Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in Ottawa on Feb. 17.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
In contrast
Re “The post-Poilievre leadership race has begun”(Feb. 18): It is suggested that Pierre Poilievre trails Mark Carney solely because of Donald Trump. But Canadians can also see the stark contrast in experience, tone, and seriousness between the two men. Voters don’t need an American proxy to recognize the difference between inclusion and division or substance and slogans.
Canadians deserve leaders with strength of character, real‑world credibility and the ability to attract talent to serve the country. As a Conservative, I hope columnist Andrew Coyne is right that a genuine leadership review is coming for the party.
Brad Vollmershausen Norfolk County, Ont.
Checking in
Re “B.C. rolls out law to tackle interprovincial trade barriers” (Feb. 19): We’re coming up on eight months since the federal government eliminated its barriers to interprovincial trade, but I don’t have a sense of progress, if any, by the provinces or professional bodies that have been masters of blocking labour migration in their fields.
I still can’t find Ontario wine in a B.C. liquor store (but I can find wine from Bulgaria). This barrier is entirely within the control of the provincial government.
If I don’t see what should be a simple change, I find it hard to believe they have made progress on anything else.
Darren Schemmer Vancouver
Wave goodbye
Re “Only Canada should decide who is a trusted traveller” (Editorial, Feb. 14): I recently received a renewal notice stating that my Nexus card would expire shortly. To renew I was required to pay a fee of US$120 to the Department of Homeland Security.
No way I am going to contribute to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s parent organization, so I will do without Nexus.
Cynthia Moull Toronto
Domino effect
Re “Professors’ friendship with Epstein underscore allure of private money in research funding” (Feb. 14): This should remind us that much research bypasses formal peer review.
While peer review systems as currently operated are far from perfect, there are at least nods toward excellence, both in track records and proposed projects. However, the “ultra-competitive world of research funding” has led researchers, and sometimes even the heads of their institutions, to seek “a shortcut to funding, without the scrutiny and red tape.”
There is much at stake, not only helping to “guarantee their jobs, fund graduate students and further their research,” but also lives. If two researchers are studying a certain disease, funding one who courts an Epstein of this world, rather than one who does not, may delay, not accelerate, a cure or better treatments.
This is not a passive process. Winners of non-peer-reviewed largess can deprive competitors of students, technicians and scarce research space.
Donald Forsdyke Emeritus professor, department of biomedical and molecular sciences, Queen’s University; Kingston, Ont.
One for all
Re “Data, data everywhere but nothing to connect it to health care” (Feb. 10): Health information managed by all is managed by none.
Expensive and valuable primary care medical records are duplicated, fragmented and stranded in information silos managed by physicians and other clinicians. Data interoperability will likely take years and money, but then only simplify exchange of data.
Fix stewardship, then apply technology. Transfer custodianship of primary care medical records from physicians to a government agency which would administer a central information repository for use by all clinicians.
Authorized by patients, practitioners would use a standard commercial off-the-shelf electronic medical records application for timely, role-based access to comprehensive, accurate and authoritative patient information. Mandating one EMR would reduce risk, lower cost, speed transition and facilitate teamwork and workflow.
One patient, one record, one application. Like acute care.
Greg Steer North Vancouver
No can do
Re “The lesson from Sydney’s fish market” and “Toronto’s new director of Urban Design can shape the city’s future” (Feb. 14): If there is a city in our country that has been successful in both urban design and ambition, it is Montreal.
The complete redo of downtown Sainte-Catherine Street, with widened sidewalks and a great deal of it permanently converted to pedestrian walkways and the Quartier des spectacles, speaks to a people-first vison of the city. Elsewhere, the Old Port is a vibrant attraction, as are the parks and walkways built out of the formerly industrial Lachine Canal.
Measured against Toronto’s awkward and clumsy Sankofa Square, which is vacant of any event most of the time, Montreal’s example suggests that if Toronto is in need of a new chief designer, the city should look no further than down Highway 401 – and ditch our city council who allowed this all to happen under its watch.
David Roy Toronto
It doesn’t make sense to ask why foreign cities can do things that Canadian ones can’t, without also asking how they are financed and governed.
Plans for a spectacular Toronto Islands ferry terminal and park, as well as open-air pools at Parliament Slip, seem to be in a drawer somewhere, waiting for other orders of government to return some of the tax money generated from all those shiny office towers. Meanwhile, there isn’t even enough money yet for a transit line to the wonderful new park in the Port Lands.
Until Canadian municipalities have more access to the wealth they generate, and control over how it is spent, we will likely never achieve the wonders our talented urban designers can imagine.
Julie Beddoes Toronto
Winners at heart
Re “Canada loses overtime heartbreaker to U.S. 2-1 in women’s gold-medal hockey final” (Feb. 20): Here’s a novel idea for a better headline: “Canadian women’s hockey team wins silver medal.”
They played well in this year’s Olympics and we can be immensely proud of them. There is no shame in conceding victory to a comparable team in a well-played game.
The “heartbreaker” is that hockey culture and media portrays them as losers.
David Hughes Glass Saugeen Shores, Ont.
By example
Re “Olympic hockey demonstrates how good the NHL could be, but isn’t” (Sports, Feb. 17): The National Hockey League season is far too long, and means even less when the playoffs are also overlong, not to mention overinclusive. Why even bother in January when, by Christmas, a team is already out of the running or guaranteed a fresh shot come playoff time?
The NHL could learn from the world of soccer. Why not make winning a division really mean something? Why not make international play a more regular feature?
Why not have other competitions to break up the season and give teams already out of contention something to shoot for? How about something like soccer’s Club World Cup?
Why not break the season into two segments, pre- and post-Christmas, so that teams otherwise out of contention have a fresh shot?
Nelson Smith Prince Edward County, Ont.
Watching Canada’s men’s hockey team has been a fantastic experience. On the other hand, put any two National Hockey League teams on the ice and there’s three periods of boredom broken up by the occasional fight. Switch the colours on the jerseys, it doesn’t change a thing.
I have been close to tears watching Connor McDavid and the rest of the guys play. They look like they’re enjoying playing as much as I’m enjoying watching.
Marianne Orr Brampton, Ont.
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com