Why not bread and circuses?

Re Let them go skating, Letters, Jan. 9

Letter writer Manny Lopez complains that money should not have been spent on the Bentway skating trail while there are still homeless people in Toronto. It is this attitude, and the Bread Not Circuses organization that espoused it, that cost Toronto the opportunity to host the Olympics in 1996. Guess what? We still have poverty and we missed the chance to have a great party that would have showcased our city to the world.

Yes, we need to tackle homelessness, but we don’t have to give up the things that make our city fun and beautiful. We could cancel all public art, public celebrations, sporting events, festivals and subway stations. But then we would live in a boring, ugly city. Jason Shron, Thornhill