Letters, Feb. 5

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2025 (249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada needs resolve

Re: Back from the brink of a trade war (Feb. 4)

Adopting American titles like “fentanyl czar” and capitulating to the whims of the U.S. president by agreeing to a non-existing drug problem is just a way of fuelling the tyrant’s aspirations to make us No. 51. Where is the resolve to keep Canada out of the cesspool?

My advice to the prime minister is to take a page out of his father’s book, do a pirouette and give him the Trudeau salute. Let’s keep our lunch money away from that bully.

Bill Lopuck

Winnipeg

Our government has the unenviable task of dealing with a narcissistic pathological liar who is currently dismantling the fabric of his own country’s institutions with little to no pushback.

The rapid-fire approach appears to have triggered a paralysis of sorts. Trump is able to manufacture “emergencies” at will to excuse a multitude of executive orders. He is distressed by the drug crisis and suggests fentanyl flooding across our northern border is killing Americans. At the same time he pardons Ross Ulbricht who, as founder of the dark web’s “Silk Road”, facilitated the marketing of over US$200 million in illegal drugs (approx. value of the 19 kg of fentanyl seized at the Canadian border).

Our politicians respond in measured and constrained ways — a diplomatic necessity, I suppose. Many Americans seemingly hate their “fellow” Americans and the current U.S. government is simply fanning those flames. I don’t think we should assume they care about Canadians. Snowbirds in Florida can’t talk to their neighbours who are brainwashed. Trump “doesn’t need Canada but wants Canada” — and Greenland, the Panama Canal, Ukraine’s rare earth metals, etc. He is a toddler in the checkout aisle. It’s unlikely that a conciliatory tone will quiet him. He should not be in the grocery store.

Trump and his bro billionaires (many of whom control media — print, broadcast, social media, etc.) desire power and money, the only distinguishing characteristic between them is the ratio. They are currently dismantling the checks and balances within their own country.

Canadians do not want to be absorbed into that shambolic nation which ironically calls itself the “United” States of America.

Stand strong.

Ethel MacIntosh

Winnipeg

I suggest that besides not buying American made goods and products, Canadians avoid shopping at American owned shops and stores. There are many: but Walmart, Costco, Home Depot and Rona (once Canadian owned but now a disguise for Lowes) come immediately to mind.

The many clothing stores are too numerous to mention. A wise shopper can discern ownership before making purchases.

B. Beare

Winnipeg

Let’s not be duped by a 30-day “pause” in the Trump tariffs. Surely the violent 20th century taught us appeasement doesn’t work; it signals weakness and invites further bullying. There is no such thing as a final payment to a blackmailer.

We are tightening up our border security along a line long touted by both countries as “the longest undefended border in the world” in order to choke off an imagined U.S.-bound flood of drugs and illegal aliens.

OK, let’s eliminate one Trump tariff excuse. But notice another tariff worthy offence has already surfaced — our failure to welcome American banks.

Recall, several large U.S. banks were implicated in the 2008 financial crisis and received handsome bailouts; Canadian banks weathered the storm on their own.

The U.S. drug problem is not one of supply. How many failed wars on drugs are required to prove the obvious? It’s a demand problem (economics 101). In the American money culture, as long as demand is high, the wildly profitable supply chain will continue to operate. And let’s not forget, the opioid crisis was a purely made in America phenomenon driven by a profit-hungry drug company.

Don’t dance in the streets. Instead buckle up for four rough years.

Norman Brandson

Winnipeg

Trump, the unifier

I consider U.S. President Donald Trump the greatest politician we have seen in years. Within a few weeks, he has single-handedly united Canadians in a way that would have been impossible to imagine even a few months ago. He has awakened an new sense of national identity and patriotic zeal within all who are fortunate enough to call Canada home.

Who else could have triggered a move towards the removal of interprovincial trade barriers and have French and English Canada unite in a common cause? Only he could have overseen the organization of a “Buy Canadian” movement that grows in popularity every hour.

Thank you, President Chump.

John Lehr

Winnipeg

No need for hate

Re: Brandon minister says church intimidated for LGBTTQ+ stance (Feb. 4)

I’m very disappointed to hear that Knox United Church in Brandon has received threats because of being an affirming church and accepting LGBTTQ+ community.

This is 2025 and there is no need for this hate and intimidation. We do not need to import this garbage from the states. We all have equal rights in this country. Jesus taught us to be accepting of people and Knox United is showing us this. If you are spewing hate, then you are showing us how small you are.

My church is also an affirming United Church. I stand with Knox United against this hate and anger towards the LGBTTQ+ community.

Leanne Hanuschuk

Winnipeg

The need for advance directives

Re: MAID and advance directives (Think Tank, Feb. 3)

Ruth Enns offers interesting thoughts about the implications of advance directives, especially as they relate to people who have been diagnosed with dementia in her op-ed.

However, quoting from two professors situated at Harvard University, who describe the directives as a “resounding failure”, risks a promoting a highly polarized opinion about an important option for people who want to ensure dignified passages.

Many people diagnosed with dementia (which has various types and symptoms) will have several years before they experience significant cognitive impairment. Therefore, the diagnosis itself should not nullify a person’s right to an advance directive.

An important safety measure could be for them to articulate exactly which criteria would apply for the person before a MAID process is implemented in the future, when their cognitive capacity has significantly deteriorated.

Examples include, but are not limited to, the inability to get out of bed in the morning, not recognizing any family members, inability to perform personal hygiene and reliance on tubing, greatly impaired mobility… while some readers might dispute these examples, we must all consider that what one person considers unbearable might differ from others and warrants respect.

I agree that adequate processes must exist to prevent measures motivated by expediency. However, in a world in which many aspects of living in a developed country have evolved (including cooling off the romance with judgemental religiosity), polarized opinions about MAID and advance directives should not be allowed to sentence people to literal (and preventable) living deaths.

Linda Chernenkoff

Winnipeg