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Letters To The Editor News

Letters to the Editor: Hydro from Quebec cleaner than nukes?

Hydro from Quebec cleaner than nukes?

Re Jack Gibbons’s The Real Hydro One Sell-Off Shocker (NOW, April 30-May 6). I read with amusement the author’s criticism of a rebuild of Darlington while he repeatedly suggests that Ontario buy hydro from Quebec. 

He fails to remind readers why Quebec has a surplus of electricity to sell. While Darlington can be mothballed, the devastation caused by the James Bay projects cannot be reversed. 

At least the folks in the GTA can obtain iodine pills if one of Ontario’s nukes “burps,” but the Cree Nation has had to suffer the consequences of mercury pollution in what was left of their boreal forest.

Green alternatives? Definitely! But please don’t tell me that energy imported from Quebec is “cleaner and safer.”

Ian Byers

Toronto


Libs’ Hydro One snake oil sales pitch

Jack Gibbons believes that we can get closer to convenient and affordable public transit through a “smart partial” privatization of Hydro One. He has bought the Ontario government’s snake oil sales pitch.

He proposes Ontario buy power from Quebec but fails to understand that it prefers to sell to the U.S. He ignores the massive environmental and social costs of Quebec’s northern projects.

Green power is a laudable goal, but wind, solar, etc, are unpredictable and intermittent. He is correct, though, that a real push in energy efficiency investment is desperately needed.

Ted Turner

Toronto


NDP needs to explain pro-nukes stand

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is opposed to Hydro One privatization and laments that hydro rates from publicly owned utilities in Manitoba and Quebec are half of Ontario’s (NOW, April 30-May 6). But that’s because they get virtually all their electricity from low-cost water power! 

Ontario, on the other hand, has much higher electricity rates because of our dependence on risky, high-cost nuclear power. If NDPers want lower electricity rates, they need to oppose the province’s plan to rebuild nuclear reactors at the aging Darlington and Bruce stations. 

Janet McNeill

Toronto


Ghomeshi trial winners and losers

Re And Now It Gets Ugly (NOW, April 30-May 6). The real tragedy of the Jian Ghomeshi affair is that there are still adults in Canada who believe criminal trials are all about the pursuit of justice. 

Trials are all about fighting and winning. The winner gets all the justice, and the loser gets nothing. If you go into your trial with that mindset, you will likely succeed. 

If you go in expecting some guy in a wig and robe to protect your civil rights, you will probably wind up very, very disappointed.

Mike K.

From nowtoronto.com


What if Ghomeshi is not guilty? 

According to Jane Doe, Jian Ghomeshi is already guilty and the system mistreats alleged victims of sexual assault. So what if he is found not guilty by proving his accusers lied? (It happens.) Will he still be considered guilty by the general public? 

Ron Montgomery

From nowtoronto.com


Fight climate change fatigue or die

Andrew van Velzen’s letter Climate-Changed Out (NOW, April 23-29) made me very sad. And not just because I know there are many Canadians feeling climate change fatigue. 

But turning our backs only guarantees a future of unpaid bills, rent worries and underpaid jobs for Canadians, as van Velzen notes. Autocratic governments are all too ready to decimate local economies for globalization made possible by cheap but deadly fossil fuels.

Van Velzen asks to be told something he doesn’t already know. Perhaps it is this: it is not too late. We can create a healthier planet, strong local economies with real, decent-paying jobs, and a more meaningful and equitable society. Yes, the world will survive or it won’t, but the outcome is in our hands.

Lee Ramsay

Toronto


The reality of Harper’s tar sands rhetoric 

Letter-writer P. Smith and many Conservative voters believe Stephen Harper’s tar sands rhetoric (NOW, April 30-May 6) without checking the facts. Yes, we all use oil in some way, but we need a healthy earth, water and air a lot more than we do oil. Canada’s carbon footprint is smallish, but we are the number-one polluter per capita in the world and have the fifth-worst environment policy on the planet. 

The world has moved ahead, and Harper has not followed suit as promised. Other countries have developed huge green energy programs, creating many jobs and money without oil reliance. Harper? Zippo. We have 40 per cent of the world’s fresh water, which the tar sands are destroying alongside boreal forests. We cannot drink oil. The tar sands are causing much more than just pollution. Please start connecting the dots.

Scotty Robinson 

Toronto


CHRY a heartbreaking loss 

It was so shocking to hear that CHRY is no more (NOW, May 1) – and gone with it is the SAWANA Radio Sinhala program hosted by renowned Sri Lankan artist Vasanta Lankatilaka. Everyone who listened to this program every Wednesday is going to be so disappointed. I personally want to thank CHRY for the opportunity to speak out for our community. 

Srilal Fonseka

From nowtoronto.com


Air apparent

I was excited to read about the Air Guitar championship at Lee’s Palace (NOW, April 29). Why stop there? What about Air Producer, Air Mixer, Air Manager, Air Agent, Air Merch, Air Groupie?

Martin Baker

Toronto


North of 401, sidewalks for bikes, too

I live north of the 401 and have been riding on sidewalks for 20 years. Letter writer Joe Bruneau from Oakville (NOW, April 16-22) is what I call the 7-foot-wide pedestrian. Humans are about half the width of regular sidewalks, so there’s plenty of space for both. Up here in the burbs, except for major corners, few people walk. So between paved boulevards and the sidewalk, I’d rather have what’s there now than bike paths on the road.

Adam Wetstein

North York

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