The Bald Range wildfire, which has forced 20,000 people out of their homes in the south Okanagan region, burns in Summerland, B.C., on Aug. 8.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Unlikely story
Re “Concession Carney faces his Neville Chamberlain moment” (Report on Business, Aug. 11): I found this offensive in more than one respect.
Branding Mark Carney as “Concession Carney” feels like a cheap Trump-like trick. Making the analogy to Neville Chamberlain seems twice as detestable.
During a sensitive time of negotiation, this opinion is more like a gift to Donald Trump and an own goal for Canada. It could have offered advice on effective negotiation strategies and tactics instead of making comparisons to Chamberlain, as if the situations are of similar historical significance – and consequence.
Leave sensationalism to influencers.
Amnon Zohar Toronto
Deeper look
Re “Canadian murder rate has biggest year-over-year decline in 40 years, Statscan says” (Aug. 10): We should be cautious about over-celebrating what may be a short-term decline in crime.
The 2025 Canadian homicide rate of 1.61 per 100,000 has indeed declined from 2.3 in 2022, but not matched the lows of 1.5 in 2013 and 2014. Further, regional variations ask: clear trends or statistical noise?
In 2025, the homicide rate in Saskatoon declined while it increased in Regina. It was relatively flat in Vancouver compared to 2010. And in Toronto, it had increased in 2024 compared to 2010, until last year’s dramatic decline.
The backdrop is the high-profile debate about longer sentences and tighter bail. Both disproportionately affect vulnerable populations such as Indigenous people and those with mental health issues.
We should be careful about using short-term trends, however hopeful, for significant policy changes, however well-meaning.
Chester Fedoruk Toronto
Clear definition
Re “Socialism-Democrats” (Editorial Cartoon, Aug. 10): The cartoon of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani dragging the stubborn U.S. Democrat donkey toward socialism brought to mind something that happened to me on a cruise a few years ago.
The first evening, my husband and I met the couple we would be dining with for the next 28 days. They were from Kentucky and when they found out we were from Canada, the gentleman began our first conversation in his Southern drawl saying, “Canadian? You’se all communists up there.”
Needless to say, we moved to another table for the rest of the cruise. But this made us realize that there are many Americans who don’t know the difference between socialism and communism. (Perhaps there are Canadian who also lack this knowledge.)
This lack of understanding is often used by right-wing politicians to prevent the election of people such as Mr. Mamdani who want to do some good for all citizens, not just those with money.
Rosemarie Sherban Nanaimo, B.C.
How prepared?
Re “Evacuees recount fleeing B.C. wildfires as Ottawa readies military to assist with relief efforts” (Aug. 11): I wonder what preventative measures were taken by government?
Were hot spots identified and targeted for 24/7 surveillance? Were roads strategically built?
Is the BC Wildfire Service equipped with enough drones, water bombers, helicopters, pilots and recruits? Is its budget fit for purpose? Are detection and reaction times fast enough?
These apocalyptic wildfires have left me almost paralyzed with distress, mainly because I feel we have been radically unprepared as more than 20,000 British Columbians have been displaced. My heart goes out to them, but I know that’s not enough. We are in the danger zone.
Climate change is here and we should reduce our fossil fuel footprint, especially for our kids and grandkids. No more pipelines and liquefied natural gas plants. Full stop.
L.H. MacKenzie Vancouver
Re “More than 200 foreign firefighters headed to B.C. to battle wildfires” (Aug. 6): Did I get this right? Yukon First Nations Wildfire is a company that trains and equips crews across the territory.
However, because of restrictive contracts that prevent them from leaving their traditional territory, we are hiring firefighters from Australia, Mexico and New Zealand.
Wow.
Brian Murphy Calgary
Oh, the humanities
Re “What’s university even for? Schools are broke, and degrees are worth less and less” (Report on Business, Aug. 10): This supposes the humanities will continue on, but prescribes mandatory courses for liberal arts students in “math, finance, science, business and technology (especially artificial intelligence), which help students experience the practical relevance of a liberal arts education.” (Science students require no such supervision, it appears).
Prescriptions of this kind already exist in high schools. University students should have more freedom to explore, sample and discover knowledge while honouring their unique inner gifts. As for AI, English teachers are on the front line of promoting humane ethics in the face of this inhuman, energy-devouring technology. The humanities exercise natural intelligence.
The public may mistrust universities, given government attacks on universities in the United States or Doug Ford dismissing “basket-weaving courses” as useless. But a balanced synergy among studies of business, education, liberal arts and sciences may produce more ethical generations of citizens, and even close the income gap highlighted here.
David Gay Edmonton
“So true,” I said to myself at first, reading this critique of “broke” schools and degrees “worth less and less.”
But then I thought back to the Danube drying up in Europe, and to all the coverage of British Columbia on fire. I realized that a recommendation to train more engineers and MBAs is not a solution.
Imagine a different argument for universities: Train more philosophers to define what simpler, well-lived lives look like; expand political science departments to think on how to elect politicians who see public service as an end in itself; ask more literature graduates to describe alternatives to the consumption-obsessed economy; let new historians show how earlier times were better in some aspects; enable more sociologists to suggest how to fight back against accelerated inequality; educate more economists to work out alternatives to corporate profit-seeking – all as this sorry world enters the endgame of climate breakdown.
John Goyder Oakville, Ont.
Animal welfare
Re “The wolf cull in B.C. must be audited to determine if humane standards are being used” (Aug. 8): I have been signing petitions to this and other deaf provincial governments for 10 years to stop this inhumane treatment of wolves, a top predator.
As pointed out, caribou populations began to decline due to habitat loss, which continues to this day. Their habitat was destroyed many years ago when dams were built on their migration pathways, and forest roads were built to facilitate mining and oil and gas exploration. Such destruction of old growth forest only facilitated the predation of caribou by wolves and other wild animals.
As B.C. taxpayers, we should insist there be an independent audit of this $13-million-plus program. It’s also time to bring more protections to wildlife and other species at risk.
Marianne Freeman Vancouver
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