A U.S. F-35 fighter jet performs during the Dubai Air Show in November, 2025.Fatima Shbair/The Associated Press
In practice
Re “Leadership review” (Letters, Feb. 4): Your letters have been rife with discussions of Mark Carney’s Davos speech and, specifically, whether it was strategically positive or negative.
As a long-term scholar of argumentation theory, I assert that what he did was brilliant. He asserted Canada’s BATNA, that is, our best alternative to a negotiated agreement as introduced by Roger Fisher and William Ury in their classic 1981 work Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.
What Mr. Carney said was, if they don’t want to negotiate, then don’t. Our BATNA is that we are willing to go forward without the United States, and especially without Donald Trump.
There is no threat if you refuse to perceive it.
Michael Gilbert Author, Arguing With People; Toronto
Lift off
Re “Trump and Ottawa’s take on TACO will determine Canada’s fighter-jet strategy” (Report on Business, Jan. 31): The F-35 is a hanger darling and Canada deserves a fleet of aircraft that are flyable most of the time. That said, Canada should consider buying sufficient F-35s to meet NORAD needs.
In doing so, the Canadian government should require the U.S. government to pass legislation requiring that software updates and parts supplies be made available to Canada on an as-required basis. That is, Canada needs to Trump-proof the contract.
Bob Halliday Saskatoon
Why would any country apparently in the direct “gunsight” of an unstable world leader move ahead on a $28-billion purchase, which balloons to an estimated $74-billion during the expected 45-year lifespan of the project?
The Trump government has lost major credibility and stature as a dependable partner and ally. The United States could effectively “disarm” the F-35 at any time by withholding critical software upgrades, among other measures.
If Canada chooses a more stable and strategically aligned partner such as Sweden’s Saab, it would not only create 12,600 new jobs but also attract other investment and talent. It would help propel Mark Carney’s vision as we pursue military sovereignty and finally rebuild a much-needed defence aerospace industry.
Does the Prime Minister have “the courage to put the Gripen play in motion?” Based on his Davos speech, consider the near mythical words of his predecessor’s celebrated father: “Just watch me.”
Jeffrey Peckitt Oakville, Ont.
Down under
Re “Trump’s war on migrants has echoes of Australia’s past” (Jan. 31): One fundamental difference: 18th-century Britain transported people of a native-born “criminal class,” whereas Donald Trump’s 21st-century efforts to deport undocumented immigrants are driven by a racist desire to deny the American Dream to “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
The British policy never worked. America, much like 18th-century Britain, needs the grit, determination and hard work of the people it is seeking to deport. Alas, 18th-century Australia’s gain will be 21st-century America’s loss.
Sven Linkruus Ottawa
Land grants in Australia were made to convicts who finished their sentences there. Yes, convict settlement in this arid land wasn’t fun for those involved – the prisoners or their handlers – but it surprisingly offered a second chance to those who survived and, despite it all, sowed the seeds for that “stubbornly democratic nation: Australia.”
I find it unlikely ICE’s program and its outcome will serve as a comparison.
Carol Smith Victoria
Door-to-door
Re “As a family doctor, the nearly extinct house call is still a meaningful part of my job” (Opinion, Jan. 31): While in surgical residency many years ago, on off-call weekends I would cover house calls for an overworked doctor I knew.
Carrying my black bag, I visited a middle-aged male suffering severe flank pain from “yet another kidney stone,” showing me a blood-stained urine sample. I was eager to help and relieved his pain with a shot of narcotic.
Six hours later he called again, moaning in pain. I came quickly, provided another shot of narcotic and urged him to go to emergency.
When he called a third time for narcotic pain relief, I began to get the picture: I was being manipulated by an addict. Apparently it was an old trick to prick a finger and add a drop of blood to a urine sample.
Needless to say, I decided to leave house calls to those wiser and more experienced. But I did miss carrying that black bag.
Bernard Goldman CM; emeritus professor of surgery (cardiac), University of Toronto
My mother, in her waning years, suffered from crippling depression and later a progressive dementia until death. Visits to geriatric psychiatry at Sunnybrook in Toronto were excruciating to go, sit and wait along a hallway, always feeling on display.
She got through her last years because of her geriatric psychiatrist’s house calls. He visited at her retirement home and, later, when she lived with her grandson’s family and a caregiver. He judged that seeing her at home was best for this difficult case and fit it into his schedule.
I never checked the provincial fee schedule to verify what is listed for a home visit. I don’t believe it happened for its value.
Allan Fox O.Ont; neuroradiologist (retired), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Toronto
My dad was a general practitioner in Montreal in the 1940s and 1950s. House calls were part of everyday life.
I vividly remember returning home one morning, after completing my Montreal Gazette paper route, just to see my dad returning home at the same time. He had been out three times during the night.
Now he was showering, then having his breakfast and going to the office. This sort of night was not unusual.
After my dad dropped dead of a heart attack at age 54 in 1959, his executor was tasked with sending out unpaid bills. Most came back with a cheque and note indicating the patient never received a bill in the first place.
This was not uncommon for family doctors at the time. The only patients who did not pay were deceased.
Different times, different people, different approaches.
Basil Cuddihy Calgary
Going boffo
Re “Melania-Root Canals” (Editorial Cartoon, Feb. 2): The cartoon showing the public flocking to a root canal clinic, rather than watching the Melania Trump documentary, is a classic example of substituting what one wishes would happen with what actually did.
Melania exceeded even the rosiest hopes of its backers after opening weekend, finishing third at the U.S. box office ahead of, among others, Zootopia 2. At last check, critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website gave it a paltry 5-per-cent positive rating, while public viewers rated it an astounding 99-per-cent positive.
You may not like it, but there you are.
Claire Hoy Toronto
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