Passengers wait to be tested after they arrive at Toronto's Pearson airport after mandatory COVID-19 testing took effect for international arrivals in Mississauga, Ont. on Feb. 15.CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters
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Tests no more
Re Ottawa To End Pre-entry Tests For Fully Vaccinated Travellers (March 17): If the judgment of the government is that testing is no longer necessary for fully vaccinated travellers to Canada, then make it effective immediately. By setting an effective date at the end of the month, the government is penalizing and inconveniencing thousands of travelling Canadians returning home in March.
It also sets up an absurd situation: Test positive on March 31 and travellers can’t come home. But the next day? No test, no problem.
Good luck rebooking flights and finding accommodations while waiting to return home.
Joe Tomasik Hamilton
My travelling companion and I completed a six-week Florida vacation on Feb. 27. The last 10 days of our annual trip was fraught with frustration in arranging molecular tests and using the ArriveCAN app.
Any senior who travelled internationally was forced to carry a smartphone and be adequately versed in entering and transferring data. In the end, our test results were negative. But these restrictions seemed to be implemented with little thought for the impact on fully vaccinated seniors.
Don Forsey Toronto
What is acceptable?
Re The West Is Allowing Vladimir Putin To ‘Escalate’ His Way To Victory (March 18): Western leaders should hold a collective referendum: Should NATO challenge Vladimir Putin’s threats and send up planes over Ukraine?
Some worry about the end of civilization. Others worry that if fear (and fear of risk) overrides our deepest convictions, then what’s the point? “Civilization” would be a failed project.
Too many words and “heartbreaking decisions” leave me feeling lost. Please: a straightforward question. We the people will respond.
If nothing else, some hard numbers might tell us who we really are and the value of certain ideas at this juncture in civilized time.
John Brooke Montreal
Re Must-see TV? (Letters, March 18): Letter-writers express disagreement with banning Russia’s RT television channel, admitting that it is propaganda but Canadians should have the opportunity to decide for themselves.
Unfortunately, our recent experience in North America demonstrates to me that a sizable portion of the population is incapable of recognizing disinformation and propaganda. I would therefore say banning RT is entirely justified.
Andrew Matthews Toronto
Re Zelensky Calls On U.S. For Greater Defence (March 17): It has been said that the use of chemical weapons by Russia will be the “line in the sand.” I don’t understand this rationale.
Such statements imply that it is more acceptable to kill people with bombs, bullets and starvation. What rationale propels a country to stand by until a different method of killing is used?
Howard Bargman Toronto
Police reform
Re Radical Change Is Overdue In Thunder Bay (March 18): The reporting on policing in Thunder Bay has horrified me.
The entire leadership of the force is under investigation, suspended or both, and the police board continues to express confidence in its senior officers. I conclude that systemic racism is embedded into policing doctrine when investigations into multiple Indigenous deaths are judged to be inadequate and reopened.
Columnist Tanya Talaga proposes a remake of policing under Indigenous leadership, surely a concept worth considering – but almost certain to be ignored as this disaster continues. What a horror show.
Frank Malone Aurora, Ont.
Controversies and concerns about the roles of, and relationships between, police services boards, municipal councils, police chiefs and provincial governments were exhaustively considered and discussed in nationwide research that I and others undertook with the Canadian Police College as long ago as the early 1980s. Yet to judge by recent articles, nothing has changed in nearly 40 years.
An 85-page summary of the findings and recommendations of that research can be found in Vol. 9, No. 1 (1985) of the Canadian Police College Journal. If meaningful reform of municipal police governance had been undertaken then, perhaps we would have been spared from the same problems and concerns in the third decade of the 21st century.
Philip Stenning Eccleshall, England
Charest’s challenge
Re A Charest Win Could Spell The End For Trudeau (March 17): Jean Charest could have a real chance of succeeding should he become Conservative leader.
Many people voting for the Liberals could do without the sanctimony of the Prime Minister, but look at their recent options. Erin O’Toole had a chance to change things, but the Liberals called an election before he could properly rebrand in the moderate centre.
Mr. Charest requires no rebranding. Should he prove successful, I believe the Conservatives will have a real shot at government and Canadians will be better served whether he wins or not.
With Mr. O’Toole at the helm, it was the first time I heard any of my downtown Toronto friends and neighbours say anything positive about a Conservative leader since 1986. Don’t forget that Toronto was once Tory Blue, through and through.
David Roy Toronto
Little longer
Re Ottawa Extends Assault Weapons Amnesty (March 17): How enlightening to hear from Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino on the extraordinary delay in implementing a mandatory buyback program.
He calls recent numbers on gun violence “stark.” What kind of descriptor might be required to enact a program in under (according to my math) 3.5 years?
Shameful.
David Gorick Windsor, Ont.
To the east
Re To The World (Letters, March 15): I agree with a letter-writer who suggests that Cornwall, Ont., be the eastern terminus of an oil and liquefied natural gas terminal. This would bring new life to the city.
Cornwall is on the St. Lawrence Seaway prior to any locks. It may even be close to ice-free in the future. Just think: No more complaints and stonewalling by Quebec, as we would avoid stepping on the province’s precious soil.
A quick look at a map tells me that perhaps the old Cornwall canal is the place to begin.
Richard Baumann St. Catharines, Ont.
We stand on guard
Re Ukrainian Anthem Becomes Rallying Cry In Orchestral Halls And Beyond (March 17): As a proud Winnipegger of Ukrainian heritage, I am even prouder of our city’s Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus.
Their singing of the Canadian and Ukrainian anthems, before the March 1 game between the Jets and Montreal Canadiens, was the first wave of musical support washing over the world.
Joanne Peters Winnipeg
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com