Readers discuss redefining the CBC, antisemitism at Simon Fraser University, the truth about Henry Dundas and more
Re: Heritage Minister wants CBC’s role redefined before next election, possible change of government — Mickey Djuric, Dec. 29
The 2025 federal election has begun and the Liberals will spend the next 20 months setting up numerous wedge issues between them as the defenders of good against the evil Pierre Poilievre-led Conservatives. Progressive “we-know-what’s-best” politicos who believe it’s their divine right to rule Canada are starting to panic, as polls consistently show Canadians are turning away from them.
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Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge’s true intention is laid bare when she says Canadian news and cultural sectors would be at serious risk should the Conservatives form a government under Poilievre. This isn’t about the CBC, it’s about demonizing the Conservatives.
The Liberals’ two primary governing beliefs are nationalizing everything (from daycare to dental care and pipelines) and denouncing Canada as a racist, misogynist post-national state. Unfortunately for them, voters see Canada’s visible decline due to their incompetent governance. No doubt this is the first of many announcements to come, portraying the Conservatives as bent on destroying all that’s good (and progressive) in Canada.
Gary Krieger, North York, Ont.
Re: I am a 96-year-old Jew. Can we talk about this anti-Israel vitriol please? — Frances Belzberg, Dec. 27
It was disheartening to read Frances Belzberg’s column. The Jewish community has contributed much to Vancouver, while the woke community has contributed so very, very little.
The Belzberg family might want to ask for a refund. It seems almost self-evident that this wasn’t what Frances and Sam had in mind when they provided funding for the library at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue. It would almost go without saying that the donation was made with the tacit understanding that the university wouldn’t allow the library to become a centre of vicious antisemitism.
And if the ideological dialoguers from the Dialogue Centre should condescend to having a dialogue and meet with Mrs. Belzberg, she shouldn’t expect much. In most of today’s academe, dialogue is unidirectional.
Richard McNabb, Vancouver
Hate speech affects all Canadians, not just Jewish people. Following the Holocaust, western societies vowed never to let that horror recur. By not fulfilling their responsibilities, SFU leadership is enabling this spectre to arise again. The university’s board of governors and president need to fulfil their obligations to confront and deal effectively with antisemitic hate speech wherever it occurs within their jurisdiction.
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Donald Edie and Susan McCutcheon, Calgary
Re: NP View: Canada has made its choice — Hamas, Editorial, Dec. 13; and Liberal government failures going from bad to worse — Matthew Lau, Jan. 2
The point must be made: Irresponsible UN votes by Canada and unthinking and irresponsible comments by the government on the subject of Israel and the war with Hamas are completely irrelevant to the participants of the war and will have no effect on the outcome.
However, as has been clearly documented over decades, such votes and comments have an immediate tendency to encourage violence against Jewish Canadians in Canada. The stupidity of enabling the terror-supporters must stop.
Simon Adler, Kitchener, Ont.
I recall prime minister Lester Pearson and I am aware of the key role he played in the UN negotiations and ultimate decision for the formation of the state of Israel in 1947. Pearson was a great man.
One must then ask how Canada, under the current leadership of the demonstrably ignorant but aggressively arrogant Justin Trudeau, is now so blind to history that he voted for the unbalanced UN Israel ceasefire resolution and betrayed all of us in our traditional support for Israel.
I believe you can count on the fingers of zero hands the number of old Liberal parliamentarians who support him. We should rename the party as “The Trudeau Party,” as it is his doing alone. He does not represent me or anyone, even present-day Liberals, and is a disgrace to our country.
Lester Pearson must be rolling in his grave.
David Clark, Ottawa
Re: Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square to be renamed ‘Sankofa Square’ as city rids association with disputed historical figure, Dec. 16; and Here’s what Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square should be renamed — Lynn McDonald, Dec. 29
By now, most everyone knows Patrick Moynihan’s truth: people are entitled to their opinions but not to their own facts. Consequently, to remove the innocent name of Henry Dundas from city streets based on a false opinion that Dundas advocated slavery is a crime against truth and justice.
People are entitled to disagree about whether Dundas delayed British abolitionist legislation to ensure its successful passage later. But certainly, there is no doubt that between 1776-78, Dundas was instrumental in securing the freedom of an escaped slave, Joseph Knight. Dundas argued before Scotland’s highest court, winning with a powerful statement against slavery. This legal case alone merits his name on one of Toronto’s streets.
The slanderers of Dundas’ reputation may have won a temporary renaming. But history is watching their travesty of facts and justice.
All serious individuals should protest the injustice done to Dundas by signing the petition to rectify and re-establish that Torontonians are committed to a factual reality.
Tony D’Andrea, Toronto
Re: Up to 1,000 Palestinians from Gaza will be accepted to take refuge with Canadian relatives in Canada — Laura Osman, Jan. 2
As Canadian citizens, we should be concerned when our government opens our borders to individuals who may not be properly vetted because of the rush to expedite the paperwork. Can Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assure us that those being fast-tracked into Canada will support our values and abide by our laws? Does he consider this to be a priority?
Trudeau and the Liberal party are lagging in the polls. One hopes that these special measures have been put in place for purely humanitarian reasons. However, could it also be possible that the prime minister is looking ahead to the next election and doing what he believes to be in his best interests — trying to secure votes from some of the fastest growing communities across the country?
Perhaps this is why he has not visited Israel since it was attacked on Oct. 7.
Phyllis Levin, Toronto
Re: The treason of the intellectuals — Niall Ferguson, Dec. 15
Thank you for Dr. Niall Ferguson’s brilliant exposé (and cautionary tale) about the parallels between the present-day American academe and Germany’s elite universities in the 1930s.
Sadly, other than the mention of the defunding by several wealthy alumni, there was not much optimism in Ferguson’s voice.
However, even if readers lacked the patience to read this insightful article, the photo of a truck carrying the face of feckless Harvard president Claudine Gay alongside the esteemed economist and author Dr. Thomas Sowell was “worth a thousand (or more) words.”
More than 12 years ago, the prescient nonagenarian wrote …”In a democracy, we have always had to worry about the ignorance of the uneducated. Today we have to worry about the ignorance of people with college degrees.” Is there any hope that Sowell’s wisdom will replace the woke, pro-Marxist ideologies that have poisoned our classrooms?
Susan Silverman, Toronto
Having recently graduated from a doctoral program in Canada, I cannot attest that the situation in our country is as bad as that in the United States or the United Kingdom. Fully conversant in critical race theory, I understand its primary intent, which is for all to recognize that in society not everybody is consciously or unconsciously treated the same way because of their race. However, this is only one lens by which social inequality can be uncovered and far from the only social dynamic at play.
The danger we are facing is that too many students have lost all sense of perspective and purposefully forgotten that social life cannot be reduced to a single determinant like race. Our universities should not only help students to think critically about complex social problems, but also show them the importance of rejecting harmful reductionist and determinist attitudes.
Stéphane Lefebvre, Ottawa
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