Readers discuss the sinking fortunes of the Canadian Armed Forces, South Africa's 'hypocritical' accusations against Israel, and more
Re: Canada doesn’t matter to the rest of the world — and it’s our own fault — Michel Maisonneuve, Jan. 6; Our Navy sinks toward impotence because Ottawa can’t manage to procure ships — John Ivison, Jan. 10; and FIRST READING: The Canadian military’s all-in embrace of far-left ‘anti-oppression’ dogma — Tristin Hopper, Jan. 10
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Retired Lt.-Gen. Michel Maisonneuve deserves to be commended for telling Canadians the cold hard truth about the tragic decline of their country’s stature on the world stage.
The lamentable state of Canada’s military is all the more tragic when we consider what our forebears were doing 80 years ago at this time. During the Second World War, a time when Canada’s population was barely one quarter of what it is today, over one million Canadians voluntarily donned their country’s uniform and joined the fight against evil. All three of Canada’s armed services made heroic contributions to the eventual Allied victory, and established a proud legacy of courage, fortitude and devotion to the ideals of freedom and democracy.
We should never allow ourselves to forget the fact that modern day Canada is a country that was built by those who selflessly served their homeland in time of war. It’s not too late to restore Canada’s standing among nations to where it should be, but doing so will require political courage and leadership. Clearly, Canada needs more leaders like Michel Maisonneuve, and we need start pulling our weight in the areas of defence and security and be ready to respond to the ever-present threats that surround us.
Mike Kennedy, Toronto
Canada’s military blues at times of political and military crises in Ukraine and elsewhere have become the hallmark of a Trudeau Liberal government.
Canada once built great railways, conquered the Arctic and had the world’s fourth-largest armed forces at the end of the Second World War, and pioneering peacekeeping in distant trouble spots.
But today we rank close to the bottom of NATO countries in per-capita military spending while, with limited capabilities, our Armed Forces are woefully ill-equipped and ill-prepared for major conflicts.
Teetering as we are on the brink of “military make-belief,” the Liberals pride themselves as an international force to be reckoned with, talking nicely and carrying the biggish stick of a military capability whose operational readiness is second only to that of the Salvation Army or Meals-on-Wheels.
Having neutered ourselves militarily, and freeloading instead on our neighbour to the south, Trudeau has rendered Canada irrelevant to both friend and foe alike in a world that respects only strength and resolution.
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E.W. Bopp, Tsawwassen, B.C.
As a retired naval officer with more than 30 years service, I found the description of the contents of the Canadian Military Journal articles to be incredible and highly disturbing.
All the academic contributors to this edition of the Journal apparently were woke feminists, or facsimiles thereof, who apparently have forgotten or have ignored the fact that the members of the Navy, Army or Air Force have as their overriding mission to kill the enemies of Canada if deemed necessary by the country.
All the bunkum served up by these academics has been imported directly from the American woke left who have also deeply infiltrated all branches of the U.S. military. The military journal article contents have also been swallowed, hook, line, and sinker, by our very own federal government, not to mention our universities. Funny how some Canadians uncritically adopt the bad ideas seeping through the border.
Is it any wonder that Canadian Forces recruiting is in a near-death spiral — not to mention the coming resignations of currently serving members whom I believe will start to leave as they are allegedly part of an organization deemed by their leaders to be “a racist, patriarchal, anti-transgender den of colonial oppression that needs to be torn down and remade from scratch.”
It is clear that the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Wayne Eyre, is not in charge of the “ship” anymore and should resign in protest over his lack of backbone in standing up to those who would destroy our armed forces at a time when they may shortly be desperately needed.
Captain Steen Jessen, RCN(Ret’d.), Victoria, BC
No Canadian is going to sign up for the Canadian Armed Forces if they know that their lives are in the hands of a superior who owes their command to being part of an equity-seeking group rather than being the most qualified and/or most competent.
Jacques Konig, Toronto
Re: Steven Guilbeault, ‘policy-maker of the year,’ is killing economic growth — Matthew Lau, Jan. 4; and EV strategy out of touch — Letters to the editor, Jan. 10
Matthew Lau notes that the Macdonald-Laurier Institute article described Steven Guilbeault, federal minister of environment and climate change, as “ruthless, reckless and damaging.” I am not sure such characteristics are upsetting to Guilbeault. In his world view it is rather a compliment. After all he has openly declared himself “a proud socialist.”
Socialists aim to built a socialism. For this they need to destroy capitalism. That is exactly what is being done today by Guilbeault and his ilk. That is the only plan they have in mind. As for building socialism, they have no plans, and no previous socialists have ever had. The only (unstated) goal is to get to the realm of power. As soon as revolutionaries obtain power and even slightly before that, they start a deathly squabble amongst themselves, never forgetting to exterminate non-socialists and others who do not think “correctly.”
There are numerous examples of the countries that suffered the results of these socialist experiments. Lets name a few: Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Cuba, China, North Korea. So far Guilbeault and company are on a steady path of destroying capitalism in Canada. And “we, the people” are allowing them to proceed.
Esther Keller, Thornhill, Ont.
It would appear that Steven Guilbeault is re-enacting the role of the Pied Piper of Hamelin as he fanatically attempts to not lead but drive Canadians over the electric vehicle cliff. Your letters to the editor respondents Hersh Glickman and Reilly Burke are spot on in their assessment of the lunacy of the Trudeau government re electric vehicles.
The lack of forward thinking on this file — as with the majority of files that this government has touched — is absolutely scary and mind boggling. Canadians are in drastic need of being saved from this headlong rush to oblivion.
Bob Erwin, Ottawa
Re: Woman petitions to limit running clubs, calling them ‘scariest gangs in Toronto’ — Jan. 5
It was actually a nice reprieve to read an article not about anti-Israel protesters going after Santa Claus, and not on the rampant (and apparently largely condoned) acts of antisemitism that make the class I teach on the 1930s no longer history but chillingly current. Reading about a Torontonian terrorized not once but twice this past year by gangs of lycra-clad runners is hilarious and maybe something we all needed. I know I did.
I spent years training for the marathon with a grassroots running club in Toronto. I remember getting swerved at by people in cars, chased by dogs, mocked by pedestrians, many of whom didn’t look like they could run the length of their body without getting winded, and one time being threatened by two guys who implied to me that they were armed. But I don’t remember complaining about it. This was, and I imagine remains, the reality of running in an urban jungle and the stories generated from these encounters often proved more memorable than many of the races I was training for in the first place.
Mostly, it was just a hell of a lot of fun.
I encourage “Zulf A” to tie on a pair of running shoes, join a club, get off her phone and instead of complaining about active people, become the star of her own life as opposed to a punchline.
There’s a reason these clubs are popular.
Rory Gilfillan, Lakefield, Ont.
Re: Let 2024 be the year Canada regains moral clarity — Sabrina Maddeaux, Jan. 6
I enjoyed Sabrina Maddeaux’s column on Canada’s moral clarity. But I would like to add two areas that are in desperate need of correction.
Euthanasia — or MAID — goes against the grain of compassionate care. Ottawa is considering applying MAID to the mentally ill starting in March. Even without going that far MAID has increased because the government has failed, despite promises, to expand and improve palliative and hospice care. I have some familiarity with this as a former volunteer at a hospital palliative ward and then a hospice.
Legal abortion is not going to change in Canada however; the main support for women in Canada is providing abortion access as opposed to helping women have their babies. I think Justin Trudeau’s idea of feminism is support for abortion without limits. Full stop.
The bottom line is that for many of us morality also includes these fundamental life issues.
A country should be judged on being a great place for people to thrive and prosper but also respect for life.
Charles Lewis, Toronto
Re: Handcuffs for journalists, double-doubles for jihadists — Rahim Mohamed, Jan. 9; and The more pro-Palestinian protesters get, the uglier their tactics become — Chris Selley, Jan. 8
I cannot help but note the contrast between the Liberal/NDP government’s response to the anti-Israel protests the truckers’ protest.
While the principals in the truckers’ protest are being prosecuted in an Ottawa criminal court, the pro-Palestinian protesters are openly allowed to violate laws dealing with intimidation, free movement of people and the free conduct of business in presenting their antisemitic, hate-filled message to the public. Even the thinly veiled treat of genocide does not elicit a response from the Liberal/NDP government.
Is the Liberal/NDP government intimidated by the vitriol and implied violence of the pro-Palestinian protesters or is the Liberal/NDP government in sympathy with this message of hate and violence?
Michael Edwards, Garibaldi Highlands, B.C.
When citizens do not respect the government and the police, we have anarchy, not democracy.
As I watched the disruption of Mayor Olivia Chow’s speech, on the news, I mourned the loss of Toronto the good. Demonstrators were allowed to behave shamefully.
I ask, who is in charge of Toronto? Elected officials or demonstrators? Things are now completely out of hand.
I urge you to find a way to stop these hooligans from destroying our way of life.
Marlene Markus, North York, Ont.
Re: South Africa is inverting reality by accusing Israel of genocide — Irwin Cotler, Jan. 10
In its case before the International of Justice (ICJ) the South African government claims that Israel has committed genocide. In making that claim, it comes to that court with unclean hands.
South Africa is obliged under the Genocide Convention, among other things, to co-operate in bringing to justice individuals accused of genocide in an internationally recognized court. And yet it disregarded a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Omar al-Bashir, then president of Sudan, while he was present in South Africa. Al-Bashir had two ICC charges against him, one for war crimes and crimes against humanity and the other for genocide.
In 2016 the South African government was found by its own Supreme Court of Appeal to have violated the Rome Statute that created the ICC by failing to arrest and surrender al-Bashir under the arrest warrant. The Supreme Court of Appeal held the conduct of the authorities to have been reprehensible. South Africa, therefore, not only certainly contravened the Rome Statute but also acted inconsistently with the Genocide Convention.
In bring its case against Israel before the ICJ South Africa is acting with egregious hypocrisy.
David C. Nathanson, Toronto
Re: Trudeau’s woke agenda fails to curb antisemitic outbreak — Joe Oliver, Dec. 5
Prime minister Pierre Trudeau set the ship of state on a course into uncharted waters with the passage of the Canadian Constitution Act and Charter of Rights in 1982.
Today, under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we have grounded on a toxic reef of identity politics and neo Marxist woke policies.
Canada urgently needs a crew change to salvage our ship and set it back onto a prudent course to improve the lives and opportunities of our citizens, and restore a sense of optimism and harmony within our nation.
Ken Wilson, Victoria, B.C.
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