Mark Carney at the B20 Summit in New Delhi on Aug. 26.ARUN SANKAR/AFP/Getty Images
Step right up
Re “Fed up with career politicians? Mark Carney could be the cure for that” (Opinion, Oct. 5): Mark Carney would probably make an excellent prime minister.
The problem is he would have to get elected in a system that demands relentless self-promotion, simple answers to complex questions, embracing the chaos of thousands of tiny local issues and the adversarial aggressiveness of the stump.
Maybe he’d be better off in the backroom as an adviser to some campaign warrior who loves retail politics.
Nigel Smith Toronto
Well spent
Re “Opposition to press for public hearings on federal outsourcing after CBSA allegations” (Oct. 6): I do not begrudge one cent of my subscription to The Globe and Mail.
Where else would we learn of the $54-million cost of the ArriveCan app, a shocking amount of taxpayer money allegedly thrown out to friends and associates of government officials, by government officials who claim no responsibility?
Thanks to the journalists for the continuing efforts to expose corruption, and The Globe for publishing this exposé.
Louise Tucker Vancouver
Local level
Re “Secret Canada: How Alberta is turning freedom of information into a Why Do You Need To Know Act” (Editorial, Oct. 3): Municipalities are more closely connected to the daily lives of residents than other levels of government.
My own frustrating experience trying to get information from my town, even through the efforts of the Ontario Ombudsman, has shown me that municipalities are as secretive and reluctant to divulge information as higher tiers of government.
Ian Chadwick Collingwood, Ont.
View from there
Re “Scott Moe stands against vulnerable trans youth” (Oct. 4): Someone once opined that conservatives don’t like anything to happen for the first time. Another offered that the worldview of conservatives is based on a foundation of discomfort with, and fear of, changes they don’t comprehend and feel they have no control over.
Perhaps this explains why their political rhetoric can be so vague and ambiguous: They find it difficult to address things they don’t understand or don’t really want to know about.
Ray Arnold Richmond, B.C.
The contenders
Re “Bonnie Crombie plans to return as Mississauga Mayor for budget process before new Liberal leader named” (Oct. 5): I would not be too quick to relegate Liberal MPP Ted Hsu to a footnote and “also running” status.
More than half of Ontarians live, like Kingston’s Mr. Hsu, outside the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa. He is already in the trenches, holding Doug Ford’s feet to the fire at Queen’s Park. I believe he brings a wider perspective than Mississauga’s Bonnie Crombie, Toronto’s Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and Ottawa’s Yasir Naqvi.
He may not be a big-city shoo-in, but he should be a strong contender.
Margaret Ford Coughlin Kingston
Billion here, billion there
Re “How Trans Mountain CEO Dawn Farrell quietly took control of Canada’s most-controversial pipeline” (Report on Business, Oct. 6): The cost of the still-uncompleted pipeline has ballooned to $30-billion, and it’s still rising. Good luck to CEO Dawn Farrell in her efforts to get a handle on things going forward.
The jury is still out on the question of whether or not that money has been well spent. There’s also a question of whether or not Canada should have a national energy – or even economic – strategy rather than allowing politicians to spend colossal amounts of money on projects that stand as one-offs. However, that’s another debate for another time and place.
Regardless, I find myself wondering how much better off Canadians would be if only $30-billion had been spent on, say, green initiatives, transition programs for fossil fuel workers, health care reforms, reconciliation, solutions for affordable housing and homelessness – and so many other burning needs.
Ken Cuthbertson Kingston
In control
Re “Statscan’s data on household wealth and income show uneven impacts of interest rates, inflation” (Report on Business, Oct. 5): The effect of rate hikes is difficult to predict. Those making higher payments on new debt have less money to spend, but savers and bondholders have more discretionary income as their revenues increase.
Since government bonds outstanding have increased, and there are more interest-bearing commercial deposits at the Bank of Canada, one analyst notes that government is actually injecting billions of dollars of new monies into the private sector, a stimulus that could mean a hotter economy and more inflation, leading to a continuing cycle of rate increases.
Rather than relying on uncertain monetary policy, we should analyze the main drivers of inflation. For those we can manage, such as corporate price-gouging, action should be taken.
For global factors beyond our control, such as grain and energy prices, we should subsidize the cost of food and heating for our most vulnerable citizens until conditions improve.
Larry Kazdan Vancouver
Grass is greener
Re “The rancher and the environmentalist” (Oct. 6): The variability of grasses and their contribution to our environment is significant.
Many plant breeders scour for undiscovered genetics. The late C. Reed Funk of Rutgers University in New Jersey walked miles in old parks and cemeteries, adding his findings to a huge pool of germplasm.
Modern agriculture has removed significant grasslands. Fifty years ago, farms were 100 to 150 acres and produced forage to feed 40 to 50 head of milking cows. Ontario then had more than 100,000 such enterprises.
Today all of Canada has about 10,000 dairy farms. Corn, soybeans and wheat is the rotation. Valuable grasses and legumes are missing.
Fortunately, a new initiative of cover crops is finding a valuable place on our lands.
Martin Pick Peterborough, Ont.
In the coal mine
Re “Forty-one per cent of Earth’s amphibians deemed threatened with extinction, assessment finds” (Oct. 5): This report reveals the two sides of our relationship with nature.
On one side, biodiversity dazzles us. We marvel at the sheer variety of Earth’s creatures, including salamanders, frogs, newts and toads. The amphibians are the stuff of fairy tales, ponds and childhood memories. Each is a masterpiece of adaptation to its environment.
But the loss of biodiversity can elude us. We read that thousands of amphibian species are threatened. Biodiversity is ebbing away – a signal that something is amiss in the environment, our life support system.
Amphibians are a call to see both sides. Treasure every living form; work to keep every living piece. By safeguarding species, we safeguard our future.
James Schaefer Professor of biology, Trent University; Peterborough, Ont.
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