Canadians enjoy abundance, freedom and security virtually unmatched elsewhere. Yet we seem intent on frittering it away.
Government indecision and incompetence are rampant. Politicians seem to offer nothing but petty-minded demagoguery. Parochialism and divisiveness define our politics.
Where are leaders to encourage us to act as a unified nation? Who will exhort us to meet head-on myriad challenges? I look around, but I can’t see anybody.
Our nation’s future – and self-respect – are on the line. If our leaders won’t hold us to account, then maybe we need to do it ourselves. Perhaps Mr. Clark’s “modest suggestion,” that public-policy organizations convene “constructive discussions,” offers a way forward. Nothing else seems to be working.
Where do I sign up?
Neil MacdonaldToronto
Joe Clark’s thoughtful piece reminds me of a fear expressed by Robert Stanfield as he ended his career.
Mr. Stanfield said political parties, which historically built compromise among disparate Canadians, were being displaced by single-issue groups with no tolerance for compromise. He feared where that would lead us.
Mr. Stanfield was prescient. So what do we do now? Further to Mr. Clark’s experience, could ordinary Canadians, supported by experts who only provide the facts and the pros and cons, come up with sensible compromises to some of our nation’s most pressing issues?
How green, how soon? More immigration, less immigration? Higher deficits, lower deficits? Maybe ordinary Canadians could do that. They certainly couldn’t do worse than Parliament or the uncompromising “activists” who dominate national discussions.
Ian ThompsonHalifax
Civil debate
Re “When should protest be considered offside?” (Opinion, Nov. 18): Columnist Marsha Lederman continues to present balanced and thoughtful ideas based on fact and reason. But someone should tell her the days of moderation and respect look over.
This is the era of Donald Trump and Pierre Poilievre, when partisan obscenities are flown on flags. Elsewhere, I hear Justin Trudeau telling Canadians which thoughts or opinions are unacceptable. Debating in a civilized and truthful manner seems over.
On the other hand, having reached the ripe, old age of 60, I find Ms. Lederman’s columns have that warm glow of nostalgia. We can dream of a time when sharing reasonable viewpoints didn’t jeopardize personal safety or job security.
My only question is: Can we go back in time?
Robert McManusHamilton
Doctor in the house?
Re “Canada needs doctors – so why is the country forcing Canadian physicians into exile?” (Opinion, Nov. 18): I hope our federal and provincial health ministers read this. It points out that applying to medical school in most countries is highly competitive, but applying to Canadian medical schools is even more restrictive, with only about 3,000 positions available a year.
The consequences of this restrictive policy is that many well-qualified applicants have to study abroad. A former dean of medicine at the University of Toronto states that “many Canadian schools could triple their intake with no measurable change in the capability of their graduates.” Yet international graduates still face barriers and red tape in trying to return to Canada, while at the same time we have significant shortages of physicians.
In my opinion, it is time for our health ministers to have the political will and courage to facilitate change, to alleviate physician shortages and strain on the health care system.
Eric PaineLondon, Ont.
Canada absolutely needs more physicians (and nurses, social workers and myriad other health professionals). But leaving aside whether a “calling” for medicine is sufficient to be guaranteed a residency spot, Canadians studying medicine abroad should be aware of limited domestic residency spots before embarking on training in places such as Ireland or the Caribbean, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Residency programs are a critical part of medical education and need capacity to accommodate all qualified Canadian medical graduates. If training capacity could be increased, it would still be limited by the availability of educators and clinical encounters.
It should be noted that the second round of the residency-matching process is generally open to all applicants. This round is still very competitive, certainly. But having reviewed and interviewed residency applicants who completed MDs outside Canada, I’d suggest that these candidates review match-eligibility criteria more thoroughly.
Are we prepared to put a new medical school in Cornwall, Kawartha Lakes, Manitoulin Island etc.? New medical schools should provide new graduates to all jurisdictions in need, in all of Canada.
China is well documented to be engaging in uncontrolled fishing all over the world. Given the precarious state of many seafood stocks, we should send a message that China’s way of doing business is unacceptable.
I personally never eat seafood that comes from China, whether it is produced by slave labour or not.
Jane McCallDelta, B.C.
Aside from the wrenching issue of forced labour, I lost trust in the safety of any food sourced from China more than a decade ago, after the scandal of infant formula contaminated with melamine.
Consequently, we go to considerable lengths to avoid buying any foodstuffs originating in China. Period.
A local missionary family, who happened to be Canadian, invited us to a teetotal lunch which featured Kool-Aid and a jellied salad. “If that’s what they eat in Canada, we’re not going,” declared my father.
My mother calmed him down, and a year later we did arrive in Canada. But a jellied salad was never seen on our table.
Anne Moon Victoria
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The New Democrats have declared a federal byelection victory in their Winnipeg stronghold riding of Elmwood—Transcona.
The NDP candidate Leila Dance told supporters in a tearful speech that even though the final results weren’t in, she expected she would see them in Ottawa.
With several polls still to be counted, Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds conceded defeat and told his volunteers that they should be proud of what the Conservatives accomplished in the campaign.
Political watchers had a keen eye on the results to see if the Tories could sway traditionally NDP voters on issues related to labour and affordability.
Meanwhile in the byelection race in the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun the NDP, Liberals and Bloc Québécois remained locked in an extremely tight three-way race as the results trickled in slowly.
The Liberal stronghold riding had a record 91 names on the ballot, and the results aren’t expected until the early hours of the morning.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
VANCOUVER – An incumbent BC United legislative member has reversed her decision not to seek re-election and has announced she’ll run as an Independent in the riding of West Vancouver-Capilano in the upcoming British Columbia election.
Karin Kirkpatrick has been a vocal critic of BC United Leader Kevin Falcon’s decision last month to suspend the party’s campaign and throw support behind the B.C. Conservatives under John Rustad.
Kirkpatrick announced her retirement this year, but said Monday that her decision to re-enter the race comes as a direct result of Falcon’s actions, which would force middle-of-the-road voters to “swing to the left” to the NDP or to move further right to the Conservatives.
“I did hear from a lot of constituents and a lot of people who were emailing me from across B.C. … that they didn’t have anybody to vote for,” she said. “And so, I looked even at myself, and I looked at my riding, and I said, ‘Well, I no longer have anybody to vote for in my own riding.’ It was clearly an issue of this missing middle for the more moderate voter.”
She said voters who reached out “don’t want to vote for an NDP government but felt deeply uncomfortable” supporting the provincial Conservatives, citing Rustad’s tolerance of what she calls “extreme views and conspiracy theorists.”
Kirkpatrick joins four other incumbent Opposition MLAs running as Independents, including Peace River South’s Mike Bernier, Peace River North’s Dan Davies, Prince George-Cariboo’s Coralee Oakes and Tom Shypitka in Kootenay-Rockies.
“To be honest, we talk just about every day,” Kirkpatrick said about her fellow BC United incumbents now running as Independents. “We’re all feeling the same way. We all need to kind of hold each other up and make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
She added that a number of first-time candidates formerly on the BC United ticket are contacting the group of incumbents running for election, and the group is working together “as good moderates who respect each other and lift each other up.”
But Kirkpatrick said it’s also too early to talk about the future of BC United or the possibility of forming a new party.
“The first thing we need to do is to get these Independent MLAs elected into the legislature,” she said, noting a strong group could play a power-broker role if a minority government is elected. “Once we’re there then we’re all going to come together and we’re going to figure out, is there something left in BC United, BC Liberals that we can resurrect, or do we need to start a new party that’s in the centre?”
She said there’s a big gap left in the political spectrum in the province.
“So, we just have to do it in a mindful way, to make sure it’s representing the broadest base of people in B.C.”
Among the supporters at Kirkpatrick’s announcement Monday was former longtime MLA Ralph Sultan, who held West Vancouver-Capilano for almost two decades before retiring in 2020.
The Metro Vancouver riding has been a stronghold for the BC Liberals — the former BC United — since its formation in 1991, with more than half of the votes going to the centre-right party in every contest.
However, Kirkpatrick’s winning margin of 53.6 per cent to the NDP’s 30.1 per cent and the Green’s 15.4 per cent in the 2020 election shows a rising trend for left-leaning voters in the district.
Mike McDonald, chief strategy officer with Kirk and Co. Consulting, and a former campaign director for the BC Liberals and chief of staff under former Premier Christy Clark, said Independent candidates historically face an uphill battle and the biggest impact may be splitting votes in areas where the NDP could emerge victorious.
“It really comes down to, if the NDP are in a position to get 33 per cent of the vote, they might have a chance of winning,” McDonald said of the impact of an Independent vote-split with the Conservatives in certain ridings.
He said B.C. history shows it’s very hard for an Independent to win an election and has been done only a handful of times.
“So, the odds do not favour Independents winning the seats unless there is a very unique combination of circumstances, and more likely that they play a role as a spoiler, frankly.”
The B.C. Conservatives list West Vancouver School District Trustee Lynne Block as its candidate in West Vancouver-Capilano, while the BC NDP is represented by health care professional Sara Eftekhar.
Kirkpatrick said she is confident that her re-entry to the race will not result in a vote split that allows the NDP to win the seat because the party has always had a poor showing in the riding.
“So, even if there is competition between myself and the Conservative candidate, it is highly unlikely that anything would swing over to the NDP here. And I believe that I have the ability to actually attract those NDP voters to me, as well as the Conservatives and Liberals who are feeling just lost right now.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Egypt on Tuesday for his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, this one aimed partly at refining a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire deal and release of hostages.
Unlike in recent mediating missions, America’s top diplomat this time is traveling without optimistic projections from the Biden administration of an expected breakthrough in the troubled negotiations.
Also unlike the earlier missions, Blinken has no public plans to go to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on this trip. The Israeli leader’s fiery public statements — like his declaration that Israel would accept only “total victory” when Blinken was in the region in June — and some other unbudgeable demands have complicated earlier diplomacy.
Blinken is going to Egypt for talks Wednesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and others, in a trip billed as focused both on American-Egyptian relations and Gaza consultations with Egypt.
The tamped-down public approach follows months in which President Joe Biden and his officials publicly talked up an agreement to end the war in Gaza as being just within reach, hoping to build pressure on Netanyahu’s far-right government and Hamas to seal a deal.
The Biden administration now says it is working with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to come up with a revised final proposal to try to at least get Israel and Hamas into a six-week cease-fire that would free some of the hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Americans believe public attention on details of the talks now would only hurt that effort.
American, Qatari and Egyptian officials still are consulting “about what that proposal will contain, and …. we’re trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.
The State Department pointed to Egypt’s important role in Gaza peace efforts in announcing last week that the Biden administration planned to give the country its full $1.3 billion in military aid, overriding congressional requirements that the U.S. hold back some of the funding if Egypt fails to show adequate progress on human rights. Blinken told Congress that Egypt has made progress on human rights, including in freeing political prisoners.
Blinken’s trip comes amid the risk of a full-on new front in the Middle East, with Israel threatening increasing military action against the Hezbollah militant organization in Lebanon. Biden envoy Amos Hochstein was in Israel on Monday to try to calm tensions after a stop in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has one of the strongest militaries in the Middle East, and like Hamas and smaller groups in Syria and Iraq it is allied with Iran.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged strikes across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas started the war in Gaza. Hezbollah says it will ease those strikes — which have uprooted tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border — only when there’s a cease-fire in Gaza.
Hochstein told Netanyahu and other Israeli officials that intensifying the conflict with Hezbollah would not help get Israelis back in their homes, according to a U.S. official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks, said Hochstein stressed to Netanyahu that he risked sparking a broad and protracted regional conflict if he moved forward with a full-scale war in Lebanon.
Hochstein also underscored to Israeli officials that the Biden administration remained committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the tensions on Israel’s northern border in conjunction with a Gaza deal or on its own, the official said.
Netanyahu told Hochstein that it would “not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.” The prime minister said Israel “appreciates and respects” U.S. support but “will do what is necessary to maintain its security and return the residents of the north to their homes safely.”
Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, warned in his meeting with Hochstein that “the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action,” his office said.
In Gaza, the U.S. says Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal in principle and that the biggest obstacles now include a disagreement on details of the hostage and prisoner swap and control over a buffer zone on the border between Gaza and Egypt. Netanyahu has demanded in recent weeks that the Israeli military be allowed to keep a presence in the Philadelphi corridor. Egypt and Hamas have rejected that demand.
The Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. Militants also abducted 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. About a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, said Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count. The war has caused widespread destruction, displaced a majority of Gaza’s people and created a humanitarian crisis.
Netanyahu says he is working to bring home the hostages. His critics accuse him of slow-rolling a deal because it could bring down his hardline coalition government, which includes members opposed to a truce with the Palestinians.
Asked earlier this month if Netanyahu was doing enough for a cease-fire deal, Biden said, simply, “no.” But he added that he still believed a deal was close.
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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
