Readers eulogize former prime minister Mulroney, suggest a long walk in Whistler for our current PM, weigh in on 'clown cars,' and more
Re: Former prime minister Brian Mulroney dead at 84 — Feb. 29
Brian Mulroney, the 18th prime minister of Canada, carried the country proudly. He listened. He reached out to people when the chips were down. He wanted to understand. He connected with people.
Mulroney was passionate. He stood up for Canada. He was the statesman you would love to know.
Yes, the Goods and Services Tax was challenging. Mulroney said: “It is clearly not popular, but we’re doing it because it’s right for Canada. It must be done.” And yes, Lucien Bouchard was a thorn in his side. The Meech Lake (1990) and Charlottetown accords (1992) were problematic. But Mulroney persevered. He cared about Canada.
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Regardless of the political party that anyone might support, Brian Mulroney will be sorely missed.
Richard MacFarlane, Toronto
I can imagine our departed-for-the-heavens charismatic former prime minister Brian Mulroney being welcomed on the other side by “the Gipper” and “the Iron Lady.”
It was Mulroney’s spirited speeches and memorable quip to Liberal leader John Turner that “you had an option, sir” (regarding Liberal patronage appointments) that compelled me to make it to ballot box in 1984, when Mulroney crushed Turner with a landslide 211-seat win, eclipsing Diefenbaker’s 208-seat victory in 1958.
While many dreaded Mulroney’s GST (goods and services) tax, the fact is that it was at a much lower rate than the MST (manufacturers’ sales) tax that it replaced. In concert with his Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, it smashed through the walls of U.S. protectionism, bolstering Canadian exports to new highs.
Mulroney, a Cold War hawk, proposed Canada purchase eight to 12 nuclear-propelled, Arctic-capable submarines to protect its shores; however, opposition leader and then prime minister Jean Chrétien torpedoed this with his acquisition of four bargain-priced used British subs that have been plagued by breakdowns and enormous repair costs since their day of purchase.
Mulroney’s singing of “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” with ally president Ronald Reagan at the 1985 “Shamrock Summit” was most entertaining; however, his large, protracted deficits contributed to the rise of Preston Manning’s truly conservative Reform Party that, along with rebel Lucien Bouchard’s Bloc Québécois, paved the way for the inevitable defeat of his successor, Kim Campbell.
My condolences go out to Mulroney’s wife of over a half century, Mila, his daughter, MPP Caroline Mulroney, and the rest of his family.
David C. Searle, Toronto
Re: Will Justin Trudeau follow in his father’s footsteps and resign on Feb. 29? — Raymond J. de Souza, Feb. 28
The positive of this article was that prime minister Pierre Trudeau was smart enough to take the walk in the snow. The negative was that his son is too egotistical and naive to take that walk.
We know that Justin Trudeau has driven the economy of this country into massive debt (projected to hit $2.1 trillion in 2023/2024), and we know we are paying huge interest on that debt ($46.5 billion in 2024). Yet with every photo-op, he continues to make promises of more spending.
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His recent visit to Poland was truly embarrassing, saying, “We know there is more to do and we are doing it,” as he chops funding for the Canadian military, which is already
suffering from the total incompetence of this government, which cannot get ships built, submarines floating, ordinance produced or fighter jets flying.
Our contributions to NATO in these times of aggression are inconsequential — our military spending of 1.38 per cent of GDP puts us way down the list of contributors, yet the serious threat of turmoil is at Canada’s doorstep, north, east and west.
I know there is no snow in Ottawa, but considering our prime minister’s love of flying (at our expense), I suggest a photo-op could be arranged for a long walk in Whistler.
Douglas MacLean, Canmore, Alta.
Re: Steven Guilbeault’s latest command – no new roads for all the electric cars — Don Braid, Feb. 14; and Environment minister ‘not connecting the dots’ — Letters to the editor, Feb. 25
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s belief that the federal government no longer needs to spend, er, “invest” any money on roads and highways — our transportation system already being entirely sufficient for the soon-to-be-rapidly-declining number of motor vehicles plying the byways of the nation — seems incredibly odd to me. Having had firsthand experience of driving vast distances across this large country, my impression has been that the system, particularly our sole Trans-Canada Highway, is far from being sufficient.
Indeed, Wikipedia reveals that: “Currently, over half of the mainline Trans-Canada Highway is still in its original two-lane state, with no bypasses, interchanges and few passing opportunities. Only about 15 per cent of the mainline route is at freeway standards similar to those of the (U.S.) Interstate Highway system.” The TCH also does not enter any of the three northern territories, nor does it touch the U.S. border. New Brunswick is the sole province whose entire length of the TCH is at four-lane freeway standards.
One might think that development of a safe and efficient, coast-to-coast (to coast, as the prime minister likes to say) transportation corridor might be a suitable project for a national government interested in nation-building, removing inter-provincial trade barriers, lowering costs for businesses and entrepreneurs, and improving the national economy and quality of life for its citizens. Alas, our current government does not seem to be all that interested in any of those things.
Harry Koza, Toronto
In response to Steven Guilbeault’s suggestion to end major highway funding by the federal government, a letter writer asked: “How do you build a mine in the middle of nowhere and then ship the product to market without roads?”
In the 1950s, a railroad was built from Sept Îsles to Schefferville, Que., to haul iron ore, and a decade later, the “Alberta Resources Railroad” was built from Hinton, Alta., to Hay River, N.W.T., to haul uranium.’
In the 1980s, an electric-powered railroad was built around and through mountains in northwestern British Columbia to haul coal for export.
In the near future, an electric-powered railroad may be extended north from the CN Rail mainline into the Ring of Fire mineral prospect in northern Ontario.
As well, high-speed, electric-powered trains may eventually whisk passengers between Toronto-Montreal, Calgary-Edmonton, and Vancouver-Seattle.
Derek Wilson, Port Moody, B.C.
Re: FIRST READING: Trudeau claims he’s not an ‘eastern bastard,’ Albertans ‘fooled’ into disliking him — Tristin Hopper, Feb. 23
It is pretty obvious that during his training to be a drama teacher, Justin Trudeau missed the class on dramatic irony. Loosely defined it occurs when the audience watching an actor on stage knows something the actor doesn’t.
Trudeau’s unbelievable assertion that he is Alberta’s economic saviour must be leaving Albertans totally gobsmacked. For him to blame the media for fomenting the view that he is an absolute disaster as a prime minister simply indicates how out of touch with reality he is. It is painfully obvious that here is an individual who cares more about his own political fortunes than those of Canadians.
Bob Erwin, Ottawa
Re: Israel a true Indigenous success story — Barbara Kay, Feb. 24
At the opening of an event or meeting, today’s protocol includes a land acknowledgement that declares the ownership to be that of the Indigenous peoples whose presence dates back (in Canada) at least 14,000 years. And then the “colonizers” attending the meeting, whose ancestors arrived here at the earliest 527 years ago, continue with their day, feeling self-righteous, having just mouthed a statement that does not change any reality in their lives or the lives of Indigenous people in Canada.
Some of them might later join a demonstration shouting that the State of Israel, of all the countries on this globe, is a colonizer state, with no right to exist. This is despite archeological and historical documentation of Jewish communities in the City of David (Jerusalem) and elsewhere more than 3,000 years ago.
One can only assume that these demonstrators are ignorant of this history, otherwise they must admit to a monumental hypocrisy. For if the Jews, who have been on that territory for more than 3,000 years are “colonizers,” whose state must be disbanded, what does that say about this country and all its non-Indigenous inhabitants?
Steve Samuel, Toronto
Re: McGill, Concordia file lawsuits demanding Quebec cancel tuition hike — Andy Riga, Feb. 23
Has Quebec sadly come to the point where its world-class universities, such as the so-called “Harvard of the North,” McGill, has to fight and even sue for its reputation and possibly survival simply because of a political decision to francophone-ize stellar institutions?
The popular political line is that French is a threatened language; well so too is a good education.
Douglas Cornish, Ottawa
Re: Locking up murderers is a slam-dunk issue for Poilievre’s Conservatives — Chris Selley, Feb. 25
Canada should restore the death penalty on a case-by-case basis for violent criminals who are proven beyond the shadow of a doubt guilty of their crimes, like Paul Bernardo and Robert Pickton. They don’t deserve to be in prison on our dime. They deserve to be shuffled off this mortal coil and buried in an unmarked grave to be forgotten forever.
We need to be much, much harder on crime and ensure that people understand the consequences, even for smaller crimes like vandalism. We are either a nation of law and order or a nation of anarchy. I hope the Conservatives can usher in the change we need and not back down on it.
Corey Needer, Vaughan, Ont.
Re: Homeless camps deserve to be stigmatized — Jamie Sarkonak, Feb. 26
Jamie Sarkonak is absolutely right. Tent cities are trouble and the sympathetic among us, as well as social activists are silent as to a major cause and feature of encampments: drug use — especially fentanyl.
We need to go after China for shipping fentanyl ingredients here for the purpose of destroying our societies. For Chinese President Xi Jinping this is very intentional. It is payback for the destruction opium wreaked on China 150 years ago.
Rob Konduros, Cambridge, Ont.
I was disappointed there was no mention of Victoria in this article on homeless encampments. During the COVID pandemic, Beacon Hill Park became the home of a large number of tents housing the homeless. The city addressed this problem by using public indoor space to accommodate the homeless and in conjunction with the provincial government acquired two hotels to house these unfortunate people. There are still small homeless encampments here but we deserve some mention as a Canadian city that has taken positive steps toward solving its homeless problem and which continues to seek more viable housing for the homeless.
Gerald Gabel, Victoria, B.C.
Re: FIRST READING: Canadian taxes aren’t just high, they’re needlessly complicated to file — Tristin Hopper, Feb. 21
Bravo for Tristin Hopper’s article on our complicated tax system.
As an example, our Liberal federal tax department has decided that the $500 deduction for working from home was just too simple and convenient. So it has opted to revert to a tax calculation involving a detailed form from the taxpayer’s employer plus a multi-page calculation of a home’s square footage, hours worked, heating costs, utilities costs, but not insurance (unless you work on commission!), and so on. Last time I looked, my internet service provider did not charge me according to the square footage of my home.
The result of all this complexity is more work for employers, more work for taxpayers, and (I am just guessing here) very little savings to our federal treasury. Why isn’t the simplification of our tax system a higher profile issue with our politicians? And to think that some believe the federal government could do our taxes for us automatically. No thanks! Simplify it first and then automate. We don’t need another ArriveCan app fiasco.
Harold Knowles, Montreal West
Re: The last gasp of the gas-guzzling vehicle — Frank Stronach, Feb. 27
Frank Stronach is predicting the end of the internal combustion engine and forecasting that we will all be driving little electric cars to do our shopping and errands — I guess in little “15-minute” cities.
So how will a contractor carry all his equipment? Are we going to have tiny fire engines to fight full blazes and mini cop cars to chase criminals? How about families who want to take summer vacations — pretty hard to do in a clown car.
Ah, but we are just the great unwashed. One could not have a better spokesperson for Steven Guilbeault.
Stephen Flanagan, Ottawa
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