ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

Was this a preconceived “exit strategy� on Cherry’s part? I find that hard to believe.

People forget (and perhaps the CBC and Sportsnet do as well) that Cherry was voted one of the greatest Canadians of all time in a poll conducted by the CBC in 2004. Nobody loves our country, our military and our first responders more than Grapes.

The bottom line is in a time of “Elbows Up� and “Canada Strong� nobody personifies those beliefs more than Don Cherry. He should absolutely be inducted into The Hockey Hall of Fame — while he is still alive! At the same time, he should also be considered for the Order of Canada.

At the local sports bar, where friends congregate after golf to chat about life and sports, we have  a little “Coaches Corner� set up. Don, you are always welcome to stop by if you’re ever passing through. 

Matt Layfield, Port Hope

Underfunded health care reason for ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½’s drop on livability ranking

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ drops in latest worldwide livability ranking, July 14

Every day we hear horror stories about the lack of doctors, nurses and all other sorts of critical resources that are missing in our provincially funded hospitals, so it’s no real surprise that the British Economist Group that conducted this study says “health care strains docked points for many Cana­dian cit­ies.” In fact, in hospitals across Ontario, the traffic jammed hallways where patients are left on stretchers until rooms become available are often referred to as “The Doug Ford Lanes” while in Alberta, hospital hallways are rightly named after the honourable Danielle Smith. Nonetheless, as long as you’re healthy, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and Calgary are really great places to live!

Jack Bergmans, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

Smaller cities are just more livable

The populations of the most livable cities, Copenhagen, Zurich, Melbourne and Vienna proper, as well as their greater metropolitan area populations, are about half that of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and the GTA. Bigger isn’t always better and growth for the sake of growth is the logic of the cancer cell.

Anita Dermer, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½Â 

What could be more emotional than violence?

The Trump era’s big beautiful gender reveal, July 14

Alena Papayanis is correct that men are as emotional, if not more so, than women. The most obvious statistic that proves this is the percentage of men who perpetrate all forms of violence against women. What could be more emotional than men beating up women? Women have a right to be angry but more importantly they need to be vocal. There is strength in numbers and women must unite in their struggle for equality. If they can do that they will also have the benefit of having many good men on their side.

Charles Campisi, Oakville,

Why a police officer is better than a speed camera

Are speed cameras ticketing drivers for less than 10 km/h over the posted limit? July 14

The problem with speed cameras is that they exasperate the frustrations with technology we deal with daily resulting in a decrease in human contact and in the feeling of having control over our lives. Of course, going above the speed limit is not recommended, but when stopped by a police officer, one converses with a human and has the opportunity to plead their case, knowing that the officer has the discretion to deal with the severity of the offence on the spot.

Laurie Kochen, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

After 20 years in government, Poilievre grows an ethical backbone

Poilievre wants Carney to cash out blind trust, says ethics screens insufficient, July 14

It must be the dog days of summer, for I can scarcely distinguish between the embarrassingly irrelevant and hyperpartisan whirring of Pierre Poilievre and the neighbourhood weedwhacker.    

Arbitrarily imposing a continuously moving ethical bar to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Poilievre now wants Carney to go substantially above and beyond the long-established ethics disclosure practices that Poilievre himself argued were more than sufficient many years ago when former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Chief of Staff Nigel Wright faced scrutiny over conflicts of interest. 

Poilievre has had more than 20 years in government to move the bar on ethics disclosures. There is nothing like waiting to grow an ethical backbone for a time when it would inconvenience your rival.

Rebecca Wagner, Waterloo

Let’s not spend more on war

Mark Carney needs to explain to Canadians how we’re going to pay for our national defence, July 16

Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to have the courage to move away from “playing with the boys and their toys” and to direct our hard-earned tax money on the many areas where it is really needed — housing, health care, education, prisons, education, child care and climate mitigation. Please have the courage to forge a new, more humanitarian path and not more spending on war.

David Walsh, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½Â 

Clean energy is where it’s at

Pipelines are so yesterday. They take years to approve and decades to build. By the time we get Alberta oil to tidewater, the world will have moved on. Clean energy is where it’s at. Use our labour and resources and dollars to build a cross-Canada power grid. More labour, resources and dollars can be spent on the infrastructure to make electric cars practical for long journeys. Danielle Smith’s Alberta can go into wind and solar in a big way. Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford can rebuild the windmills he so gleefully tore down when he took office. Let’s be ready for the future instead of trying to cling to the past. Oil is a dead horse. Stop flogging it.

Isobel Raven, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½Â 

Name games

The Open Championship or the British Open? Even in Northern Ireland it depends on the audience, July 15

Your article about whether The Open Golf Tournament should be referred to as “The British Open” brought back memories of when I taught in England many years ago. On the Monday morning after the tournament weekend, I walked into a staff room busy with conversation and inquired “Did anyone see The British Open this weekend?” A silence descended and I explained “You know, the golf tournament this weekend?” I may have also mimed a golf swing. After what seemed like hours of awkward silence somebody finally said, “Do you mean The Open?” with a very strong emphasis on “The.” That was me told!

Gregory Hoggarth, Stratford