WestJet flight attendants on strike picket at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Sunday.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Word for word
Re “The waning weight of the word of the U.S. president” (Editorial, Aug. 3): Is the U.S. President’s word his bond?
In light of a US$40-trillion debt, generations of fiscal irresponsibility and a Federal Reserve presided over by a Trump appointee, it is worth asking whether America’s bond is its bond.
Ron Beram Gabriola, B.C.
Work it out
Re “WestJet labour dispute is really a proxy battle between Carney and unions” (Report on Business, Aug. 3): A year ago, many passengers were equally inconvenienced by an Air Canada strike. No one needed a crystal ball to predict how flight attendants with other airlines would react, except perhaps WestJet’s CEO.
Isn’t that complete incompetence on his part and blatant disregard for his customers?
Jocelyn Stoate Ottawa
When union members go on strike at a private company, there is impetus on both sides to reach an agreement. This is set against the presence of competition, as other companies often sell similar products or services.
Strikes by government or essential workers, on the other hand, present a different situation. Government and essential services have little or no competition. When on strike, these services are withheld for everyone. These employers are often forced to accept the demands that labour puts forth.
There should be a different set of laws that recognize these disparities between private and public strikes in order to provide a more even playing field for labour relations.
Gordon Forbes Peterborough, Ont.
Burning issues
Re “While Europe burns, Canada’s water bombers are too few and far between” (July 31): We are apparently the only country that manufactures specialized water bombers and there is a years-long backlog. If ever there was a heritage industry that our governments should be supporting in growth, this is it.
Imagine if we sent a dozen water bombers (covered in the maple leaf, of course) each to Spain and France, and maybe to California. Our aerospace industry would grow with Canadian jobs, expertise and raw materials, and we would have the international relations score of the century.
Drew Bednar Hamilton
It is only too true that the government has missed the boat by failing to ensure continued and even expanded production of Canadair water bombers. The sad truth, unfortunately, is that these devastating wildfires are undoubtedly the consequence of ongoing global warming.
Even if we had acted in a timely manner to deploy large number of water bombers in France and other jurisdictions, including Canada, it would not solve the problem. At best, they can mitigate the damage caused by these seasonal infernos, but have no impact whatsoever on the underlying causes of these environmental disasters.
Scott Burbidge Port Williams, N.S.
Old is new
Re “Canada’s diplomats have been dispatched on a new mission” (Aug. 3):After promoting Canadian trade and investment and troubleshooting for Canadian companies for more than 13 years as ambassador to Jordan, Indonesia, Turkey and the Philippines, I’m now informed that those weren’t Canadian priorities.
My colleagues who negotiated free-trade agreements with the United States, Europe, Chile, South Korea and other partners will be equally perplexed. What were we thinking?
Promoting and defending Canadian economic interests has always been a foreign affairs priority. It may surprise some readers, but Canadian diplomats can actually pursue more than one priority at a time.
Whether it’s defending Canadian values, branding Canada as a place to study, work or live, or helping Canadians who find themselves in distress overseas, this is what we did and, I’m confident, will continue to do.
John Holmes Ottawa
Beginning more than 50 years ago, Canada had a pronounced presence in the world with its Understanding Canada initiative and the International Council for Canadian Studies. These programs lasted until 2012 when they were terminated by the federal government, despite yielding strong economic and diplomatic returns by building foreign relationships and research ties.
Additionally, foreign interest sparked by events such as the 1982 Constitution were backed by federal grants for international scholars. Programs expanded into Europe and Asia, including new centres in Central Europe and India.
Now the government is trying once again to restore Canada to international recognition on the global stage. Why couldn’t it just stay with the original program which would have institutionalized our message to the world, instead of reverting to crisis management?
Adrian Heaps Toronto
Message received
Re “This message is brought to you by: partisanship” (Editorial, Aug. 4): Ridiculous amounts of taxpayer dollars being spent by various levels of government, all to tell us what a wonderful job they are doing in developing our economy and protecting us (whatever that means).
These advertisements have proliferated to the extent that they are annoying, not informative and have me reaching to change the channel or for the mute button every time one pops up. I guess when there is little empirical evidence of economic, social and cultural progress, governments have to do something to create the illusion that it is happening.
Surely more could be done with this money to create value for Canadians.
Neville Taylor Toronto
Thank you for shining a spotlight on and calling out Progressive Conservative advertising in Ontario for what it is: off-season electioneering.
Expensive spending on full-colour, often full-page ads touting “how wonderful we are” should be deemed a waste of taxpayer money. These funds would be better spent on addressing health care and education in the province, rather than self-congratulatory piffle.
Richard Mili Toronto
Eye-opener
Re “Hate absolutely has its place in Canada. It has been normalized, ignored and excused” (July 29): As a lifelong resident of Montreal, I am no stranger to heinous acts of antisemitism that seemingly occur with growing frequency.
However, as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, I have not felt unsafe in my city and country and still don’t to a large extent. But reading this did engender anxiety, as every reported incident of antisemitism does.
I live in a neighbourhood with many Hasidic families and several synagogues. Lately, I’ve been more alert to a possible incident occurring near me. Assaults on some of my neighbours have recently occurred.
This reads as a crucial warning of what may happen if our politicians and the general populace continue to believe that attacks on fellow Canadians in the Jewish community are just a passing phase.
All Canadians should be worried about the so-called normalization of hate, and do everything in their power to stop it in its perilous tracks.
Goldie Olszynko Montreal
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