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Wanted — a GG who doesn't treat the public treasury like a piggy bank

Jul 21, 2023

Re: GG Simon Neared $3M in First-Year Travel, Aug. 24.Given the immense cost and little utility we receive from the governor general, we should ask if we still need one. If my memory serves me right, the last time we needed a governor general in order to avoid a severe constitutional crisis was in 1926. So, let’s assume for a second that we may need a governor general once more in the next 100 years.

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The more relevant issue for the average Joe is that it feels like the Governor General has little connection to the issues that affect Canadians: lack of available and affordable housing, increasing costs of important items like food, medicine and transportation, along with high interest rates, low wages, etc. At the same time, the words and actions of the Governor General, and most people in leadership positions in our democracy, seem increasingly divorced from the population. And they constantly want more entitlements.

If we are going to continue to have a governor general, we should strive to find someone with the right qualifications who will serve at around minimum wage — i.e., has already made his or her living — and does not require a large entourage. Such a governor general would demonstrate a good situational awareness of Canadians and will get immediate credibility.André Corriveau, Ottawa.

It is painfully obvious that Canada is in trouble due to the feckless, divisive, ethically challenged leadership of our prime minister. If ousted from office, as he deserves to be, he will leave the country in worse shape than when he was first elected. To add insult to injury, he is responsible for appointing two individuals — Julie Payette and Mary Simon — who have brought dishonour on the office of governor general. It is time for Simon and Trudeau to be sent packing.Bob Erwin, Ottawa.

Millions of Canadians are resorting to food banks in order to feed their families. Thousands of Canadians are living on the streets, finding work difficult to obtain and daily expenses too much to handle. Our military lacks sufficient equipment to carry out even its most basic duties. And yet, there goes Mary Simon on four major overseas trips, at tremendous cost to the public purse. Does she have no sense of decency?Michael McCartney, Toronto.

Re: Peterson Can be Ordered to Take Social Media Training: Ontario Court, Aug. 24.Jordan Peterson’s framing of this professional conflict as a free speech issue is intellectually, morally and legally untrue. This dispute pertains to professional accreditation and branding, and who controls those rights — the individual or the collective in a democratic society.

Like every other psychologists in Ontario, Peterson was compelled to join the College of Psychologists of Ontario if he wanted to work as a psychologist. He did so because membership in that organization bestowed its stamp of approval on him, enhancing his professional influence. However, now that he’s a major media personality with global brand recognition, he believes he doesn’t have to conform to its professional standards.

If Peterson were reasonable and fair, he wouldn’t want to be associated with an organization whose views reject his. Instead, he demands that others abide by his rules and not their own. Such an asymmetric understanding of human rights is unbecoming of someone who wants to remain an accredited psychologist.Tony D’Andrea, Toronto.

I may or may not agree with the his opinions, but I believe Jordan Peterson has every right to express them, as long as no one is endangered. If you don’t agree, you can just ignore him. He broke no law. The college of psychologists should be embarrassed about its embrace of wokeism.Ian Box, Cambridge, Ont.

This ruling sets a terrible precedent that will undoubtedly be abused by the left-wingers currently infesting our institutions.

We, the people, need to be loud and forceful in pushing the infestation out. A good start would be demanding of our provincial governments some accountability in these professional organizations by enshrining into law that these governing bodies cannot interfere with the free speech of their members, nor can they reprimand or punish them for speaking their minds.

How can we be expected to trust in these institutions if they are working against our interests? This only strengthens my belief that our justice system no longer serves its purpose and has become deeply corrupted for ideological purposes.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.Corey Needer, Vaughan, Ont.

Re: Trudeau Slams Tech Giant for Blocking News During Fire Crisis, Aug. 22.If you’re getting your news from Facebook, Twitter or TikTok, you’re probably doing news wrong. Social media is a communication platform developed to share ideas, opinions and information specific to your personal preferences. It’s not really a source for objective news reporting and it often perpetuates misinformation.

If you want real news, then get it from actual sources that employ real journalists. All newspapers and news media outlets have their own apps that allow you to access them directly. Or you can actually buy news that’s printed on these big sheets of paper, called a “newspaper.”Bob Dawson, Sherwood Park, Alta.

Re: Net-Zero Plan Laughably Impossible, Adam Pankratz, Aug. 22.Adam Pankratz points out the enormous cost associated with meeting the Liberal government’s net-zero target for the electrical grid.

While he notes the huge differences in electricity sources between Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia, he does not emphasize the blatant unfairness of the “one size fits all” target. While Alberta is required to convert around 85 per cent of its generation from fossil fuels to renewables or other zero-emission sources, Ontario and B.C. are required to convert less than 10 per cent of theirs.

But, of course, no allowance has been made for the huge differences in starting points, as all provinces are subject to the same target date. Optimistically, one might have thought that our Confederation could have done better than the simplicity of this one-size-fits-all approach.

One can not blame residents of Alberta and Saskatchewan for wondering if the approach would be the same if it were Ontario that had to convert 85 per cent of its power grid, rather than the Prairie provinces.Bill Langford, Calgary.

Re: Always Late? You May Suffer From ‘Time Blindness.’ (Or Not), Aug. 23.I don’t think that I suffered from “time blindness,” defined in this article as a “cognitive symptom of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” which causes people, among other things, to be chronically late, though I admit to the latter fault when I grew up.

In fact, when I returned to visit my old high school when I was in third year university, I happened to come into the office at 1:05 p.m. The principle hadn’t seen me in almost three years, but when he saw me, he looked at the clock, and then at me again, and said, “Honig, you’re late again!”Eli Honig, Toronto.

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Re: GG Simon Neared $3M in First-Year Travel, Aug. 24.includedRe: Peterson Can be Ordered to Take Social Media Training: Ontario Court, Aug. 24.Re: Trudeau Slams Tech Giant for Blocking News During Fire Crisis, Aug. 22.Re: Net-Zero Plan Laughably Impossible, Adam Pankratz, Aug. 22.Re: Always Late? You May Suffer From ‘Time Blindness.’ (Or Not), Aug. 23.