Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poses for photos with community members at an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation’s aboriginal land title win in a landmark Supreme Court decision, in Nemiah Valley, B.C. on June 26.Jesse Winter/Reuters
A word?
Re “Former B.C. premier Christy Clark calls for Justin Trudeau to be replaced” (June 28): Christy Clark suggests that Liberal MPs should start having private conversations with Justin Trudeau “about whether or not they think he continues to be an asset to our party.”
All well and good, but the problem is that Liberal MPs have, for years, reportedly complained about their inability to have such conversations with him. He is said to avoid such 1-on-1s.
Perhaps what Ms. Clark should be suggesting is that Mr. Trudeau start having private conversations with his MPs. That is, unless it is already too late.
Nelson Smith Prince Edward County, Ont.
Re “The Trudeau switch has been flicked for Liberals” (June 28): Is this an on-off switch, or a dimmer switch? Or is it a power failure, which may eventually shut down the entire building?
Douglas Cornish Ottawa
On the ground
Re “Sajjan instructed special forces to rescue Afghan Sikhs during fall of Kabul” (June 27): Lieutenant-Colonel (retired) Harjit Sajjan would have known from his military service that messages from the defence minister come across as more than a simple provision of information or mild suggestion.
So perhaps his statement, that “I can only surmise that if I did not wear a turban no one would question whether my actions were appropriate,” seems at best disingenuous.
Keith Laughton, Major (retired) Ottawa
Re “O’Toole, Bloc call for hearings on push to rescue Afghan Sikhs” (June 28): Besides then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan’s judgement, which I find disturbing, I am astounded that our military leaders tried to carry out his instruction.
In a humanitarian crisis, our soldiers should be there first to rescue Canadians and those who helped us. I see this as another stain on Canada’s embarrassing military leadership, now blaming others for their missteps.
Jonathan Massey-Smith Ottawa
To the left
Re “Progressive politicians like Naheed Nenshi are facing uphill battles” (June 27): As a longtime Alberta New Democrat, I was delighted to see Naheed Nenshi enter the leadership race. With his decisive victory, the party is united behind him.
Our membership now sits at more than 85,000, the largest it has ever been. People have joined the party from all parts of Alberta, not just urban centres.
Many people in the province are tired of Danielle Smith’s leadership. If she isn’t seen picking a fight with Ottawa, then she is fighting with the mayors of Edmonton and Calgary. I believe she introduces poorly thought-out policies and legislation which require amendment after amendment.
People are worried about proposed changes to health care. Schools are overcrowded. Renewable resource development has been paused. I could go on.
Mr. Nenshi and his enlarged team of New Democrats have three years to continue building the party, so that in 2027 we once again form government.
Stephen Crocker Edmonton
While Naheed Nenshi and others on the left may face a “conundrum” because “angrier, harder-edged” politicians are in the ascendancy, it can be just as easily argued that he has undoubted charisma and is not an ideologue. He has the potential to be a game changer in Alberta.
After all, no one gave him much chance when he entered Calgary politics. Similarly, the province’s demographics are changing and Danielle Smith is on the hard, hard right.
For some, the glass is half-empty, so they would not bother with arguments that say, hey, things could get better.
Larry Rose Peterborough, Ont.
Down south
Re “Biden vs. Trump was a live-fire test of decrepitude and decency. Everyone failed” (June 29): This American, who supported and voted for Joe Biden in 2020, will vote for him again if I must, and thank him profusely for all he has done to heal this country since he became President.
But I would perhaps remind the deeply religious Mr. Biden of Ecclesiastes: “To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven.” And later, “A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.”
The time may have come for this President to cast away thoughts of trying to complete a second term with the same energy and quality he brought to the first. By doing so, he could then say with pride (and some humility) these words from Timothy: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
Mary Stanik Tucson, Ariz.
Bookmarked
Re “Book bans spreading at unprecedented rate across U.S. school libraries” (June 26): Book bans have a long and ignominious history, with the poetry of Ovid receiving some of the most intense condemnation in the ancient world.
The Renaissance monk Savonarola led a noteworthy and destructive protest against Ovid’s work, as well as other materials considered profane or obscene, in a spectacular “bonfire of the vanities” in Florence in 1497.
One gets the impression that many of those pushing for book censorship in schools today would be delighted to see a replay of this public conflagration, with the graphic novel Let’s Talk About It being the first to be tossed in the flames.
Paul Thiessen Vancouver
The banning of books from school libraries is not only an American problem, nor is it only a problem of the conservative right.
Last September, the Peel District School Board asked school librarians to remove books published before 2008 while assessing collections through an equity lens. This included removing books such as The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and, one assumes, Shakespeare.
We live in a world where artificial intelligence and social media have made critical thinking a necessity for survival. Banning books does the opposite.
In the words of John Milton, “He who destroys a good book, kills reason itself.”
Suzette Blom Toronto
Another one
Re “Eh plus: The 25 greatest Canadian actors ever” (Arts & Books, June 29): If the criteria for making the list is having careers inseparable from Canadian culture itself, surely consideration should be given to Barry Morse.
In addition to starring as Lieutenant Philip Gerard in the 1963 television series The Fugitive, he also performed in every Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw play ever written, and was the artistic director of the Shaw Festival in 1966.
Gary William O’Brien Ottawa
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