We are all journalists now
A few years ago, a young mother suffering from postpartum psychosis tragically killed her daughter, her husband and herself. As a friend, I went to the service for Andrea Labbe, Brian Langer and their daughter Chloe. Information about the service had to be kept secret so that reporters wouldn't crash the memorial.
Like other grieving families forced into the public eye by the media, the invasion was not welcome. Whenever tragedy strikes, reporters from the mainstream media cross over lines to get a story.
Christie Blatchford (Self-Anointed G20 'Journalists' Need A Reality Check - July 3) wants us believe that the established media hold themselves to a higher standard than "self-anointed journalists" because of their ethics and professionalism. The reason they don't cross yellow tape or go into the back rooms of judges is because they can't; the police and judiciary won't let them.
When a story involves regular people, journalists believe they have the self-anointed right to cross whatever line they wish in order to report "the story." The established media are not so different than those that Ms. Blatchford lambastes.
Lucy Snyder, Toronto
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When Christie Blatchford details where a press pass won't allow you entry, she should have mentioned a press pass, or hers anyway, can gain you entry to lunch with Michelle Obama and Laureen Harper (A Brunch Worth Putting Yourself Together For - June 28). Unfortunately, high atop the city, you don't get to see what the rest of Toronto is witnessing.
Ms. Blatchford is a great reporter and it's too bad she didn't cover private citizens and storeowners trying to defend their property from the Black Bloc on Saturday without the help of the police, or the hundreds of innocent people detained in an electrical storm on Sunday for hours and then freed, all without any conditions.
You didn't need a press pass for that - it was all on TV for everyone to watch. But maybe Ms. Blatchford's head was still in the clouds.
Georgie Binks, Toronto
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Christie Blatchford argues that "journalism is not merely a collective of the self-anointed." She is right. And it is why we have a problem entrusting the mainstream media to represent popular dissent against the state.
She says "media accreditation sometimes allows reporters to go where the general public can't, such as sports dressing rooms." But it also gets reporters embedded in military operations in Afghanistan, and it allows them to spout out pre-packaged statements from the PMO and other halls of power.
The G20 coverage shows that our mainstream media fail to grasp popular dissent and it is exactly why we need activist journalism now more than ever.
Robert Huish, Halifax
No parking
Environment Minister Jim Prentice says he wants Canadians to enjoy the experience of camping more easily (Jurassic Parks - Focus & Books, July 3).
There are few national parks in Ontario and Quebec. Some do not allow camping, like Point Pelee. Others restrict camping or do not have showers.
In Southern Ontario, conservation authorities have been able to acquire land and create wonderful campgrounds for urban populations to use close to home.
Expansion of these campgrounds has stopped because government funding is unavailable.
Mr. Prentice should invest in conservation authorities, which would yield a far greater return than investing in national parks far away.
Bruce Mackenzie, Grimsby, Ont.
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If people can't get to our parks, perhaps it's time we brought our parks to the people.
For more than two decades there have been calls to create national parks near major population centres, without success.
Perhaps Mr. Prentice could become the visionary who changes all that, creating new national parks in Toronto's Rouge Valley and in the Gatineau region just outside of Ottawa.
Both of these ecological gems bring nature up close and personal to a lot of people, right in their own backyards.
Evan Ferrari, Guelph, Ont.
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Seven-day pass for a family travelling by car to Banff National Park: $136.40.
Seven-day pass for a family travelling by car to Yellowstone National Park: $25.
Any wonder why Canadians are staying away?
Jim Wilson, Winnipeg
The Queen: Long may she reign
What a difference between two weekends. Canadians went from a $1-billion-plus G8/G20 to a $4-million visit by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (The $4-Million Visit - July 3).
The first attracted jeers and little substance, while the second attracted cheers and brought Canadians together as only the monarchy can.
Doug Loewen, Alliston, Ont.
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It is really not fair to refer to the Queen as "that German woman" (Letter - July 2) just because she is a descendant of George I, who was a German prince before he became King of England. After all, George I was a descendant of James I, King of Scotland before he was King of England, making Elizabeth "that Scottish woman."
James I was a descendant of Henry VII Tudor ("that Welsh woman"). Henry VII was a descendant of Henry II ("that Plantagenet woman").
Henry II was a descendant of both William I ("that Norman woman") and Edmund Ironsides ("that Saxon woman").
In short, Elizabeth II carries in her veins the blood of just about every group that's ever had anything to do with the British Isles - including, through her mother, the Irish. What more could one expect from "that British woman?"
Lane Stanley, Whitby, Ont.
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Who cares whether or not one lives to be 100 (An Age-Old Puzzle Solved: Who Will Live To Be 100 - Front Page, July 2)? I'd settle for making it into my eighties if promised to look as good as the Queen in her red Canada Day dress.
Giselle Déziel, Cornwall, P.E.I.
The Queen: time for a republic!
I have never felt any identification with or sympathy for G20 protesters, but your front-page article on the Queen's collection of more than 500 hats (Fit For A Queen - Front Page, July 3) did give me an inkling of insight into their mindsets.
Irwin Silverman, Toronto
Lazy days with War and Peace
Margaret Wente has got it wrong in her comparison of gardening and reading War and Peace (In Praise Of The Wandering Mind - July 3). Weeding is, in fact, a "low-level, undemanding activity" like showering. The body is occupied in something that is not very strenuous, and the mind is free to wander, contemplating anything and everything. I get many of my best ideas weeding. This is an excellent example of the meta-awareness Ms. Wente praises.
Reading a novel, especially one as complex as War and Peace, requires intense mental concentration. A wandering mind would soon lose the thread of the plot, or what is happening at the actual moment in the lives of the many characters.
Christine Lundy, Sparta, Ont.
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Margaret Wente is surprised that there are people for whom the "idea of getting away from work is more work." This would indeed be puzzling, under the assumption that people have a real need for leisure time away from work.
The apparent conundrum goes away as soon as we realize that there are two senses of "work" here. The first, Work 1, is that where you are working on command for someone else. The second, Work 2, is the kind where your work is internally motivated.
Members of society privileged enough to not be consumed by Work 1 may be said to enjoy leisure time, which may be spent in "idle activities," Work 2, or whatever else they find pleasurable and fulfilling.
Raj Singh, Institute of Cognitive Science, Carleton University, Ottawa
On the rocks
Kudos to J.D.M. Stewart for bringing attention to the issue of martini abuse (Letter - July 3).
The infiltration of vodka is only a start. The martini has been kidnapped and being subjected to fruit and chocolate flavours, among other atrocities.
This madness must stop. There are only two things a bartender needs to ask: Ice or up, and the Dickensian question regarding garnish.
Michael Derblich, Toronto
Maple laughs forever
I learned to sing The Maple Leaf Forever in school in Grade 3 (Letters - July 3). We never saw the lyrics in print, so had weird misinterpretations. "Days of yore" we thought referred to an ancient monarch. I heard of a boy who thought General James Wolfe was a eunuch since he was described as "donkless," and a girl who thought he came and planted fern.
As for me, hearing "Thistle, Shamrock, Rose and Twine," I guessed maybe Twine might be the flower of Wales. My mother said no, it was a piece of string, so I assumed it was to tie the flowers together for unity.
Peter Cranston, Victoria