Protect the king
Re The First Rule Of Survival: Protect The King (Oct. 24): "Protect the king" is the first rule of political survival. It is also an old rule. King Henry II is reported to have insisted that all he said was, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Interpreted as a royal command, four knights set out to confront Thomas Becket.
Strangely enough, one of the knights was named le Breton.
Jean Olier Caron, Montreal
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I'm waiting for a court jester to tell the King he's wearing no clothes. Ditto, many members of the Senate. Not a pretty sight.
Leo J. Deveau, Halifax
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Root causes
It is a well-established principle of management that authority may be delegated, but responsibility cannot. Hence Prime Minister Stephen Harper is responsible for the actions of members of his office. He had a duty to ensure that all who worked for him understood the limits of their authority.
Not knowing what his staff members were doing shows a casual approach to the Prime Minister's management style, for which he must accept responsibility. Culpability, however, is a different matter altogether. Until and unless evidence of culpability becomes available, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Senators are entitled to due process. So is the Prime Minister.
Tony Manera, Ottawa
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The root cause of Stephen Harper's problems is that he used his Senate-appointment power to "hire" a couple of high-profile journalists, who helped raise millions of dollars for the Conservative coffers – work for which they were paid from the public purse.
Katrin Horowitz, Victoria
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'Honourable'? Hmm
Re Harper Hits Back At Duffy Over Expenses (Oct. 24): It is hard to say who comes out of this mess looking worse, Stephen Harper or the senators. Things really need to change, starting with removing the title "Honourable" from both sides. What is going on here is hardly honourable.
Leslie Martel, Mississauga
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The senators are trying to deflect attention from their excessive feeding at the public trough: Their expulsion from the Conservative caucus was correct; their expulsion from the Senate should follow.
Our government is large, and delegated responsibility is a reality. Stephen Harper should not be put into a defensive position on these issues. Senators should act responsibly and honourably.
George Sciuk, Whitby, Ont.
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How sad it was to see the "honourable" members of our House of Commons rise repeatedly to give the PM another standing ovation, the rafters ringing with the cacophony of desk-thumping and heavy applause. Nothing, absolutely nothing about this pathetic story deserves celebrating.
Is it too much to ask for some evidence of humility? Some acknowledgment from the Conservative majority that public trust in our institutions has been profoundly affected? That there's often a world of difference between being clever and being right (or Wright, as the case may be)?
Johanne Gregory, West Vancouver
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Care ordinaire
Senators Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy both made specific reference this week to the risks any suspension would pose for their health, given the likely withdrawal of supplemental Senate-sponsored health benefits.
Canada's publicly funded health-care system is the daily reality for many Canadians who are not senators, or who lack employer- or group-sponsored supplemental benefits. There are undoubtedly cancer survivors, heart patients and many others who fear, quite rightly, that the cost and availability of drugs, advanced diagnostics, access to specialized clinics and priority services is prohibitive and a bar to lifesaving treatment. Across Canada, gaps in funding, covered services, and access to treatment could be closed if concerted efforts were made to reform the system, adjust funding and work co-operatively with the provinces rather than combatively.
Perhaps all senators, MPs and the PM should spend a year in the shoes of one of the many Canadians they represent, and endure the dangers of life without gold-plate, supplementary coverage.
Nicholas A. Peters, Calgary
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Aid for Palestinians
Re Baird Follows Kerry's Lead On Aid For Palestinians (Oct. 24): Two years ago, during a Path of Abraham study mission to Israel and Palestine, I was hosted, with five other rabbis, by the political and entrepreneurial leadership of the Palestinian Authority.
Our group discovered a wide gap between Israeli and Palestinian political leaders, but a determination by business people to find ways to work together to identify projects to grow the local economies. Whether it's automobile sales, coffee shops or the construction of the first planned Palestinian city, the entrepreneurs on each side know each other, and the Palestinians acknowledge learning from the advances in the Israeli sector.
I'm pleased to hear that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and the government recognize that building the Palestinian economy and creating jobs for young people will be a positive development for the entire region. This is a position also articulated by the Israeli Prime Minister.
Economic growth has the potential to lay the groundwork for positive political development.
Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Beth Tzedec Congregation, Toronto
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Hockey's horses
Re When Helmets Come Off, Officials Will Step In (Sports, Oct. 24): The NHL and its players' union will eventually discover that they cannot ride two horses heading in different directions. The league and players' union are trying to promote player safety while, at the same time, trying to appease Don Cherry and his friends who promote fighting as an integral part of hockey.
It will not work. These fight promoters are on the wrong side of history. Eventually, the league will grow up and blow the whistle on fighting – and the game will be better for it.
John Harvard, Winnipeg
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Head. Desk. Bang
Re Attorney-General Says Mayor's Letter Inappropriate (Oct. 24): Councillor Doug Ford says "Rob doesn't judge people, he doesn't throw the book at them. There are a lot of people in this country that deserve a second chance …"
Could you please clarify whether the "Rob" in this quote is the same Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto, who last week told the press he wanted a city employee and his supervisor fired for apparently sleeping at his desk?
The employee might have been on break, or might have been up all night with a sick kid, or might be highly productive because of his power naps.
Or he might have been just banging his head on his desk because of the kinds of things that the mayor says and does.
Fritz Lunquist, Toronto