How they voted
I regarded the front-page picture of the Prime Minister standing to vote in favour of extending the bombing mission into Syria with confusion and, ultimately, sadness (mixed with anger, I must confess).
I simply could not comprehend the applause and smiling, jubilant faces of the Conservative MPs as the vote was taken (MPs Vote To Take Fight Against Islamic State Into Syria – March 31).
Leaving aside the cloudy moral and legal aspects, it was a vote to extend war, with all the horrors that entails. Should this be viewed as a joyful moment? I don't believe most Canadians consider this vote a moment of triumph.
At what point did voting to extend war make us happy?
Sandra Napoli, Ottawa
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Is the jollification demonstrated by the blond woman MP and the whistling gent in the blue suit typical of the Conservative attitude to this profoundly serious moment in our history?
Donald McWilliams, Montreal
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Islamic State is the most dangerous terrorist organization of our generation. It cannot be allowed to regroup and strengthen in Syria, or even more dramatic terrorist acts will be planned both here and abroad.
The Liberal and NDP leaders should get their heads out of the sand and help defeat this organization, or more innocents around the world will be killed or kidnapped. Their weak responses will be remembered at the election box in the fall.
Michael Davidson, Toronto
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Canada has decided to continue its version of the midway game Whac-A-Mole in the Middle East. One wonders how many more moles will surface before the game that began in 2001 finally ends, what the prize may ultimately be (if indeed there is to be one) and whether it was all worth the price of admission. But before then, we should not be surprised if the odd mole sneaks up behind us – and gives us a whack or two.
John Grimley, Toronto
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Yea: 142, Nay: 129
This should have been a free vote (The Mission Vote – Folio, March 31). Major decisions like this one should be determined by the people (or their parliamentary representatives) and not by the party leaders.
Norman Paterson, Thornbury, Ont.
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A national decision of the utmost importance and 32 MPs were absent and one sat on the fence.
I assume a few had valid reasons, but the rest? Slept in? The sniffles? Dentist? Yoga class? Cleaning the garage? Checking their pension plan? Missed the lecture on responsibility?
Tim Jeffery, Toronto
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Case dismissed
Re Ordeal Ends For Former Olympics CEO As Last Abuse Claim Dismissed (March 31): On behalf of a man who brought us one of the best Olympics ever, I'd have preferred to see the article on John Furlong's vindication on the front page. Of course, all abuse issues must be investigated to protect victims, but the press and public are quick to prosecute before the details are fully disclosed.
So often when the case is resolved, in this matter in Mr. Furlong's favour, the results are buried inside, and the person is still viewed by many as responsible. We must strive to make sure that the news of the vindication is as widely covered as the initial furor over the charges.
M.P. Arnaud, Kingston
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Victims of …
Re A Monument To What, Exactly? (editorial, March 30): The tribute to "victims of communism" is really for "victims of Stalinism."
Many in the West have conflated the two, as has the Harper government, arguing that communist ideology begets Stalinist (or other forms of) totalitarianism, inexorably.
Many of my Communist colleagues (I am a long-time card-carrying member of the Canadian Communist Party) argue that nazism was the inevitable outcome of advanced industrial capitalism, an argument equally as vacuous. But we could erect a monument to the "victims of capitalism," or to those who have died in the 20-plus countries that the U.S. has bombed since the Second World War, or to the aboriginal victims of "democracy" in the Commonwealth countries, including Canada.
The monument to "victims of communism" is not, as you suggest, "well-meaning." No one deserves "special victims' status," but all those who have suffered under dictatorships, democracy, and colonialism deserve a place in our historical memory.
With the most ideologically driven government I have lived under in my seven decades on Earth, should we erect a monument to victims of Harperism? As an ideological commie, I say no.
Chris Youe, St. John's
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Joseph Stalin was a monster. A monument to the millions of victims of communism is never a monstrosity, no matter what aesthetic disputes may excite critics.
Barry Stagg, Toronto
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I am Canadian-born, of Polish and Ukrainian decent. My father was a Second World War vet of the Polish army under the command of the British. My mother was interned in Germany as forced labour. Both came here in 1948.
Throughout my childhood, I absorbed from them how Canada offered a new way of living, where social justice and liberty could be experienced. I am nevertheless deeply offended by the behaviour of Tribute to Liberty adherents.
In the face of resounding and growing national and local opposition to the memorial, they are maintaining an anti-democratic heavy handedness that resembles that of the regimes my parents left behind. This memorial reeks of politics barely a step removed from overt vote-buying.
Barbara Legowski, Ottawa
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At GMO's core
There's no reason to hide the GMO origins of food, any more than the nutritional content of foods (How D'Ya Like These Apples ? – March 31).
While some anti-GMO forces may seize upon labelling and target GMO foods for boycotts, those who favour them can go out of their way to buy them. It's hard not to feel that pro-GMO forces have something to hide by fighting labelling. The marketplace of ideas should govern.
Peter Newton, Hamilton
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Wow! An apple that doesn't turn brown after you slice it. I'm with Eve on this one: I'll eat the apple.
Willem Hart, Toronto
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I'd like to point out to Margaret Wente (and myriad others, it seems) that no apple is mentioned in the Garden of Eden story in Genesis. This is an artifact of Renaissance paintings. What is partaken of is "the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
A very different kettle of fish (to mix metaphors).
David Checkland, Toronto
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If GMO apples are so wonderful and safe, why covertly place them before a consumer who's ignorant of their source? The old adage "buyer beware" only works when buyers can read the label, otherwise aren't they buying a pig in a poke? Then again, considering the proposed use of pig genes in some GMO food, maybe they are.
David Wood, Mildmay, Ont.