Noah Berger/The Associated Press
Gone sour
Re “The U.S. dairy industry wants more access to the Canadian market. Here’s why, explained in five charts” (Report on Business, June 29): The United States really wants open access to Canada’s retail milk market.
No surprise when U.S. factory farms are producing way over their own market needs. Corporate bosses seem desperate for an easy place to dump product.
In such a scenario, major U.S.-headquartered retailers such as Costco and Walmart will likely be told to buy American, or face consequences at home. Prices likely won’t go down for Canadian consumers, but the wedge will be in place to start dismantling one more Canadian industry.
Hard to argue for less competition but I, for one, like seeing cows in our fields.
Ross Peacock Dysart et al, Ont.
I don’t want cheap American milk products.
I would rather pay more for my milk products to support a well-regulated supply management system and decent livings for our dairy farmers. The family dairy farm is part of the fabric of rural Canada, as opposed to the industrial-sized farms that exist in the United States.
Spill that American milk elsewhere.
Gary Johnson Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ont.
There can often be bovine growth hormone in U.S. dairy. Canadian food safety standards are different, with good reason.
I’m not opposed to milk imports, but the United States really doesn’t appear to be addressing this issue.
Brian Lowry Fredericton
Let the United States send dairy product. I don’t think any of us will buy it.
In short order, the U.S. would stop whinging about access to our dairy markets.
Mark Knudsen Mississauga
Small price
Re “Finally, someone makes a decision about 24 Sussex” (June 27): 24 Sussex has, in the main, become a national symbol for political pusillanimity. But it’s good to know the feeling crosses the aisle and is endemic among all federal politicians.
These are the same folks who kept the prime minister’s aging aircraft so long that it had to have ashtrays removed. And now to crowdfund for the rehabilitation of 24 Sussex? I’ve already contributed: It’s called taxes.
I’d happily see my taxes go to a redesigned, modern prime minister’s residence. And as for Andrew Scheer’s whinging: How about Stornoway? Is Pierre Poilievre enjoying it?
Doug Baker Gibsons, B.C.
The $37-million upper estimate for a national symbol is little more than a rounding error for the federal budget. To give perspective, ArriveCAN has been estimated to cost $59.5-million.
A jamboree of committees to make final decisions in 2027 seems excessive. Unless a museum is planned, donations from private donors to help pay the repair bill are a strange precedent.
Just fix it.
Neil Rau Toronto
On MAID
Re “MAID access for patients with mental illness will be a government decision, Carney says” (June 27): I have been a medical assistance in dying provider and assessor for nearly 10 years.
To qualify, patients must have a grievous, irreversible disease, illness or disability causing intolerable suffering. They are not choosing death over a better life; they are ending suffering that can no longer be relieved.
The legal eligibility criteria are safeguards that protect vulnerable people while respecting the autonomy of those who meet them. They are applied through careful evaluation, independent review, detailed documentation and regulatory scrutiny. I strongly support robust oversight; transparency and continuous review help sustain public trust.
MAID is not an “on-demand service.” Oversight should be strengthened where needed, but isolated stories are not evidence that safeguards themselves are failing.
If Canadians could witness the suffering that leads some patients to request MAID, they might better understand why it remains, for some, an act not of despair but of dignity, autonomy and compassion.
Kristen Creek Winnipeg
I see all medical assistance in dying as fundamentally assisted suicide, although we are loathe to use the term. The important distinction is between the wish to die as a response to illness versus the wish to die as a symptom of it.
In extreme cases, suicidality is obviously a symptom. At the other extreme, it is clearly a reaction to unbearable suffering (Track 2) or imminent death (Track 1). In the middle are many cases where the distinction is blurred (e.g. an Alzheimer’s diagnosis).
This does not mean that it is impossible to determine. What needs further refinement is the clinical assessment process, who does it and what skills and training they have to make this distinction.
After 50 years of clinical practice, I have learned that there is a person and there is an illness. Sometimes these are indistinguishable, but often they are not.
Arthur Leonoff Psychologist; Perth, Ont.
Budget crunch
Re “Governor-General clothing allowance cut as part of expenditure review” (June 23): Let’s get one of our snappy Canadian fashion designers to come up with a garment that the Governor-General can wear for all official events.
What’s wrong with wearing an outfit more than once?
Robin Tully Toronto
So the Governor-General has 162 staff. I was thinking maybe 15 to 20.
Boy am I out to lunch.
Brian Murphy Calgary
Give and take
Re “Should big corporations really be asking me to round up my bill for their charity?” (First Person, June 23): I have a great deal of sympathy for the essay-writer.
When I am asked to round up or donate, I look at the cashier and politely ask, “Does your company match my donation?” If the answer is a blank stare or a no, I decline to contribute.
And, yes, I contribute to a number of charities.
Michael Gilbert Toronto
Who gets the tax receipt?
Richard Willingham Toronto
All of our little round-ups for charity add up to a sizable corporate tax deduction.
Do corporations then donate an amount equivalent to their corporate tax refunds? Do they take part of our round-ups for administrative costs?
I would be willing to round up if corporations offered to match and donate all of it with no deductions for administrative costs, then donate the tax refunds as well.
Richard Cushing Burlington, Ont.
If there is concern about being expected to round up a purchase for donation to a questionable cause, consider not supporting the big conglomerate.
Instead, support a Canadian small business which doesn’t expect customers to round up their purchases and, more importantly, employs actual cashiers instead of using self-checkouts.
Mary Knight Canmore, Alta.
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