Paradigm, shifted
Money for fighter jets? Check. Money for more prisons? Check. Money for MP pensions? Check. Money for gazebos? Check. Money for seniors? Not so fast … (Harper's Grand Plan – Jan. 27).
Millicent Jacobson, Calgary
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World leaders in government and politics arrived in Davos recognizing the crisis in the international economic and financial system and the urgent need to develop a new paradigm or model for capitalism. In this setting, our Prime Minister touted as his own Canadian economic and financial successes for which previous governments were largely responsible and offered the same nostrums – lower taxes, cuts to social programs, minimal-restriction resource exploitation, more deregulation of the private sector – which were largely responsible for the crisis in the first place.
It was not a "grand vision," it was the vision of a man who, like the Bourbons, has forgotten nothing and learned nothing.
Mike Hutton, Ottawa
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper told those assembled at Davos that the demographics of Canada's aging population pose "a threat to the social programs and services that Canadians cherish." It was nice to hear that, at my age, I can still pose a threat to anything.
Bill Boyd, Lakefield, Ont.
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By waiting until he is abroad to make controversial policy announcements that will affect thousands of Canadians our Prime Minister may be limiting the blowback in the House and in the press, but I doubt he will avoid it in the next election.
Franceska Gnarowski, Low, Que.
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It takes courage to stand before the world and deliver the hard truths few want to hear at home, or internationally. Good on Mr. Harper. Boomers can't keep spending what they don't have and expecting us to look after them (Older Consumers Pile On New Debt – Report on Business, Jan. 27).
Jennifer Chalmers, Toronto
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65? 67? 70?
While I resent the PM's laying out his plans in Davos, instead of sharing them first with Canadians, I cannot fault what he is proposing in limiting the growth in government spending on retirement income. A good place to start would be to phase in a change in OAS eligibility – make it 67 instead of 65, starting in, say, five years to give people time to adjust. Canadians are living longer, so this is not unrealistic. Some day, perhaps it should be 70.
I'm in my 30s, one day I'll need these programs, too. If they aren't sustainable, they won't be there.
Michael Brown, Saint John
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Raising the age of eligibility for Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement benefits is the worst possible way to deal with our retirement income security crisis. Experts project that one half of all middle-income baby boomers face a severe cut to their living standards in old age. This is due to falling employer pension coverage (down to 25 per cent in the private sector), rising household debt combined with low savings, and the big hit to fend-for-yourself RRSPs which comes from high fees and low returns.
The right way to deal with this looming crisis is to expand the Canada Pension Plan now to raise incomes for seniors in the future. Phasing in an expanded CPP would reduce future OAS costs, which are really a taxpayer subsidy to businesses that refuse to provide pension plans to their employees. Not a cent of tax money pays for CPP, which is financed entirely by workers and their employers. If we are to avoid a growing future tax bill while still ensuring all Canadians can retire in dignity, we need to commit now to doubling future CPP benefits.
Ken Georgetti, president, Canadian Labour Congress
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Winter, M.I.A.
It's not easy to write about Canada's recently erratic weather (Whither Winter – Jan. 27) without mentioning the term "climate change." The unusual behaviour of the Arctic oscillation is almost certainly linked to dramatic increases in air and sea temperatures in that region. Around the world, thousands of scientists are working hard to understand the complexities of these climate-weather interactions. But few, if any, doubt greenhouse gas emissions are an important root cause.
Michael Byers, project leader with ArcticNet (consortium of Arctic scientists from 27 Canadian universities and eight federal departments)
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The Prime Minister's blueprint for reforming Canada leaves me feeling blue and seeing red. As our finite planet moves ever closer to the tipping point of catastrophic climate change, his vision for a "sustainable" economic future is to extract ever-larger quantities of petroleum and minerals while pumping more and more greenhouse gas emissions into the air.
Wallace Beaton, Ottawa
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Just wondering
A permanent American base on the moon (Gingrich Vows To Build A Permanent U.S. Base On The Moon – Jan. 26)? Lately, God seems to be directly in touch with many Republicans. Is this moon real estate idea a Divine suggestion to shorten the approach to Heaven for conservatives, or is it Newt Gingrich imagining an off-planet lunatic-fringe location, perhaps with a nice room for Earth-lit Tea Parties?
William Emigh, Victoria
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A question of protocol: If Newt Gingrich were to win the upcoming U.S. election, would the (current) Mrs. Gingrich become the Third Lady?
David Brewer, Puslinch, Ont.
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Mind and soul
The dismal state of most reserves in Canada is extremely discouraging to my people (Atleo Hopeful On Education Funding – Jan. 25). In Attawapiskat, the nation became aware of the complexity of issues confronting the native populations of Canada. How many more Attawapiskats must there be before some "incremental" progress is made?
Colonial attitudes must change at all levels of government to bring positive change, both in reserves and urban areas, to improve the living conditions and position of Indian people within the Canadian mosaic. We cannot afford to stand by and allow our children and our communities to remain in a situation of extreme poverty, gang violence, lack of education, unemployment, lack of purpose. The time is now. The challenge for all of us is to put our collective minds and souls together to seek innovative ways of improving the lives of all native people, on and off reserve.
Mel H. Buffalo, president, Indian Association of Alberta; Samson Cree member, Hobbema, Alta.
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Just 'Nurse'
Your article on nurse practitioners (Nurse Practitioners: An Untapped Resource – Life, Jan. 27) brought to mind district nurses in England's rural areas before the Second World War. They were always known as Nurse, as in "go call Nurse." She was given a telephone in her home and supplied with a bicycle. Those needing her help sent someone to the local public phone booth or walked if there wasn't one.
She coped with scrapes, cuts, skin ailments, fever, bed sores in the elderly, births and aftercare. If the doctor was needed, she telephoned him. The patient was transferred to the local cottage hospital, a small four- or six-bed unit. Like the doctor, she was on call 24/7, in all weathers. The doctor had a car. She had her trusty Sturmey-Archer.
They were a special breed.
Sheila Barnum, Kingston, Ont.