Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a closing press conference following the APEC summit in Lima, Peru on Nov. 16.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Not soon enough
Re “Iran allegedly planned to assassinate human-rights crusader Irwin Cotler” (Nov. 18): For many years, the government had been urged to classify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
The killing of many Canadians when the IRGC shot down a Ukrainian airliner in 2020 could not move the government to do so. The constant intimidation by IRGC agents in Canada of Iranian Canadians was not enough. It was only five months ago that it relented and finally outlawed the IRGC.
Now we see that this organization allegedly tried to assassinate Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister and an international human rights advocate. Canadians should ask what it was that prevented the government from acting earlier to protect Canadians from the Iranian regime.
Steve Samuel Toronto
By the numbers
Re “More than half of Canadians say Trudeau should be replaced as Liberal Party leader, poll shows” (Nov. 18): Without a corresponding poll showing the popularity of other party leaders, this feels like a hit job on Justin Trudeau.
I promise that no one who has given the matter real thought wants the other leaders at the head of their parties either, or leading the country.
John Anderson Parksville, B.C.
Parliamentary business
Re “A Parliament that is dead on the inside” (Editorial, Nov. 19): The government has provided nearly 29,000 pages of documents in a way that complies with the Charter to protect the rights of Canadians.
We have done this in a way that protects police independence and the separation of powers in our country. When police request documents, they do so with judicial oversight. Conservatives are trying to use a backdoor to avoid due process.
How would this newspaper feel if Parliament was compelling production of its internal records because it wrote an editorial the Conservatives didn’t like? Isn’t it dangerous for democracy to have parliamentarians go on political witch hunts? This sets a dangerous precedent that could imperil the Charter rights of all Canadians.
Conservatives should stop playing partisan games and act responsibly.
Karina Gould, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Ottawa
Come down
Re “The three branches of government” (Editorial Cartoon, Nov. 18): The deluge of letters and prophecies about the coming disaster of a second Trump presidency brings to mind one of my favourite philosophers of the past century.
Frank Zappa once said, “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.”
Steven Brown Toronto
Way out
Re “In Ukraine, fatigue and fear are rising” (Nov. 18): I believe that a non-negotiable objective of Vladimir Putin is to secure Russian access to strategic naval bases on the Black Sea. Thus, Ukraine’s demand for Russian withdrawal from all former Ukrainian territory should be discarded as unrealistic.
On one hand, I don’t think the West has to commit to Ukraine “never” joining NATO, but certainly a 10-year commitment might get us past Mr. Putin’s rule of Russia. He probably contemplates Ukraine in NATO in the same way that John F. Kennedy abhorred the threat of Soviet missiles in Cuba. What’s good for the goose…
The act of Russia seeking assistance from North Korea suggests to me that Russia is in a weakened position and should be open to aggressive peace negotiations.
D. B. Wilson Port Moody, B.C.
Once upon a time
Re “Ontario Premier calls Mexico a ‘backdoor’ for cheap Chinese imports” (Report on Business, Nov. 13): One celebrated the outstanding opportunity for Canadian businesses when the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico was founded in 1982. Especially so once NAFTA arrived in 1994.
It was dismaying to see that by 2017, when NAFTA renegotiations began, just how blasé the Canadian response to Mexico had been. As today’s net trade deficit with Mexico should prove, the USMCA increased Canada’s reliance upon the U.S. import market and increased vulnerability to the political whimsies of its major (ersatz) partner, thus providing no long-term economic protection. Trade negotiation strategies that will likely deepen Canada’s bilateral dependence upon the United States were, and remain, self-sabotaging.
Neither Japan nor China shied away from Mexico from 1983 onward. That U.S. trade negotiators are now apoplectic about China’s penetration there proves the Asian powers were wise in the long term – while Canadian thinking was mercenary and short term.
L. William Naylor, Founding member, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico Stratford, Ont.
Sin bin
Re “Maple Leafs’ Ryan Reaves handed five-game suspension for illegal hit on Oilers’ Darnell Nurse” (Sports, Nov. 18): In dispensing punishment, there should be a greater appreciation of the offending player’s history and the length of time their victim is injured and away from the game.
The National Hockey League gives repeat offenders multiple chances while dispensing ineffectual and impotent suspensions. Ryan Reaves has now been suspended four times.
In 2016, Matt Tennyson missed more than 60 regular season and playoff games over two seasons after being boarded by Mr. Reaves so viciously, he was unconscious before he hit the ice. For this sin, the league suspended Mr. Reaves a whopping three games.
To be fair, hockey has made tremendous headway in lessening the incidence of concussions and reducing fighting through rule changes and increased sanctions. But the NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association should give recidivists such as Mr. Reaves a cooling off period commensurate with the crime and rehabilitation time of their victim.
Jon Heshka, Associate professor, adventure studies department, Thompson Rivers University Kamloops, B.C.
Play on
Re “Cities hurt kids when they ban play in the street” (Editorial, Nov. 18): As a kid growing up in Sudbury during the 1950s, we played hockey, football and baseball on the street in front of our house for hours each day, all year round.
A streetlight illuminated intense hockey games and furious arguments over whether a goal was scored or not (goalposts were chunks of ice). In the summer, our next-door neighbour had a lush growth of petunias bordering his front walkway. A well-struck line drive down the first base line would send petals flying in all direction, often followed by some fierce invective of complaint from inside.
I remember my mother tapping her watch, pointing at my brother and me saying, “I don’t want to see you or you in the house before that streetlight goes on.” Parenting was a little different in those days.
However, I wouldn’t give up those memories for anything. Too bad for the kids in Mississauga.
Allan Scanlon Toronto
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