Prime Minister Mark Carney boards a plane to leave Strasbourg, France, last week after his address to the European Parliament.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
The old world
Re “The Donroe Doctrine gets a brushback” (Editorial, Sept. 19): The Monroe Doctrine states that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers is a potentially hostile act against the United States. This, then, is the origin of Donald Trump’s “hostile act” talk vis-a-vis any partnership between Canada and the European Union.
The doctrine dates from a time when the U.S. had not much of a navy to speak of and “Britannia ruled the waves” at the height of its imperial power. It was the response of a nation still unsure of itself.
The present-day U.S. is not only sure of itself, but brazenly certain of its greatness. The Monroe Doctrine, then, is a relic of the past, as is Manifest Destiny and American exceptionalism.
The rest of the world is moving toward a future none of us can predict. The Americans, while welcome to join us, have chosen to cling to a past that is no longer relevant.
Steve Soloman Toronto
Canada’s place
Re “We may look back on this as the week Canada began to take its fate into its own hands” (Opinion, Sept. 19): It is a rare privilege to witness the disintegration of the old world order as a new one gestates, but being in the nucleus of it, as Canada is, evokes a dramatic range of responses.
There is dread of the unravelling of what we have taken for granted in our hitherto sheltered and generally lucrative relationship with a now inward-looking, hostile United States, but also exhilaration at the prospects, however perilous, of reaching for a full measure of national maturity.
While there is a minority of Canadians who are prepared to accept the apparent comfort and security of the neocolonial status offered by the Trump regime, it is increasingly evident that most Canadians rise to the occasion offered by the enormity of the transformation under way.
British poet William Wordsworth’s reflection on the French Revolution, another momentous historical turning point, comes to mind: “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!”
Terrence Downey Calgary
I used to teach Canadian studies. The point of Pierre Trudeau’s description of Canada as a mouse sleeping next to an elephant, as I understood it, was that, sure, the elephant could roll over on the mouse.
But the mouse could run up the nostril of the elephant, I guess, even with its elbows up.
Janice Dickin Calgary
Shifting blame
Re “Alberta’s shameless attempt to scapegoat immigrants” (Sept. 19): There is something troubling about an Alberta referendum that singles out immigrants as a political problem.
Governments have every right to debate immigration levels, housing pressures, health care and the strain on public services. But there is a world of difference between addressing those challenges through evidence-based policy and blaming newcomers for problems that governments have a responsibility to solve.
In the 2018 book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, philosopher Jason Stanley examines how fascist politics exploits fear, nationalism and divisions. One recurring tactic is identifying an outsider group to blame for societal problems. This is why using immigrants as political scapegoats deserves serious scrutiny.
Blaming immigrants risks diverting attention from the full range of creative solutions. How do we build housing, schools, hospitals and infrastructure for a growing province without turning newcomers into political targets? A referendum should help solve problems, not deepen divisions.
Dono Bandoro Calgary
Take control
Re “The real threat of AI is that we can no longer separate our digital and analogue lives” (Opinion, Sept. 19): If artificial intelligence and its development are going to benefit people, it should be controlled or owned by the people.
We will fuss and fret over AI threatening humanity as long as the corporate billionaire class is in charge and allows its freewheeling evolution for power and profit. The main goals of AI should be focused on solving the problems facing humanity.
Guardrails are necessary to prevent the improper and unacceptable features being built into AI, and they should include the direction of AI development. The only way I see to ensure AI provides major benefits to mankind is for governments to take firm control. A tall task.
But the alternative – an existential threat to humanity – would remain a speculative possibility.
Robert Milan Victoria
Bets off
Re “Canada opened the door to private sports betting years ago, and then walked away” (Opinion, Sept. 19): What a surprise to read that emergency visits for gambling issues have increased significantly. I am sure that gambling-related health concerns and addictions have likewise become more prevalent.
This is accompanied by the destruction of individual lives and the impact on families and society in general. The public is inundated with celebrities and sports icons who promote gambling sites, so it must be okay.
Before allowing online gambling, the Ford government was likely well aware of the dangers, but I would “bet” the gleam in the Premier’s eye of billions of dollars in new tax revenue was too hard to resist.
Michael Gilman MD (retired) Toronto
I believe there is an absurd conflict of interest when a government that regulates sports gambling is itself addicted to the billions of dollars it makes off the industry. Like alcohol and cigarettes, spendthrift governments love to tax our guilty vices; they get to pose as virtuous while profiting off human suffering.
Whistle-to-whistle advertising bans, yes. But also a ban on betting on individual plays and players, as well as on in-game notifications, come-ons and special offers. And no parlays, which are aimed at suckers with no understanding of odds. Just the game result: the winner and the score.
By all means, at least call it what it is: gambling, not “gaming” and its insidious connotation of innocent play.
Brian Green Thunder Bay
Take a joke
Re “Irrational lampoon: Our absurd, polarized world is killing satire” (Opinion, Sept. 19): Our world needs more satire and cartoonists.
Unfortunately, too many people are either losing their sense of humour or have become far too thin-skinned.
Judith Harrison Halton Hills, Ont.
The reliably sardonic cartoonist Brian Gable delivers depressing news when he narrates and critiques the worrisome systematic decline and rejection of satire in our contemporary society.
Playwright George Kaufmann was ahead of the curve when he remarked of potential Broadway success: “Satire is what closes on a Saturday night.” We appear to be running the risk of becoming a society where every night is a Saturday night.
Toby Zanin Toronto
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