Pedestrians during the rush hour in lower Manhattan on July 28, 2021. As workers return to the financial district, longstanding dress codes have been relaxed. (Melodie Jeng/The New York Times)Melodie Jeng/The New York Times News Service
Lately
Re “The bottom has suddenly fallen out of Liberal support. Why?” (Opinion, Sept. 9): There is also the issue of timing.
If the public has already forgotten about such government efforts as $10-a-day child care and the management of the pandemic, then Justin Trudeau would be foolish to set in motion any new initiatives more than a year before the next election. The Conservatives should also be concerned by the expectation that what goes up will probably come down before the polls.
Politicians should be sensitive to the danger of peaking too soon.
Nicholas Tracy Fredericton
Poor outcomes
Re “We must end the unwitnessed safe supply of opioids” (Opinion, Sept. 9): I am the parent of someone addicted to fentanyl.
My 21-year-old gets 14 tablets of dilaudid when they get methadone, which is daily. I expressed concern in the beginning, and even kept the tablets in my safekeeping to be doled out when they experienced withdrawal symptoms.
The dilaudid has not been used as intended and has likely been stockpiled, lost, sold or shared. I myself have 56 tablets, but four weeks have gone by since I started “holding” them. My child has since received 392 more tablets.
If my child is to overcome their addiction, the use of safe supply should be monitored. Five years on, no intervention has impacted their use of fentanyl except for a five-week stay in Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre.
Every day, I wait for a call to inform me that my child ingested a combination of fentanyl, dilaudid and methadone, and has subsequently died.
Luanna Larusson Victoria
I had a previous client, age 20. This young man shared that he had tried pretty much every drug out there throughout his teen years. I asked him if he had a favourite and he answered, without missing a beat, “dilaudid.”
He then shared that he chose to never take it again. He felt it created such an incredible euphoria that it would be a slippery slope into addiction. I had not heard of dilaudid until then, but it has been on my radar ever since.
I hope this article attracts the attention of those in positions to effect positive change in regard to the unwitnessed safe supply of this opioid.
Jennifer Pearson RP Toronto
Fifth estate
Re “The courts cannot be democracy’s last, best hope” (Opinion, Sept. 9): They aren’t.
A free press also plays a role in helping to maintain a vibrant, if imperfect, democracy. It works not because of any one institution, but because there are checks and balances such as elections, the judiciary – and an independent press.
Tony Manera Ottawa
Future woes
Re “It’s not that we have too many people. It’s that we have too few houses” (Sept. 13): As a recently divorced person of 68, who must leave a shared home in 2026 per a separation agreement, I will be looking for housing.
Not only is there little available to purchase or rent that is affordable or adequate for my needs, I also have a 50-pound dog. This narrows further the already narrow supply.
I’ve been a productive citizen my whole life. That I do not have adequate housing available to me feels unconscionable.
Solutions need to happen yesterday. We need a building frenzy that starts now. And please don’t tell me that $800,000 for 600-square-feet is affordable. Our values around housing should change dramatically so that the population’s needs are served, and housing is not lining developers’ pockets to overflowing.
I am scared about what will happen to me in 2026, and to my dog whom I will not surrender. We can talk about animal rights later.
Cathy McCashin Vancouver
WFH
Re “Dear entitled white-collar workers: Time to grow up and return to the office” (Report on Business, Sept. 9): I have two words: okay boomer.
Younger generations of workers have better work-life balance and no tolerance for toxic work environments. They want to be trusted, valued and paid fairly. If management can’t trust workers to work remotely, then I imagine they are failing at creating healthy work environments.
There are many benefits to remote or hybrid work for those with young kids, women and people with disabilities. As a new father, working from home part of the week saves me hours of commuting and allows me to do daycare pickup, housework and spend more time with my family.
Let’s not forget the cost savings for the remote or hybrid worker, which is the least boomer bosses can do for generations that have seen real estate rise 500 per cent in their lifetimes.
Daniel Rende Toronto
The pandemic forced entire organizations to do the unthinkable and work from home.
It wasn’t optimal for all – people without adequate workspace, those with children, victims of domestic abuse, those who thrive in social environments – but workers and managers adapted as required. Having survived massive transformation in a universal crisis, why not take a more progressive and innovative approach, instead of forcing the pendulum all the way back?
Rather than seeing this as an issue of “entitlement,” why not see it as an opportunity to transform inflexible and, often, inefficient environments. Shrink the footprint, harness technologies, reduce barriers to participation and increase productivity through better work-life balance.
Needing to see noses to grindstones lacks trust and seems awfully old-fashioned. Management should “grow up,” too.
Better to keep moving forward and find workable flexible solutions than to slump back to old ways, simply to prove who’s the boss.
Shirley Phillips Toronto
No doubt a return to the office is favoured by some occupants of the corner office. As a retired national union representative for many of the workers they claim as their charges, I do not see a growing appetite to return to what author Doug Coupland labelled the “veal-fattening pens” of office workers.
Statistics Canada recently reported that almost one-quarter of employees do remote work. Office occupancy in the United States is only about 40 per cent. Showing the bosses’ teeth, which is currently in favour south of the border, may explain why U.S. work stoppages have risen at an explosive rate since the pandemic, while in Canada they plunged dramatically.
Read the room. Addressing concerns about work safety is a better solution for real economic progress than a management revenge fantasy.
Tom Baker Burlington, Ont.
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