Readers discuss MPs' gold-plated pensions, costs of the federal 'gun grab,' lessons in 'what not to do' from the Trudeau Liberals, and more
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‘Move the election up a week earlier’
Re: FIRST READING: Liberal plan to quietly delay election would secure millions for their doomed MPs — Tristin Hopper, March 22; and Here are the 80 MPs set to qualify for a pension with the help of a Liberal rule change — Adam Huras, March 26
It was astounding to hear Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc saying that moving the date for the next federal election back a week so that some 80 MPs facing a possible election loss could get their gold-plated, fully-indexed pensions was all about strengthening democracy.
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Here’s a wild idea. If the minister really gave a hoot about strengthening our democracy, he would tweak the Elections Act to move the next election up a week earlier instead of a week later. That way, Canadians could exercise that fundamental right a little earlier, since the minister must surely have noticed that the electorate is chomping at the bit for the chance to choose some new representatives.
Harry Koza, Toronto
Only Canadian humour could understand that Canada will pay millions of dollars to members of Parliament for passing the six-year service mark. On that gravy train are 11 Bloc MPs whose sole job is to break up Canada.
Only in Canada you say.
Wilf Johnston, Kingston, Ont.
Re: FIRST READING: Canada is becoming a globally recognized lesson in what not to do — Tristin Hopper, March 18 (Subscriber only)
In the 1970s, Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded a song titled, “Who’ll stop the rain.” The songwriter, John Fogarty, said that he used rain or inclement weather as a metaphor for catastrophic times. In his column, Tristin Hopper gives a chilling description of the inclement weather that Justin Trudeau’s government has unleashed on Canada, so much so that the Telegraph newspaper in England released a mini-documentary describing the destructive path of our Liberal government.
Hopper indicates that the world is learning vicariously from Canada what not to do. Meanwhile, is who is going to stop the rain in Canada?
Bob Erwin, Ottawa
Re: Ex-Privy Council clerk says RCMP didn’t interview him for SNC-Lavalin investigation — Ryan Tumilty, March 19
It is disappointing that the RCMP did not talk to either the prime minister or the former clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, about the SNC-Lavalin affair. Did the force not have the resources to carry out an investigation? Was there political pressure to avoid a criminal investigation? Possibly no charges would have been laid had the investigation been carried out. Still, Canadians deserve an explanation about why the investigation was aborted or never got off the ground.
There was a time when all Canadians could be proud of the RCMP. As of late, we have had a number of instances where our faith in the Mounties has been shaken. Under then commissioner Brenda Lucki, the force looked confused in the Nova Scotia mass shooting. We are getting conflicting statements about whether Chinese police stations in Canada have been shut down.
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The red-jacketed RCMP members looked impressive carrying the coffin of Brian Mulroney, and they look good with the Grey Cup every November. But there has to be more to the force than being present at special occasions.
Rick Hird, Whitby, Ont.
Re: Health minister’s berating of suffering patients was downright cruel — Shawn Whatley, March 13
Dr. Shawn Whatley quotes an IPSOS poll that found that 42 per cent of Canadians would travel to the U.S. for health care if necessary. Responding to the poll, federal Health Minister Mark Holland scolded these 42 per cent, saying patients leaving lengthy waiting lists in Canada and travelling to the U.S. would “eviscerate the (Canadian) public system.”
In 2003, we founded Canada’s first medical brokerage organization. One of our first clients, a 66-year-old man from Newmarket, Ont., had a golf ball-size tumour on his brain. We arranged to have it surgically removed in the U.S. within weeks. His family doctor estimated it would have taken eight months to have the surgery in our public health-care system. To my knowledge, this didn’t eviscerate our system.
We once arranged a surgery for a seven-year-old girl from West Vancouver. She had been waiting for almost a year to have an infection drained from her ears. By the time her parents contacted us, the infection had crossed the barrier into her brain. The U.S. surgeon to whom we sent her was able to save her life (his words), but due to the delay for surgery in Canada, she lost all of the hearing in one ear, and half of the hearing in the other ear.
Again, no systemic evisceration. If this little girl had been the granddaughter of Health Minister Holland, I suspect he would have taken her to the U.S. for treatment — and shame on him if he didn’t.
Richard Baker, Vancouver, B.C.
Re: Hamilton cinema called antisemitic for dropping Jewish film festival over ‘security’ concerns — Ari Blaff, March 20
Yet again, a Canadian institution has bowed to pressure and threats from a vocal minority aiming to silence Jewish voices. This is a trend that has been occurring at venues and even schools. Holocaust presentations are being cancelled for fear of protests, walkouts and “triggering” emotions. Demonstrations organized by pro-Palestinian groups have blocked access to roads, university buildings and community centres. A speaker was uninvited to a Women’s Day event because of their Jewish heritage.
As we continue to cave in to hate out of fear, we normalize and escalate antisemitism. Bit by bit, we are also eroding our values of openness and inclusivity, which are the cornerstones of democracy. Our leaders must shut down threats meant to terrorize and control the narrative. But the duty applies equally to every one of us — stand up to antisemitism or bow to mob rule. Are we up to the challenge?
Marcy Bruck, The Foundation for Genocide Education, Montreal
Re: NP View: Time for woke judges and Trudeau Liberals to end the soft-on-crime experiment — Editorial, March 23
Relative to the United States, Canadians have conceded some liberties because of the promise of peace, order and good government. This is a trade-off. On the one hand, as we see in the United States, there are enshrined rights to protect yourself, your family and your property with lethal violence if need be; meanwhile, here in Canada, we have conceded this right because the government has promised us peace and order.
If the government fails to deliver on this promise, where does this leave us? Are we supposed to continue to accept a trade-off that puts us, our families and our properties at risk? If our government fails to meet its obligation to protect, to provide peace and order, what right does it have to force us to concede our ability to protect ourselves?
I do not want to live in a Canada where people are openly carrying handguns at the local grocery store. However, if crime continues to rise and the expectation of police response continues to decline, it would be reasonable for Canadians to demand the right to do so. If there is no peace and order, there is no good government.
Glen Leis, Aurora, Ont.
Re: Threats against politicians becoming increasingly prevalent, intelligence report says — Jim Bronskill, March 24
You have to earn trust. If there is a lack of trust of politicians and governments by the citizens of Canada, it is because the politicians and governments have not earned it.
The lack of trust has nothing to do with right-wing extremism, but has everything to do with political and governmental performance. Canadians are financially exhausted, intellectually exhausted, and emotionally exhausted by governments that pursue fantasies rather than dealing with their citizens’ realities.
Deal with the realities and you will be trusted. Continue to pursue your global, climate, and identity fantasies and you will not be trusted. And for God’s sake give Canadians back their vote by ending the undemocratic NDP-Liberal coalition.
Gordon S. Clarry, Rogers, Ark.
Re: Ottawa has already spent $42M on a Liberal gun ‘buyback’ that still doesn’t exist — Bryan Passifiume, March 25
In my first job in 1959, when I was in my late teens, I worked as a clerk for a firm of quantity surveyors in London. The surveyors assessed the quantities of each component of a building and the price per item, everything from bricks and mortar to door knobs and plumbing. We clerks multiplied pounds, shillings and pence by yards, feet and inches and added up the totals, all by hand.
Now, our government plans to buy firearms from owners and retailers. They know how many they’ll buy and they’ve decided on how much to pay for each. They will need to issue receipts and add up the total spent (in dollars, not pounds, shillings and pence). Compared to the calculations for structures as complex as an airport, which I once did, this should be a walk in the park.
So why do they need a $2.27-million computer program? How on earth have they spent $42 million just getting ready? And how could they burn through at least $2 billion to finish? Sounds like ArriveCan all over again.
Thomas Kelly, Burlington, Ont.
Re: ArriveCan imbroglio a reminder of duty owed to employers — Howard Levitt, March 15
What is even more shocking than the ongoing revelations about the ArriveCan cost and contracting is the even bigger, and as yet uncovered, scandal which is the federal government’s Phoenix payment system. This has been ongoing for many years and has also mushroomed in cost with no end in sight. This even bigger procurement fiasco has continued to occur under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s watch.
Ron Sanderson, Vancouver
Re: CCC, Greece sign contract for DHC-515 firefighting aircraft — March 25
Greece is buying seven Canadian-made De Havilland DHC-515 water bombers in a deal worth $392 million to cope with forest fires fed by rising temperatures and drought. The aircraft are very effective machines that, with early detection, can kill a forest fire before it gets a firm hold.
Our governments are constantly using forest fires linked to climate change as one of the reasons for the carbon tax. I could feel a little better about the carbon tax if the revenue went towards buying water bombers to be placed strategically across Canada. Instead, most of the carbon tax dollars governments collect go into general revenue.
It is time our governments woke up and did some preparation for weather changes, such as forest fires, instead of blaming and punishing our citizens while spending billions of taxpayer dollars creating ever large governments. The success of mankind is our ability to adapt and invent.
John Money, Duncan, B.C.
Re: Neglected reserves highlight the dire state of our military — Michel Maisonneuve, March 27
During the late 1970s and much of the 1980s, I served as a non-commissioned medical assistant in the primary reserves. The senior NCOs and officers of our medical company were dedicated to their roles. They juggled parallel military and civilian careers with the needs of their families. I respected the best of them, deeply.
Training time was short. The number of military exercises, which require extensive planning, was few and far between. The number of realistic field manoeuvres could be listed on one hand. Paid hours each week were often cut near the end of each fiscal year when money ran short.
I found it difficult to take our training seriously as the reserves lacked, and probably still lack, the training time and equipment to realistically train for war. In the early 1980s, we drove in Korean War era 2.5-ton trucks and fired FN C1 semi-automatic rifles that first saw service in 1955.
In some ways, the world is a more dangerous place than during the Cold War in the early 1980s. Back then, NATO and the Warsaw Block followed unwritten rules, actively avoiding direct military conflict.
Unlike the early 1980s, we can no longer depend on an increasingly isolationist and unstable United States to act like a global police force. The military and political weaknesses of NATO no longer deter acts of military aggression. Unforeseen chains of events, like what happened in August 1914, can easily escape the control of leaders.
Under our treaty commitments, Canada could easily be dragged ill-prepared into an armed conflict overseas, on short notice, against a well-equipped and better trained military opponent.
John Shepherd, Richmond, B.C.
Even though they are underpaid, under-equipped, undertrained, and all too often under-appreciated, Canada’s reservists nonetheless soldier on with admirable dedication. They deserve a lot better than the few crumbs their government routinely tosses them. As Lt.-Gen. Maisonneuve rightly points out, it is time for our elected officials to take note of the importance of the contributions our reservists make, and give them their just due.
Mike Kennedy, Toronto
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