Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to journalists during an availability in Mississauga, Ont., on Wednesday April 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungChris Young/The Canadian Press
Misconstrued justice
Re “Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggests U.S.-style elected judges, calls judicial independence a ‘joke’” (May 1): We have appointed judges who are trained in judicial procedures, and they know the law.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants them elected, to avoid judges with “ideologies.”
Elected politicians are not required to have any experience in anything, let alone law. Politicians may make laws, but they depend on trained and qualified people to write them and fit them in with other laws.
The general population knows even less about law than politicians. Why would we want to elect judges whose qualifications we, and politicians, are ill-equipped to evaluate?
Don’t use the U.S. as a good example.
Glenn Brown Pickering, Ont.
It is telling, although not surprising, that shortly after winning an election that he claimed was needed to resist Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to Canada’s sovereignty, Mr. Ford should emulate Mr. Trump’s attack on the judiciary, giving vent to a Trumpian sense of injury over a judge pausing his initiative to remove bike lanes in Toronto.
That Mr. Ford should interfere in the life of the city is not a surprise, nor is his claim that bike lanes contribute to traffic congestion.
It is also unsurprising that he should borrow from the U.S. President’s playbook now, in the wake of the federal election.
The desire for power is never satisfied.
Cathy Pike Toronto
Naively, I had thought that the idea of digging a tunnel under Highway 401 was the worst idea that Doug Ford had come up with.
But now, he has trumped himself.
He wants to waste billions of taxpayers’ money, and turn Ontario into a copy of an American state.
I’m getting scared.
Richard Harris Hamilton
The Ontario Premier calls judicial independence “a joke”.
In practice, by experience, and by the example of the present challenge to the rights and freedoms of Americans brought about by their politicized legal system, Doug Ford presents himself as ignorant of the difference between rule-by-politics and the rule-of-law.
Mr. Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause was bad enough … but this is unbelievable.
Keith Oliver Cobourg, Ont.
Art of the deal
Re “Trump praises Carney, says the Prime Minister to visit White House within a week” (May 1): I do not believe it is prudent for Prime Minister Mark Carney to see Donald Trump.
I would prefer that Mr. Carney tells the U.S. President he will see him once he agrees to abide by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Our Prime Minister should know from his time in the U.K. that “tugging at the forelock” is a sign of weakness that Mr. Trump relishes, and will lead to blather, not substance.
Ian Newbould Toronto
Closing chapter
Re “For the NDP, a gut-wrenching loss with a period of soul-searching to follow” (April 30): My sincere thanks to Jagmeet Singh for his dedication and hard work for fellow Canadians over the last few years.
For me, he has been a bright spot in Parliament who gave me hope and I am very sad to see him go.
His ongoing resolve to bring affordable health care to those who are struggling to pay their bills has been remarkable and courageous.
My hope is that Mr. Singh does not feel defeated in any way and I hope that in his future endeavours, whatever they may be, he will continue to use his talents, skills and compassion to make Canada, and the world, a better place.
G. A. Teske Sherwood Park, Alta.
Personally, I have voted for the NDP many times. I have always defined the New Democrats and the CCF as the parties that most aligned with my own views.
However, in recent years, I have been scratching my head wondering just what values the NDP offered that I still might have?
I well remember many trade unionists and individuals voting in almost complete solidarity with the NDP.
But over time, issues evolved and the NDP vote gradually diminished. Many strong trade unionists ended up voting Conservative or Liberal.
In this latest election, I confess that I voted Liberal in my riding because the NDP candidate didn’t have a hope in hell of winning.
Uncharacteristically, my Liberal riding candidate was re-elected!
As I approach my 93rd birthday, this is the first time in my life that I can recall voting for a winning candidate.
Marty Meslin Toronto
Re “Jagmeet Singh to resign as NDP Leader” (April 29): NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh failed to learn from history.
In the early 1970s, the then-NDP Leader, David Lewis, supported the minority government of Pierre Trudeau, only to have his party decimated in the 1974 federal election.
One would have expected him to be mindful of the advice given by John F. Kennedy: “Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.”
John Reilly Victoria
Red tape reduction
Re “Will Carney end the housing crisis? The promise and peril of the Liberals’ plan” (Report on Business, April 30): Canadians need to face the fact that lending money, cutting HST and organizing a federal housing entity are all well and good, but they will not deliver the results.
The fundamental issue is the thicket of regulations built up since the 1960s, which prevent timely construction of affordable homes.
These delays both discourage development and add to their costs. Why do we need architectural controls? Why will municipalities not accept a third-party validation of a permit application (insisting that only their understaffed forces can do this work)? Why are the bylaws so Byzantine and varied between municipalities?
The federal government needs to lean hard on provinces and municipalities using funding as the cudgel.
And, yes, this will not always be popular to local neighbourhoods!
Brian Johnston Toronto
Re “Major parties agree that Canada faces a housing shortage, but are split on how to bridge the gap” (April 25): Both Vancouver and Toronto have a glut of empty condos. BC Housing and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation both have years-long waiting lists for those needing low-income housing.
Rather than waiting to build new apartment buildings in some distant future, why don’t these agencies purchase and oversee an inventory of condos distributed around each city?
This would also result in a percentage of low-income units across a range of condo buildings, which is an oft-stated goal of municipal planners.
Jennifer Copeland Thornhill, Ont.
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