Letters to the editor: ‘Little to show but skyrocketing levels of debt.’ Liberal spending vs. Liberal achievements, plus other letters to the editor for Jan. 15

Other means

Re Ukraine Needs At Least $1.79-billion To Restore Telecoms Sector To Pre-war Levels, UN Report Says (Online, Jan. 6): Justin Trudeau keeps saying we have Ukraine’s back. Well, we don’t have it with any military equipment.

We do have telecom equipment and we do have transformers, light bulbs and generators. I haven’t heard a word about sending any of those things to Ukraine.

They would go some way, along with more parkas, blankets and medical supplies, to helping Ukrainians who need more than words to keep warm and connected.

Marilyn Dolenko Ottawa

Change coming

Re Pathways Signs Carbon Storage Site Deal (Report on Business, Jan. 5): This carbon capture and storage plan is expected to cost about $16.5-billion by 2030 and, despite our government unveiling a CCS investment tax credit, the oil industry wants still more financial support.

Why not? Their business is to make profit. But why should taxpayers subsidize an industry’s attempt to sequester production emissions, only to flood the market afterward with fossil fuels? Sequestration at taxpayer expense, even if it works, doesn’t seem to do one bit of good if the resulting product wreaks ever-increasing havoc on our environment.

Production and associated environmental costs should be borne by the oil industry and users of their products that emit harmful emissions. Taxes on profit and on end users should be directly related to the enormous and ever-rising costs of climate change.

Revenues should be used to ease the transition to clean electricity for our energy needs to the extent possible.

Frederic Carpenter Ottawa

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Re An Activist In Office: Steven Guilbeault’s First Year As Environment Minister (Jan. 2): While I’m sure likeminded ideologues will praise Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s accomplishments, throwing money at everything, everywhere shouldn’t be recognized as an achievement.

A more noteworthy accomplishment would be an audit showing that the millions, or billions, of dollars given to any cause were wisely spent, and predetermined goals resulted in measurable benefits. That climate change goals have never been met is a perfect example to me of failure.

Instead, I think Mr. Guilbeault’s advancements will be fleeting and no more meaningful than the billions of dollars this government has already spent, with little to show but skyrocketing levels of debt.

Paul Baumberg Dead Man’s Flats, Alta.

Into the wild

Re Buyout Of Jasper Park Businesses Welcomed To Protect Caribou (Jan. 6): Crushing news.

For more than 50 years, I have been going to Jasper National Park’s wonderful Tonquin Valley. I have stayed at both lodges and hiked in as a teen. I have brought my family twice.

It’s where I am a speck on the planet, in the valley of grizzlies with a sky spilling over with stars at night. Pure magic. Tonquin Valley is my screensaver; a print hangs in my living room and in my medical office.

The valley’s backcountry lodges offered a world-class experience of our spectacular Rocky Mountains. I believe the world has nothing else like it, and it was ours to offer.

To dismantle a Canadian gem created by the likes of Fred Brewster and other parks visionaries feels devastating and myopic of Parks Canada. Not everyone is a hiker.

At 63 I suppose, sadly, that I will never be able to see my touchstone again.

Clare Dossetor Ottawa

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Re Alliance Aims To Strengthen Urban Forests (Jan. 9): Forests Ontario commends these organizations for their collaboration.

In Toronto, Forests Ontario is a year into the Tree Seed Diversity Program with the city. This partnership will secure a variety of native, source-appropriate stock that will support the city’s forest-restoration planting programs and strengthen biodiversity.

Forests Ontario worked with more than 40 provincial seed and cone collectors who acquired approximately 12 million viable seeds this year. In total, our seed bank is comprised of 205 million viable seeds, which helps ensure our nursery partners can grow the right tree, for the right place, at the right time.

The urban environment presents a challenge, but the benefits of a healthy urban canopy to residents and in the fight against climate change are worth it.

Rob Keen RPF; CEO, Forests Ontario and Forest Recovery Canada Barrie, Ont.

At home

Re Five Steps For Tackling Canada’s Long-term Care Crisis (Jan. 3): It is disheartening to me that the focus for senior care is mostly on long-term care institutions. Allowing our seniors to live at home with proper in-home support would be the ideal solution.

Housing people in institutions should only occur when medical needs can no longer be met at home. Cutting ribbons in front of new care homes doesn’t come close to meeting the needs of our aging population. And it is the more expensive option.

Janice Couch Kingston

Planes, trains

Re CTA To Extend Claims Decisions To Those On Same Flight (Jan. 11): A few years ago, I submitted a complaint to the Canadian Transportation Agency regarding a late-evening flight from Washington to Ottawa that was cancelled by United Airlines.

We were advised that United was cancelling the flight due to bad weather in Ottawa. But when I later did some research, I discovered it was the only cancelled flight into Ottawa that night. And the weather was actually fine. Nevertheless, United refused to reimburse me for the cost of the hotel, dinner and taxis.

I assumed the CTA would support my claim. To my astonishment, I was advised that it “does not have the jurisdiction to dispute an airline’s reason for a flight cancellation.” Which left me wondering just what authority it did have.

I assume that in any instance where an airline says it cancelled flights due to poor weather, passengers may as well not bother seeking compensation through the CTA.

John Ambridge Ottawa

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Re Via Rail’s Holiday Meltdown Shows Canada’s Railway Policy Has Failed Us (Report on Business, Dec. 30): On Christmas, we travelled from Michigan to Sarnia, Ont., for a train trip to Toronto. We greatly missed the city the past two years.

When we boarded in Sarnia at 8:40 a.m., it was bitterly cold and the great blizzard was whirling snow. After St. Mary’s station, the train slowed considerably. We were informed that the engines were losing power.

A crew member, in jest, said to us, “Don’t worry, we could probably coast the rest of the way to Toronto.” But the engineers fixed the problem, so we were shortly off and running again.

When we arrived at Union Station in Toronto, we noticed how iced up and snow-covered our engine and cars were. We thought to ourselves, Via Rail train 84 was truly a “polar express,” though more “polar” than “express.”

A hearty shoutout to our friends at Via. We wish all Canadians a happy and healthy 2023.

Joe Neussendorfer Shelby Township, Mich.

Critic’s pick

Re Patriotism, Artistic Expression Clash After Electric Riff on O Canada (Jan. 3): The discussion about Big Sugar guitarist Gordie Johnson’s performance of O Canada shows me how far we have come.

During the 1980s, when I was a DJ at the Toronto radio station that broadcast Blue Jays games, I sang the anthem a couple of times. And, like just about everyone who performs it at games, I sang the last two notes up an octave. It gives a more rousing finish, perfect for a sporting event.

Afterward, I received a stern letter from a music teacher who was outraged that I dared to alter the ending from what had been written more than a century earlier. I could practically feel my knuckles being rapped.

Today we are debating Mr. Johnson’s interpretation of O Canada, rather than whether he even should have. And that is progress. That’s what art is supposed to do: Make us examine ourselves, our culture and our beliefs.

Scott Walker Toronto

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Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com