Skip to main content
letters
Open this photo in gallery:

The Conservative Party has pulled the names and images from a party fundraising video of Michael Kovrig (left) and Michael Spavor, the two Canadians imprisoned in China after the Huawei dispute erupted. Critics complained the party, for partisan purposes, was exploiting the men's imprisonment./The Associated Press

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

..................................................................................................................................

‘Abysmal judgment’

I woke up Thursday morning to read in my paper about two colossally bad decisions, one by the CBC, a publicly funded entity, the other by the federal Conservative Party, which wants to govern our country.

The CBC is considering producing a series for the fifth estate about a convicted Canadian serial killer to improve falling ratings, while the Conservative Party decided it was okay to produce a fundraising video that featured two Canadians detained and imprisoned in China (CBC’s Plan To Boost The Fifth Estate’s Ratings With Series On Paul Bernardo Divides Staff, Angers Activists; Tories Re-Edit Fundraising Video Featuring Two Canadians Held In China).

Is this the silly season or did no one with any sense consider both of these actions examples of abysmal judgment?

Showing executions on TV would draw an audience, too, but we don’t do that for obvious reasons. Similarly, to use imprisoned Canadians for purely partisan political purposes is the epitome of bad judgment from a party that wants to run our country.

Eve Giannini, Toronto

..............................

A publicly funded broadcaster should have one goal: to provide the accurate information citizens need to be self-governing in a democracy.

By this standard, CBC TV lost its way a long time ago, when it decided to chase ratings with celebrities on skates and abusive chefs. But using Paul Bernardo to boost the faltering ratings of the fifth estate betrays the broadcaster’s mandate and tarnishes the well-earned reputation of a fine investigative program.

Journalism is, by its nature, exploitative. All stories come at a cost and so, as one scholar put it, “a heavy burden rests on the ethics and judgment of the news gatherer and the organization that publishes the work.”

The CBC knows better and Canadians deserve better.

Paul Benedetti, Hamilton

..............................

How could the fifth estate possibly consider doing this to the French and Mahaffy families, and all the other families whose members have suffered because of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka?

I will never again watch an episode of the fifth estate. As a matter of fact, I will never watch the CBC again, and I am a devout fan.

Awful. Just awful. So hurtful.

Mary E. Smith, Guelph, Ont.

..............................

Judging the winner in a race to the bottom is tough with two such able contestants as the CBC, chasing ratings with a serial rapist and killer, or the federal Conservatives, exploiting the misery of two Canadians unjustly locked up in China.

It’s a photo finish, ladies and gentlemen, in the Our Gain Trumps Your Pain sweepstakes, but the winner, by a nose, is … Take Your Choice, a promising derby contender by Poor Taste out of Self-Absorbed Idiocy.

Marilyn Walters, St. John’s

NCR and missing

Re CAMH Patient Who Left Canada One of Three To Flee Hospital’s Care In Two Months (July 18): News that three forensic patients at Toronto’s Centre For Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have left custody needs to be kept in perspective. Forensic psychiatry represents a humane way, dating from 1843, of dealing with people who have committed crimes due to “a disease of the mind.” The McNaughton Rule has been a foundation of jurisprudence in many countries.

As the article points out, only 0.6 per cent of NCR (not criminally responsible) patients who reoffend commit serious crimes. A study of Ontario murder rates by Dr. Sandy Simpson, the chief of forensic psychiatry at CAMH, and colleagues showed that from 1987-2012, only 3.7 per cent of homicides were committed by people later judged to be not criminally responsible.

Over the past 10 years, the transitional housing programs funded by the Ontario government, where forensic programs partner with community agencies such as the Canadian Mental Health Association, have demonstrated it is possible to reintegrate forensic patients into our communities while protecting public safety.

Steve Lurie, Executive Director, Canadian Mental Health Association, Toronto

Terminating pregnancy

The insinuation by a letter writer that having an abortion, whether by pill (or surgically), would be trivialized by women is insulting (Access To Abortion Pill, July 18).

Terminating a pregnancy is a serious decision, which is not made frivolously, and it is to be hoped would include counselling by well-trained physicians.

Taking a pregnancy to term has a much greater impact on a woman than a man, regardless of whether she has a partner or not. Time is of the essence in making that decision. What would be the rational behind the “professional judgment” for doctors’ limiting of access to the abortion pill?

It’s the woman’s role to decide what to do regarding reproduction. Too bad those old white guys in the U.S. haven’t figured that out as well.

Ann Sullivan, Peterborough, Ont.

..............................

Your editorial, The Abortion Pill Works, If It’s Available (July 17), states “access to the abortion pill is limited in many parts of Canada because numerous medical doctors will not prescribe it.” You say that The Globe and Mail’s investigation “found a big reason doctors refuse to deal with Mifegymiso” is the “perceived complexities” that “it is unduly challenging for physicians and is not routine medical care.”

Let me suggest another, more persuasive reason for their reluctance: I am quite sure that the reason many doctors are reluctant to prescribe this drug is that they accept that human life begins at conception, and they do not wish to be party to the termination of a life.

We should applaud doctors who resist prescribing this drug.

Denise Weiland, Toronto

Chuck out the danger

Re Stampede Deaths (letters, July 18): The problem with the Stampede is that the chuckwagons and horses hit each other. A solution, which would introduce a safer spectacle while maintaining the excitement, is to provide lanes separated by crash barriers, and run the race against the clock. Staggered starting points would account for the curved track, and the similarity of speeds would provide many exciting finishes. Three to five lanes might fit the current track, each separated by barriers of the type currently installed at the track edge.

The legacy nature of the event would be preserved, while the danger to horses and drivers would be minimized.

Or is that danger the real attraction?

Michael Cook, London, Ont.

Hmm …

Re French Minister Resigns After Spending Scandal (July 18): Extravagance aside, one would think that serving Premier Cru red wines (Mouton and Cheval Blanc) with lobster would be cause enough to call for the dismissal of any French politician.

Gordon Brady, Bobcaygeon, Ont.

..................................................................................................................................

Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Get the Opinion newsletter. Sign up today.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe