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CLEAN TECH
Re “All smoke and mirrors” (Lorrie Goldstein, April 19): What a folly! Trudeau will not look beyond his ‘feel good’ optics to face the reality of Canada’s greenhouse gas emission footprint. Globally we are less than approximately 2% of all emissions … as significant as flatulence in a hurricane. In his rush to promote a currently untenable technology, ie all electric automobiles, he ignores some other realities: Recharging can require hours (by comparison, I can refill my gas tank in less than five minutes) and Canada’s size is unsuited to accommodate vehicles that have a limited range, ie 400 kilometers (think of a cross-Canada vacation trip from Toronto to Vancouver). The charging station infrastructure requires significantly greater numbers than gasoline fueling stations. We would be better served by pursuing an equally clean technology, hydrogen fuel — abundant and with only water as its ’emission.’ By developing this technology in concert with current fossil fuel technology, we could easily make the transition by the time Trudeau’s fantasy goal occurs. And wonder of wonders, it would not cripple our national economy or an industry which would displace thousands of workers. Maybe this time the Conservatives will get it right. Cheers and good luck to us all.
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Paul Barry
Simcoe
(Trudeau’s antics are laughable but his policies are costly. That’s what is scary. As for the Tories, time will tell)
CONVOY CONUNDRUM
I enjoy and normally agree with Warren Kinsella’s viewpoints but I feel he was way off based on his negative characterization of Pierre Poilievre in his April 14 column “Knockin’ down all the pillars.” He seems to have an opinion of him as being a far-right politician with little respect for law and order. This seems to be based on Poilievre’s gesture of greeting some convoy members in Ottawa. Where Kinsella misses the boat is, yes, he did greet them because they were protesting the need for cross-border truckers to get vaccinated when COVID cases were waning. The convoy would not likely have happened if Trudeau had not declared this additional requirement when inflation was soaring and food supplies diminishing. I don’t believe that Poilievre ever expressed support for the convoy barricading the border. As far as the length of the convoy stay in Ottawa, why Trudeau didn’t meet with the convoy leaders as he has done in the past with groups he liked. If he had done this, the issue could have probably been mutually resolved and resulted in not evoking the Emergencies Act.
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D Reinsborough
Scarborough
(Pollievre being pictured with the convoy supporters doesn’t help him, nor does it hurt him)
MINORITY REPORT
Re “Let’s end identity crisis” (Arjun Singh, April 16): To suggest that ethnic minorities in Canada are shut out of leadership roles because they are not bilingual is rubbish. Has Singh considered that a vast majority of “white old-stock” people in Canada are not bilingual and they too are shut out of many public service jobs as a result. You can be a fifth generation white Canadian and a highly regarded jurist from Alberta, but if you don’t speak French don’t expect to be selected to the Supreme Court. Ethnic minorities have flourished in Canada in ways they could not have had they remained in their countries of origin. Singh’s assertion that choosing a common language will lead to real multiculturalism is absurd — getting rid of an official language is not a step to a free society, but rather the opposite. I’m glad Singh does not live in Switzerland — he’d have to learn at least four languages.
Michael Orr
Etobicoke
(We need to look at many different ideas in order to fix the broken system we have)
