Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a press conference following the APEC summit in Lima, Peru on Nov. 16.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Business as usual?
Re “Parliamentary business” (Letters, Nov. 20): In response to Liberal House Leader Karina Gould and her response to the request for documents: Just supply them and let the House get on with its business.
What are the Liberals hiding? Parliament could then get back to work in minutes. Stall tactics and redacted or missing documents have been an issue with this government.
So for once, just supply the documents requested.
Kensel Tracy Ottawa
Karina Gould likens Parliament’s demanding government documents to police demanding internal records without judicial oversight.
Except, by passing its motion, Parliament’s request carries the weight of the law of the land, over which only a law-defying government can thumb its nose.
Edward Sadowski New Westminster, B.C.
I won’t even pretend to understand all the ins and outs of the Charter, but here’s my simple view of the situation.
The government’s refusal to produce the information required makes it look like there probably were millions of dollars wasted by Sustainable Development Technology Canada, and the government doesn’t want that brought to light. Regardless of what the Charter says, I want an accounting of how my tax dollars have been spent – or wasted, as the case may be.
To suggest that the situation is similar to this newspaper having to produce internal records because of an editorial is ridiculous to me. Even this layman can see that would be wrong, and I’m glad the Charter protects the rights of Canadians in this manner.
The Conservatives are also accused of playing partisan games and not acting responsibility. Sorry, I just don’t see that.
Brenda Pullen Oakville, Ont.
Trade mission
Re “Premiers back cutting Mexico from U.S. trade talks, Doug Ford says” (Nov. 21): The United States is considering cutting Mexico out of future trade negotiations because of the country’s ties to China, and Canada seems to be supporting the U.S. position. What I have not seen is any comment on how Mexico might react.
Perhaps it will be something like this: Mexico will join BRICS; Mexico will join the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and build a massive Pacific port; China will partner with Mexico to build massive numbers of electric vehicles to be sold everywhere in Latin America; we will be informed of all this and told, resoundingly, to take a hike.
James Robert Brown London, Ont.
On war
Re “The toxic myths of Ukraine in 2014 continue to poison the country’s post-2024 future” (Opinion, Nov. 16): In the wiretapped conversation of then-assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland, the sentiment that jumps out is her expletive-laden contempt for the European Union.
At the height of turmoil in Maidan Square, delegates from a number of EU countries, led by Germany and Poland, attempted to mediate a peaceful outcome. On Feb. 21, 2014, they achieved an “Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine” that was signed by unpopular Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and leaders of the three major opposition parties.
This agreement is what Ms. Nuland was rejecting, putting U.S. support behind hardliners who demanded that Mr. Yanukovych go at once. This was much more than a “wish that more democratic candidates would prevail.” The hardliners carried the day, Mr. Yanukovych fled and a few days later Russia moved on Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.
What might have happened if the EU agreement had been fulfilled is impossible to know.
R.E. Johnson, Professor emeritus of history, University of Toronto
Re “In raising nuclear threat, Putin bets Trump is willing to back down on Ukraine” (Nov. 21): Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat echoes his 2021 essay “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians.” He claims that “the formation of an ethically pure Ukrainian state, aggressive toward Russia, is comparable in its consequences to the use of weapons of mass destruction against us.”
He also claims to be on a mystical mission to fulfill Russia’s spiritual destiny. That’s getting dangerous.
Last week I met a refugee from Russia, a high-school history teacher, who could not risk raising their son in “a country based on lies.” The ranks of imprisoned Russian war-resisters is growing. The daily toll of dead and injured Russian soldiers is as much as 1,700.
One way to rescue them is to donate to Idite Lesom, or Get Lost, an underground counselling service that helps dissidents and deserters escape abroad or conveniently vanish in the vastness of Russia.
Greg Michalenko Waterloo, Ont.
Vet relief
Re “More pets and rising costs have created a perfect storm for veterinarians’ mental health” (Report on Business, Nov. 18): Sadly, we read of the crisis in veterinary care with increased workloads, stress and burnout.
The Ontario government has already sanctioned a change to pharmacists’ scope of practice to diagnose and prescribe medications for some diseases in humans. Maybe it would also enable pharmacists to diagnose and treat our pets.
I wonder whether the stakeholders see any merit in my suggestion, or am I simply barking up the wrong tree?
Michael Gilman Toronto
Now and then
Re “How Canadian cowgirls have corralled a new space for women in rodeo with breakaway roping” (Nov. 19): A hundred years ago, women competed in all rodeo events, but then they were denied participating in any.
The 1920s were called “the golden age of women sports in Canada.” But by the time I was in high school in Toronto in the 1940s and 1950s, during which I competed in five international competitions in shot put and discus, our choices had diminished greatly.
In my 2023 book Ladies Don’t Do That!: Memoir of an Olympian, I describe how poor the choices were for women in sport in my time. But I also reference how much better they were before and have become since, both in the number of sports open to women and the number of events in those sports.
While women in rodeo celebrate the addition of one event, I wonder if they don’t envision the day when they can do all the events, as they once did.
Jackie MacDonald Ottawa
My labour era
Re “The Eras Tour will soon end, and I for one will be happy” (Online, Nov. 21): It’s interesting to watch the so-called free market at work. When Taylor Swift comes to town, ticket prices soar and hotel rates double or triple, but that’s fine because it’s the law of supply and demand at work.
But when workers like the foremen at the Port of Vancouver or Canada Post employees see that demand for their services is high, they naively believe the same law applies to them. Not so much.
Why the double standard?
James Duthie Nanaimo, B.C.
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