U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event to present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II crew members at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday.Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press
By any other name
Re “Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario. What does it actually change?” (Aug. 28): What Washington has produced is a federal alias, binding on no harbour master, no shipping chart and no Canadian.
That is why the official reply worked. Mark Carney supplied the etymology and returned to the file. The corners of Doug Ford’s mouth darted up and vanished.
Shared water is a poor prop. Countries that want leverage build markets, routes and institutions. Countries that want applause rename the furniture. One of those habits travels. The other washes off the next time it rains.
David Woodard Tampere, Finland
It’s pitiful that Donald Trump has tarnished the art of bullying. The President is worse than the typical sandbox bully who has at least a modicum of self-respect by pouncing on his victim mercilessly. The renaming is shameful as it exposes the limits of his intellectual breadth.
Instead of engaging in smart riposte, Trump chose to lower himself into the abyss by resorting to the equivalent of nonsensical non sequiturs. What has renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America to do with tariff wars?
Norman M Ostonal New Westminster, B.C.
We do not need to argue with the Trump administration about the name of Lake Ontario. Let us simply call it Lake Ontario on the north side and Lake America on the south side. We can even have a fence erected in the water to mark the boundary between our two countries and call it the Trump Line – if he pays for it.
Aiva Vinters Toronto
Children in Canada and the United States have long been taught a mnemonic for the Great Lakes: HOMES. In Canada, we will continue to refer to Lake Ontario, so HOMES it shall remain. In the United States, however, will schoolchildren be taught a new mnemonic – SHAME?
Drew Nameth Burlington, Ont.
Surely Canadians can afford a grand gesture to resuscitate negotiations with our neighbours. In recognition of decades of joint stewardship of the Great Lakes and, for that mater, all North American watersheds, I ask municipal governments to name the discharge pipes and outflows from their waste water treatment facilities after Donald J. Trump.
Naming these vital elements of civic infrastructure in his honour would highlight our collective appreciation of his leadership in these murky, turbulent times.
James Thomson Halifax
Economic consequences
Re “Trade war casts shadow over Carney’s investment summit” (Aug. 25): Canada is the world’s second-largest country by area but barely top 40 in population. With abundant natural resources and a world-class work force, Canada should rank among the highest in prosperity and opportunity per capita. Instead, by GDP per capita, Canada trails more than 40 U.S. states.
Canadians thrice elected recent governments that, rather than focusing on nation building, dispensed generations-built wealth to causes that felt good but weakened the country materially. They then elected a leader skilled in dictating interest rates and bank reserves, but little practised in negotiating. As many prosperity builders know, bankers are accessories to prosperity; they do not create it.
That recent trade negotiations were tough should not be a surprise, mostly because Canada spent more than a decade making itself vulnerable. One day, Canadians may appreciate Donald Trump for slapping us in the face with reality and teaching us to be best prepared.
John Budreski Whistler, B.C.
Who’s in charge?
Re “Ford must get grip on soaring transit costs” (Editorial, Aug. 26): The costs of recent transit projects in Ontario are head-scratchingly outrageous. And, yes, Doug Ford should do something about it. But I always think that the cost managers on these projects are either incompetent, asleep or impotent. Why are we faced with ballooning budgets as faits accomplis?
Good project management should be baked in. When things go south or unexpected events crop up, put the brakes on early so plans can be quickly recalibrated. Or are we just victims of a rueful bait and switch, where low estimates win jobs and scope creep brings in profit? In either case, we have to get a handle on this appalling situation.
Nigel Smith Toronto
Here’s your bill
Re “Canada needs to be strategic as it hits back” (Aug. 27): Watching U.S. media outlets recently, I see the trade dispute has already dropped to the bottom of the news.
We should wake up Americans with export taxes on oil, potash, natural gas, electricity and other commodities. Calls to shut off or disrupt commodities or dramatically increase tariffs should be non-starters.
Price increases from export taxes would be enough for the average American to feel it, but not enough for businesses to switch suppliers or to provoke a major U.S. response. Look at the irritation the alcohol ban has caused. Imagine the White House phone lines when oil executives, farmers, truckers and others start to call.
Do not count on U.S. midterm elections to change the White House’s course on tariffs. To paraphrase our Prime Minister, we must be masters of our own destiny. High time we start.
Neal St. Jacques Toronto
Re “This whole trade war thing is stupid” (Aug. 26): Of the many avoidable perversities I see ushered in by tariffs – an inflationary tool, a regressive tax disproportionately punishing middle- and low-income consumers, an artificial protector of uncompetitive industries – the most fundamental and overlooked obscenity is the unsolicited government intervention in private business transactions.
In Donald Trump’s case, the stated pretext is stopping foreign countries from “ripping off” the United States. But countries don’t import goods, businessmen do – and usually for sound reasons that lead to taxable profit, jobs and other benefits to the importer’s country. Lost in the Sturm und Drang of tariffs is this paradoxical abandonment of free market principles by an ostensibly conservative administration, leading to the usurping of private discipline by public ignorance.
Cue Ronald Reagan’s famous line about the scariest words in the English language: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
Steven Richards Vancouver
Heed your elders
Re “Advice I got years ago is helping me make peace with aging” (First Person, Aug. 24): On the wisdom which comes from having been around for more than a few decades: When I tell contemporaries that the most difficult thing I do each day is get my socks on in the morning, I get nods of wise agreement; to relate such an episode to younger people would be a waste, although such wisdom from experience awaits them.
How old am I? I used to be 39, but then I lost count.
Ian Guthrie Ottawa
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