Letters: All those in favour of ‘dumber’ AI say ‘aye’

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That would be good, too.

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Mike McCrodan, French Creek, B.C.

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Cancel F-35 purchase

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The purchase of 16 U.S.-built F-35 fighter aircraft will tie our Air Force firmly to the U.S.A. and might also restrict the regions where the craft can be deployed, such as in the Arctic.

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Purchasing Saab Gripens from Sweden would restore Canadian control of the Air force’s fighter fleet, allow for lower maintenance costs and, according to Saab, create 6,000 new jobs over the course of 40 years if the jets are assembled in Canada.

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The choice of aircraft by the DND cannot ignore diplomatic issues, which of course must influence all government decisions. However, while the F-35 procurement made sense in 2010 when it was announced by the Stephen Harper government, after a 16-year delay and under current trade and diplomatic conditions, it does not.

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Cancelling the current 16-plane order without paying a penalty would be justified in the current tariff-laden atmosphere. The savings would be significant.

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Charles Hooker, East Garafraxa, Ont.

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Seniors not the greedy ones

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Seniors’ and their parents’ and grandparents’ taxes built the infrastructures in Canada that this generation still uses: hospitals, schools, libraries, airports, ports, railroads and military bases.

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When our government can allocate as much as $113 billion to build a high-speed train most Canadians will never use, don’t complain about the seniors’ Old Age Security (OAS) benefit.

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Seniors are the ones on fixed, taxable incomes yet seniors are expected to babysit and feed their grandchildren for free. The Canada Child Benefit is a non-taxable monthly benefit for parents, and school-aged children can get free lunches from September to June. Seniors don’t get free lunches for 10 months a year.

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Seniors are the ones providing the down payments on homes for their grown children to purchase from savings we’ve accumulated over the years because we didn’t go on vacations every year, we reused items from one child to the next, we fixed broken items, we shopped for bargains, and we learned to live within our means because we had to. A Visa card was used only for emergencies.

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The seniors aren’t the greedy ones. That title belongs to the “gimmie generation.”

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Beth Wilkinson, Porters Lake, N.S.

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‘Canadians deserve a resilient national food system’

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Canadians deserve a resilient national food system. Suggesting that Canada abandon a system that delivers quality, made-in-Canada food is misguided and out of touch. In an era of global supply chain uncertainty, Canada must continue to ensure self-sufficiency in our food supply and nurture its long-term stability.

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Food supply chains are complex networks of relationships, and a range of factors impact grocery prices, like processing, transportation, packaging, labour and retail competition. Ending supply management wouldn’t change that. It would, however, put family farms, rural communities and food security in jeopardy in an increasingly uncertain world.

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Canada’s dairy, poultry and egg farmers provide Canadians with a reliable supply of essential foods while upholding high standards, creating jobs and driving investments in food processing and rural communities — all without relying on the billions in direct production subsidies used in the United States and in other countries. It also means consumers can count on Canadian farmers for these staple foods, even amid global disruptions.