A quick election fix
George Elliott Clarke’s complaints about fixed election dates (NOW, August 13-19) basically boil down to Big Money, but big money would still be there if we got rid of the fixed date.
Ironically, a fixed date can actually be part of the solution to making elections more democratic if we also fix the length of elections to the current minimum 37 days, give or take a week. And set spending limits in line with a 37-day election that start, say, 6 months or so before the writ is dropped, like the government PSAs and third-party advertising currently limited by Elections Canada.
Raymond Li
Toronto
NDP tar sands surprise
There is no need for NDP Toronto Centre candidate Linda McQuaig to apologize for her statement that “a lot of the oil sands oil may have to stay in the ground” (NOW, August 11). She was merely stating the obvious if Canada is to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets.
It’s no surprise that Conservative leader Stephen Harper, whose party is the unabashed servant of Big Oil, pounced. As disturbing is the response by Malcolm Allen, who was natural resources critic in the NDP caucus, that the party supports continued oil sands extraction, subject to rigorous environmental controls.
Even if devastating oil spills could be precluded, that would not mitigate the utter waste of investing more billions of dollars in the extraction and transportation of carbon fuels.
Barry Weisleder
Toronto
North’s poverty hell
Re The Changing Face Of Poverty In Northern Ontario (NOW, August 13-19). The feeling outside Toronto is that Toronto is the province and the province is Toronto. The rest of Ontario just does not exist. Ergo, poverty. From excessive hydro to the good ol’ 13 per cent HST, the rest of us can go to hell.
Paul MacArthur
Oshawa
Canadians brainwashed on Ukraine?
Unfortunately, too many now know, as Mark Marczyk apparently does not, that Canadians were indeed used as “pawns” during the Ukraine uprising (NOW, August 10), just as we were in Libya or Haiti, in yet another U.S. orchestrated regime change.
Perhaps Marczyk didn’t hear the intercepted phone conversations between the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Ambassador in Kyiv.
Perhaps he didn’t see the swastikas or hear the “Moskal to the knives!” chants of the far-right Right Sector.
Perhaps, like too many Canadians, he has been brainwashed by the “hate Russia” propaganda of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Perhaps Marczyk should return to the Maidan, the site of the “Revolution of Dignity,” and ask ordinary Ukrainians.
John Gilberts
From nowtoronto.com
Olympics: just say no
Re What’s Tory’s Olympic Game? (NOW, August 13-19). Olympics have become so expensive, cities are balking. There are many more important things to give priority to – like infrastructure, health care, affordable housing and creating long-term employment opportunities – than padding the pockets of corrupt Olympic officials, politicians and bureaucrats.
Harvey Bushell
From nowtoronto.com
Pan Ams leavewaterfront legacy
Re Jonathan Goldsbie’s Pan Am legacy article Riding A Different Wave (NOW, July 30-August 5). As for cash being made available for these circuses (but not for bread), I have to admit that the makeover of the waterfront is stunning. I’ve always been skeptical of calling Toronto a first-tier city, but no longer. We have derived great benefit from these Games despite their cost.
Rob Lee
Toronto
Roadside ramen show
Speaking about the restaurant Gushi in T.O.’s Best Street Food (NOW, August 13-19), Natalia Manzucco claims that “roadside ramen is everywhere in Japan, and we are lucky to have many regional styles represented here.” Making ramen is an incredibly involved process, from the stock to the noodles. In Japan the best ramen is served in restaurants. Having con-duct-ed a survey of people who have toured Japan I have this to say: not only is roadside ramen not “everywhere” it is almost nowhere.
Brennan Maynard
Toronto
Missed in Yiddish translation
Your update on the fate of the old Yiddish sign from Mandel’s Baldwin store (NOW, August 13-19) deserves an accurate translation. The sign reads: “Butter, cheese, cream, eggs fresh every day.” Cream cheese isn’t mentioned.
Bernard Katz
Toronto
