Prime Minister Mark Carney has broken the ice with U.S. President Donald Trump. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop with this erratic president. Our job as Canadians is to increase pressure on American producers by buying Canadian. However, I noticed a slackening off this week in the major grocery chains. They are bringing in American produce just like before and reducing the price. It was almost impossible to find lettuce not grown in the U.S. I got the last box of Folio Crunchy Greens at Metro and saw only a couple of boxes of GoodLeaf salad mix on the shelf (they are both grown locally). The good thing about produce is that it spoils. If you see American fruit and vegetables on the shelf, leave it there. Once it rots, retailers will source it elsewhere.
Gail Rutherford, Etobicoke
Cyclists won’t disappear when you remove bike lanes
Premier Doug Ford continues to argue bike lanes on three crucial 海角社区官网streets must be removed because they impede traffic flow. The vast majority of the cyclists making use of these bike lanes are going to work, making deliveries or going to school. Following bike lane removal, the cyclists and vehicular traffic will have to share the same traffic lanes, causing the same challenges to traffic flows. These cyclists have to continue earning their livelihood or schooling. They will not put their bikes away and stay home just because you removed the lanes.
Mary Morrison,听Mississauga
Ontario Disability Support Program听benefits are insufficient to lift recipients above the poverty line
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the treatment of individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) under the Ford government. Despite some increases in benefits, they remain insufficient to lift recipients above the poverty line, particularly in the face of rising inflation.
Furthermore, the lack of clarity on the potential clawback of the Canadian Disability Benefit raises significant concerns. Despite reaching out for clarification, the response has been inadequate and lacking in transparency.
Additionally, the limited dental coverage provided under ODSP has real, painful consequences. I lost two teeth because root canals were not covered, highlighting a critical gap in necessary health-care support.
I urge Premier Doug Ford to take immediate, meaningful action to address these issues and provide the support people with disabilities rightfully deserve.
Thomas Riddell, Burlington
听
Inviting King Charles to read the throne speech is a bridge too far听
Brava to Janice Kennedy for her concise opinion on the monarch. If the Brits want a monarchy, good for them but we should opt out. Inviting King Charles to read the throne speech is a bridge too far. Certainly, now is not the time to engage in any further kerfuffles.听 Kennedy鈥檚 review is brilliant.
Harold Berenstein, Toronto
Presidential system can evolve into a dictatorship 鈥 let’s keep our听parliamentary democracy
Janice Kennedy is upset that King Charles is our king, and advocates for a presidential system. It is my theory that Prime Minister Carney invited him to address Parliament to convey to the Americans that Canadians are not future Americans on the other side of an “artificial” border but have a very different history and character.
I find it baffling that many Canadians and members of the commonwealth think getting rid of a British monarch, however symbolic now, requires adopting a presidential system. The flow of history in the U.S. illustrates the truth that a history professor reminded me of just yesterday, that the presidential system inevitably evolves to a dictatorship. There are many current examples. The logic is “I am elected by everyone and legislators are elected by a local constituency; therefore, I have more power (and I will gradually expand it until it is absolute).”
The monarch, now evolved into an appointed governor general, serves a vital safety function. A prime minister and cabinet are powerful and if they attempt to use their majority to grab absolute power, the governor general can block it and force an election. The presidential system has no such official. Yes, we can drop the monarch but let’s keep the governor general and parliamentary democracy.
David Churchill,听Guelph, ON
We have an actual king as head of state and don鈥檛 require Trump
Canada is already beholden to a colonial power, letters, May 8
Britain has no authority over us, and our king, who costs us about $1.60 a year each 鈥 less than a cup of American franchise coffee 鈥 visits only with our consent. I fail to see anything 鈥渂eholden鈥 about this. If anything, the message was not that we are ruled by any outside country but that we have chosen an actual king backed up by a millennium of history and pageantry to be our head of state and don鈥檛 require a 鈥淭rumped-up鈥 salesman with a string of bankruptcies and a throne that flushes.
Anita Dermer,听Toronto
Canada elected a true statesman to fight for us
Setting aside the reasonings for the political outcome recently, I want to say just how proud I am that we have a true statesman fighting for us. Listening to how Prime Minister Mark Carney dealt with U.S. President Donald Trump听in the White House has clearly settled the issue that we as Canadians made a very good and proud choice.听听It is gratifying to know that we have a captain guiding us into the future. Well done, Canada.
Dave de Sylva, Markham, ON听
Plastics are less safe than we are led to believe
Microwaving plastic is not a good idea for the reason the scientist names in the article: it can increase leaching of toxic chemicals into your food and your body.
Unfortunately, the article overlooks a problem that needs to be addressed to ensure safety of the products we use every day: chemical whack-a-mole. That鈥檚 when one hazardous substance gets restricted but replaced with another often equally hazardous chemical that has yet to be regulated. BPA (bisphenol A), highlighted in the article, is recognized as hazardous and has been banned from baby bottles and other products for infants.
But what about BPS (bisphenol S)? Not named in the article, it acts similarly to BPA in products and in humans and is still very much around. I鈥檝e been trying to avoid plastic for years, but a test of metabolites in my urine found almost no BPA. Instead, BPS was very present.
Our regulators have to stop approaching chemicals on a one-off basis and instead regulate classes of chemicals such as bisphenols and prevent industry from substituting one hazardous chemical with another similarly harmful one. There are thousands of chemicals used in plastics 鈥 and almost none of them are regulated yet in Canada or around the world. That needs to change. Until then, we must remember: a product labelled “BPA-free” or “microwave safe” is not necessarily truly safe.
Karen Wirsig, Toronto
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