Readers weigh in on the scourge of antisemitism, why Canada needs its armouries, Trudeau's budgeting, and more
Re: NP View: Congratulations, academia, you’ve gone and radicalized the students, Editorial, Nov. 25; and Concordia University is unsafe for Jewish students and professors like me — Gad Saad, Nov. 15
One of Canada’s pre-eminent philosophers, John Ralston Saul, once wrote that a mature and instructed mind will always have the “confidence to be uncertain.” Over the years, I have paraphrased this as: it is easier to know the “truth” when the mind is closed. Once the “truth” has been revealed and accepted, be it religious or political, all manner of evil can be justified in the cause of the “truth.” Knowing the “truth” means there are no moral quandaries, no ethical dilemmas, no need to be held accountable.
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Sadly, it was only within the past month that I learned how many of my fellow Canadians’ minds know the “truth.” As a Jew, I am well aware that antisemitism never dies. Like a forest fire, which may be extinguished on the surface but can burn underground for months, Jew hatred simply goes into hibernation for a while, awaiting another spokesperson of the “truth” to reignite its terrible flame.
The new spokesman? That would be Hamas, and all those who support them. The new “truth?” Jews are no longer simply “money-grubbing” pigs, now they are also white colonizers who are cruelly subjugating Palestinian refugees after stealing their land. So confident are these spokespeople in their “truth” that they even accuse Jews (everywhere) of genocide. They feel no shame in doing this, not a shred of remorse, because they are so convinced of their “truth.”
This “truth” is wonderfully malleable as well. It does not matter if the Jews are weak or powerful, rich or poor, in the Diaspora or in Israel. Antisemites will always seek another way to express their hatred. That this should happen in countries where the population is uneducated and only informed by propaganda is perhaps understandable. That it should happen in Canada is tragic and fills me with despair.
Jerry Golick, Montreal
Whoever the evil forces are that are undermining western society’s norms, they know full well that the strongest of all glues is antisemitism: it unites any and all of the most disparate causes in an unbreakable bond.
It is frightening to see the spectre of this most enduring hatred rise again, making all Jews expendable. Being less than 0.2 per cent of the world’s population has definite drawbacks.
Jerome Henen, North Vancouver
Re: Canada can’t defend democracy when our military’s out of service half the time — John Ivison, Nov. 21
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow wants the federal government to open up armouries in the city to house refugees with no place to live but on the street. She seems to think that the armouries serve no other useful purpose.
We have already seen reports about the declining capabilities of the Canadian Armed Forces due to falling recruitment, lack of (modern) equipment, mission creep (such as disaster response) and a lack of training. Reservists make up a significant proportion of Canada’s military. Armouries are the primary means by which reserve units meet and train weekly. Taking over armouries for refugee housing will not fix that problem and will exacerbate the already perilous state of military readiness.
Chow’s request is at best expedient. How Ottawa responds will tell us much about its priorities in the face of its failures to manage both the refugee and the military files.
Paul Clarry, Aurora, Ont.
Re: Will Ottawa’s fiscal update trim spending and debt? Don’t hold your breath — Jake Fuss and Grady Munro, Nov. 16
Seeing as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s boss says that “budgets balance themselves,” she is just playing follow the leader. Perhaps it might have been better if Justin Trudeau had started out in life gaining practical experience managing somewhat smaller budgets, say, something like a household budget? Groceries, rent, utilities, vehicle costs, insurance, health plans, school fees — that sort of thing. But being a very wealthy trust fund baby means he never had any of these concerns and therefore acquired no knowledge of what it is like to generate your own income and live within your means. He skipped a critical life’s lesson.
Robin Dann, Lethbridge, Alta.
Re: ‘We’re not ready’: Psychiatrists clash as deadline for opening MAID for mental illness looms — Sharon Kirkey, Nov. 6
The fact that some physicians are making it their “life mission” to prevent euthanasia for those with mental disorders should not be reason for concern as Dr. Donna Stewart claims.
Serious questions of trust and integrity arise when physicians are asked to administer death to patients. Suicidal ideations are a cry for help. But how are patients to trust that they will be given the critical help they need if their caregivers are also the ones facilitating suicide?
Administering euthanasia is antithetical to the historical role of physicians. Medical professionals strive to help patients achieve the greatest quality of health possible. Euthanasia is quite the opposite — it ends the life of the patient.
Should we be surprised that some physicians have made it their life goal to prevent the expansion of euthanasia? Not at all.
Rebecca Van Middelkoop, Coaldale, Alta.
Re: The lessons Justin Trudeau didn’t learn from his father, including how to quit — Don Braid, Nov. 17
By not learning when to leave, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set a very high bar for the criteria that will be required by any future Canadian politicians who may consider ever resigning.
As a role model, he is showing that incompetence and ethical and moral failures no longer constitute grounds for self-evaluation and resignation for the sake of the country.
What transgressions will it take for future politicians to resign, based on Trudeau not having done so?
Perry Medicoff, Lisbon, Portugal
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