Letters, Jan. 25

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/01/2025 (428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A disturbing demand

Re: Trump demands an apology from bishop who asked him to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTTQ+ people and migrants (Jan. 21)

Of all the chilling acts U.S. President Donald Trump has committed since embarking on his lunatic rampage mere days ago, somehow the one that has horrified me most is his demand that Bishop Mariann Budde apologize for imploring him to show mercy and compassion towards undocumented workers and LGBTTQ+ people.

That demand — so monstrous and terrifying in its arrogance — encapsulates the spirit of Trump’s regime. His rejection of her plea testifies to an implacable hardening of the heart, a repudiation of basic humanity — and yet throughout his campaign, he has represented himself as a Bible-revering Christian and is exalted as such by an appalling array of fundamentalist leaders. This cynical, brazen, evil distortion of the commandments of Jesus, and the propagation of that distortion to the ignorant, incenses me.

Budde’s exhortation to mercy and compassion is exactly in the spirit of Christ, and was delivered with incredible gentleness. Jesus unfailingly spoke truth to power, and everyone who calls himself a Christian is called upon to do the same. He confronted the self-righteous “religious” people of His day with their hypocrisy and condemned it relentlessly — and that is exactly what got him crucified, by hypocrites exactly like Trump and his cronies. Jesus demanded that people stop paying lip service to God and instead act righteously, and told us precisely and specifically what that means:

It means to plead the cause of the widow and orphan, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the poor and the weak, and protect the helpless and the stranger in our midst. Trump and his band of rapacious cowards can claim to be Christian all they want — but remember: God is not mocked. God bless and protect all who, like Budde, have the courage, integrity and true Christianity to speak out against inhumanity and oppression!

Reena Kreindler

Winnipeg

Purchasing power

Re: “Supporting Canada” (Letters, Jan. 24)

I agree wholeheartedly with Gerald Trudeau’s letter about buying Canadian.

We have very good consumer labelling in this country and determining where goods are produced is not hard, even without a “Made in Canada” sticker.

During the world wars, Canadians grew victory gardens. Maybe I’ll expand the garden a bit and grow some more fruits and vegetables to dry, can and freeze. We have many local producers of meat, fish and dairy. There are many alternatives to Florida orange juice for vitamin C, some growing in my yard or the bush behind. And in the meantime, those oranges from Peru are pretty good, as are the grapes from South Africa and the avocados from Mexico.

My dog’s food is made in Canada, as are her liver treats. And my local vet clinic is a locally owned business, unlike some of the alternatives.

I won’t be buying anything from the guys who deliver their foreign wares in the big gas-burning trucks with the tiny wheels that keep getting stuck on my street. And as I continue to downsize, I’ll be posting lots of items in my local Buy Nothing group so my neighbours don’t have to either.

My old car is going to need to be replaced sooner or later, and I’m pretty sure at least one major appliance is going to fail. I’ll be reading the labels.

So as Manifest Destiny 2.0 unfolds and Team Canada, a couple of blue bricks short of a load, dithers, I’ll be reading through the seed catalogues in the comfort of my living room, lit and heated by our own Crown corporation, sipping some Ontario wine.

Lorna Leader

Winnipeg

A plan for Ukraine

Re: Kremlin scoffs at Trump’s claim that a drop in oil prices will help end Ukraine conflict (Jan. 24)

Well the solution is simple. Trump just needs to make Ukraine the 51st state. That sadly means Canada would then be relegated to the 52nd state in rankings but this does align with his promise and desire to expand the U.S. geographically and makes the new territory part of NATO, pulling all of its members into the conflict (provided the U.S. is still a member of NATO in the coming weeks).

The U.S. gets a sizable foothold in the region and access to the precious metal reserves Ukraine sits on that this war is more about than people seem to want to discuss, and as Putin’s new neighbour Trump can slap a 25 per cent tariff on Russia on Day 1 to help raise funds to rebuild and repair the damage done to Ukraine during the war.

It may sound insane, but insane also aligns with a lot of what Trump has been saying when it comes to global affairs. I’m sure Zelenskyy might have some strong feeling on this approach, but why let foreign sovereignty get in the way of a good plan, right?

It’s always strange days when reality is stranger than fiction, and fiction doesn’t sound much different than reality.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

Reconsidering EV tariff

If “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and apparently “there are no rules in a knife fight,” now that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to impose 25 per cent tariffs on the “51st state,” would it be reasonable — in the dual interests of mitigating manmade climate change and electric vehicle affordability — to drop the 100 per cent tariff (implemented when we were in lockstep with the U.S.) that we put on $10,000 Chinese EVs?

Andy Maxwell

Winnipeg

Sources of hope

Re: In step with dinosaurs (Jan. 20)

Maximilian Scott is one of many Earth-friendly representatives of younger generations who offer hope in times of seemingly blind-to-science destruction and the decline of moral and ethical values. The question of what it means to be a human has long been a theme among artists and philosophers, and is now becoming more of a topic for historians, environmentalists and everyday people, and is slowly entering the world of politics.

Questions of quality of life and the very continuance of the human species are commonplace and major anxiety-inducers to both young and old. Scott illustrates the vital nature of these issues in his references to both rapid climate change and human responsibility for the extinction of life forms around the planet.

Scott, along with many young researchers and writers in diverse fields of study, are picking up the gauntlet of advocacy for Earth-friendly research and values.

As an older person I enthusiastically welcome these younger, passionate voices of hope. While offering glimmers of optimism, these voices also bring into focus the urgent need for public awareness and discussion of what it means to be human, and what roles personal and corporate responsibility, and so-called capitalist structures, play in defining the future of humanity.

The fact that a young paleontologist from Michigan, studying in Manitoba is bringing such valuable information with a hopeful attitude to the world puts a huge smile on my face. Even better, he is not the only source of research and hope. He is only one of many.

Garrett Loeppky

Winnipeg