Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 10, 2020.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
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Out of control?
Re Add Urgency To This State Of Emergency (Editorial, Jan. 15): No government controls all its people, not even totalitarian ones. Why not manage rather than control? Accept that people need each other, but provide safe places for socializing.
I mean, for example, restaurants where people can socialize and are required to follow health measures. Few infections were the result of interactions in these places. Zero? No. But far less risky than gatherings in basements without protocols. It is unrealistic to think that we can get to zero infections or 100-per-cent compliance.
All we can do is contain the virus. We cannot control it nor all people, regardless of the threatened consequences.
Kristina Bendikas London, Ont.
Behavioural psychologists have long known that patterns of human behaviour are the direct result of how they are reinforced or punished. Some of the best analysis finds that positive, immediate and certain reinforcement is most effective.
If the government wants people to stay home, it should tangibly reward them for doing so. The most obvious one would be the paid sick leave so many are rightly calling for.
What else? Perhaps clear instructions from the province, so that people morally fulfilled by doing the “right thing” actually know what the right thing is.
Owen Williams Toronto
Foreign file
Re Marc Garneau’s Next Frontier: Foreign Policy (Jan. 14): Canadians should welcome the appointment of Marc Garneau as Foreign Affairs Minister. He is a national hero for being the first Canadian astronaut. In politics so far, he has been steady, thoughtful, but not spectacular.
In Mr. Garneau’s acceptance of the new ministry, he said that he spent nearly a decade living in the United States, presumably when he was training with NASA. In the next year, the reset with the Biden administration is surely our top priority. Our climate change and China files are tied into it. He has to be as successful here as Chrystia Freeland was navigating through the prickly Trump era.
Mr. Garneau should invite Joe Biden to Canada for his first foreign trip, give an Obama-like welcome and talk of a North American (north underlined) trade policy. He could even invite soon-to-be U.S. energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, born in Vancouver, to accompany soon-to-be president Biden.
Ian Waddell QC, Vancouver
Racism and politics
Re The Bloc’s Sneaky Slur Against A Mild-mannered Muslim MP (Jan. 15): If Yves-François Blanchet’s distant cousins were related to the Front de libération du Québec, would that make him a terrorist? I am not accusing anyone, just suggesting that Canadians may have a right to know.
Kadir John Hussein Oakville, Ont.
Re It’s Absurd To Conflate Support For Tories With White Nationalism – But Liberals Will Try (Jan. 11): It has been said: Not all Trump supporters are racist, but all racists are Trump supporters. Similarly, not all Conservatives are racist, but racists can surely identify with large parts of the policies put forward by the party.
Erin O’Toole’s conduct, along with a lack of diverse representation in his party, does little to convince me that he has “no truck with the radical right.” As a younger Canadian who faces the long-term consequences of climate change and racial injustice – issues that Conservative policies often neglect – I can confidently say that history will tell of today’s politicians and their failure to get it right.
As well, any person donning a Trump MAGA hat – including Conservative deputy leader Candice Bergen – should be seen as complicit in the racist ideology it can represent, and should have no role in the public service of a so-called diversity-respecting nation.
Neeraj Khanna Waterloo, Ont.
Re Ontario Celebrates Mike Harris, Even As The Stain On His Legacy Persists (Jan. 15): Tanya Talaga’s powerful column details Canada’s and Ontario’s shameful and persistent refusal to honour and repair a relationship with Indigenous people.
The tenor of the times is to repair and rebuild. By giving the Order of Ontario to Mike Harris, the government seems to be tone deaf. Rescind his award – I find it a terrible error in judgment.
Theresa Mathers London, Ont.
Long time
Re Will Ottawa Seize The Opportunity To Improve Work-Life Balance? (Opinion, Jan. 16): When I learned of Navdeep Bains’s departure from politics, I too was surprised. Not because of his reason for it, but because I learned the length of his tenure as an MP: nearly 17 years.
I do not belittle Mr. Bains’s achievements and hard work, but our democracy runs the risk of running stale when it’s allowed to be filled with career politicians. Look no further than Justin Trudeau’s cabinet with careerists such as Lawrence MacAulay (about 32 years), Dominic LeBlanc (20 years) and Carolyn Bennett (23 years), to name a few. All parties have such members, but that doesn’t make it right.
Our democracy would be better served by term limits. Although unlikely, I hope Mr. Bains’s departure prompts such a discussion.
Alex Treiber Toronto
Retirement plans
Re The Importance Of Finding A Purpose In Retirement (Report on Business, Jan. 14): A few months before leaving my employer of 41 years, my oldest sister asked what I planned to do when I retired. Not too sure, I said. Wrong answer, she said.
So I started retirement without much (i.e. any) planning. Over five years later, I have two words for anyone in the same position: lawn bowling! While others may not experience my level of enjoyment (okay, obsession), trust me that any club in Canada will welcome newcomers with open arms – postpandemic, of course.
And why wait for retirement? I wish I had started earlier. So get out there and roll a few!
Jim Duholke North Vancouver
Re Never Too Old (First Person, Jan. 8): Anne Dalziel Patton’s delightful essay blows open the ageist door and holds high the windows of the cobwebbed and dusty attic we seniors are expected to inhabit. Onward she should go inspiring and encouraging, a woman of a certain age still challenging herself and having fun. Brava!
Margaret McCoy West Vancouver
Nothing is more exciting than to see so many of us “oldies” who are not prepared to sit back and twiddle our thumbs.
In my youth, I was never considered great at sports. Since the ripe old age of 80, I have skydived off mountains in Switzerland, ziplined in Jamaica and, with one companion and three armed guards, walked the bush in Zambia to spot wild white rhinos.
If COVID-19 had not hit, my plan was to celebrate my 85th birthday with a second parachute jump.
Monica Neate Mississauga
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