Toronto Police work the scene of a protest outside of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto, on Aug. 6. The city of Toronto revoked the permit for an Eritrean cultural festival scheduled to run through the August long weekend after a number of violent clashes between participants and protesters sent nine people to hospital and stalled local traffic for hours.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
Next up
Re “Justin Trudeau’s quandary: to go or not to go” (Aug. 4): A serious question. So that the Liberal Party does not become the lemmings over the cliff, Justin Trudeau would become everyone’s hero if he stepped down and let Chrystia Freeland have an opportunity to take his place.
I believe most Canadians do not like Pierre Poilievre and his negative, divisive ways.
Julie-Beaudoin Pearce Victoria
Opportunity lost
Re “Violent clashes at Toronto Eritrean festival and elsewhere show a divided diaspora, researcher says” (Aug. 7): I attended the Eritrean cultural festival in Toronto and was threatened by loud and aggressive protesters. They ruined a cultural and business event.
I was there to meet representatives from a large mining organization about joint ventures and their willingness to sell or finance precious licences to mine in their country.
Despite Eritrea being one of the poorest countries in Africa, it has massive reserves of natural resources such as copper, potash, zinc, oil, natural gas, gypsum, granite, marble, ceramics, limestone and iron ore. They have prized natural and decorative quartz. Groups from Singapore operate there.
Human Rights Watch considers the current regime to have committed crimes against humanity. Forced labour, conscription and restrictions on freedom of religion are real.
President Isaias Afwerki seems to realize that saving his troubled country will require opening its doors to international investors interested in precious resources. Why should Canadian companies not take advantage?
Mark Borkowski Toronto
In the streets
Re “Let’s not rename Dundas Street after all” (Aug. 5): I agree that renaming Dundas Street and its signs and businesses, at an estimated cost of $8.6-million, is simply unaffordable for Toronto, already in deficit and having a long list of priorities. Although I appreciate Mayor Olivia Chow’s concern with Henry Dundas’s seeming support for slavery, I believe he was only trying to soften the timing of abolition to strengthen possibility of it being approved.
So how in future should we manage public naming or renaming? Honoring prominent figures has shown too often they have feet of clay.
So what to do about names that are too costly to remove? I agree with the growing body who call for informing the public about not just pioneering accomplishments, but also questionable aspects of history.
John Ellis Toronto
It is helpful to remember remarks of the statesman who was critical in outlawing the slave trade, Charles James Fox. He served three times as British foreign secretary and worked closely with MP William Wilberforce on the final legislation which outlawed the practice.
On Dundas, Fox wrote that he “took a lead in constantly opposing our attempts at a total and immediate abolition.” While there may be reasons to debate the cost of immediately removing the name of one of Toronto’s streets, I see no such impediment when it comes to the public spaces and subway stations named in his honour.
The delay of city council in changing these names shows me a spiritual bankruptcy that is indifferent to past oppressions.
John Bacher St. Catharines, Ont.
Rather than erasing historical figures from Toronto’s past at considerable financial cost, great public discord and confusion, a viable alternative exists. Acknowledging that our colonialist history, viewed through a 21st-century lens, is out of step with current societal values requires a current action plan.
Through education, the creation of economic opportunities and the correction of substandard living conditions such as unsafe housing and water, the current generation of those most disadvantaged by colonial rule can overcome historical injustices.
Acknowledgements through action, beyond words or name changes, are needed to correct past injustices, instead of attempting to erase or obscure them.
Joan McGoey Toronto
Better way
Re “Ontario government needs ‘overarching lens’ on $60-billion worth of school property, minister says” (Aug. 4): Like many recent steps taken by the Ontario government to override local authorities, the latest promise to develop surplus school board sites is justified by the need for “more housing.” Leaving aside the issue of governmental overreach, another problematic issue I see is that the province proposes to sell these sites, instead of following the best-practice approach of entering into leasehold agreements with prospective developers.
Leasehold deals are often a preferred alternative to the outright sale of publicly owned land for several reasons. Retaining public ownership over the long term not only makes sense as a matter of public policy, but ensures that any uptick in value is captured by government, not private entities. In Toronto, for example, the school board’s real estate arm is already actively redeveloping surplus lands on a leasehold basis.
The experience of Toronto Lands Corp. is a reminder that good quality housing, or any development for that matter, benefits from local input and takes time.
Glenn Miller and Gordon Harris Toronto
Golden era
Re “Take a number” (Letters, Aug. 7): When our 1988 Air France flight to Athens left Toronto late, causing us to miss a connecting flight in Paris, the airline gave us the only seats available on the next flight – in first class, at no extra cost.
When I missed my 1976 American Airlines flight from Los Angles to Toronto (totally my fault), I was booked on the next available flight on Air Canada, at no extra cost.
Passengers wouldn’t have to know their rights if airlines remembered how to treat them.
Keith Perrott Toronto
Rally ‘round
Re “Serve’s up: How ping-pong can help us all live healthier and happier lives” (Opinion, Aug. 5): As someone who plays ping-pong four hours a week, it was wonderful to see the essence of the game captured as it was. Truly a global sport that brings people together regardless of size, age, strength or athleticism.
Reading of its positive impact on the brain only serves to reinforce my intention to play as long as I can.
Stephen Kouri Toronto
Having a ping-pong table that is in use in the winter in the rumpus room and on the lawn in the garden in the summer, we maintain that one can never be grumpy playing ping pong.
Carolyn Harvey-Smith and Keith Jones Victoria
This brought back many fond memories, not the least of which was playing what we called round-robin ping-pong in Montreal in the 1960s.
This involved eight to 10 participants circulating the table, each player hitting the ball once and then dropping the racquet for the next person. The idea was to keep the game going, but if anyone mishit, they were out.
The game continued until only two players were left. They would then have to hit the ball and spin around before making the next shot. Individual ability was almost inconsequential and it was a great party activity, fuelled by the appropriate drinks of the time.
Ross Paul Vancouver
Pitch me
Re “I’m putting in an offer for 24 Sussex. You’re welcome, Canada” (Opinion, Aug. 5): Why not make the “people’s house” at 24 Sussex into a HGTV project. Bryan and Sarah Baeumler took on a resort in the Bahamas; why not take on a historical renovation?
It would make for interesting television for several years.
Margaret Hogan Whitby, Ont.
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