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Demonstrators gather outside the Senate office of Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Capitol Hill. On Friday morning, Oct. 5, 2018, Ms. Murkowski was the lone Republican to vote against advancing Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/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

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No hearings, no nothing

What great entertainment the Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation circus is! Many Canadians laugh and breathe a sigh of relief that we do not engage in such unseemly political shenanigans.

But we should not be too smug. While there is no evidence of bad behaviour, our judges are directly appointed by executive privilege – no hearings, no nothing. If Brett Kavanaugh were a Canadian lawyer, his appointment to the Supreme Court might be a done deal before we knew anything about him.

Allan C. Hutchinson, Distinguished Research Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

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What I fear we are witnessing is a gladiatorial fight between one of the fundamental first principles of our civil society, namely the rule of law, and the concept that given the size of the prize – defeating Kavanaugh/Trump – the end justifies the means, no matter how base or sordid.

I commend to all readers a review of the dialogue from A Man for All Seasons between Will Roper and Sir Thomas More. Roper and More were debating if the noble objective of getting “after the Devil” justified cutting a great road through the law of England. Roper argued it did and that he would “cut down every law to do that.” More cautioned him with these immortal words:

“Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast – man’s laws not God’s – and if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil the benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.”

We’d all do well to think about these words in the context of today’s torrid and divisive politics.

Kate Rounthwaite, Toronto

Fuels for thought

Re British Columbia Celebrates, Alberta Seethes (Oct. 4): Is this the way the largest contributor to equalization should be treated? Would Quebec put up with it? Alberta is in an abusive marriage.

Richard Zylka, Calgary

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It was interesting to see the unquestioning triumphalism in the LNG announcement, the biggest-ever private-sector investment in Canada, we are told repeatedly.

For the people of Kitimat, however, it’s a mixed bag, including rent increases and a work camp for thousands of temporary workers. Is a “boom and bust” economy really the best we can do?

Blaise Salmon, Mill Bay, B.C.

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Gary Mason made an excellent point last Saturday when he wrote, in reference to the Green Party of British Columbia, “If you can’t count on them to fight for the very principles upon which the party was founded, why would anyone vote for them?” (LNG Plan May Force BC Greens To Show Their True Colours). Why pick on the Greens, though?

In this day and age, the same could be written about any party. They all fail to keep promises, fail to reveal hidden agendas, pander to powerful lobby groups, avoid answering questions, do anything it takes to stay in power, and generally bite the hands that feed them – after they’ve been fed! Funny, though, none of that stops people from voting for them.

Peter A. Lewis-Watts, Barrie, Ont.

A murderer’s transfer

Re Politicians Can’t Interfere With How Stafford’s Killer Serves Her Time (Oct. 5): Hard as it is to accept that child-killer Terri-Lynne McClintic is not in prison but in a healing lodge, accept it we must. Otherwise, we are saying we don’t believe in rehabilitation for prisoners, only in punishment.

Criminals rejoin society eventually. One day, Ms. McClintic will be back among us. For our sake, I hope every effort to rehabilitate her has been made first.

Patricia Stone, Winnipeg

What’s a G-G to do?

It is a good, Canadian value that the Governor-General publicly supports Canadian charities and causes that are close to the hearts of Canada’s citizens. And it is good that governors-general periodically consider what would benefit from a G-G’s public support (Julie Payette Needs To Rise To The Job – Sept. 29).

As Canada has evolved, so have the charities and causes that are top of mind for Canadians. I envision that those charities and causes a G-G supports would be a blend of current and longer-term endorsements that pass from G-G to G-G, and a selection that a G-G has a personal attachment to. Each G-G is a new appointment, current during his/her term, so the charities and causes being supported should also be of current value, with the result that visibly supported charities and causes would evolve over time. Evolution happens everywhere!

Ron D. Cameron, Stratford, Ont.

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Here’s what I don’t understand: Why do we still have such an outdated, ineffective, barren role as governor-general in Canada at all? This vice-regal anachronism costs Canadians millions every year and delivers little more than pomp and circumstance.

Back in the day, the British needed someone in each of their colonies to keep the clocks running. That time has passed. There is no longer any defensible purpose to a governor-general or all the needless lieutenant-governor positions that rob our coffers and deliver no real value other than for the appointed, politically rewarded limousine-riders who get to savour a life we, the proletariat, don’t enjoy.

Omigosh, the G-G hasn’t set foot in Manitoba this year! How will my Winnipeg friends survive!

Scouts Canada hasn’t heard whether Julie Payette wants to be their patron. That’s it lads: Shut down the apple stands, there’s no point to crossing the street ever again!

Now, if we didn’t have crumbling health care and failing education systems and a sinking environment in Canada, that old system might be swell. But not today.

Julie Payette and her provincial pals’ day is done. They should do us all a favour and admit it.

Peter Jennings, Midland, Ont.

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Your editorial on the role and responsibilities of the Governor-General reminded me of some verses on this topic from the now famous McGill Red and White Club’s 1957 presentation of My Fur Lady.

Titled Governor Generalities, the song, with Words by Timothy Porteous, and Music by the late James de B. Domville, contained these (as well as other) verses:

It’s part of the vice-regal game,

To tour municipalities,

At every step I must declaim

The same polite banalities.

… charming.

… delightful.

… beautiful.

… frightful.

Oh, you must always act with charm and tact,

With finesse and discrimination,

To be a master of the art

Of Governor-Generalization.

I represent Her Majesty

In our parliamentary travesty.

There’d be no Speech from the Throne at all

Without the Governor-General.

Perhaps there is something to be learned from these lyrics.

John Banks, Stratford, Ont.

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