Skip to main content
letters
Open this photo in gallery:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Canada is looking into ways to cancel a weapons deal with Saudi Arabia.LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images

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

..................................................................................................................................

‘An easy call’?

Re Ottawa Seeks Path To End Arms Contract With Saudis (Dec. 17): While it would be unfortunate that so many people in London, Ont., might lose their jobs with the cancellation of the Saudi contract, it is hard to justify the number of children dying in Yemen, partly at the hands of the Saudis. Add to that the Khashoggi killing and Saudi government’s ongoing brutality against its own citizens. Jobs versus lives? Seems like an easy call to make.

Ken Duff, Vankleek Hill, Ont.

..................................

It is unthinkable that this government would cancel this contract – there are hundreds of direct jobs at stake in London, Ont., not to mention spinoff jobs. There is also the question of billions of dollars in penalties. The Liberals are already running huge deficits, there is no room to increase them.

Trying to do “good” in the eyes of other nations is a fool’s game. Other countries will step up to build the armoured vehicles.

Anne Robinson, Toronto

..................................

If the government is so outraged over Saudi Arabia’s part in Jamal Khashoggi’s death, perhaps it should ban oil imports, along with nixing the arms deal. That would really show that Justin Trudeau supports the Canadian oil sector, which sends billions of dollars to Eastern Canada. When are Canadians going to wake up?

Gail Reinhart, Calgary

Friends in high places

Re Ontario Delays Appointment Of Taverner As OPP Head While Deputy Vows To Continue Legal Challenge (Dec. 17): The origin of the expression “Bob’s your uncle” – which means there you have it, or that’s the reason – has been said to have come from the surprising and unpopular appointment of Arthur Balfour to the post of Chief Secretary for Ireland, made by his uncle, Conservative prime minister Lord Robert Cecil in 1887. The suggestion of nepotism was difficult to ignore.

Today’s version would seem to be “Ford’s your friend.”

Tim Jeffery, Toronto

..................................

The controversy around the hiring of a new commissioner for the OPP is a public display of issues that often occur in the shadows, out of public view. From high office to entry-level positions, cronyism in hiring exists at all levels. A Forbes article on the subject earlier this year described how such cronyism is toxic and destructive to organizations, fostering a cabal of in-group loyalty, rather than loyalty to the organization’s mission. Morale suffers, efficiency is diminished, public trust is eroded and overall productivity declines.

In the private sector, eventually profits decline and shareholders demand corrective action. In the public sector, the stakeholders are the public and taxpayers are short-changed, financing the corrupt practices of cronyism. When such cronyism occurs in universities, colleges, hospitals, the police and government agencies, the corrupting influence permeates the whole society.

In Ontario, we lack watchdogs for this kind of behaviour and fail to hold those engaged in these kinds of corrupt practices accountable, at our peril. We cannot rely on the ethical integrity of those in power to stop cronyism. We need watchdogs with teeth to protect the public interest.

Siraj Waglay, Toronto

Huawei? No wei

Re Five Eyes Spy Chiefs Warned Trudeau Twice Of Huawei Risk (Dec. 17): In light of the Chinese government “detaining” (kidnapping?) two Canadians as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, I shudder to think how China would be able to punish Canadians once it is firmly embedded in our 5G network.

Huawei? No wei. Four out of Five Eyes have seen the light.

Graham Yates, Toronto

The (costly) irony

A historical item Saturday referenced a gathering of bilked investors in 1966 (Moment In Time, Dec. 15). Some 8,500 mostly naive people had lost $19-million on seemingly safe investments in Prudential Financial. Laws were supposedly changed to keep it from happening again.

But wait. The front of Report on Business delivered the news Saturday that thousands of naive investors have lost hundreds of millions on supposedly safe investments in Fortress Real Estate Developments (The Fall Of Fortress). Where are the regulators?

Doug Yungblut, Waterdown, Ont.

For the love of a pet

Re A Dog’s Life (Opinion, Dec. 15): The heart-wrenching and heart-warming account of Scout’s awful injury and recovery is a testament to the overwhelming power of courage, endurance, perseverance, but above all, love. It was hard to read, but so inspiring.

Sheryl Danilowitz, Toronto

..................................

I read Shawna Richer’s tale with some hesitation, as I recently took one of our cats to be euthanized. Jinx, an elderly feline with advanced liver failure, was a cherished member our household.

I commend the outpouring of emotions and the brave display of unconditional love narrated by Ms. Richer. It is a testament to the struggle any person fortunate enough to share their life with a companion animal goes through.

I was struck though by the rather harsh division of people into two general camps: “Those who’d do whatever it takes” to save a dying animal, and those who “see a broken animal as a costly nuisance, something that can be replaced.” This dichotomy appears again between “sensitive and powerfully empathetic” people who can “project themselves into another situation, whether it’s a suffering dog or a child dying of malnutrition” versus those who “actually have no capacity for empathy at all.”

This is an incorrect portrayal. More importantly, it is an unfair one. Many – in fact, most – people are stuck somewhere in the middle and forced to live with the crushing guilt of wanting to “do whatever it takes” but being unable to do so. In reality, only a small subset of the population lacks empathy and only a small subset of the population possesses the unrestricted means to pay for costly vet procedures.

For Ms. Richer, the tale is ultimately a happy one. For most people, however, it is not. The reality of living with companion animals is most likely grief for their eventual passing, made all the worse by the guilt of not being able to do more.

Ryan McVeigh, Orillia, Ont.

..................................

Too much space (four pages) was devoted to this article when many, many people in the world, including children and infants, are suffering illnesses.

Susan Buchanan, Stratford, Ont.

..................................

I cried my way through Shawna Richer’s beautifully written article. In the past few years, I have spent almost $5,000 for one of my cats (bladder-stone surgery) and $3,000 for my son’s dog (knee surgery) and don’t regret a dime. Any animals I’ve known are much nicer than most people. They give us unconditional love, which we have to repay by loving and taking care of them.

My thanks to Ms. Richer for reminding us how special they are.

Sharon Howes, Port Perry, Ont.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe