Electric vehicles charge at a level two EV charging station at Langara College, in Vancouver, on March 5, 2021.DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
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Alternative housing
Re Ottawa Paid Almost $20,000 To Prepare Stornoway For Interim Tory Leader Bergen (March 21) and Security Threat Related To Convoy Identified In Early February: OPP (March 25): Perhaps Candice Bergen could borrow a truck with a sleeping cabin left behind by Ottawa protesters.
This would also provide a practical travel option for various fundraising events across the country. And maybe the hot tub is still available.
The only problem is that she couldn’t park the truck on Parliament Hill.
Gilbert Héroux Montreal
Power play
Re A Pay Now, Also Pay Later Hydro Plan (Editorial, March 21): Maybe it’s an unpopular view, but subsidizing electricity rates is not a sustainable solution.
We should pay the full cost of the power we use, including all externalities and environmental costs. How else will we learn to use less and protect the environment? The same should apply to oil and gas, plastics and any number of other subsidized hazardous resources.
Some poorer people would struggle to pay “real” prices. The solution would be to help them, preferably by improving overall incomes and not making polluting products cheaper for all.
Luke Mastin Toronto
Re Soaring Gas Prices Making EVs More Attractive (Report on Business, March 21): Before Canadians charge toward electric vehicles, one should consider that all the scarce mineral commodities intrinsic to EV production are vulnerable to the same escalating volatility as today’s oil blip.
To make the cost-benefit analysis more complex, escalating sticker shock would also be exacerbated by the significant economic loss of tax revenues associated with oil-derived transportation fuels – and how they will be recovered by governments.
When all costs are fully disclosed, charging stations will likely be the least of concerns to prospective EV buyers.
James Battle Stratford, Ont.
Re The Future May Be Electric, But We’re Not There Yet (Report on Business, March 19): As an electric vehicle driver for the last nine years, I can confirm that the electric future is here today.
There are many EVs available for around $40,000 before the $5,000 federal rebate. If someone drives more than 15,000 kilometres per year, they are likely better off driving an EV at today’s EV and gas prices.
I did a trip from Ottawa to Washington in 2017 and had zero problems finding charging stations. The trip took about 50 minutes more than it would have with a gas car, and charging is getting faster.
It takes all of a few seconds to plug in my car to have a full charge the next morning. I don’t worry about gas after my kids use the car the night before. There’s no need to pump in bad weather. There are no oil changes and much less maintenance.
The future is now and electric.
Raymond Leury President, Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa
Flood of advice
Re A Smarter Way For Canada To Handle Floods (Editorial, March 19): A comprehensive flood risk management program is long overdue in Canada.
If the federal government takes the lead, it should ensure a balanced cross-Canada approach. However provinces and municipalities will have to be contributing partners, or local actions will simply undermine national actions.
Government should beware of insuring high flood-risk properties. National flood-risk insurance was available for decades in the United States, and it mainly encouraged more building on high flood-risk properties.
Instead, government should offer incentive for homeowners in high flood-risk areas to relocate. These areas should be designated as parks or community gardens.
Taxpayers should be wary of the requirement for “comprehensive flood risk mapping.” In the past, this has been a way for governments to stall meaningful action while waiting for maps.
Let’s hope taxpayers will see some real action on this important issue.
Michael Healey Professor emeritus, University of British Columbia; Gibsons, B.C.
Hello heartbreak
Re Ontario Cardiology Group Voices Opposition To New Contract That Excludes Some Phone Services (March 23): I cannot understand how cardiologists give adequate assessments over the phone without even measuring blood pressure or checking pulses, let alone actually seeing patients’ faces.
It has been exasperating during the pandemic to diagnose patients as needing referrals to specialists, only for them to wait months and then receive “telephone consults.”
I find that the Canadian Medical Association and the Ontario Medical Association are keen to extend emergency measures to daily practice, and be generously reimbursed for providing second-class services.
Paul Cary MBBS, LRCP; Cambridge, Ont.
Mask messaging
Re There’s No Downside To Students Wearing Masks (Opinion, March 19): I believe there is one downside to students wearing masks.
We have all experienced difficulty in hearing others or being understood behind a mask. Imagine students spending months in a noisy environment, trying to communicate with teachers and friends as they develop language skills. And I am not even weighing in the smiling encouragement of others.
I will keep my mask on and I agree that students should keep them in school for a while longer. But let’s not say there is no downside.
Christine Bellerose Toronto
We might as well do away with Ontario’s Sabrina’s Law. Parents should have a right to send children to school with peanut butter sandwiches.
For nearly two decades, families have been denied this easy lunch option just because a handful of children might be hospitalized if they are exposed to nuts. Why can’t children with anaphylactic allergies just stay home, or eat lunch two metres away from others?
It’s just so inconvenient to cater to the needs of the more vulnerable.
Donna Spreitzer Toronto
Canadian way
Re The Nuanced Rules Of Canadian Football Are What Make It Special And Unique (March 22): I agree that the Canadian Football League is more entertaining. I disagree with the suggestion of eliminating the single off a missed field goal.
Having to return a ball kicked into the end zone, or lose a point, is an important Canadian rule. Just ask the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who gave up a point in last year’s Grey Cup and helped the Winnipeg Blue Bombers send the game into overtime. Winnipeg won.
The main problem I see the CFL facing is people, particularly in Toronto, who are impressed with the size of National Football League salaries and assume that the U.S. game is better. They are playing a different game requiring different skills.
The Toronto Argos should be moved. I suggest London.
Alex MacKenzie Halton Hills, Ont.
Re There May Be Method In Pierre Poilievre’s Nastiness (March 16): From Pierre Poilievre saying he is “running for prime minister” to Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie not ruling out a switch to four-down football, the insidious creep of Americanization continues apace.
It’s worth reminding the people of this great Dominion that cultural sovereignty is not something that looks after itself. It must be thought about, nurtured and fought for. They may seem, on their own, to be small matters, but in fact they are emblematic of something much larger.
Oh, and the last letter of the alphabet is pronounced “zed.”
J. D. M. Stewart Toronto
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