Love letters to The Strand

Re: Love Letter to Gooch, Gate House debacle
As a former student of Victoria College, I am very disappointed in your bulldozer-like response to the recent Gate House events. I certainly don't condone these pranks, but your "one size fits all" solution is a disgrace to all that academe stands for, and clearly shows you have failed to come up with any reasoned or appropriate solution. It smacks of the humourless dross I would expect of a Mike Harris or Stephen Harper. Perhaps worst of all, is your total lack of imagination and respect for the tradition that Gate House represents. I believe the correct label for your actions would be "politically correct bullshit". Your decision would be odious at any institution, but particularly so from the office once graced by Northrop Frye. You might refer to his "Writings on Education" which clearly you have not read - his obvious wit, imagination, reason and erudition are sorely missing from your pedantic and reactionary ruling on Gate House. Are you truly a professor of philosophy? Hard to believe.- Craig Baxter, Toronto

Re: "Which comes first, the price or the cage?" 29 Nov. 2007
Navigating compassion on a shoestring (read 'student') budget can be challenging ("Which comes first, the price or the cage?", Gabrielle Venturi, 29 Nov. 2007), but we have to remember, each time we choose the cheapest product, someone inevitably pays the price. Labourers in sweatshops, slaves on cocoa plantations or animals on factory farms.

When it comes to eggs, one option is to reduce your egg consumption by using egg alternatives (visit chickenout.ca for more details) and when you do need a real egg, reach for certified organic since they have the highest welfare standards of any commercially available product - guaranteed. After all, the difference works out to be about 10 to 15 cents extra an egg. Isn't treating animals more humanely, worth it?

- Bruce Passmore, Farm Animal Welfare Project Coordinator

Re: "Going broke in the Big Smoke", 29 Nov. 2007
Solutions to poverty?
Rent control. According to the Daily Bread's annual report, about 70% of a foodbank user's income go directly to rent, and everything else (i.e. nutrious food) is left to budget. It's obvious that rent/cost of a roof over our heads in Toronto is "through the roof" because supply exceeds demand for affordable housing. Perhaps in the political and ideological light of capitalism where we all have our "rights to choice" and "rights to freedom and speech" - our leaders could maybe provide us with the right to affordable housing.

Increase minimum wage. Once again, when someone working on minimum wage of $8 for 40 hours a week and spending all of that on rent, it becomes problematic to truly provide for themselves and their children. The city of Toronto already practices paying a "living wage" - approx $17.00 per hour - to all its workers, so we cannot say that TTC Operators (who make $20 and have to pay high union fees etc.) are overpaid.

National/Provincial child-care program. National/Provincial dental-care program. Will the feds do it? Under Harper's ideoology, probably not. But we can still hope and pressure the provincial Liberals to do it, McGuinty has already said he will go for dental. Quebec is an excellent example for providing a provincial child-care program, at the cost of about $8 a day to everyone --- better than $100 per child from the feds --- it will help the poor put their kids into quality-controlled public child care, while allowing them to go work and make more money.

Put forth sustainable funding back into public services, i.e. the TTC, community centres etc, stopping the privatization of public jobs.

Protect unions. If councilors and MPs aren't looking after the interest of unions who represent regular hard-working people, who's interests are they looking out for? Private contractors?

Unemployment Insurace. For those between jobs, the ability to access employment insurance is nothing short of a cruel joke. The unemployment rate in Toronto is possibly much much higher than statistics show because hidden unemployment is not displayed, after receiving E.I. (if they even can) for a certain period of time, the unemployed eventually drift out of it receiving it and off the stats record.

It's not the obligation of private organization to provide good jobs to people, it's the responsbility of the government to look after the 'welfare' of its citizens - and that includes providing the tools and incentives to allow for a good standard of living, a clean environment, well-paying jobs and sustainable growth. It is the job of the government to look after its citizens, not cater to the wealthy and their supporters only.

- Karen Cao, Oxfam Canada, Toronto chapter, Founder/Co-president