Skip to main content
letters
Open this photo in gallery:

Donald Trump says he would be willing not to pursue charges against a Huawei executive the U.S. has asked Canada to extradite if he gets a good deal in his trade talks with China.Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press

Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

..................................................................................................................................

Very, very dangerous

I suspect many Canadians share my confusion about the government’s stance vis-à-vis Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive arrested in B.C. and awaiting a hearing to decide if she should be extradited to the U.S. to face fraud charges (Huawei CFO Wins Release On $10-Million Bail, Dec. 11).

We now know Donald Trump is quite willing not to pursue those charges against Ms. Meng – provided he can get a good deal in his trade talks with China. Translation: Huawei’s chief financial officer is simply a bargaining chip in a U.S. trade war, which makes a sham of any serious interest the U.S. has in prosecuting her.

Canada should therefore release her immediately. To do anything else is not only chicken-hearted (with apologies to those creatures) but morally wrong and cruel – not to mention stunningly damaging to our image as an independent country.

Mary Lazier Corbett, Picton, Ont.

...........................

Imagine a world where governments start arresting important people from other countries in order to use them as negotiating chips in some perceived dispute. This is very, very, very dangerous. We cannot allow this to happen.

Canada can be a leader in the world in taking a stand against this disintegration of justice, even if there will be short-term consequences from the bully south of the border, and refuse to extradite Meng Wanzhou because she will not be guaranteed a fair trial.

Julian Sale, Guelph, Ont.

...........................

People following the Meng Wanzhou extradition case and the controversial decision to grant her bail should be reminded Canada has been here before. Assuming she doesn’t skip out, the extradition process can drag on for years.

Rakesh Saxena, a banker accused of embezzling some $80-million, was arrested in B.C. in 1996 and spent 13 years fighting extradition to Thailand. He, too, spent a short period in custody before being granted bail, and lived under luxurious house arrest, paying for his own security. He was extradited only after the Supreme Court refused to hear his final appeal. The Saxena case did not involve high diplomatic stakes, but it does highlight the tortuous route an extradition can take if a well-heeled accused has the resources to fight it.

Steve Mertl, Vancouver

Philippine press freedom

Re The Ambassador Replies (letters, Dec. 11): The Philippines Ambassador to Canada tells us that the press in the Philippines is “one of the freest in Asia, if not the world.” That may be so, but what good is a free press if all the journalists are dead or in hiding?

Frank Foulkes, Toronto

Games in Ontario

Re Acting OPP Head Asks Ombudsman To Review Hiring Of Ford Friend As Commissioner (Dec. 11): You report that Deputy OPP Commissioner Brad Blair alleges that Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff, Dean French, not only “requested that the OPP purchase a ‘large camper type vehicle’ and have it modified to specifications from the Premier’s office,” but also that he “asked that the costs associated with the vehicle ‘be kept off the books.’ ”

Mr. Ford’s Ontario sounds as though it’s becoming what I once heard a satirist describe as an ideal community for an introverted child to grow up in: one where a youngster can play cops and robbers … by himself.

Garth Goddard, Toronto

TMX replies

Re Beware Of These Zombie Stocks On The TSX (Dec. 9): At TMX, which owns the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), we take growth seriously. We connect companies with the capital they need to grow. On behalf of our stakeholders, including our roster of emerging and established listed companies:

Fact: A number of companies flagged in this article have been among the top performers in our markets over the past few years;

Fact: Growth trajectories vary and are subject to many factors, including macro conditions beyond any company’s control.

While all investors must be aware of the potential risks and rewards associated with investing in growth companies, using the word “zombie” to describe these businesses does a disservice to companies in the Canadian innovation economy, their employees and shareholders. Particularly in times of high volatility and uncertainty in the markets, cultivating fear is not the answer.

Loui Anastasopoulos, president, Capital Formation, TMX Group

Early detection matters

Re To Decide On Breast Cancer Screening, Women Must Be Armed With The Right Information (Dec. 11): I am a breast cancer researcher at Sunnybrook Hospital Research Institute, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, and a medical biophysics professor at the University of Toronto. I have been working in this area for almost 40 years; my lab was instrumental in developing and testing digital mammography, which is now the international standard for breast cancer detection.

Renée Pellerin is correct: To decide on breast cancer screening, women must be armed with the right information. Where she errs is in suggesting this information will come from the Canadian Task Force (TF) Guidelines. In fact, modern data from Canada and other countries show mortality reductions of up to 47 per cent in women 40-74 years of age who get screened with mammography.

Most women would disagree that the few days of stress after a screening callback outweigh 20 years of life added when a cancer death is prevented by earlier detection. Earlier detection does matter. Getting screening in their 40s could save 400 Canadian women’s lives each year. Finding cancers earlier often removes the need to have harsh therapies such as mastectomies and chemotherapy. The TF has failed Canadians. Women and health providers deserve more accurate information.

Martin J. Yaffe, Tory Family Chair in Cancer Research, Sunnybrook Research Institute; co-director, Imaging Research Program, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

Peace, side by side

Reading your article on the benefits of group singing (Odes To Joy: Researchers Study The Uplifting Power Of Singing – Dec. 10), I was reminded of 1960s family car trips through B.C. – no seatbelts, no AC, no electronic devices, and no music system other than staticky AM radio, which kept cutting out on mountain roads.

My parents were completely mismatched, with the exception of a shared, intense musicality. Their answer to all discord on these trips, whether triggered by car sickness, boredom, or sibling squabbles, was to have us sing Depression-era songs in three-part harmony. A family favourite was Side by Side: “Oh we aint got a barrel of money, Maybe we’re ragged and funny, But you travel along singing a song, Side by side.”

It worked every time. Maybe the answer to all our current turmoil is a return to the Shamrock Summit mode of politics.

Lauren Troneau, Toronto

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe