‘Why can we not invest in our own economy? Obviously the money is there.’ Letters to the editor for Jan. 23

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Crying poor

Re “Minister sees ‘opportunities’ for Beijing to invest in agricultural industries under new trade deals” (Report on Business, Jan. 22): “Ottawa is encouraging China to invest in Canada’s food processing and manufacturing industries, an area where the country has struggled to secure the capital it needs to stay globally competitive.” The writer cannot be serious. Lacking capital!

If a county asked for a grant for some agricultural project, no matter how unserious, I am sure the government would be happy to write a cheque. Why can we not invest in our own economy? Obviously the money is there.

Leon Munoz Burlington, Ont.

Let them do their jobs

Re “The Armed Forces must be freed to fight” (Editorial, Jan. 22): I agree 100 per cent with this editorial. If people want to become firefighters, there are lots of communities that can use the additional resources. There is no reason why any provincial or federal government cannot form a new force of disaster relief specialists who can be called upon to assist with fighting fires, cleaning up after floods or rescuing citizens trapped by natural occurrences. Such forces could just as easily be deployed in neighbouring jurisdictions in the same way we loan our water bombers to California. Give those who enlist reservist status and leave our Armed Forces to do the job they are designed to do.

Kenneth Duff Ottawa

Not like the others

Re “Let the wild rumpus start …” (Editorial cartoon, Jan. 22): I am writing to express my disagreement with the editorial cartoon depicting China, Russia and the United States as the “Big Three” global titans. This trope is common in geopolitical commentary, but it relies on an outdated Cold War framework that fails to reflect the modern reality of national power.

Including Russia in the same league as the U.S. and China is a significant mischaracterization. In almost every metric that defines a true global superpower – economic output, technological innovation and soft power – Russia is no longer a peer. Its economy is smaller than that of several individual U.S. states and is heavily dependent on volatile energy exports rather than diverse industrial and tech bases.

By continuing to illustrate the world as a three-way tug of war, we provide a veneer of parity to a country that is effectively a middle power with a very large “doomsday” button.

Brian Martel Hamilton

Thanks to Mr. Parkins for another wonderful, appropriate, funny, insightful and literary cartoon. I hope Mr. Carney can go home to a nice hot dinner after dispelling the monsters. He seems to have woken up already.

Martha Gould North Bay, Ont.

He’s in control

Re “What can the Democrats do to stop Trump?” (Opinion, Jan. 22): Konrad Yakabuski’s opinion piece is descriptive and accurate, I believe, but it doesn’t matter. Whether the Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate or if the Democrats manage to wrest control of one or both, Mr. Trump has shown a willingness to ignore Congress and at times even the courts.

Whoever is in “control” will find him issuing multiple executive orders and ignoring legislation that doesn’t suit him. He has made the Justice Department his own creature and also the Supreme Court it seems. The public can’t keep up with all he is doing through executive orders, while he quietly amasses his own private army of masked ICE agents who are emboldened to trample civil rights and suffer no consequences for their actions.

We have seen this movie before, and it doesn’t have a happy ending.

Barry Marynick Mississauga, Ont.

Values? From a superpower?

Re “Canada is hedging its bets” (Opinion, Jan. 17): Andrew Coyne’s conclusion – that Canada needs to become a superpower to preserve its values – does not follow his analysis of the consequences of “Finlandization.” Finland survived, uh, Finlandization with its values intact and with its population consistently ranked the happiest on Earth. What is a country for if not this?

The superpowers we know are venal and corrupt, with highly concentrated wealth, extensive poverty and unenviable life expectancies. The path to becoming a superpower would entail giving up the values we are protecting in the first place.

Mark Hopkins Ottawa

We need to play the long game

Re “Rules-based world order is over, PM warns in blunt Davos speech” (Jan. 21): I think Prime Minister Mark Carney is allowing President Donald Trump’s personality to cloud his judgment. Most of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy is designed to achieve one goal: counter the Chinese economic and military juggernaut – and by doing so, preserve the dominance of the U.S. in world affairs. Mr. Carney is blatantly undermining Trump’s strategy by engaging with China, and his doing so is a grave mistake in my view.

Mr. Carney needs to look beyond the bluster coming from the President – whose role may be drastically altered just eight months from now, after the November midterms – and maintain our commitment as true friends of the Americans. Because for all its current chaos, the United States is still functioning as a democracy. The same cannot be said for China.

George Parker Cobourg, Ont.

Leadership

Re “Poilievre campaigns for support” (Jan. 19): Congratulations to the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada for missing the point. You focus on whether Mr. Poilievre can win the next election. Meanwhile, Canadian voters choose the candidate who can best lead the country.

Leadership matters. Thank Mr. Poilievre for his service and then move on to select a candidate with real-world experience, strong character and a positive, principled approach. Winning with that candidate will be easy, and Canada will be better for it.

Brad Vollmershausen Port Dover, Ont.

Hammering transmissions into swords

Re “Why does Canada need to make cars anyway? Let’s repurpose the industry” (Report on Business, Jan. 21) It is almost unthinkable that Canada should let our auto manufacturing sector die. But there is a precedent involving a country much like Canada doing just that: Australia, which had a domestic auto industry for almost as long as Canada, built its last Holden (a GM subsidiary) in 2017. Since then, all vehicles sold in that market have been imported duty-free, a benefit for Australian consumers. Investments in the resource sector have more than compensated for the GDP and job losses.

In Canada, repurposing auto sector supply chains and assembly facilities to defence supply purposes would achieve the same effect. We should look at such a transition as an opportunity, not a loss, given our present geopolitical reality so well articulated recently by our Prime Minister in Davos.

Kevin Bishop Saanich, B.C.

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

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct a misspelling of Prime Minister Mark Carney's surname.