‘David Johnston has sacrificed himself and his reputation’
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How sad it is, for himself and Canada, that a great man like David Johnston has sacrificed himself and his reputation to preserve the reputation and career of Justin Trudeau. Johnston is not the first Trudeau “friend” who has sacrificed or been sacrificed to preserve the prime minister’s reputation and vision of the future. Canada has lost many good men and women to Trudeau and his “vision.” It is time for Canadians to look realistically at ridding our country of his leadership.
Jonathan Usher, North York, Ont.
It was obvious and predictable that the appointment of a “special rapporteur” with any connections whatsoever to the parties at the centre of the Chinese interference investigation would not pass the smell test. An appointment of this nature must be arm’s-length.
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When this Liberal government was first elected, one of its major promises was to be “open and transparent.” When have we ever seen any evidence of this having taken place? On the contrary, it has often taken pains to be the opposite.
Winston Churchill said the following about denials: “Some people will deny anything, but there are some denials that will not alter the facts.”
Aldo Dolcetti, Richmond Hill, Ont.
David Johnston has concluded that intelligence about Chinese authorities attempting to intimidate members of Parliament with family in China failed to reach the minister of public safety because of “significant communications problems.” That’s absurd. Don’t telephones work in Ottawa?
Lee Eustace, Toronto
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Perhaps David Johnston’s handle should have been “special raconteur” rather than “special rapporteur.”
Robert Richards, Toronto
‘Safer supply’ a disservice to public health
Kudos to the National Post editorial team for having the courage to call out the federal government on its “safer supply” drug addiction program; for marshalling its journalistic resources to develop a fine piece of related investigative reporting by columnist Adam Zivo; and for encouraging other Post writers to weigh in on the flaws of this most recent catastrophic harm-reduction effort, specifically an excellent piece by Conrad Black.
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For far too long at both the federal and provincial levels of government in Canada, harm-reduction advocates, all too often wrongly identified as objective subject matter experts, have pushed drug-assisted treatment programs, needle exchange programs and, now, the safer supply drug initiative, as the only way to get drug-dependent Canadians clean and sober. Sadly, all that these programs have largely achieved is to delay death due to drug addiction, rather than prevent it.
This disservice to public health has occurred at the expense of abstinence-based addiction treatment programs, even though they have proven to drive a higher rate of recovery than harm-reduction programs, find favour with most employers because their employees must remain drug-free during and following treatment and, more often than not, help those receiving care to get their families, jobs and lives back.
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If the federal and provincial governments and their harm-reduction advocates truly understood the psyche of most addicts, they would seldom consider drug use as part of any addiction program because they would know they are giving them what they want, rather than what they need.
John Challinor II, Hope Place Centres, Halton Hills, Ont.
Jack Mintz a must-read on Alberta election
The National Post must be doing a really good job because it seems to be striking fear in the heart of the CBC. It “deactivated” a comment of mine that advised everyone in Alberta who plans to vote in the provincial election to read Jack M. Mintz’s column about what to expect if the NDP win the provincial election. I had included a link to provide readers with a quick and easy way to find Dr. Mintz’s commentary.
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Both Mintz and Dr. Trevor Tombe, whom he cites in his column, are University of Calgary economists who do not support any particular political party, but who do provide valuable economic insight and observations on the comments and actions of Canadian politicians.
Whatever happens in the May 29th election, the Post will undoubtedly provide the lens of acuity by which we can gauge whether the political party elected will be the best alternative to direct the province in these uncertain economic times.
Mary Anne Clarke, Calgary
Medical association should get off the fence on assisted suicide
Chris Selley is right to say that medicine is about diagnosis and treatment; he might have added that there never has been any disease for which the treatment is death. Lawyers started this precipitous lurch over the cliff, and government embraced it, but it was our most trusted profession which took it over. Now that it is available to the healthy, the irony is complete: doctors are killing the well, those who are simply socially deprived, lonely, sad or short of self-esteem. No doubt some doctors are feeling a little foolish and Selley is kind to consider how to “save them the indignity” of euthanizing the homeless by recruiting social workers to do it for them.
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But they can save themselves. The Canadian Medical Association, which from the beginning has sat stolidly on the moral fence, and then condoned the Colleges’ coercion of doctors to kill against their conscience, would bring about a much more plausible and effective turn of the tide than Ottawa ever could — by simply saying “This is not our job.”
Because it never was.
Dr. Richard R.J. Smyth, West Vancouver
Why recruiting is a challenge for the Armed Forces
It is important to consider the Armed Forces’ personnel shortage as more than just a recruiting problem.
Consider how long it took to make a decision on acquiring new fighter jets. Consider that the Forces only began replacing its WWII-era service revolver this year. Then there is the ongoing saga of mechanical problems and lead-tainted water on board the Navy’s new Arctic and offshore patrol ships. To say nothing of the decayed condition of Canada’s battle tanks.
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The men and women of Canada’s Forces are tasked with the defence of the nation. They must train for dangerous missions in arduous circumstances, fully cognizant that battle plans never survive first contact. Dilly-dallying with the acquisition and maintenance of modern equipment for those missions sends the message that civilian leadership does not take DND tasking seriously. It sends the message that the lives of those who must execute those missions are not a priority.
If the government continues to imply that the mission and the lives are not important, recruiting will remain a challenge. Innovative efforts can never succeed against such a callous approach to people and purpose.
Rabbi Sean Gorman, Toronto (retired Lt.-Cmdr., Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Navy)
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‘Mixed public/private health systems offer better care’
As successful business owners soon discover, the only sure and sustainable route to profit is excellence in product and customer care at a competitive price. But under single-payer health care as in Canada, the customer is captive, the price is not known, and there is no competition. This is why the countries (which is most other countries) with mixed public/private health systems offer better patient care, better health outcomes, and lower overall cost per capita than Canada.
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The Ontario program of privately operated clinics offering very limited services paid by the public system will offer competition in excellence of patient care and health outcomes, if not price. A very limited but useful first step.
Keep the full public paid system, but insert some competition to keep the system on its toes. Surely this is the way to go.
Jay Jeffery, London, Ont.
‘Canadians are feeling dismayed’ over loss of history
Such a heartfelt and honest piece by Peter MacKay. He summarizes very well how so many Canadians are feeling dismayed, abandoned and betrayed by the current Liberal government.
It is not toxic to be proud of your country’s history and legacy, something that Justin Trudeau and his ilk seem to be incapable of understanding, or prefer to deny. Those of us who remember Vimy and the Last Spike and Terry Fox are simply proud of our country and its achievements. The past supplies healthy building blocks that provide an important uniting strength and passion for the generations that follow.
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History does have warts. But trying to mask those blemishes by slathering our entire past with inoffensive “clip art” pablum is insulting, and does a tragic disservice to those who have gone before, and to all Canadians who feel this country is a nation, not a post-nation, with a history worthy of remembrance.
Bill Weaver, Casselman, Ont.
Dressing down the Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois can never form a government and they have no mandate to separate — the reason they were put there in the first place some 30 years ago. Yes, the Governor General, representing the head of state, wears expensive clothing in keeping with the ceremonial entitlements of office. But what is the leader of the BQ, other than an emperor in new clothes that Canadians keep paying for?
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Howard Greenfield, Montreal
Keep Trudeau at home
He did it again! At the G7 conference in Japan, Justin Trudeau’s lecture to the Italian prime minister about LGBTQ rights got him front-page coverage, but not the kind he hoped for. Milan’s Liberto newspaper called our PM a “buffoon” and displayed a photo of him in blackface. An Australian Sky News host accused him of “mansplaining” and called him “repugnant” and “incompetent.”
Canada is becoming a joke on the world stage. Is there some way Parliament can enact a law that states Trudeau cannot leave Canada without the written consent of at least 20 million Canadians of voting age?
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George Ferrall, Orleans, Ont.
Schooling ‘potential drug addicts of the future’
Now that a B.C. school district is investigating a presentation to high school students on how to safely prepare for drug consumption, we can only hope the investigation includes the quality of the straws and cutting cards provided. Did the straws and cards meet global standards for greenhouse gases? If they were oil-based, were the carbon offsets provided? Why were condoms only mentioned, and not provided? Was there information on how to obtain an abortion should those measures fail? And there is much more that government-funded services apparently provide, but which the speaker failed to mention at this presentation.
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If the school system is to be trusted to support and develop these potential drug addicts of the future, we all have a responsibility to ensure it is done to the highest standards possible. After all, we would not want Canada to lag behind other developed countries.
Barbara Okun, Scarborough, Ont.
Cancellation was an insult to Indigenous people
As usual, Melissa Mbarki is absolutely right. Too often, events are cancelled out of fear of offending. Problem is, Indigenous people and others don’t get to decide for themselves whether they’re offended or not.
It’s an incredible insult for anyone to decide that others should be offended. I’ll decide that for myself, thank you, should be the response.
Jerry Pryde, Stoney Creek, Ont.
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