Canadian and American flags fly near the Ambassador Bridge at the Canada/U.S. border crossing in Windsor, Ont.Rob Gurdebeke/The Canadian Press
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Rain cheque
Re Stuck At The Border (Letters, June 23): While some may be fuming that the border closing has been extended, I for one wouldn’t touch the United States with a 10-foot pole. Considering COVID-19 and the political nature of vaccines, along with guns, Republicans and heat waves, there’s no hurry for me to travel south.
Besides, there’s a lot of catching up to do with my Canadian travels.
Peter Hambly Hanover, Ont.
Other means
Re Police Face Protest As Homeless Camps Cleared (June 23): Why couldn’t the city sit down with these people and reassure them about new shelters it was prepared to provide? Why didn’t the city help them move? Would that have been so difficult? I guess so, because the police dealt with it using force.
This is the call for police defunding: A small force should deal with violent criminals while other people are trained to deal with all other aspects of society, such as homelessness, mental impairment and legal demonstrations, with methods that don’t require tasers, guns, pepper spray and tear gas.
Police and other groups say more officers are needed to deal with gun violence. That would require society to deal with the age-old issues of racism, poverty, education and joblessness. Police are only reacting to the end results. They will likely never solve the problem.
David Bell Toronto
On the edge
Re A Leader On The Brink (June 19): “Anywhere I run, I am going to be running somewhere that a Green has never won before.” Has Annamie Paul considered Fredericton? Voters there sent a Green MP to Ottawa and now find themselves represented by a Liberal.
Maybe they’d be willing to elect a Green who they know will remain one for the duration of her term and beyond.
Anthony Cantor Toronto
I am a Green; Annamie Paul was my top choice in the recent leadership race. However, I am appalled by the profound failure of leadership I have seen. Ms. Paul did not facilitate dialogue or create deeper understanding of Israel-Palestine issues after a divisive controversy.
When a push to eject her arose, she maintained that it came from a small group of party officials “who are on their way out.” The disaffection runs much deeper than that. She accuses Greens like me, who are turning away from her, of being racist, antisemitic and sexist. She seems to ignore the responsibility she bears for our disappointment.
I joined the Green Party because it was the only party willing to tackle the most pressing issue of our time: the climate crisis. Unless we solve that, Israel-Palestine will be completely uninhabitable anyway, and neither Israelis nor Palestinians will be able to live there much longer.
Claudia Cornwall West Vancouver
Canada needs a strong Green Party and a strong Green leader. But in a few short months, Annamie Paul has managed to lose the confidence of Parliament’s small but devoted Green caucus and the party’s national council, and pivoted the party away from its entire reason for being: the environment.
The great challenge of our age is to move Canada away from its resource-dependent, grab-and-go, top-down economy to a more just and sustainable one. Its equal is to banish the scourge of racism to the history books.
A national tragedy is unfolding in the Green Party, for neither cause seems to be advancing under the new leader.
Clive Doucet Grand Étang, N.S.
What surprises me is that Annamie Paul is blaming everyone else, but I see no self-reflection on her lack of action regarding senior adviser Noah Zatzman’s comments.
One can have all the credentials in the world, but if one cannot inspire, lead and stand up for one’s own MPs, why would anyone want to follow?
Grace Batchoun Montreal
I wonder if those who describe Annamie Paul’s behaviour as being full of “hostility, superiority and rejection” might not have used descriptions such as “tough, forceful and determined” were she but a man! Just saying.
Taanta Gupta Toronto
Secure intelligence
Re They Called The Wrong Guy To The Bar (June 23): Columnist Andrew Coyne is not wrong, but is perhaps overly legalistic in finding against the government. It is also true that the courts refuse to reward plaintiffs with “unclean hands.” Having been subjected to political grandstanding by all of the parties at one time or another, it is not hard to recognize.
If the concern had been about national security, the national security and intelligence committee of parliamentarians would have been the place to raise it. Instead, the Conservatives politicized the issue and further withdrew representatives from the committee, threatening its future.
It is clear to me that politics trumps national security, and that those responsible for the CSIS Act were right to be concerned about the capability of parliamentarians to deal responsibly with such issues.
Presumably it will be Canadians, the ultimate judges, who will have to reach a conclusion as to who is in the right.
W.P.D. Elcock Ottawa
There is information a government cannot divulge even to the House of Commons about criminal investigations or closely guarded defence capabilities.
What would happen with sensitive security intelligence on the Winnipeg lab? First, Chinese intelligence agencies would analyze it to protect other espionage operations in Canada. Second, Canadian security services would have to edit briefings to senior officials to protect sources and methods. Third, close allies would review their information-sharing policies with Canada. Critical intelligence would no longer be given to us.
The national security and intelligence committee of parliamentarians was copied from Britain, where its model has operated successfully for decades. Intelligence materials are sanitized by experts. NSICOP has the mandate and staff to support parliamentarians reviewing sensitive issues.
Compelling a public servant to appear at the bar of the House of Commons, for protecting highly classified information, should have no place in our intelligence accountability procedures.
Greg Fyffe Former executive director, Privy Council Office Intelligence Assessment Secretariat; past president, Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies; Ottawa
Wish list
Re It’s A Bad Year For Ticks, And They’re No Longer Just A Rural Menace (June 22): There’s been much ado about the need for homegrown vaccine development and manufacturing capability. I suggest a vaccine against tick-borne Lyme disease would be an excellent place to start.
I would like to be at least as protected as my dog, and not have to dress like a total dork when I go for a walk.
Helga Rausch Kingston
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