Prime Minister Mark Carney sits beside Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand at the UN in September.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Industrial complex
Re “Anand heads to China as Carney attempts a rapprochement with Beijing” (Oct. 13): If not careful, Canada could lose both its automotive and agricultural industries.
I am hardly surprised that Wab Kinew would urge Ottawa to scrap tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for getting tariffs on Canadian agricultural products dropped. I am equally not surprised that Doug Ford would have the opposite view.
However, since the United States has made clear it intends to make all American cars domestically, the Canadian auto industry appears doomed. If this is the case, we have little incentive to protect our auto industry while continuing to suffer damage to the canola industry.
Perhaps there can be a deal where Chinese cars can be assembled in Canada. We already have plants and skilled tradespeople, and we may eventually have more EV battery plants.
Best to go with an industry that has some future rather than ride a dying one. Painful, but pragmatic.
Bryan McConachy West Vancouver
Lasting legacy
Re “Canadian Nobel Prize winner Peter Howitt on building the economy through ‘creative destruction’” (Oct. 14): Peter Howitt was raised in Guelph, Ont. He did his undergraduate work at McGill University and got a master’s at Western University before heading off to Northwestern University in the United States for doctoral studies. Starting in 1972, he spent 24 years as a faculty member in the department of economics at Western and is currently an honorary professor in our department.
Peter and his co-author Philippe Aghion have been honoured by the Nobel committee for their work on creative destruction, a phenomenon at the heart of economic growth. Their seminal contribution was a celebrated 1992 article in Econometrica, arguably the top academic journal in economics. Peter’s work on that article took place when he was at Western.
Jim Davies Professor emeritus, department of economics, Western University; London, Ont.
Reverse psychology
Re “Ontario will apply new limits on residency applications from international medical graduates” and “Improving access to psychologists shouldn’t mean dangerously lowering our standards” (Oct. 13): So let me get this straight: Ontario may be preventing the best and brightest international medical graduates from applying for the most desirable residencies with the seemingly irrelevant prerequisite that applicants attend an Ontario high school.
On the other hand, there does not seem to be any objection to the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario lowering its admission standards by reducing required training hours, dropping registration exams and permitting practitioners to be licensed after seeing only a handful of cases.
The only things these apparently contradictory approaches have in common is that neither seems to effectively increase access to quality health care, nor protect the public.
Lise Hendlisz Toronto
At root
Re “Toronto Police Association pushes tougher sentences for young offenders” (Oct. 13): Research has shown that “tough on crime” measures do not work well. Ontario’s 2008 McMurtry-Curling report makes clear that until we address the root causes of why youth commit violent acts, the problem will not be solved.
Sending a 17-year-old to adult jail may solve the immediate gratification of a sentence, but it would not “rehabilitate” them. Support programs for mental health, education, family and housing, just to name a few, are frequently given a thin budget.
Until we address root causes, we will again be wringing our hands and wondering what we can do to solve this problem. Yet the information is already available at politicians’ fingertips.
John Watters Ottawa
Young at heart
Re “Young Canadians’ happiness has nosedived. They’re coping by redefining a meaningful life” (Oct. 9): I find it unsettling to read that many young Canadians are unhappy, untethered and disillusioned, and are therefore susceptible to extremist groups offering simple answers. It is reported that this is largely due to economic insecurity, although worry about environmental degradation and the threat of Armageddon are also significant contributors.
Realistically there are no quick fixes to repair the damage that 50 years of Friedman economics has inflicted on our economy and environment. The challenge is further exacerbated by America’s economic nationalism and its move to reshore manufacturing. The path forward will be tough.
As Canada starts planning for change, it will be important to make the economic and psychological needs of young people a priority. If not, they will be left vulnerable to our very own “maple MAGA.”
In a worst-case scenario, our sovereignty could be lost.
Mary Burge Toronto
Lower ceiling
Re “Risk factor” (Letters, Oct. 14): With respect to covered calls, reduced volatility is one outcome, but it is not the reason this strategy underperforms the underlying assets.
A covered-call strategy forgoes uncertain upside from the underlying stocks in exchange for a regular stream of premium income from the options being written. This income stream reduces volatility but also caps upside.
In rising markets, underperformance of covered-call strategies is caused by the loss of upside from the underlying assets.
Jeremy Klein CFA, Ottawa
Small ball
Re “The CFL shouldn’t move the goalposts for Canada’s game” (Editorial, Oct. 6): While I find the many changes planned for our Canadian Football League game interesting, I question how they will make the game more entertaining.
Some would actually have the opposite effect. For example, making end zones smaller (15 yards versus 20 yards deep) would make it tougher to score touchdowns as defences would have less territory to defend.
Instead, the CFL should consider the simplest thing to do for more offence (and I might get hated for writing this): Use the National Football League-sized ball. It’s smaller, easier to catch and much easier to throw, especially on those cold game days late in the season.
More offence and thus more touchdowns. Now that’s the kind of entertainment fans would gladly attend games to see.
Peter Stenerson No. 23, Ottawa Rough Riders (1975-1982)
Happy to be here
Re “Blue Jays put too much, too soon on pitcher Yesavage” (Oct. 14): “A few of the few who remained for the whole thing booed the team off the field.”
People who boo the Blue Jays now must be bandwagoners who jump on the latest happenings without really knowing why they do so. Nobody at the start of the baseball season thought they would be watching Toronto baseball in October.
John Schneider, a recipient of some of the booing, is a strong contender for manager of the year. Games this late in the year should be appreciated regardless of outcome.
I imagine we will hear the same bandwagon booers next spring, when a certain Toronto hockey team probably wilts under the usual pressure of some fans’ unrealistic expectations.
Kevin Byrne Sarnia, Ont.
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