Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
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More than zero
Re New Zealand’s ‘COVID Zero’ Approach Succeeds In Its So-called Failure (Oct. 12): Australia also pursued a virus elimination strategy through months of hard lockdown.
Today the country is struggling anew, especially in Melbourne and the state of Victoria, where there are well over 1,000 new cases per day and the population is back in lockdown. Sydney and the state of New South Wales are only now emerging from a three-month-plus lockdown.
Australia and New Zealand grew complacent with their “COVID Zero” approach, which always struck me as naïve and foolhardy in the face of a supremely wily virus. They dropped the ball on vaccination, especially in the critical early months of this year, and suddenly found themselves back to square one when the Delta variant arrived.
Now they are frantically catching up with the rest of the world in vaccination.
James Phillips Toronto
Reconciliation response
Re Trudeau Should Feel More Than ‘Regret’ (Oct. 8): I am a Tsawwassen First Nation elder who is happy that Justin Trudeau and his family spent the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in British Columbia. I hope that he can visit again on June 21 for National Indigenous Peoples Day.
I think British Columbia especially needs the Prime Minister because there are so many First Nations here. As a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, I continue to have confidence in Mr. Trudeau and his team. The world is watching how we in Canada do truth and reconciliation, together.
Elder Ruth Adams Tsawwassen First Nation, B.C.
“Raise your hand if you are a treaty person.”
This was former Grand Council chief Patrick Madahbee’s request of spectators at an Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation powwow a few years ago. I will never forget Mr. Madahbee’s response to the poor show of non-Indigenous hands raised (including my own).
”We are all treaty people,” he said. I was gobsmacked by my ignorance of the obvious truth and significance of his statement.
Justin Trudeau should make a sincere national apology for failing to participate in the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day is for all Canadians, as we are all treaty people.
Lynda Olson Esquimalt, B.C.
Political fortunes
Re Why Didn’t The Election Go The Tories’ Way? That’s The Wrong Question (Opinion, Oct. 9): Having lived for more than 70 years in Canada, I have seen Conservatives strongly oppose the renaming of Royal Mail Canada to Canada Post, the adoption of a new Canadian flag without colonial symbols and the repatriation of Canada’s constitution from Britain. More recently they have refused to deal seriously with global warming.
The problem, I believe, is one of fundamental values. There has not been any movement in more than 50 years. Conservatives have a death grip on the status quo. Who wants that?
Karlis Poruks Edmonton
Re Kenney’s Political Career May Be Over (Oct. 9): Anyone who was treating COVID-19 with respect knew that the “best summer ever” could have but one ending: the great fall. My sympathy is with Albertans who are now paying a price for Jason Kenney’s actions.
Robert McManus Hamilton
More, more
Re Wealth Plays Bigger Factor Than Income In Vancouver Home Sales (Report on Business, Oct. 11): I recently mentioned to an acquaintance, a real estate agent, that a nearby house sold for $900,000. He shot back, “I could have got more for that house.” The remark is revealing.
The real estate industry has been largely let off the hook in the topsy-turvy world of rising house prices, ostensibly shielded by terms such as “supply and demand” and “market forces.” I suggest researchers take a closer look at the industry and its complicity in the relentless rise of house prices.
Robert Milan Victoria
Out in the cold
Re Blackouts, Higher Bills From Ontario Ending Natural Gas By 2030: Report (Report on Business, Oct. 8): Natural gas seems to be the only form of energy that is controllable. Turning off nuclear power is difficult, and hydropower can be affected by lack of precipitation. Natural gas can be one of the lowest producers of carbon and its use can be moderated if not needed.
Do environmental groups all have wood stoves and an incredible supply of logs? Do they believe that this doesn’t produce carbon emissions? In Ontario, we already know that wind and solar power have not presented enough electricity when needed.
It seems folly to assume that alternatives will work and we won’t be freezing in the dark.
Anne Robinson Toronto
Pipe here, pipe there
Re U.S. Pipeline Politics Bites Canada, Again (Editorial, Oct. 9): Is it not ironic that the government argues the United States must permit the shipment of Canadian oil to a Canadian destination, by way of U.S. territory, while at the same time arguing the opposite within Canada? That is the government position when it comes to shipping oil from the same source to eastern Canadian destinations by way of Quebec which, like Michigan, stands opposed.
Ottawa uses an international treaty to insist on one pipeline, while it insists that internal trade barriers justifiably prevent another. So much for free trade. So much for federalism.
John Riley Mono, Ont.
My Canada
Re A Court Has Finally Said ‘Enough’ To My Harasser – And That’s A Win For Canada (Oct. 11): My thanks to contributor Mohamad Fakih. His civil pursuit of Kevin Johnston helps preserve the kind of Canada that I value and want to live in.
But sadly, why was this a civil matter left for Mr. Fakih to pursue? Where were the police? We can and should do better.
Jan Vanderwal Toronto
Varsity views
Re A Time Of Year For Dreaming (Sports, Oct. 9): For a fan of the fastest game, hockey played at the university level in Canada is by far the best bang for the buck.
The National Hockey League game, other than during the playoffs, has become quite diluted: too many teams, too many games, too long a schedule, too many players and, worst, too many commercial interruptions.
Compare that to the U Sports level of play and circumstances: These guys are mostly all ex-major-junior players who go full-out each shift, are highly skilled, play only a few dozen games and practice almost every day. Then it’s on to a short playoff segment for teams that make it.
Brian Tansey Ottawa
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