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Power principles
Re Site C Project Will Continue, B.C. Premier Announces (Dec. 12): Why do we bother to vote for these guys? I will not forget this.
Premier John Horgan should remember to don his dinosaur-head mask while overseeing the destruction of the beautiful Peace River Valley, lost forever for future generations to enjoy.
Greg Ray, Vancouver
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How can the Greens continue to prop up this government? If the three-seat Greens ever want to be more than that in B.C., now is the time to stand by their principles.
Mòrag Simpson, Vancouver
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Whenever I see the pols behaving the way John Horgan did on Monday on Site C, I'm reminded of Groucho Marx: Those are my principles, and if you don't like them … well, I have others.
Sarah Anne Nguyen, Toronto
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Handshakes, too
Re After #MeToo, Is There A Place For A Hug Or Cheek Kiss At Work? (Life & Arts, Dec. 12): When I left teaching in the 1980s, the idea that one would hug or kiss colleagues, even in a profession more "touchy-feely" than most, was unthinkable. Yet the workplace was just as enjoyable.
Perhaps it's watching television, where one sees renovators, financial advisers, chefs etc. embracing clients they've just met or employees they were cursing at only minutes before, that's convinced us this hugging must be appropriate behaviour.
But like much of what appears on TV, it's not. And given what's been documented about the hygiene practices of many of us, perhaps we should consider replacing even the handshake – so often damp, limp or bone-crushing – with the charming and respectful namaste.
Anita Dermer, Toronto
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Cabinet rethink
Re Trudeau's Shiny Stars Have A Lot Of Scuff Marks Now (Dec. 11): As Campbell Clark notes, several members of Justin Trudeau's cabinet have "lost their gloss" this year; it seems time for a shuffle. One minister in particular needs to be rescued.
In many ways, Bill Morneau was the poster child for what Mr. Trudeau was trying to project, which was newness and change, along with readiness and credibility. The consequence of that was that a supposed star candidate with no political experience (and an apparently thin skin) was dropped into the toughest cabinet post of all, Finance Minister. Meanwhile, a political "old hand" with tons of political savvy, experience as the party's finance critic during the Harper years, and a background as a Bay Street investment banker to boot, Scott Brison, was shunted to the side as President of the Treasury Board. Nice, but not quite the same as Finance.
Maybe it's time to put Mr. Morneau out of his misery and bring in someone who can handle the heat. Oh, by the way, Mr. Brison understands how the stock market actually works. And he put his holdings in a blind trust from the outset. I rest my case.
Nelson Smith, Toronto
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Beyond psychiatrists
Re Mental-Health Patients Don't Get Timely Psychiatric Care, Study Finds (Dec. 11): Excellent mental-health care is available from health professionals other than psychiatrists. Social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists and mental-health and addiction counsellors work across Ontario in publicly funded, community mental-health and addiction agencies, Community Health Centres and Family Health Teams. They spend time in face-to-face therapy with patients and provide intensive case management to ensure the person does not fall through the cracks, even when a psychiatrist is unable to follow up.
It's not just Britain where psychiatrists serve mainly as consultants. And it's not happening just because these other health professionals are "cheaper" than psychiatrists. These professionals have a track record of supporting people with mental illness and substance-use problems in the community.
There aren't enough of these professionals either, but they are a big part of the system of care that makes it possible for psychiatrists to operate efficiently on a consulting basis. We've got the community-based infrastructure in place, we need to build on it.
Gail Czukar, CEO, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario
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Trade 'wounds'
Re Trudeau's China Setback Is A Self-Inflicted Wound (Dec. 9): Former ambassador to China David Mulroney says that Canada was the "spoiler" in preventing a clear announcement of an agreement in principle by the remaining players in the Trans Pacific Partnership to revive the deal.
In support of his critique, he says that "This deal involves the key players in the Pacific Rim, with the exception of China …"
Oh? Not on the Asian side, where the participants other than Japan – Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam – together represent some 4.8 per cent of total Asian GDP. Missing, among others, are not just China, but Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Borneo.
Tiny Brunei has a population of 400,000, smaller than the City of Hamilton, and Singapore has 5.6 million, roughly two-thirds the size of New York City. Other than Japan, this leaves only Malaysia and Vietnam.
Could this severely limited Asia-Pacific scope be one of the rare legitimate justifications for a Trump administration decision – namely, to pull out of the TPP?
Tim Armstrong, former Ontario Agent-General for the Asia-Pacific Region, Toronto
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America at war
Re Civil War (Dec. 9): Author and journalist Omar El-Akkad writes of having travelled across the U.S., but his evidence for his theory consists of dispatches from liberal enclaves Oxford, Miss., Boulder, Colo., New Orleans, Louisiana and New York, all big cities and college towns.
Where are the right-of-centre Americans he talked to?
If I attempted to write authoritatively about Canada after visiting just traditional Prairie towns, I would do you a disservice. Midtown Manhattan and the University of Colorado no more represent the whole of your southern neighbour than Corner Gas-like towns do your fine country.
This oversight lends an unbalanced, cartoonish view of a land of good-hearted, albeit naive, progressive people besieged by conservative wolves. As it happens, Mr. El Akkad chooses to live in yet another hyper-liberal enclave, Portland, Ore.
I'm still not convinced he's actually met a Republican yet. Most of us, like most Democrats, are pretty nice people.
Jim McGuire, Richmond, Va.
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Thank you for printing that fearless article by Omar El-Akkad. It was the best analysis of American culture I've ever read. We already have his book, American War, but we're giving it away for our regifting Christmas. We'll buy another copy. We have to go to New Orleans in January. Should we have a copy in our carry-on luggage for Customs to uncover?
John Lawless, North Vancouver