Prime Minister Mark Carney tours a FreshCo grocery store in Brampton, Ont., on Friday.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Double whammy
Re “Venezuelan medics warn untreated wounds, infections biggest dangers for survivors after earthquakes” (July 2): When reading about Venezuela’s shortage of doctors and widening medical crisis, we should remember it had a mutually beneficial barter arrangement with Cuba, under which Cuba supplied it with trained medical staff and it supplied oil to Cuba.
Now the United States has blockaded both countries, forcing large numbers of Cuban medical workers to leave Venezuela. Beleaguered Venezuelans and Cubans are much worse off. Who is helped by the blockade?
Venezuela has suffered for a quarter-century and much of its misery is the result of U.S. economic warfare. The situation in Cuba is similar but has lasted decades longer. The latest U.S. move is more of the same.
As the U.S. celebrates the 250th anniversary of its revolution against a government it considered oppressive and exploitative, why does it persist in attempting to reverse similarly motivated revolutions in other countries?
Dave Parnas Ottawa
Big talk
Re “Carney’s summer spending spree lacks detail and transparency, economists assert” (July 4): I didn’t vote for Mark Carney’s Liberals because I didn’t believe he had the answers Canada requires.
Elbows up? A quick trade deal with the United States? Free trade within Canada? Major deals with other countries? What we have gotten are announcements about supercharging things and other superlatives with few actual changes.
Our economy continues to barely grow, food prices continue to rise, housing continues to be a problem. The U.S. has little interest in even talking to us, and agreements with other countries have produced little of substance so far.
Mr. Carney has, however, managed to grow our debt. That seems hardly deserving of our praise or support.
David Harper Burlington, Ont.
Re “Taxpayers asked to foot the bill for another pipeline” (Report on Business, July 4): The Trans Mountain pipeline was paid for by us.
Yet we are told that we must have another even bigger one, that it will earn Canada billions of dollars and that this is a nation-building enterprise. No business plan has been provided. Just trust that government knows better than business about business.
Let government’s role be to gain all the approvals and open the gate. It should not expect the public to pay yet again for a highly speculative gamble, which last time ran wildly over budget – and which may turn out to be a white elephant in a few years as the world continues to shift to renewables.
Rob Garrard Victoria
On a recent vacation in Calgary, we sat at a level railway crossing while a train carrying more than 100 oil tankers passed. While waiting, I began to wonder if additional pipeline capacity could actually be beneficial for the environment.
A Trans Mountain-like pipeline could carry the equivalent of 800 rail tankers daily, freeing up scarce rail space for other goods. Switching long-haul truckloads to rail for those goods would take about 2,000 trucks per day off the road, and rail is about four times more fuel efficient and economical than trucks.
Oil will get to market regardless, as witnessed by the long line of tanker cars. There are valid arguments for both sides of a pipeline project, but a pipeline could be the better environmental alternative to rail.
Steve Edmonds Mississauga
Price is right
Re “If prices per unit were easy to see, would it change the way you shop?” (Online, July 2): Clear, standardized unit-price comparisons would boost competition and be a consumer-friendly baseline within a single aisle. However, it would only solve half the problem.
Driven by a lack of intense competition, Canada’s big three grocers have grown profit margins to roughly 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent over the past decade. Conversely, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority found that hyper-competition from hard discounters squeezed average grocery operating margins down to a historic low of 1.8 per cent.
Unfortunately our vast geography, localized supply chains and restrictive property controls would make the financial risk of entry far too high for international competitors. Instead, Canada should look to Israel’s food law which forces major chains to upload pricing data in real time.
If Canadian consumers could scan their entire weekly list and see instantly which store is cheapest that afternoon, our domestic oligopoly would be forced into a structural price war.
Paul White Toronto
One and only
Re “Should big corporations really be asking me to round up my bill for their charity?” (First Person, June 23) and “Easy answer” (Letters, July 3): I appreciate a letter-writer’s suggestion that if a charity is meaningful to a person, by all means give. Conversely, if it isn’t, don’t.
But there is an axiom in the philanthropy world: Many small gifts distributed to many charities do not have the clout of one substantial gift to one charity. We suggest choosing a single charity that is most special to a person and giving generously.
This applies to individuals as well as companies and corporations. The gift will have great impact.
M.C.H. Burgess Cobourg, Ont.
The death of me
Re Dear family: when I’m dead, make sure these clichés are not in my obituary (First Person, July 6): Thank you, Margie Taylor, for a refreshing reality check on the euphemisms littering obituaries. For a society that embraces MAID, we sure tiptoe around any direct reference to actual death. E.B. White said plain language makes perfect sense. Ms. Taylor was a producer and host at CBC Radio back when that was the mantra.
And speaking of obituaries, more from Tom Hawthorn, please.
Paul Grant Moose Jaw
Heavy hearts
Re “I cried because I had to leave my garden, not my house” (First Person, July 3): My wife and I share these emotions as we prepare to move, leaving the garden we created over the past 22 years.
Our garden includes a chestnut tree planted in memory of my wife’s father. There is also a tulip tree which we were almost certain would not survive its first winter. Much to our surprise, it now graces us with delightful flowers each June.
But among the countless memories and emotions to be confronted rests a more practical issue: what to do with the 2,000 pounds of concrete and iron in the form of statuary and planters? It will surely be costly to move and we are unlikely to have adequate space at our new home. We will, I am sure, find a solution.
As famed British gardener Vita Sackville-West wrote: “The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising and never satisfied.”
Walter Peace Burlington, Ont.
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is not at full capacity.