People from the Mosakahiken Cree Nation hug in front of a makeshift memorial at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School to honor the 215 children whose remains have been discovered buried near the facility, in Kamloops, B.C., June 4, 2021.COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images
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A reckoning
Re Hundreds Of Graves Found In Saskatchewan At Residential School (June 24): Unfolding across Canada is the putative homicide in church-run schools of what will likely prove to be tens of thousands of children, buried in unmarked graves, their causes of death kept secret. Children as young as four, taken away with force of law, from parents and communities and never seen or heard of – or from – again until now.
Does anyone still need an explanation of the communal trauma that endures among communities from which these victims were stripped? Society is facile and casually callous every time one of us used or heard racial epithets against Indigenous people. Now those epithets have finally rebounded to call a nation and most of its population – settlers all – to account, to show contrition.
That task is almost superhuman in impact and scope. Can Canada be that honourable? I’m not cynical and hope a leader will emerge who can show us that way.
Richard daCosta Fonthill, Ont.
Highs and lows
Re It’s High Time Adults Are Legally Allowed To Get High (Opinion, June 19): The word “recreational” should turn most thoughts toward so many uplifting leisure sports and physical adventures. There are also so many ways of getting that “feel good” through a host of community and world-do-good organizations.
The cost of drugs and booze to all Canadians through lost productivity, medical issues et cetera was about $46-billon in 2017. There are more than 80 million refugees on our planet today. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could direct just a few of those billions toward helping those who genuinely need it?
There has to be a kinder and gentler road out of the pits of drug and liquor despair. Let’s begin with “Real adults don’t use drugs and liquor by finding better ways to get high” and offer an example of hope to the next generation.
Barry Robinson Napanee, Ont.
I am coming around to decriminalization of simple possession, but where is the evidence that full legal access to all drugs would be beneficial? Is it the presumption that heroin addicts would be better off with a purer, government-approved supply?
I think we should at least wait and see how the legalized pot experiment plays out in the longer term. I am not convinced yet that it is moving Canada to a better place.
Marc Létourneau Toronto
As the daughter of intelligent, professional but addicted parents, I know the testimony of an addict is untrustworthy. Billie Holiday might have believed heroin saved her life, but I believe heroin only made life without it impossible. She might have believed it stopped her from killing others, but she likely broke the hearts and spirits of those who loved her.
Encourage Canadians to find other ways to relax and entertain themselves; leave this particular Pandora’s box firmly closed!
Isabelle Emery Calgary
Thankfully, legalization of cannabis might very well be the thin edge of the wedge for legalization of opiates. Sadly, public perception puts opiates in a separate column that marijuana once occupied.
An added benefit to government regulation would be the need for fewer dealers and members of law enforcement, and less need for the judicial system to jam up the distribution of this presently vilified product.
Douglas Coggon Toronto
I agree that we need to revise our drug laws. However, laws develop over time to solve societal problems, such as widespread opium abuse in the past.
I would suggest that any group tasked with changing our drug laws include a medical historian, so that we do not reproduce past problems.
Barry Goldlist Professor of medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital; Toronto
Carbon crunch
Re Can You End Global Warming While Getting Richer? Yes – Just Not In Canada (Opinion, June 19): I find there is no such thing as green growth, even in exemplary Nordic countries.
Rich countries that have slightly declining greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions already have immense carbon footprints relative to countries in Africa and parts of Asia and Latin America. Populations in those countries bear the brunt of global warming. In addition, they generally have high rates of poverty.
Per capita GHG emissions will have to fall significantly in rich countries in order to provide some room for economic expansion in the poorest ones. Stable or declining emissions in the Global North are also partly a result of exporting polluting industries elsewhere.
Resolving the climate crisis requires global co-operation, and we’ll have no co-operation without justice. The big polluters should pay.
We should abandon the fantasy of “green” growth in developed countries. Let us fully understand our predicament, and begin to act accordingly.
Richard Sandbrook FRSC; professor emeritus, political science, University of Toronto
The one where they meet
Re The Friendship Test (Opinion, June 19): I have always known that the people in one’s life are the most important thing. So when the pandemic hit, I found ways of maintaining relationships.
One way was to have parking lot meetings, where we would be far enough away to maintain proper distancing, yet close enough to talk. Another was to meet at a fast-food restaurant. We ate in our own cars, but were still able to share a meal together.
And, since I have a fairly large backyard, I was able to place small tables far enough apart yet close enough to talk. All it takes is a little ingenuity to maintain friendships.
Bernie Koenig London, Ont.
Coda
Re It Took A Pandemic To Change Fatherhood For The Better (June 19): In spite of the necessary chronicling of drug overdoses, the Middle East and new virus threats, the exhilarating picture of a father alongside his son, alight and aloft, made it all worthwhile. Seek life and enjoy what we can.
What an excellent view of fatherhood at its finest, of a little boy who will grow up with a spring in his heels!
Shirley Bradley Vancouver
Wrap it up
Re It’s A Bad Year For Ticks, And They’re No Longer Just A Rural Menace (June 22): I have competed in field events with my dogs since the early 1990s and have first-hand experience with ticks. Here are some more suggestions: lighter-coloured clothing (dark clothing attracts ticks), a tick remover (the plastic “spoon” with a V-cut is best) and the ultimate (seen on a tracking person in Nebraska) is duct tape securely applied to the gap between boots, socks and pant legs.
Yet another practical application of duct tape!
Sandy Blazier Mississauga
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