Your letters for Nov. 15, 2022
Can’t see the tsunami for the waves Re: The latest climate buzzword, Letters, Nov. 12 Has Vincent Curtis never heard of shorthand? He seems to get hung up on the phrase “climate collapse” so, maybe for a while, we could agree to all use the phrase “collapse of the stable, predictable climate upon which human civilization was built.” Increasingly worse and more frequent droughts, floods, and wildfires all make agriculture a risky business. Perhaps Curtis could have a chat with Cathy Crain, the mayor of Hamburg, Iowa, who said three years ago when her city was hit by record flooding, “I’m looking at global warming – I don’t need to see the graphs. I’m living it and everybody else here is living it.” Or he could read the 2020 report Risky Business: Climate and the Macroeconomy by JP Morgan economists David Mackie and Jessica Murray. That’s the one where they wrote, “We cannot rule out catastrophic outcomes where human life as we know it is threatened.” I fervently hope that Curtis chooses to be less hung up on buzzwords, and more focused on urgent climate action. Roger Gagne, Calgary Flag flap Canadian affairs minister says Canadians should be wary of doing business with China and consider the geopolitical risks. Oops, the Trudeau government just bought millions of Canadian flag pins from China even though there are Canadian manufacturers who could have produced the pins. So, Canadians wear your Canada flag pin, made in China, with pride. Marnie Bussing, Calgary Re: Delegates take northern concerns, perspectives to COP27 climate talks; Nov. 14 U.S. continually at ballot box Re: Democrats retain control of U.S. Senate; Republican ‘red wave’ hopes crushed, Nov. 14 The U.S. conducts federal elections every two years, far more often than most advanced democracies Downsides to such frequent elections include voter fatigue, low voter turnout (as low as 25 per cent) and the fact that those in Congress are continuously fundraising and campaigning. It is argued that frequent elections make the system more democratic, but if voter participation is low, then there is poor representation of what voters think of or want from their government. Robert Dewar, Calgary
