‘Trudeau is completely missing in action’
Re: New Fox fave Danielle Smith champions Canada with more impact than feds — Don Braid, Dec. 30
Americans who have been watching Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speak on Fox News would not be amiss thinking they were watching Canada’s own “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher.
Smith, who is using her previous television and talk-radio experience to professionally advocate for Canada, is garnering respect from Americans. She expertly uses her knowledge of the American perspective to position Canada in the best light, to convince Americans that it is in their best interests to support Canada’s position.
Thank goodness we had Smith working during her Christmas holidays to defend Canada, at a time when our prime minister has been off on one of his many vacations, skiing in B.C. Once again, Trudeau is completely missing in action, when action is desperately needed.
Chris Robertson, Stony Plain, Alta.
‘United Church owes the Jewish community a huge apology’
Re: ‘Pulling people apart’: Renewed tension between Canadian Jewish groups, United Church sparked by Gaza — Tyler Dawson, Dec. 28
Over Christmas, in Nigeria, more than 140 Christian farmers in Nigeria were massacred and 17 of their villages burned to the ground, for the sin of being Christian. Open Doors Canada estimates that more than 365 million Christians worldwide face religious persecution, while the number of Christians killed for faith-related reasons worldwide was 5,621 in 2023, 5,898 in 2022, and 4,761 in 2021. In Canada, over 100 churches have been vandalized or torched. To the best of my knowledge, the United Church of Canada has remained fairly silent on the persecution and slaughter of its co-religionists.
However, when it comes to Israel and the Jews, the United Church has a great deal to say. And kudos to Richard Marceau, of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, for calling out the Church’s blatant hypocrisy. By engaging in movements like BDS (given the rather cutesy moniker of “Unsettling Goods” by the United Church), and urging the Trudeau government to impose an arms embargo, the Church is attempting to bring Israel to its knees, economically and militarily.
Claiming that Israel is an “apartheid state” and accusing it of “genocide” are both egregious falsehoods. Both have been disproved over and over again, but the Church continues to trot out antisemitic propaganda to support its position, denying the Jews, who constitute less than two per cent of the world’s population, a safe haven and the right to live in peace in their biblical and ancestral homeland. Shame!
And shame again for perpetuating the lie that a genocide is occurring in Gaza. If the United Church is unhappy about the deaths in Gaza, here is a suggestion: how about telling Hamas to return the 100+ hostages — or their bodies — it is holding? The Israelis have made it no secret that their aim is to continue until all the hostages are either released or found, which is what most countries would do.
To claim that this is a genocide is to defile the memory of those who perished at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust, and to insult and hurt the survivors and their families.
The United Church owes the Jewish community a huge apology — but I’m not holding my breath.
E. Joan O’Callaghan, Toronto
The question is, why has the United Church taken any political position at all? Is not its mandate to tend to the faith-based needs of its flock? This obsession with Israel is similar to the position taken by a number of unions here in Canada, where the needs of union members are being neglected because the union heads have become preoccupied by issues that should not be the business of unions.
The United Church should get back to caring for its members.
Hersh Glickman, Toronto
While it is technically true, as Tyler Dawson writes, that the United Church is Canada’s largest Protestant church, even most Protestants have given up on it. Yes, the Church has 1.2 million Canadians “affiliated” with it, but that’s down 40 per cent between 2011 and 2021. Worse, according to the Church itself, average weekly attendance (and that incorporates large turnouts at Easter and Christmas) has collapsed to a mere 110,878 as of Dec. 31, 2023. Indeed, the left-wing activists running the Church are stridently anti-Israel, but given the Church’s precipitous fall from grace, why should anyone care what they think?
Claire Hoy, Toronto
NDP’s Charlie Angus should resign, too
Re: NDP MP won’t play ‘procedural games’ — Rahim Mohamed and Stuart Thomson, Dec. 31
In the face of polls predicting an overwhelming victory for the Conservative party after years of a Liberal-NDP spending spree, NDP MP Charlie Angus claims Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is “not fit for leadership.” Angus says he is “putting country first” while strenuously ignoring the country’s polled opinion. What a dismissive attitude for someone with the word “Democrat” in his party’s title.
By propping up the present arrangement, Angus is deeming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “fit for leadership” — the blackface-wearing, ethically challenged, economically illiterate incumbent who has made everything in Canada worse in nine years, including saddling future generations with crippling debt and hog-tying our resources sector for no green advantage while scaring away the investment that undergirds the Canadian standard of living.
Angus should take his unearned saviour complex for a walk in the snow alongside the incompetent PM he shores up.
Laine Andrews, Toronto
The woke war on scientific research
Re: Ottawa-funded social justice research isn’t science — Jamie Sarkonak, Dec. 30
As DEI emanated from universities, their enthusiastic embrace of its extension into scientific research has been a given, particularly when underwritten by government (taxpayer) funding.
Revolving-door bail, government distribution of opioid drugs and the rapid increase in euthanasia are just a few of the detrimental societal changes imposed by the Trudeau Liberals. If Canadians haven’t organized to oppose such changes, which have eroded societal safety, they won’t oppose the undermining of scientific research. This apathy emboldens the radical progressive minority in their quest to undermine and unravel every aspect of Canadian society.
The next government can order the research bodies and universities to return to merit-based funding of actual scientific research. However, the rapid growth of costly bureaucracies enforcing DEI-directed non-scientific research is rendering Canada’s already feeble government-supported research irrelevant. Revoking all funding and developing a true research-based funding model is the best opportunity for change.
Gary Krieger, North York, Ont.
One can only hope that Jamie Sarkonak’s timely and well-documented column motivates Conservatives to reform this sad state of affairs when they form the next government. When progressive ideology invades science and engineering, it has consequences that only weaken and hamstring society. It results in severe and potentially irreparable misallocation of resources.
One only has to look at the trillions of dollars and vast human effort currently being spent on crippling net zero policies around the world. A small group of idealists took a legitimate environmental movement and through the exactly same types of processes discussed by Sarkonak morphed it into the pseudo-science of “climate change.” Had these processes not existed throughout academia and progressive governments, the hysteria of a “climate emergency” could never have evolved.
It’s truly frightening to think what other perversions of science and engineering could be on the horizon without dramatic reform. “Striving to save science” or not, may indeed be a turning point in the future of civilization.
Fred Kardel, Nanaimo, B.C.
Talking turkey on Trudeau
Re: A Trudeau epiphany would be welcome — but don’t count on it — Michael Higgins, Dec. 30; and What we know about the succession rules for Canada’s Liberals as Trudeau faces calls to resign — Thomas Seal and Brian Platt, Dec. 26
I appear to be one of the few people who think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should not resign, for two reasons. First, it is unwise to change leaders just before an election because the new leader will be tarred with the record of the old one. Let Trudeau run again and if he loses, which is likely but not a forgone conclusion, replace him. Secondly, there is no one else available in the Liberal party who would be any better. Trudeau has made many mistakes but he is a proven vote getter. None of those proposed as an alternate leader would be any better and likely would be worse.
Garth M. Evans, Vancouver
The headline on a front-page story in the Dec. 27 paper was, “Liberal rules don’t allow for swift ouster.” A headline on a story on Page 2 was, “How long can you keep leftover turkey in the fridge.” I actually thought it was a continuation of the front page …
Bob Dawson, Sherwood Park, Alta.
Living in encampments is not a choice
Re: Drug addicts don’t have a right to fill parks with needles and faeces — Adam Zivo, Dec. 25
I was appalled by the demonizing rhetoric Adam Zivo used to describe people living in encampments and would like to ask: where should those without shelter go?
In downtown Toronto, where I work as a family physician, I can attest to the fact that shelter beds are full night after night. My colleagues and I have supported hundreds of calls and do not remember the last time someone successfully secured a bed through this avenue. Even if the beds existed, there are barriers beyond belief for those trying to navigate the system, especially when faced with health challenges and without access to a phone. Furthermore, many people are unsafe in shelters.
It is disingenuous to frame this issue as a choice. There is no choice in our system.
It is time to stop using encampments as a political tool and instead focus on solutions to afford all members of the community safe and accessible permanent housing.
Perhaps one might start by inviting those most affected into the conversation?
Katie Dorman, Toronto
Federal action needed on antisemitism
Re: Jew hatred is not just a Jewish problem. It’s a Canadian problem — Aviva Klompas, Dec. 27; and ‘Jack Layton is turning over in his grave’: Ousted New Democrat decries party’s antisemitism problem — Dave Gordon, Jan. 1
Finally, some positive action for Jews across Canada as the Liberal government announces it will be holding a National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism in February. However, at the same time, the government’s Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights is considering adopting a definition of anti-Palestinian racism (APR) that will likely lead to a rise in antisemitic rhetoric, harassment and hate-fuelled actions.
If this definition of APR is passed, Jews who verbally support Israel and its right to exist with secure borders could be deemed racist. If they voice a differing opinion about the Middle East, they could be considered racist. Already, Jewish students are feeling isolated and fearful within schools in the Toronto school district, which has already embraced this definition of APR.
If our federal government is serious about combatting antisemitism, then it cannot adopt the proposed definition of anti-Palestinian racism. If it is adopted, then a forum about antisemitism will simply be a bid for good optics — an attempt to appease Canadian Jews when in fact there is no serious intent to support them. The hypocrisy is beyond belief.
Phyllis Levin, Toronto
The tragic nature of the ongoing attacks on Jewish schools, businesses, homes and synagogues belies the normally accepted standards Canadians have followed for many years.
As Aviva Klompas described in detail, the incidents of vandalism on the Jewish community have not been met with any meaningful response from politicians or law enforcement. There have been many calls for more forceful, direct action, but there has been no decrease in incidents of vandalism.
In her recently released book, Truth be told, former B.C. NDP cabinet minister Selina Robinson, a Jewish woman, relates the failure of the NDP party to reject antisemitism, and the issues she dealt with prior to Premier David Eby dumping her from cabinet.
Canadians can only hope that a new federal government will take quick action to tighten the laws that are allowing anti-Israel protesters to commit acts of antisemitism, and permit Canada’s Jewish community to once gain feel safe in their own country.
Duane Sharp, Mississauga, Ont.
No tears for Jimmy Carter
Re: Canadian leaders, past and present, pay tribute to former U.S. president Jimmy Carter — Dec. 30
Jimmy Carter may have been “a man of deep faith, strong morals and firm principles.” Alas, one of his most widely-broadcasted “principles” was that Israel practices “apartheid.” In perpetrating this calumny, he helped lay the groundwork for the hatred of Israel and Jewry we see today.
Others may shed tears for this “great” and moral man. Me? Not a single one.
Mindy G. Alter, Toronto
Kudos for Irwin Cotler
Re: Irwin Cotler’s extraordinary life and unfinished business — John Ivison, Dec. 27
The late American polymath Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan had the same political and intellectual gravitas that Irwin Cotler gifts to Canada today.
If we lived in a country where intellect trumped tabloid charisma, what a fine governor general he would be.
Barry Stagg, Toronto
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