Letters: McGill law students deserve better

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Re: “McGill law professors begin unlimited strike as classes resume” (The Gazette, Aug. 26)

Like an acrimonious divorce, the hostile dynamic that has taken shape between the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) and the McGill administration is spilling over into the rest of the proverbial family. The youngest of the bunch — my peers and I — are caught in the middle. Each of us has made tremendous sacrifices to attend this venerable community of learning, but now our academic year is in jeopardy. Students’ life plans, finances and employment opportunities are under threat as a result.

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The AMPL says it proposed a reasonable path forward on Aug. 23, three days before the strike began: It would abandon the strike and accept arbitration if McGill dropped the decertification proceeding it filed against the union. But the university remained silent on this crucial matter. If McGill is committed to ousting the union, it owes its students transparency regarding a) why it believes our professors are acting against our collective interests and b) why it believes it will be successful in court. Perhaps it has good reasons.

But even better, rather than digging in, McGill should prioritize collaboration and community interests. It should drop the decertification proceeding and return to negotiations. Let’s remember: The university exists to support its students and faculty, not to sow divisions.

Will Hanna, second-year JD/BCL candidate at the McGill faculty of law, Montreal

Unknown number? Don’t answer

Re: “I’ve got hang-ups with the Do Not Call List” (Opinion, Aug. 29)

Catherine Ford does not have to “await with trepidation the next level of scam calls.” She can take matters into her own hands and follow police advice to not answer the phone unless she recognizes the number. If the caller is legitimate, they will leave a message.

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Janet Sanders, Côte-St-Luc

Different recipe for roads in U.S.

I recently came back from a trip to Connecticut, and I could not believe how beautiful the roads are in the U.S. Once you enter Plattsburgh, N.Y., the roads seem like bowling alleys — they were so smooth, I couldn’t even feel a bump. Even newly paved roads in Quebec could not match those results. Is someone at Transport Quebec forgetting to add asphalt to the mix?

Giovanni Perrotta, St-Léonard

Health care isn’t all horror stories

We hear repeatedly about all the shortcomings in our health-care system, and I am sure the bulk of those stories are true. However, maybe because I’ve been lucky, I have rarely experienced any of those shortcomings. Over the past 20-odd years I have been hospitalized many times, and my experiences have been exemplary.

Recently, I was rushed to the Montreal General Hospital with a life-threatening heart issue. I spent three days there, undergoing tests, meeting with doctors and being cared for by nurses, and the care I received was first-class.

We should be proud of and give thanks to our doctors, nurses and health-care support staff. They are doing an amazing job under difficult conditions. I owe them my life.

Simon Witenoff, Montreal

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