Premier Doug Ford, centre, campaigned with a "For The People" slogan.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
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Take from the poor
Re A Bad Move For Ontario (editorial, Oct. 25): Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s mantra is that his government is “for the people.” His most recent changes to the province’s labour laws make me wonder whether there was a misprint on all those campaign signs.
Should they have read, “For the people in charge”?
Jim Reynolds, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
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What kind of government stoops so low as to take sick days – sick days! – away from the lowest of the low-income earners, and cancels university campuses (York, Laurier Presidents Lament Cancellation Of Satellite Campuses – Oct. 25)?
Donald Trump is going to have to up his nasty game to keep up with Doug Ford’s zeal.
Lauren Simpson, Regina
Fractured nation
Re Democrats Targeted In Foiled Bomb Attacks (Oct. 25): Donald Trump has publicly claimed that he is the greatest president since Lincoln. The only thing Mr. Trump has in common with Abraham Lincoln is that he has been a major factor in causing, and is now presiding over, a civil war in the United States.
J. David Murphy, Barrie, Ont.
Saudi deal, re-examined
Re Ottawa Eyes Freezing Permits For Armoured Vehicle Sales To Saudis As It Re-Examines Contract (Oct. 25): Those calling for the government to cancel the Saudi arms deal seem to be suffering from myopia. Cancel the deal and you only punish Canadians. The Saudis will be happy to collect $1-billion as a penalty and switch the contract to another supplier. Canada will lose a few thousand jobs, plus the corporate and personal tax generated by this deal, and end up paying EI to the newly unemployed workers.
Do we really want to cut off our nose to spite our face?
Sam Elaraby, Kirkland, Que.
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I am more than happy to give up a few boxes of cereal or a trip to the movies to cover my share of the billion dollars to get out of the Saudi arms contract, which as a letter writer pointed out, works out to $27.25 per Canadian (Worth/Not Worth It – Oct. 25).
In return, I could continue holding my head up proudly as a Canadian who, in Justin Trudeau’s own words “will always stand tall for democracy, the rule of law and human rights at home and abroad.”
This is about doing the right thing, not the expedient thing.
Margaret Bullock, Vancouver
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Surely the West, with its combined economic and military might, has options other than the support of a regional surrogate – an odious one at that (Why Are We Still Selling Arms To The Saudis – Oct. 25)? But the stay-the-course option is easy, less messy and less costly in the short term. All that is required is to swallow our principles. The United States seems to have temporarily misplaced its, but what about ours?
We should make continued arms sales conditional upon demonstrable progress on basic human rights. In the likely event this condition is not met, we cease selling. When the Saudis halt oil shipments, we complete Energy East and consume our own oil. And give first right of refusal for pipeline jobs to those displaced in our arms industry.
Mark Roberts, Gananoque, Ont.
Saudis and Syria
With the focus on Jamal Khashoggi’s horrific murder, arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and U.K./U.S. support for the Yemen war, Saudi Arabia’s role in financing Syrian rebels remains underreported.
In 2017, Qatar’s former prime minister, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, revealed Qatar and Saudi Arabia had been financing Syrian rebels since the beginning – through Turkish and U.S. forces. The two countries plus the UAE, U.S. and others had worked through two operation rooms – one in Jordan and the other in Turkey.
More recently, the U.S. has been seeking Saudi financing for the Kurdish rebellion in Syria’s northeast, already a de facto state under U.S. protection. This land includes key Syrian oil and gas fields. For Turkey with its own Kurdish uprising, a Kurdish state carved out of Syria crosses a red line. In the belated focus on Saudi Arabia, its key role in destabilizing Syria deserves attention.
John Foster, Author, Oil and World Politics, Kingston
Sorry isn’t enough
Re Hospital Apologizes To Family Of Patient Who Who Had Assisted-Death Assessment On Sidewalk (Oct. 24): If Covenant Health wishes to respond in a “timely, compassionate and appropriate” fashion for what happened in Edmonton, Covenant – or any other publicly funded, religiously oriented care centre that does not approve of assisted dying – can declare a patient’s area a “public” space. The patient can then, in peace, proceed with discussing end-of-life options, an assessment for assisted dying if they choose that process, and the actual death itself, in place, without transfer to another setting.
Otherwise, a reasonable government response would be to cut public funding to that centre, and for professional organizations to investigate and possibly sanction personnel who have interfered with the dying person’s legal right to explore, choose and experience assisted death.
Mary Valentich, Calgary
The winners … won
Re Meet The New City Council, Same As The Old City Council (Oct. 24): “We get the government we deserve” is an old adage.
Considering the voter turnout in Toronto was even lower than in the last election, we cannot fault the winners for winning. Their supporters did their civic duty and went to the polls.
Obviously, the losers were unable to convince enough of their own supporters to do that. Until they can, the ship will be steered by the representatives of those who care enough to vote.
While I sympathize with the columnist’s frustration – the lack of diversity at city hall is indeed sad – to criticize the result of the election as somehow skewered or unfair seems mean-spirited and is illogical.
Ruth Armour, Toronto
Not so far, actually
Re In The Age Of #MeToo, Schools’ Enforcement Of Dress Code A Learning Curve (Oct. 25): I was frequently called down to the office of the Catholic girls’ high school I attended to have my school uniform skirt measured for appropriate length. My friends and I would kneel and a nun would measure the distance from floor to hem. It was always an advantage to be short, as my permitted four inches above the knee allowed more leg to be shown than was the case for my taller friends.
That was more than 45 years ago, in early feminist times where advertising slogans of the era pronounced “You’ve come a long way, baby!” Apparently not.
Trish Crowe, Kingston