Hawksbill Turtle in the Indian Ocean coral reef, Maldives.Andrey Armyagov/Shutterstock
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
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On a planetary scale
Re One Million Species Facing Extinction, UN Report Finds (May 7): The United Nations report on biodiversity is paint-by-numbers – on a planetary scale.
The statistics are staggering: one million species threatened; three-quarters of the land and two-thirds of the oceans altered; a 10-fold rise in plastic pollution in four decades; three-quarters of a trillion dollars in crops at risk from pollinator loss; 25 million kilometres of new roads by 2050. And so on.
To view this painting clearly, however, we must step back, and from that vantage point, we recognize a self-portrait. Biodiversity is our heritage – the wildlife, land, and waters inherited by each generation since the dawn of civilization. Biodiversity is our health and wealth. With every breath and every mouthful, we are reminded of our place on nature’s canvas. Our economy will not thrive in a faltering environment.
This self-portrait is unfinished. As the only animal on Earth that knows it lives on a planet, we have the foresight and the means to curb the loss of biodiversity.
We hold the paintbrush. This portrait, however it turns out, will be our legacy.
James Schaefer, professor of Biology, Trent University
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Planet Earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old; life has existed here for at least 3.5 billion years.
Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for more than 150 million years, and became extinct for reasons unrelated to their behaviour. Modern humans have only existed on Earth for some 300,000 years, and already we are altering the planet in a way that is making it unlivable for one million species, according to the recent UN report.
If our behaviour goes unchecked, we risk altering the planet to the point where it may not be able to support the human population. Only a foolish species destroys its host – and so fast!
Mary Burge, Toronto
Fighter jets for sale
Re U.S., Canada At Odds Over Fighter Jet Sale As List Of Disputes Grows (May 7): Like 99.5 per cent of Canadians, I don’t have the technical know-how to offer an opinion on the decision about which new jet fighter to buy. But as a taxpayer, I do suggest that it is high time that we quit depending on the United States to supply it, or most other defence equipment.
Washington’s decision-making has become quirky and unreliable; experience has shown that the U.S. is likely to change its position mid-contract.
Sweden’s Saab jets may not be the best from every aspect, but Canada is not financially capable of playing that game, whatever we would like to do. There are fine jets for sale from other countries, too. Better one of the best than none at all, which is where we seem to be going.
Fraser McKee, Toronto
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The single-engine F-35 is a multibillion-dollar mistake that would impair Canada militarily and economically for decades.
Canada needs no-frills, twin-engine jets, nuclear minisubs coupled with unpersonned drones, and ice-cutting military ships, capable of high speeds for the country’s warmer waters. We are buying for the 21st century.
Alan J. Cooper, Toronto
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With the Americans threatening to pull out of the fighter jet competition, perhaps this is an ideal opportunity to cancel the plan to buy aircraft whose overwhelming purpose is to shoot down other planes or drop bombs on people.
We could better spend the $26-billion on helicopters that could also be used in search and rescue, humanitarian disaster-response, perhaps even environmental issues such as forest fires – all much more appropriate jobs for our military and for humanity.
Darrell Picketts, Brantford, Ont.
Parsing Poloz
Re Poloz Urges Banks, Lenders To Offer Longer-Term Mortgages (May 7): Some headlines work better than caffeine. For years, I have been frustrated by casual comparisons between the Canadian and U.S. mortgage markets. To me, they are like the CFL and NFL – both football, but fundamentally different.
Most Globe and Mail readers will have seen ads for mortgages in the U.S. with 30-year terms. For those of us of a certain age, a 30-year mortgage at today’s rates seems like a dream: We recall mortgages with rates in the 18- to 20-per-cent range.
Most residential mortgages in Canada have less than five-year terms due to the direct and indirect effects of Section 10 of the Federal Interest Act.
Originally considered consumer protection legislation, Section 10 makes mortgages given by individuals (as opposed to companies) open for prepayment after their fifth anniversary. Lenders charge you more for longer terms to cover the risk to them of you invoking your Section 10 right to prepay at the end of Year 5.
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz’s comments are seismic to the mortgage industry. Could the Bank of Canada be considering some other features of U.S. residential mortgage lending? How about mortgage-interest deductibility? Tax on household capital gain? Non-recourse mortgages?
More residential mortgages than most Canadians realize are securitized. There are ways to foster more private mortgage-backed security (MBS). One has to assume the Governor chose his comments carefully.
Tim I.G. Hyde, Oakville, Ont.
Bottom of the cliff
Re Ontario To Expand Use Of Crisis-Intervention Teams To Aid First Responders (May 7): I am grateful for any action by a government to care for its more vulnerable citizens. That said, this latest initiative by the Ford government – to enhance emergency mental-health services – by any measure still fails to assure us that the Premier has Ontario’s best interests at heart.
With the myriad of destablizing cuts to various programs, whether it be to children’s services, hospital services, education, environment – the list grows longer each day – the province is causing tremendous social and psychological harm to significant numbers of people.
This initiative, while trying to give the impression the government cares about people’s suffering, has instead all the hallmarks of providing the proverbial ambulance services at the bottom of a cliff, rather than preventative measures at the top.
Jim Sinclair, Reverend (retired), North Bay, Ont.
Biddy biddy bum(mer)
Re Getting To The Roots Of Universal Classic Fiddler On The Roof’s Runaway Success (May 7): You may not need to be Jewish to sing “biddy biddy bum,” as Brad Wheeler suggests, but you probably need to understand Yiddish to know that it is actually “biri biri bum.” In Yiddish, the r’s are often rolled, and so to an ear that has developed in a linguistic environment that doesn’t contain rolled r’s, it may well sound like “biddy biddy.” Although there are many colourful characters in Fiddler on the Roof, there are no biddies.
Olga Eizner Favreau, Montreal