March 7: Strong women. Plus other letters to the editor

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Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

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Strong women

Elizabeth Renzetti’s column acknowledges an immutable fact that gradually seeped into my head over a long, successful business career (What Trudeau Failed To Realize: Women In Politics Don’t Believe In Politics As Usual, March 6). Women are different. Strong women are wonderfully, amazingly different.

I have been privileged to have had several strong women in my professional life. Over time I moved from trepidation through acceptance and then on to delight and dependance. They pushed me and prodded me and challenged me, and I encouraged them and worked hard to gain their approval. They all contributed to the successes I had.

They are not easy. They are more principled, of that there is no doubt in my mind. That can be problematic but I learned to share in their fierce delight in doing work properly and with principle.

Chrystia Freeland, Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott are strong women, and it saddens me that neither Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nor his office, and not even his party, seem to know how to free them and fly with them.

Robert Swain, Boucherville, Que.

Ms. Renzetti quotes Debbie Walsh, of the Center for American Women and Politics, as saying “that women run to do something and men run to be somebody.” So when confronted with women trying to do something, what does Mr. Trudeau the so-called feminist do? He turns to his old boys network for advice.

Bernie Koenig, London, Ont.

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Ms. Renzetti’s column outlines the differences that research lays out between women and men in politics. As a woman, and someone who has chaired a number of male-dominated boards and committees, I respect the people who step up and work hard for ways to solve complex issues. I have found they come in both male and female packages.

Shame on any woman who makes this a “gender” thing. I have more respect for those who stick around and tough out solutions to keeping 9,000 jobs, while dealing with the debacle SNC-Lavalin has delivered to our country’s doorstep. No one ever said governing a country was simple. Quitting is the easy way out.

Margaret Koniuck, Winnipeg

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Ms. Renzetti is entirely correct in her view that Mr. Trudeau has mishandled the SNC-Lavalin affair, but I disagree on a couple of points.

First, she infers a person’s character and integrity from the contents of a letter of resignation. Such letters invariably cite how torn the writers are at leaving jobs they loved and never note how pleased they are to get away from the damnable workplace and frustration of that job. I believe that my former employers must be still scratching their heads about why such a happy and fulfilled worker could have chosen to leave.

Second, she draws a conclusion from way too small a sample, ignoring the my-way-or-the-highway approach to intraparty co-operation exhibited by other female politicians such as Margaret Thatcher, Sheila Copps and Nancy Pelosi, and the utter surrender of principle to get-alongism of self-described Red Tories Caroline Mulroney and Christine Elliott. In the political nature-nurture debate, there’s a lot of evidence supporting the party environment as the greater influence.

Ab Dukacz, Mississauga

Bad medicine

Re The Loss of Two Ministers Turns A Controversy Into A Crisis (March 5):

If Liberal MP Jane Philpott truly believes “politics is nothing else but medicine on a grand scale,” she might have done better on Monday, when she inflicted a blow to her party, to have remembered a basic decree in medicine: First, do no harm.

Les Bowser, Omemee, Ont.

Selective outrage

Last week, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer preached that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “has lost his moral authority to govern.” Now, with the resignation of Liberal MP Jane Philpott from cabinet, he impugns the integrity of remaining ministers who “stay silent” (Philpott Steps Down From Cabinet Over Handling Of SNC, March 5).

Where was Mr. Scheer’s moral outrage as a backbencher in May of 2014 when his leader, then-prime minister Stephen Harper, launched an attack on the integrity of then-chief justice Beverley McLachlin and the Supreme Court of Canada?

That action by Mr. Harper and then-justice minister Peter MacKay was cynical and flagrant – a politically motivated attack on the judicial integrity of our highest appellate court whose majority, not coincidentally, had consistently struck down the Tory government’s unconstitutional right-wing legislative agenda. Mr. Scheer has illustrated political hypocrisy of the highest order.

Dave Nonen, Victoria

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In the spirit of “be careful of what you wish for,” I have to wonder about Mr. Scheer’s judgement in urging Mr. Trudeau resign over the SNC-Lavalin situation.

It would seem that if the Prime Minister resigns there are two obvious candidates to take over, and between those two women a revitalized Liberal party would have no problem winning the next election. Exit Mr. Scheer.

Wayne Yetman, Toronto

Handling China

Re When Dealing With China’s Authoritarian Regime, We Must Not Be Naive (March 4):

China’s rise should be Canada’s opportunity. Understanding how to handle the advance of a major world power should be easy for Canadian policy makers since Canada’s experience with Britain and the United States are lessons and examples for real statecraft.

Sentimentality and incoherence in dealing with China are never good. Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger offered a great deal of insights in his book On China. He advised showing deference and respect to China’s history and potential, and counseling a policy of mutual interests without offending sensitive matters and cultural issues.

Canada can’t and should not deal with China alone and without the co-ordination and policy alignment with the United States.

Human rights, immigration issues, wheat sales, trade and lofty lectures on democracy and diversity, although legitimate, are only tools to an end in the game of global powers. Hard power and soft power are two faces of the same coin. Apply both with wisdom and wily understanding of history and reality.

Elie Mikhael Nasrallah, Ottawa

Small ball

Brad Wheeler hit the ball outta the park with his description of Dunedin Stadium as “a simple offering of big-league baseball in a friendly, small-town facility” (Weekend Getaway: Fly To Dunedin, Fla., For Some Blue Jays Baseball Before It’s Too Late, March 5).

Who needs more tiki bars, loud music and flashing lights? Just give us affordable tickets, a quaint stadium within walking distance of downtown and good old- fashioned baseball.

Jan Ethier, Port Hope, Ont.