Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The bravest
Re “Rules-based world order is over, PM warns in blunt Davos speech” (Jan. 21): In his clear, courageous and compelling address to the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Mark Carney invoked the aphorism of Thucydides that, in an era of great power rivalry, “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” This should remind us of the conclusion of that Greek historian’s pithy truth: “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.”
J. Phillip Nicholson Ottawa
I have just read Mark Carney’s speech in Davos and I have never been more proud to be Canadian. Our Prime Minister identified a changing world order while clearly stating that our values will not change. We will be strategic, but we will not be subjugated by values antithetical to our own.
I hope that Canadians far and wide will read his speech and realize the challenges we face. We will all still love our respective regions, but we must be prepared to compromise regional desires for the national good.
Jeffrey M. McEown Victoria
At the ready!
Re “Military models Canadian response to hypothetical American invasion” (Jan. 20): Given that Canada’s potential response to an American invasion envisions unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military personnel or armed civilians would resort to ambushes, sabotage, drone warfare or hit-and-run tactics, the federal government would be well-advised to pause or even cancel its gun buyback program. Otherwise, we would be left with Margaret Atwood novels to resist an American invasion.
To the barricades!
John J. Reilly Victoria
If Canada does not have the number of military personnel or sophisticated equipment needed to fend off a conventional American attack, then we need to train voluntary militia. General Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defence Staff, will have no trouble recruiting a 400,000-plus-strong reserve force of volunteers. Most people I know, from 18 up to north of 70, are ready and willing to become part of such a force. I stand ready to take up arms to defend my country if necessary, to keep our country the true north strong and free.
Anne Greenwood Toronto
I was pleased to see that Canada’s military leadership is facing our new reality head on. We need similar blunt analysis on the political side.
We are being careful to avoid angering the Trump administration in the hope of actually getting a renewed CUSMA deal. We need to face reality. Donald Trump has told us he does not care about CUSMA. Take him seriously. We should proceed on the basis that CUSMA is dead and face where we go next.
Currently, the largest holders of U.S. Treasury bonds are Japan, the U.K., China, Canada and Belgium. Europe collectively holds the most. While Canada’s military cannot fend off the U.S. military, we, along with our allies, do hold significant financial power to destabilize the U.S. economy. (I would guess that China would be happy to help.) It would cause significant short-term harm here, but Trump is already doing that, so we need to be brave, not cower in fear of the orange monster.
S. Kelly Rodgers CFA, London, Ont.
In one short year, the unthinkable has become only unlikely.
James Schaefer Peterborough, Ont.
Having spent most of my working life as a print journalist – including a good while at The Globe – I yield to no one in my defence of publishing well-researched information, no matter how painful, for the public good.
But I wouldn’t rush into the ring with a raging, swaying, crazed bull and twirl a red cape at it just because I had the cape handy.
The Globe’s decision to publish a story that details a response to a “hypothetical,” “unlikely” U.S. military invasion is irresponsible. This, when Donald Trump grasps greedily for the unthinkable, sending out a wishful image of all of North America under a U.S. flag.
Surprise! The job of military officials is to plan military action.
Zip it for now.
Vivian Smith Victoria
A laughable economic model
Re “California learns about the Laffer curve” (Report on Business, Jan. 20): At best, the Laffer curve is a theoretically sound notion with only limited real-world applicability. At worst, it is fundamentally flawed even at a theoretical level.
Governments around the world have used this economic model to claim they can cut taxes while at the same time increasing revenue. Unsurprisingly, this almost always fails.
No more magical thinking, please. In matters of public policy, let common sense reign.
David Taub Bancroft Vancouver
On the books
Re “Politicians have no place telling police how to do their jobs” (Jan. 17): Marcus Gee quotes senior Toronto police officials saying they can only act when a criminal act is committed. Ironically, this is published the same day that The Globe published an article about the Federal Court of Appeal confirming that the government’s use of the Emergencies Act was unjustified.
So let’s recall exactly how the convoy standoff in Ottawa was ended. Police didn’t require any criminal activity; they merely enforced existing city bylaws, something ousted police chief Peter Sloly had refused to do. Within two days, the trucks were gone.
There are bylaws in Toronto that address many of the disruptive actions of protesters. Unless the bylaws contravene the Charter, they can be enforced, even if the actions are not criminal.
Now I concede that the Supreme Court has gotten into the habit of using imaginary extreme cases to strike down laws passed by governments, but let’s have police enforce bylaws and see what happens.
Tom Curran Consecon, Ont.
How we live
Re “Carney makes high-stakes economic bet in trade deal with Beijing” (Report on Business, Jan. 17): Prime Minister Mark Carney’s wise words on China – we “take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be” – echo the advice of Niccolò Machiavelli, author of the The Prince, an infamous rulebook for rulers: “The distance is so great between how we live and how we ought to live that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done learns his ruin rather than his preservation.”
With the U.S. no longer a reliable partner, Carney must make risky choices. Cozying up to the world’s largest communist totalitarian regime is a huge one. Can he, contra Machiavelli, do that while preserving our commitments to human rights?
Jade Schiff Ottawa
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