Premier Jason Kenney walks out of a meeting with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in Edmonton on April 18, 2019.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian 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
Alberta’s A-game
Re Jason Kenney’s Dangerous Power Play (Nov. 13): “Effectively,” columnist Gary Mason writes, “Mr. Kenney would like to see Alberta carve out almost the same level of independence that Quebec has."
Exactly. No one could put it better. But what is so “dangerous” about wanting parity with Quebec?
Wayne Eyre Saskatoon
I question whether appointing Preston Manning to head Jason Kenney’s “fair deal” panel is about fairness or about further fanning the embers of Alberta’s anger for political gain.
I note that in a recent contribution to The Globe by Mr. Manning (Uniting A Divided Canada – Opinion, Oct. 12) he states that he dislikes most aspects of the Canadian federation. He also hasn’t a good word to say about the senate, the equalization formula, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and certainly not the Prime Minister.
If Mr. Kenney really wants a “fair” deal, why not appoint someone who seems to understand the meaning of the word – someone such as Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Nanci Wakeman Mississauga
Come together
Re Tories Push For East-west Energy Corridor and Saskatchewan Premier Says He Expects ‘More Of The Same’ From Trudeau (Nov. 13): I’m disappointed with our political leaders. Entrenched partisan viewpoints do not represent what the majority of Canadians voted for: Canada doing its part to fight climate change.
Federal and provincial leaders should work together to pass a climate action plan. Step 1: Agree on an amount of greenhouse gas reduction – maybe even honour the Paris Agreement? Step 2: Evaluate top reduction initiatives. Step 3: Agree on a plan and execute. It may involve each province determining its own methods, so long as the agreed reduction targets are met. But most importantly: Our leaders should be working together in the climate fight.
Dale Mills Guelph, Ont.
Something divides Andrew Scheer and Justin Trudeau for sure. But at the same time, both were born in Ottawa in the 1970s; both married around the same time and have sat as MPs for just as long; both have families with children of similar age; both are Roman Catholic. How can their values not overlap? How could they not like each other as families, maybe even find things to do together?
What if some mutually trustworthy person, say former governor-general David Johnston, invited the two families out and invited the media for a few minutes? If national unity is a problem, it might diffuse some of the tension.
Lloyd Lovatt Edmonton
Bloc-blocked
Re Bloc Says It Won’t Side With Kenney, Moe (Nov. 14): Yves-François Blanchet’s perceived moral superiority on environmental issues feels un peu trop. Except for the fluke of geography that bestows hydroelectric power to the province, Quebec would be as environmentally harmful as the rest of Canada.
Marty Cutler Toronto
One for all?
Re Universal Health Care On Trial: What You Need To Know About A Historic Charter Challenge In B.C. (Nov. 13): No tears here for universal health care. I believe it has been in dire need of disruption for years.
The sad story of Walid Khalfallah’s long wait for surgery and the effect on his outcome is repeated throughout Canada. In our family, it was a lesion on our son’s tongue that was progressing quickly into cancer. After trying desperately to deal with it here, we finally went to Texas for surgery.
Surgeon Brian Day seems like a caring doctor who runs an excellent clinic. We should all be thankful that he chose to bring his skills to Canada – and we should all be able to access those skills. Right now, I see that we are not looking after each other, and Canadians should be concerned if the status quo remains.
Darlene Plastow Calgary
Canada and Ukraine
Re Trump Pushed For ‘Crazy’ Plan To Trade Military Aid For Biden Probes: Diplomat (Nov. 14): The testimony of William Taylor, acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, seems to raise questions that go well beyond impeachment. One may question whether the ambassador is right in viewing U.S. military aid as fully necessary in the continuing conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels in its eastern region.
Closer to home, Canada is also implicated in this fight, with Canadian army staff providing training to the Ukrainian military and Canadian-made sniper rifles being sold to the country. There is a risk that this internationalized civil conflict could explode into a wider regional conflict, and the Trudeau government should be reminded that every foreign policy initiative carries with it opportunity costs.
I believe there have been missed opportunities for Canada: the diplomatic failure to scale back growing confrontation between Russia and NATO, and the closely related risk of a renewed U.S.-Russia nuclear arms race; the urgent need to initiate meaningful collaboration with Russia within the Arctic Council to address climate change; the heeding of recent calls by French President Emmanuel Macron for a complete rethink of NATO and Russian relations.
Scott Burbidge Port Williams, N.S.
By any other name
Re UBC Taken To Court Over Terms Of Law-School Donation (Nov. 13): Donor Peter Allard was disappointed to learn that Master’s and PhD degrees in law at the University of British Columbia do not bear his name because they are actually issued by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The obvious solution to Mr. Allard’s problem is to buy that faculty as well. I am surprised my alma mater didn’t offer to sell it to him.
Hamish Telford Abbotsford, B.C.
Donor Peter Allard has demanded his name be printed on all law degrees at the University of British Columbia. This doesn’t strike me as philanthropy, but rather an ego trip – and no, those shouldn’t always be overlapping categories.
If anything, this court case may make people just call the school UBC Law. Or for the historical term: McGill University’s satellite campus.
Dan Snyder Vancouver
Stuck in a dream
Re Take A Shot (Letters, Nov. 7): A letter writer relates that she allowed two nurses to hold her panicked six-year-old son down while a third administered the flu shot. Like that boy, I’ve been terrified of needles all my life. But it has nothing to do with pain.
Sixty years ago, I had an experience not so different from the letter writer’s son. It’s likely he will forever relive that nightmare every time he encounters a health professional wielding a hypodermic.
George Patton Guelph, Ont.
Sold!
Re Doug Ford Says He Can’t Be Bought. So Why Is He Selling His Time To The Highest Bidder? (Editorial, Nov. 14): Apparently, he can be rented.
Ken Mark Toronto
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