LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

‘Couch’ isn’t a Canadian term Re: Red Couch Tour will collect stories as it traverses the nation, Dec. 14

If this is so tied to Canada on our 150th birthday, why isn’t it called the “Red Chesterfield Tour?” As U.S.-Canadian raised, I quickly learned that “couch” was American. Chris Bradshaw, Sandy Hill

Times change on begging

I saw a woman begging in front of the Rideau Centre on Tuesday. She was leaning against a post with her cup on the ground rather than holding it. That’s because she was working her smartphone. The times they are a-changing. Sharon Mintz, Ottawa

Mail delivery a matter of fairness Re: Health and dental plans could be taxed, Dec. 13

Andrew Coyne suggests that if fairness is the goal, the Liberals should tax health and dental benefits. Indeed if “fairness” is the goal, all Canadians would also be considered for a re-institution of residential mail delivery, not just the ones who lost it last year.

It is hard to believe that we would be throwing money at residential mail delivery when we have a government that is registering record deficits. John McAuley, Ottawa

Put injection sites in federal buildings Re: Dawson: Bravo, Liberals. Canada and Ottawa need safe-injection sites, Dec. 12

The simplest way to get rid of the “not in my backyard” resistance is to host the injection sites in federal government buildings. After all, most drug activity is downtown and so are government buildings.

More fuel for thought as we approach dates when sites will be pushed at us. Brian Vachon, Greely

Bus stops should be clear of snow

In Tuesday’s Citizen, Julie Oliver’s photograph of the lady exiting an OC Transpo bus is an excellent example of what bus users had to put up with last winter. Because the City of Ottawa wants us to stop using our cars, the clearing of bus stops should be a priority for the safety of those travelling by OC Transpo.

It is dangerous to climb snowbanks and the elderly can’t do it. Fran Dawson, Woodlawn

McKenna can’t blame NCC Re: NCC Blew It, McKenna Says, Dec. 13

It must be wonderful to be able to blame someone else for your own government’s mistakes. Let me see, who asked the National Capital Commission — an organization that includes people from outside Ottawa who have never lived here and come in sporadically for meetings — to come up with a solution?

The local people on the NCC board voted against or abstained from the Tunney’s Pasture recommendation. And who was it who threw out the location the Conservatives had chosen and that the hospital agreed with, which was right across from the current Civic?

And, of course, the minister responsible was from here. It sounds as though the Liberals threw it out for purely political reasons. Joanne Purvis, Ottawa

Electoral reform survey confusing

I completed the My Democracy survey and it’s a rather disingenuous setup. It appears that the survey has been designed to slyly lead the interviewee through a deliberately obtuse questionnaire to concede that the Canadian federal electoral mechanism would benefit from some adjustment.

It inadvertently makes a clear point: if you mess with our first-past-the-post system and choose to wilfully fragment and complicate the parliamentary function, the core purpose gets lost in the process.

Any future parliament that reflects monkeying with the majoritarian electoral method will generate policies that look much like this convoluted survey. Does that answer the questionnaire? John Macleod, Ottawa