Prime Minister Mark Carney during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
No, no, no
Re “Carney’s budget is a manifesto of ‘no’” (Nov. 5): Despite many valid concerns that the budget did not go far enough in austerity and shaking things up, I think analysts are failing to address the issue that Mark Carney does not have a majority. If he did, we may have seen much bolder action.
Ted Jordan Saint John
Maybe now we can call Mark Carney a “progressive conservative.”
David Lee Ottawa
Back to the future
Re “How the ‘Dollar-A-Year Men’ transformed Canada” (Opinion, Nov. 1): I was gratified to learn about Canada’s “dollar-a-year” corporate executives who “put their professional and personal lives on hold to contribute” during the Second World War. One of these honourable men was the vice-president and general manager of General Motors of Canada.
Fast-forward to 2025 and Canada is now in a trade war. GM’s contribution has been to cut production in Oshawa, Ont., and shift it to Indiana. Similarly, Stellantis is shifting production from Brampton, Ont., to Illinois.
It seems patriotism could not be bought by the billions of dollars in government subsidies to the auto sector since 1945.
Stuart Brindley Hamilton
A review of wartime service volunteered by Canada’s industrial titans hints at lessons for today.
In the event of open conflict with Russia, Canada could be a safe manufacturing haven for Europe, as it was for Britain during the Second World War. However, today’s scions are unlikely to offer much, none having the manufacturing skills of their wartime cohort.
While Canada did not build tanks or planes before the war, it did have industries that could be easily adapted to wartime need. That is not so today, but hopefully the budget will lead us there.
Vivian McAlister London, Ont.
Keep it
Re “What we need in this country is less money in politics, not more” (Opinion, Nov. 1): Ontario’s ban on corporate and union donations toward municipal election campaigns was legislated in 2016, following two years of lobbying by the non-profit Campaign Fairness.
It simply asked political candidates if they would refuse to accept corporate donations and promised to disseminate their responses to community newspapers and citizen groups. In the Lake Simcoe watershed, where efforts were concentrated, 79 per cent of respondents agreed.
Corporations, mostly developers not from the communities, had accounted for more than half of all campaign financing not provided by candidates themselves. No surprise, then, that so many pro-development candidates were elected.
Three takeaways: Success in any election should be based on character and policies, rather than ability to raise money; small groups of concerned and informed citizens can make a big difference; if someone can’t vote in a jurisdiction, they shouldn’t be able to influence that vote.
Robert Eisenberg CM, Toronto
High and dry
Re “What happens when the well runs dry? After months of drought, Nova Scotians are finding out” (Opinion, Nov. 1): The Nova Scotia government should caution well owners about buying water to fill dry wells.
The walls of shallow wells are permeable to allow groundwater to seep in. Any supplied water drains away when the surrounding groundwater table recedes to greater depths.
The Maritime drought is indeed serious. Whether it is attributable to climate change or not, this has happened before in the “Dirty Thirties,” when Prairie farms were abandoned because wells ran dry. Recharge will likely occur over the winter but, in the meantime, well owners can ensure personal water supplies with cisterns to store treated water, conservation and deep drilled wells in nearby communities.
The era of abundant clean groundwater is long past; now groundwater must be managed.
Richard Jackson Adjunct professor, earth and environmental sciences, University of Waterloo
Years and years
Re “Canadians can wait years to get drugs regulators have already deemed safe. Why?” (Nov. 1): This brings overdue attention to a critical national issue, especially for Canadians living with mental illnesses.
Research from the Mood Disorders Society of Canada found that most provinces publicly cover only 25 per cent of Health Canada-approved psychiatric drugs. For the small percentage that are provincially funded, patients wait an average of 2.5 years after approval to access them. Psychiatric medications are also twice as likely to receive negative health value assessments compared to treatments for other disorders.
Untreated or inadequately treated mental illnesses are associated with serious physical health disorders, as well as risks of suicide. Delaying access to often better-tolerated new treatments is yet another barrier for those suffering from distressing symptoms that impair functioning and quality of life.
To address this inequity, establishing faster, fairer access to psychiatric medications should become a national priority.
Diane McIntosh Psychiatrist, University of British Columbia; Vancouver
Nancy Zorzi Mood Disorders Society of Canada, Toronto
Health Canada delays approval of new drugs and advances even after safety has been demonstrated and approved elsewhere.
For example, water-soluble myelographic agents underwent safety studies and received 1978 approval in Europe and the United States, years before Canada.
Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator was approved in the U.S. in 1996 to treat acute stroke, following an international study published in 1995 – Canada delayed approval for two more years, despite Canadian centres being active in the trial.
Positron emission tomography scanning was also delayed by years after approval in the U.S. and other countries.
Health Canada claims high safety standards. Maybe it is restrained by the thalidomide debacle, when deformed babies were born after approval for morning sickness.
Does Health Canada punish Canadians by delaying approvals to protect itself from past errors? Does it instead allow Canadians to suffer rather than take advantage now of care that might be life-saving?
Allan Fox O.Ont, FRCPC; Toronto
Angels in the outfield
Re “The Blue Jays and the power of love” (Nov. 3): Thanks to the Blue Jays, I had several wonderful weeks with my long-departed mother.
My father’s job required that he and my mother attend many formal functions. Unfortunately, his salary did not merit big expenditures on seldom-used dresses.
My mother spent hours making the most beautiful dresses I could imagine. She loved to listen to baseball games as she sewed.
My friends’ mothers baked cookies when they came home from school. Mine shushed me as she listened to a play. Nothing else mattered but her being able to envision the excitement and tension in the stadium.
So I held a bit of a grudge about professional baseball. That said, when the Jays started their surge to the World Series, I became glued to the television.
I was doubly thrilled when I felt my mother’s presence right there along with me. What a wonderful bonus this time with her has been.
Suzanne Delaute Allan London, Ont.
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