A demonstrator stands next to a banner with an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a rally demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 27.TYRONE SIU/Reuters
Why delay?
Re “Ottawa to delay again expansion of medically assisted death for patients with mental illnesses” (Jan. 30): When on Earth will health care authorities get a grip and realize that health care is health care, head to toe. People whose conditions are psychological in nature should have as much right to engage in end-of-life decision-making as people whose conditions are physical in nature.
Perhaps it would help if society could think about it like this: Depression and other mental illnesses are, in effect, kinds of psychological cancer. If everything aligns right, it might have potential to go into remission. But are some peoples’ conditions unable to improve despite treatment? Very right.
Mental illness shouldn’t reduce anyone to being treated as if they are children unable to make their own decisions. As it is, I can only pray no further stigmatizing delays will activate down the path.
Amy Soule Hamilton
Bill C-7, concerning medical assistance in dying, was an attempt to restore Charter rights to Canadians with psychiatric illness after they had been taken away by Bill C-14, which was struck down by the Quebec courts in 2019. Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms makes discrimination based on mental or physical disability illegal. How politicians danced around this issue astounds me.
Stigma against psychiatric patients appears alive and well. If we had to rely on politicians to pass assisted-dying legislation, we would likely have no MAID at all. More than 13,000 Canadians who chose MAID in 2022 would still be suffering.
Our politicians seem, at best, reluctantly responsive to direction from the courts. This decision will force patients once again to seek justice and mercy from the courts.
Derryck Smith Clinical professor emeritus, psychiatry, University of British Columbia; Vancouver
Lessons to learn
Re “By opening up the archives, Canada can finally address its past with Nazi war criminals” (Opinion, Jan. 27) and “Why now?” (Letters, Jan. 30): A letter-writer asks, “Why, 37 years later, is anyone interested in regurgitating this story?” I hope that releasing the confidential Part II of the Deschênes Commission report will tell Canadians that some ordinary people did horrible things, came to Canada to live with us – and we still don’t know the full story.
One of the accused lived next door to my grandparents in Quebec in the 1960s. They didn’t know the story then, and we still don’t today.
But this is not just about Nazi war criminals of the past. Releasing the report may help Canadians better understand that we are not immune to the wars happening around the world with increasing frequency and intensity.
Canadians may soon become directly involved, and we are not ready.
Stuart Brindley Hamilton
Naturally
Re “The power of fossil fuel is enough to turn any progressive politician into a hypocrite” (Jan. 29): If there is worldwide demand for a product, reducing production in Canada will likely not reduce consumption to any great degree or increase prices.
Production of liquefied natural gas to feed power plants would reduce pollution in foreign countries that rely on “dirty” coal. Building a pipeline to send Alberta crude to the East Coast would reduce the need to import oil from questionable regimes. Provide tax dollars to pay for incentives to decarbonize, and perhaps reduce Western animosity toward Quebec.
Hypocrite? I think not.
Richard Austin Toronto
Re “Why did an Ontario minister overrule an independent energy regulator?” (Report on Business, Jan. 29): The Ontario Energy Board is an independent body, and we support that independence. However, the OEB has an obligation to regulate in a manner consistent with government policy.
The OEB’s recent decision contradicts the government’s direction that “access to … natural gas in an affordable manner remains central to decision-making.” Instead the decision adds thousands of dollars to the cost of building a new home, when affordability and housing are at the forefront of public concerns, and risks access to natural gas for Ontario’s small businesses.
We are challenging the decision through the legal tools available to us; one commissioner strongly dissented on this ruling. This decision puts reliable access to natural gas at risk.
We find no evidence to suggest that electricity can replace the energy demand of existing users and those relying on future access to heat their homes, fuel their businesses or reduce their emissions.
Malini Giridhar Vice-president, business development and regulatory, Enbridge Gas; Toronto
Next steps
Re “B.C.’s decriminalization trial faces increasing challenges after first year” (Jan. 27): BC United MLA Elenore Sturko has defined the problem but, I believe, came to the wrong conclusion. A holistic solution is indeed required, but throwing the baby out with the bathwater is not it.
Easy access to safe consumption sites should be a first and essential step. Next should be free access to safe non-illicit drugs. Then we can seek to provide remediation and finally address the societal causes which lead to addiction.
The first two steps should be simple and relatively inexpensive, alleviating the twin problems of public consumption and the market for illicit drugs. Crime associated with procurement would diminish, freeing police resources to focus on other aspects of social well-being, or fund alternative resources for steps three and four.
Len Ashby Toronto
Political thought
Re “All things equal” and “Canadian position” (Letters, Jan. 30): A letter-writer admiringly notes that political scientist Peter Russell was “a staunch supporter of proportional representation,” while another writer laments that “only 15 per cent of Israelis support Benjamin Netanyahu,” who was elected in a proportional system.
British physicist David Deutsch, in his wide-ranging 2011 book The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World, compared plurality (such as first-past-the-post) and proportional voting systems. He conceded that proportional systems produce legislatures more representative of the electorate, but concluded that is “insignificant in comparison with the greater effectiveness of plurality voting at removing bad governments and policies.”
If he were writing that book today, I have no doubt Mr. Netanyahu would be Exhibit A in support of this argument.
John Bachmann Mississauga
I read one of Peter Russell’s books, Canada’s Odyssey: A Country Based on Incomplete Conquests from 2017, and critiqued it for a publisher. The book was exceptionally readable and chock-full of compelling details and reasoned thinking.
Mr. Russell’s death means the loss of enlightened thought from a lauded constitutional and judicial expert to decades of politicians. He’ll rightly be remembered for what he was: A passionate Canadian with a unique knowledge of the country.
Mel Simoneau Gatineau, Que.
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