Express your views on global press freedom
On May 4, as part of its ingoing coverage of World Press Freedom Day, The Globe and Mail will devote the Opinion Section to examining the state of press freedom around the globe. We invite letter writers to share your views on the role of a free press, and will publish a cross-section of responses in the Letters to the Editor section on May 4. Letters addressing the role of a free press should be submitted no later than April 29, and be kept under 200 words. Letters to the editor must include a name and city of residence. E-mail: letters@globeandmail.com
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Immunity Warriors: Invasion of the Alien Zombies!" is a comic book to teach kids about immunization,Courtesy of Dr. Kumanan Wilson
Immunity warriors
Re To Combat Anti-Vaxxer Myths, Teach Children To Be Immunity Warriors (April 12): For many of us, it’s the needle itself, not what’s in the syringe. The idea of getting stabbed, even when I rationally know that no harm will come of it, scares me to death.
I’m having a mild panic attack just writing about this. When I have blood tests, I annoy the people at the lab because I need to lie down or I’ll faint. More than once, I’ve vomited in the waiting room.
Whenever there’s an epidemic somewhere in the world, the media show pictures of screaming babies getting jabbed. If I see that coming, I have to leave the room. If the medical profession wants a higher rate of immunization, it needs to persuade drug companies to develop oral vaccines. I’ll be first in line for those.
George Patton, Guelph, Ont.
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What a brilliant idea, linking space, comic books and the digital world to teach kids about immunization. Hats off to Dr. Kumanan Wilson and all his co-creators of Immunity Warriors – Invasion of the Alien Zombies! If school boards pick up on this, within a generation we can put the vaccination debate in the rear-view mirror.
Amélie Schmidt, St. John’s
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Make parents pay the medical bills if their unvaccinated child gets ill. Deny school or daycare registration to unvaccinated kids. Legislate. Enforce. Protect.
Karen Wilson, Regina
Detained by China
Re How Ottawa Can Get Beijing To Release Our Detainees (April 12): “The Chinese have arrested one of our diplomats – so we should arrest two or more of theirs under espionage charges. Those Chinese would remain in detention for as long as the Canadians do.” Seriously? How is the little guy throwing gas on the big guy’s fire going to resolve issues?
Did Paul Chapin go native during his time as a diplomat in Moscow? Vlad would be proud.
Hannah Simpson, Winnipeg
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Paul Chapin’s column contains the best advice that Prime Minister Justice Trudeau will ever get on China. It is time to stop playing around. To quote Mr. Chapin, an expert in international-security affairs, “We didn’t build this great country by rolling over to bullies.”
Justin Trudeau should show some leadership. This situation is shameful and embarrassing.
M.F.C. Brooker, Guelph, Ont.What about the North?
Once again, we see the Premier of Ontario exerting his will over public transportation to benefit the folks living in the Greater Toronto Area, where he and most of his cohorts live, work and play.
We’ve seen some blatant moves by provincial governments concerning GTA-centric policies over the years, and we sit back and remember all the promises made to Northerners during elections and shake our heads.
We remember, for example, that Doug Ford promised he would invest in public transportation options north of Parry Sound. During the last election, he promised to return passenger rail service to Northern Ontario at a cost of $45-million.
We are still waiting.
Sue Nielsen, Cobalt, Ont.
It’s pronounced ‘BOOT-edge-edge’
Re Golden Boys Buttigieg And O’Rourke Jockey For The Same Crown (April 10): Pete Buttigieg’s meteoric rise in the polls should not be that surprising.
Mayor Pete is authentic, modest, intelligent, articulate and compassionate. He speaks in sentences and paragraphs, not slogans and sound bites. He is, in short, everything the current President is not. And the fact that he is a 37-year-old, gay, Christian, married, Harvard graduate magna cum laude, Rhodes scholar, and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, doesn’t hurt either.
Manuel Matas, Winnipeg
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Lawrence Martin says that if “you take five cracks at pronouncing” Pete Buttigieg’s name, “you might get it right.” Actually, it’s easy, unless you struggle saying “Pete.” Pronounce it BOOT-edge-edge. It’s a common surname in Malta, and after 2020, we may be saying it a lot. One can hope!
Anna Majors, Edmonton
Class sizes? That’s an ‘F’
As a retired B.C. English teacher and vice-principal, I am appalled at Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s proposed changes to class sizes.
Years ago, at a Report Card evening, a parent asked, “Is it too much to expect that each child receive about 15 minutes per week consideration and comments on his writing assignments?” On the surface, a reasonable question. Other parents in the audience murmured agreement, so I replied as follows: “I have seven classes (the eighth ‘block’ of time was my prep period), with a maximum of 28 students per class. (B.C. had relatively enlightened school boards, which recognized the importance of class size.) My total teaching load is 196 students; at 15 minutes consultation per student – done after my reading, assessment, evaluation of the work displayed – that works out to 49 hours per week in consultation with students. That’s after the evaluation, grading process is complete.”
I then asked when I was to find the time to teach the material upon which the writing assignment was based. I didn’t even consider mentioning the staff and department meetings which make schools function, or hallway or lunch-room supervisions, or my wish to watch the boys or girls basketball or volleyball teams, or the choir, band or drama group perform, or eat my peanut butter sandwich or grab a coffee, or enjoy my family life at home.
Mr. Ford is a dangerous manifestation of the ignorance common among people who dislike schools and teachers. If you think education is expensive, try mass public ignorance.
Ontario just did.
Pierce Graham, Kamloops, B.C.
Stop timing offers
Re Ontario Realtors Recommend Province Ends Use Of ‘Bully’ Offers (April 9): If the Ontario Real Estate Association were truly interested in creating fairness in the home-buying process, it would be asking the province to ban the practice of setting a specific date and time for buyers to submit offers. This practice often leads to successful purchasers paying outrageous prices, after they get caught up in bidding wars and are egged on by overzealous agents.
Once a property is listed for sale, all offers submitted at any time should be open for consideration by the seller.
Leonard Naymark, Toronto
Hmm …
Re Damage Control (April 9): David Eddie suggests that when the criticism in the Twitterverse gets nasty, “it’s like the writing above a urinal.” Hmm … perhaps Twitter is an acronym for Toilet Wall Information Transfer Technology for Eliminating Reason?
Graham Copley, Stittsville, Ont.
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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