sovereignty. The single-engine F-35 would be a multibillion-dollar mistake that is off-strategy and will impair Canada militarily and economically for decades.
Alan Cooper Toronto
Casualties of war
Re Canada Sending Team To ICC To Investigate Possible Russian War Crimes In Ukraine (March 29): I was a teenage girl, 77 years ago, when I had the misfortune of getting in the path of the Soviet Red Army that marauded its way westward. The sands of time have mercifully buried these memories, but they reawakened painfully with the havoc in Ukraine.
The great-grandsons of the old heroes are terrorizing women, children and elders with the same callousness and impunity. The family business seems alive and well. Plus ça change.
Maria Reardon Regina
While we cheer on Ukraine, we should remember that any loss of life is tragic.
My heart also breaks for Russian soldiers who die or are injured, as well as loved ones waiting for their safe return. Many are fighting a war they do not support while the decision makers are safely tucked away.
May the fighting end soon.
Jan Vanderwal Toronto
Re Ukrainian Immigration Plan Creates Two-tiered System: Opposition (March 25): In 1999, I was in a “group of five” who sponsored an ethnic Albanian Muslim family fleeing Kosovo. The government expedited travel to Canada and supported thousands of families for two years by paying for medical, dental and living expenses.
My community rose to the occasion. We rented an apartment before our family arrived because of the forbearance of landlords, and furnished it because of the generosity of local businesses.
One of my proudest moments as a Canadian was taking the family’s two teenage girls – unable to get an education at home beyond Grade 6 – to Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill. I helped the eldest register to vote and took her to local rallies so she could freely decide on her choice.
Canadian efforts to support Ukrainian refugees are highly commendable but not without precedent. Ask the Kosovars who came in 1999.
Alison Cunningham London, Ont.
Legal interpretation
Re Court Casts Doubt On Steeper Sentence For Mass Killings (March 25): Let me see if I understand this: The Supreme Court is contemplating a message that the first victim of a mass killing is important, but the next two or three – not so much. Punishment would be the same no matter the number.
I can’t fathom the thinking behind this view. Please tell me I’m wrong.
Don Bowes Burlington, Ont.
The slap
Re Will Smith’s Slap Of Chris Rock Shows Toxic Masculinity Is Still Alive (March 29): I didn’t reach for any tissue when Will Smith bemoaned how hard his life is while accepting his Oscar.
Hollywood should reclassify him to another definition of cast: “to get rid of, discard.”
Mike Firth Toronto
Two things can be learned from this incident.
Firstly, how to give an apology. Will Smith did the right thing by taking blame for the slap, rather than the often-used tactic of expressing sorrow to the other party because they felt hurt.
Secondly, to understand that words have consequences. Maybe those who chastise and vilify others on social media, be it about protests or school-board meetings, will temper their words for fear that they, too, might get smacked. One can only hope.
John Budreski Vancouver
If Will Smith had assaulted a woman on stage, would he have been allowed to return and accept an award?
Michael Arkin Toronto
Too bad Will Smith opted to react with his fist rather than his intellect.
He could have chosen to explain Jada Pinkett Smith’s condition. This could have been a teachable moment about women, baldness and alopecia. I know all too well, having lost my hair 16 years ago to this autoimmune condition.
I only hope that Ms. Pinkett Smith does not have to endure comments such as, “At least you won’t have a bad hair day,” or, “Good thing you have a nice-shaped head.” The worst was when someone asked if I had a “chemo cut,” followed by, “Lucky you don’t have cancer.”
Many people are not comfortable seeing a bald woman. And stranger still, many wouldn’t dream of making comments to a bald man. As long as these behaviours prevail, the teachable moments will continue to be lost.
Laurelle Shalagan Vancouver
Re Hollywood’s Descent Into Chaos Has Begun (March 29): Monty Python’s Flying Circus was awash in chaos and bad taste, and made no bones about it. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences aspires to something higher, but someone inevitably subverts that goal at the main event.
Just call a fish a fish and perform the “Fish-Slapping Dance” at the Oscars. It would be way funnier and more honest.
Sandy Blazier Mississauga
Long time coming
Re Canada Heads To World Cup Finals (March 28): As a teenager, I heard of an odd sport played in Britain called football. Living in a town that had won two Grey Cups, that didn’t make much sense.
In 1947, a British teacher said he would start a high-school soccer team. I was all in for the next two years. As a result, I was able to make the University of Toronto soccer team along with one other Canadian and the rest from elsewhere.
In November, 1953, we played McGill University for the Ontario-Quebec championship. Mother Nature played a trick by dumping five inches of heavy snow. We used red powder to mark the lines and shortened the halves. We won 1-0.
In the 1960s and 70s, postwar immigrants from Britain produced a lot of young soccer players in Scarborough and elsewhere. And now more immigrants, mixed with those born here, have done it.
Dave Johnston Toronto
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