U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra participates in an interview at the United States Embassy in Ottawa on Dec. 9.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Any and all
Re “Carney says Ottawa’s position supporting U.S., Israeli strikes on Iran was taken with regret” (March 4): Iran’s leaders should be condemned, but so equally Canada should be condemning the killing of innocent civilians. Mr. Carney should be supporting the United Nations Secretary-General, who condemned both the use of force by the United States and Iran’s retaliation.
Canada should never support undermining international peace and security. Canada should support the UN and all obligations under international law and the UN Charter.
Roger Emsley Delta, B.C.
Sorry affair
Re “U.S. ambassador to Canada requests apology for Globe and Mail column” (March 4): In light of the ambassador being “outraged” regarding criticism of the U.S. men’s hockey team, I would like to direct readers to a Feb. 5 op ed which was aptly headlined, “Do Canadians really need to be hearing from Pete Hoekstra this much?”
Mac Perks Ottawa
I wonder if Pete Hoekstra would like to highlight just a few of the lines crossed by his boss or, dare we ask, the lines he himself has crossed while in our country.
Kudos to Cathal Kelly for his amusing and pithy column.
Martin Hunt Toronto
Hoekstra: 0. Kelly: 10.
Carolyn Wood Toronto
Fair value
Re “Value system” (Letters, Feb. 27): It is easier to propose a utopian destination than to prescribe a road map to it.
So it is with a letter-writer who deplores the final word on many values questions being decided by nine “unelected” Supreme Court justices. What he would prefer is unclear, but perhaps elected judges, the extreme example of populism (which he also decries).
Justices are tasked to interpret laws, criminal and other, set out by our democratically chosen representatives, and to apply our Charter, the product of negotiation among premiers with its oft-used off-ramp, the notwithstanding clause. These laws represent our chosen values.
Popular choice of values by referendum, if that is the letter-writer’s preference, would lead only to a morass of controversy. Finality is an essential value.
John Edmond Ottawa
Healthy perspective
Re “Smith and Poilievre find someone to blame for their problems: immigrants” (Opinion, Feb. 28): We believe the Conservative motion proposing to restrict temporary health care coverage for asylum claimants demonizes newcomers to Canada.
Slashing so‑called deluxe benefits for (allegedly) “bogus and fraudulent” refugee claimants and deporting non‑citizens who commit crimes would not be leadership, but reckless political theatre. It would prey on fear, fuel division and distract from the real crisis: chronic underinvestment in health care and failure to support the professionals who hold the system together.
Nurses know refugees are not the cause of surgical backlogs, emergency room closures or nursing shortages. Suggesting otherwise vilifies vulnerable people who arrive in Canada seeking safety, not special treatment.
Deportation is a punitive tactic. Real safety should come from evidence‑based policy: mental health supports, housing stability and health investments, not human beings as political props.
Canadians can do better. We should refuse rhetoric that undermines compassion, justice and the inclusive values we claim to protect.
Lhamo Dolkar President, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario; Whitby, Ont.
Bright side
Re “1 in 4 patients in long-term care were given anti-psychotic drugs without diagnosis, report finds” (Feb. 26): I feel it’s important to highlight that, while the class of medications is referred to as “anti-psychotic,” it artificially boxes them into a corner.
They’re routinely used as augmenting agents for anxiety and depression. Brexpiprazole, for example, has “agitation associated with dementia” as an indication for this often helpful agent.
I feel the focus of the report should have explained why Canada is an outlier as opposed to reiterating use “without a diagnosis of psychosis.” I would argue the majority of non-psychiatrist prescribers of this class are managing conditions other than psychosis, and doing so appropriately.
Benjamin Reitzel MD, CCFP; North Bay, Ont.
The report highlights a serious and long-standing concern. What deserves equal attention is that this is not an unsolved challenge: Long-term care homes have shown that potentially inappropriate antipsychotic use can be reduced, safely and significantly, when care is redesigned around residents’ needs.
National rates fell from 27.2 per cent in 2014–15 to 20.2 per cent in 2019–20, clear evidence that change is possible. While progress stalled, and in some places reversed, due to the pandemic, homes across Canada are refocusing on this challenge.
At a B.C. home, individualized care plans, staff training and family engagement reduced inappropriate use by one-third. At a Newfoundland home, two residents regained the ability to speak, eat and participate in daily life after medications were discontinued.
The challenge now is not identifying what works, but ensuring proven practices are supported and scaled to improve care for residents and support those who care for them.
Jennifer Zelmer President and CEO, Healthcare Excellence Canada; Ottawa
Lose-lose
Re “Ford can’t ignore the plight of poor students. But some middle-class parents deserve a kick in the pants” (Report on Business, Feb. 25): Ontario Student Assistance Program grants have always had a sliding scale based on parental income and maxing out well below $200,000. Students from more affluent families do rely on loans, just as in the new program.
The great shame I see in the revised OSAP is that not only will low-income students bear the disproportionate burden of loan repayments, but some untold number may never be able to attend university or college now due to the increased costs. Surely an income threshold could have been built into this scheme to help low-income families.
Victor Doyle Toronto
Golden days
Re “Wardair, packed lounges and pricey flights in retirement: You weighed in on the death of travel’s golden age” (On Money Newsletter, Feb. 26): From 1979 to 1981, I was posted as a visa officer to our embassy in Bangkok, where our primary task was the selection and processing of Indochinese refugees for resettlement in Canada.
One year, Wardair had the contract to transport those refugees to either Edmonton or Montreal and used their fleet of 747s. They were served meals of the same quality, on the same Doulton China, as if on a flight to London.
When asked about the “frills,” founder Max Ward said that in 20 years’ time, most of these people will be well off enough to take an international holiday. He wanted them to remember who brought them to Canada.
William Lundy Ottawa
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