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Baseball? Slow-w-w
Re Five Unforgettable Hours As Astros Beat Dodgers In 10 World Series Innings (Oct. 30): The 2017 World Series featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros may have some exciting plays, but I suspect that, like me, many fans only see them next day, when the highlights are replayed on television.
The starting time for playoff games is an hour too late. Add in all the delays for the pregame hype, video replays, pitching changes, seventh-inning stretching, and the scratching and spitting, and the pace of a typical game has become glacial.
A "quick" game is now more than three hours. That's far too long to hold the interest of most adults, let alone the youngsters who might be tomorrow's ball fans. Is it any wonder that the demographic profile of the typical baseball fan is getting ever-older, ever-greyer?
Ken Cuthbertson, Kingston
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Democracy? Slower
Re When Delays Are Undemocratic (editorial, Oct. 30): You criticize the Senate for "blocking two bills passed by the elected MPs of the House of Commons." You are right to bemoan the stalling tactics used by some Conservative senators to prevent a vote on bill C-210, which would render our national anthem gender neutral, however, you should not have thrown Bill C-337 in the same basket.
This bill, which would require sexual-assault-law training in order to become a federal judge, is not being delayed. It is being studied and debated. You note that C-337 was adopted unanimously by the House of Commons. This is no reason for the Senate not to take the time to do its work properly. In doing just that, some senators have come to the view that the bill is deeply flawed.
For instance, at least two sections of the bill would interfere with the independence of our courts. The Senate is not "deliberately moving slowly," it is treading carefully because, even though passing the bill now would undoubtedly be popular, Parliament should not play lightly with a principle as important as judicial independence.
The Senate would serve no purpose if it were to simply copy the House. In the case of Bill C-337, it is doing precisely what it should: exercising sober second thought.
André Pratte, independent Senator
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Napping, NAFTA
Re Stephen Harper Blasts Trudeau Government For 'Napping On NAFTA' (Oct. 27): While he was prime minister, Stephen Harper sold out Canadian businesses, workers and taxpayers to China and America alike. His government brought home the worst trade agreement in Canada's modern history: an investment deal with China, the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA), that gave market access rights to Chinese investors in Canada, without getting the same for Canadian investors in China.
Mr. Harper also oversaw lopsided deals with the U.S. on softwood lumber and government procurement, and spurned a rare opportunity under former president Barack Obama to rid Canada of NAFTA's flawed foreign investor rights mechanism. If Mr. Harper is now criticizing the federal government's handling of NAFTA renegotiation, it should be taken as a reassuring sign for Canadians.
Gus Van Harten, professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
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Amazon disruption
Re Who Will Woo Amazon's Heart – And Soul-Crushing Business Model? (Oct. 28): The disruption that occurred when we moved from the agrarian to the industrial economy is manifesting itself now as we move to a postindustrial future. Amazon represents where we are headed. It is a "disruptor" in the most positive sense of the word. It provides the public with options in variety, speed of service, convenience and price that were previously unavailable.
Disruptors such as Airbnb, Uber and the internet force hotels and taxis to improve their service to the public, or go the way of the dodo.
George Fleischmann, Toronto
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Don't sign the ban
Re Hiroshima Survivor Urges Change of Heart From Trudeau (Oct. 27): While the arguments put forward by Setsuko Thurlow are powerful and principled, the Prime Minister is demonstrating sound judgment in not signing the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Our military is underfunded; efforts to modernize its equipment have not been effective. Our defence capability is based primarily on our NATO membership (and the good will of the Americans to deploy their missile defence system should a North Korean missile be headed toward Canada). Several NATO members, the countries that will come to Canada's defence if we are attacked, possess nuclear weapons.
Canada has already been criticized as a NATO member for not contributing adequate resources toward national defence. It would further diminish our standing in NATO and would be hypocritical on our part to comment negatively on the weaponry contained in the arsenal of NATO countries, while at the same expecting those countries to defend us.
Brian Dougall, Kanata, Ont.
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Visual arts, too
Re Everyone's A Winner (Arts, Oct. 28): Mark Medley's lengthy list and discussion of Canadian literary prizes is informative; a few years ago, I made a similar list and found about 70 national literary awards. My reason for making this intricate list was that, by comparison, there are only about 10 national prizes in the visual arts. The reason for this imbalance is hard to discern.
Mr. Medley points out the synergy between prizes and book sales, and there is reason to think there would be similar interaction between visual arts prizes and the incomes for artists and commercial galleries.
The exciting part in any arts competition is the discovery of new and unexpected talent, often at the last minute just as the prize is announced. This is what the public is looking for, particularly in the digital age. It can only happen if artists are given the upper hand in deciding what is to be entered in the competition.
Julian Brown, co-founder, Kingston Prize (Canadian portrait painting and drawing)
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Freedom vs. abuse
In our democracy, you should be able to wear what you like. The 50 to 100 niqab wearers in Quebec aren't hurting anyone – The Niqab: Women Stand By Their Choice (Oct. 28) – so what's the fuss about?
However, another story in The Globe and Mail on the same day – Quebec Man Charged With Year-Long Assault On Daughter – was more disturbing. It told of a Quebec father charged with assaulting his daughter for not wearing her hijab.
Are there statistics on how many women are forced to cover up against their will? If banning face coverings can prevent this type of abuse, wouldn't the benefits (preventing abuse) outweigh the costs (freedom of choice)? I don't envy the Quebec government in trying to resolve this dilemma.
T.S. Ramsay, Guelph, Ont.
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Some of the people
Re The Party Of Lincoln Surrenders To Trump (Oct. 30): With his base solidly behind him, it's obvious that President Donald Trump learned a valuable lesson from the "late, great" Abraham Lincoln: You can fool some of the people all of the time.
Norman Rosencwaig, Toronto