Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with MP for Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong Marilyn Gladu in Ottawa on Wednesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Altogether now
Re “Iran won. Almost everyone else lost” (Report on Business, April 10): The temporary ceasefire is a welcome pause in a dangerous escalation, but it is not a peace agreement. I believe the Middle East has entered a new era, one where no single country has the trust or leverage to impose stability.
For any lasting agreement, regional partners should be at the table. Europe and China should play expanded roles.
Europe has experience negotiating with Iran and can help build the legal and economic framework for a long‑term deal. China has influence in Tehran. The United States may resist the idea of China taking a lead role, but it benefits when Beijing has a vested interest in keeping the region stable. And Israel’s concerns cannot be ignored.
The Middle East does not need a single power broker, but rather a coalition of stakeholders who each have something to lose if the region slides back into conflict.
Kapil Raval Richmond Hill, Ont.
Other side
Re “Besides winning, what does a Liberal Party that will accept Marilyn Gladu actually stand for?” (Opinion, April 11): In describing the floor crossing of Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu to the Liberals, the words which come to mind are: odious and putrid, among others.
In recent years, including during her run for the Conservative leadership, she expressed many offensive opinions which I found un-Canadian, to say the least.
My only hope is she can be returned to sender after the by-elections.
Mike Matthews London, Ont.
I e-mailed my MP Marilyn Gladu to congratulate her on crossing the floor.
Like many in Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong, I expected criticism. The riding is historically Conservative and Ms. Gladu has made past statements that make this move surprising. What I did not expect was the level of personal, often vile attacks.
As a Liberal, I disagree with many of Ms. Gladu’s positions. That has never stopped me from recognizing her dedication to this community. In her statement to constituents, she said she heard a clear call for serious leadership and a real plan to build a stronger, more independent economy.
Ms. Gladu’s decision may feel odd to some, but she is hardly the only MP weighing such a step in these uncertain times. We don’t need the nastiness that has greeted someone choosing to put her constituents and country first.
Ms. Gladu’s courage should be met with respect, not contempt.
Rodney Beatty Sarnia, Ont.
When Canadians go to the ballot box, are they voting for the individual or the party?
Marilyn Gladu’s decision to cross the floor has drawn both praise and criticism. While this move understandably frustrates voters across the spectrum, it points to a deeper issue within Canada’s political system: party discipline.
Often forgotten are the consequences MPs face for breaking from party lines, such as losing committee roles or even being removed from caucus. In practice, this pressures representatives to support their party at the expense of independent judgment.
In other democracies, politicians have greater freedom to vote across party lines. In Canada, rigid party discipline leaves little room for dissent.
In this environment, floor crossing becomes less an act of opportunism and more a struggle to accommodate disagreements within parties.
Mason Doornaert Windsor, Ont.
Be mindful
Re “The madness of King Don” (Editorial Cartoon, April 8): I find this cartoon reinforces a harmful and outdated link between mental illness and dangerousness. It raises an uncomfortable question: Who, in this picture, truly required restraint?
Over more than 20 years working alongside people living with mental illness, my patients have taught me that progress comes from listening rather than shouting, cultivating emotional literacy rather than reacting impulsively and choosing empathy over the simplistic notion of “winning.”
Otherwise, we risk the comforting, but false, belief that we, as a society, bear no responsibility for the chaos we now face.
Marc Vautour Chief of psychiatry, Centre hospitalier universitaire Dr-Georges-L.-Dumont; Moncton
Lesson plan
Re “Grades are failing first-year students. Let’s scrap them” (April 6): Many, if not most, graduate programs I am aware of already discount first-year grades.
Instead, selection committees look for positive trends and strong finishes over four years. Less-than-stellar first-year grades are an acceptable part of that trend; in fact, they demonstrate that learning has taken place. If anything, it is the practice of not providing grades that trains students to “avoid uncertainty.”
The first-year experience is challenging for many students. But it also provides a signal for those who have not been challenged in high school. How long into an education are some prepared to delay information about where students stand relative to their peers?
If medical schools can avoid grading and offer pass/fail courses, it is because others have done the assessing before students even get there. That is the job of standardized tests such as the MCAT – or rigorous undergraduate programs that provide objective assessments of student performance.
Ian Spears Toronto
If progress to the second year of university is to be based on a simple pass/fail methodology, does that mean performance on each assignment and in each course is to be evaluated similarly?
In other words, are great essays worth nothing more than mediocre essays? Where’s the motivation for studiousness?
I attended a Scottish university where admission to the third-year honours program in economics was contingent on meeting credit and grade thresholds in the first two years. we were expected to hit the ground running.
The cynic in me might suggest that universities advocating for pass/fail methodology are the same ones failing to address deadwood problems in the performance management of their own staffs.
Rory McAlpine Victoria
I could not agree more that grading students from the moment they step into a postsecondary institution trains them to “avoid risk and … narrows the very idea of a university education.”
Having taught at Canadian universities and colleges over the past three decades, I have seen time and again how the current setup stifles learning, personal growth and enthusiasm among students.
On a personal note, I graduated from the University of Birmingham in the 1980s with a degree in history. None of the work I completed in first year went toward my final grade, which gave me the freedom to read, learn, write and, yes, make mistakes.
Our present grade-driven system denies first-year students that opportunity.
David Bright Professor, history, Niagara College; St. Catharines, Ont.
Move it
Re “The real reason strength training helps reduce pain and rehab injuries” (April 6): Researchers at Bond University in Australia studied what many of us have known for ages: Movement is medicine.
Alex Fallon Saskatoon
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