People walk past a mural featuring propaganda in support of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Wednesday.JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images
By the numbers
Re “Under the threat of a U.S. invasion, Venezuelans try to carry on with their daily lives” (Dec. 18): Is Venezuela about to become the 51st state, or will Canada retain copyright on the title?
A.S. Brown Kingston, Ont.
Are we ready for another American amusement park ride, with its ups and downs and colourful vendors Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump peddling keepsakes?
How can spreading democracy to another country, with all the benefits of American-style freedom and guardianship, be seen as other than doing good and making the world a better place with more resources that currently sit buried and unused?
All Venezuelans must do is look north and discover what they’re missing, and not bother looking anywhere else.
Bill Bousada Ottawa
I really do think
Re “A majority government built with floor-crossers is not legitimate, Poilievre says” (Dec. 18): Perhaps Pierre Poilievre has forgotten that Canadians in his former riding did not vote for him in the last election, either.
His comments remind me of lyrics from a great Canadian singer-songwriter: “And isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?”
Mary Burge Toronto
Save the trouble
Re “Ontario, Ottawa to sign deal to cut red tape for major projects, speed up Ring of Fire road” (Dec. 18): I’m all for opening up development of critical minerals – including appropriate consultation with and approval from First Nations who will be impacted by this – but let’s get real about the $2-billion cost to build a road that will be at least 500 kilometres through remote terrain.
After all, this is Ontario. We can’t seem to build anything transportation-related – the Eglinton Crosstown in Toronto, the O-Train expansion in Ottawa – for less than $5-billion. And these projects are less than 30 kms and in accessible urban centres.
Let’s at least go into this newest adventure with our eyes open – maybe a tunnel instead?
Graham Farrell Toronto
Repealing Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act, and the many overlapping federal, provincial, regional and municipal regulations would have saved the taxpayer the expense of this meeting, which would be unnecessary anyway as shovels would already be in the ground.
Martin Wale Dorval, Que.
Help wanted
Re “The fight against the growing darkness of antisemitism” (Editorial, Dec. 17): A good place for the federal government to begin combatting antisemitism would be to address leadership gaps in our human rights system.
Deborah Lyons, who was Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, retired five months ago after pressing government and the public to take antisemitism more seriously. She performed this role commendably under difficult circumstances.
The envoy’s mandate is to combat antisemitism, promote Holocaust remembrance and education, advise the government and encourage use of the internationally recognized working definition of antisemitism. This work is essential and urgently needed.
Yet no successor, nor even an interim envoy, has been appointed. In the face of this prolonged vacancy, the Prime Minister’s assurances that fighting antisemitism is a priority lack credibility.
This failure is not isolated. The Canadian Human Rights Commission has been without a permanent chief commissioner for three years and counting.
Canada can do better.
Harvey Goldberg Former senior adviser, Canadian Human Rights Commission; Ottawa
Hope is hope
Re “Quebec will not cover Health Canada-approved Alzheimer’s drug” (Dec. 13): As someone living with early stage Alzheimer’s, I’ve seen the value of lecanemab. It pains me that people in Quebec may be denied access.
Two years ago, I enrolled in a clinical trial for lecanemab. While I still don’t know if I am receiving the actual drug or the placebo, I have no doubt about its clinical value.
The chance to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and gain more time with loved ones is priceless. I have seen Alzheimer’s steal my mother’s independence, and would have given anything to provide her the chance for more time with her grandchildren.
To dismiss the benefits as “below what is generally considered clinically significant” is devastating. It feels like they are saying our lives aren’t worth fighting for.
I urge policymakers to reconsider and prioritize patient voices in these decisions, ensuring hope and access to treatment are not reserved for a privileged few.
John Dalrymple-Fraser Peterborough, Ont.
Ready to go
Re “Canada needs a blueprint for modular homes” (Editorial, Dec. 15): Having been directly involved with several mass timber and prefabrication projects in Canada and Europe, I’ve had a front-row seat to exactly these issues.
What generates a lot of attention are the technology, robots and systems. The biggest challenges, however, are on the organizational front.
Prefabrication means prethinking, predetermining; its planning phases are decidedly more sophisticated. But that’s a good thing.
Most people have no idea how conventional construction is fraught with delays, cost overruns and defects. We should have a means to reward developers for using full building information modelling software to create extraordinarily detailed project submissions, which are then granted fast-track approvals by municipalities.
Start upstream. The rest will follow.
Carl-Peter Reinecke M.Eng, Ottawa
On and off, prefabrication has been touted as a solution to the cost of housing since at least the 1940s. Today, along with a reduction in development charges and cuts to red tape, it might have a marginal effect.
Homes in places such as Toronto and Vancouver don’t cost so much because of how, or how quickly, they are built. They are expensive mainly because of where they are located, so their greatest cost component by far is land.
Until governments do something about it – perhaps by taxing land instead of property, or by treating home appreciation as a taxable capital gain – the housing problem likely won’t go away.
I’m not holding my breath.
Richard Harris Hamilton
In 2023, my wife and I decided to build a cottage. At the same time, our neighbours were also going to build one. We joked that it would be fun to do these projects at the same time.
They used an architect and builder, while we used a modular panel fabricator. Six days a week, we were on site or running around getting materials someone forgot to deliver.
Our project was still move-in ready in six months and two weeks from the time we commenced site work. Our 3,000-square-foot, year-round cottage with an attached two-car garage is modern in design. It would not be confused with a “mobile home” one thinks of when hearing the term “modular home.”
Our friends are 18 months in and continue to have issues. Factory construction, properly planned and supervised, can beat stick-built in time and thus money for a large segment of society.
Stew Valcour Halifax
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