Ghomeshi vs. CBC
Re Ghomeshi Defends Sex Life, Plans To Sue Over Firing (Oct. 27): Pierre Trudeau said that the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation. CBC has no business in the bedroom of Jian Ghomeshi.
Joe O'Brien, Halifax
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Abuse is never justified, but in the Ghomeshi situation, it is an unproven allegation.
The CBC may have rushed to judgment by firing rather than suspending him. The Sexual Revolution occurred in the 1960s and '70s. Perhaps the CBC missed it.
Mary Valentich, Calgary
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Regardless of the merits of his lawsuit against the CBC, no one can argue that Jian Ghomeshi suffers from a lack of hubris.
I doubt many Canadian taxpayers think his reputation is worth $50-million.
Frank Abbott, Toronto
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Does announcer X like to dress in women's clothes at home? Fire him! Does on-air personality Y like to be spanked in the privacy of her bedroom? Out with her! Is this the atmosphere of fear that now permeates the CBC?
Until such time as Jian Ghomeshi is found guilty of breaking the laws of this land, he should be immediately reinstated. Those hiding behind the Victorian skirts of the CBC should be placed on leave without pay until it can be proved that their actions were justifiable.
Is this what we have come to?
David Antscherl, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
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The article states Jian Ghomeshi "details a relationship in which he engaged in dominance and submission."
Given the current relationship between the Harper government and our public broadcaster, I would think that this would make Mr. Ghomeshi the perfect poster boy for the "New" CBC.
Barry Bridger, St. John's
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I am, or should I say was, an avid listener of CBC Radio. I do not care what the host of Q or any other show host on CBC does in his private life. Is this the 1950s?
The CBC doesn't need Stephen Harper's help to kill the CBC, apparently it will do it all by itself.
If anyone should be fired, it's CBC's senior management.
Lennea Oseen, Edmonton
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No to e-voting
Re When Hackers Rock The E-Vote (Oct. 27): When I voted on Monday, a notice before me in the polling booth warned about 14 corrupt practices. Two were voting without being entitled to do so and voting more times than allowed. People are adept in finding weaknesses in systems. With e-voting, how could we be certain that people are not selling their voting information? That there is not illegal multiple voting? That an authoritarian parent is not commanding family members to vote in a certain way?
Our paper-based system conducted in a secure, publicly regulated place is our best guarantee that our elections are being conducted in a free and fair manner.
Peter Woolstencroft, Waterloo, Ont.
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Define 'terrorist' act
What is a terrorist act? Are there certain elements that must be present to warrant this label? Is a criminal act by a self-appointed jihadi necessarily a terrorist act?
An agreed-upon definition would facilitate rational discussion and response to the horrific acts that have captured the na-tion's attention for the past week.
Mary Jane Chamberlain, Toronto
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Susan Bibeau is trying to make sense of her son Michael Zehaf-Bibeau and what he did; I ache for her as a mother (Gunman Left Video, RCMP Says – Oct. 27).
The thing with mental illness is, it doesn't fit in a box. You can't take it out and hold it, or look at it from every angle and arrive at The Understanding of what it is.
You can't say, "He should have done this" or "She should have done that" and "If only I, or they, had done more, this wouldn't have happened."
It is multilayered, multidimensional, fluid and insidious.
You can't help someone who doesn't want help, or who thinks they don't need it. But the more we talk about it, the more we write or think about it, the more we learn about it, maybe we will begin to understand it better, recognize it earlier and find ways to cope or help before it reaches a crisis point.
Mental illness is terrifying, to the person experiencing it and to those around. Is that what terrorism is? They say terrorism is external, ideological, organized; maybe it is also internal, pathological and chaotic. I hope our parliamentarians give as much time to studying this as they do to other kinds of terrorism.
Ioanna Sahas Martin, Ottawa
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The appalling murders in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa have been identified as terrorist acts, and whether that is right or wrong, the label will stick, because in the end it suits the government's cause.
I have little doubt that the Prime Minister must, in his more private moments, see this as the perfect opportunity to bring in draconian legislation to "further criminalize potential terrorists before they act," to borrow a remarkable phrase from your editorial (Back From The Brink – Oct. 25).
So my answer to the question posed on the front page of your newspaper on Saturday, How Far Should We Go? is: "Not too far. Please, not too far."
Nigel Brachi, Edmonton
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Your banner headline Saturday asked: How Far Should We Go?
To paraphrase a recent prime minister: Just watch us.
D.A. Pariser, Montreal
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Robocall's source
Re A Shaky Takedown (Oct. 27): In his scathing review of Michael Harris's new book, Party of One: Stephen Harper and Canada's Radical Makeover, Chris Hannay writes "no firm evidence exists there was a co-ordinated campaign of misleading robocalls anywhere outside of Guelph … let alone that any of it can be traced back to [Stephen] Harper's top brass."
Elections Canada received complaints from dozens of ridings, my own included. There have been two court cases involving seven different ridings in which the evidence led two judges to conclude that there was a co-ordinated effort.
Both judges found that the source of the phone numbers used in the effort to mislead voters was the Conservative Party data base, the Constituency Information Management System (CIMS). Judge Richard Mosley concluded "there was an orchestrated effort to suppress votes during the 2011 election campaign by a person or persons with access to the CIMS database."
It is true that no one knows who co-ordinated the effort. We must get to the bottom of the effort to defraud Canadians of their right to vote and we must do so before the next election.
Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party of Canada
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Stamp of disapproval
On Friday, I received the keys for the new community mailbox. Each bears the inscription, "Made in USA" (First Areas Stop Getting Door-To-Door Mail – Oct. 21). Are we not able to make equipment for Canada Post in Canada? Could we not have kept those jobs here?
Diana Burnett, Oakville, Ont.