Letters to the Editor, Aug. 3, 2025

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DIE LAUGHING

I grew up on U.K. humour. Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and the Glasgow wit of Billy Connolly. Enjoyed going to Second City down off Jarvis and early SNL. Nowadays, comedy is being stifled because many groups are offended and it has become sanitized to the point that it’s not funny. At this rate, Iran’s Ayatollah could get a job as a stand-up comic. Humour is essential in life and comedians are extremely artistic and often command the stage in more serious roles including those which present political points of view — Charlie Chaplin “The Dictator,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine. Then you have Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, Trump and the aforementioned Ayatollah. They’re not going to get you in stitches, at least not intentionally. In today’s stressful world, we need a laugh, so keep the humour going … it’s better to die laughing.

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Allan Leggate
Toronto

(The only late night comedy having any success is Gutfeld! on Fox News. We should also stop cancelling comedians too)

FEES FOR SERVICE

The Competition Bureau is all upset about DoorDash fees misleading customers about the true cost of their services. So why do they allow service companies to expect customers to add large tips to their payments? Charge card apps often suggest 15%, 20% or even 25% tips above the advertised price. Come to think of it, tipping also breaks the law that protects employees from having wages withheld as punishment for poor performance. Service industries circumvent this employee protection by allowing the server’s indirect employer (customers) to withhold indirect wages (tips) based on the ‘poor service’ pretext. Shouldn’t all laws apply to all businesses and all employees? DoorDash isn’t the only company that needs to be held accountable. We also need to put an end to other service industries using “tipping” as a way to break honest pricing, and employee wage protection, rules.

Steen I. Petersen
Nanaimo, B.C.

(The service fees are out of control and it about time an alarm bell was raised)