The Bay Street Financial District in Toronto.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Let me count the ways
Re “Donald Trump, and American Democracy, are getting exponentially worse” (Opinion, Dec. 6): It isn’t the catalogue itself that shivers one’s timbers so much as its sheer breadth, when it comes to the state of governance to the south.
I did immediately think of our Prime Minister: No one seems more keenly aware of the arguments made here. But, given his role, he must behave in a manner befitting it, even if the larger objective remains a chimera.
And since this is where we are, it’s perhaps an appropriate time for members of the House, regardless of political affiliation, to seek sobriety in their work: not gamesmanship, hyperbole expressed as jingles, partisan hoopla nor rhetorical extravagance.
What about a modicum of dignity, with a dollop of grace?
Dale Churchward Toronto
Donald Trump’s bottomless pit of malice and mischief requires date-stamping to ensure currency with the latest outrage, making it difficult to assess long-term impact. Beyond damaging the political landscape, research suggests a disturbing impact on societal norms.
A 2022 Nature Human Behaviour study reported that “in 13 studies including over 10,000 participants … explicit racial and religious prejudice significantly increased amongst Trump’s supporters, whereas individuals opposed to Trump exhibited decreases.” We likely await further studies of Mr. Trump’s normalizing of other vices: greed, selfishness, dishonesty, incivility, vindictiveness, sexism, racism, xenophobia.
One imagines an updated It’s a Wonderful Life in which our hero sees a world guided by Trump values and awakens, relieved, only to find that his nightmare wasn’t a dream.
Chester Fedoruk Toronto
Donald Trump’s behaviour is described as getting exponentially worse at an ever accelerating rate.
Constant acceleration is a quadratic function which increases ever more quickly, but famously increases at a slower rate than exponential functions.
The description of Mr. Trump, then, is hyperbolic. It should be parabolic.
Alexander Traplin Guelph, Ont.
Pay your way
Re “Claims of a doctor shortage oversimplify the issues with health care” (Report on Business, Dec. 6): Canadians are choosing to spend disproportionately on senior health care, a cohort that I am deep into, at the expense of educating the next generation. Our universities are incredibly underfunded and we should be educating as many young people as are willing and able.
What kind of a country will we develop in an increasingly competitive world, with a formula that preferentially chooses the past over the future? Us retired folks should spend more of our savings on health care. For those unable, let the tax system compensate.
David Parkes Ottawa
All’s fair
Re “As AI reshapes hiring, starting pay stagnates at Canada’s consulting firms” (Report on Business, Dec. 5): “With firms able to attract all the talent they need and the quality of talent that they need at the same price … why would they raise salaries?”
I can think of a few reasons why businesses should raise salaries even when they don’t have to: fostering a good work environment; making sure worker incomes keep pace with inflation; following the principle of basic fairness; acknowledging our responsibility to care for our fellow human beings – those are just a few.
Business leaders who believe they should only raise wages when market conditions force them to do so are the sort who turn young people, and many reasonable people of all ages, against capitalism.
Don LePan Nanaimo, B.C.
Room to grow
Re “Priceless” (Letters, Dec. 6): A letter-writer asserts “the idea that a couple of saplings can compensate” for the removal of a mature tree “is absurd.” The only absurdity I see is in such a dismissive contention.
Ten years ago, my brother grew a Carolinian tulip tree from seed and planted it when it was 12 inches tall. It has now passed 25 feet and continues to grow explosively; its diameter at breast height has expanded tenfold.
Further, this tree will be around for centuries unlike the Norway maple beside it, which is dying of old age though planted a mere 60 years ago. Saplings are like children: They form the future of this land.
A little more respect, please.
Bill Atkinson Edmonton
Public good
Re “How to head off the next housing crisis” (Editorial, Dec. 6): I see two assumptions: That it’s mainly up to the private sector, and that home ownership is the ideal.
The private sector is largely responsible for the affordability crisis, since its primary goal is profit. Your solutions would tend to make things worse. Cutting development charges, lowering the GST on new homes and freeing up loans would only serve to increase demand and thus increase prices and developer profit.
I would argue that the public sector is best equipped to provide affordable housing, and that renting is a reasonable option. Build Canada Homes should develop its own lands, build attractive low-rise apartments big enough to accommodate families and rent them out at prices well below market value.
Renting cheaply would give these families a chance to save for a down payment and allow them to get into the market eventually.
James Duthie Nanaimo, B.C.
Stop it
Re “Truth and reconciliation, 10 years later: Education got us into this mess. Will it get us out?” (Opinion, Dec. 6): Columnist Tanya Talaga reminds us how few of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action have been implemented. She highlights No. 6, which calls for the repeal of Section 43 of the Criminal Code allowing for physical punishment of children.
By my count, 70 countries have banned corporal punishment of children. Seventy! Most recently Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Yet Canada, to our country’s shame, still permits it.
It is long past time for this outdated and cruel section of the code to be repealed.
Ruth Miller Toronto
Combined experience
Re “In rural Manitoba, a photographer chases combines to find beauty in the chaff” (Dec. 5): I can relate. During the 1960s and early 1970s, I spent the entire months of August in Manitoba overseeing the harvest of our contracted grass seed crops.
Growers were busy and didn’t stop combining to talk. I would ride a few rounds with them on the combine platform.
Regrettably during that era, there were no cabs or even air-conditioned cabs, which meant clinging to the platform. It seemed no matter which way the wind blew, I’d be spitting dust and chaff for the next few hours.
Today, combines are million-dollar behemoths, air-conditioned and with a visitor’s seat, too.
Martin Pick Peterborough, Ont.
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