Ontario Attorney-General Caroline Mulroney looks on as Premier Doug Ford handles a press conference.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
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Defining moment
I had hopes that Ontario Attorney-General Caroline Mulroney would serve as a moderating voice of reason in cabinet but I have been greatly disappointed (Caroline Mulroney’s Testing Time – Sept. 14).
There are defining moments in political life where decisions – taken on the fly and with pressure from every direction – hold life-long consequences, not just for your own reputation but for the citizens you and your government represent. This is one of those moments.
The right decision is surely to proceed with the appeal of Justice Edward Belobaba’s decision. With expedited treatment, the issues would be resolved once and for all in a process that is governed by the rule of law.
Does Ms. Mulroney really want to be remembered as the Attorney-General whose conduct led to the evisceration of the Charter?
Chris Pibus, Dundas, Ont.
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Could we please have a provincial election? Apparently the last one was for a Dear Leader of Toronto, not a premier of Ontario.
Doug Hacking, Sarnia, Ont.
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If Doug Ford had outlined his concerns about the size of Toronto’s city council and his intention to introduce a bill to reduce the number of councillors for the 2022 election, his proposed action would likely have seemed thoughtful and worthy of consideration. In short, Mr. Ford would have looked good.
Instead, his impulsive and deeply disruptive actions on a relatively unimportant issue show him to be unqualified for office. His lack of respect for our judiciary and use of the notwithstanding clause is appalling.
Ontarians need to speak out on their expectations for good and orderly governance.
James G. White, Kanata, Ont.
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Doug Ford is doing what he was elected to do. Make decisions. Get things moving. Be a leader.
When he’s done cleaning house in Ontario, maybe he could move here. B.C. needs him.
Chandra Richards, Vancouver
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It really gets my goat when people use the words Doug Ford and leadership in the same sentence. He proved he wasn’t leadership material during his time as a councillor at Toronto city hall.
Now he is proving it at the provincial level, acting like a proverbial post turtle: “You come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top. You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn’t know what to do while he’s up there, he’s elevated beyond his ability to function, and you just wonder what kind of fool put him up there to begin with.”
Personally, I’m more upset with ministers like Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney and Vic Fedeli. I expected them to stand up for Ontarians, and ask their boss to suck it up and move on beyond memories of self-inflicted wounds of city politics.
Avtar Dhanota, Toronto
Second verse, same as …
Re Why Calgary Could Go For Gold In An Olympic Bid (Sept. 14): Salesmen – gotta love ’em. John Furlong, the former head of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, claims that Calgary should support the bid for the 2026 Olympics because it will be an opportunity to refocus Alberta. “It’s been a province reliant on one industry. The Olympics could possibly change that, give people a sense of what’s possible going forward.”
If that is the case, why didn’t the 1988 Olympics make that change?
Better odds the second time around?
Brian Caines, Ottawa
Venezuela’s descent
Re China Offers To Help Venezuela Cope With Economic Crisis (Sept. 14): In 1499, Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci was part of a Spanish expedition exploring uncharted lands along the Southern Caribbean. After making landfall, they discovered a village on a lagoon, the houses raised up on stilts and connected by walkways. Vespucci was reminded of Venice, and called the place Veneziola, “Little Venice” in Italian.
The Spaniards called it Venezuela.
It has long been known that modern Venice is slowly sinking into the mud and filth of its lagoon; subsiding under the weight of its grandiose architecture and the millions of tourists who visit annually; abetted by an accident of tectonics.
Add to this a rising ocean, and the Venice of today will eventually be unrecognizable.
Now, Venezuela, too, is sinking.
Inflation is set to top one million per cent this year, just as the rising homicide rate pushes it toward being the most murderous nation on Earth. To ward off starvation, Venezuelans have resorted to eating their pets, as well as zoo animals, while those lucky enough to be able to afford gasoline wait for up to six hours in line at the pumps – this in the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
No wonder Venezuelans are fleeing their nation at a rate rivalling Syria at the height of the civil war. Things are going to get a lot worse there before they start to get better, assuming they ever do.
Mick Welch, Toronto
Silence is culpable
Re Whether Or Not To Body-Slam A Groper Is A Split-Second, Personal Decision (Sept. 13): Reading about Denise Balkissoon’s creepy pool groper, I was reminded of my Mom’s “cinema story.”
It was 1940s Britain, my Mom was in her 20s. As the lights of the cinema dimmed, the man sitting next to her reached over and grabbed her thigh. Mom, cool as a cucumber, ground out her cigarette on his hand. He left.
In those days, had she made a “scene” or a “fuss,” she’d have been laughed at, she was in the cinema alone after all, so wasn’t she just “asking for it”?
Every time I have been groped, I remember my Mom. And I stub out my own metaphorical cigarette. But this is not enough.
Those of us who actually witness such an event need to speak out, not just those on whom the act is perpetrated. It takes guts to stand up to a perpetrator but those who witness the event are just as culpable if they remain silent. Ms. Balkissoon’s witnesses were “kind and supportive.” They should have been outraged and vocal.
Sarah Burwood, Vancouver
More than a symbol, eh
Re Trump Floats New Name For NAFTA Amid Stalled Talks (Sept. 14): If Canada is a greater threat to America’s national security than China or Russia, perhaps we should turn that perception to our advantage in the NAFTA negotiations … by threatening to smuggle thousands of beavers into the U.S. to wreck havoc (as only Canadian beavers can!) with power grids, water supplies, and communications systems.
Thousands of agents would have to be transferred from patrolling the Mexican border to deal with this new form of illegal immigration, seriously compromising Donald Trump’s efforts to combat threats from the south.
Our beavers – more than just a national symbol, eh!
Ray Arnold, Richmond, B.C.