Skip to main content
letters
Open this photo in gallery:

Doug Ford (left ) with friend Ron Taverner at the 2016 Reena Foundation gala. Mr. Taverner's recent appointment as the new head of the Ontario Provincial Police has been met with widespread criticism.Elevator

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

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

The foul smell in Ontario

Re This Is No Way To Pick A New Police Chief (editorial, Dec. 14): I’m one of those idiots who held their nose and voted for a Doug Ford-led government, solely because the previous government had to go. (That’s another rant.)

Sadly, and perhaps predictably, there’s a new smell coming out of Queen’s Park on an almost daily basis. But the odour from this OPP thing really is foul. Quite apart from the fact Ron Taverner is simply not the best qualified person to lead the force, the Premier’s behaviour on this file looks and smells like the stuff coming out of Washington. How in God’s name did we get to this place?

Jay Gould, Toronto

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

Reading about the suggestion by the former head of the RCMP that a review is required of Ron Taverner’s appointment as head of the Ontario Provincial Police, and given all the dubious aspects of the process that have surfaced so far, it brought to mind Big Daddy’s line from Cat On A Hot Tin Roof about the powerful odour of mendacity …

Chris Phillips, Ancaster, Ont.

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

How many well-qualified applicants were there before the hiring criteria was changed, allowing someone with Ron Taverner’s credentials to apply, and how many after? Answers to both questions depend on how well the position was advertised, where, and for how long.

Surely the government or the executive search firm could answer these simple questions. The responses would go a long way to proving or disproving allegations of interference in a hiring process that saw Premier Doug Ford’s friend selected to head the OPP.

Flemming Galberg, Oakville, Ont.

Web of influence

Re How A Little Known Agency Reveals The Web Of Influence Between Patient Advocates And Big Pharma (Folio, Dec. 14): Amazing that in more than 3,200 words, you offered no evidence or example that funding support from the drug companies had any influence on the content of the patient-group submissions. You found no bias or any misrepresentation of patient opinion, regardless of whether there was funding or not. In my view, this “investigation” was not necessary, since patient groups declare their funding publicly.

We would love to see an investigation into the opinions coming from the supposedly independent drug-review agencies that are entirely funded by the public drug agency. Wonder if that “conflict of interest” influences their routine call for 20-per-cent to 90-per-cent price reductions?

Durhane Wong-Rieger, CEO, Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders

Canada’s sense of justice

Re After Huawei Arrest, Has Canada Lost Its Sense Of Justice? (Dec. 13): The response of the Chinese ambassador to the detention of Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, displays a fundamental difference between our two societies. Lu Shaye makes several references to the “Canadian side.” There is no “Canadian side.” There is only the rule of law, which requires Canada to abide by an extradition treaty with the U.S. in detaining an individual, but that is only the beginning of a legal process.

Perhaps in China the detention and conviction of an individual are the same thing, but not here.

A Canadian judge may well refuse to extradite Ms. Meng now that Donald Trump has admitted that politics are at play, but the Canadian government has no say in the matter, and that is as it should be.

Mr. Lu evidently does not understand a system where many decisions are made by an independent judiciary rather than the government. This difference between Canadian and Chinese systems is on full display in the Chinese government’s extrajudicial action in detaining two Canadians in retaliation. So while China and the U.S. embark on a program of hostage taking to further their governments’ aims, Canada’s only response can be to stand for the rule of law.

J. M. Wyger, Ashburn, Ont.

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

Would the Chinese ambassador kindly advise of the date, time and place for the bail hearing of the two Canadians arrested in China?

Scott Van Alstine, North Saanich, B.C.

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

I sincerely doubt an article extolling the perceived wrongdoings of the Chinese government, written by the Canadian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, would ever be published in a significant newspaper in Bejing.

For all its wonders and advances, China is very far from being a democracy run by the rule of law. Until that changes, and I pray it will one day, please deny access to this individual and the PRC on your opinion pages.

Lloyd Leonard, Toronto

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

Where’s the evidence for the Chinese ambassador’s claim of “many Canadian people” criticizing Canada’s government for “unreasonable behaviour”? More likely any such criticism is a result of China yanking the leash on trusted or coerced lap dogs. By detaining Meng Wanzhou, Canada abided by its treaty obligations.

Randy Johnson, Toronto

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

Why the hell should Canada help the U.S. play its geopolitical games? Surely not because we have an extradition treaty. America under Donald Trump has not been honouring its international agreements (Iran, Paris Accord, NAFTA). It’s time for Mr. Trump’s chickens to start coming home to roost. Let Meng Wanzhou go.

Frank Burgess, Edmonton

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

It is unfortunate that Canadians have been caught in China’s crossfire. However, when you go to countries where the rule of law means nothing, you have accepted the risk. I do not travel to totalitarian states. As a citizen, you, too, can apply pressure to these states by no longer spending your tourist dollars, or conducting business with these repulsive regimes.

Barry Bortnick, Calgary

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

The hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs rounded up and disappeared into “re-education” camps by China’s totalitarian regime – estimates put the number at more than a million – will no doubt be thrilled at China’s newfound abhorrence, as expressed by its ambassador, of “unreasonable” arrest and “abrasive” detention.

Moira O’Neill, St. Johns

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

Phew. Thanks for not publishing the mocking letter I sent highlighting the disconnect which the Chinese ambassador to Canada demonstrated regarding our laws, freedoms and values. If you had, I suspect I’d find my e-mail doesn’t work and that I hold mortgages on 16 condos I’ve never heard of.

Eric Pelletier, Toronto

Drug trade irony

Re Opioid Crisis Hitting Smaller Cities Hard As National Death Toll Rises (Dec. 13): Today the West wants China to stop its fentanyl exportation, but China has a long memory. The West traded opium and fought wars over it – in China. Some historical irony, eh?

John E. Marion, 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