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Negotiating math
Re Multiple Payouts Given To Teacher Unions (Oct. 22): Pay raises to teachers, minus money taken from a program to help struggling students, minus money paid to teachers' unions to compensate for bargaining costs does not equal a net zero deal. Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals needs to check her figures. I really hope this isn't an example of the math being taught in schools.
Don Forsey, Toronto
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It is ethically indefensible to have paid the money, and morally unjustifiable to have taken it. Shame on both the government and the unions. The justifications stink to the heavens. We sometimes wonder why our children do not do the right things. With "leadership" such as this, who can blame them for being uncertain as to what doing the right thing is?
Howard Kaufman, Toronto
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Time for another Gomery Commission? I can't help but remember the sponsorship scandal when I read this. Money comes in one door – and goes out the other.
Moira O'Neill, St. John's
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Perhaps the Ombudsman should follow up on the practice of paying a union its costs of negotiating – the primary thing a union exists to do for its members with their dues. The practice is fraught with conflicts of interest; it certainly needs study.
The Ombudsman's tasks include examining questionable government conduct.
Michael Robinson, Toronto
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You report: "[Education Minister Liz] Sandals said it is 'not unusual' for the government to cover the union's cost of negotiating. In fact, she said, the province has been doing it since the Liberals came to power in 2003 …"
It is not hard to connect the dots between these payments and union-financed ad spending by the so-called "Working Families" coalition and teachers' unions (Why Did Ontario Pay Unions To Negotiate ? – editorial, Oct. 22).
A creative way of getting around election spending limits if I ever saw one. This government's lack competence is only matched by its lack of morality.
Bruce Allen, Toronto
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Bottom-line blues
The new federal Liberal government should consider restoring the 2 per cent to the GST that the Conservatives took away a few years ago (Economy – Folio, Oct. 22). Most economists considered the cuts a bad idea. The increased revenue should pay for much of Justin Trudeau's proposed plan to improve Canada's infrastructure. It would mean less borrowing and add less to the national debt.
Howard Ellsworth, Delta, B.C.
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Provincial and municipal governments are salivating at the thought of money for infrastructure, but I see little emphasis on using the money on projects that address the climate crisis. Public ground transport does, but highways don't. Sustainable energy projects, such as the Bay of Fundy tidal power project, do. Let's not waste this opportunity.
Nicholas Tracy, Fredericton
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May I remind anyone who is worried about future budgets under Justin Trudeau that the previous federal Liberal government left office with a substantial surplus ($13.2-billion in 2005/2006), which evaporated under Stephen Harper's Conservative government, putting Canada into deficit even before the 2008 crash.
Ken Cory, Oshawa, Ont.
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Cancer screening
New breast cancer screening guidelines from the American Cancer Society may cause confusion regarding the appropriate age and frequency for women to start screening (Later Start For Mammograms Urged – Life & Arts, Oct. 21).
The Ontario Breast Screening Program recommends women aged 50 to 74 have a mammogram every two years. Women aged 30 to 69 who are at high risk for breast cancer should have a mammogram and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) every year.
Ontario's guidelines are aligned with the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and will not be changing at this time. Mammography remains the most effective screening approach for the early detection of breast cancer. Finding cancer early can result in better treatment options and outcomes.
Derek Muradali, radiologist in chief, and Anna Chiarelli, provincial lead scientist; Ontario Breast Screening Program
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Post, passed
Canada's "first past the post" system is almost a contradiction of democracy, where less than 40 per cent of the popular vote can produce a majority government.
Proportional representation is the purest form of democracy: There is no need for so-called "strategic voting," and the gov-ernment is representative of all political stripes.
While Stephen Harper did an excellent job over the past decade in uncertain times, I also welcome this new season under Justin Trudeau. I encourage all of us who didn't vote Liberal not to judge the innocent until proven guilty. He's going to do fine.
Craig Walker, St. Albert, Alta.
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Stephen Harper lost this election because from east to west, voters engaged in strategic voting. Many Greens and NDPers held their noses and voted Liberal.
With Mr. Harper out of the way, the left is unlikely to stay united. If Conservatives select a less divisive, less dictatorial and more congenial leader, the non-conservative vote will split again, and the Conservatives will cruise to victory – unless Justin Trudeau honours his pledge to change the voting system. If proportional representation is introduced, Conservatives will be on the sidelines for many years, while the country is governed by a coalition of Liberals, NDP and Greens.
Reimar Kroecher, North Vancouver
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Ride the tide
Re With Liberal Sweep, Political Stars Align For Atlantic Canada (Oct. 22): I wonder, super optimistically, what chance there is of creating one larger, economically stronger province out of the four Atlantic provinces.
I am aware of their histories, but these four vulnerable jurisdictions are often spoken of together as one, so there must be a lot in common. The stars may align for a discussion on unification.
Stan Szpakowicz, Ottawa
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Atlantic Canada got hit by the "Red Tide" first (Red Tide – Oct. 20). On the East Coast, we know our tides. And we know that a "Red Tide" can herald a dinoflagellate bloom and may inflict the unwary with a nasty case of paralytic shellfish poisoning.
Ingest with care and a critical eye!
Alan Ruffman, Ferguson's Cove, N.S.
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Doggone unfair
Media coverage of the recent political campaign was littered (excuse the expression) with canine references – attack dog, underdog, dog fight, no dog in the race, dog whistle politics.
What has man's best friend done to warrant this?
Anne Rowe, Oakville, Ont.