A sign welcomes people to the U.S. from Mexico on June 25, 2018, in Brownsville, Texas. Before President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week that halts the practice of separating families who are seeking asylum, more than 2,300 immigrant children had been separated from their parents in the zero-tolerance policy for border crossers.Spencer Platt/The Canadian Press
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com
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U.S. as a no-go zone
Re Immigration, Trade Concerns May Constrict U.S. Visits (June 25): To protest Donald Trump and his America First politics, I have not travelled to the U.S. since December, 2016. That same month I also started buying non-American goods whenever possible.
I walked in protest in Toronto and talked with visiting Americans. But Canadian or even global boycotts won’t be effective on their own. Americans are historically isolationist and don’t care about outside opinions.
I now think human-rights advocacy groups based in the U.S. need our foreign aid. They are positioned to influence the American electorate by publicizing and legally contesting the ever-worsening issues. To amplify the goal of boycotts, let’s channel our own Canadian dollars away from U.S. travel or shopping and into human-rights protection.
We can help America remind itself that to live up to its love for freedom and rights, freedom and rights must be extended to others and not just its own citizens.
James Ellis, Toronto
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I disagree with avoiding visiting the U.S. because of Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The illegal immigration problem there is not clear-cut. Illegal migrants too often travel with children or have adults travelling with them posing as parents to facilitate illegal entry into the U.S. Mr. Trump’s harsh measures are designed to deter this scam. I agree that a wall is required, unfortunately, to gain some control over America’s southern border.
One could argue that Mr. Trump’s overreaction to the migrant problem is a result of the U.S. government’s apparent inability to enact and/or enforce effective immigration-control legislation. It is a very sad situation.
Moreover, it is very sad and strange that many thousands of migrants from Latin American (and other) countries feel that they are entitled to enter the United States illegally. I disagree that opposition to illegal immigration is necessarily racist: The U.S accepts thousands of legal visible- minority immigrants every year.
Tom Healy, Gatineau, Que.
Legalization (il)logic
Re The Dazzling Deceit Of Big Marijuana (June 23): And here I’d thought that legalizing marijuana had a lot to do with not saddling large parts of society with criminal records for indulging in a bit of grass-assisted relaxation, and with saving taxpayers the costs enforcement while at the same time garnering a bit of income for government. None of that could be important though, because Margaret Wente doesn’t even mention it. Silly me.
Hal C. Hartmann, West Vancouver
Heraldic (il)logic
Re Nlfd. Coat Of Arms Depicting ‘Savages’ To Get A Remake (June 23): Okay, so there have never been elk in Newfoundland, so the elk has to be removed from the provincial coat of arms. I’m assuming the lion wearing a crown and the prancing unicorn are based on documented sightings?
Eric Pelletier, Toronto
Soccer dreams, delusions
Re Suddenly, England Fancies A Cuppa Delusion (Sports, June 25): John Doyle needn’t be such a party-pooper. Of course the young English squad is “untested and callow.” Yes, it was Panama and not Brazil that it beat 6-1. But England’s fans haven’t seen a Three Lions team hoist the World Cup Trophy since 1966 (when it was the Jules Rimet Trophy), which makes them a longer-suffering group than Maple Leafs fans. Mr. Doyle may well be correct that “this will end in tears,” but why do we need to rub another impending Brexit in their faces? Let them, if only for a few days, believe it may end in tears of joy.
Rudy Buller (Still arrogant, but more than a little worried, Germany fan), Toronto
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Now that my home town team of Abertawe (Swansea) has slunk away from the English Premier League, my interest in soccer has evaporated. Still, I was aroused by the front-page teaser about the Brits bewailing a win and set out to search for an opinion from John Doyle. I then learned who England was playing, and eventually the score. It was 6-1 by the way, and the defeated team was Panama. My message to Mr. Doyle: A win is a win is a win!
George Emrys Evans, Brentwood Bay, B.C.
Reality to power
Re Can The Federal Public Service Fix Its Culture Problem? (Opinion, June 23): Yes, there are well-reasoned solutions to encourage public servants’ “telling truth to power.” But the more sinister and troubling problem is that “power” today seems not to want to hear the truth, blocks it, is blind to it.
Why do we continue to elect self-serving politicians who care little for analysis and expert opinions, even though they are not experts themselves? The fallout is not only a demeaned public service, but flawed government policies to the detriment of us all.
Linda Hoffman, Toronto
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This is not just a Canadian issue. Problems today are complex and evade simple solutions – a concept politicians rarely want to hear, thus the increasing role of prime ministers’ and premiers’ offices in policy direction and implementation. Speaking truth to power only works if there is a receptive audience. It is therefore critical that public-service heads act as a unified group if there is to be a base from which to bring reality to power.
Peter Barnes, Toronto
Addition as subtraction
Re The Crime Of Art (June 23): In his address to art and design students at OCAD, David Cronenberg rhetorically asks, “Can such a thoroughly socially embedded art form as architecture be criminal?”
Every time I walk past the Royal Ontario Museum’s so-called Crystal addition, I think, oh yes, architecture can be criminal!
Richard Bachmann, Burlington, Ont.
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Architectural historian and letter writer Andrew Waldron says Ottawa is an intensely romantic and sublime city, which is being ignored in the proposed addition to the Château Laurier (It’s Just So ... T.O. Dull – June 21). A Heritage Committee member says the design needs to increase the use of sculpturing and recessing.
How about using a romantic new material made in Ottawa … sublimestone?
Ben Kutner, Ottawa
The answer is
Re Clue: E (13) – letters, June 23: I know how maddening it is to be unable to solve a crossword clue, so to set Marie Medoro’s and other letter writers’ minds at ease, the four-letter word for “rumbo” is “grog.” Much more frustrating, though, is to know the solution to a cryptic clue but not know why it’s the solution. So I’m most grateful to letter writer Christopher Kelk for his explanation as to how “senselessness” is the answer to “e.” Time wasters, indeed!
Anita Dermer, Toronto