298 innocents
It strains credulity to believe that anyone other than Russian-backed "rebels" (read: thugs) brought down flight MH17 (Harper Blames Russia For Driving Conflict – July 18).
Before it became clear this was a passenger jet, "rebel" leader Igor Girkin – surprise, surprise a trained Russian military intelligence officer – bragged about shooting down a plane.
With the world in turmoil over the blood of 298 innocents, Vladimir Putin is in damage-control mode, trying to deflect attention from the fact that we are reaping as he has sowed. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has long had my respect for standing up to this bully on the world stage.
Laurel Boyko, Winnipeg
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It is too bad that some major airlines are only now coming to the conclusion that they should bypass the war areas in Ukraine (Malaysia Airlines Unlikely To Survive After Suffering 'Two Massive Body Blows' – July 18). That airlines were still flying in the area, just to save some money, is rather amazing.
Anthony ten Kortenaar, Toronto
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The look of justice
"Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done."
It is difficult to see how justice is being done by charging the payee of the alleged bribe, Mike Duffy, but not the payer, Nigel Wright (Duffy Faces 31 Criminal Charges – July 18).
By not charging Mr. Wright, justice is "manifestly and undoubtedly" not being seen to be done.
Elizabeth Woods, Victoria
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If Senator Mike Duffy is found guilty of using taxpayers' money to travel for the purpose of collecting funds for the Harper Conservatives, the Conservatives should be compelled to forfeit those monies to the Crown. They should not profit from crime.
Patrick Lawson, Victoria
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What do PMs know?
Munir Sheikh asks: What Do These PMs Know That Economists Don't? (July 18). Obviously our Prime Minister who, we are frequently told, is a trained economist, has a different view of economics than that held by many of us. Faced with a money-losing business, the Post Office, his government reacted by decreasing service and increasing the costs to customers.
To most of us, that would not appear as an obvious way to turn around a money-losing business. Our Prime Minister, who selected this course of action, must therefore know something about economics that the rest of us don't.
R.E. Langemann, Calgary
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Politicians know one thing: Voters hate having things taken away. And voters especially hate losing their jobs.
Humans are remarkably susceptible to what psychologists and economists call "loss aversion." We kick and scream at the thought of losing a single existing job for the sake of the future environment, even when the long-term gains are obviously greater than the short-term pain.
This has been very nicely explained by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in their seminal work on prospect theory. In fact, Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 for this particular contribution to the dismal science.
Kevin Curnock, Toronto
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Labour disconnect
Re Red Tape, Fees Give Headaches To Foreign Physician Recruiters (July 16): This is another example of the bureaucratic nightmare of attempting to shoehorn Canada's labour market needs through the temporary foreign workers program.
Canada appears to have abdicated the public responsibility of running a properly managed immigration system.
The evidence suggests that instead, it is increasingly leaving it to private interests through this clumsy mechanism of an imported, and already outdated and widely discredited program of guest workers.
The dramatic growth of this temporary population of workers – as European experience has shown us – is a serious threat to the stable growth of Canadian communities. Canada's deserved global reputation in providing an immigration model that is open, fair and effective is rapidly being destroyed.
Tim Rees, Hamilton
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First business people
Re Supreme Court's Land Claims Ruling Harms Canada's Business Environment (Report on Business, July 14): We as aboriginal peoples and Canada's original business people were left out of the economy for more than a century. This is a fact.
Enormous wealth and extraordinary economic prosperity for Canada came at the expense of our First Peoples. A century of economic and social disparity harmed far more than aboriginal peoples' business environment.
Statements that the court's decision exceeded the "worst-case scenarios of both government and industry" sum up the very attitude that created the inequitable and unjust system of separate economic structures for aboriginals and non-aboriginal peoples in Canada today.
Aboriginal economic heft has been growing. A recent TD economics report sees aboriginal business contributing over $32-billion to the total GDP of household incomes, business and government by 2016: $13-billion of that comes from business.
The Supreme Court decision is a road map for investment certainty, rather than harm. The Supreme Court represents all Canadians, not just government and industry.
J.P. Gladu, president, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
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Single-engine doubts
Michael Byers is concerned about the safety of Canada's military aviators (Why A Single Failing Grounded The F-35 – July 17).
At the same time, with Canadians now flying on the edge of Russian airspace in support of NATO operations, birds in jet engines are the least of our worries. Mr. Byers would be well advised to familiarize himself with the capabilities of Russian S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems vis-à-vis non-stealthy aircraft.
Dale Armstrong, Toronto
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My ball. Mine
Re A Baseball For Garth (Facts & Arguments, July 18): I am simultaneously impressed by the writer's graciousness and generosity in giving away a foul ball he caught at a Red Sox game – and disappointed that he succumbed to the shameless extortion applied by Jennifer's parents and grandparents.
I have nearly perfected the ability to completely ignore, to the point of denying the existence of, those who attempt to visit their own sense of entitlement upon what is rightfully mine. My place in line, my turn at a four-way stop and yes, if the opportunity were to arise, my self-caught baseball.
If I decided to give it away, it would be my own choice, and not because I succumbed to the social blackmail of a few ill-mannered bystanders.
Jim Foster, London, Ont.