Damage, near and far
In 2003, the oil companies convinced the U.S. government they shouldn't be required to install on their offshore rigs a $500,000 remote-control shutoff switch, the kind that might have prevented the current Deepwater Horizon spill ( Just How Evil Is Oil? - May 6). The switches are required by law in Norway and Brazil, but not in the U.S. As Margaret Wente puts it, "Under pressure from the oil companies, a U.S. government agency decided … that this expensive gewgaw wasn't necessary."
To put this "expensive gewgaw" into perspective, consider its costs against the $60-billion in profits the top five oil companies in the U.S. made in 2003 alone.
It remains to be seen how much the spill that this $500,000 switch might have prevented will cost BP - not to mention what it will cost the people, flora and fauna of the Gulf Coast or, one way or another, the rest of us.
John Lazarus, Kingston, Ont.
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Many of the people who are bashing oil companies for spills haven't a clue that they themselves also may be to blame. Oil companies are simply meeting consumers' insatiable demand for quick, preferably cheap, access to fuel.
Byron Perry, Burlington, Ont.
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Margaret Wente quotes a spokesman for the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, which she identifies as a "conservation" group, who suggests the effects of the spill may not be as severe as generally portrayed.
To her credit, Ms. Wente notes that the Mexico Foundation has been attacked as "a puppet of oil and gas." It also would have been worth noting - according to ProPublica, a public interest group - that half or more of the foundation's 19-member board "have direct ties to the offshore drilling industry." This includes an executive of Transocean, the company that owns the drilling rig that exploded. Seven other board members work for oil companies, or companies that are major suppliers of services or products to offshore oil and gas companies.
Fredric Weizmann, Toronto
Thunderbolts and politicians
The very "estrangement from - and distrust of - the authorities" that your editorial pinpoints as the problem in Greece should be expanded as a warning to this country ( Zeus Needs To Use His Thunderbolt - May 6). Canadians increasingly view our governments and their bureaucracies as out of touch and delivering less and less bang for the big tax bucks extracted - with HST still to come in B.C. and Ontario!
To suggest we have "accountability" via our budget that the Greeks don't have is laughable, considering the Auditor-General can't even get access to MPs' basic expense accounts.
Don't think that our disillusionment with our pseudo democracy isn't growing. At some point, we may take to the streets like our Greek compatriots and invoke Zeus to direct a thunderbolt at our own prattling politicians.
Paul Pepperall, King City, Ont.
Hardly an 'ordinary American'
Faisal Shahzad is no more an ordinary American than Omar Khadr is an ordinary Canadian ( How An Ordinary American Became A Terror Suspect In Times Square Bomb Plot - May 5).
Lyle Burwell, Gloucester, Ont.
Ideology and safety
The value of the long-gun registry appears split between rural and urban, conservative and liberal ( Police Groups Join Forces In Support Of Long-Gun Registry - May 6). People feel unsafe whenever a violent crime is reported, regardless of the statistical probability of it occurring. In our cities, the vast majority of firearms used in crimes are handguns smuggled into the country by gangs involved in the drug trade. Most criminals do not ride around with high-powered hunting rifles to carry out their chosen trade. It never ceases to amaze me that every time someone is "gunned down" in the streets of our large cities by a gangster (no firearms licence), with a handgun smuggled across the border (unregistered firearm), people use this to support the long-gun registry.
I have always believed society would be much safer if we spent the money on our youth instead.
George Miller, Calgary
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Surely the police groups cannot all be wrong. Now that the police associations, representing the front-line men and women, are joining forces with the chiefs of police, can The Globe and Mail in good conscience continue to support the Harper government in its desire to destroy the long-gun registry?
Margaret McGovern, Toronto
For the sake of women
Your editorial ( It's Not Just Abortion - May 5) illustrates why Canada's stance to exclude abortion in its funding of maternal health programs will compromise the effectiveness of those programs. Misoprostol, a drug on the World Health Organization Essential Medicines list, is indeed a very effective treatment for postpartum hemorrhage. It is also a very effective drug, used on its own or in combination with mifepristone, the so-called "abortion pill," for inducing an early abortion. Do the Conservatives plan to dictate how such essential drugs are used in the maternal health programs Canada funds, or eliminate their use entirely? Neither helps the women whose lives we are trying to save.
Sheila Dunn, MD, Toronto
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Senator Nancy Ruth's STFU statement was directed to those who should be careful about biting the hand that feeds them. Women's rights groups, or any funded group for that matter, ought to use discretion with their comments - especially on an issue that is so politically driven. To put this in context, it would not be very clever to badmouth your employer; you might wonder why you don't have a job. That's life. It's politics at all levels.
What makes us believe that Canada should be making family planning or birth control or abortion decisions for other countries that will be the recipient of funding for women and children's health?
Karen Allan, North Vancouver
History ignored
The first few paragraphs of Canada's Lost Parliament Rising From The Ashes (May 5) could apply equally to the site of the first Parliament buildings in Upper Canada. This site lies similarly ignored at the corner of Parliament and Front streets in Toronto.
Burned down during the War of 1812 by American forces, these buildings - commissioned by Upper Canada's first Lieutenant-Governor, John Graves Simcoe - were the birthplace of many important pieces of early legislation. It is disappointing that tourists visiting the city during the bicentennial of that conflict are likely to see only a ragtag collection of automobile-related businesses, rather than a site that honours its past.
In Toronto, an archaeological dig was carried out in 2000 to much excitement, with a resulting commitment by the province to take it into public ownership. Ten years later, despite much public lobbying, the heritage community is still waiting for the site to be put to a more appropriate use and suitably commemorated.
Quebec and Montreal have apparently provided $22-million to expand Pointe-à-Callière and undertake the archeological work. It would be good to see governments here provide the same kind of commitment to a site of equal significance.
Peter Ortved, chair, Heritage Toronto
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Despite some reports of the day, the portrait of Queen Victoria was not shredded following the burning of Parliament in Montreal in 1849; it hangs today in the entrance to the Senate in Ottawa. Two things were recovered from the fire, the Queen's portrait, and the mace, which were delivered to Sir Allan MacNab. The mace from the legislative assembly continued to be used in the House of Commons until it melted in the fire of 1916.
Alan Hustak, Montreal
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Knighthood may no longer be in flower in Canada but we should attempt to get the form right when it is used in historical context. Sir Charles Bagot, governor-general from 1841 to 1843 (actually the office was governor-in-chief) is called "Sir Bagot." He should be styled correctly as Sir Charles Bagot, Bart., being a Baronet with an ongoing title, but familiarly and in personal address would always be Sir Charles, and under no circumstances Sir Bagot.
Roger Hall, Department of History, University of Western Ontario
With friends like that
Regarding that unfortunate chap whose drinking buddies put an eel in his backside (When Guys Get Drunk - Social Studies, May 5), with friends like that, who needs enemas?
Alison Cooper, Mississauga, Ont.