Katie Koopman, a co-lead for Save South Frontenac citizen-led advocacy group, holds a protest sign along the Cataraqui Trail where the tracks of the Toronto-Quebec City high-speed rail line could possibly go through.Kaja Tirrul/The Globe and Mail
Gut check
Re “We need to embrace the art of diplomacy, not the art of the deal” (Opinion, April 11): Contributor Michael Ignatieff might well have written this in 1920 or 1946.
The First and Second world wars birthed the idea of a diplomatic institution where the pressure of disagreements can be worked out between belligerents. First it was called the League of Nations and then the United Nations.
This bastion of diplomatic warfare kept the skies and streets clear of rubble, and most civilians safe from barbarism. It did intervene militarily in more than one action in Korea and Yugoslavia.
It aims to calm the fears of warfare for the enhancement of one belligerent. Other arrangements can be made. But in the meantime, wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and now Iran have taken place and the UN stands impotent.
War is the failure of diplomacy. History does not repeat itself, human nature does.
Peacemakers need diplomatic teeth to stop the gluttony.
Bruce Craig St. Stephen, N.B.
Oil well
Re “Canada is drifting toward petrostate politics, even in B.C.” (Opinion, April 11): There is a word associated with governments of petrostates and their close cousins banana republics. It is not one we are used to applying in Canada, but it is one with which we should come to terms.
Former BC NDP premier Glen Clark is on the board of Westshore Terminals, Canada’s busiest coal exporter. Former BC NDP premier John Horgan announced he was joining the board of coal company Elk Valley Resources the day after resigning from politics. David Eby became Premier after his would-be competition was reportedly culled by a BC NDP executive with oil and gas connections.
A strong argument can be made that the BC NDP has been captured and compromised by fossil fuel interests, but both words dance around another one beginning with C that is, I think, more fitting.
Ben Holt North Vancouver
I don’t think Canada is trending toward a petrostate – it already is a petrostate.
Who defeated the carbon tax? Who presses to increase fossil fuel production, never mind a reduction? Who focuses on the now and to hell with the next 10, 20 or 50 years? Canadians do that at the ballot box.
Does the Canadian petrostate subsidize the immensely profitable oil business because our socioeconomic programs are fully funded and there’s nowhere better for billions of dollars to go? No, it would be political suicide to oppose the oil industry. Oil money lobbies and votes very effectively.
Canadians get the sugar rush of oil profit, but then holler for the feds to save us when predictably fires occur, water runs out, it’s too hot to live or the economy collapses.
Economists will have their own definition of a petrostate, but the above meets mine.
Ronald Kelly Surrey, B.C.
Hold fast
Re “On Canada’s high-speed rail plan, the numbers just don’t add up” (Opinion, April 11): Columnist Andrew Coyne bemoans the proposed high-speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City, arguing it shouldn’t be built because it will be expensive.
But of course it will be expensive, anything worth building is. Take Japan’s bullet trains: The initial Tokyo-Osaka segment cost nearly double what was estimated. Double, what a scandal.
But who talks about that these days? We only hear people saying what a fantastic system it is.
Colin Stewart Montreal
The Tokaido line of the Shinkansen high-speed rail network in Japan is considered one of the most financially lucrative passenger rail lines in the world.
The TGV high-speed rail in France needs huge state subsidies, with billions of euros in debt, although it has also been a catalyst for regional development and economic growth.
Toronto-Quebec City high-speed rail, with an estimated cost of $60- to $90-billion, would take a long time before population density in the corridor is high enough to make it financially viable. The cost could be made as an investment for growth in the region.
To achieve that, there would have to be co-ordinated intergovernmental planning for directed population growth – and that is highly unlikely.
Reiner Jaakson Oakville, Ont.
I think the word “billion” should be banned.
When the average Canadian salary is under $60,000, the expected price tag for a high-speed rail line of ninety thousand million dollars sounds so much more ludicrous than $90-billion.
Tony Burt Vancouver
Even though the Toronto-Quebec City corridor has a population density similar to much of Europe, it represents only a geographical sliver of our big country. I think it is unfair to risk so much money on something that would benefit such a small proportion of Canada’s land mass.
I think regular train speeds are fast enough. The real problem is trips that should be, say, five hours end up taking hours more because of mechanical issues or freight trains taking precedence.
I would take the train from Toronto to Ottawa if it definitely took about 4.5 hours, give or take 10 minutes. I would love reliable, affordable service between cities in Western Canada, and maybe as far north as Yellowknife and Whitehorse.
Improving regular passenger rail service across the country could probably be done for less cost than one high-speed stretch, and do much more for nation-building.
Ed Janicki Victoria
Against hate
Re “After Oct. 7, hate-speech laws looked like the answer. Europe shows why they aren’t” (Opinion, April 11): I see little evidence that hate-speech laws have gone too far in Canada.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the objective of Canadian criminal hate provisions is aimed only at the most extreme forms of expression, those that expose people to “vilification and detestation.” It characterized such expression as involving “unusually strong and deep-felt emotions” that are “ardent and extreme.”
Bill C-9 does not expand this definition; it simply codifies what the court has already ruled. Furthermore, the bill makes clear that speech expressing “disdain or dislike” or which “discredits, humiliates, hurts, or offends” does not constitute hate speech.
The number of convictions are not the only way to measure the effectiveness of hate laws, despite legitimate concerns about their enforcement. By stating in law that certain forms of expression undermine Canada’s commitment to tolerance and equality, Parliament sends an important message of social solidarity to those targeted by hate.
Harvey Goldberg Senior policy advisor (retired), Canadian Human Rights Commission; Ottawa
No.
Re “Elbows up at the box office: How five new Canadian films are defying expectations” (Arts & Books, April 11): In your eight rules for succeeding in Canadian film, I think you left one out: Make a good film.
Tom Masters North Cowichan, B.C.
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