British Columbia Premier David Eby listens as Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to reporters as Canada's premiers hold a press conference to close the Council of the Federation meetings in Halifax on July 17.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
All for one
Re “Premiers speak of lack of teamwork with Ottawa at summer meeting” (July 17): Teamwork including the premiers and Prime Minister. What a magnificent idea.
Would that it were true, each government focusing on its responsibilities while working together for the benefit of all Canadians. Instead we have a collection of premiers who demand more money from Ottawa, no questions asked, and a Prime Minister who seems incapable of leading or sharing.
It is apparent to me that the United States is about to elect a president who is no friend to Canada. We need our leaders to come together and co-operate as never before to deal with such a prolonged threat.
Start practising now, because regime change in the U.S. may be on us before we know it.
David Kister Kingston
Smell test
Re “System reset” (Letters, July 13): A letter-writer offers an alternative description of our first-past-the-post electoral system as “best-of-the-bunch.”
I would more accurately describe it as “hold-our-noses-for-the-least-offensive-candidate.”
Paul Terech Clarington, Ont.
Don’t overdo it
Re “Overtaxing the rich can lead to problems” (Report on Business, July 11): How refreshing. If anyone has read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, they would see the danger of pushing high earners and the so-called rich too far.
I have been poor and down to zero dollars, but never in debt. I realized that pounding the pavement until I found work was the answer, then saving hard.
I am now in a position where I will never run out of money. Governments should understand that hard workers and savers have learned the value of a dollar – and do a better job of utilizing their money than government can ever do.
At 77, I don’t have a fortune, but I live comfortably and subscribe to a number of charities. I’ve yet to meet someone with money who becomes a miser and thinks only of themselves.
But there is a limit to how far people will tolerate the government wasting their hard-earned fortunes.
Christine Maxwell-Osborn Calgary
Safekeeping
Re “Out of the box” (Letters, July 16): A letter-writer advises to always keep a will in an easily accessible place. May I suggest the freezer?
In this age of rapidly spreading forest fires and threatening atmospheric rivers of rain, if my house is demolished, the will, tucked into an airtight plastic bag, should undoubtedly survive.
And yes, we and our children all know where it is.
Elizabeth Austin West Vancouver
Common practice among banks is to allow access to a deceased person’s safe deposit box by the person claiming to be the executor. If an original will is found, and if the person seeking to claim it is in fact the person appointed by the document, banks allow it to be taken away to begin the probate process.
Keeping an original will at home has been shown to be a recipe for disaster. There is a well-established common law evidentiary presumption that where the original will, last known to be in the physical possession of the testator, cannot be found after their death, they must have destroyed it, resulting in its revocation.
Overcoming that evidentiary presumption requires the applicant seeking to probate a copy of the will to provide a plausible and credible alternative explanation for the will’s disappearance. A safe deposit box is precisely that for an original will.
Barry Corbin, Corbin Estates Law Toronto
Swagger like us
Re “Companies need to stop giving corporate swag that people just throw in the trash” (Report on Business, July 11): After a long career of Canadian and international conference and trade show attendance, I greedily and guiltily snagged a lot of swag.
But I had the good fortune to spend most of my career in the agri-food industry. Much of the swag ended up in my stomach, often the only sustenance I had on tedious flights home.
So there is the solution: edible or drinkable swag only, please. Think of the kids waiting at home with the question, “What did you bring me?” Pull out a yummy snack if one has forgotten to get them anything else.
Meanwhile, when golf buddies point out one’s T-shirt from the milk marketing board, one learns that food is always the best choice.
Rory McAlpine Victoria
It is not just corporations that send out swag, but some non-profits, too. I recently received in the mail a package that included a foam smiley, a red plastic square (no idea what that is for), a reusable shopping bag, a pen that didn’t work, a small notepad and a request for donations.
Why would this organization think spending money on that swag would encourage me to send it money?
Richard Clarke Comox, B.C.
Got mail
Re “Pierre Poilievre is right that many things in Canada are broken. But the budget (mostly) isn’t” (Report on Business, July 12): “Yes, a lot of things in Canada are broken … Canada Post is broken.”
Canada Post is not broken. I find it amazing. In its defence, it is like a fast-growing teenager, but nobody cared to buy clothes that fit.
Canada Post has excellent, well-paid unionized people. It is one of our most trusted brands. It has one of the world’s broadest delivery networks in the harshest of climates. It is an ESG leader.
Its mandate of fast weekday delivery was set years ago. As the country grows and postal use and technology intersect, this kid needs a new outfit.
Canada Post is not a business in the usual sense. The government sets the rules of operation. The government should also realize it’s time to adjust them, so that this national asset can thrive.
Time for a wardrobe change.
Steve Falk Aurora, Ont.
Re “With a handwritten letter, there’s more heart and less hurry” (First Person, July 11): I did so enjoy this essay about the satisfaction a letter-writer gets from communicating this way.
I have enjoyed writing letters for decades mostly to friends, grandchildren, relatives and fellow graduates who, needless to say, never write back. But that is not the object of the exercise.
Satisfaction comes from the process of writing the letter and all that goes with it, including taking time to read it several times before stuffing it into the mailbox.
Heaven forbid the postal service goes out of business.
Ivor Simmons Toronto
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