Money grab?
When banks hike interest rates even when the Bank of Canada does not adjust its rates, consumers are getting a raw deal ( RBC Hikes Mortgage Rates Again - April 26). Banks have easy options to control for risk in lending: raise the threshold for who qualifies for loans and mortgages, or lower the total the applicant may borrow. In Canada, however, the rules on lending are already such that risk is fairly low. RBC's third mortgage rate hike in a month is basically a money grab.
Peter Reinecke, Ottawa
Power grab?
Fortunately for our imperilled Canadian democracy, 132 political scientists have a more up-to-date and politically relevant solution than that offered by J.A. Corry in 1946 ( Our Inability To Elect A Majority Imperils Democracy - April 26). In January, they said: "As political scientists at Canadian universities and colleges across the country, we believe Canada can no longer afford to ignore the urgent need for electoral reform. We need an inclusive and functioning representative democracy based on a fair and proportional voting system." As these academics (see fairvote.ca for their names) suggest, the solution to the problems described by Neil Reynolds is to use a voting system that first, allows all voters to be represented and second, following each election, results in a government - usually a coalition - that represents a majority of Canadians.
Finally, proportional voting would significantly reduce the number of Bloc Québécois seats in the House of Commons, thereby taking another of Mr. Reynolds's problems off the table.
Linda Sheppard, Toronto
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Neil Reynolds argues for run-off elections between front runners at the riding level to reconcile some of the difficulties of having multiple parties in a Westminster parliamentary system.
This excellent idea works well in France, albeit within a different system.
The Conservatives, however, will never support such a change: Run-offs, precisely because they produce parliaments that better reflect the will of the people, would make Conservative governments a near impossibility, given the centre-left orientation of a majority of Canadians.
Geoff Read, London, Ont.
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Most of the world's democracies have multiple parties. It's not a disease that infects Canada, Israel and Italy - the three poster children for dysfunctional governments. Multiple parties give voters choice.
We don't need to put voters into the straitjacket of a forced two-party system. We just need to follow the example of many of the world's most successful nations and implement a proportional representation voting system that works for the people.
Gary Dale, West Hill, Ont.
Cruel fates in a cosmic warp
The cruel fate awaiting albinos ( An African Scourge, A Canadian's Mission - April 26) and many other marginal people of some traditional societies in Africa - such as the unjustly accused widows lapidated to death for witchcraft - is finally being acknowledged.
When I started working in Ouagadougou's city jail with unfed and abused children as young as four, several headhunters were awaiting execution. It was a well-known fact that great fortunes had been built on the trade of human parts. But it was finding the mutilated body of a leper friend whose eyes, nose and tongue had been ripped out of his crushed skull for the purpose of a ritual sacrifice that catapulted me into the darkest realm of the human psyche. Peter Ash's education campaign in Tanzania is a courageous move to unlock communities trapped in a cosmic warp.
Marie-Jeanne Musiol, Gatineau, Que.
With this ring, I move in
I applaud Brianna Van Der Mark for not living with her boyfriend before marriage ( Living Together Isn't For Me - Facts and Arguments, April 26). Although this choice is not typical for our generation, I, too, believe in the importance of traditional values, especially in regard to marriage. My husband and I look back on our wedding as the happiest day of our lives, because we knew we were truly starting our life together from that moment on. Through dating, we built the foundation; in marriage, we built the home. We had, and still have, growing pains, but as a couple we put in the extra effort to work out the kinks. The option of an easy split no longer applies. We are proud of our decision and, after four years of marriage, we would not have done it any other way. Some things are worth the wait.
Lindsey Kent-Robinson, London, Ont.
Going, going and soon gone
Saskatchewan is well represented by SCN ( SCN Goes Dark And No One Notices - April 26). Aside from telling stories, both dramatic and documentary, that reflect Saskatchewan back to itself, SCN acts as a great cultural ambassador to the rest of the country, and the world. Programming that gets trigger funding from SCN is often sold out of province to air nationally and internationally. All this value and exposure for our little province for the paltry sum of $5-million per year.
Vanda Schmocke, Regina
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In a 500-channel-plus universe, SCN's "4 per cent" of households doesn't sound like too shoddy of a market share. Viewers should check the SCN site one last time to see what Saskatchewan will be missing out on starting next week.
Sadly, it's so long to SCN; it just wasn't instantly gratifying enough for the times.
Allen Warren, Regina
Not where the danger lies
Jeffrey Simpson writes that "multiculturalism can be dangerous if diaspora politics twist Canada's foreign policies to suit ethnic demands" ( Don't Let Diaspora Politics Twist Canada's Foreign Policy - April 24). It is extremism, rather than multiculturalism, that poses the more significant threat to Canadian society, and to Canada's diplomatic capital around the world.
Canada's ethnocultural diversity endows it with significant, though often untapped, opportunity to contribute to brokering regional conflicts around the globe and helping to advance the cause of peace. If enough moderate Canadians with community connections to opposing sides of an overseas ethnic conflict tried to come together, in a shared commitment to identifying strategies for ending that conflict in ways that are informed by Canadian values such as tolerance, protection of minority rights, and respect for the rule of law, their combined expertise and influence could greatly enhance Canada's ability to make a difference in ending that conflict. If Canada ever hopes to recapture its past glory as a state that contributes disproportionately to the cause of peace, judicious use by our government of the knowledge, connections and creativity of our ethnic communities to address entrenched conflicts abroad could prove the best way to do it.
John Monahan, executive director, Mosaic Institute
Energy's crack cocaine
Coal is the crack cocaine of the energy sector ( Ottawa Tells Energy Firms To Start Powering Down Coal-Fired Plants - Report on Business, April 26). It's cheap, dirty and highly addictive, and unhealthy to the user. While it's great to read that Canada is trying to kick the habit, we continue to export coal in great quantities. I guess the drug dealer mantra holds true here as well: Dealers don't use.
John Vissers, Abbotsford, B.C.
'Canaries in the tar sands'
Not only are billions of birds unintentionally destroyed in North America annually ( Dead Birds Of A Feather Don't Flock Together - Report on Business, April 19) but also, thanks to us, whole populations of bird species are plummeting. (See, for example, Martin Mittelstaedt's Black Clouds On The Horizon For Birds Of The World [Sept. 23, 2008] which noted that "from field sparrows to boreal chickadees, 20 of the most common species in North America are being decimated.)
While one billion is a shocking number, to focus on these incidental bird mortalities is a red herring. As every schoolchild knows, the overriding cause of current wildlife declines - bird populations included - is habitat loss and degradation. (Any guesses what industry leads in this department?)
Gwyn Morgan asks "how, in the name of fairness and perspective, can the accidental death of 1,606 game birds … be the subject of a costly trial that damages the carefully built reputation of a great Canadian energy company; and an entire industry?"
Well, "in the name of fairness and perspective," it is not just about 1,606 ducks that died in tailing ponds. Wild birds are our canaries in the tar sands.
George Newton, Edmonton
!@#$%^& right!
Whacking my big toe into the boxes of ceramic tiles stored under our bed qualified me to contribute to the undergrad level of the "Swearing as a response to pain" study cited in Social Studies (April 26). Cursing, doing the one-foot dance, and flailing my other arm for balance, brought down the bedside lamp, which shattered. This elevated the fray to the graduate level and brought my wife in on the action. The commotion woke the baby and set off the dog, whose barking convinced the cat to launch itself, all claws out, off the bed and rake my bare chest on its airborne way to saner quarters. At that point, I qualified for the postgrad level. With all that condensed experience, I can offer this pained observation: Swearing as a response to pain? !@#$%^& right!
Grant Jones, Montreal