Jackets, shirts and ties are photographed at Toronto clothing store Gotstyle, on July 7, 2021.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Conservative consternation
Re “Will the clash for the soul of American conservatism come to Canada?” (Opinion, Aug. 12): Although not a member of the Conservative Party, I’ve voted for them consistently over the past 50 years. I’m nothing like the conservatives mentioned by columnist Andrew Coyne (especially the American ones).
I’d just like to have good government to go along with the peace and order we’re used to in Canada. A government that doesn’t spend more than it takes in, doesn’t steal and doesn’t award millions of dollars in untendered contracts to friend and relatives.
A government that respects the hard-earned dollars taken from taxpayers and spends them prudently. Is that too much to expect?
I see no hope of good government in Canada with Justin Trudeau (or, sadly, any other Liberal) as Prime Minister, so my next vote will go to the Conservatives.
T.S. Ramsay Guelph, Ont.
If one is interested in voter demographics that might portend ideological trends in the United States and Canada, it might be far more useful to look at the numbers. In the last U.S. presidential election, 80 million of approximately 240 million eligible voters did not vote for one reason or another. (Even so, the voter turnout was 67 per cent, the highest in 120 years.)
For trends with regard to liberal, conservative and social-democratic politics, look no further than the great mass of eligible voters in Canada and the U.S. who have given up on electoral politics. Whatever one’s political stripe, these are the partisans that politicians need to motivate.
Robin Breon Toronto
Canada’s conservatives have often utilized government power in hopes of improving living standards.
In the 1870s, John A. Macdonald’s National Policy introduced a protective tariff designed to nurture “infant industries” and contributed to the completion of a transcontinental railway. During the Depression, R.B. Bennett created the forerunner to the CBC in an effort to promote Canadian culture; the Wheat Board to stabilize grain prices; the Bank of Canada to gain public control over interest rates and the country’s currency.
Brian Mulroney’s governments racked up substantial budget deficits, owing largely to a desire to maintain social-welfare programs he dubbed a “sacred trust.” The idea, then, that limited government is the “foundation of traditional conservatism” seems dubious, at least as far as Canadian history goes.
Denis McKim Victoria
Island life
Re “Monks, money and the fierce debate over PEI’s scarce land” (Aug. 12): My wife and I moved to rural Prince Edward Island in June, 2021. We bought two houses on 20 acres for the price of a 700-square-foot Toronto condo. But it wasn’t easy.
As “come from away” Canadians, we had to apply to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission. If there are shady land deals going down on the island, then that should be on the bureaucrats.
Since we arrived, we have heard the rumours and theories about what these nuns and monks “are up to.” They’re monastic, but they try to be helpful in their community and are not unwelcoming.
The fact is, as told by our MLA, PEI has no official land-use plan. Some say we’re losing farmland to housing, others say the opposite. Driving around, I see there is room for everyone.
And the man said it: “No one would question this if we were all Catholics.”
Eric Fitz Belfast, PEI
Reality bites
Re “Canadian writers can’t afford to write non-fiction anymore – and that’s a problem for all of us” (Arts & Books, Aug. 12): Contributor Charlotte Gray offers insight into a real problem: the inability of non-fiction writers to put roofs over their heads and food on their tables. But it’s always been thus, there has never being a golden age when historians could live by their pen alone.
Donald Creighton, a professor of history at the University of Toronto, wanted to retire early to write full time. But when he did the math, he went back to teaching. He retired 12 years later in 1971, at the age of 69.
In the memoirs of Michael Bliss, also a professor of history at U of T, he wrote about wanting to write full time, but he simply couldn’t pay the bills without a regular paycheque.
Of course, that it has always been thus doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look for ways to support Canadian writers and Canadian books.
Donald Wright President, Canadian Historical Association; Fredericton
What a shock to read that a writer of the calibre and output of Charlotte Gray is grateful to have a husband to “pay the bills,” because there is so little funding, recognition and market share for Canadian non-fiction.
We should have a government agency – somewhere between the Canada Council and Heritage Canada – to fund this essential work in all mediums. Canada is full to bursting with amazing historical stories that should be told not just for interest’s sake, but for deepening and strengthening our national identity.
Monique Dykstra Montreal
I have always found the history of battles, treaties and politicians to be uninteresting and too politicized, based on whoever won wars. I have been more interested in how Canadians lived day to day without modern amenities.
How did immigrant settlers keep their homes and farms, raising kids without stores and hospitals nor midwives to deliver babies? How were forests cleared to make highways across Canada? How did Indigenous peoples survive winters? The lives of Canadian artists, writers, scientists and architects seem hardly mentioned in history texts.
Facts and research are important to truth, but so is the human touch. Perhaps that’s why memoirs thrive today.
Diane Sullivan Toronto
In fashion
Re “There’s been a ‘slobification’ of dress codes since the pandemic, and it needs to stop” (Report on Business, Aug. 12): I totally agree. I see folks walking around Toronto’s financial district looking as though we interrupted them while cleaning out the garage. I see women choose beach or workout clothes as their “business attire.”
I quote an 11-year-old boy, who made this observation to his parents while seated in a very nice restaurant: “Boy, people act so nice when they are dressed up.”
Let’s hope that professional dress is not lost.
Elaine Simon Hamilton
It may be that natty dressing builds trust. But through my multidecade career in finance, I met many top-notch dressers who were incompetent, deceptive or even criminal.
Perhaps we should spend less time worrying about how people are dressed, and more time on listening to what they say.
Brian Pinch Victoria
The 1950s are calling: They want their stuffiness back.
Patrick Winter Toronto
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