It’s sad that we have to beg the premier of Ontario to consider the safety of cyclists and maintain our protected bike lanes despite his government’s obsession with pandering to car owners.
asserted
we → ’ → owners
I just returned from my first trip to Europe, and I wish Doug Ford would visit cities such as Paris and Vienna to see how they treat cyclists.
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they → return → cyclists
It was extraordinary to see these cities actively promote and encourage the use of bikes via their many bike lanes and specially coordinated traffic lights.
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cities → see → lanes
To see mothers putting children on the back of their bikes, and workers young and old cycling through the streets in their thousands was extraordinary, too.
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workers → see → thousands
Maybe Europeans turn to their bicycles because they would otherwise have to pay exorbitant prices for gas, but I think it’s more likely that European cities have planned wisely, incorporating bike infrastructure in such a way as to reduce traffic congestion while also managing to promote healthy living and environmentally friendly choices.
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cities → turn → living
Of course, Ontarians’ pleading with Ford will likely fall on deaf ears; it’s clear the premier would rather secure a few more votes than consider the safety of his constituents, much less the environment.
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premier → fall → constituents
Not everyone can afford to drive a huge SUV, or would want to.
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everyone → afford → SUV
And some of us want to get a bit of exercise during our commute.
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some → want → commute
Ford has suggested we cyclists are endangering ourselves by getting on our bikes, but in fact it’s the premier who is endangering us by removing speed cameras (and thereby tacitly condoning speeding), demonizing cyclists for populist political reasons and threatening our safety through the removal of the infrastructure that protects us from drivers who feel newly emboldened to speed.
uncertain
who → suggest → drivers
Stop your war on bikes, Premier Ford, and let Toronto govern Toronto.
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Toronto → stop → Toronto
Stay in your lane, and we’ll stay in ours.
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we → stay → ours
Meg Meagher, Toronto
Canada can do better for business
I worked in trade for a few years.
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I → do → years
Canada is failing to provide adequate support to small and medium-sized companies to develop markets for their goods in countries beyond the United States.
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Canada → fail → States
In Australia and the United Kingdom, substantial funds are provided for companies that wish to go overseas to develop the relationships required to sell goods in foreign countries.
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that → provide → countries
There should be a financing model accessible in Canada that offers complete business planning and financing to companies that have good products to sell.
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that → offer → products
How to keep our steelworkers busy
Has Ford lost his voice?
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Ford → keep → voice
I thought we would have heard him paraphrase U.S. trade adviser Peter Navarro’s recent anti-Canadian outburst with something along the lines of: “If any American companies operating in Canada don’t want to support Canadian workers, please get the hell out of our country.”
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companies → think → country
At any rate, if Canada is prepared to nationalize a pipeline, shouldn’t we also be willing to nationalize a steel mill?
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we → nationalize → mill
Building pipelines, bridges, ships, expanded seaports and high-speed rail will require a lot of steel — so instead of paying Canadian steelworkers EI benefits, let’s keep them working to produce steel in readiness for those big buildouts.
Phil Warne, Pickering, Ont.
A history lesson from across the pond
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’s → build → pond
The last three paragraphs of Nathan Laurie’s article reminded me of a historical precedent for U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic war against Canada.
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paragraphs → remind → Canada
From 1603 until 1707, England and Scotland shared a monarch but maintained separate parliaments.
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England → share → parliaments
In the 1690s, the Scottish economy was in dire straits owing to years of famine, the cost of a failed colony in Panama and the exclusion of Scottish merchants from trade with English colonies in North America and the Caribbean.
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economy → owe → America
Some Scots questioned whether their nation could survive, being a small kingdom dominated by larger and wealthier kingdoms.
uncertain
nation → question → kingdoms
Uniting with England was one solution to Scotland’s problems.
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Uniting → unite → problems
When England passed an act of Parliament that threatened to prevent Scots from trading with or in England, negotiations really got going.
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negotiations → pass → England
The Scottish Parliament voted itself out of existence, and the Acts of Union uniting Scotland and England came into effect on May 1, 1707.
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Acts → vote → May
Is this where Canada is heading?
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Canada → head → ?
Arthur Zelev, Toronto
Is it too late to save Ontario health care?
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it → save → care
I completely agree with letter writer Tom Ellis’s observations concerning the current state of health care in Ontario.
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I → agree → Ontario
It has become obvious that the Ford government has never had any real intention of solving the problems that beset the system it inherited.
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it → become → system
Ford’s approach seems to have been designed to fool voters over and over again as his government has unleashed its agenda of destruction, which appears to have been its true agenda from the start.
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which → seem → start
The question now is: Is it too late to stop them?
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it → stop → them
Safe streets should be safe for us all
I have noticed a recent trend in which Toronto-area Liberal MPs and even certain famous musicians have rushed — so to speak — to offer endorsements to mayoral candidate Brad Bradford with claims that they support his calls for safer streets and greater fiscal responsibility.
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they → notice → streets
Yet these same MPs (and musicians) conveniently leave out the fact that Bradford supports removing protected bike lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue and Yonge Street, something that will put the safety of many Toronto residents at risk, given the numerous studies that have demonstrated protected bike lanes help make all road users safer.
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users → leave → studies
This also tells us that Bradford is not fiscally responsible, considering city hall has estimated the cost of removing these bike lanes will cost some $48 million.
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cost → tell → million
That $48 million could’ve been allocated to the support of small local businesses during these tough economic times (something you’d think Liberal MPs would be focused on); instead, it will be put toward making Torontonians less safe.
uncertain
Torontonians → allocate → times
Adam Rodgers, Toronto
Bradford’s campaign takes on water
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campaign → take → water
Tim Hudak and Brad Duguid have tried to throw Bradford’s flagging mayoral campaign a lifeboat, but sadly it’s full of holes.
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it → try → holes
Ontario hasn’t forgotten the Walkerton water disaster: seven dead, hundreds made seriously ill and some living with grave health challenges even today
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seven → forget → challenges
Their suggestion that each generation need pay only for its own infrastructure betrays a lack of understanding of history and the nature of public infrastructure in general.
asserted
generation → need → general
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
