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Canada's oil market
There were serious questions about the wisdom and economic and political viability of the Energy East project from the outset.
It faced profound opposition in Quebec; Ontario's energy board had concluded the project wasn't in the province's environmental or energy security interests.
TransCanada's decision to terminate the project in the face of requirements to consider the upstream greenhouse gas emissions from the expansion of oil sands production that its construction would induce confirmed what many of the project's critics had suspected all along: There was no way Energy East could be reconciled with Canada's international commitments to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
The revision of the National Energy Board's review process to consider the upstream and downstream emission impacts of energy infrastructure projects is an important first step in the reform of the federal government's environmental and regulatory review processes. Much more remains to be done to ensure future decisions consider the effects of projects on Canada's international environmental commitments, their impacts on Indigenous peoples, and their overall contributions to sustainability.
Mark S. Winfield, co-chair, Sustainable Energy Initiative, Environmental Studies, York University
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The last hope for Western Canada: Somehow interest Bombardier in building a pipeline.
Jack Glenn, Calgary
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As someone who wants us to reach our emissions goals, as well as have a strong economy, I know Energy East would have helped replace imported crude transported by ship to Eastern Canada.
Pipelines are safer than freighters. Most of those who protest against pipelines still use petroleum products themselves, want them readily available, and will for several decades. If the environment is a major concern, why aren't they concentrating on opposing transportation methods which create more emissions and are less safe than pipelines?
William Baldwin, Toronto
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Guns, guns, guns
When a handful of jihadis flew planes into the World Trade Center, the U.S. moved quickly to change the face of air travel worldwide, to the point where we cannot even bring a bottle of water into the departure area.
When too many people died in car accidents, seat belts became mandatory. Distracted driving, in effect death by cellphone: Pass a law. All reasonable steps.
Yet when there are more than 270 mass shootings in one year, and people can legally stockpile dozens of weapons, the gun debate still carries on. Even after Las Vegas, Americans still make insane remarks like, "A gun doesn't get up and shoot itself."
Well, a bottle of water or a pair of nail scissors won't bring down a plane by itself either – but I still can't bring one on a flight.
It boggles the mind.
Annabel Kershaw, Vancouver
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Taxes and plans
Re Morneau Vows To Proceed Quickly With Tax Plan (Report on Business, Oct. 6): The concerns of economists who met with the Finance Minister, expressed by the Bank of Montreal's chief economist Douglas Porter, that the government's small business tax proposals could raise "a serious competitive challenge" echoes the earlier warning by the former chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch that they will compromise the economy and jobs and could cause a recession.
Mr. Morneau also repeated his unprecedented "dead money" argument. Suggesting that Canada should not only provide tax incentives for corporations to make government-desired use of capital, but that it should punish those who do not is ludicrous and reprehensible.
Nathan Boidman, Westmount, Que.
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Pensions for all, including doctors and farmers, should be part of a social safety net that includes universal health care, and in the future, programs like pharmacare and broader access to employment insurance. The original mistake was to use tax loopholes as an inadequate substitute for making social programs available to all. Let's fix the whole problem. Let's have a fair tax system and a robust social safety net.
Paul Clifford, Toronto
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Act 2: joyful news
In the midst of a spate of what seems especially horrible news, it was heartening to learn that the Sears Festival, which many of us had given up for dead, will have a new lease on life (While Retailer Struggles, Sears Festival Gets Its Second Act, Oct. 4). This Canadian high-school theatre festival, founded in 1946, is often cited as one of the world's longest-running and most successful examples of corporate arts funding. It was tragic to think we were losing it, and it is joyful news that it will survive.
I feel a personal connection, having spent many happy hours adjudicating for the Sears Festival, and having enjoyed productions of my own plays on its stages. Thousands of other Canadians, in all walks of life, were shaped in part by their adolescent experiences on stage, backstage or in the audience, at the Sears Festival.
Long may it continue to entertain, educate and excite.
John Lazarus, Kingston
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Wait. It will keep
Re We Can All Play A Role In Ending The Anxiety Epidemic (Report on Business, Oct. 4): While I agree that employers should support employee health in all its aspects, let's call out the real anxiety issues in the work environment. First, managers who cannot manage. Managers are not trained to be managers, because Canadian businesses still routinely refuse to spend money on training programs and expect that as soon as someone receives the title of "manager," they will magically morph into one.
Second, anxiety is perpetuated through our quest to be digitally connected non-stop. Individuals and businesses are equally at fault in this. Unless a situation is truly life and death, there is nothing work-related that can't wait to be attended to the next morning.
Lisa Cooke, Markham, Ont.
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Both of them
It made me smile to read in a letter to the editor that the newly elected NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh "is a breath of political fresh air" ('Winner' Politics, Oct. 6). While I'm not politically minded, I must admit I used the very same words when Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister.
Both men can be put in the same category: Both very handsome, young, smart; both "a breath of political fresh air."
Negative comments about Justin from former supporters started months ago. How long will it take for negative comments to start against Jagmeet?
Not long, my friends, not long. It is just a matter of time.
Can anyone win in this game?
I think not. I feel sorry for both of them …
June Quiroga, Vancouver