Last leg
Re “Before electing Mark Carney as leader, the Liberals should pause for a moment of reflection” (Opinion, March 1): So “voters can smell political opportunism a mile away,” whether a premature election or handouts of “free” cheques. Tell that to Doug Ford.
While I find it disgraceful for the Conservatives to put forward a candidate who campaigns on a “broken” Canada, yet coddled the Ottawa trucker protests, I don’t think it’s critical that Mark Carney isn’t yet in Parliament. His experience and easy manner on the hustings has stood him well thus far.
Watching the Liberal leaders’ debate, my impression was of an impressive dream team: Mr. Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould, even the relatively unknown Frank Baylis. Let’s not make the mistake of assuming they’re implacable enemies, as with fratricidal leadership battles of times past.
We need a team to take on the increasingly erratic state to the south. Polls suggest this may be the one, as Pierre Poilievre’s numbers sink fast.
Jeffrey Keay Toronto
We should dismiss Mark Carney because he is a politically inexperienced banker? Hardly, his portfolio is full of dealings within trade wars and economic crisis management.
This trade war will be the most far-reaching economic crisis Canada has fought. A leader should show he can disseminate what the challenges of a North American-style Brexit brings.
I believe Mr. Carney is precisely what Canada needs.
Robert Marcucci Toronto
Bottom out
Re “Brace yourselves: whatever crazy, awful things Trump may have done to date, it’s only going to get worse” (Opinion, March 1): “Wow” was my first response to this blunt, chilling statement of a most inconvenient truth.
One hopes this assessment is exaggerated and the prediction embellished to spur us to action, but I don’t think so. The history is there to see, and the extrapolation not a difficult step.
Canada and the rest of the free world should conclude that, while Donald Trump remains in power, the United States cannot be considered a stable partner in any areas of past reliance, including trade, aid, defence, intelligence and democratic freedoms. The country is no longer “leader of the free world,” or even a participant.
Severance from America leaves a huge hole that needs to be filled. Time for Canada and others to step up.
Mark Roberts Calgary
Without such reminders, we risk being numbed. I recently penned my own reminder, based on The Samurai Creed.
He has no policy; he makes retaliation his policy.
He has no strength; he makes lying his strength.
He has no integrity; he makes slipperiness his integrity.
He has no vision; he makes destruction his vision.
He has no courage; he makes self-aggrandizement his courage.
He has no moral compass; he makes opportunism his moral compass.
He has no loyalty; he makes self-interest his loyalty.
He has no friends; he makes those useful to him his friends.
He has no compassion; he makes petulance his compassion.
He has no dignity; he makes victimhood his dignity.
He has no accountability; he makes blaming others his accountability.
He has no insight; he makes ridicule his insight.
May we help each other stay true.
Philip Shepherd Toronto
I think Donald Trump is still too cartoonish, and too concerned about how people perceive him, to be considered a dictator. For that to happen, all the people subject to his whim must be afraid for more than just their pocketbooks.
I don’t see him having the bones for that yet.
Lee Handel Victoria
Reply all
Re “What’s so wrong with Elon Musk’s e-mail asking bureaucrats to sum up their work?” (Report on Business, March 3): Yes it is. Elon Musk is not their boss, or even their boss’s boss.
He does not understand their jobs and makes little attempt to do so. His stated purpose is to fire thousands of people, but without rational analysis of the impact. All this is disconnected from any notion of accountability, and he poses with a chainsaw to reinforce the point.
Putting people in fear of losing their jobs will not aid in meeting standards of performance, productivity and transparency. It will more likely make people afraid.
To instill fear is a surefire way to guarantee employees will not be able to do their jobs.
Catherine McKay Hanover, Ont.
No, Elon Musk’s question to government employees isn’t so bad. But it’s the wrong question.
It’s clear to me what Mr. Musk is doing has little or nothing to do with government efficiency and likely everything to do with who controls government funds and information. When he’s finished restructuring the U.S. civil service, he would be in a position to manipulate billions of dollars and access information to expand his own business interests. He and Donald Trump seem to be running their businesses out of the White House and taking full advantage of their privileged positions.
The right questions: Who is protecting the interests of Americans as their government is dismantled? How will Mr. Musk be held accountable?
Carol Soloman Toronto
Recent history
Re “Artifacts from the frenzied early days of the COVID pandemic” (Opinion, March 1): These unhappy pandemic memories include prominent and ubiquitous social-distancing signs. Sadly, we now know these were anti-social distancing rules that society, especially the young, are feeling the effects of now and for years to come.
As in all policy decisions, beware of unintended consequences.
Ted Brough Woolwich, Ont.
Bored to…
Re “Just (don’t) do it: The power of being bored” (Editorial, March 1): Brilliantly contrarian in our hyperactive era. While productivity gurus peddle perpetual motion, you have uncovered the ultimate life hack: Born of boredom, strategic inaction produces the poetry of idleness.
William Wordsworth lamented, “The world is too much with us; late and soon, / getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.” Thus we need not be more striving, but less.
This matches Robert Frost’s definition of poetry as “a momentary stay against confusion.” Boredom, however, grants a permanent vacation from it.
Boredom, rather than a character flaw, has heroic potential. While others exhaust themselves in pursuit of optimization, masters of boredom sit back, make fewer mistakes and somehow emerge ahead.
Consider the return on investment: By embracing boredom, we sidestep the cascade of corrections that follows hasty action. That’s inertia defying the entropy undoing the orderly universe.
How’s that for the efficiency and beauty of boredom? Poetic justification for doing nothing.
Tony D’Andrea Toronto
..................................................................................................................................
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