Called to remember
Re Answering The Call (Folio, Nov. 11): My parents were living in Detroit after they married in 1940 and returned to Canada in 1942 when it was announced that this country would permit married men to enlist. My father joined the RAF (later RCAF) to serve his country and to preserve democracy for his children.
My parents did not have to do this. They met this event as a choice to serve, to sacrifice if necessary, and spent 21 months with no contact beyond letters while my dad flew 52 missions as a navigator of a Liberator bomber over the North Atlantic.
I was 16 months old before he met me, and I consider both my parents to have sacrificed those 21 months plus his year's training to Canada's war effort.
Carol Anne Wien, Halifax
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As I sit to write this letter, my thoughts go to the Canadian soldiers who liberated my parents in the Netherlands.
Both my mother and late father told me what the liberation, and specifically the Canadians, meant to them and the Netherlands. We remember once a year, the Dutch remember all year.
I also think of my time volunteering when I was 16 as a Candy Striper at a downtown Toronto hospital. The various wards meld together in my memory, but one stands out. That was the shell-shock ward. Rows of beds with elderly men staring into space, locked inside their own hell.
I don't need Remembrance Day to bring those haunted eyes to mind. But on Nov. 11, I can't get them out of my head.
Dominique van der Graaf, Ottawa
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Re Lest We Forget (Nov. 11): You took my breath away. A perfect first page. I will not forget. It seems that this year, so many more Canadians took the time to remember what this day means.
Ronnie Kaplansky, Toronto
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Every year, I am saddened as I observe my fellow Canadians' willing (eager) descent into knee-jerk, jingoist patriotism upon the prescribed day. I always think that on Nov. 11, as politicians who give veterans the shaft at every turn pay lip service to their armed forces for political gain, perhaps we should all spare a moment of remembrance for the millions of non-military people devastated by war and its consequences.
When will we awake to the fact that we are surrounded by real heroes, like the doctors of Médecins sans frontières who work tirelessly to alleviate the horror wreaked by armed forces all over the world?
Is there a plastic flower I can wear on some designated day that will commemorate the countless victims of war? That will mourn the loss of the about $2-trillion spent on the global military-industrial complex every year?
Chris Frederick, Ottawa
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Democracy at home?
Re No Money, No Access (editorial, Nov. 11): The gutting of Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault's $11.2-million budget, at a time when Conservative government secrecy manifests itself more and more – for example, the F-35 purchase (Leak Reveals Ottawa To Buy Four F-35s, Nov. 8) – is even more disturbing when put against the $100-million-plus the Conservatives have spent on partisan Economic Action Plan advertising, including the latest round promoting their election-time tax-cut goodies.
For a government that talks about supporting democracy around the world, their own track record is shameful.
Michael Farrell, Oakville, Ont.
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Can't Cherry pick
Re Cherry And Rogers Off To A Rocky Start (Sports, Nov. 11): When he worked for the CBC, Don Cherry was never effectively reined in from his tendency to say insensitive, insulting, even quasi-racist remarks. His bosses were terrified of upsetting the breadwinner?
Jian Ghomeshi reportedly was a nightmare for his fellow staff members. Management just would not poke the hornets' nest. CBC boss Heather Conway sort of pointed a finger at lax management of the star, but quickly reverted to blaming the fallen one for all that was wrong (CBC Executive Calls Ghomeshi 'Egomaniacal,' 'Tyrannical' – Nov. 8).
You can't Cherry pick villains here. There seems to be a lack of a strong process at CBC in discipline when it comes to the money-generating brands.
David Ferry, Toronto
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Peter MacKay replies
Re Peter Mackay's Scary, Big-Budget Film Noir (Focus, Nov. 8): Our government, in consultation with sex workers, recognizes that prostitution is driven by those who buy others for sex. That is why Bill C-36 targets johns and pimps.
The new law enables sex workers to take safety measures noted in the Supreme Court's Bedford decision, such as hiring bodyguards, working from a fixed indoor location and negotiating safer ways to sell services – except in and near places for children.
We've committed $20-million to help people leave prostitution, in addition to the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and programs to address violence against women. Representatives of police, communities and women's groups have welcomed our approach.
We seek to curb prostitution, as Tabatha Southey quoted me, "to the greatest extent possible." As a survivor said, "There is no way to make prostitution safe. This is what needs to be understood."
Canada is not alone in proposing laws that view prostitution as exploitation. This approach is growing in international support.
Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice
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Jettison the F-35
Re Report Warns Of Russian Aggression (Nov. 11): Canada needs a twin-engine jet and nuclear minisubs to protect Arctic sovereignty. The single-engine F-35 is a multibillion-dollar mistake that is off strategy and impairs Canada militarily and economically for decades.
Alan J. Cooper, Toronto
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Trudeau's options
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's handling of sexual harassment complaints is being defended on the grounds he had no choice (Trudeau's Choices – letters, Nov. 10). It is said that if he hadn't gone public, the NDP could have used this against him in the future.
But he had the option of meeting with NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair to see if the two NDP MPs were prepared to take a complaint forward. On learning they were not, he could have reiterated in writing his willingness to dismiss the two Liberal MPs, if the NDP MPs would go public. The onus would then be on the NDP.
He could also have suggested to Mr. Mulcair that they go together to ask the Speaker to put in place a procedure for dealing with future cases of alleged member-to-member harassment. He could then have set out a written policy on sexual harassment for the Liberal caucus, including the warning that he would suspend any member formally accused of harassment, pending the outcome of an investigation.
Instead, his grandstanding has left two Liberal MPs under a cloud of suspicion and two NDP MPs feeling pressured to go public against their wishes.
Barbara Cameron, Toronto