The Royal Canadian Mint will soon begin producing Canadian coins bearing the face of King Charles.Royal Canadian Mint
Carbon problems
Re “Support for the carbon tax is collapsing. An agreeable climate policy? Clean power” (Editorial, Nov. 17): Since the late 1990s, I have taught students at three universities that the key to meaningful carbon emission reductions is permit trading, not carbon taxes. These provide all emitters with strong incentives to make greater reductions, and at lower cost.
Our federal government should learn and implement what several other countries have proven: These efficient, market-based mechanisms work.
John Andrew Kingston
I received more than $500 in carbon rebates this year. At least I think I did.
Each of three direct deposits was identified at my credit union as “Pre-Authorized Credit CANADA.” There was no other information, and the deposits were neither preceded nor followed by any kind of announcement by the federal government.
How many others are unaware of the carbon rebate, didn’t notice any direct deposits or didn’t know what they were for? Poor communication has turned the floor over to those who complain about carbon pricing. As a result, the voices we hear most are those of complainers.
Whoever is in charge of communication on this file should be replaced.
Doug Brandy Ottawa
Sized up
Re “The problem with Canada’s prosperity” (Editorial, Nov. 9): The growth in the federal government itself should be added to the list of failures that include housing, immigration and tax reform. There were 336,000 federal employees in 2022, up from 257,000 in 2015.
These jobs in and of themselves do not seem productive. From passport offices to the Canada Revenue Agency, services have deteriorated as the number of employees has increased.
Then there is the smothering effect that increased levels of government interference has had on the private sector, as can now be seen with Bill C-18 on online news and the hearings on grocery pricing. We seem to be getting demonstrably negative returns from billions of dollars of incremental cost.
If the objective is to improve productivity, I would start by reducing the federal payroll. This would be an easy home run as a plank in the Conservative platform.
Randy Keller Scugog, Ont.
Winners and losers
Re “Immigration check” (Letters, Nov. 4): A letter-writer posits that “younger immigrants who offer skills and experience to improve Canadian productivity should be selected.”
Whatever happened to the American notion, equally applicable to Canada, of “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” There should be a greater emphasis on improving other people’s lives, rather than strictly considering what they can do for me.
Immigration from a purely opportunistic perspective should be seen as a lose-lose proposition. Giving preferential treatment to entrepreneurs and skilled workers would be a net loss, in that the countries we draw these individuals from are often less prosperous than Canada.
Hence the loss to those economies would be significantly more negative than the gains we achieve.
Ross Hollingshead Toronto
Liberal standing
Re “Ontario Liberals Erskine-Smith, Naqvi team up to take down leadership front-runner Bonnie Crombie” (Nov. 10): The fact that these two invited fellow Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Ted Hsu to join them in this effort, and that Mr. Hsu refused, tells me everything I needed to know about the three of them, particularly Mr. Hsu.
Mr. Hsu’s ethics – like those of former federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, when he ran for and surprised everyone by winning against the likes of Ken Dryden, Bob Rae, Michael Ignatieff and Gerard Kennedy – might just result in him coming up the middle to win the leadership race, because so many voters will likely be quite turned off by the other prospects.
I hope so. He sounds solid to me on all fronts.
Brian Tansey Ottawa
Better spent
Re “For Doug Ford, an audit of Ontario Place could be trouble” (Nov. 9): An audit cannot come fast enough.
I believe the Ontario Place and Ontario Science Centre plans are as bad for the province as opening up the Greenbelt to development; worse for the Greater Toronto Area as the plans would bring more cars downtown; worse for taxpayers. And all with little public oversight.
This whole deal has a familiar odour to it. It involves developers and Doug Ford.
Haven’t we heard this one before?
Kyle Harrison Lambton Shores, Ont.
What does a premier do with $1-billion? Here are some ideas that might work.
Nursing homes need staff-to-resident ratios that are not based on a 1980s model. Hospitals need more staffing because Doug Ford promised no more hallway medicine when he was first elected.
Elementary schools need smaller and more manageable class sizes. All schools need more assistance in dealing with violent behaviours that affect staff and students.
But sure, instead let’s move the Ontario Science Centre and build a garage for hundreds of cars.
April Laufer Toronto
More numbers
Re “Comfort in the numbers” (Letters, Nov. 13): Letter-writer Bev Moir modestly omits some important numbers.
After her own diagnosis for lung cancer, she retired and set an ambitious goal of raising $150,000 for lung cancer research with her remaining time. She smashed through that goal and then another, and now is just shy of raising $500,000 for Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.
As a professional colleague, I have been a long-time admirer of hers. I have been pleased to support these fundraising efforts as a tribute to her and because I lost my dear mum to lung cancer 17 years ago.
Her selfless efforts after an unlucky and unfair affliction are an example to all, and a reflection of her outstanding Canadian character. If others too wish to help cure lung cancer, please go to bevmoir.com.
T.B.K. Martin Toronto
Newly minted
Re “First King Charles coins issued by Canadian Mint features crownless monarch” (Nov. 15): Surely such an anachronism as the Royal Canadian Mint stamping King Charles on our money is out of sync with the current Canadian sensibility.
That the head of a foreign king continues to enface our precious currency is proof to me of a country lacking self-respect. However it’s not the fault of the people but their leaders, who seem ignorant of the diverse, dynamic, egalitarian and multicultural country that is Canada. While the world is busy cancelling statues of questionable characters, our government continues minting the face of the monarchy, one of the world’s greatest symbols of inequality.
Such misrepresentation feels so absurd as to be beyond satire. Who knew our new currency could be so out of currency?
Tony D’Andrea Toronto
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