Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a video conference with a group of award-winning teachers at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Oct. 5.SPUTNIK/Reuters
Bridge over
Re A Royal Misunderstanding (Oct. 1): Contributor Douglas Sanderson speaks a truth that all Canadians should hear and take responsibility for, as he concludes. The broken relationship Canada has with Indigenous peoples has benefitted me as a settler woman, over and over again.
I grew up white along the Saskatchewan River in The Pas, Man., and Mr. Sanderson is from Opaskwayak Cree Nation on the other side. We were divided by more than a river; we were divided by government policies and systems that gave me advantages and benefits.
Mr. Sanderson and Andrew Stobo Sniderman have written an excellent book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation, detailing Canada’s history in what I think is a new way. They show us a way forward.
Consider reading and learning more about our beautiful country. It is up to all of us.
Sandra Hayes-Gardiner Calgary
Russia reaction
Re There Can Be No End To This War That Leaves Putin In Power (Opinion, Oct. 1): Ukraine has no choice but to keep fighting; “when your back is against the wall it stiffens.” In the last seven months, the West has figured out what many Ukrainians have known to be true throughout most of their history: Russia will not tolerate the existence of a sovereign Ukraine.
Ninety years ago, my father survived the Holodomor, the genocidal famine unleashed on Ukraine by Stalin. Fast forward to the post-Soviet era, and Ukrainians are once again fighting for their very existence.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken summed it up well in a recent speech to the United Nations Security Council: “If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.”
Natalie Hryciuk Surrey, B.C.
Re Love It Or Leave It (Opinion, Oct. 1): A number of contradictions are identified in what people believe and do relative to the war in Ukraine, particularly those living in Latvia. People of Russian origin sympathize with Russia and other ethnic Russians in parts of war-torn Ukraine. Others, of other national origins, feel differently.
As a Latvian Canadian whose parents and grandparents fled their country at the end of the Second World War, just ahead of the Soviet army, I also see things differently than many people of Russian origin all over the world. From my perspective, Russians have never been able to form a society in which personal freedoms matter more than getting along with a long series of autocratic rulers.
Until Russians deal with their own undemocratic tendencies, they will likely never have a stable county – and the world will never really be at peace.
Karlis Poruks Edmonton
Home and the range
Re Everyone Will Be A Victim Of The Energy Crisis, Even The Electric Car Industry (Report on Business, Oct. 1): A recent British Royal Automobile Club report shows how much electric vehicle charging costs have increased there in recent months, which is true. But more than 80 per cent of EV charging is done at home, which the RAC concedes.
On that basis, even in Britain where energy prices are much higher than here, EVs are still about half as expensive to run as gas vehicles. I have monitored my own costs: An overnight charge, giving me over 500 kilometres of driving range, is about $5 to $6.
Add the fact that EV service and maintenance costs are a small fraction of those for gas vehicles, and the comparison should not even be close.
Luke Mastin Toronto
This tweet has been deleted
Re Conservatives Decide To Compete In The Victimhood Olympics (Opinion, Oct. 1): I am struck that this column is based almost entirely on a battle festering on Twitter. I share comedian Dave Chappelle’s opinion that Twitter is really the “bathroom wall” of communication today.
Considering the significant damage that many world politicians have wrought through that medium, I would be happy to see serious people abandon it. Tweeting is really for the birds.
Paul Moulton Stevensville, Ont.
Reconsideration
Re Five Years After #MeToo, How To Feel About Art And Evil? (Opinion, Oct. 1): Moral conflict in art is examined, such as the controversies that have long shadowed Woody Allen versus his prolific career of lionized films.
Moral conflict also appears in innocuously packaged meat at the grocery store, yet there’s nothing benign about the chronology of how those animals get to my shopping cart. Conflict also appears in the thrill of professional hockey, yet it’s based on aggression and homogeneity.
I recently re-recorded Mr. Allen’s Manhattan. It features a young Mariel Hemingway and Mr. Allen himself playing her much older, disillusioned lover. Innocuous fiction? Moral conflict?
I couldn’t get myself to watch it again. I erased it.
Mel Simoneau Gatineau, Que.
Born to run
Re How To Make A Running Habit Stick (Pursuits, Oct. 1): At 62, I’ve been an avid runner since the late 1970s.
From 1979 to 1987 I had an eight-year running streak, then missed one day when driving non-stop from Toronto to the Newfoundland ferry in Nova Scotia. Since then I have not missed a day, a “who cares” 35-year streak. I’ve achieved my three-hour marathon goal and run my normal 8K at about five minutes per kilometre.
My observation for running as a passion, for what it’s worth, is three-pronged: The hardest part is getting out the door; there’s no need for a watch; there’s no such thing as a bad run.
Ward Jones Richmond Hill, Ont.
Read more
Re How Our Wanderings Reward Us (Opinion, Oct. 1): I began to think about my own shopping and browsing excursions, but then I reflected on my reading habits with The Globe and Mail.
On weekdays, online, I focus on headlines, the world section, the top two or three opinion pieces and the editorial, but nothing else regularly. Then, of course, an algorithm lead me to other related articles. I am shopping.
Contrast that with Friday and Saturday, when I have the print edition delivered. Although I don’t read every story, I page through every section and find all kinds of interesting articles unrelated to my usual fare. I am browsing. In fact, if I hadn’t “browsed” last Saturday, I would have missed this opinion, which first appeared online Sept. 30.
Digital news is here to stay, but I wonder what we miss when not browsing through print media. Perhaps our perspectives would broaden or change?
Arlene Reesor Kitchener, Ont.
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