Letters to the editor: May 6: ‘Pierre Poilievre is making a populist statement that the government plans to control society.’ Politics and digital…

Federal Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre holds a campaign rally in Toronto, on April 30.Chris Young/The Canadian Press

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Re Canada Isnt Facing The Same Threat As The U.S. (May 5): In the 1970s and 1980s, Henry Morgentaler performed numerous illegal abortions and was arrested and tried more than once. Juries knew he broke the law but acquitted him anyway. The law had to be changed.

The best policy for the Conservatives is to affirm statements that, while some members may oppose abortion on moral grounds, the party will take no action to enact a law prohibiting them, as any such law would be unenforceable.

T.S. Ramsay Guelph, Ont.

Re When Lying Becomes Normalized In Politics, Democracy Suffers (May 4): Very true and rampant in the United States today, but not yet so much in Canada. Why should we care?

We elect politicians based on a series of facts and promises in their campaigns. As citizens, we pay their salary and retirement benefits.

If they lie, they are gaming the system. There should be an easy and straightforward mechanism to remove liars. In the private sector, employees are often fired for lying on their rsums. Should politicians be exempt? No.

Recalls may be the answer. To work, they would need to be manageable. Waiting until politicians run for re-election should not be the answer to redressing political wrongs.

Gary Raich Westmount, Que.

Re Poilievre Has A Point On Digital Currency (May 3): A central bank digital currency would be an alternative to cash and live alongside existing payments such as debit and credit. It would be built with privacy safeguards, equal to or stronger than those we have with banks.

Pierre Poilievre is making a populist statement that the government plans to control society. But he seems to miss the point that a CBDC would help those who are less fortunate and do not make full use of retail bank services, while having minimal impact on the rest of society who do not wish to use it.

Norman Shaw Associate professor, Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Toronto Metropolitan University

I believe cryptocurrencies exist to monetize greed in the digital world, and it is nonsense to argue that bitcoins purpose is to displace currencies on any meaningful level.

I have yet to order a pizza with bitcoin. Libertarians and civil-rights proponents notwithstanding, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seem to exist to allow unfettered speculation, with a side hustle of money laundering.

Ron Beram Gabriola, B.C.

Having all our financial data directly in the hands of the government is a frightening thought. Is the implication that banks are somehow more trustworthy than the government?

In a capitalist democracy such as Canada, the government represents our collective interest, while financial institutions represent only their shareholders financial interests.

Brian Lowry Fredericton

Re Every Canadian Should Have A Primary-care Medical Home (May 3): My primary-care clinic functions on a capitation system. It is paid an annual fee for each patient. Appointments are never rushed. Generous vacation schedules and time for medical education is built in.

However, the wait time to see my doctor is currently more than six weeks. If I have an urgent problem, I simply cannot be seen in a timely manner and a trip to emergency is the result.

Family medicine should be seen as appealing to medical graduates. Medical schools should take responsibility for ensuring that family medicine is seen as a go-to specialty that is financially rewarding and intellectually stimulating.

Without change, the Canadian health care system may look more like that in the United States, with devalued primary-care providers and growing emphasis on specialty care with all its costs and access issues. Giving family doctors more money remains only part of the solution.

Iain Mackie MD; division of general internal medicine, University of British Columbia; Vancouver

Regarding overflowing ERs and hallway medicine: Crowded emergency waiting rooms, ambulances unable to off-load patients and our vulnerable elderly warehoused for days in hallways are direct products of insufficient hospital bed capacity and home care.

By all means, lets fix primary care. But lets not believe that can solve the problem of delayed access to emergency care for the majority of Canadians.

Alan Drummond MD; co-chair, public affairs, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians; Ottawa

Nurse practitioners are underutilized outside of hospitals. They have the training, empathy and understanding to assist the public seeking answers or direction for a health care issue.

Working in hospital-affiliated outside clinics or alongside family doctors in expanded offices, a nurse practitioner could recognize a problem, provide initial care and direct a patient to an appropriate test or other health professional.

Throughout my surgical career, nurse practitioners contributed greatly to my patient care on the ward, in clinics and in affiliated health facilities.

Bernard Goldman CM; emeritus professor of surgery (cardiac), University of Toronto

I worked for a number of years as a registered nurse with a family health team in Ontario.

This was an excellent example of co-ordinated care: physician coverage seven days a week augmented with nurses and nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, podiatrists, psychiatrists, chronic disease specialists and geriatric specialists for our aging population comprehensive care in one spot.

This worked well for the 40,000 or so patients on that roster. Why cant we extend this to the rest of our population?

Policies and systems that work should be studied for effectiveness, then implemented and quickly, before the crumbling of our system worsens.

Angie Mackie RN, North Vancouver

Re Pensions Hold On To European Firms That Carry Russian Gas (Report on Business, April 30): I am an Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System member who is disappointed to hear about the pipeline investment associated with Russian gas. I am bothered by the thought of my retirement savings funding Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine, with fossil fuels that worsen the climate crisis.

Europe is rapidly investing in renewables to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and contribute to a sustainable future. It seems like renewables would be a better investment area for OMERS in the immediate time frame.

Paul Burns Toronto

Re Leafs-Lightning Game Delivers Realistic News (Sports, May 5): A more succinct headline might have been: The Leafs are back!

Michael Vollmer Burlington, Ont.

Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com