Ontario Premier Doug Ford 's government is discussing selling the naming rights to commuter stations in the Toronto area.Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press
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There’s a lot in a name
Re Ford Proposes Corporate Branding For GO Stations (Aug. 2): Doug Ford is thinking too small with his plan to sell corporate branding of commuter stations. The real cash cow is in branding Ontario’s ministries: The Pfizer Ministry of Health! The Exxon-Mobil Ministry of the Environment! And what could be more populist than the Budweiser Office of the Premier?
Richard Bingham, Toronto
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Nothing would signal that Ontario is Open for Business and likely please the Premier more than to have a single automotive brand buy the naming rights to Toronto-area GO stations: Ford-Whitby Station, Ford-Pickering Station, Ford-Oakville Station …
Éric Blais, Toronto
America’s drug store
Re Ottawa Was Not Consulted On Specifics Of U.S. Plan To Import Prescription Drugs, Officials Say (Aug. 1): Canada cannot be America’s drug store. The sale of Canadian drugs to America and Americans must be stopped before it gets even more out of control.
Canada cannot, and should not, subsidize greedy American drug companies. If Americans want less expensive drugs, let them elect representatives who will achieve that for them.
Al Yolles, Toronto
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U.S. President Donald Trump prides himself on his negotiating skills. So why doesn’t he use them to sit down with drug companies (many of them American) to negotiate lower drug prices for Americans, instead of raiding the Canadian medications cupboard?
Marguarite Keeley, Ottawa
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The Canadian Pharmacists Association warns that Donald Trump’s actions will exacerbate drug shortages in Canada, which in one way or another, will affect all of us. If, and only if, supplies to Canadians are not adversely affected, should the Trudeau government consider allowing the export of such vital products.
At that time, perhaps Justin Trudeau could insist that Mr. Trump relax his punitive tariffs on our exports. We need to know our government will look out for our collective well-being, even if means standing up to a bully.
Douglas Campbell, Sherwood Park, Alta.
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Why are drug prices so high in the U.S.? Same old answer. Greed.
H.B. King, Montreal
Patient, public rights: Striking a balance
Re CAMH Patient Reported Missing Was Actually At The Mental-Health Facility (Aug. 2): While CAMH is doing its “internal and external review of protocols around patient passes and privileges” how about an intervention to protect the public?
Ankle bracelets with GPS monitoring have been used by the corrections system to monitor offender behaviour without requiring full-time incarceration. Often, they represent an intermediate step between probation and prison. If a not criminally responsible person goes missing from CAMH during an escorted or unescorted outing, he or she could more easily be located and returned to care if they were wearing an ankle bracelet. Yes, this might be seen by some as an assault on an individual’s civil liberties. But the public deserves some protection in exchange for the humane treatment given violent-offender NCR patients.
Evelyne Michaels, Toronto
Cybersecurity audits
For some years, public companies have been obliged in law to provide independent audit information. This obligation was imposed to protect shareholders, creditors and potential investors.
Given the spate of major businesses which have been hacked in recent years, government needs to impose a similar legal obligation on companies to demonstrate publicly that they have had their IT systems assessed by independent security experts. The issues caused by hacking go well beyond the “internal” harm caused to investors, creditors and shareholders – millions of individual customers are affected.
It is abundantly clear that companies are not investing adequately in protecting the personal information of customers, despite assurances to the contrary from executives – usually given after a major breach has occurred.
Jim Stewart, Kanata, Ont.
Decisions on China
Re Ottawa Unlikely To Decide On Huawei Until After Election, Goodale Says (July 31): The federal government says it likely will not decide until after the fall election whether to ban Huawei from this country’s 5G networks. How convenient (or cowardly) is that?
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says Canada needs more information from the U.S. before making a decision. However, both the United States and Australia have already banned Huawei from their 5G networks.
We know where the Conservatives stand. It seems that the Liberals do not trust the electorate to vote on their decision. So in October, we are left with voting on their indecisiveness.
Irv Salit, Toronto
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Re Liberal MP Says It Is Still Safe To Travel To China (July 31): Given that the fate of the two Canadians who were abducted and imprisoned by Beijing remains uncertain, I think the take-home message for Canadians is contained in the first five words of MP Rob Oliphant’s statement: “We don’t have any sense that Canadians going to China would be in any different situation than they have been in previous years.”
Louis Desjardins, Belleville, Ont.
Wrong ones sent packing
Re Blue Jays Management Is Doing A Great Job – Of Whittling Its Team Down (Aug. 1): As a baseball fan for more than a half-century, I can’t help shake my head and wonder when I compare how the Jays dealt with Roy Halladay and Aaron Sanchez, two supremely talented pitchers, when each was at a low point in his career.
Back in 2000, the Jays sent Halladay down to the minors, where he rebuilt his delivery and his confidence. He returned a completely different pitcher, and went on to became an All Star and earn a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The past few seasons, Sanchez has been going through travails similar to those Halladay endured. But rather than work with Sanchez to sort out his problems, the current Jays management shipped him out of town for what is basically zero return.
This move speaks volumes about the lack of baseball smarts of the current Jays brain trust. It’s also why the team is wallowing in mediocrity and seems likely to continue doing so. The quality starting-pitching the team needs to be competitive is nowhere to be seen. Other teams’ castoffs and prospects who are forever prospects just won’t cut it or make the Jays competitive again.
Rather than shipping Aaron Sanchez out of Toronto, a much better move on the part of Rogers, the Jays’ owners, would have been to send general-manager Ross Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro packing.
Ken Cuthbertson, Kingston
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