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Annihilation ammo
Re The Vancouver Summit: Advantage, China (Jan. 18): Excluding China ensured that no real or lasting progress would be made on the nuclear file. China is indeed "playing very high stakes poker" and Canada can't even manage to play with a full deck. What a colossal waste of time and effort and money as the Doomsday Clock edges closer to nuclear midnight.
Beverley Nichols, Edmonton
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Gary Mason provides a succinct assessment on the Korean situation and the futility of the Vancouver summit (Why The Vancouver Summit On North Korea Was Futile, Jan. 17). We are indeed in a bizarre and precarious time.
Estimates about the number of operational nukes that North Korea may possess vary – a dozen or so – whereas the United States is reported to have 6,800.
What Kim Jong-un should do, if he really wants to put North Korea on the map, is say to the Yanks: "Okay, we'll reduce our arsenal to seven, if you guys drop yours to 5,000."
Of course, the U.S. will huff and puff about it being the protector of the free world (yada, yada, yada) and go on about how such insane power is a necessity, but in the end America will be called out for its hypocrisy.
Sure, both nations would still be packing plenty of annihilation ammo, but such an effort would be a great start and an example for the other nuke countries (Russia, 7,000; France, 300; China, 270; U.K., 215; Pakistan, 120; India, 110; Israel, 80) to follow.
Who knows? Kim Jong-un as a candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize?
Brian J. Graham, Vancouver
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Gary Mason is right that only China has the power to change North Korea's stance on achieving a nuclear deterrent.
If North Korea threatened China instead of the United States, President Xi Jinping would shut the country down with a single phone call, ordering anything from a total embargo on imports and exports, up to complete annihilation.
On the bright side, Kim Jong-un will never be more willing to talk than now, when he is faced with a leader who is even wilder and crazier than he is.
Colin Lowe, Nanaimo, B.C.
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Attempting to resolve the issues with North Korea, who in their right mind would invite Luxembourg, Greece, Belgium or Columbia?
China is the major player in such negotiations and must be convinced to enforce the existing UN sanctions.
J.G. Gilmour, Calgary
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Lives lost too soon
Re The Secret Struggle Of A Calgary Business Titan (Report on Business, Jan. 13): I want to thank Karen and John Gosbee for having the courage to share their story and a different take on the troubled life of AltaCorp founder George Gosbee.
Reading this powerful piece felt like reading my own family's history. My father was a successful engineer and businessman – though not as successful as George – who was a lifer with Nortel. He was also a deeply troubled alcoholic, something only his family and closest friends knew. Much like Karen Gosbee, my mother was a rock who armed herself with resources and did her best to protect us kids from feeling the impact of my father's addiction.
When he passed away from liver failure in 2010, I was 20. I delivered a eulogy at ceremonies in two cities, an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies, so my heart goes out to son John Gosbee and his siblings.
Sadly, the Gosbee story rings true for so many "successful" professionals and their families. But we can only hope to get them the help they need and to break down mental-health stigma in the business world if we open up about the lives that have been lost too soon.
Lindsay Morris, Toronto
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Intimidation as abuse
Re Tell Everyone (Opinion Section, Jan. 13): Ann-Marie MacDonald usefully highlights the "connection between sexual harassment and a context of intimidation," and that in failure to make those connections "we perpetuate the conditions that gave rise to it in the first place."
Although it may be especially difficult to establish boundaries in an artistic (or recently, a U.S. political) setting, most workplaces have experience with some form of a bullying leadership style – unreasonable demands, threats and frequent verbal humiliation, all conveyed with a relentless self-regard.
Unfortunately, the ubiquity of the "intimidation" style is frequently related to the success or perceived success of a "strong leader." Unlike sexual harassment, "intimidation" shades into an effective organizational tactic – as Ms. MacDonald quotes from a Soulpepper associate, trying to "get the best" from workers (intimidation being something that is seemingly viewed positively by 30-plus per cent of U.S. voters).
Not all who lead by "intimidation" are sexual harassers, but their aura of invincibility within an organization certainly permits them to exceed boundaries of propriety and respect. As #MeToo awareness increases vigilance and mechanisms for prevention by institutions and individuals, can we ensure that other forms of workplace abuse are also addressed?
Chester Fedoruk, Toronto
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Guilt without due process
The most grievous event which can happen in a justice system is the conviction of the innocent. In my experience (13 years as a defence counsel, four years as a senior Crown attorney), the most dangerous cases with the greatest possibility of a miscarriage of justice are those in which:
1) the crime has inflamed public opinion and
2) the accused comes from a group "targeted" as the enemy in that historical moment.
The only thing – repeat, the only thing – that saves us from injustice and the slide toward barbarism is a rigorous and fair process. The more inflammable the subject, the more vital is this fair process. I see Margaret Atwood's article, Am I A Bad Feminist? (Opinion Section, Jan. 13) as a courageous attempt to remind us all of this.
The issues she raises are not incompatible with the highest, most just feminism – in which women are seen as having all the same powers, and weaknesses, as men. After all, we are all human.
Robert Girvan, lawyer, author, Toronto
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Dough: Chapter 2?
Re Loblaw, CRA Head To Court Over Alleged Tax Avoidance (Report on Business, Jan. 18): If Loblaw is found guilty of using a Barbadian banking subsidiary for the purpose of evading Canadian taxes, would not the matter be amicably resolved if the grocer offered to give a $25 gift card to all members of Parliament? And agreed to help the government of Canada in its pursuit of other corporations who try to avoid paying taxes?
A win-win proposal to be sure.
Simon Rosenblum, Toronto