Police officers patrol along Albert Street in Ottawa as a 'Freedom Convoy' protest against COVID-19 restrictions reached its 14th day on Feb. 10, 2022.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Transport all humans!
Re “Eyes on the road” (Opinion, Jan. 17): The writer misses the point: Although robotaxis will not reduce traffic congestion in major cities, they have many other benefits and uses.
First, automated vehicles will be safer than many human-driven vehicles, but not perfect. Second, as costs come down, rides in robotaxis will be less expensive than regular taxis or Ubers because there is no driver to be paid. Third, for families with two cars, robotaxi rides will be a cost-effective replacement for the second car. And fourth, in low-density areas with no transit service, robotaxi rides will improve mobility.
Barrie Kirk, president of the Canadian Automated Vehicle Initiative, Ottawa
Allowing robotaxis to eat into public transit passenger revenue through artificially low prices is clearly not in the public interest. In a more just society, they would be required to pay a portion of their profits to support public transit.
A very basic regulation should include that they operate on a for-profit basis from Day 1. Costs should include road use and parking fees and fines for breach of traffic rules. The regulations should provide for the inclusion of city-core access fees, which have been successful elsewhere in reducing city congestion. These regulations would recognize that robotaxis fill a niche market for those who can afford them.
Public transport, on the other hand, accommodates those who cannot.
Len Ashby Toronto
Made in China
Re “Canada, China reach deal to cut tariffs” (Jan. 17): If Ontario Premier Doug Ford wanted to protect and bolster the Ontario auto industry, he should’ve seen that Ontarians want to be able to buy affordable electric vehicles.
Instead, the province scrapped the $5,000 EV rebate and could have invested in a provincewide charging network that made EV trips efficient and easy, instead of the nail-biting experience they currently are (for non-Tesla owners).
So now consumer demand for affordable electric cars will be met courtesy of China.
Tuula Talvila Ottawa
Doug Ford is decrying the MOU with China that will help Western canola farmers because he says it will damage Ontario’s car industry. I guess that Captain Canada costume only worked when he was campaigning for a majority government last year.
Paul Park Ottawa
Exit this way
Re “’Single exit stairway’ buildings could improve cities” (Jan. 17): Sometimes there is no option but to state that something is simply a very bad and, in this case, very dangerous idea. The notion of allowing only a single exit from multiunit buildings would set aside more than a century of experience and practice around building safety.
We are regularly reminded of the consequences in places where inadequate fire exits do not exist – most recently, and tragically, in Switzerland and Pakistan.
These sorts of safety requirements cannot be treated as “inconveniences” to building design. They are essential to public safety and need to be embedded into building design and construction. To do otherwise is to court disaster.
Mark S. Winfield, co-chair, Sustainable Energy Initiative, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Toronto
Caretakers
Re “Parenthood and pet ownership aren’t the same, judge tells former spouses” (Jan. 17): Judge Mah is correct: According to the letter of the law, pets are property and “ownership” is the appropriate word.
But this legal framework dates from a less enlightened time. We are not owners, we’re caretakers. Animals are sentient; they have an emotional life and form loving bonds. And their “best interests” should absolutely be taken into account.
At one time, wives were property. In chattel slavery, humans as well. If the letter of the law was sacrosanct, they’d still be.
Brian Green Thunder Bay
Just because Toronto can’t get it together . . .
Re “Poor public transit could hinder big-city dreams” (Jan. 17): Toronto does not represent Canada.
In the largest public transit project since 1966, Montreal is rolling out 67 kilometres of light rail with 26 stops connecting neighbourhoods and communities, with a respectable timeline and budget. This, in addition to the five-stop extension to the Blue Line into Montreal East and new rapid bus corridors.
Montreal has more than 1,000 kilometres of bicycle infrastructure supporting 13 million Bixi bike share trips in 2024.
While far from perfect, these new intermodal transport projects render Montreal and its suburbs more livable for all ages.
This article does not do justice to progress being made in urban mobility (outside Toronto).
Lucy Bartlett Montreal
This is what no competition looks like
Re “WestJet’s reconfigured aircraft are perfect for toddlers, or gluttons for punishment” (Opinion, Jan. 17): In her astute column, Robyn Urback accurately summarizes the underlying problem: WestJet is one of two airlines in Canada’s airspace duopoly. As long as there is no genuine competition (with WestJet dominating in the West and Air Canada in the East), the flying public in this country will continue to be gluttons for punishment.
The solution is obvious: Allow foreign airlines to fly passengers within Canada. To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, when an airline knows it will face competition, it concentrates the mind wonderfully. In addition, the prospect of opening Canadian skies to U.S. airlines would no doubt mollify Donald Trump.
Open skies now!
John J. Reilly Victoria
Yeah, it was not that
Re “Use of Emergencies Act not legally justified: court” (Jan. 17): I will grudgingly accept the Federal Court of Appeal ruling of government overreach in its response to the sorry spectacle visited on Ottawa residents and the national economy in 2022, with one possible exception.
The unanimous decision noted that “the Federal Court was correct to rule that the use of the Emergencies Act infringed on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: freedom of expression and protection against unreasonable search and seizure.” That said, I trust that somewhere in their 185-page judgment there was a clear acknowledgment that what transpired on the streets of Ottawa was not anything approaching a reasonable and healthy exercising of one’s right to “freedom of expression.”
And please spare me the lecture on the sacrosanct absolute of reasonable and lawful protest in all healthy democracies, which this three-week “playdate” for so-called “freedom fighters” was clearly not.
Tom Bergen Squamish, B.C.
Which grandma?
Re “Busted!” (Letters, Jan. 17): One of my long-ago faculty colleagues was once told by a student that she had not handed in her homework because she was dealing with the recent death of her grandmother. So he sent a letter of condolence to the family, who replied on behalf of the very-much-alive grandma: “Please fail her!”
Vincent Manis Burnaby, B.C.
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