Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the Vector artificial intelligence research institute in Toronto in November, 2025.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Power centre
Re “Why do we have such extraordinary centralization in the PMO?” (Feb. 17): The answer to the question appears to be “blame Justin Trudeau.”
It could be said that in Mr. Trudeau’s universe, his PMO was the sun, the moon and the stars revolving around him. I think it’s too early to say the same of Mark Carney.
Other prime ministers are included in the charge that the intrusion of political staff into government has intruded upon “fearless advice from non-partisan public servants.” But let’s look forward, no need to yearn for the imperfect past, especially now that Mr. Trudeau is gone.
“What is needed is a much better understanding within government of how the Westminster system is meant to work.” If anyone is capable of better understanding the Westminster system, it is Mr. Carney.
Greg Schmidt Calgary
According to author and professor Donald Savoie, today’s ministers typically have 20-odd partisan advisers on their staffs. Until the early 1980s, they got by with a handful.
Mark Carney has promised to reduce bloat in the civil service. Will he also reduce bloat in ministerial staffs?
David Francis Toronto
Gone astray
Re “Canada has a hidden asylum-policy problem” (Feb. 17): As the director of training for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada when it was formed in 1989, I have watched in amazement at its burgeoning growth and complexity.
Under founding chair Gordon Fairweather, it was a compact, tight organization of approximately 25 staff focused on the timely hearing of claims and determinations. He always stressed that the process was not to be “lawyer-driven,” with determinations to be made by the qualified members themselves.
This all went out the window when the first lawyer was permitted to represent a claimant. After that, the process became decidedly “lawyer-driven” and bogged down by endless appeals.
It’s unfortunate the process has been stripped of the original, straightforward objectives. Now it seems to have lost reasonable functionality, which serves neither claimants nor the Canadian public.
Brian Marley-Clarke Cochrane, Alta.
Canadian preserve
Re “Canada’s reliance on the U.S. for our food is a recipe for disaster” (Feb. 17): The overflowing abundance of our modern supermarkets only appeared during the 1950s.
Previously, we did just fine in winter with local potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots, onions, apples and other canned or dried vegetables and fruit. Dairy, poultry, fish and meat were available.
Nobody went hungry.
Bob Seiler Pickering, Ont.
Not that long ago, a winter diet for some Canadians consisted of salt pork, root vegetables and preserves.
Nobody got scurvy or died of malnutrition.
Craig Sims Kingston, Ont.
Eye on the puck
Re “The Olympics as seen by Canadians” (Editorial Cartoon, Feb. 16): The suggestion that Canadians only care about hockey during the Olympics feels like a tired stereotype. It doesn’t reflect who we are or how we show up for our athletes.
Canadians take enormous pride in competitors across every sport, both high‑profile and lesser‑known. From curling to skiing and luge, from speed skating to figure skating, from biathlon to freestyle, our athletes earn attention, admiration and national support. The media coverage this year has reflected that breadth, highlighting remarkable performances across the full spectrum of Olympic competition.
Hockey will always be part of our national identity, but it does not define the limits of our enthusiasm. We celebrate excellence, wherever it appears, and stand behind every Canadian who wears the maple leaf on the world stage.
Glen Grossmith Canmore, Alta.
Your wonderful cartoon should have read: “The Olympics as seen by Canadian media.”
To that end, my Olympic moment so far was when a speed skater was interviewed after an event: How thrilled were they to have Sidney Crosby sitting in the stands?
Classic Canadian media.
Ward Jones Richmond Hill, Ont.
Rocky start
Re “Canada has gone full villain in curling” (Feb. 16): As a curler in my early years, I am a committed viewer of the game. My reading of the official report for this incident is that there was no “authorized photograph” of Marc Kennedy cheating.
My objection is to Mr. Kennedy’s response. Swearing is never acceptable, there are so many other words to describe a wrong.
Marianne Freeman Vancouver
The controversy over Canadian curlers allegedly cheating at the Olympics is a tempest in a teapot. The coaches and players protest too much, methinks.
The Canadian defence, that the Swedish team was offside for premeditated filming and calling them out, is laughable and embarrassing to the country. To Team Canada: Be better.
Jon Heshka Kamloops, B.C.
While the Olympic curling controversy has been treated by many as a morality play, curling has long operated within a deeply relational culture.
Teams compete against one another repeatedly throughout a season, resolving minor rule questions face to face in an environment built on trust and self-regulation. That culture does not disappear simply because the Olympic spotlight intensifies.
The rule at issue, which requires a stone to be clearly released before the hog line, is technical and precise. Infractions are handled through established processes.
Competitive tension and defensive reactions under scrutiny are worth examining. But to elevate the disputed contact into “Drone Scandal 2.0,” as well as declare Canada “the bad guy,” caricatures athletes in a sport that prides itself on honour and obscures the more interesting conversation: How Olympic pressure reshapes a traditionally relational game.
Heather Mair Guelph, Ont.
On the podium
Re “Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier win ice dance bronze with skate of their lives” (Sports, Feb. 12): What a performance! So touching to see the pair’s obvious affection for one another and their stunning technical prowess.
But most moving to me was Paul Poirier’s storm of emotion at the conclusion. It’s important for men to see other males – indeed, Olympians – connected to their feelings.
Too often, men cover up and repress emotions. Not Mr. Poirier: He modelled masculine strength, nurturing and vulnerability.
In a world of hideous male role models (U.S. politics furnishes the most obvious), it’s beautiful to see one who’s life-affirming.
Gideon Forman Toronto
Re “Megan Oldham wins gold in women’s big air, skier’s second medal of Olympics” (Feb. 17): Canadians wishing for their children to grow up and become extraordinary Olympic athletes like Megan Oldham, or outstanding hockey players like Bobby Orr, should arrange for them to be born in Parry Sound, Ont.
Leonard Wise Toronto
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