Members of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team attend U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.Nathan Howard/Reuters
State of play
Re “Trump’s State of the Union address was a celebration of one man’s achievements” (Oct. 25): I wonder if the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team is familiar with the term “useful idiots.”
William Avison The Blue Mountains, Ont.
Proactive peace
Re “What do you do when you’re living next door to a fascist state?” and “A new age of ‘total war’ may be approaching. Are young Canadians ready?” (Opinion, Feb. 21): With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what was abnormal became normal. This experience “can happen to any country, any city, if the world will not stop Russia now,” one Ukrainian soldier says.
While I agree that Canada must prepare, in multiple ways, for the worst, I also believe we must work, with clarity and intention, for a better world. Internally, given “Canada’s thriving multi-ethnic democracy,” we should not only intelligently encourage immigration, but also grow the national brain trust by recruiting the best international students and scholars.
Externally, we should work for a strengthened international rules-based order, including collective military capacity to support the International Criminal Court and counter aggressors like Vladimir Putin.
Patrick Wolfe Victoria
Safety first
Re “Private equity is king. Smaller investors should be let in” (Report on Business, Feb. 19): The contributors applaud an Ontario Securities Commission initiative to enable small retail investors to access private equity without the protections of securities laws.
But for one, private equity is not king. It is now underperforming an S&P 500 index fund on results over one-, five- and 10-year periods.
The OSC initiative seems to have been advanced without evidence of investor demand. Retail investors can already access private equity through existing public companies and investment funds, or through the existing “accredited investor” exemption.
Harvard business professor Michael Jensen, while incorrectly predicting the demise of public markets, focused on the need for regulation, as well as market discipline, to protect investors from self-serving conduct by corporate managers. The OSC should do likewise.
Ed Waitzer Former chair, Ontario Securities Commission; Toronto
Split opinion
Re “Public plans shouldn’t cover new Alzheimer’s drug, Canada’s Drug Agency recommends” (Feb. 20): At a time of rapidly rising health care costs, I can understand why Canada’s Drug Agency has declined to recommend public funding for lecanemab to treat early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
It is an extremely expensive drug that appears to benefit only a minority of patients, and only for a limited period. I have read that some clinicians choose not to prescribe this medication because of its modest benefits and safety concerns. It has been linked to potentially serious, and in some cases fatal, side effects.
Canada’s position is not unique. In the United States, medicare does not broadly reimburse for lecanemab and many private insurers also decline coverage.
Allan McKeown Sarnia, Ont.
When dementia is misunderstood, the need for timely diagnosis, better care pathways and emerging therapies can be undervalued, compounding barriers that many Canadians face today.
I’m concerned that Canada’s Drug Agency’s recommendation not to reimburse lecanemab might fuel a public perception we too often encounter: that treating Alzheimer’s disease is unworthy of investment or, worse, a hopeless cause. This stigma doesn’t only dismiss a treatment, it dismisses the people who could benefit from it.
This recommendation raises important questions about access and affordability. Equity should guide this conversation because everyone deserves access to care, regardless of where they live or their personal means.
People living with dementia deserve timely, dignified, evidence-informed care that doesn’t leave them navigating the journey alone. Let’s work toward a future where decisions are guided by scientific advances, early diagnosis and stigma-free conversation.
Christina Scicluna CEO, Alzheimer Society of Canada; Toronto
There is certainly a case to be made for delaying public payment for lecanemab when a positive impact – that is, delaying more significant dementia symptoms and behaviours – may only occur for approximately five months. However, I encourage those weighing the pros and cons of making the drug more widely available at public expense to consider how helpful it may be for caregivers.
They often sacrifice their own time and forgo their own opportunities to have even some time, while a patient’s condition is stable, to put further support plans in place or tap into whatever resources an individual family can muster.
These are hidden costs largely borne by women, at great expense to their future well-being. Can we find ways to analyze the issue which reflect this reality and factor in these costs?
Karen Ginsberg Ottawa
Raise the roof
Re “Birth rates across the country are down. Why not in Oshawa?” (Feb. 19): One key factor: the type of new housing provided.
As an exurban community with lots of greenfields, Oshawa builds predominantly ground-oriented family housing. Last year, only 27 per cent of homes built in Metro Toronto were single, semi-detached or row; in Oshawa it was 80 per cent. Over the past decade, it has been 30 per cent versus 70 per cent.
This form of housing attracts people having children.
Steve Pomeroy Industry professor, McMaster University; Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative; Ottawa
Northern touch
Re “Manitoba Premier hails launch of study to gather industry viewpoints on Port of Churchill expansion” (Feb. 20): The Port of Churchill is a “relatively small deepwater port,” but this limited capacity was addressed in the 1973 novel Ultimatum by retired Canadian Major-General Richard Rohmer.
In this political thriller, the U.S. President, facing an energy shortage, issues an ultimatum to Canada to expedite natural gas exports or suffer financial and trade sanctions. In response, the Prime Minister proposes to expand the Port of Churchill by extending a long wharf into Hudson Bay to a new deepwater harbour, which would be served by a railway for bulk commodities and several pipelines for natural gas and petroleum.
The Manitoba Premier should borrow Ultimatum from the library to appreciate the formidable task.
Derek Wilson Port Moody, B.C.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, I lived at Fort Churchill, a base on the rocky coast of Hudson Bay not far from town and jointly commanded by the United States and Canada. The airfield was less than 100 feet from my home and there was also a rocket-launching site near by.
Curiously there was also a Canadian naval base, which ironically was not on Hudson Bay but somewhat inland, apparently for strict security reasons. My father was the supply officer there. He carried home from time to time top-secret information, requiring him to carry a handgun and, at times, a courier bag handcuffed to his wrist.
Even Boy Scouts were part of the military objective: Our scout masters were both U.S. Army sergeants. They issued all the boys machetes during our summer camps on the tundra.
Rodney Hayley Victoria
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