Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau makes a policy announcement and holds a media availability at an electric vehicle car dealership during a campaign stop in Trois-Rivieres, Que., on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
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Do the waive
Re Trudeau Controls Waiver Of Cabinet Confidentiality On SNC (Sept. 13): It seems to me that two issues are largely being overlooked.
Firstly, on the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin: It seems to me every detail of evidentiary importance, including what Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott may be able to reveal outside of cabinet confidentiality, has been revealed.
Secondly, the information that remains in confidentiality seems likely to be nuanced and candid, and would mostly regard Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s cabinet role and perhaps opinions on Ms. Philpott’s resignation. Revealing these comments would simply not be in the best interest of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals – or, for that matter, any government. Their position to retain confidentiality of these conversations is entirely appropriate.
While opposition parties would undoubtedly delight in exposing the Liberal version of sausage-making, it would not enhance the public’s understanding of questions surrounding SNC’s prosecution.
Frank Malone Aurora, Ont.
In a word game, exchanges are often fast and unpredictable. In marketing, brand associations stick and can’t easily be changed. And in political campaigns, word associations can lead to unpredictable election results: Gomery-sponsorships-Martin : RCMP-SNC-Lavalin-Trudeau.
Eric Blais Toronto
Clear eyes or full hearts?
Re May, Singh Attack Scheer As He Targets Liberal Record (Sept. 13): Political campaign strategists should know that wisdom and emotion cannot often co-exist; since wisdom is sound, campaigns are mostly emotional. This strategy does not seem to yield an honestly informed electorate.
Those who use political tactics that deflect us from critical thought often do not have a viable plan for future generations. Instead, they promise us popular short-term measures designed primarily to harvest votes. For these people, simply winning the election seems to be their goal.
Attack ads, slogans and war-room talking points benefit politicians – not us. We should vote for candidates who rise above these tactics and put people first, no matter to which party they belong.
Graeme Gardiner Sidney, B.C.
Atwood says current events inspired The Testaments as Handmaid’s Tale sequel hits shelves
How social media is changing what it means to be a celebrity
Strengthening human rights
Re Quebec Court Strikes Down Parts Of Laws For Medically Assisted Dying (Sept. 12): Bravo to Quebec’s courts for recognizing the right of an individual in determining when and how a person wants to die. By striking down the “imminent death” clause of the federal criteria, Quebec Superior Court Justice Christine Baudouin’s decision acknowledges the right of a person to make this difficult decision, with fewer restrictions.
Canada, proudly, is one of the few countries which has led the way in identifying the personal right to many of the hard – but individual – decisions: abortion, gay marriage and, now, assisted dying.
Selma Edelstone Toronto
Absent less restrictive assisted-death legislation, Canadian courts would be faced with judging case after case involving people who have decided that they no longer want to live, for whatever reason.
Any such law does require checks and balances, but the premise ought to be that the individual, not the state, has the basic human right to decide when to end their life.
J.C. Henry Mississauga
Re Court Ruling On Assisted Death Spurs Right-to-die Debate On Campaign Trail (Sept. 13): The religious symbols ban. The assisted-dying law. Even without separation, Quebec seems to set the national agenda going into a federal election.
Howard Greenfield Montreal
Under whose eye?
Re Atwood Says She Was Inspired To Write Handmaid’s Tale Sequel As U.S. Moved ‘Toward’ Gilead, Rather Than Away From It (Sept. 11): It puzzles me that Margaret Atwood found inspiration for The Testaments, The Handmaid’s Tale’s sequel, in reactions to the populism of U.S. President Donald Trump. What about the rest of the world?
In some places, there are women who are forced into marriage, harmed by genital mutilation, made to bear children or sold into slavery. Some governments have institutionalized practices which subjugate women.
Comparatively, American women have a voice and a place in government and society. They live under a system that ensures they’ll see the back of every president sooner or later. And the pendulum swings, as they say, from right to left and back. Were I to seek inspiration for a story about women’s oppression, I would not turn to one of the great democracies of the world.
I applaud Ms. Atwood’s creativity and success. I only wish today’s feminists were more inclined to highlight the hell that is daily life for so many women living in far-off lands.
Kerry-Lynne Wilson Ottawa
Celebrities and ‘relatability’
Re Stars Come Down To Earth (Pursuits, Sept. 7): “Relatability,” as I see it, is symptomatic of cultural decline, and becoming the primary criterion of art.
Novels are assessed on how relatable their characters are, not how artfully they are written or how transcendent the aesthetic experience they provoke. In schools and universities, students want to see themselves reflected back at them in the material they study, not the strangeness and wonder of a world larger than themselves.
And in the political sphere, we want relatability in our leaders. But by making it seem like they are one of us, it confuses political representation with superficial resemblance, all while masking any allegiances to the wealthy and powerful.
The more we are absorbed by the cult of relatability, the more we are unable to relate to anyone different than ourselves. In its tribalism, relatability is, ironically, deeply anti-social.
Ryan Whyte Toronto
Joker and ‘relatability’
Re Joker’s Murderous Misfit Is No Laughing Matter (Sept. 11): Writer Sarah Hagi laments that Joker, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, is “another story in which white men are offered a sort of understanding for their violence.” That notion seems to over-rely on the ascriptive identity of a fictional character to construct a particular “fragile male” trope.
This trope is often used to ignore any nuance regarding privilege, vulnerability or social causes of male violence. Personally, female-victim narratives that feature violence against men as a form of “empowerment” is a bigger yawn.
J.J. Vaughan Edmonton
No new friends
Re Do You ‘Own’ Your Dog? (Opinion, Sept. 7): My dogs have more personality in one paw than most people I know.
They are loving, playful, forgiving, expressive and totally sentient beings. I would rather spend time with my dogs than put up with the stupidity of what I see occurring on a regular basis.
No, I don’t own my dogs – they live with me and we look after each other. They are not furniture, though they may sit on it, and they are not objects to be discarded as one sees fit.
Our laws need to change to allow the courts to better protect animals that are owned by animals.
Randy Sterling Blenheim, Ont.
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