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So sorry
Re “Canada is sorry – a lot. We shouldn’t apologize for that” (Opinion, July 1): There are two kinds of sorry.
There’s the apologetic and inferior-feeling kind of sorry. Then there’s the sorry that is polite and thinking of others.
Canadians are this second kind of sorry, and only Canadians probably truly understand that.
Douglas Cornish Ottawa
Stuck in the middle
Re “Where is the Purple Party?” (Opinion, July 1): I believe our political system has stagnated across the spectrum. The “choose your own aristocrat” approach to democracy is showing cracks.
I would like to see a new party initially focused less on specific social and economic policies, and more on our democracy and how policies are discerned. It could put at its core a goal of renewing our system of government, inviting more deliberation and ensuring more voices are heard.
Unless any new party makes changing the political system its raison d’être, it will likely fall into the same quagmires: political intransigence, focus on its base and polarization, to name a few. When the system is changed to stop rewarding these behaviours, and instead reward democratic virtues, advancement would be possible.
Tim Crouch Winnipeg
We should be careful what we wish for.
In France, Emmanuel Macron has tried exactly this and even succeeded in getting his new En Marche, a centrist movement, elected. He ran on a pragmatic platform to solve longstanding labour and fiscal problems.
But many of his voters fear the left or right, leaving them with the mistaken impression that his mandate is only to not be left or right, rather than implement his program. That means “up with the barricades” and even greater polarization. The prospects of his centrist party look dim.
Canada’s relatively mild political extremes were once the domain of some provinces. But the purge of Red Tories from the Conservatives has ceded the centre to the Liberals without competition, allowing a drift to the left and a vacuum of new ideas in the centre.
But good to retain some optimism. I lost mine.
Manuel Mertin Calgary
That party already exists. It’s called the Green Party.
Gene Valeriote Victoria
Didn’t the Liberal Party used to be the “Purple Party?”
They were often criticized by opponents for “stealing” good ideas from both sides. Sadly, these days the Liberals are often seen as the party of big spending, identity politics, postnationalism and division.
If this is to change and we are to rekindle the pragmatic middle – with its emphasis on economic prosperity, equal opportunity and respect for all – it is up to members of each party to push for that agenda and seek leaders within their own ranks who can deliver. But I see no brilliant leaders waiting in the wings.
Perhaps if the Conservatives are successful in gobbling up Liberal votes in the next election, they will realize how far they have strayed from the expectations of traditional Liberal voters.
Linda Stilborne Ottawa
Bad for business
Re “Why entrepreneurship in Canada has gotten so hard” (Report on Business, July 1): I think the Canada Revenue Agency is a big reason why being an entrepreneur is hard. I am not supported, I am hassled.
My business is small, under $500,000 in annual sales, yet I am besieged by CRA for a series of what I consider silly requests. I am sent forms pages long to fill out: proof of expenses for business travel (often several years ago) and HST/GST amounts from across the country.
We serve Indigenous businesses (I am Indigenous), so we have variance as to whether services were provided on status land, a consideration that seems to befuddle CRA representatives. It is highly insulting to have to “educate” clerks and bureaucrats, who seem to have no idea how hard it is to run a small business while ensuring consistent funds for payroll.
Surely there are better ways for CRA to spend its time.
Judith (Judi) Spear Founder, Spear-Rhodes; Fort Erie, Ont.
Priceless
Re “The value of art and culture to Canadian life isn’t just economic – so let’s stop treating them that way” (Opinion, July 1): Without the arts, we are a species. With the arts, we are a civilization. Yet, music and the arts have been largely weaned out of school curricula.
Perhaps because music brings joy and beauty to life, it seems too good to be true that its study also helps children do better in mathematics. An orchestral or ensemble environment nurtures co-operation, cultivates and rewards task orientation, teaches discipline, improves grades and gives the joy of mutual achievement. I believe there is no better apprenticeship for adulthood.
Music is a basic need of humanity: One of the ways we make sense of our lives, to understand with our hearts when we can’t with our minds. Anthems proclaim our patriotism; songs celebrate our birthdays, recall our youth and declare our love.
If music attends virtually every important spiritual, emotional and civic event, how can its study not be an essential part of education?
Robert Eisenberg CM; founder, Sistema Toronto Academy
Road trip
Re “Canada’s national highway didn’t come easy – it took some daredevils and squabbling to make it happen” (Opinion, July 1): The Trans-Canada Highway is a metaphor for our country. We should strengthen our connections across this land.
The government would do well to take on the modernizing of the highway as a symbol of its commitment to connecting us as a nation. Two-lane sections and dangerous level crossings should have no place in a national transportation corridor.
Bruce Alger Calgary
My mother didn’t like Saskatoon, where my father was a colleague of Edward McCourt, who wrote The Road Across Canada. She missed the Maritimes.
In 1956, she persuaded my father to buy a summer house in Port Maitland, N.S. Every summer she bundled her children into the car and drove six days there, then six days back.
Before the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway, she crossed the border to U.S. Highway 2, because the roads north of Lake Superior were unpaved, and usually crossed back into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
This became such a formative influence on my life that, when I was on my own and a student in Britain, I thought nothing of driving across the Soviet Union to Tbilisi and back with my sister and fiancée. Such is life!
Nicholas Tracy Fredericton
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