The Canadian Union of Public Employees says their 55,000 education worker members, such as custodians, early childhood educators and administration staff, will be in a legal strike position as of Nov. 3.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
Critical commentary
Re The End Of History Wasn’t Quite The End (Editorial, Oct. 29): One of the main reasons why liberal democracies achieve better results is that autocracies are usually limited to the knowledge, vision and acumen of autocrats.
Autocrats are likely to make mistakes, as their often brutal means of retaining power ensure that few have the courage to speak truth to power. I find no better example than Vladimir Putin, who is making decisions of historic proportion that will negatively affect Russians for decades.
Democracies make mistakes, too. Donald Trump and Brexit jump to mind. But democracies can correct without revolutionary change or disruption.
I agree that we should not despair. However, neither should we be complacent about the fragility of the foundations on which democracies are based.
Mark Roberts Gananoque, Ont.
Money managers
Re Even If Republicans Win The Midterms, There’ll Be No Quick Economic Fix (Opinion, Oct. 29): It’s baffling to me that so many people still fall for the myth that Republicans are better managers of the U.S. economy than Democrats.
My lived experience strongly suggests the opposite.
John McLeod Toronto
Related news
Re Inside The Motley Collection Of Foreign Adventure Seekers, Criminals And Con Artists Who Fight For Ukraine (Oct. 26): I find it unfair to limit a description of Robert Semrau to being “dishonourably discharged from the Canadian military for shooting and killing an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2008.”
Mr. Semrau was acquitted of second-degree murder, but found guilty of disgraceful conduct for what many have described as a “mercy killing” (Semrau Guilty Of Disgraceful Conduct, Not Murder – July 20, 2010). There is no suggestion that his killing of an enemy soldier was a callous decision. Rather, testimony at his court martial described the fighter as experiencing agonizing pain, and so severely wounded that there was no prospect of his living much longer.
Mr. Semrau was convicted because it is never lawful to kill an enemy soldier who does not pose a threat. Notably, the prosecution acknowledged that he had “committed a mercy killing because he felt bound by a ‘soldier’s pact’ to end the suffering of a gravely wounded combatant.”
Robert Katz Toronto
Closer look
Re Numbers Game (Nov. 1): As a non-profit, tax-exempt entity subsidized by Canadian taxpayers and corporations, and with little apparent scrutiny or transparency of its finances, I am shocked at how flush with money Hockey Canada is. It would be interesting to see figures for other expenditures, as well as executive compensation and perks.
Hockey Canada should be assessed a game misconduct penalty.
Michael Gilman Toronto
“Hockey Canada is not required to disclose its financial statements on its website or to the public.”
Hockey Canada, as a non-profit corporation, pays no corporate taxes. As such, it must work in public interest and not in self-interest. That is a simple matter of public policy which should be understood, not just by Hockey Canada but by all 170,000 not-profit corporations in the country.
Follow the money applies. Lack of transparency – secrecy – shields the truth and allows self-interest to flourish. Hopefully not for long.
Alex Beraskow Research affiliate, Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa
Warning signs
Re Singh’s Clueless Critique Of The Bank of Canada (Opinion, Oct. 29): Columnist Konrad Yakabuski is right to question the Bank of Canada’s neglect of the behaviour of the money supply in recent years, and the unhelpful opacity of its responses to critics. But the bank does not yet seem to have learned its lesson.
The bank’s own data show that, as quantitative tightening started to take hold at the beginning of this year, growth of the money supply slowed abruptly. Both narrow and broad measures of this variable warn of a downturn far sharper than the bank is predicting.
Time will likely soon tell how much additional damage is about to be inflicted on the economy by the bank’s refusal to grant credence to these time-honoured economic indicators.
David Laidler Professor emeritus, economics, Western University London, Ont.
Horsing around
Re The Last Barrel Of Oil Produced Should Be A Canadian One (Report on Business, Oct. 28): When the CEO of one of our largest banks makes what reads like a 21st-century proclamation that the world’s last horse-drawn carriage should be proudly manufactured in Canada, it is time we should start worrying deeply about our future economic relevance in this fast-changing world.
Andreas Souvaliotis Toronto
Legal lessons
Re Ontario Bill To Stop Education Strike Unprecedented: Experts (Report on Business, Nov. 1): How does Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce have the nerve to say that his government will continue to bargain in “good faith” with education unions, while simultaneously aiming to make it illegal for members to exercise their right to strike and, for good measure, use the notwithstanding clause to get around the Constitution.
Hypocrisy doesn’t begin to describe it.
Jack Kirchhoff Toronto
While I am a former labour-relations negotiator from the management side, I am nevertheless appalled at the Ontario government’s move to make a threatened strike illegal. The right to strike is a fundamental right that management must recognize as part of the bargaining process.
To take away this right, and to invoke the notwithstanding clause yet again, is deplorable. It is the approach of schoolyard bullies.
Michael Benedict Principal, MCB Strategies Toronto
I have been a Progressive Conservative voter for decades. However, to use the notwithstanding clause to bludgeon Ontario education workers is the last straw.
I know the Ford government argues that this is in the best interests of students. This sounds like self-serving nonsense.
What lessons will students learn about the rights of workers and the rule of law? “If your position is legally and ethically weak, but you have a stick big enough to beat somebody and win – use it.”
Martin Birt Uxbridge, Ont.
Relocation
Re Use Of Government Co-working Spaces Jumps After Call To Return To The Office (Report on Business, Oct. 31): Just to clarify: In addition to paying for (often expensive, high-end) unused office space in major cities, the government also uses taxpayer funds for these co-working centres?
One other thing that is unclear: Is there a dress code? Will government employees be allowed to wear pyjamas? Asking for a friend.
Derek Rolstone Winnipeg
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