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Faster border isn’t a win
I believe The Globe and Mail’s editorial board and our Prime Minister may be seriously underestimating the extent to which the world will change when Donald Trump assumes the presidency. For example, both The Globe and Justin Trudeau view the recent agreement with the United States with regard to transborder travel as a victory. The devil is in the details (A Faster Border, Dec. 14).
We have been told that this is just like the present prescreening arrangements in place at some Canadian airports. It is not. U.S. border guards in Canadian airports have the right to question, but not to detain Canadian citizens. The new arrangements will allow armed U.S. border guards on Canadian soil to detain Canadians.
Under the current arrangements, U.S. border guards must obey Canadian laws. The new arrangements do not allow Canadian law enforcement to arrest or charge U.S. border guards for actions taken while on the job. The U.S. may choose to act, but it will be entirely up to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
This is will not be a U.S. administration with great love of the law. The president-elect has clearly stated his preference for torture. He has advocated the murder of family members of people he considers enemies of the United States. It is his appointee who will oversee the behaviour of the border guards to whom we are about to give sweeping powers.
I would rather a somewhat longer wait at the border than to give such powers to Donald Trump’s Homeland Security.
Paul Rosenbaum, Kingston
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Cash. Politicians. Access. Repeat
Justin Trudeau keeps saying he won’t be bought for $1,500. Does the Prime Minister think we are fools? You can bet the rich people who buy these tickets are not attending to help Mr. Trudeau take more tax money from them to help the middle class.
In fact, it would be very interesting to find out how much Canadian taxes these affluent attendees have been paying, since it’s well known that the rich have the money to hire lawyers to create offshore companies to avoid paying taxes. And who ends up paying the bill for tax avoidance? You guessed it!
The middle class.
Diane Randall, Markham, Ont.
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Justin Trudeau needs to stop trying to deodorize something that just plain stinks. It’s not about whether he thinks he is doing something wrong.
Canadians actually care whether their leaders take the high road and set a good example. They understand that it is the appearance of what the Prime Minister is doing that often outweighs what the person may or may not have done.
We still remember the Liberals’ campaign promises around openness and transparency. We hope Mr. Trudeau remembers them, too, before he recasts himself as the type of leader that he helped remove from elected office.
Peter Robertson, Oakville, Ont.
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What is interesting about this ongoing saga is how each day seems to bring a new revelation regarding what actually occurs at a Liberal fundraiser. It is stunning to hear how “tone deaf” our Liberal friends are on this issue; it underscores the sense of entitlement emanating from Ottawa. To hear our PM tell us that neither he nor his party is influenced by these events and discussions is disingenuous.
We saw what happened in the U.S. when politicians stopped listening to what voters are saying. The Liberals need to heed this message. There is a quiet majority who are not part of the public consultations, yet are coming to the conclusion that the political elite simply do not change their stripes.
T.P (Terry) Bourne, Oakville, Ont.
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As usual, Elizabeth Renzetti ‘s column last Saturday was right on the mark (The $1,500 Question: Where Did The Liberals’ Transparency Go?). I would love to attend one of her new-fangled fundraisers and believe I qualify on two fronts: retired, middle class (with young-adult children).
But I don’t think we should waste too much time trying to figure out who’s in the MTB (Magnate, Tycoon, Billionaire) fundraising room. Let’s just keep an eye on those who are scanning ads for diamond and emerald jewellery, golden baubles and fur coats these days.
For that crowd, $1,500 is just a stocking stuffer.
Margot Brunelle, Halifax
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Speaking of Donald Trump …
Re To Rein In Trump, Canada Needs Brian Mulroney (Dec. 14): Lawrence Martin says “precious few” Canadians speak highly of Donald Trump. That’s certainly true of the Canadian media as a whole; almost every pundit bet the farm on a president Hillary Clinton.
The president-elect’s choice of Exxon Mobil’s CEO as secretary of state is being scorned because of Rex Tillerson’s previous dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Surely it is far better to have friends rather than enemies, yet the West seems forever to want to prolong only Cold War relationships with Russia.
This brouhaha about the CIA determining Russian interference in the U.S. election may be viewed differently by remembering the CIA’s role in determining that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Those WMDs were non-existent, but the CIA’s intelligence (now there’s a classic oxymoron) sadly helped precipitate the Iraq war, and a decade of American troops on the ground there.
Bernie Smith, Parksville, B.C.
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The buzz is that the Russians were hacking to help the Trump campaign, but as everyone knew, Hillary Clinton was going to win. Should we consider that they were simply trying to hack the future president and didn’t really give a hoot about The Donald?
Philip A. Russel, Toronto
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