People line up outside an LCBO liquor store to facilitate physical distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 4, 2020.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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Real time
Re RCMP Say They Were Preparing Alert When Gunman Was Killed (April 23): I believe it is time to stop relying on Twitter for official communications, especially by law enforcement agencies and when there is a situation where civilian lives are in danger.
The fluid situation in Nova Scotia should have been quickly relayed to the public with television and radio updates and, above all, the National Public Alerting System. Twitter should only be acceptable for non-emergency news or in conjunction with other, more official means of communication. It makes no sense to me that the RCMP relied on Twitter.
There are a lot of what-if questions justifiably flying around. However, no one should take credit away from our valiant law enforcement agencies. Red tape should be cut to a minimum for these folks.
Anas Khan Beaumont, Alta.
A plea
Re The Pandemic Forces Us To Rethink Prison (Editorial, April 22) and Indigenous Leaders Urge Action As Virus Spreads In Prison (April 18): The COVID-19 virus has claimed its first victim in a Canadian prison. For months, concerned organizations have demanded extensive testing in prisons. As of April 22, however, Canada has only tested 588 of 14,000 federal inmates, 193 of whom tested positive, a rate around seven times the national average.
These organizations have urged governments to release as many non-violent inmates as possible, and six provinces have released around 3,000. While Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said “hundreds" of federal inmates have been released, those in fact were normal releases. The evidence suggests that Ottawa has released only a couple of inmates due to COVID-19.
Though asked, governments also have not issued data on testing by race, despite the likelihood that Indigenous inmates, who make up a high proportion of the prison population, have low resistance to diseases due to underfunding for health and housing.
This lack of action and transparency seems inexplicable.
Ed Whitcomb Author, Understanding First Nations: The Legacy of Canadian Colonialism; Ottawa
Meanwhile in Europe…
Re Greece Learned From The Mistakes That Spain, Italy Made To Combat Coronavirus (April 25): We believe there were also important issues of family and poverty that contributed to Greece’s success against COVID-19.
Greece has only around 200 public and private nursing homes. Greeks generally keep seniors at home and hire live-in help. Thus, the most vulnerable group to COVID-19 was isolated to start with. This practice increased since the financial crisis of 2008, when many families took back relatives from nursing homes in order to share their meagre pensions.
Thus, the virus seems to teach us the folly of institutionalizing seniors rather than keeping intact family structures. With the right social policy, the practice could also be less expensive. Is this a lesson that Canada can afford to ignore?
Kostas Fytas Quebec
Tassos Anastassiades Kingston
Re Bad News For Cities Might Be Good News For Auto Companies (Report on Business, April 17): I have happy memories of living in Rome for three years in the early 1970s. The 1973 oil crisis resulted in undersupply as the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries tested its market clout with an embargo in reaction to the Yom Kippur War.
In 1973, this meant going car-less every Sunday and odd-even licence plates the rest of the week. This let us enjoy the grandeur of Rome, stroll neighbourhoods and find new trattorias. Unfortunately, Rome’s current reduced traffic doesn’t bring the same benefits. But Italians love their cars and, yes, traffic in Rome is likely to get much worse given the risks of public transportation. And the cut and thrust of Roman drivers will always add a bit of excitement!
Richard Cooper Ottawa
Last call?
Re If Liquor Stores Are ‘Essential’, We Have A Problem To Face (Opinion, April 18): When it comes to alcohol, the societal price paid by Canadians is indeed very high. The Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms Report quantifies alcohol use as costing $14.6-billion annually. In Toronto, every LCBO store I have walked past during the COVID-19 lockdown has had long lineups from well before opening hours and throughout the day, whilst nearby grocery stores have much smaller lineups.
I believe our society celebrates, glamourizes and extols the consumption of alcohol. Teaching Canadians that alcohol is no ordinary commodity would be an enormous challenge to our policymakers, who themselves are dependant on tax revenues from this commodity. Good luck.
Kathleen Donohue Toronto
Of course alcohol needs to be managed, and governments have a legitimate role to play in mitigating its adverse effects on some people who become addicts or behave abusively when intoxicated. But I very much disagree with the premise that adult Canadians cannot be trusted to make responsible decisions about alcohol. The vast majority of Canadians enjoy wine, beer and spirits in moderation, and without major harm. To question whether liquor stores should be closed during the pandemic feels like nanny-statism at its worst.
Imagine if no one could legally buy alcohol during these housebound times. Illegal alcohol production and sales would likely surge, unsafe and untaxed. And Canadians would be deprived of the legitimate pleasure and balm of a glass of wine.
Alcohol has been an integral part of civilized cultures for centuries. Canada is no different.
Lance Berelowitz Principal, Wine Fundamentals; Vancouver
Cancon
Re Refocusing Canadian Film (April 17): As the organization representing Canada’s professional screenwriters, we couldn’t agree more that there should be government investment and new policies to encourage the creation of Canadian content as we emerge from this crisis. But we also believe this article makes a number of assumptions that don’t reflect the realities of Canadian film and television.
To start, TV accounts for roughly 95 per cent of the industry here, and the Canada Media Fund is focused on TV, not film. Additionally, the reason it “favours broadcasters over individual producers” is because broadcasters pay into the CMF, not producers nor buyers like Netflix. If the fund should be opened up, it should come with advocacy for contributions from other industry players.
Then there’s the question of creating a fund to “entice Canadian creators living elsewhere to come back.” No. Who would come back after establishing a career in Hollywood? What about focusing on the development of opportunities for the screenwriters and directors who live here now? Creating an environment where local creative talent can realize their artistic goals and earn a decent living would make the industry “better than ever.”
Maureen Parker Executive director, Writers Guild of Canada; Toronto
Better off
Re Alberta’s Heritage Fund Hit Hard By AIMCo’s Bad Bet (April 23): AIMCo’s loss of $4-billion on $119-billion in assets is about 3.4 per cent. I wish my self-directed RRIF was as well managed during this crisis.
John Rankin Burlington, Ont.
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