5 days Ago By Letters
Re: Ontario school played Palestinian protest song in Arabic as its Remembrance Day music — Adrian Humphreys, Nov. 11; Nova Scotia principal ‘deeply sorry’ for requesting no uniforms on Remembrance Day — Chris Lambie, Nov. 8; and The woke takeover of Remembrance Day — Michael Higgins, Nov.
13 The recent statement by the principal of Sir Robert Borden High School in Ottawa that Remembrance Day is usually only about “a white guy who has done something related to the military” demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of those who sacrificed their all in preserving our freedoms. As a veteran of 40 years, I assure you that every military member served to protect all Canadians, even those who may not fully appreciate their sacrifice. He should be removed from his position immediately.
Col. (retired) C.C.
Johnson, Kanata, Ont. Wishing to show my respect for our veterans, I attended the Remembrance Day ceremony at Old City Hall in Toronto. I was stunned to hear the proceedings begin with not only a land acknowledgment, but also an African ancestral acknowledgement.
What does any of this have to do with honouring Canada’s proud military tradition? Such performative wokeism is unwelcome at the best of times, but incredibly inappropriate at an event such as this. Can we not pause the self-flagellation and cede the stage to our soldiers just for one day? Also, while I appreciate that Indigenous and Black veterans served Canada with honour, there was no reason to highlight their contributions or traditions. Those who fought for King/Queen and country did so as Canadians, and identity politics have no place in that equation.
We were there to celebrate all veterans. Simon Finch, Mississauga, Ont. Playing a Palestinian song, in Arabic, on Remembrance Day, in an Ontario school, in the name of “diversity” makes as much sense as having an Imam come in to deliver a sermon, in Arabic, in an Ontario Catholic church on a Sunday morning.
It was this insistence by progressives of shoving literally anything and everything down our throats in the name of diversity and inclusion that just got Donald Trump re-elected in the U.S. Damian Kanarek, Whitby, Ont.
How shameful, and sad, that there are “leaders” across the country who hijacked Remembrance Day in pursuit of their own misguided woke agenda. Here in Stratford, Ont., where, as usual, thousands gathered to pay tribute to our fallen heroes — including a significant number of school children — our service began with a special acknowledgement of the contributions of Canada’s native peoples in both world wars.
It was pointed out that they volunteered in large numbers and often overcame challenges that included travelling great distances to get to a recruitment centre and enduring prejudice. They did it because, like hundreds of thousands of their fellow Canadians from coast to coast, they were proud of their country and determined to serve it in the defence of freedom. That, told in myriad individual stories of sacrifice and bravery, is the sole message of Remembrance Day.
Lest we forget. Nancy McDonald, Stratford, Ont. At first, I blamed the principals at the Halifax-area Sackville Heights Elementary School and Sir Robert Borden High School in Ottawa for their gross missteps in cancelling the time-honoured way of commemorating Remembrance Day, in favour of their woke practices.
(I wonder if school principals are now being screened using the same vetting process for federal bureaucrats and contractors such as Laith Marouf.) However, we now find, in the case of Sackville Heights, that “trauma-informed” policy has been embedded in schools as part of “safetyism.” When will school boards rise above the penchant for pandering to minority voices in favour of teaching the basics, through which all students might achieve their potential? Thankfully, in both cases, the locals were appropriately enraged, forcing retractions and apologies by said officials.
How far have we fallen as a brave country where the ultimate price was paid in the fight for freedom in both World Wars, Korea and Afghanistan, to name a few. This is disgraceful and all Canadians need to let their elected officials know that our broken country needs to regain its cultural identity before we are relegated to the dustbin of history. Susan Silverman, Toronto Re: Five ways to prepare for Trump 2.
0 — Kevin Lynch and Paul Deegan, Nov. 13 “America First” does not mean America ignores the rest of the world. It means the interests of American citizens are the chief concern of the American government.
By contrast, Canada’s Liberal government seems to want the appease “the world,” chiefly by seeking accolades from the UN on immigration and climate change etc. with little concern about the unintended consequences to Canadian citizens. Justin Trudeau’s open-door immigration policy caused an artificial population explosion that exceeded this country’s capacity to absorb it and which swamped the job market, housing and governmental social nets in every province.
Trudeau’s climate agenda has cost billions of dollars, hasn’t appeased UN environmental critics (nothing we do ever will) and has accomplished virtually nothing other than cause Canadians’ cost of living to rise while lowering their standard of living. Canadians are struggling to pay the bills for a roof over their heads, day-to-day expenses and food. (Of course, MPs charging their travel and meals to the taxpayer while being highly paid don’t have any worries beyond retaining their place at the trough.
) Perhaps it’s time to put Canada first. Tony Borbely, Calgary Re: They are hunting Jews in Amsterdam. Canada could be next — Arsen Ostrovsky, Nov.
13 Arsen Ostrovsky warns that “radical Islam is a cancer that eats away at our way of life and sacrosanct values of freedom, tolerance, liberty and respect.” We tend to forget that the personal freedoms and prosperity we enjoy are fairly new. Our freedoms flow from the English, French and American revolutions and our prosperity derives from capitalism and industrial innovation.
The Islamic world failed to take advantage of these advances, as Bernard Lewis pointed out in his book “What Went Wrong?” Indeed, radical Islamists violently oppose western life as evidenced, for example, by the 9/11 attack on New York and the bombings in Paris, Manchester, London and Madrid. Our challenge is to ensure that immigrants from Islamic countries are educated in and accepting of Canadian values. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, however, the pace of immigration has been huge and we have failed to achieve these goals, as evidenced by the chaos in our streets and the rise in antisemitism.
As Ostrovsky suggests, look at Amsterdam if you want to know where Canada is heading. David Griller, Ottawa Justin Trudeau’s bleating condemnation of the recent Amsterdam antisemitic pogrom is rendered worthless by his failure to deal with antisemitic acts in Canada, such as the recent demonstration at the Shaar Hashomayim synagogue in Montreal; Jews were forced to escape through a back door. The hands-off attitude of the police at the Shaar mirrored the Toronto police officers who served coffee to demonstrators blockading a road at a Jewish neighbourhood.
We can expect them to soon adopt the Dutch police policy of allowing officers to refuse to protect Jewish sites because of “moral concerns.” At the highest level of government, Prime Minister Trudeau and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly have bowed to intimidation in their support of UNRWA, holding back the sale of military equipment to Israel and other symbolic gestures. At the bottom of government, the police are allowing the intimidation, thereby allowing it to grow.
How long before we have our own Amsterdam-style pogrom? Nathan Elberg, Cote Saint Luc, Que. I came to the conclusion years ago that our so-called national broadcaster is not a credible news source, especially as regards the Middle East. Nonetheless, every now and again a CBC piece slips through on my news feed.
I read the CBC article describing the Amsterdam pogrom, and compared it to the many others I had read. The CBC made much of the fact that Israeli fans had torn down a Palestinian flag and shouted anti-Arab slogans. Churlish behaviour by the Israelis — sure.
However, noticeably absent from the CBC article was the fact that the pogrom had been planned and organized well in advance of the soccer match, by what has subsequently been identified as a Dutch group with ties to Hamas. There was nothing spontaneous about it and it was not a response to Israeli soccer hooliganism. But if all you read was the CBC piece, you would have been left with the impression that the Israelis started it and got what they deserved, which is a total distortion of the truth.
In the spring of 2023, I had the privilege of hearing the late and sorely missed Rex Murphy speak at the Civitas Conference in Toronto. Murphy told the audience that when he was at the CBC, what he did was commentary and it was labelled commentary. Now, he said, what the CBC gives you is commentary but they label it news.
Pierre Poilievre has it right. It’s time to defund the CBC. E.
Joan O’Callaghan, Toronto Re: RCMP says it is ready for possible border influx and has learned lessons from first Trump presidency — Stephanie Taylor, Nov. 7; and Trump deportations are coming. Liberals have failed to get the border ready — Jamie Sarkonak, Nov.
14 With millions of asylum seekers having entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, there could be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands wanting to flee to Canada when President-elect Donald Trump starts his promised mass deportations.
Does the RCMP have the needed resources to deal with any such massive border intrusion? What about the Canada Border Services Agency? Trump has promised to concentrate firstly on deporting Tren de Aragua prison gang members from Venezuela and La Mara Salvatrucha (a.k.a.
MS-13) gang members from El Salvador, then those with the most serious criminal convictions. Canada’s national security will be seriously threatened if such illegals somehow get into this country. These illegals definitely do not want to be returned to their countries of origin where they would be imprisoned once again.
Does anyone truly believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who threw out an open invitation to all asylum seekers, is prepared for any possible border influx from America? Beefing up security at locations like Quebec’s Roxham Road and other uncontrolled possible entry points must be done now in preparation. Any influx could begin before Trump takes office in January. Larry Comeau (retired RCMP Superintendent), Ottawa Re: Ford got TMU to back off its race-based admissions.
He should go further — Randall Denley, Nov. 7 I often disagree with Randall Denley but he got this one exactly right. I also want to assert that his views about DEI are shared by a diminishing-in-numbers bunch of us leftists — we who have always adamantly opposed identity-based politics as a trend typically held by the far right! The rightward surge in the U.
S. (and Canada) is a backlash against unfairness and insult, and could lead towards dangerous extremism. I trust Denley will continue to man the barricades, and be that sensible conservative voice in support of liberalism, open debate and equality.
Robin Collins, Ottawa Re: We’re way beyond the slippery slope. We need new criteria for MAID — Shawn Whatley, Oct. 30 In recent years, certain medical policies have become increasingly dictated by activists and self-appointed experts recommending extreme solutions while stridently claiming that grievous harm will result if their recommendations aren’t followed.
The free distribution of powerful drugs to addicts, automatically affirming gender transition for young children and the ongoing rapid expansion of MAID are driven by a process with minimal public input and lacking in fact-based medical data. The most extreme example has been MAID, which according to Health Canada accounted for 1,018 deaths in 2016, climbing to 13,241 deaths in 2022, an astonishing increase. As the Liberal/NDP coalition tacitly supports these policies, it will fall to the Conservatives (if they win the next election) to pass legislation curtailing the use of MAID and launch a public inquiry to determine why the medical community is expanding its use so rapidly and what role activists have played in this.
Gary Krieger, North York, Ont. National Post and Financial Post welcome letters to the editor (200 words or fewer). Please include your name, address and daytime phone number.
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