Smoke rises above the southeast perimeter of the Paskwa fire as it burns near Fox Lake, Alta. on May 16.ALBERTA WILDFIRE/Reuters
Emission control
Re “After this season of fire, the Conservatives must make their peace with carbon pricing” (Opinion, June 10): Andrew Coyne has it right. Not cutting carbon emissions because individually Canada has little impact on total emissions is analogous to not voting because our vote alone will not affect the outcome. Collectively the emissions of the the smaller emitters account for roughly half of the total, so collectively we have a great deal of effect.
Bertram Schoner, professor emeritus, Simon Fraser University; West Vancouver, B.C.
Ascribing to China and India the lion’s share of responsibility for greenhouse-gas emissions happens far too often in the discourse of the deflectors of the real causes of global warming, the conservative-leaning and the ignorant. And it is deplorable. The fact is that we have outsourced so much of our manufacturing of goods to developing nations in our globalized economy, and yet we repeatedly fail to account for the fact that China, and to some extent India, are basically the factories of the world, and burn fossil fuels to make products that we Westerners voraciously consume. This abysmal misrepresentation of the emissions from developing nations needs to stop. Much of China’s and India’s emissions are actually ours to account for, and it is largely the West’s relentless consumption that has caused the degradation of our biosphere. It is we who must fundamentally change our habits if we are going to resolve the issues of climate change.
Margaret Huff Kamloops, B.C.
Transparency vs. privacy
Re “How Canada’s FOI system broke under its own weight” (Opinion, June 10): As a former Alberta MLA, I lament the failure of that provincial government to promote transparency and accountability by means of its Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. When the law was developed in the early 1990s there was a genuine hope that features such as the “duty to assist,” a broad public interest override and an effective commissioner would offset the long list of exceptions in the act. It is apparent that indifference or perhaps hostility to the “right to know” by the government has proven that those features were insufficient.
Gary Dickson Portland, Ont.
Re “David Walmsley: The Globe’s Secret Canada project aims to make governments more transparent” (June 10): Democracy only works when ordinary people pay attention. When governments deny access to information, they are frustrating the efforts of those of us who do pay attention. These denials are anti-democratic.
But there are limits. Government policy, decision-making processes and outcomes should always be made available but members of the civil service should not be made vulnerable to harassment.
The Globe is making an important contribution to keeping Canada’s democracy open and accountable. But there are, and should be, limits.
Steve Soloman Toronto
Trans kids
Re “The state has a duty to protect trans students” (Editorial, June 15): Kudos to The Globe for its editorial supporting the rights of trans children, and to Beth Lyons for her opinion piece showing that New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs’s revisions to Policy 713 appear to stem from three e-mails spouting the rhetoric of far-right internet propaganda. In all of these debates, we need to keep in mind that we are talking about real children, who suffer real consequences due to the misinformation and conspiracy theories that circulate on social media and poison our public discourse.
Jim Ellis Calgary
Lost marbles
Re “Greece is making a play for all the Parthenon marbles – if the British Museum will play along” (June 13): The Parthenon had stood in great elegance for some 2,000 years undamaged by the many occupiers of Athens – from the Romans onward. All these conquerors had respected the beauty and sanctity of the Parthenon. That is until Thomas Bruce came along 200 years ago. Thomas Bruce, also known as Lord Elgin, was a young, swashbuckling lout. He and his friends took great saws to the elegant pillars and cut off the most beautiful parts. It was an act of unspeakable desecration.
The new Acropolis museum is magnificent. The British have no case. The Parthenon should be restored.
Tony Woodruff Burnaby B.C.
How many immigrants?
Re “Immigration: Canada needs a strategy, not a numbers game” (Opinion, June 10): I fear that bringing 500,000 immigrants per year into Canada will cause a backlash against immigration. My husband came to Canada as a refugee, my ancestors came to escape famine and war, and I worked as a refugee liaison officer for the federal government years ago, and for an immigrant settlement organization, so I understand why people come to Canada and I support immigration. However, health care is already so rationed and inadequate, and there’s such a shortage of housing, that adding 500,000 per year will exacerbate these problems and could spur negative attitudes among Canadians who thus far, overall, see immigrants in a positive light. Do we really want to end up like our neighbour to the south, where immigrants are vilified and immigration is a divisive issue?
Elaine Arnusch Regina
Cars vs. bikes
Re “When cities applaud dismantling bike lanes, we are going backward” (Opinion, June 10): It is well documented that increasing bicycle infrastructure actually reduces traffic congestion and decreases air pollution (the cause of thousands of deaths annually) and the associated health care costs. Safe bike infrastructure is also good for the economy because people on bikes shop locally. Overall, it makes the city a safer, more pleasant place to live, which attracts investors and high-level employees.
Removing existing bike lanes at great expense is an exercise in self-destruction. All to save a few seconds on a car commute. And maybe to get a few more votes.
David Burman Toronto
The heedless disregard, on the part of many bicyclists, of laws governing the operation of bicycles often results in threats to the safety of us, the lowly, literally disregarded, pedestrians. On occasions too numerous to count has my bodily integrity been seriously threatened by a bicyclist.
What to do? In some circumstances I have found that the judicious employment of intemperate profanity directed to the offending cyclist will bear results, ranging from no reaction to a temporary hesitation, to a shocked halting and either an apology or a display of outrage and threat of personal violence from the wheelist. This latter reaction inevitably dissipates when the offender perceives the source of the oral eruption (elderly, spectacles, small of frame, walker). My hope is that this verbal remonstrance may generate in its receiver some future consideration for the safety of me and my constituency.
Hope does spring eternal.
David Spring Toronto
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