She shoots, she scores
Hooray for The Globe for recognizing Cammi Granato and Angela James on the front page for their induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame (Hockey And Heroines - Nov. 8). Another hooray to all of the other wonderful female hockey-player role models who inspire the adult women's leagues across the country. We range in age from our 20s to our 60s and play with great enthusiasm each week. It's the love of the game and our amazing friendships that keep us coming back week after week, year after year!
Ann Hatch, Toronto
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With the induction of Angela James and Cammi Granato, let's welcome the Hockey Hall of Fame into the last century. It gives hope that, at some point, we will also be able to welcome the NHL into the 21st century - maybe by 2110, if they finally heed medical advice and ban head hits.
Alf Platts, Brockville, Ont.
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2011, and then
Canada should completely withdraw from Afghanistan in 2011 (Ottawa 'Now Considering' Keeping Troops In Afghanistan After 2011 - Nov. 8). We had no business going there in the first place. Canadians have been engaged in a war that has done nothing but spread terrorism and place Afghan citizens in greater peril. The opposition parties have an obligation to demand a vote in Parliament and reject any further Canadian involvement in a conflict that is nothing more than an unfortunate legacy of the U.S. Bush administration.
Ken Erickson, Calgary
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The sooner we get our soldiers out of Afghanistan, the less pressure there will be on would-be terrorists to train with al-Qaeda or build bombs.
Our troops would better serve us protecting our borders. We need more and larger ice breakers patrolling our northern seas. We need better protection from human smugglers.
Maybe I'll wear two poppies on Nov. 11, a red one to support the men and women who have served in the armed forces and a white one in the hope that we'll find better ways to protect our wonderful country.
Peter Bishop, Calgary
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A spike to last
This storied spike was given by the late Pierre Berton to the Chinese Canadian National Council to assist its decades-long Chinese head-tax and exclusion redress efforts (The Search For An Historic Spike Comes To A Happy End - Nov. 6). The gift helped launch the "Last Spike" campaign, which called for an inclusive, just and honourable redress. Such a redress would become the symbolic last spike and real closure to a legislated oppressive period (1885-1947) for the Chinese in Canada.
The spike came into my possession in early 2004; it was "shown off" at many redress events across the country prior to the Harper government's unilaterally imposed redress settlement in 2006.
However, Mr. Berton could be having a chuckle now. According to anecdotal remarks I've heard, it's possible that he picked it up near Craigellachie, B.C., the site of the completion of Canada's transcontinental railway. When the spike's authenticity was questioned by an expert, I jokingly responded: "Who are you going to believe - Pierre Berton or your lying eyes?"
That the spike was missing, and its subsequent location, is auspicious - and perhaps instructive. The photo ops and vote-pandering by the Harper government on an incomplete redress are nearly completed. An inclusive, just and honourable redress is not (125 Years After Craigellachie, What Shall Our New Dream Be? - Nov. 8).
Sid Chow Tan, Vancouver
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To have and have not
Claude Gannon (Health-Care Dare - letters, Nov. 8) makes a case for allowing some private medical care by pointing to contemporary social inequalities - for instance, that "some kids go to public school, and some go to private school." He says of these inequalities simply, "That's life."
Life is what we make it. Whether or not Canada has medicare is a moral question, not an economic one. Some believe there are things all humans should have access to: for instance, few would argue that money should buy you access to more and better human rights. If we have the will to provide excellent health-care services for all Canadians, we can make it happen. In the end, health care may not be cheap, but it may be valuable.
Sascha Maicher, Ottawa
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Define "private": Private health care doesn't exist if it is subsidized by the public system.
H. Mears, Vancouver
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If more physicians are working in the private sector for the rich folks, who works in the clinics for the plebs? If the pay is better in the private system, which, it is, "entrepreneurial" physicians will go private. How does that translate into shorter lineups, unless we recruit many, many more physicians? Are those working in the public system to be expected to accept lower remuneration for the same services to save money?
As a country, we need to decide what sort of care we want, how much it's worth to us, minimize the inefficiencies, and accept the cost. Do we really want one system for the haves and an inferior system for the have-nots? It doesn't work elsewhere, so why would it work here?
David Hughes Glass, M.D., Saugeen Shores, Ont.
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The Israeli way
My husband and I are in our 80s, yet time and time again when flying, we are put through the routine - shoes, jackets and belts off, patted down from head to toe, our hand luggage examined for the possibility of an oversized tube of hand cream or toothpaste (The Airline Security Emperors Have No Clothes - Nov. 6). We understand the need to appear not to "profile" young men of Middle Eastern appearance, but does that mean travellers such as ourselves have to be victimized?
As Bruce Kirby says, the Israeli system, where well-trained agents look for untoward signs, especially with first-time travellers to Israel, and keep a database of regular visitors, works remarkably well.
Brenda Gibson, St. Catharines, Ont.
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Not that well paid
Anyone who states creators are "well-compensated," may not realize that the average income for a writer in this country is less than $16,000 a year (It's Not About 'Free' - letters, Nov. 6). Even assuming a 40-hour week (about half of what most writers put in), that is less than minimum wage. Yet the "fair dealing" exemption for educators in Bill C-32 will cost those creators about 80 per cent of the income they derive from copyright compensation. That's not a lot of incentive for us to keep on creating the Canadian educational material that educators and students will need.
Ron Brown, Toronto, past chair, Writers' Union of Canada
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I'm waiting
My personal favourite among these suspect stats is the one where "men put in more overtime hours than women" (Knowing Where The Time Goes - Report on Business, Nov. 8). Yes, I often see that: men changing diapers, stirring the white sauce, shopping for the milk and taking the sick child to the doctor. You just can't keep a good man down, er, off the sofa. Honey, what's for dinner? I'm waiting.
Beverley Smith, Calgary