Prime Minister Mark Carney addresses the media at the Canadian Embassy in Paris, France, on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Downhill
Re “Canada, allies rally behind Greenland amid U.S. annexation threats” (Jan. 7): Mark Carney’s statements regarding U.S. threats to Greenland have proven to me, once again, that he is a skillful politician who knows, above all, when to speak and how loudly.
At first, cognizant of the need to keep our head down given Donald Trump’s inclusion of Canada on his annexation hit list, he said very little, just that the people of Greenland should determine their own fate.
But now, within a cocoon of European leaders, he added meat to the menu by announcing that our Governor-General and Foreign Minister would visit Greenland to open a consulate.
Hopefully the distractible, irascible U.S. President didn’t notice.
Michael Craig Owen Sound, Ont.
Wrong answers
Re “Canada needs new pipeline urgently to counter Venezuelan oil surge, Strathcona chair says” (Report on Business, Jan. 6): Which argument is preferred: that the market for oil in Asia is vast, and therefore Canada needs to spend billions of dollars on a new pipeline?
Or that the window for selling oil to Asia is short, and will be shorter once Venezuelan oil recovers from years of neglect, and therefore Canada needs to spend billions on a new pipeline?
Some will think it better to spend the money diversifying the economy in other directions.
Nicholas Tracy Fredericton
So what?
Re “What’s a Canadian MP doing as an adviser for a foreign government?” (Jan. 6): I find it disappointing, to say the least, to read a lengthy, handwringing epistle about the potential conflicts of interest Chrystia Freeland may have had as an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky during her remaining time as an MP.
Don’t we have bigger things to worry about than what a long-serving elected public servant, former cabinet minister and deputy prime minister might have done to undermine Canada?
For goodness’ sake, let’s cut Ms. Freeland some slack. Whatever one thinks of the results, she has worked long and hard with the best interests of Canada and Canadians at heart.
Neville Taylor Toronto
Park it
Re “High-speed rail is hardly the highest priority for Canada” (Jan. 2): I, too, believe that high-speed rail is a red herring.
I can’t believe we will get car-addicted travellers off the highways. The convenience of door-to-door trips is probably insurmountable.
Delivering a fast, reliable train trip is only a tiny part of the attraction. A passenger has to be okay with the price, buy a ticket, pack their stuff, get to a station, load their stuff on a train, unload it off the train, probably rent a car, then do it all again on return.
Seems like not a big deal, but all those microsteps are more like little hurdles that many Canadians don’t want to take on. And if any part of the journey is unpleasant, that is a lost customer.
I do, however, think there might be a way to break our auto dependency: road tolls. All power to the politician who has the courage to implement them.
Nigel Smith Toronto
If someone were to drive to Montreal from Toronto as often as I do (six times a year), they would notice that Highway 401 is basically full. Add to that the length of time it takes to get out of Toronto and into Montreal once the suburbs are hit, and suddenly a three-hour trip from downtown to downtown in comfort looks awfully appealing.
As for more urgent competing projects, well, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
The most densely populated areas of Canada will only become more so. It’s time we connect ourselves to each and join the 21st century in the process.
Three cheers for Alto.
David Roy Toronto
Pick your poison
Re “Not only is food more expensive, it is also becoming ultraprocessed garbage” (Report on Business, Jan. 1): I believe the producers of ultraprocessed food are following the same playbook used so successfully by the tobacco industry in the 1950s, and with similar destructive consequences for human health and health care costs.
The food industry has created the snack industry. They have worked diligently to convince parents and educators that children need to eat multiple times during the day to maintain concentration and energy levels, among other things. In my view, they are deranging human physiology at a very early age to create product demand for a lifetime.
In 2015, Canadian nephrologist Jason Fung first exposed the effect of disinformation on snacking and the quality of food designed to fill this demand. The health problems created by the producers of these products include obesity, hypertension, heart disease and diabetes.
Regulating food labelling and controlling food disinformation should be as important for public health as the fight against smoking.
Walter O’Rourke Centre Wellington, Ont.
Unnatural selection
Re “A few glimmers of light in the darkest of years” (Editorial, Jan. 1): The birth of a single southern resident orca hardly equates to “the resurgence of the orca whale population.”
Most orca pregnancies end in miscarriages, and calves are lucky to live more than a few months. Federal listing as a critically endangered species hasn’t helped; the government acknowledged in 2025 that measures taken under the Species at Risk Act have largely failed to initiate recovery. Lobbying against effective intervention abounds.
Evolution produces finely tuned predator-prey relationships that work beautifully, until humans show up. The decline in southern resident orcas has mirrored a much steeper decline in wild chinook numbers and size associated with factors such as overfishing, warming oceans and spawning rivers blocked by dams.
The birth of an orca calf is a beautiful thing, but the end result may still be extinction thanks to death by a thousand slow cuts, and the economic inconvenience of effectively protecting a majestic species.
David Greer Victoria
Come again?
Re “Canada has been silent on one of the most frightening stories of our time” (Jan. 1): Lots of worrying these days about what artificial intelligence means for our future.
A friend told me about his recent ChatGPT experience: He was interested in hotel accommodation in Ho Chi Minh City and wanted a traditional Vietnamese place in the range of six to eight floors. He was offered the usual modern offerings, which my friend complained were not at all satisfactory.
Silence, than a question. “Would you be interested in sleeping on the street?”
Is the apparent developing sense of humour enough to settle our fears?
Peter Woolstencroft Waterloo, Ont.
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