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If had a boss like Trump
Re 'Those Were Lies, Plain And Simple' (June 9): If I had a boss who wanted me on repeated occasions to do something illegal and I wouldn't, and then I found out on television that I had been fired because of my refusal without any discussion with me, and that I could not even return to my workplace and say goodbye to my colleagues, I would not "leak" the information I had about my boss's illegal requests, I would shout it from the mountain tops.
Harvey Kolodny, Orangeville, Ont.
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Meanwhile, next door …
While daytime television was pre-empted for the James Comey Political Super Bowl, just down the hall the U.S. Congress voted to repeal Dodd-Frank, the tough regulations to restrict Wall Street misbehaviour, which were signed into law after the 2008 financial crisis (House Passes Bill To Dismantle Wall Street Reform Law, Report on Business, June 10).
With all due respect to Ellen Degeneres, one can only hope that the upcoming Senate confirmation vote on the bill is on TV.
Chuck LeBoutillier, Toronto
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British politics? What a mess
Re British Election Results Threaten To Thrust May, Brexit Into Uncertainty (June 9): The question marks over Brexit just keep getting bigger. The election that wasn't fought on Brexit – but also was – hasn't resolved anything. What a spectacular mess.
Where is the authority to negotiate now?
Sarah Adams, Winnipeg
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PM needs to connect the dots
Re Liberals Waive Security Review for Chinese Takeover Of High-Tech Firm (June 8); Ottawa Pledges Billions in Defence Spending (June 8): The first of these front-page articles deals with a waived security review for a deal that involves a Canadian company with military sales and patents. The second article positions Canada for a "more assertive role in protecting Canada's sovereignty."
The two articles are missing a dotted line connecting them. Make that a bold dotted line that Justin Trudeau and his advisers will not miss in their haste to please the Chinese and poke a finger in President Donald Trump's eye.
Our government needs to be reminded that China needs Canada's resources more than we need plastic products from China. Thoughtful patience is required here.
Bill Bousada, Carleton Place, Ont.
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Sugar addiction starts early
Re The Bitter Truth About Kids And Sugar (Life & Arts, June 7): Your article on sugar consumption by schoolchildren addresses the established acceptance of the high-sugar diets given to youngsters every morning before they head out the door.
For many, however, a sugar addiction is established at a much earlier age.
A 2011 national study (excluding Quebec) found that roughly 1,900 children a year ages three to five were admitted to hospital for the removal of badly decayed and abscessed teeth. It is well established that high-sugar diets, especially drinks, are a damaging factor for tooth decay. These hospital surgeries are the end point, if you will, of a process that has been developing over many months of high-sugar intake.
Sadly, this ongoing situation has been known for many years with minimal intervention. Perhaps the current awareness of the sugar epidemic may benefit all children whose caregivers have unwittingly facilitated the addiction.
Dr. Olva Odlum, senior scholar, Faculty of Health Science, University Of Manitoba
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Celebrate July 1? Comfortably
Since reading Look Away From The Giant Duck And Listen To Real Concerns Over Canada 150 (June 3), I have been considering the arguments that Canada 150 celebrations will or should be "uncomfortable."
When my parents were children, their government appropriated their ancestral lands, suppressed their religion, prohibited schooling in their native tongue, and tried to starve them.
No, they weren't First Nations people in Canada, they were Mennonites in Russia under Stalin. They eventually made it to Winnipeg as teenage refugees, but not with their families intact: My mom's father was killed and my dad's father was exiled to Siberia.
Canada has provided refuge from persecution for many hundreds of thousands of people, including my family, since the end of the Second World War. Their lives, stories, hardships and recoveries matter, not more than anyone else's, but certainly enough to justify them comfortably celebrating the country that gave them a second chance.
Rudy Buller, Toronto
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They're such long numbers
Re Bank Of Canada's Worries Rise With Home Prices, Debt Levels (Report on Business, June 9): With house prices the way they are in Vancouver and Toronto, you have to look twice at a listing to distinguish between the price and the phone number.
Tony Turner, Richmond, B.C.