NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh meets with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 14, 2019.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
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Democracy now
Re Just Another Way To Neuter Parliament (Editorial, March 23): I find it too bad that Canadian democracy is being eroded again. The Liberal-NDP deal shows me that Justin Trudeau will do anything to stay in power.
The premise may be noble, as the government’s intention is to roll out more social programs that benefit Canadians. Canadians, however, should be concerned.
Mr. Trudeau seems to mock Parliament and operate like he has a majority. In reality, the majority of Canadians voted for other parties.
It’s a sad day for democracy in Canada.
Kensel Tracy Ottawa
On examination, the NDP-Liberal agreement looks more like political expediency than a fundamental increase in government services.
In the short term, the NDP has cover for supporting the Liberals while they raise money for the next election. Meanwhile, the Liberals get close to carte blanche to do what they want, especially raise taxes and spend. In the long term, the Liberals have a stick to beat back a potential Conservative government.
Lots of goodies are promised, but there is likely insufficient time for implementation – political gold for the Liberals.
George Olsen Calgary
Candice Bergen paints this as a “backroom deal.” One could also call it a collaboration or informal agreement. Isn’t political rhetoric so entertaining, so schoolyard?
Whatever one calls it, isn’t it just what politicians do all the time?
Irwin Walker Hamilton
Canadian democracy feels alive and well. From the days of Baldwin-Lafontaine through McDonald-Cartier and now Trudeau-Singh, we have produced needed dynamic duos at the right time.
Our latest duo is causing all the political dogs to bark in response to being sidetracked from partisan mewling. Bravo.
John Marion Toronto
United we stand
Re The United Nations Can Use Its Blue Helmets To Save Lives In Ukraine (March 23): Finally, something that the international community can positively contribute to the “outrageous and illegal war” in Ukraine.
The proposal from contributors Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock provides a ray of hope for Ukrainians: the United Nations General Assembly issuing forth an army of peacekeepers to “provide protection and assistance to the civilian population.” It would be a show of global unity and send a message to Vladimir Putin that indeed the world condemns his actions.
Cheryl Hanniman Ottawa
By definition
Re Let’s Not Trifle With The True Meaning Of Freedom (March 19): Not only do I think columnist Gary Mason represents the vast majority of Canadians, including we “little people,” but he also doesn’t mince words in describing these “privileged, pampered, self-indulgent idiots.”
They were embarrassing to me when they began and have only become more so in light of world events, where actual rights and freedoms are being brutally suppressed. If only self-awareness and basic decency were protected by the Charter.
Dan Way Toronto
Like fish who curse the water they swim in, freedom protesters often feel contemptuous of the people and systems who keep them safe.
Freedom protesters do not hesitate to drive big trucks onto high bridges, confident that engineers designed them according to sound scientific principles. They stop at red lights on their way to jamming up public streets. Were they to become seriously ill, they would head for the emergency department and trust that they will receive the best treatment.
The engineers, doctors and all the responsible people who support our society cannot choose some alternate version of reality. They cannot reject fact and principle for uninformed personal opinion.
The rest of us have the luxury of relying on expert dedication to objective reality. The protesters would do well to contemplate this.
Douglas Campbell Victoria
On Feb. 15, 1965, as an 18-year-old seaman aboard HMCS Qu’Appelle, I had the privilege of raising Canada’s new flag.
I feel such pride for what our flag symbolizes that I am often overcome with emotion when saluting it, and can only mouth the words to O Canada. The flag draped over coffins of friends lost in service are engraved memories.
It’s against this background that I cannot condone the flag’s recent use by the few entitled, myopic, naive, lucky Canadians who said they were defending my rights while blocking other Canadians from peaceful pursuits, damaging the economy and dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
To all who understand what our flag really symbolizes: Stand tall and wave it proudly. Our flag cannot be stolen.
Bruce Sutherland Lt.-Col. (Ret’d), Calgary
Re When Language Gets In The Way Of Truth (Opinion, March 19): The language of “freedom” has become debased by cliché and mindlessness. “New linguistic ground” may enlighten us, but semantics alone will likely not resolve our conflicts over the meaning and practice of freedom.
If my freedom is not the same as someone else’s freedom, can either one of us be free? Is “my freedom,” too, empty words that have lost true meaning? Must we wait with contributor Mark Kingwell for visionaries of language to sharpen our understanding? Or is there some path to truth even now?
To answer Pontius Pilate, “what is truth” but the way we live our lives? To find a language which is an honest broker of meaning, do we not have to start by living honestly? Could that be the true meaning of freedom: the right and obligation to be true to ourselves – and each other?
Frank Olenski Brantford, Ont.
Dog gone
Re A Dog’s Life (Opinion, March 19): Fifty years ago, I lost my first purebred deerhound.
We did everything together. He even saved my life by poking me just as I was falling asleep while driving overnight back to university.
The loss was devastating, but eventually a friend told me to “get another.” I wailed, “There will never be another Kaird!” I was wrong. All those quirky behaviours that so entranced me were in my next deerhound, and the next.
The Scottish novelist Walter Scott wrote a letter dated April 24, 1822, to Irish writer Maria Edgeworth on the loss of his beloved Maida, who was part deerhound: “If we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time?”
Scott was then gifted another deerhound. His beloved Maida was, in reality, forever a part of his life.
Barbara Heidenreich Otonabee–South Monaghan, Ont.
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