Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Jan. 20.Markus Schreiber/The Associated Press
The PM’s speech
Re “How must the world stand up to Donald Trump?” (Opinion, Jan. 24): Columnist Andrew Coyne ably amplifies Prime Minister Mark Carney’s messages from his historic Davos speech: Everything has changed. Canada – and the world – must respond with all the ingenuity and strength we can muster. Mr. Carney is doing his part as well as, or better than, any other national leader. Indeed, he is emerging as a leader of leaders on the international stage.
But what are ordinary citizens to do? Mr. Coyne writes of citizen “sacrifice.” I believe he is right. Things are likely to get worse before they get better and there will be significant costs. Jobs will be lost, prices will rise, investment values will fall. Are we ready?
Donald Hall Ottawa
The prime minister’s speech at Davos was well timed and bang on. It is time to take down the signs.
Have the business community, the federal civil service and the provinces got the message? It’s brutally simple: become more efficient, more effective and diversify our export markets at lightning speed. A war footing in every boardroom across the nation is required to pull this off.
We either transform ourselves or face our country’s possible extinction.
Ritchie Leslie Vernon, B.C.
I, for one, am very relieved and grateful for what our Prime Minister had the courage to do – both for our country and the world – in delivering his remarks in Davos. It made me proud to be Canadian and left me feeling that, come what may, we are in good hands. Given where we are sitting, we don’t need our national newspaper to denigrate what is being praised the world over as the speech of the century delivered by a true and courageous leader. Now is not the time.
Shirley Phillips Toronto
Re “The Hard Truths Mark Carney Left Unsaid in Davos,” (Opinion, Jan. 24) Konrad Yakabuski takes Mark Carney to task for quoting Vaclav Havel in his speech at Davos, but it seems to me that the Havel quote is right on point. The Canadian government currently stands between a rock and a hard place and has hard choices to make. There will be costs. It’s high time we “take the signs out of the windows” and make it clear that we don’t submit to an untrustworthy, anti-democratic foreign government, be it Chinese or American.
Carol Soloman Toronto
Rights and wrongs
Re “The Liberals’ unacceptable Charter breach” (Editorial, Jan. 24): I strongly disagree with this editorial criticizing the Trudeau Liberals’ use of the Emergencies Act in 2022. In my mind, it was totally necessary and desirable.
My complaint regarding former prime minister Justin Trudeau is that he was too hesitant to defend the Canadian government. He was far too apologetic in defending public order. A country that cannot defend itself from disorder doesn’t deserve to exist.
These people were clearly anti-social elements and a great danger to public health and well-being.
I am very afraid of the next pandemic because our government will be too afraid to invoke the Emergencies Act.
There can be no freedom without order.
David Pearce Victoria
Our friends to the south
Re “God Bless Americans” (Letters, Jan. 29): It was certainly heartwarming to read letters from American citizens who care for Canadians. Unfortunately, I remain struck by all those polls showing that 35 per cent to 40 per cent of Americans approve of Donald Trump. Those polls indicate that still a large proportion of Americans agree with Mr. Trump’s politics, policies and the insulting rhetoric directed at other countries, including Canada, and their leaders. Whatever the results of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections and the disappearance of Mr. Trump after the 2028 presidential elections, it will take me a long time to regain confidence in America, let alone travel to the U.S. to visit our friends there. We very much miss them.
Luc Lachapelle Hudson, Que.
Australia’s example
Re “What Toronto can learn about transit, museums and parks from Melbourne” (Jan. 24): Marcus Gee’s comparison between Melbourne to Toronto was quite good, but it omitted two of Melbourne’s major advantages over Toronto. The first is that Melbourne’s weather is much better. It hasn’t snowed significantly in Melbourne since 1986, as average winter temperatures are typically well above freezing. Consequently, its public transit builders don’t have to worry about dealing with a major dump of snow.
A second advantage Melbourne has is that it annually hosts the Australian Open tennis tournament. This brings half a billion dollars into Melbourne annually. Toronto’s Rogers Cup is lower ranked and less lucrative than Melbourne’s tournament.
Brian Strader Oakville, Ont.
It is great to see Marcus Gee’s enthusiastic comparison of Melbourne and Toronto.
As a resident of Toronto who has twice been to Melbourne, I can attest to the impressive culture, commerce and beauty of Melbourne. Toronto would indeed do well to see Melbourne as a model for development in many respects.
Also, a comparison of Ottawa with Australia’s wonderful capital, Canberra, might lead to some enhancement of Ottawa.
Allan Q. Shipley Toronto
Trash talk
Re “The power of putting a price on trash” (Editorial, Jan. 23): Ontario’s current Progressive Conservative government will not put a price on trash because they would erroneously see that as a tax. The government does not believe in the economic notion of user pay, as evidenced by their eliminating licence fees for cars, road tolls on highways, and camera-driven financial penalties for speeding. Their aversion to higher fees includes college and university tuition fees, frozen for several years to the detriment of the higher-education sector.
The only thing “progressive” about Ontario’s provincial government is the continual backsliding on the environment which is getting progressively worse.
John F. Campbell, former Toronto City Councillor (2014-2018)
The reason only 46 per cent of non-refillable containers are recycled is that so many people are too lazy to follow recycling protocols properly. Where I live, every household is provided with two blue boxes and a green bin plus detailed instructions on how to sort recyclables.
When I’m out walking my dog on pick-up day, it is astounding to see that only a fraction of recyclables are sorted properly. Many homeowners just jumble everything into plastic bags then leave these on the curb, like they expect waste management workers to do the sorting for them. Alas, laziness seems to trump recycling in many households.
Nancy Hill Hamilton
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