Letters to the Editor: March 14, 2024
Kudos deserved
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Kudos deserved
Soccer star and captain of the Canadian team Jessie Fleming was appropriately heralded in the article She was immense (March 8).
She was an A student in my calculus class at H.B. Beal secondary school some years ago and went on to study engineering at a prestigious California university. She is a very intelligent young woman.
John Hush, London
Cut aid to Ghana
Regarding the article Anti-LGBTQ bill draws global condemnation; Ghana (March 1)
Ghana’s parliament has passed a bill condemning LGBTQ citizens. These people are subject to persecution, jail and even death. The bill broadens the scope of criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people simply for being who they are, and threatens criminal penalties to those perceived as their allies.
This is clearly a violation of human rights, and I believe whatever aid Canada is sending to Ghana, and any other country that practises homophobia, should be stopped.
Genevieve Grech, London
Stop enabling
I agree 100 per cent with the letter from Verne Eldridge Help, not handouts (March 2).
Eldridge’s view, that “many homeless people choose to leave their homes,” is supported in the book Toxic Charity by R. Lupton. It’s what’s behind the ban on feeding the homeless in dozens of U.S. cities. Not that those municipal governments have been against helping the homeless, but they’ve been against aiding and abetting without motivating the homeless.
Our city is guilty of that. It has only token funding available for faith-based community groups like North East London Basic Needs. It has put up hurdles for homeless-minded churches like the one on Grey Street. It wouldn’t even meet with an interdenominational group I founded to help street people.
Elridge concludes with some good suggestions like partnering with Canada’s military to strengthen and train some homeless people. That’s a much more positive arrangement than partnering with pharmacies to provide a “safe supply” of drugs, and with social workers who provide snacks, protection, water, showers and toilets.
Patrick Bestall, London
Solve it for all
Children around the world are facing a lack of access to adequate foods which is damaging to their growth and development.
Many factors – environmental, political, and economic – play into food insecurity.
We imagine food insecurity as lack of access to food. However, having a lack of access to appropriate, adequate food is important. Those who have dietary restrictions or health conditions may not be able to consume the food available to them.
We should look deeper into all the facets of food insecurity.
Alice Kim, London
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