Lesson? Yes. Learned? No
When in trouble, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's preferred response is to ask the Governor-General to prorogue Parliament ( Lesson Learned - editorial, Feb. 5).
You state "he appears to have recognized the error of his calculation" and has learned his lesson. The sharp drop of the Conservative Party in recent polls notwithstanding, Mr. Harper's request to eliminate the spring break appears to be more in the nature of a tactical punishment meted out to the opposition parties, than to catch up on lost time. Mr. Harper can (and likely will) prorogue Parliament again, to our disillusionment.
Jaggi Tandan, Hamilton, Ont.
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The lesson that needs to be learned here is not one for the PM, but for the opposition: Waste time and money, and a strong PM will call you on it. I didn't vote Conservative in the last election. Now, I wish I had.
Grant Smith, Toronto
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Could you imagine if schoolchildren were asked to give up their March break? When else would they play games all day, argue with each other about everything, and pretend to be productive only when Mom's looking? At least the MPs have Parliament for that.
Pat Lee, Vancouver
It's that economy thing, again
Your editorial ( Solid, Not A Turnaround - Feb. 5) tells us, "A growing number of Albertans are restless."
Indeed, they are, not with anything the Alberta government is doing but with what the government can't do, given slumping oil and gas prices. When these prices and royalties rebound, the taps will open again and Albertans will be happy.
If this doesn't happen before the election, no amount of tinkering will help honest Ed.
Sudhir Jain, Calgary
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I read with interest your report on the Conference Board of Canada's economic forecast for our 27 largest cities ( Olympics Give Boost To Vancouver's Growth Prospects - Jan. 28).
I feel the real story here isn't that Vancouver is in the top spot, but that Oshawa's economy is projected to outperform Calgary's this year.
The media have assisted in perpetuating the myth that Oshawa's economy is all but on life support. The idea that everyone in Oshawa works for General Motors, and that when this company announces layoffs, that everyone suddenly becomes unemployed, is bizarre. The Conference Board's report demonstrates that this is far from the truth.
Oshawa is transitioning into the economy of the 21st century. Although this is not without difficult issues, it appears that, in the big picture, Oshawa's economy will once again be among the fastest growing.
Robert Lutczyk, city councillor, Oshawa, Ont.
Common ground on abortion
When it comes to the abortion issue, the two sides - that is, pro-choice and anti-abortion - will never agree ( Abortion And The Health Pledge - letters, Feb. 5). So the best we, as a society, can do is compromise.
Like it or not, for whatever reasons, some women will have abortions. Therefore, safe, medically supervised abortions need to be available to avoid maternal mortalities if nothing else. The unfortunate few who use abortion as a form of birth control do not represent the views of most pro-choice supporters.
Abortion should always remain the choice of last resort, made between a woman and her physician.
Ann Sullivan, Peterborough, Ont.
Two for one: shame and scandal
I don't understand why Jeffrey Simpson thinks the export of asbestos from Canada lies "somewhere between a national shame and a national scandal" ( Playing A Dirty Game: Exporting Asbestos - Feb. 5).
Surely, it's both.
Geoff Noxon, Ottawa
Recall hysteria?
I am constantly amazed (even stupefied) by the capacity of human beings to frequently do the wrong thing.
I refer to the lemming-type reaction to the current Toyota debacle. It appears that hysteria and panic, and maybe even greed on the part of those filing lawsuits, rules the day.
Some of us recall the Ford Pinto fiasco in the 1970s, when more than 1.5 million vehicles were recalled for problems associated with exploding gas tanks from rear-end collisions. This, of course, was very serious, but Ford survived, even prospered.
Those who would have Toyota written off are a little premature. Toyota will come back stronger than ever. It seems, however, that not too much has been learned from past mistakes in the field of damage control. Toyota tried to manage this event in the best interests of its customers, and the company, but they were torpedoed by the media, to some degree, and by the U.S. and other governments.
In a few years, this event will become a textbook example on how things can get out of control at the speed of light and how things should not be done.
Tony Kettle, Red Deer, Alta.
Our greats should be there
Own the Podium program? Kathy Kreiner-Phillips (alpine skiing, 1976) and Anne Heggtveit-Hamilton (downhill skiing, 1960) owned the podium and now are left invisible by the actions of the organizers for these Games ( Great Olympians Left Out In The Cold - Feb. 4). Ms. Kreiner-Phillips and Ms. Heggtveit-Hamilton are not simply Olympians, they are gold-medal champions, and should be included in the festivities and celebrated during these Games.
We, as a country, are spending hundred of millions of dollars on the Olympics to showcase ourselves to the world. We are also spending millions to get our competitors to the podium. Yet, we are told it wasn't in the budget to include these and other Olympic champions in the celebrations. Shame on the organizers and shame on us. As we go forward, we should never forget the people and the past that have brought us to where we are now.
Lu Korte, Ottawa
Tough and soft
Re Ignoring Supreme Court's Khadr Ruling, Ottawa Won't Request Repatriation (Feb. 4): The Harper government likes to claim that it's tough on crime. Its response to the Supreme Court's decision on Omar Khadr shows that it's soft on the rule of law.
Fritz Lunquist, Toronto
Seals and approval
Sealing, The Globe says, referring to the hunt carried on in Newfoundland and the Magdalen Islands, "can now only be termed a marginal industry" ( Two Seal Hunts, Not Just One - editorial, Feb. 4). What seems "marginal" in a Central Canadian metropolis may not look like that on the fringes of the nation.
To say there are "two seal hunts, not just one," - that is to say, the Inuit hunt and the hunt in Eastern Canada - is to cloud the issue and cater to the sensibilities of the animal-rights activists. It is merely political correctness to draw a distinction; in both hunts, seals are killed for income and food and clothing.
To advise that the federal government take measures "intended to ensure the animals are in fact dead before they are skinned" is another sop to animal activists. If this is to be done, then in strict logic, there will have to be federal inspectors in every abattoir in Canada, to see that all fur-bearing animals - as well as cows, sheep and other creatures harvested for human food - are dead before skinning, prior to being chopped up to make steaks, chops etc.
To write of a "bloody rush to slaughter" is to assume the inflated melodramatic language of the animal activists. There is no more of a rush to slaughter seals in rural Newfoundland than there is one in rural Ontario to slaughter calves and pigs to stock the shelves of Toronto supermarkets.
Patrick O'Flaherty, St. John's
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You state that what is "disturbing [about the seal hunt]is the misleading manner in which the federal government has played the Inuit card."
Animal-rights groups raise millions of dollars using false and misleading propaganda on the seal hunt, yet they often go unchallenged. The most blatant case of misleading information spewed out by these groups - and practically every Canadian has seen it - is pictures of white-coat seal pups covered with blood against a white background on an ice floe. How many Canadians know that the killing of whitecoats has been banned since 1987?
Burford Ploughman, St. John's
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The terrific cost of the G7 finance ministers' "fireside chats" in Iqaluit could have been better directed toward addressing health and social problems in the North ( We're Here For You, G7, So Listen Up - Feb. 5). It's hard to decide whether our federal government is looking for our seal of approval, or our approval of seals.
Jim Sanders, Guelph, Ont.
Roo the day
You report Australia's Olympic team has been "ordered" to remove from their balcony in the athletes' village that original boxing boomer - a boomer (kangaroo to you, mates) with elements of the Aussie flag (You Can't Handle The Strewth - Feb. 5).
Surely, they were "asked" by the IOC to do this, but either way, ordered or asked, one hopes the IOC followed Vancouver Protocol 101, and did it with decorum and a smile but not too much of a smile, in sufficiently loose clothes with socks matching their pressed trousers and hair tidy, yet stylish.
Frank W. Morgan, Perth, Ont.
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Keep that Roo flying, gloves up and head high. Australia's deputy PM is right: The International Olympic Committee is being "ridiculous."
Sharon Nguyen, Vancouver