NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh gives remarks during a press conference in Toronto on Sept. 5.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Trust issues
Re “Jagmeet Singh opens the Layton playbook for a longshot election gamble” (Sept. 6): I think the only thing Mr. Singh demonstrated by pulling out of the deal to support the Liberal government is that he cannot be trusted to hold up his end of a contract if his party, and especially his personal livelihood, are at risk. Poll after poll indicates the NDP may lose up to half its current seats if an election is called. This must have sounded the alarm, and, in a desperate attempt to keep his own head above water, he has resorted to even more blame game tactics. I don’t think you are fooling anyone, Mr. Singh. Especially chafing is the knowledge you just might retain your own seat and, unlike Jack Layton, who had a real shot at contending, continue the role as a perpetual sideline critic, with no threat of ever having to make tough governmental decisions, nor being held accountable for them. It’s a good six-figure gig if you can get it.
Mark Spurr Toronto
The only way to stop a Conservative victory is for there to be a full-fledged NDP/Liberal coalition before the next election. However, the NDP would appear to be too weak and selfish to consider it. Now why do those words sound familiar?
David Chalmers Ottawa
Not one or the other
Re “Big picture” (Letters, Sept. 4): Data on persons with opioid dependence show that, over time, some 75 per cent of affected individuals will transition away from use and achieve recovery. However, that transition may take years and involve many attempts at recovery and many relapses.
More treatment, and particularly more effective treatment, is required. But individuals need to stay alive in order to benefit, and that is where harm reduction has a proven benefit.
Evidence also shows that many people who consume illegal drugs are neither dependent nor seeking opioids. The present street drug supply is demonstrably contaminated and toxic. The arguments for pharmaceutical alternatives are therefore both a pragmatic and humanitarian response to this reality.
Pitting harm reduction against treatment should be considered a false dichotomy. Politicians who use this as a wedge issue are pursuing agendas that would restigmatize vulnerable individuals and do nothing to reduce avoidable mortality, morbidity and “social decay.”
Perry Kendall CM, OBC, FRCPC; former B.C. provincial health officer, Victoria
Both sides should acknowledge each other’s case: Supervised consumption sites are proven to help drug users but can also disrupt local communities.
Why does balance currently seem radical and naïve? Compromise, negotiation and acknowledging an opposing view seem to lack the simple, energizing fervour of unyielding certainty.
Philosopher Elizabeth Anderson suggests the notion of polarized “epistemic bubbles,” a “self-segregated network for the circulation of ideas, resistant to correcting false beliefs.” She notes the replacement of “empirically oriented policy discourse with an identity-expressive discourse of group status competition.” Facts matter less than establishing and signalling group affiliation.
Portugal’s best-practice program, which significantly reduced addiction, deaths and social costs, has seen a 70-per-cent decline in drug users in treatment, corresponding to 80 per cent in funding cuts from 2012 to 2021. Solution models are feasible, but require effort and funding.
This should be debated with “empirically oriented” discourse.
Chester Fedoruk Toronto
We need journalists …
Re “For photojournalists, the end of Loyalist College’s program leaves a void in Canada’s stories” (Sept. 4): One reads this with sadness, but not necessarily surprise. Changes in the employment landscape and in media consumption have for years posed a serious challenge to journalism programs across Canada.
Every June, newly minted graduates are told to go out and change the world. One wonders what we’ll see in the future from Loyalist’s last photojournalism cohort. Let’s wish them well as they finish next spring.
And let’s hope they – and all those still studying journalism – find ways to keep informing us about our complicated world.
Mike Karapita, journalism professor (retired), Toronto
As a reporter in the 1980s, I saw a string of talented Loyalist College photojournalism students pass through the doors of the Intelligencer in Belleville, Ont.
Gifted graduates such as Peter Power (Loyalist class of ‘89) and many others went on to award-winning careers. I had the good fortune to work with, and glean tips from, ace photographer Frank O’Connor, who later taught his craft at Loyalist.
Canada needs well-trained reporters and photojournalists. Otherwise, shoddy reporting and cat videos will prevail.
Julia Drake Toronto
I had the pleasure of arriving at Loyalist College as president at the time of the first graduating class in photojournalism.
Photojournalists have been and continue to be an important link between the general public and major national and international events. Their work and contribution to our understanding of changes in society goes back to 1908, the birth of Henri Cartier-Bresson, considered the father of photojournalism.
Photojournalists are educated not just to take photographs, but to create images reflecting unique and poignant moments in history and stories. They reveal how ordinary people experience and show emotions linked to historic events, such as the horror and devastation of today’s wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
I urge the president and board of governors of Loyalist College to reconsider the decision to cancel this program, which would deny us the inimitable chronology of history fashioned by photojournalists.
Douglas Auld, president, Loyalist College (1988 to 2005); Puslinch, Ont.
… like her
Re “Investigative journalist Stevie Cameron dies at home in Toronto, age 80″ (Online, Sept. 2): My condolences to the family of Stevie Cameron. She was an excellent journalist and a very fine person.
May they and many Canadians take some comfort in the fact that her passing followed that of Brian Mulroney. In that sense, she had the last word.
Marion Gill Oakville, Ont.
Pest control
Re Wasps are everywhere this summer in Alberta. Extreme heat and dry conditions are to blame (Sept. 3): Wasps – more to the story. Specifically, mercaptan, also known as methanethiol, is a foul-smelling gas that is added to natural gas. Just so happens that wasps (and some other insects) love the stuff. So if you have natural gas heating, check your connections and put the wasp trap or bait near your furnace and hot water heater vents. Also, turn off your pilot lights if you can and secure the area around your natural gas BBQs. Surprised the experts in your news story didn’t mention that.
Eric Pedde Edmonton
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