Today’s letters: Ottawa’s rural volunteer firefighters deserve support

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Volunteer firefighters get their due

Re: Make volunteer firefighters ‘casual’ city employees: Ottawa Fire Services, Feb. 13.

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It is a very welcome sign that rural volunteer firefighters will finally have their contributions to their communities recognized by being made casual employees of the city. This is long overdue. Without their contributions, many rural municipalities would have no coverage, or the financial burden would be overwhelming.

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I was involved in 9-1-1 coverage as the owner/operator of a private PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point); we supplied coverage to almost one million Ontarians in smaller municipalities. Rural firefighters not only provide fire coverage but also are the first responders on the scene for medical emergencies a lot of the time. Ambulances are not not always available in a timely manner.

They are part of the local scene and deserve our total support.

Deryk McGrath, Manotick

What has Canada learned about defence from Ukraine?

An important anniversary is almost upon us: Feb. 24 will mark two years since Russia invaded Ukraine.

I’m curious to know what impact this has had on Canadian defence and security policy. With the spirit of imperial expansion alive and well, what would — or could — our government do if Russia (or China or anyone else) established a presence (for example, an “arctic research facility”) in our undefended north?

Canada has freeloaded off NATO for many years; would any NATO member seriously consider risking war to come to the aid of such a lukewarm partner? Under a Trump presidency, help from the United States would be unlikely.

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It seems increasingly that Canada is becoming the “Ralph Wiggum” of the world’s nations: friendless, naïve, slow, well-intentioned but annoying, with pockets full of lunch money. At some point, the bullies of the world will notice us.

David Langner, Ottawa

A Churchillian ode to ArriveCan

Re: Warnings about too many international students were clear. The Liberals ignored them, Feb. 14.

After reading John Ivison’s column concerning housing and the foreign student fiasco, not to mention the millions squandered on ArriveCan, I am moved to pay a Churchillian tribute to our government:

“Never in the field of Canadian politics has so much been owed by so many because of so few.”

Charles Morton, Manotick

ArriveCan: Did managers still get their bonuses?

Re: Five things to know about the damning ArriveCan audit, Feb. 12.

A scathing report from the auditor general shows glaring weaknesses in government. Mismanagement is rampant. Managers are not taking responsibility for their actions. Even when their employees fail to hit their targets, these managers will still be awarded bonuses.

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It’s time for government employees to understand who they are working for. The Italians have a saying: the fish rots from the head. The auditor general’s reports hit at the very highest level of government mismanagement. An investigation should be undertaken.

Dave Currier, Barrhaven

Doctor’s complaints getting tiresome

Re: ‘I am burnt out from family medicine’: Ottawa doctor who led advocacy campaign calls it quits, Feb. 14.

I eagerly opened my Citizen Thursday to get details of the latest billion-dollar government boondoggle (ArriveScam), and was greeted instead with yet another tired tale of a disgruntled doctor.

Please stop with the “poor me” stories unless covering the hundreds of laid-off Bell Media workers, restaurant workers, and factory workers. Instead, focus on the big issues that directly impact these layoffs.

Maureen Cech, Ottawa

Don’t cast shade on the Experimental Farm

Re: Baseline highrises near Experimental Farm approved by Ottawa city council, Feb. 9.

The highest use of land comprising the Central Experimental Farm site is agriculture, and the best use of that land is for research. In every way, the farm provides an exceptionally clear example of the “highest and best-use” principle in planning.

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However, not so for the towers approved for Baseline Road, in part because they can be situated in hundreds and hundreds of locations throughout Ottawa.

Based on reports, there is nothing special or even significant about that development proposal, and no evidence has been given that it is even close to the “highest and best use” ballpark, much less in it.

Putting a pair of high towers near the experimental farm causes a shade problem which fatally compromises one of the relatively few sites in Ottawa that can be characterized as meeting “highest and best use” criteria.

Council, seize the day and insist that those towers be cut down to proper size.

Barry Wellar, professor emeritus, University of Ottawa

Make public transit free for the poor

Ridership on the mass transit system should be provided free to poor people.

Providing a free pass based on income-tax information would help make the system an attractive and convenient go-to solution for people trying to get around the city. So far, with all the breakdowns, poor design and fining of people for riding unpaid, the mass transit system in Ottawa is a laughingstock.

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Get riders on board, make the system work, before you dream of profits.

Carl Hager, Gatineau

Car theft: Make it easier to build garages

Re: Letter, Government can’t keep your car safe, Feb. 9.

I somewhat disagree that the government can’t help keep cars from being stolen, especially in Ottawa.

City bylaws prohibit the building of new garages and the enlarging of existing ones, in existing homes, even when space is available to do so. As a result, cars in Ottawa sit in many unprotected driveways, prime targets for thieves.

While I agree that homeowners should take the time to clean the junk out of the garages they already have (and actually use them for cars), building new garages would be a great help to car owners. It would prevent thieves from seeing and targeting their vehicles.

Valerie Burton, Ottawa

Trump’s foreign policy is better than Biden’s

Re: The ‘normalization’ of Donald Trump bodes ill for America, Feb. 7.

Like most Citizen readers, I am not an U.S. citizen and do not know what I would do if I were, since both top presidential contenders are unappealing. However, as a Canadian, my concern is mostly with U.S. foreign policies, and in that area Donald Trump’s policy was better and safer than that of Joe Biden.

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Trump’s foreign policy was realistic and prudent. He did not increase U.S. foreign troops abroad nor start or enlarge any conflict. On the contrary he ended the 20-year war in Afghanistan, not an easy task. By contrast, Biden’s foreign policy is dangerous. Bidden is supporting two “friends” in their hopeless wars.

He also started fighting the Houthis, a group which, like the Taliban, cannot be defeated by U.S. technology and he is doing so this time without any military support from countries other than the United Kingdom. Peaceful countries are naturally worried by these interventions.

Trump is not the most honest politician and he will probably start many commercial conflicts, but the world is likely to be safer with him as president.

François P. Jeanjean, Ottawa

Cohen reminds us of ‘normal’ times

Re: Joe Biden’s ‘memory’ problems — or America’s amnesia? Feb. 14.

Thank you, Andrew Cohen, for this opinion column.

We are in a horrific era of scandals, cruelty, disinformation, crime, mass murder, narcissism, greed and war. Your column is a reminder of the semblance of “normalcy” we have lost touch with. The future, at this rate, is very bleak.

Bryan Kallio, Cumberland Village

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