Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson answers a question as Canada's premiers hold a press conference following a meeting on health care in Ottawa on Feb. 7.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Long view
Re “What the Emergencies Act inquiry report got right – and wrong” (Feb. 20): I was astonished that Justice Paul Rouleau’s report ran to more than 2,000 pages.
Contrast this with the Warren Commission report on the assassination of John F. Kennedy at about 900 pages and the 9/11 Commission report at about 600 pages. Both of these tragedies sent shockwaves throughout the world, yet their investigations required fewer than half the number of pages of the Rouleau report.
Perhaps policy wonks are interested in its legalese and hair-splitting arguments; I’d rather read a thriller.
Jacob Mendlovic Toronto
Justice Paul Rouleau writes that “one of the topics discussed was the authority of the police to create a large exclusion zone in downtown Ottawa in order to keep protesters from arriving. While at least some police officials believed that they had such an authority at common law, it is fair to say that the full extent of that authority was uncertain.”
About half a year earlier at Fairy Creek in British Columbia, the RCMP had no uncertainty about establishing an exclusion zone enforced with mandatory bag inspections at checkpoints. If it was legal on a B.C. logging road, why not in downtown Ottawa?
Brian Smallshaw Salt Spring Island, B.C.
Headline news
Re “The Ottawa school for ethics dunces” (Editorial, Feb. 17): Somewhere north of 20 years ago, I was part of a negotiating team of pediatricians between London, Ont., and Hamilton trying to secure an alternate funding plan for our two programs. Our lead negotiator was a seasoned and wise physician who always counselled careful reflection.
Part of his advice was always: How would this look in the headlines of The Globe and Mail? It does not take a course in ethics to tell people what is right or wrong. If they don’t know, then that is a problem and not isolated to the Liberals.
If they don’t want to ask the question, then it is likely they don’t want the answer. This should be about the moral character of individuals, not ethics training.
We should better screen our political candidates.
Paul Atkison London, Ont.
Pay up
Re “Canada’s vanishing health care crisis” (Editorial, Feb. 18): I was born in Alberta and live in Alberta. My province has it easier than others, especially when we have the choice of establishing a sales tax.
Alberta should make this overdue decision and readily afford necessary health care costs. The sales tax magnitude should match the lowest of our neighbouring provinces.
We should be grateful we are Canadians and willing to share the challenging cost of modern health care.
Allan Warrack Professor emeritus of business, University of Alberta Edmonton
Give and take
Re “The jig may soon be up on Washington’s spending spree” (Feb. 18): I am 71 years old. I worked in the United States for 13 years and in Canada for 20 years (and five years elsewhere). I paid into U.S. Social Security and the Canada Pension Plan at the maximum rates.
Realizing that the U.S. system was broke, I took that pension early at 62 for a reduced amount. For this I now receive $1,981 (Canadian) per month.
I waited until age 70 to take CPP and received a bonus. It now pays $1,010 per month.
CPP is funded by billions in investments and has enough money to pay retired Canadians into the future. The U.S. system is generous, given the low level of Social Security taxes. There is plenty of room to increase premiums.
I thank Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien for having the political guts to rescue the CPP scheme in 1997 and provide its current strong financial footing.
Tony Woodruff Burnaby, B.C.
On the road again
Re “Toronto man with broken back describes travel insurance nightmare: ‘Your 1-800 line never picks up’ ” (Report on Business, Feb. 22): Thank you for exposing the customer engagement at Allianz Global Assistance.
I have been waiting since April, 2022, for a decision on a claim. I have long since given up calling the contact phone number, since it seems never answered.
I do continue to send e-mails asking for updates, but do not receive a reply.
Gerald Hunt Toronto
Re “After the holiday chaos, Via Rail has melted down again – sadly this will continue” (Report on Business, Feb. 17): I use Via Rail because it is reliable and reasonably priced with superb service, especially the meals offered in business class.
At Christmas, I travelled to Guelph, Ont., when service was interrupted for three days or so. I was able to rebook my return travel easily and with excellent customer care. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, however, deemed the matter “unacceptable.”
Should I ever worry about my bags being lost, I have but to walk up to the front of the car and look. In the winter, I am able to sip a martini and watch unfortunate drivers slip into ditches from ice-covered highways.
Thank goodness for Air Canada. While I find the airline doesn’t do the good work that Via does, charging sometimes three to four times more for much less service and sending one’s bags to faraway countries does teach humility.
Paul O’Leary Ottawa
In park
Re “We must urgently reinvent public transit for the post-pandemic world” (Opinion, Feb. 18): Contributor Andy Byford writes that public transit agencies need “a mix of funding sources.” I would argue that should include a levy on commercial parking lots.
This could be implemented relatively quickly and provide considerable revenue. In Toronto, for example, it could be in place within 18 months and net between $191-million and $575-million annually, according to the city’s CFO. Even if lots run by small businesses were exempt, the new dollars available for transit would be in the millions.
Municipalities that don’t already have this levy would need to design one that’s right for local conditions. But the principle is sound: Let’s embrace a revenue tool that gives people one less reason to drive and one more to take the bus.
Gideon Forman Climate change and transportation policy analyst, David Suzuki Foundation Toronto
Cheating heart
Re “Hired exam takers, blackmail and the rise of contract cheating at Canadian universities” (Feb. 17): When I was a biology student at Carleton University back in the 1970s, the fruit flies in my genetics experiment either died or didn’t mutate according to expectations.
I reported this result and then predicted what was expected to happen if the screwup hadn’t occurred. I was given a failing grade.
I know that everyone else shared notes and faked their results, because I was there when they did so. They presumably moved on in class. I dropped out of biology and also from university (although I eventually returned).
In my case, there was no reward for honesty. Today I would have approached the professor and complained; my grade was probably a teaching assistant’s idea of tough love.
To succeed, academia should attend to integrity and not only punishment for cheating. These days, the polarized climate is making that even more difficult.
Robin Collins Ottawa
As a neophyte physics teacher in the late 1980s, I had my Grade 13 students write an essay on a topic of their choice as part of their final assessment.
Two students, neither of whom could put together a moderately complex sentence, presented me with a co-authored 50-page essay entitled “Inter Galactic Spirals.” When I questioned them, they said they had help from a cousin who was taking physics at university, but they could nonetheless answer some of the technical questions about the topic.
Being new to this career and very busy at year-end, I accepted their explanation. It was not until later that I learned about essay-writing services and eventually websites such as turnitin.com. The penny dropped.
Dealing with cheating will always be a battle, and I am sure that educators will continue developing instruments to combat it.
I hope that at least one of the students reads this.
Ted Parkinson Toronto
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