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PM's promises
Re Justin Trudeau's Suggested Ethics (editorial, Oct. 24): A prime minister is supposed to embody the rule of law, not be its substitute. Before he became Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau had already shown little concern for the legal niceties. He expelled the Liberal senators without notice. He expelled elected MPs for alleged sexual misconduct without even hearing their side of the story.
Now our first-among-equals has made himself supreme authority in determining whether ministers have crossed the line in their fundraising activities.
Sunny ways by all means. But there's a saying in the legal profession: Lawyers are needed for rainy days, not sunny days.
Howard Greenfield, Montreal
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Liberal promiscuity knows no bounds. O how I wish I could rescind my preciously spent Liberal vote last year as easily as Justin Trudeau does his promises.
Je me souviens.
George Kraemer, Moncton
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And more promises
Perhaps we should not shed too many tears if the Prime Minister now seems to be coming around to the view that electoral reform will have to be shelved (Keen, Less Keen – letters, Oct. 21). His is a government often accused of lacking a sense of priorities – attempting too much, making too many promises, forgetting that to govern is to choose.
It would be hard to argue – whatever the case for or against replacing the first-past-the-post system – that it is an issue of the order of importance of the state of the economy, climate change, funding health care, pipelines or doing justice to First Nations.
If the experience of other respectable democracies is any guide, we may be sparing ourselves a national debate that risks being far more divisive, prolonged and distracting than those who launched it ever anticipated, and at a time when Parliament and the nation would be better occupied with other things.
James H. Taylor, Ottawa
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What do Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau have in common?
Each supports his country's electoral system if he wins.
Barbara Cameron, Toronto
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Just wondering
What shocked the Frankenstein Monster depicted in Brian Gable's editorial cartoon on Saturday?
Is it the prospect of being handed the Ontario Hydro bill?
Or is really the fact that the bill is being delivered to his door by a Canada Post letter carrier?
An actual letter carrier! Wow.
I know which I would be reacting to like that.
M.J. Saunderson, Kanata, Ont.
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Walloons say no
The key sticking point for the Walloons is the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement's foreign investor protection system. The Walloons want to plug two loopholes.
The first is the ability of U.S. companies to use CETA to sue Europe and its member states via Canadian companies where a U.S. company has substantial business operations in Canada.
The second is the ability of foreign investors to bring CETA claims against countries without attempting first to resolve their grievances in domestic courts where it would not be futile to do so. Both positions are reasonable and should be in CETA anyway.
Gus Van Harten, professor, Osgoode Hall Law School; Toronto
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Salutations to the Walloons who are targeting the "standard feature of Canadian trade and investor protection agreements with other countries" (Freeland Walks Out Of CETA Negotiations – Oct. 22). Since the 1980s and the rise of multinationals and "globalization," money has been "privatized." Decisions of trade tribunals trump provincial or municipal regulations which protect citizens and/or the environment. The members of those tribunals are appointed not elected.
You mention the opposition of several European countries, including Germany, over the issue of "sovereignty in settling legal challenges from big business." The Walloons are right to be concerned about the impact of the deal on European health and environment standards: The goal of Big Business is profit, not the health and well-being of citizens and, for sure, not the distribution of wealth. We know that.
Nancy Russell, Toronto
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Xu, hir or ze
Re The Professor Vs. The Pronoun Warriors (Oct. 22): I am a French and ESL teacher. Each day, students, with their amazing breadth of experience, force me to find new escape chutes for my prejudices and biases.
If a student presents one day as a girl, the next as a boy, the third as gender neutral, I try hard to accommodate her, him, xu, hir or ze. This is in accordance with the Toronto school board's guidelines for the accommodation of transgender and gender non-conforming students and staff.
Just learning the exact pronunciation of a student's name can sometimes take many attempts. The payoff – the knowledge that the student knows I care – is worth the intellectual effort required.
Anna Graham, Toronto
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At one time, our rights were spelled out: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to life, liberty and security of the person. They were few but they were sacred.
Now, it seems "rights" have become any principle any group declares them to be. We hear the "right" to pull your kids out of sex-ed, the "right" to refuse vaccinations for your children and the "right" to be addressed by artificial pronouns. Apart from the inherent silliness of the "right" to be called "ze," it puts basic, essential rights on the same footing.
Where will it end?
Doug Brandy, Ottawa
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Election saturation
I am thoroughly sick of the Canadian media's incessant focus on the U.S. election. I worry about the election but can do nothing about it – and we have enough to worry about on this side of the border, for example getting our Prime Minister to keep his promise about electoral reform.
That being said, against my better judgment I found myself reading How To Fix An American Election In Three Easy Steps (Oct. 22). John Ibbitson's point about biased polls really caught my attention because I worry about polls. I disagree that a bias in favour of Hillary Clinton could help her in the election. What I fear, and I mean fear, is that the wider the gap in the polls in her favour, the more likely it will be that lukewarm Clinton supporters will stay at home and leave Donald Trump as the winner.
I understand the discontent that is being voiced by many Americans. What I cannot understand is how so many of them can see Mr. Trump as a potential president.
Alison Watt, North Vancouver
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Next headline from the U.S. election: Trump Promises To Sue The Pants Off The Women Who Have Accused Him Of Sexual Harassment.
Jay Goldstein, Winnipeg