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Oxford High School students in Detroit show support for the students that lost their lives in Uvalde on May 26.MANDI WRIGHT/USA TODAY NETWORK/Reuters

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Aftershocks

Re Texas Town Shocked To Find Itself At Centre Of Gun Debate (May 26): Because an 18-year-old could buy two military repeating rifles (mini-machine guns) on his birthday, no significant questions were asked. Nobody of any age should be able to buy or own weapons of this type.

Ownership and custody of these weapons should rest with the state through military and law enforcement, to be signed out under strict rules of use and custody and subject to severe criminal punishment for violators.

Any form of unauthorized possession should be a criminal offence. Good luck in trying to put that in effect south of the border, let alone in Canada.

Thus, to hope for a cessation of these horrendous events is to hope in vain.

Michael Young Major (ret’d); The Blue Mountains, Ont.


Re As The U.S. Unravels, Innocent Bystander Canada Can’t Escape The Fallout (May 26): I was in Des Moines, Iowa, about 10 years ago. Sitting in a restaurant, I noticed a guy in camouflage pants and a T-shirt that read: “If you ain’t killin’, you ain’t livin’.”

The United States may not change, but Canada still can.

Brian Dunfield Toronto


I left grad school to come to Canada 52 years ago.

I had been to anti-war protests in Washington and Chicago and taken part in civil-rights marches. But after the murders of unarmed students at Kent State by the Ohio National Guard in May, 1970, I finally decided to leave the United States for the “True North strong and free.”

In time, my parents and siblings followed me here. All were glad they did. Violence and injustice were iniquitous in the U.S. at that time.

They still are.

Peter McKenzie-Brown Calgary


Re Six Ways To Look At U.S Gun Violence (May 26): One of the six ways is a chart showing the United States having the highest gun homicide rate among high-income countries: 4.4 per 100,000 residents, about six times greater than Canada. But before we burst the smug-o-meter, it also shows our rate to be 3.5 times higher than Australia and New Zealand, and seven times higher than Germany and Spain.

Let’s tighten our gun laws and not even think about loosening them.

Tim Jeffery Toronto

Take care

Re Ontario, Quebec Picking Up Pieces After Deadly Storm (May 25): Since the storm struck our small town, I see them everywhere: the volunteers of the Uxbridge Fire Department; friends and neighbours with chainsaws, generators and open houses; a pub owner handing out free food; health care workers and other first responders; hydro workers from near and far; the incredible workers at Uxbridge Public Works and Operations. I was going to call these folks “heroes,” but I think a better word would be “citizens.”

A citizen is a person with certain rights and privileges. I believe a true citizen is also a person who exercises the responsibilities of citizenship, which include caring for others in times of great need, without asking who they are, what they believe or where they came from.

Uxbridge, then, is well populated with true Canadian citizens.

Martin Birt Uxbridge, Ont.

Pot, kettle

Re UN Refugee Agency Voices Concern Over Canada’s Immigration Backlog (May 26): It seems that the United Nations is quick to knock on Canada’s door or criticize with UN agendas.

When Canada has knocked on the UN’s door to apply for the Security Council, it has repeatedly been dismissed and turned away. This is the same Security Council that still has Russia as a member.

I wonder if the assistant high commissioner for protection at the UN refugee agency has a trip planned to Russia, where I understand there is a very restrictive immigration policy.

Eric Paine London, Ont.

Housing solutions

Re The Challenge Of Affordable Housing (Editorial, May 24): The purchase of a home is one of the largest financial decisions many Canadians will ever make. If we want to get housing prices under control, perhaps we should hold the Canadian Real Estate Association to the same standards we hold the financial services industry.

Financial advisers must demonstrate deep knowledge of their clients via “know your client” and “know your product” policies, amongst other requirements. They must also provide clarity on, and easy access to, information that allows clients to see what is being invested in before contracting with them.

Certainly real estate agents and their firms should be held to the same level of accountability.

Andrew Cooper Mississauga


Zoning restrictions are not the only factor impeding cheaper housing.

Property taxes are levied on assessed value, which I find to be a poor proxy for the value of municipal services provided. For many services, a property’s footprint or street frontage would be more appropriate. (This distortion increases when rental buildings are taxed at higher rate than condos.)

Support for low-income households should be based on income, not property value; the two are imperfectly correlated. Reducing the burden of property taxes on high-rise buildings would create more incentive for their construction.

Meanwhile, wages in the housing sector are driven up to match those in manufacturing, which can be paid for by gains in technology. The result is a secular increase in the real cost of houses, whether single- or multistorey.

Michael Kelly Ottawa


Some years ago, after I graduated in Ontario, I headed west to Calgary with hopes of launching a career.

New to the city and with a limited budget, I scouted the rental market for a place to live. As it happens, these were the last days of a federal subsidy program for multiple-unit residential buildings. Several developers were scrambling to finish tall apartment buildings before grants expired.

As a result, a large number of rentals came onto the market at the same time. Many people, including me, were able to find attractive new apartments at a reasonable cost. When my first lease was about to expire, the landlord approached me with an offer to reduce my rent if I would sign on for another year.

As I follow today’s discussions about the tight housing market, I remember this as an example of how a well-designed government program can be effective.

Douglas Campbell Victoria

Work, work, work

Re Sing It (Letters, May 25): I must vehemently disagree with a letter-writer’s explanation for the cardinal’s morning serenade.

Rather than eschewing work, this sturdy herald cannot contain himself, but must explode in joy and celebration at the prospect of another productive day ahead.

Frederic Wieler Oakville, Ont.


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

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