Chief statistician Anil Arora says 'traditional statistics gathering methods are no longer sufficient to accurately measure Canada's economy and social changes.'Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian 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
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Privacy, Statscan’s reach
Re There Is Nothing Orwellian About Statscan’s Plan To Collect Accurate Financial Data (Nov. 5): Yes, big companies do have plenty of data about us, however, they use it to sell us things we can always say “no” to. Try saying “no” to big government! While Stats-can assures us that identifiers will be removed before data is released, the risk is not worth the not-well-articulated benefits.
Jennifer Camelford, Dunnville, Ont.
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Canada’s chief statistician Anil Arora says Statscan was “caught off guard” by the reaction to the agency’s proposed data scoop. It appears he really doesn’t appreciate the magnitude of our concerns: 1) Government websites are prime targets for hackers, especially for this kind of information; 2) It is utterly repugnant that Statscan is entitled to information that any police agency would have to have a warrant for.
The crux of the matter is that we do value our privacy and all guarantees provided to it in law. I understand wanting more information about the digital economy, but our information should be anonymized before Statscan receives it. It will be too late once it has it: At that point, we’ll already have been stripped of our privacy.
Lindsey bat Joseph, New Westminster, B.C.
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Why stop with 500,000 Canadians? Why not every single person? Just think: A real-time cornucopia of answers. Venn diagrams accurate to the transaction level: Big Brother throws away his white cane, declaring “I can see!”
Canadians sigh in relief, knowing their lives are no longer in the hands of actuaries using dubious information. Technically, it seems this would be a trivial exercise compared to getting the Phoenix payroll system working. I have utmost confidence the farcical system that hides voters lists (prevously tacked to a post) behind privacy legislation can administer who has access to Statscan information, accurately priced to the level of granularity requested.
Kope Inokai, Toronto
Midterms countdown
Re Stakes High As U.S. Gallops Toward Midterm Elections (Nov. 5): The more than 15,000 soldiers who potentially will be on guard waiting for the caravan to arrive at the U.S. border are going to have a lot of time on their hands. Perhaps Canada could send them some reading material. The Emperor’s New Clothes, and David and Goliath come to mind.
Tom Scanlan, Toronto
Minding Mutti
Re Angela Merkel And The Values Of Liberalism (editorial, Nov. 5): I disagree that Angela Merkel is the kind of leader we "need more than ever.”
She will be remembered for her disastrous invitation to unvetted migrants to enter an unprepared Germany (eventually capped at more than one million), fuelling the rise of parties of the extremes, and the fall of parties of the centre. She has presided over the ongoing phase-out of CO2-friendly nuclear energy, while increasing Germany’s reliance on Russian gas and German coal. Beyond the migrant issue, her hard line on Greece, and her excessively Germany-first economic ideology has hurt European unity.
As she agrees to step down as party leader, she insists on serving her full term as Chancellor, denying her successor the chance to put their stamp on the party and government before the next election. If she ends up being forced out as Chancellor (either by her party or her not-too-willing grand coalition partner Social Democrats), that, too, will be her own fault.
Andrew Chong, Toronto
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Your magnanimous editorial about Angela Merkel stands in stark contrast to the career of Donald Trump.
Jack McFadyen, Uxbridge, Ont.
Miss it? Or fudge it?
Re In/Under The Omnibus Bill (Nov. 3): I believe our Finance Minister has missed the point in his letter taking issue with The Globe and Mail’s critical editorial about the length of the omnibus budget bill.
The editorial’s criticism is more focused on the variety of topics attempting to hide in the 854-page length of the bill, rather than simply the number of pages. Bill Morneau’s letter shows that he has either missed the criticism, or that he is using a “look over there” tactic to avoid confronting the fact that the government is employing a process it so vocally protested with the previous government.
Ken Duff, Vankleek Hill, Ont.
The high price of service
Re I’m No Longer Governor-General, But I Still Serve Canada (Opinion, Nov. 3): In her article, Adrienne Clarkson supplies an impressive list of her contributions and services to the wider Canadian community.
All in all, it’s a compelling catalogue of evidence she has compiled in response to complaints about the size of her expense claims since she left office as a governor-general, and serves at the same time to neutralize the keeps-on-going, energizer-bunny expense cartoon that popped up two pages later on the editorial page.
Let’s stop complaining, and let Adrienne Clarkson get on with what she does so well.
Stanley Cunningham, Windsor Ont.
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In defence of her profligate expense spending, Adrienne Clarkson felt it necessary to use the word “I” 58 times and “my” 21 times in her opinion piece, not to count “me” and “myself.”
Need I say more about her egocentric sense of entitlement?
Matthew Ligtenberg, Toronto
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In writing to defend her prolific consumption of tax dollars in the 13 years since leaving office, it was telling that at no point did Adrienne Clarkson offer a shred of regret or apology to Canadian taxpayers. Ms. Clarkson obviously seems convinced that her good works and intentions are sufficient justification for an unlimited, opaque expense account that even former prime ministers do not receive.
The notion that there might be countless other Canadians from all walks of life who apply themselves to similar endeavours, only without the benefit of annual six-figure subsidies from the public purse, does not seem to occur.
If Ms. Clarkson does not feel she can continue in her public service without reimbursement, I think I speak for many Canadians when I say: Please retire, your excellency, as we can’t afford to pay for your volunteerism!
Aaron Wudrick, federal director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation
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Many Canadians volunteer and do good deeds once they retire.
I certainly do, putting incountless hours every week. But I do it without being paid $1-million plus in expenses since I retired. I do it to serve my community and Canada. It is my small way of giving back.
If Adrienne Clarkson wants to serve Canada in her retirement, then let her do it on her own dime.
Roger Emsley, Delta, B.C.
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She’s Adrienne Clarkson, and we’re not.
Tom Perry, Vancouver