Toronto police officers look on as people take part in an International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People demonstration in Toronto in November, 2025.Doug Ives/The Canadian Press
Reasonable limits
Re “Politicians have no place telling police how to do their jobs” (Jan. 17): I disagree with Marcus Gee that “politicians have no place telling police how to do their jobs.” In fact, this is the very essence of the politician’s responsibility – to craft law, which through police enforcement, becomes order.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the right to protest through s. 2(b) (freedom of expression) and s. 2(c) (freedom of peaceful assembly), but these rights are not absolute and may be limited by the reasonable limits clause (s. 1). This limit was invoked in R. v. Keegstra, where the Supreme Court of Canada upheld hate speech laws as a justifiable limit on freedom of expression.
Mr. Gee suggests that banning a Nazi or Hamas flag could potentially lead to the erosion of freedom of expression. I fundamentally disagree: Banning a Nazi or Hamas flag is an act of moral clarity and a justifiable limit on our freedom of expression rights.
Josh Hurwitz Toronto
Marcus Gee asserts that our Constitution, like the U.S. Constitution, protects freedom of speech “no matter how radical, unpleasant or even despicable.” That is not correct.
In the United States, even hate speech is generally protected by the Constitution and can be restricted only in very limited circumstances, such as where there is an imminent threat of violence. In Canada, and in much of the rest of the Western world, constitutional protection of speech is significantly different.
It is no doubt difficult for police, prosecutors and courts to delineate the line between offensive but lawful speech and impermissible expression. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have an absolute right to freedom of assembly and speech. However, when speech at such demonstrations targets Jewish Canadians as a group – alleging their collective culpability for actions over which they have no control, or threatening them with harm – it may amount to the kind of impermissible expression the Supreme Court has found unacceptable.
Ontario Solicitor-General Michael Kerzner not only has the right to encourage police and prosecutors to enforce Canada’s approach to hate speech; he has an obligation to do so.
Harvey Goldberg, retired senior policy adviser, Canadian Human Rights Commission; Ottawa
National security clause
Re “Carney makes high-stakes economic bet in trade deal with Beijing” (Report on Business, Jan. 17): Any trade agreement with China should include a provision whereby Canada can suspend imports and exports if China blockades or invades Taiwan. Trade agreements typically have a national security clause, but that may not be relevant in this case given that Canada is not a formal ally of Taiwan. It would be possible to include such a clause without even mentioning Taiwan by name. It would only be necessary to say that either party could suspend imports or exports under the agreement if the other party invaded or blockaded another territory without the consent of the UN Security Council.
Bruce Couchman Toronto
The negativity regarding Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to strengthen trade with China was to be expected. But I believe what he is doing and what he has accomplished is good for Canada.
Yes, Ontario Premier Doug Ford would be negative – he needs to be seen to support Unifor, the auto workers’ union, and Unifor needs to be seen by its members as supporting them. But, the truth be known, Canadian auto production is not competitive on the world stage and hasn’t been for a long time.
Therefore, my view is, as much as it will hurt in the short term, let the Canadian auto industry go naturally the way it wants to go, quit propping it up and work on the rest of the economy. Our energies and dollars need to be refocused.
Michael Nolan Westport, Ont.
Do the math
Re “Not rocket science” (Letters, Jan. 19): A letter writer laments the lack of any sort of contingency plans for the power outage in Northern Manitoba. Given the damage done, it would not take much to justify, say, a community generator of sufficient capacity or even small generators for each structure. If the supplying utility was responsible for its service failure, it would not have happened. As the utility is likely owned by the Manitoba government, I suppose there is not much to discuss. It’s definitely not rocket science – all you need here is an actuary.
William McEachern Thornbury, Ont.
Ahem
Re “A word of caution” (Letters, Jan. 20): The daily Letters to the Editor section provides concise, articulate and sometimes humorous commentary on current events and counterpoint to The Globe’s numerous, excellent commentators. It is a “must read” part of my morning routine.
Elizabeth May is an MP and the leader of a political party. As such she has access to numerous ways to make her views known.
Therefore, Ms./Mr. Editor, I object to the publication of Ms. May’s letter, thus bouncing the no doubt articulate views of another non-public figure.
John Madill Oshawa, Ont.
Saw it coming
Re “Documents reveal preventable death, ‘near-misses’ in provincial ERs” (Jan. 17): The situation in Edmonton is reflective of the national experience: a collective failure to plan for the health care needs of a rapidly aging population, an embarrassing shortage of acute care hospital beds and our most vulnerable patients forced to suffer the indignities of the ER hallway or die unattended in our waiting rooms.
This has been 30 years in the making, and for a representative of the Alberta Health Ministry to suggest this is all due to an unprecedented system strain secondary to influenza simply beggars belief.
Alan Drummond, MD, Perth, Ont.
Why bother?
Re “Mad King Trump would break the world to gain Greenland” (Jan. 19): Except for the fact that Mr. Trump could have his finger on the nuclear option, he’s becoming irrelevant in the world. No one can negotiate with an ill-tempered weathervane, and while it is awkward for Prime Minister Mark Carney and Canada to perform a high-wire act without a net, it’s also time for us and NATO and the EU to make a stand against the bully.
Nothing we do can curry favour for more than five minutes, so why bother? Maria Machado gave him her Nobel Peace Prize; she got nothing in return, and he’s still whining.
Everything is a distraction from the Epstein files. At the very least we should expect to see those rolled out in technicolor before any concessions.
Doug Ross, Chester, N.S.
Kindred spirits
Re “Military models Canadian response to hypothetical American invasion” (Jan. 20): Your article on what would happen if the Americans attacked Canada omitted one likely possibility: Given the acrimony in the U.S. recently, many Americans would join our side.
Bruce Hutchison Ottawa
Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com