Xiangguo Qiu in a 2018 video for the Governor General's Innovation Awards.Governor General's Innovation Awards
Pulling back the curtain
Re “Censored documents reveal threats to Canada’s security” (Feb. 29): So finally the truth regarding the firing of two Chinese scientists from our top lab, in Winnipeg, has come out. A document shows Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, shared confidential scientific information with China in clandestine meetings.
Why couldn’t that information have been released in 2021? While the revelations of their activities is concerning, I think the bigger story to come out here is why the government went to such lengths to block the release of this information. Has our national security been compromised in the past few days with this report being made public? I think not.
Keeping information from Canadians under the guise of avoiding embarrassment to an institution or any level of government should not be an option. Ever.
Colin Lockhart Florenceville-Bristol, N.B.
Rash decisions
Re ”Measles is cause for concern, not disdain” (Opinion, Feb. 27): In 2024, no child should die of a long-controlled, preventable, infectious disease.
André Picard makes it clear that growing resistance to measles vaccines for all children is a perversity arising from either ignorant indifference or active denial. The increase in cases of measles is another dangerous product of irrational political dogma, which flourished during battles over COVID-19 vaccinations. The rejection of decades-long successful public-health measures by Florida’s surgeon-general, for example, is astonishing and deplorable.
This backsliding on compulsory vaccinations, and the ignoring of a long-established civic duty to protect community health, is egregious, passive negligence.
Jill Kannegiesser Toronto
No simple solutions
Re “Fed up with economic issues, many young voters are moving to the right” (Feb. 28): Could this youthful swing to the right be the result of too many helicopter-parented children growing up knee-jerk selfish and scared of a world beyond mom’s carefully constructed daily program?
Of course, COVID and the lockdown were Justin Trudeau’s fault. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had told us this; it’s the easiest thing to believe, so we believe it. As for MP Adam Chambers’s vague notion of frustrated millennials “kind of looking for something different,” here’s a suggestion: Try walking backward down a very busy street. That will be your “different.” Sorry kids, the world is getting very crowded. Mr. Poilievre can’t fix that. Only complex, inclusive and forward-looking ideas and actions will. It’s for your generation to figure out how being brave and open-minded fits. No, simple isn’t easy.
John Brooke Montreal
Meetings, not munitions
Re “NATO head wants Canada to set date for meeting spending goal” (Feb. 21): To fulfill Canada’s 2-per-cent pledge for defence spending, let’s set an example with a major shift.
Let’s solve international problems with summits, conferences, election accountability and consultation – and no more spending on military weapons. This would provide much-needed employment and a safer world.
Claire Adamson Montreal
Obedience to Big Oil
Re “The oil and gas industry owes Alberta municipalities millions in unpaid taxes” (Report on Business, Feb. 28): If I didn’t pay my property taxes, my municipality would seize my property. But then I’m not an important oil and gas business.
In Alberta, we have large numbers of homeless people, overcrowded schools, overcrowded emergency services, a lack of doctors and horrendous waiting lists for various surgeries such as hip and knee replacements.
Imagine: If the oil and gas industry paid its $251.5-million in taxes, Leduc could build a much-needed homeless shelter, Lac La Biche could add room to its schools, High Prairie could add a doctor and increase hospital capacity and other rural municipalities could increase access to emergency care.
It is so clear to me what the priorities of our provincial government are.
Zelma Hardin Edmonton
A good trade
Re “Labour-starved provinces seek new ways to draw high-school students to skilled trades” (Feb. 28): Funny, was it not provincial governments that shut down all the shop and home economics classes? It was thought, at the time, that doing so would provide more opportunities for students to concentrate on academic studies and possibly provide better career opportunities.
Not all students are destined to go to university or college, and even those that do often find it challenging the first year or two to cement their career choices. This can lead to a host of other problems, such as boredom, lack of confidence, a drain on finances, and so on.
The trades offer an opportunity for youth to find something that they can do with their hands and minds, that is a great confidence booster, that offers necessary life skills. Now we find a shortage of tradespeople, as well as high-school graduates who lack basic knowledge of some life skills such as nutrition.
Susan Hall Oakville, Ont.
Seniors’ little secret
Re “Taking a deep dive on the OAS clawback” (Report on Business, Feb. 29): As a senior, I find it amazing that full Old Age Security is available to seniors with annual incomes over $90,000 and isn’t fully clawed back until an income of $148,000.
People in this income range can hardly claim poverty. I also find it amazing that young people aren’t clamouring to have the clawback limits lowered. With a burgeoning debt load, the federal Liberals seem to be oblivious to this obvious mismanagement of government finances, yet the Conservatives are remarkably quiet on the issue as well. I hate to think that all senior voters support this “steal from the poor and give to the rich” scheme. Our children and grandchildren deserve better.
David Barker Whitby, Ont.
Who owes who?
Re “Money’s worth” (Letters, Feb. 29): A letter-writer believes that lawyers who are trained in Canada, and then work in the United States, should pay for the costs of their tuition in Canada. In reality, Canada is a huge beneficiary of the education paid by other countries. I am a case in point. Nearly all immigrants bring with them their education and many then use it to create businesses that employ other Canadians. Perhaps Canada should think of compensating all those countries that have paid for so much of our education.
Peter Dunnett Kingston
Golden memory
Re “Canada wins gold in hockey at Olympics defeating Team USA in a thrilling game” (Moment in Time, Feb. 28): On a ferry to Vancouver Island, a group of strangers huddled around one passenger’s laptop with an internet connection to watch the thrilling end to that memorable game.
So many Canadians will have their own indelible memories of that game. It was a beautiful moment in time.
Dave Nonen Victoria
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