Thomas King, the author of The Inconvenient Indian.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
Give it a shot
Re “Alberta’s (welcome) health care heresy” (Editorial, Nov. 23): Kudos to you for publishing what I believe to be the truth. You thought the unthinkable and spoke the unspeakable.
It’s about time that responsible Canadians begin to puncture “Canadians’ hermetically sealed sense of superiority about this country’s public system.” It cannot be, as former Globe columnist Jeffrey Simpson called it, “the third rail” in public debate.
As a former health care executive and health policy researcher exposed to systems around the world, I know Canada has a lot to learn about the delivery of services. While we have many strengths in our system, our priority should be to fix its weaknesses.
Ottawa and the provinces should embark on an open, unbiased and objective review of the current system, targeted at bold but tested solutions that support both universal and more timely access to health care. If Tommy Douglas was still with us, I think he would most likely agree.
Jim Eckler Toronto
Reverse course
Re “Ottawa is pressing Nutrien to change course on building a potash export terminal in the U.S.” (Report on Business, Nov. 22): I find Nutrien’s recent decision to allocate $1-billion toward investment in the United States a strategically sound move, especially when considering the logistical challenges presented by the Port of Vancouver.
The efficiency of container ports plays a pivotal role in the supply chain and overall business operations for companies engaged in international trade. According to the most recent World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence Container Port Performance Index, Vancouver ranked 389 out of 403 global container ports. This alarming statistic places it as one of the least efficient container ports in the world.
Canada cannot restore its competitiveness solely through nation-building projects; it should also address fundamental impediments that continue to undermine our capacity for wealth creation. The recent decision by Nutrien is disappointing, but the outcome looks entirely self-inflicted.
Greg Wilkins Coquitlam, B.C.
Many Canadians must be shocked by Nutrien’s decision. Mark Carney’s Liberal government promises to prioritize supply chains, so Nutrien’s decision should be overturned.
The government should sit down immediately with Nutrien, the Western provinces, Canadian National Railway and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to decide where to upgrade terminals and rail facilities in either Vancouver or Prince Rupert, then build as soon as possible.
If we do not, I can only imagine Donald Trump thinking, “My, these Canadians sure know how to shoot themselves in the foot.”
Emile van Nispen Toronto
Price is right
Re “Chicken prices could soon rise 25%, and supply management isn’t helping” (Report on Business, Nov. 19): At the farm level, chicken prices have been remarkably stable.
The farm-gate price is $2.027 per kilogram today, compared with $1.997/kg last year, an increase of only 1.5 per cent. And while pundits are quick to criticize supply management, farmers do not set grocery prices: Retailers and food service companies make those decisions, often adjusting chicken prices when competing meats such as beef rise sharply.
The biggest challenge we’ve seen this year has been avian influenza, which has disrupted poultry supply chains worldwide and caused a reduction in the availability of chicks. Even with these pressures, farmers continue to meet demand with the support of a supply management system that keeps production aligned with consumer needs, avoids boom-and-bust swings and provides Canadians with a dependable supply of locally raised chicken.
We project production in 2025 to grow by 2.7 per cent over last year, demonstrating a system working as intended.
Tim Klompmaker Chair, Chicken Farmers of Canada; Asphodel-Norwood, Ont.
In May, 2024, an analysis by food researcher Sylvain Charlebois found that prices of all categories of food products had increased by 30.2 per cent since 2017. Only three supply managed items (cream, butter and eggs) had higher inflation rates, while items such as whole chicken, milk, cheese and yogurt tracked well below that figure.
As a farmer outside of the supply management system, I some time envy those in it, but I do not begrudge what they have achieved. It is not a perfect system and it has not met all of its objectives, but it has protected farms and rural Canada.
It has also protected the Canadian consumer by mandating higher standards such as hormone-free production, while the taxpayer does not subsidize production.
Ted Wiggans Harvey Station, N.B.
All revealed
Re “Inconvenient Indian author Thomas King says he is not part Cherokee” and “Thomas King: All my life, I believed I was Indigenous. Now, I must reckon with the inconvenient truth” (Nov. 25): I have had immense pleasure reading Thomas King’s books, including the DreadfulWater series. His inadvertent (if naive) sense of Indigenous identity has opened readers’ eyes to the Indigenous experience.
If Mr. King’s work has “felt” authentic, it should be no less so now. Isn’t this the essence of good acting, writing, composing, painting: to share credible and empathetic experiences with the world? I don’t believe one has to “be” what one writes.
I have no problem reading authors who write in the voice of another gender or age. That is creativity to me.
Carla Flamer Toronto
Notwithstanding the exculpatory timeline, bottom-line questions remain. What did he know? And when did he know it?
In coming days, there will be many views expressed, some more informed than others. I believe there are still many personalities across the arts, culture, academia, public service and media making exaggerated, if not fraudulent, Indigenous identity claims as they look to exploit public naivety and willingness to believe.
In the case of those asserting First Nations identity claims, be aware and exercise due diligence. Ask specifically: Are they a status Indian and registered band member? What reserve does their family come from? Who are their cousins? If people are evasive or defensive over such simple questions, that should be an immediate red flag.
The public should ever be attuned to random ancestor fallacy: the belief that Indigenous ancestry claims in one’s past invests one with Indigenous identity and insights in the present.
John Moses Delaware and Upper Mohawk bands, Six Nations of the Grand River Territory
Kudos to The Globe and Mail for allowing Thomas King to present his observations about the discovery, first by the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds and then by himself, that he has no Cherokee heritage by blood.
I knew Mr. King, when we were both faculty members at the University of Lethbridge, as an engaging, compassionate and funny colleague. I empathize with him and his family as they weather the current firestorm.
Ian Greene Toronto
Editor’s note: While a letter discusses Nutrien and challenges to the Port of Vancouver's general container shipping efficiency, potash is a bulk commodity shipped by railcar.
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