People on their way to work in Toronto's financial district make their way around a person sleeping on the sidewalk in the shadows of the bank towers on Bay Street.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
More to it
Re Realtor Cuts A Deal On Mayne Island, B.C., Fixer-upper (Real Estate, Jan. 20): Mayne Island is described as “mostly a recreational market” where “there are some retirees and remote workers,” and a house could be rented for $4,000 a month. I’m frustrated that my community is depicted as a recreational playground and money-making real estate haven.
I run my own art studio in this vibrant year-round community that, in recent years, grew by 40 per cent to roughly 1,400 people. There’s a new government-funded child-care centre and a burgeoning number of school-aged children.
There’s also an affordable housing crisis driven by real estate speculators and short-term vacation rentals. When people can’t find affordable places to rent, they can’t live in our community. Job openings go unfilled, restaurants and other businesses close and services dwindle. Each home that becomes an investment property undermines the livability of this wonderful island.
We need property owners who are committed to the community, not to lining their pockets.
Deborah Strong Mayne Island, B.C.
Well read
Re It’s About Time Vancouver Was Recognized As A Hub Of Culture, Literature And Music (Jan. 19): Literature is alive and well in Vancouver and throughout British Columbia. The city hosts an annual international writer’s festival and is home to wonderful talent, including its poet laureate Fiona Tinwei Lam, poet Evelyn Lau and emerging writer Isabella Wang, just to name a few.
Ms. Lam recently published a powerful non-fiction piece, Bad Days, that addresses the rise of anti-Asian racism. Ms. Lau’s latest book of poetry, Cactus Gardens, was published last year. Her first book, Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, published when she was 18, was made into a movie starring Sandra Oh. Ms. Wang is the youngest writer to be shortlisted for The New Quarterly’s Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest.
These are accomplished writers who reflect and contribute to the culture they live in. Ms. Lam and Ms. Lau also teach in Simon Fraser University’s terrific creative writing program, helping inspire B.C.’s next generation of writers.
Natalie Hryciuk Surrey, B.C.
Tax reform
Re Indifferent To Poverty’s Pain (Opinion, Jan. 21): Toronto “can raise taxes, stop policing the poor and build more affordable housing. The city can end homelessness and poverty-related deaths. Right now, the city refuses.”
I have always been mystified by Toronto’s municipal tax rate. I live in Guelph, just 70 kilometres down the road where homeowners have a tax rate twice that of Toronto.
Torontonians enjoy the lowest property tax rates in Ontario. Why? Municipal taxes are a political hot potato. It would be political death to significantly raise rates.
Perhaps the solution is to decouple tax rates from political interference, instead basing them on fair assessments of operational requirements city by city, town by town, and by social requirements: poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, mental health, public transit, etc.
Municipally funded social programs should not be tied to election cycles.
Mary Peirson Guelph, Ont.
Personal choice
Re Families Grieve Loved Ones’ MAID Deaths And Why They Didn’t Know (Jan. 21): Our mom’s wish was to die in her sleep. She was granted that wish by a remarkably compassionate professional in medical assistance in death, whom she called her angel of mercy.
Mom died as she wished: without ceremony, with two nurses and me in her home. Hale and hearty, no one would have known she was suffering. Our mom was reserved and private, and believed how and when she died was no one’s business but her own.
It is not our right to determine how much our loved ones must suffer before they are allowed to die. Nor, for a multitude of reasons, may we be able to understand how much our loved ones are suffering.
Let’s leave those matters up to our loved ones, and the far more objective MAID personnel who help them.
Sharon Wood Canmore, Alta.
Dog gone
Re Dogs On Duty (Opinion, Jan. 21): Brazen anti-poodleism? More like a duty of care to hotel guests who have allergic reactions to dog dander and cannot tolerate being sniffed and licked and otherwise put at risk.
Do I blame the dogs? No. But I strongly object to people who assume it’s their prerogative to have so-called comfort pets with them at all times, regardless of health risks to others. Who let their little darlings (and sometimes quite large ones) sniff and lick food and other products within reach on store shelves. Who allow them to wander across sidewalks, blocking people using assistive devices. Who let them off leash in on-leash areas because, well, who could possibly object to their sweetie pie?
Kudos to merchants and service providers who post unambiguous rules in keeping with local bylaws, and ensure they are observed.
Marion Raycheba Toronto
Paperwork
Re Give And Take (Letters, Jan. 20): I can empathize with a letter-writer’s increased charitable contributions and the extra burden of a tax audit.
My husband and I were audited last year because our medical expenses were considerably more than previously. Every date, doctor’s name, address and mileage from our home was required. Fortunately, my husband keeps meticulous records. But apparently he had made a small error and, lo and behold, it was in our favour.
Does anyone at the Canada Revenue Agency understand that many Canadians live at some distance from large centres where medical specialists and specialized procedures are located? Do they understand that, as Canadians age, our medical expenses might increase as our medical challenges increase?
Has CRA any awareness of the country’s demographic and geographic realities?
Kathryn Hamer Edwards Sackville, N.B.
We had the same experience as a letter-writer.
We had an increase in income and increased our charitable donations by roughly the same percentage. No new charities, just more money to the ones we always support.
The Canada Revenue Agency then demanded copies of all our charitable receipts. I sent them in, but also wondered why I was being audited for being more generous.
Unfortunately, it will make me think twice before increasing my donations again.
Tom Kemsley Vancouver
Game over
Re Sports Gambling Is Strangling The Beauty Of Games (Jan. 17) and Losing Record (Letters, Jan. 20): Kudos to contributor Bruce Kidd and other letter-writers for highlighting the dangers of sports betting.
I’ve enjoyed hockey for years and it will be hard to give up watching that exciting sport, especially the great players from this region. However, I can no longer support the organizations and highly paid players who allow themselves to be part of such perilous marketing campaigns.
My screen will be dark, like their shameless behaviour.
Mildred McDougall Mahone Bay, N.S.
Accessibility legacy
Re David Onley, Former Ontario Lieutenant-governor, Dies At 72 (Jan. 16): Reading about David Onley’s life and advocacy on disability issues brought back memories of the mid-1980s when I was a new mother.
Getting around with a baby in a stroller was a huge ordeal. Entering my bank was almost impossible without assistance, due to three awkward steps and a door that opened out. Attempting this once, I almost toppled the stroller, baby and all, before someone rescued me.
Going to a doctor’s appointment was an equally nerve-wracking experience on an old streetcar. I was at the mercy of a kind driver or passenger for help navigating the high steps and narrow doorways.
Thirty-five years later, I work in a hospital where I never have to climb stairs, open a door or turn on a light. Everything is automatic; streetcars are now accessible, too.
I realize now how everyone benefited from Mr. Onley’s work. I hope others understand this, too.
Angela Wall Toronto
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