Lisa LaFlamme holds her award for best news anchor at the Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto on March 1, 2015.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
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Pandemic persistence
Re To Address Our Country’s Health Care Crisis, Start By Containing COVID-19 (Aug. 16): To borrow from a well-known legal expression, prevention is nine-10ths of the law in health. There is much that should still be done to prevent a worsening of the impact this pandemic is having on health care.
The most frightening part of the authors’ message is that the minimization of ongoing threats is not a new political approach. It is in keeping with the lack of essential action over decades to address health care shortcomings. The problems we face today – in hospitals and emergency departments, primary care, long-term care, home care, mental health and addictions treatment – have been exacerbated by COVID-19. But they are as devastating as they are because of elected leaders’ failures to act in the present to prevent crises in the future.
Benjamin Franklin understood that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Centuries later, we should better understood what he meant.
Calvin Gutkin MD, Mississauga
Re mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Don’t Harm Pregnant Women, New Study Confirms (Aug. 12): If someone is asked to record events from the previous seven days and someone else asked to record events within the next seven, the first person is relying on memory and the second is being asked to keep a diary.
I find data obtained from an unvaccinated control group in this study questionable at best and certainly not comparable to data from the vaccinated group.
Patricia Spice Ottawa
What’s good
Re Globe Climate: Is The U.S. Climate Bill Great News For Canada? (Newsletter, Aug. 15): This American will repeat what more than a few Canadian friends have said to me over the years: “Any time you people manage to put down your guns and accomplish something of worth, it’s good for Canada.”
Mary Stanik Tucson, Ariz.
Care for caregivers
Re Minding Our Elders (Letters, Aug. 12): No one wants to put family members in long-term care, but caregivers at times have to save themselves. Often it’s the only answer.
An option not given enough publicity is day programs with overnight care. Sometimes a few nights of uninterrupted sleep will be enough to allow one to keep a loved one at home for a longer period of time.
Here, we now have Patty’s Place, an overnight respite added to home-care provider Acclaim Health’s day program. It’s 10 years too late for me, but had this been available, I would have been able to keep my husband at home and not resort to long-term care.
We need more of these facilities.
Elizabeth Thompson Oakville, Ont.
Viewer feedback
Re Lisa LaFlamme Ousted As CTV Anchor, Says She Was ‘Blindsided’ (Aug. 16): I was the first woman to read CBC’s The National on April 13, 1974. I weep for Lisa LaFlamme. I weep for myself (a little bit) and for all the women anchors in between and yet to come.
Jan Tennant West Vancouver
Outrage is a mild comment on a firing that appears to be based on age and gender discrimination. As has been pointed out, Lloyd Robertson was at CTV News until he was 77, so what other conclusion is possible given Lisa LaFlamme’s many awards, accolades and appointment to the Order of Canada?
If its credibility is to be restored, Bell Media should provide some plausible excuse beyond a “business decision.” Who can trust a news service that makes such an egregious decision? This cannot be business as usual.
Every woman in Canada, young or old, should be concerned over Ms. LaFlamme’s shabby treatment by a major corporation. Who will be next?
S.F.M. Cullum Ottawa
Lisa LaFlamme joins a large and growing community of accomplished Canadian female journalists who have gotten kicked around, by mostly male bosses, far too often for comfort. I’m afraid I know of what I speak.
Barbara Yaffe Vancouver
The departure of Lisa LaFlamme from CTV News will presumably improve the financial outlook for Bell Media since it was a “business decision.” I suspect many viewers will reconsider their choice of news program in light of the shoddy treatment of a veteran journalist.
Viewers’ choice of internet provider may also fall under the purview of a “business decision.”
Michael Cook London, Ont.
CTV’s decision to replace Lisa LaFlamme is a loss not only to the network’s viewers, but a loss to Canadian journalism and Canadian women as well.
In her Twitter post announcing her release, Ms. LaFlamme notes she is 58. Statistics Canada data show that, in 2021, there were approximately 7.7 million women aged 50 and over in Canada, and approximately 1.36 million aged 55 to 59.
Removing a well-known public figure in this large demographic from the national news, after more than a decade on the desk and 30-plus years into her career, lowers the visibility of older, experienced Canadian women in powerful journalism roles and results in a loss of their perspective in determining and delivering news.
We believe that, as one of Canada’s largest broadcasters, such a move deserves a better explanation from CTV than “changing viewer habits.” Right now, it smacks of discrimination against age and gender.
Patricia Leson President, National Council of Women of Canada; Ottawa
I spent my evenings with Lisa LaFlamme, finding out about the world outside my door, around the corner and across the wide ocean.
I watched as she put herself in danger while reporting on many conflicts around the world. I celebrated with her during good news days (which seem far and few between these days). I shall miss her, but am glad she was there to guide me through the many difficult moments we shared.
I wish her the best in her next adventure and hope it will be something that we can once again share together.
Kathleen Hanna Prince Edward Country, Ont.
Wise words
Re Author’s Stabbing Reminds Iranian-Canadians Of Iran’s Influence (Aug. 15): Salman Rushdie recently said “A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can’t defuse a bomb … but we are not helpless … we can sing the truth and name the liars … we must work to overturn the false narrative of tyrants.”
May he never lose his voice.
Grace Lallemand Port Colborne, Ont.
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com