Mainaklot: Letters: Maybe Justin Trudeau needs more time off

Readers note the PM has lots of free time but no time to visit Israel, and discuss such other matters as Susan Sarandon's antisemitic remarks

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seen at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 2023, has marked 25 per cent of his calendar as "personal" since taking office. Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

PM has lots of personal days, but no time to visit Israel

Re: Trudeau devotes a quarter of his time to ‘personal days’: data — Glen McGregor, Nov. 20

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Isn’t it wonderful that our privileged prime minister has been able to enjoy 680 personal days since taking office in 2015. Most Canadians can only wish or pray for that kind of time off work.

And though he does make time to attend international conferences, where he blunders his way with world leaders and plunges Canada’s global profile even lower, Trudeau does not have the time or interest to travel to the Mideast to see the real situations facing the people of Israel and Gaza.

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Yet five Canadian MPs, both Liberal and Conservative, have made the effort to travel and show Canada’s solidarity with the Israeli people. I sincerely congratulate Anthony Housefather — the Liberal backbencher who is not afraid to speak up, stand up and go against the rhetoric spouted by Trudeau and his ministers — and this whole bipartisan group, Conservatives and Liberals alike.

I wish them safe travels and extend appreciation from Canadians who want to know the truth.

Douglas MacLean, Canmore, Alta.

Glen McGregor’s report noted that our prime minister registers 25 per cent of his time as personal days. Perhaps this is not such a bad thing. Maybe our country would be better off if he took 365 personal days a year, with one extra on leap years.

Jerrold Landau, North York, Ont.

So much for fiscal restraint

Re: FIRST READING: Trudeau says he’s exercised ‘fiscal restraint.’ That’s … not true — Tristin Hopper, Nov. 21

While it’s distressing to see our national debt interest at $50 billion, it should be noted that this excludes the net interest losses the Bank of Canada will realize from buying $400 billion of Canada bonds the market couldn’t absorb during the pandemic binge. C.D. Howe says this could be as much as another $8.8 billion, as the Bank of Canada finances them with much more expensive current debt. All this borrowing wasn’t really at rates so low we couldn’t afford not to borrow.

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In addition, is it intellectually honest to say we have the lowest debt in the G7, while the apples-to-oranges comparison is to much stronger, largely unitary states that have little sub-sovereign debt? Among the G20, including sub-sovereign debt, we are in the bottom third. It is after all the same taxpayers who fund federal and provincial interest.

Ian Sutherland, Oro-Medonte, Ont.

‘Hate speech violates the social contract of civil society’

Re: Israel attacked, mass confusion about free speech ensues — Chris Selley, Nov. 22

Chris Selley’s commentary contains some valid points, but he appears to have difficulty coming to terms with the hate speech that has become commonplace in Canada. He dances on the head of a pin in doing so.

Hate speech violates the social contract of civil society. Denying the crimes perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7 by resorting to legal terms like “alleged” makes a mockery of truth. The perpetrators were proud of their deeds, and journalists and others who have viewed the videos they took are not describing it as alleged to have happened.

We do not need the courts or police to help us understand hatred. We can plainly see it in the denial, the demonstrations with people who hide their identities behind masks and kefiyahs, the fist fights on campuses, the vandalism and graffiti, the threats and bullying in schools, and so on.

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It takes some courage to say that this will destroy our society if we allow it to continue. I hope Mr. Selley finds the courage to stop hiding behind these terms that distance us from the truth.

Barbara Okun, Scarborough, Ont.

A rare Rex Murphy error

Re: Trudeau would fail miserably if we faced half the crisis Israel has — Rex Murphy, Nov. 20

Rex Murphy made a rare error when he wrote that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s awkward performances abroad have “effectively pushed Canada to the second row.”

Very sorry Rex, but the nosebleed seat has yet to be constructed that is far enough away from the world stage to accommodate Canada’s current standing.

David Korchinski, Calgary

CUPE missed the memo

Re: Jewish union members complain CUPE polluted with anti-Israeli bigotry — Ari Blaff, Nov. 22

I was under the mistaken belief that a union’s raison d’être was to represent all of its members but I guess CUPE 905 must have missed that memo.

There are Jewish members of that disgraceful organization who are scared and are being victimized for being Jewish and Ontario CUPE president Fred Hahn does nothing but regurgitate vile propaganda from Hamas. He should resign or be fired if possible.

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Tell a lie (that Israel is committing genocide) enough times and that lie becomes truth. The people who believe that tripe would see real genocide if Israel lost to Hamas/Iran.

Ted Mead, Winchester, Ont.

No ‘safe spaces’ for Jewish students at McGill

Re: McGill students vote in favour of pro-Palestinian policy — Jesse Feith, Nov. 20

“Beholding the bright countenance of truth in the quiet and still air of delightful studies.” — John Milton

This was the inscription in stone near the stairs leading to McGill’s McLennan Library when I attended the university a half-century ago. I haven’t checked recently to see if it’s still there in the era of safe spaces and trigger warnings.

The quotas on admission of Jewish students to McGill in my parents’ day are long gone. In their place, today’s Jewish students have triggers to their faces with no safe spaces. They now have a temporary injunction to protect them from the possible harm of the student union’s “Policy Against Genocide in Palestine” pending a fuller hearing on the matter.

Will they also need a court order for armed guards to attend classes?

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Howard Greenfield, Montreal

Nearly 50 per cent of university funding comes from government, i.e. taxpayers. I, for one, am opposed to using my tax dollars to support terrorism and encourage antisemitism on Canadian campuses. And I am by no means alone. It’s time for government to take a strong stand, and if that means pulling funding from public universities, so be it.

Woke students — and weak administrators — are in need of a clear and forceful wake-up call.

Nancy McDonald, Stratford, Ont.

What Susan Sarandon doesn’t get

Re: Susan Sarandon says Jewish people are ‘getting taste of what it feels like to be Muslim’ — Nov. 21

I was shocked (but not surprised) by actress Susan Sarandon’s comment that Jewish people are “getting a taste of what it feels like to be Muslim,” along with her support for a group that murdered innocent people on Oct. 7. Her statement was not only antisemitic, but showed the clear gulf between the reality faced by people living in Israel and the self-centredness of a cloistered, entitled celebrity living in a secure, gated community in Hollywood.

Let’s be clear. Hamas is a terrorist group that is not interested in protecting Muslims. It deliberately hides behind schools, hospitals and mosques, hoping that any response by Israel to its attacks will cause civilian casualties and stoke hatred towards Jews outside Israel.

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Sadly, dupes like Sarandon refuse to accept this. Instead, they attend rallies, shout antisemitic rhetoric and condemn the most democratic state in the Middle East, all from the security of a democratic and largely free country where she doesn’t have to worry about deranged terrorists killing her family or taking them hostage for their misguided “cause.”

Had Sarandon any real intelligence she would have done better to say nothing rather than spread the vile antisemitism that has reared its ugly head in North America since Oct. 7.

Briar Hill, North York, Ont.

‘Good ship Canada’ heading for the rocks

Re: For the good of Canada, Justin Trudeau should go — Joe Oliver, Nov. 1; With our economy becalmed, Good Ship Canada needs a new captain — Jack Mintz, Nov. 10; and The folly of Liberal Telco & power plans — Terence Corcoran, Nov. 10

This trilogy of excellent articles by Joe Oliver, Jack Mintz and Terrence Corcoran rightly illustrate that the good ship Canada is not only floundering but is heading for the rocks on numerous fronts.

It is abundantly clear on point after point cited by the writers, that the Trudeau government has not only outlived its usefulness but its policies have us steering headlong on a dangerous course. Climate alarmism and economy-killing higher carbon taxes are not the least of these. Justin Trudeau and company are succeeding in one area though, and that is in uniting Canadians in the refrain “Depart we say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!” Good ship Canada’s future may depend on it.

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Daniel Mailer, London, Ont.

The Liberals’ grocery bag blunder

Re: Can we use plastic straws again? What could happen after court quashes Liberal ban — Chris Knight, Nov 18

My wife and I have shopped at Calgary Co-op grocery stores for many years. We were delighted when Co-op introduced its plastic-free compostable shopping bags. When we learned that the federal government was banning all single-use plastics, we were supportive, but became dismayed when we learned that this ban was to include Co-op’s plastic-free compostable shopping bags.

The recent Federal Court ruling that the government acted outside of its authority confirms what Albertans already know, that the Federal government and its leader act without thinking, but perhaps that’s not surprising given the dearth of intellectual capacity involved.

Ted Lawrence, Calgary

Show us the horrors of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack

Re: Footage of Hamas barbarism shows why ceasefire is not an option — Jesse Kline, Nov. 7; and I watched Hamas hack innocents to death. The worst part was their glee — Sabrina Maddeaux, Nov. 6

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I was a 13-year-old Winnipeg school boy, in 1945, when with 25 cents in my pocket, I set off to catch the double-header movie at the Rose theater in the west end of Winnipeg.

I can’t remember the movies, but I can never forget the news bulletin seen before the main event. It was film showing the liberation by British soldiers of Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp. The images of hundreds of the naked corpses, men and women, piled up like logs of wood, and of hundreds of others, their rib cages heaving with their last breathes, most of them beyond saving. These images remain vivid in my memory and will never be forgotten.

Unlike the atrocities of the Holocaust, the horrors of Oct. 7 in Israel have been shown to only select journalists, and the general public can only read about them. This is not enough. All the silly young (and old) protesters, and the many others who are on our streets supporting the Hamas terrorists, must see what those they support are capable of doing to their fellow human beings. A picture is worth a thousand words. Show us the horrors.

James Bissett, Ottawa

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How the federal government is modernizing benefits delivery

Re: Ottawa’s latest major IT project, ballooning by billions, presages another Phoenix debacle — John Ivison, Nov. 17

John Ivison notes the complexity and importance of modernizing benefits delivery, but his column requires additional clarity and facts to give the full picture.

First, the government has put in place dedicated, senior-level leadership for both the business and technical aspects of the Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) program.

In addition, the Government of Canada’s chief information officer conducted a strategic assessment of the BDM program in June 2022. This office, alongside a dedicated Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) internal audit team, also provides continuous and independent assurance by giving real-time advice to senior management on risks and issues, and working with a third-party assurance provider to assess the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes of specific areas within the program. The government is using extensive research, best practices and lessons learned from similar transformations in both the private and public sectors of Canadian provinces, the U.K., Australia and the U.S.

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The government is managing BDM in this way because we have learned the lessons of less successful IT-enabled transformations, such as the Phoenix pay system. We have put measures in place to ensure the focus remains on business functionality, operational business readiness and solution quality. Deployment is being staggered through multiple incremental steps, keeping existing systems running in parallel during the transformation process of each system, and onboarding only one core benefit at a time, to efficiently manage possible risks without interrupting benefit payments to Canadians.

Regarding criticisms about cost and timelines of the program, since 2017, the program has spent $817 million. Treasury Board approvals to date amount to $2.2 billion. This level of expenditure is consistent with other jurisdictions undertaking similar transformations. While it is a very sizeable investment, over the more than 10-year course of the program, total benefits paid to Canadians under these programs will amount to more than $1.5 trillion.

The BDM program is on track to modernize Old Age Security, Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan over three phases, until 2030. In fact, in June 2023, the first Old Age Security release went live and over 600,000 recipients’ accounts are now on the new platform. Large-scale transformation projects of this nature, particularly ones of this significance and importance, are complex undertakings and require large investments to ensure successful implementation. The alternative are programs with little agility to scale to address the evolving needs of Canadians and ongoing significant investments in outdated technology.

Cliff Groen, Associate Deputy Minister and Business Lead, Benefits Delivery Modernization, Employment and Social Development Canada

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