People walk by the steam clock in Gastown in downtown Vancouver in 2019.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
Pay it forward?
Re “Across the political spectrum, ageist provincial budgets fail the young” (Report on Business, March 7): I am left to wonder whether columnist Paul Kershaw is advocating that, because I am old, my health care should be scaled back regardless of its supposed universality or any contributions I may have made.
I have paid taxes for 59 years. Now retired, my Old Age Security has been clawed back; my Canada Pension Plan, any other pension income, investments and mandatory withdrawals from registered retired accounts are all taxed. Does this not indicate that myself and other older persons have been funding the system?
Granted, we need more care. But when we were younger and healthier, we needed less care and I could argue we were overfunding the system then.
Where is the balance and social justice in such thinking?
Chris Tworek Calgary
As a childless (child-free!) senior, count me among the people persuaded that the country is doing a supreme injustice to our younger generations by giving more benefits to seniors than to younger people.
If we seniors are more actively engaged and more likely to vote, then it’s up to us to let our politicians know that we want our younger generations to receive what they need and deserve, even if it means we pay higher taxes and receive fewer benefits. I agree with suggestions that the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors in poverty be increased, and Old Age Security payments be clawed back from those whose household income exceeds $100,000 annually.
The old adage that seniors worked to “build this country” and now deserve tax breaks and benefits should be discarded. Let’s build on a new principle that society must support those who will not only support us in our old age (through taxes, if nothing else), but also inherit the Earth we will pass to them, in whatever condition we pass it.
Maxine Glover Vernon, B.C.
Family first
Re “In Canada’s major cities, fertility rates are in steep decline. What happened?” (March 7): My son and his wife are expecting their fifth child. They live in Vancouver and both are professionals in engineering and postsecondary education.
When people (not all, to be fair) stop rolling their eyes and gasp for breath in response to hearing about yet another child for this family, we can reverse the sad trend in fertility rates. At the core of the matter is a change in a societal attitude, specifically regarding children as blessings and taking pride in helping them achieve their potential, rather than viewing them as burdens and obstacles to personal fulfillment and desired lifestyles.
Larissa Lange New Westminster, B.C.
En français
Re “The French lesson that Canada needs” (Editorial, March 7): I struggled with French in primary and secondary school, but then excelled in it at university. Even still, I quickly lost it.
Why? Because living in Western Canada, it feels like an irrelevant language. Other than the bizarre situation of being greeted first with bonjour at the airport or a federal government building, I rarely hear French on the streets.
I hear far more Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, etc. However much the federal government may want it to be otherwise, French is simply not a useful daily language in the West and no amount of wishing otherwise – or money – is likely to change it.
The real problem I see is the reverse: The federal government’s existing bilingualism requirements effectively discriminate against Western Canadians for senior roles in the bureaucracy, candidacy for judges in certain courts and so forth. That is what should change.
Michael Welters New Westminster, B.C.
In high school in the 1960s, my French teacher was Scottish. Imagine my surprise when I enrolled at the University of Ottawa, a functionally and beautifully bilingual institution, and tried to communicate in a world of Ottawa Valley French, a language foreign to my ear.
It’s one thing to recommend we all be conversant in French; but in most parts of this country, the French being spoken is the old French that travelled to Canada more than 400 years ago. Teach that.
M.C.H. Burgess Cobourg, Ont.
I am an allophone who was born in Asia, grew up in Toronto and lived several years in Montreal. But I am part of the 9.5 per cent of English Canada who is bilingual.
I learned French later in life through adult immersion programs and weekend language classes. Prioritizing immigrants with an affinity to learn, especially among successive generations, can be more impactful than simply seeking those with francophone roots.
Most of my peers from Toronto who were either in French immersion programs or studied it through university, but have not actually lived in French-speaking environments, are not fluent or have lost functional usage since leaving school. We should provide more opportunities for English-speaking Canadians to live in French communities.
Language is a two-way relationship. I would have learned quicker if people did not default to speaking English with me, assuming I do not speak French because of my face.
Kai Chan Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Next act
Re “We need to talk about Kevin: How O’Leary went from TV supervillain to Hollywood’s Oscars darling” (Arts & Books, March 7): Kevin O’Leary has spent the past few years opining on American politics and economic matters on a variety of U.S. news platforms including CNN.
He goes out of his way to avoid referring to himself as Canadian and instead uses words like “we” and “our,” referring to Americans and their country. Occasionally, he will throw out a word like “potash” as a way of hinting about his roots.
Mr. O’Leary’s image seems of utmost importance to him, shamelessly crafted with weird shirt collars and the moniker “Mr. Wonderful.”
As for his next goal in show business of being the next bad guy in a James Bond movie, I say to him: Be himself. He’s got this!
James McCarney Oakville, Ont.
One time
Re “Dark days are ahead for B.C. – literally" (Opinion, March 7): Canadians want to stop changing the time twice a year. Most experts agree that permanent standard time is the best option.
In the spirit of interprovincial co-operation, let’s all get together and make next fall’s change back to standard time permanent in all provinces and territories. Then we would have co-ordinated time zones again across Canada. We would be happier, healthier and safer.
It wouldn’t matter what U.S. states do. If Ottawa has to get involved, so be it.
Janet Vickers Wilson Mississauga
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