(Re: ‘Illiteracy the greatest threat to print media,’ by Rob Young, Nov. 6, ’00)

Dear Rob:

My compliments to you on your wonderful article about the more than five million Canadian adults who face literacy challenges every day of their lives.

Twenty-two per cent of our adult population function at the bottom level of a five-level reading scale, defined as ‘non-readers who have serious difficulty dealing with any printed material.’

Since Canadian and American adult literacy statistics are similar, one could argue that low literacy levels (we don’t call it ‘illiteracy’ anymore) could well have contributed to the fact that a similar proportion of voters in Florida had trouble reading and comprehending their ballots.

Thank you again for your insightful article.

Christine A. Featherstone

Executive Director

ABC Canada Literacy Foundation

Toronto, Ont.