Captured former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is escorted to a courthouse in Manhattan on Monday.ADAM GRAY/Reuters
Roll the dice
Re “Ottawa closely watching Trump’s next steps after U.S. military strike on Venezuela” (Jan. 6): The world is experiencing a game of Risk played by a trio of dictatorial leaders. We should be worried.
European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Latvia and Finland could well be in Vladimir Putin’s sights after Ukraine. In East Asia, who knows what Xi Jinping has in mind for neighbouring countries after Taiwan. In the Americas, Donald Trump, in order to obtain oil and mineral resources, has his sights set on Greenland and Canada.
The Second World War should surely have taught us the folly of not standing up to bully dictators early on, and that appeasement is not an option.
Bob Erwin Ottawa
What now?
When the United States decided to go after Saddam Hussein, it quickly became clear they had not planned how to run the country after his demise. A power vacuum developed and the Iraqi invasion turned into a debacle with many Iraqis and Americans killed.
When Donald Trump has been asked who is going to run Venezuela – a good-sized country of more than 28 million souls, some of whom don’t want the U.S. there – his answers are vague and give me a strong feeling of déjà vu. Are the Americans going to repeat their errors from Iraq?
Barry Hunter North Grenville, Ont.
“Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power.”
Not Donald Trump, but Theodore Roosevelt’s State of the Union address from 1904 in response to the Venezuelan crisis of 1902 to 1903, when the United States was mad at the imperial powers of Britain, Germany and Italy for muscling in on their territory.
Imperium, ultra vires.
Ron Tyler Calgary
Pipe dream
Re “In a national emergency, Canada does not have a moment to lose” (Editorial, Jan. 5): First tariffs and now regime change in Venezuela should be a wake-up call for our Prime Minister and the B.C. Premier to support the Alberta Premier’s efforts to expedite the diversification of markets for our crude oil.
This should be a top export priority for us before U.S. Gulf Coast refineries switch to receiving Venezuelan crude instead of Canadian crude.
Mukesh Mathrani Edmonton
The invasion of Venezuela should be the strongest economic argument ever against building a pipeline to British Columbia’s northwest coast.
History has shown that small increases in world oil supply dramatically depresses price. The current price of oil is relatively low, and trending lower.
Substantial increases in Venezuelan oil production could be realistically expected within a few years. That does not bode well for the economics of a northwest pipeline which, even under the most wildly optimistic situation, could not be built in less than five years.
I find it exasperating that more bitumen refineries are not being seriously considered. We could add value to our own resource, create many new jobs, cut down reliance on imported refined product and become net exporters of it.
Bitumen refineries would better serve our national strategic interests than a vulnerable pipeline extending hundreds of kilometres over remote and First Nations terrain.
Ed Janicki Victoria
If “the economic logic was unassailable before the U.S. seized Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro,” then there would be no need for Canada to find a private-sector proponent for another pipeline. There would already be strong competition to gain approval for the project.
The unpredictability of Donald Trump’s trade and foreign policies, the prospect of the Russia-Ukraine war ending and Russian oil exports returning to prewar levels as sanctions lift, as well as the continuous march of renewable energy, have no doubt given investors pause before committing large sums to long-term oil projects.
Enormous uncertainty surrounds Donald Trump’s plan to rejuvenate Venezuela’s struggling heavy oil industry. Even if successful, many experts believe it would take many years to significantly increase production and thereby possibly impact Canada’s U.S. oil exports.
Therefore, we certainly have a moment to sit back and see if the private sector is willing to fund another major pipeline.
Mark Roberts Calgary
Slow down
Re “High-speed rail is hardly the highest priority for Canada” (Jan. 2): While the jury is out on the Alto project until the business case is clarified and qualified, I am almost certain it will be hampered by political meddling and ideology. VIA Rail, for example, suffers because of this and struggles to maintain and expand services on existing routes, as well as open new ones where demand exists.
Effective policy, based on optimizing Canada’s existing rail infrastructure to better serve our evolving economic and societal needs, could yield better value for taxpayer money while allowing sufficient funding for local transit integration and expansion. Affordability, comfort, accessibility, frequency and integration are the primary needs of the travelling public. But, as seen in the past half-century or so, there has been little to no policy support.
We should seriously think about where and if high-speed rail fits when other astute, policy-driven options are available that could cost less and deliver improvements sooner.
Kenneth Westcar Woodstock, Ont.
Comedian Rick Mercer said it best: “Canada has long been a world leader in high-speed rail … study.” And here we go again, but with Mark Carney’s “big project” backing. I can’t imagine a better way for the Prime Minister to destroy his reputation.
The contributor articulates the obvious reasons why high-speed rail has never happened: It makes no sense, there is no business case. Canada cannot even get Via Rail working well, and building even smaller municipal systems has often proven to be beyond our capability.
Just because we are the only G7 nation without high-speed rail is no reason to build it. Mr. Carney would be wise to kill the notion forever.
Put the money into things that have more positive, near-future benefits such as improving Via Rail and other transportation infrastructure. Toronto traffic should be considered a national embarrassment: Fix that.
David Gelder Mississauga
Feels so good
Re “It’s time to embrace the art of journaling” (Pursuits, Jan. 3): At one point in my life I was a “passport chaser,” travelling extensively; however, the inner journey of writing daily to myself since 1969 has been the most important of my life.
It has done what lovers, therapy and aging could never accomplish.
Debra Dolan West Vancouver
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