We welcome comments from our readers. You can share your comment by completing our Letters to the Editor form or by posting a comment at the end of an article.
Here are a few top comments from recent weeks:
Editorial: Why Canada should mandate military service for young people
Given the changing military positions taken by countries like Russia and China, mandatory military service is an interesting point.
But how would our current large influx of immigrants be incorporated into this? Would a year of mandatory service be part of their citizenship responsibilities? It hardly seems fair for Canadian-born adults to serve but for recently arrived Canadians, whether through immigration or student visas, to avoid the service.
It could be a great way of further introducing new immigrants to the country and fellow citizens. It might also lessen immigration in general. Certainly this issue would need to be addressed as part of the proposal.
– Pamela Pastachak
Editorial: Decriminalization is trendy for a reason
I would like to ban internet access on smartphones for children. They do not need access to social media and generative AI 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The use of these platforms are doing a lot of damage to children. If us adults do not do something, we will continue to raise generations of anxious, depressed and suicidal children who will not know what is and is not true, because they will believe everything that generative AI spits out at them.
– Wade Collinge
I don’t think that decriminalizing cannabis was done haphazardly. The fact is a significant proportion of the population was already using, and there was no strong evidence for any bad effects. Five years later, what are the downsides? Has there been an increase in motor vehicle accidents?
Smartphones seem more of a problem than cannabis in high schools. Decriminalization of sports gambling — not such a good idea, for the reasons mentioned in the article.
But decriminalization of hard drugs — that has been a huge headache because of the total lack of boundaries on the part of the addicts. Nobody is dying from cannabis use, but people continue to die from fentanyl overdoses, and yet there is no shortage of new recruits. We need to pay a lot more attention to this problem because this is a case of people profiting off the lives of the marginal and downtrodden.
– CR Justice
“A bill to ban gambling ads entirely”? Why not, since cigarettes, hard liquor and cannabis advertising are already banned. Gambling is just another harmful behaviour with way more losers than winners.
– Dr. Frederick Ross
Editorial: Will the budget’s benefits reach those in need?
Ridiculously high combined marginal effective tax rates are nothing new, and highlight the advantage of a basic income, which is integrated with the tax system so that clawback and tax rates do not overlap.
This can be easily accomplished with a basic income that is not a livable income. For example, consider a $10,000 basic income per single individual (no kids, no disability, not a senior) with a 40 per cent clawback rate. This would result in the basic income being fully clawed back at income of $25,000. You would then have a complementary 40 per cent tax rate with a $25,000 basic personal amount. These numbers are used to simply illustrate the concept, but workable numbers are actually not that far off.
– Mark Tilley
Canada budget forecasts ‘soft landing’ in 2024, avoiding recession
Budget 2024 contradicts Prime Minister Trudeau’s promise to incrementally increase overseas development spending each year until 2030. This raises questions about our nation’s role in addressing pressing global challenges.
Maintaining Canada’s contribution to official development assistance is imperative, especially in times of ever-heightening global challenges, climate change and economic disparities. Official development assistance plays a pivotal role in addressing poverty, promoting human rights and fostering sustainable development worldwide.
I urge Members of Parliament to support the continued increase of official development assistance spending as a step towards a substantial increase that aligns with Prime Minister Trudeau’s promise.
– Fauziyah Gebi
