Egerton Ryerson’s nephew was a prominent Marxist
Re Why A Name Change For Ryerson University Is The Only Path To Reconciliation (NOW Online, June 9)
I believe that Ryerson University should be rededicated to other members of the Ryerson family who made a positive contribution to Canadian society. There are several Ryersons in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and at least one more will likely be added to a future volume. My personal suggestion is that Ryerson should be rededicated in honour of Egerton’s older brother Reverend William Ryerson, a prominent Methodist clergyman and volunteer in the War of 1812 (Egerton was too young to participate) and Stanley Ryerson a prominent Marxist intellectual and the descendant of one of Egerton’s brothers. Neither of those individuals had the stature to have a major public university named after them but taken together they are worthy of such an honour.
Bruce Couchman – Ottawa
You can take the GO train to Bike Share
Re Times Up For Bike Share Toronto Riders (NOW, June 3-9).
Glenn Sumi missed making the connection between bikes and trains when he wrote “with the current 30-minute limit, it’s impossible to get from the regular system’s easternmost dock at Blantyre Park to Guildwood.”
Bike Share Toronto’s Guildwood-Rouge Park pilot program aims to encourage us to take the GO train to Guildwood station. There you can pick up a bike for a wonderfully natural ride down the nearby Highland Creek Trail to the Waterfront Trail, then along the lake to the Rouge Hill GO station to dock the bike and catch the train home.
The easy 12-kilometre ride is spectacular, spring, summer and fall (when the salmon run). Be sure to start from the top of the trail near Guildwood. It’s a cool 90-metre drop in elevation along the mostly paved trail down to the lakefront.
Donald Wiedman – Toronto
These bike trails need a map to navigate
Thanks so much for The 12 Best Bike Trails in Toronto (NOW, June 3-9). But you could have included map coordinates. It really helps people who aren’t from Toronto or who want to travel to the trails.
Gianne Willett – From NOWTORONTO.COM
Letter-writer needs to lighten up
Letter-writer Robin Lake is distressed that NOW Magazine printed an ad for one of Toronto college’s long-time law enforcement programs during the trial of George Floyd’s murderer and then an ad for Toronto’s Jewish Film Festival during the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter-writer writes that NOW Magazine is failing to uphold its own values such as publication for “provocative reporting, diverse perspectives and a commitment to social and environmental justice.” With all due respect to letter-writer – huh?
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m still trying to figure out whether NOW’s letters editor published Lake’s missive just to lighten things up during this pandemic time and/or to confirm what that Jewish guy Albert Einstein once said: “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
David Honigsberg – Toronto
Fearing “the really powerful arms of Zionism”
Re Canadian Artists Fear Backlash For Speaking On Israel-Palestine (NOW Online, June 9)
What inspires a writer to do a piece on the backlash against artists who express support for the Palestinian cause when there is none?
That’s not to say that examples aren’t put forward in this article. The author does refer to the two times that Hollywood stars walked back their criticisms of Israel – a celebrity couple in 2014 and The Incredible Hulk in 2021.
Then there’s the CBC which we are told felt it better not to have its Israel-Palestine coverage provided by journalists who openly accused Israel of indiscriminate killing and ethnic cleansing. You see this too, right guys? Of course, fearing the reach of the Jewish tentacles of power (sorry, “the really powerful arms of Zionism”) is nothing new. But it sure is disappointing to read an article working so hard to justify that phobia in a Toronto weekly.
Daniel Fogel – Toronto
G-7 leaders need to tackle girls’ education
For the vast majority of children in Canada, school-related disruptions have been temporary. But for an estimated 20 million girls in the world’s lowest-income countries, they could be permanent.
This week, G7 leaders have the opportunity to get girls’ education on track as they endorse two new targets: to get 40 million more girls into school and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10 in low and lower-middle-income countries by 2026.
There is already enough evidence about how girls’ education is one of the best investments to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, in line with our longstanding legacy in education, Canada must commit to removing roadblocks to girls’ education by making a strong financial pledge to the Global Partnership for Education at the G7 Summit.
Hanna Belayneh – Ottawa
Trudeau’s climate change-up
In mid-April, the federal government released new data showing that, during the six years of Justin Trudeau’s leadership, Canada’s emissions from the fossil fuel sector have continued to rise.
If we’re serious about tackling the climate crisis, this needs to change.
We have less than a decade to be well on our way to tackling the climate emergency. We need a game-changing plan.
Barbara Rotschild – Toronto
