More voices on federal election

Why will Stephen Harper go down as one of the most reviled Prime Ministers in Canadian history? One main reason will be the fact that he is a coward.

Harper railed against Supreme Court decisions that did not go his way, but in every instance he could have invoked the notwithstanding clause and got his way. Instead he criticized the Court and the Chief Justice who was hardly in a position to respond.

Harper claimed to have told Vladimir Putin to his face that “you need to get out of Ukraine”. And yet he refused to give the Ukraine army the weapons they asked Canada for, and he certainly did not put any of Canada’s soldiers in harm’s way in the face of Russian aggression.

Harper proceeded in an attempt to strip the Canadian citizenship of a man born and raised in Canada, but of Pakistani decent, who was convicted of terrorism charges. And yet he chose not to pursue a more obvious candidate in Omar Khadr for such a fate after the Canadian public discovered in May of this year that Khadr was not the bogeyman the Conservatives have insisted he was for a decade or more.

Harper could not even publicly declare on stage on October 19 that he was stepping down as Conservative Party leader. A curt press release spoke for him instead.

Stephen Harper was small, mean and divisive. He won’t be missed, and many of his so called achievements will likely soon be forgotten and completely undone by a new government. Harper’s propensity for cowardice will stick to his legacy and leave a stain on his party that will not so easily be washed away.

Trevor Amon, Victoria, B.C.

This long and arduous election campaign saw Justin Trudeau never once stoop to pick up the excrement being hurled at him by the yahoo attack ads and toss it back at either Mr. Harper or Mr. Mulcair. Just like when he stepped into the ring with the ever-combative Patrick Brazeau, he won by playing fair and square, and that is a mark of great character. Now, as the Canadian people’s honeymoon begins with this new Trudeau government, we can bask for a while in the glow of the glamorous Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire, our own Canadian version of Camelot. Yet let us not forget what brought the American Camelot of JFK crashing down near a grassy knoll in Dallas, Texas.

It was the same thing that brought the Reverend Martin Luther King’s great work to an abrupt end, and brutally finished off John Lennon’s musical career. One of the singular, undoubtable but dubious achievements of Prime Minister Harper was his weakening of our once-sterling gun control, given to us by another Liberal government in 1995, several years after the massacre at L’Ecole Polytechnique. C-19 and C-42 must be urgently revisited and either repealed or amended, partly because they helped beget the Draconian C-51. If you do not reduce the amount of harm that any Canadian citizen can deliver, then you are left with the obligation to increase spying on the citizenry as a whole. America’s lack of gun control is a prime reason for why the NSA does its wide-ranging, if largely ineffectual spying. Mr. Trudeau deserves a much longer tenure than John F. Kennedy got. Progressives in this country would be shattered if some maniac who gets his hands on a semiautomatic manages to deprive us of a potential four to eight years of an enlightened and enlightening prime minister. Let’s take our heads out of the sand and realize that at least some of the heavily armed people among the citizenry do not wish their brethren well.

Ron Charach, Toronto

A better PM for women, Oct. 22

Kudos to Catherine Porter for her column on women’s issues in Canada and how our new Prime Minister will make things even better. However it was not the long gun registry that saved 600 lives every year, it was the licensing portion of the Firearms Act. Applicants for a firearms license still have to be police inspected and approved.

Peter H. Breidon, Mississauga

So King Stephen is finally defeated. Goodbye to our mid-20th century “Cold War” dude. Hello Mr. Justin Trudeau, our new, open, positive, energic, compassionate and progressive 21st century leader. And a feminist to boot.

Aaaaahhhhhhhhh, life is good again.

Carol Lim, Toronto

No one is talking about the role of young people and the grassroots drive that has been going on since the last election. I think it’s pretty clear that the huge reversal is all about getting rid of Harper, just about the most hated man in our government in my time, and it was too much. A lot of worthies lost because of this.

We can only hope that Trudeau welcomes election reform quickly and this kind of reactionary voting won’t ever be necessary again.

We need balance in this country, something we haven’t seen in a lot young people’s memory and we should not forget that the Liberals are also neoliberalists; they started privatization in earnest and I dread to think how much more they intend to do.

Janet Hudgins, Vancouver

In reporting on the outcome of the election in Eglinton-Lawrence where new coming Marco Mendocino ousted Finance Minister Joe Oliver, the ethnicity of the two candidates was mentioned as a possible reason for the outcome. Oliver is Jewish and Mendocino is Italian. There are many ethnic communities living in Eglinton-Lawrence including Filipinos, Africans, Anglo-Saxons to mention just three. But the importance given to the Italian and Jewish communities according to Wendy Gillis, the reporter, seemed to be the deciding factor. It is true that the Conservatives did cater to the Jewish community with their unquestioning support of Israel. And I do think that that was an important part of the support that Oliver had in the riding. It was just another bit of the divide and conquer method used by the Harperites to try garner another four years of power. It failed. Let’s hope that whoever leads the Conservative Party after Harper is gone will be less divisive in his or her approach. This was decidedly un-Canadian and is a reason why so many are celebrating today.

Stephen L. Bloom, Toronto

I’m thrilled that Stephen Harper is gone but I’m stunned and disappointed that our excellent NDP MP Craig Scott has lost his seat in Toronto Danforth. I’m also very concerned that the Conservatives won most of the seats in Saskatchewan and Alberta. There will be a stronger feeling of western alienation on the Prairies. Creating unity across the country will be a challenge for Justin Trudeau.

I watched CBC TV’s coverage and felt it was generally good. However, after the polls closed in Ontario there was scant coverage of the results in Québec and western Canada. The screen kept showing, over and over again, the Ontario results. Does CBC think that we in Ontario don’t care about the results in the rest of the country? That attitude certainly doesn’t help unify the country!

Isabel Ward, Toronto

I was concerned with the new voter id rules and how they might affect lower income people, especially in my riding of Mississauga-Lakeshore. Instead of a drivers license or provincial ID card I took two things from the “or” list; a prescription pill container with my name on it and a bank statement with name and address. I presented them and was told that wasn’t enough, there had to be something with a photo. I protested and pointed to the poster on the wall with the list that clearly said this or that and the that part did not require a photo. After some time there was an agreement that the words did indicate that there was no need for a picture. They replied that they were “trained” that ID meant a photo (and weakly that some on the list like passport had one).

The DRO for my poll lives across the street from me and said its OK and I got to vote, with the people at the front suggesting he should have filled out a form to let me.

I find it very difficult to understand how the clearly worded list from Elections Canada can be misinterpreted or ignored by a poll worker. And more egregiously how the training for poll workers in a riding can completely misguide them. Coincidentally the riding was Conservative before, part of the whole see your face wedge issue?

In my old school Canada the rules are followed, not changed at whim by local potentates.

Don Macaulay, Mississauga

Dear Prime Minister-elect Trudeau:

Congratulations on your historic electoral victory. Now that you have won a majority of seats in Parliament, I look forward to you honouring your commitment to – in your words – “ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.”

You promised in your election document “Real Change – a Fair and Open Government” that a special all-party parliamentary committee will fairly study and consider electoral reform measures such as ranked ballots and proportional representation. This committee will bring recommendations to Parliament so that – again, in your words – “within 18 months of forming government, we will bring forward legislation to enact electoral reform.”

I look forward to April 19, 2017, by which time, according to your election promise, you will have brought forward legislation to ensure that never again in Canada will 39.5% of the popular vote be considered an overwhelming majority.

Dunstan Morey, Toronto

We have lived in the riding of Toronto-Danforth since 1983. It was NDP then, Liberal 1988-2004 and then NDP until yesterday. Jack Layton represented this riding until he passed away. His successor in a by-election, had by far the largest number of signs in the neighbourhood, which I walk in different directions most days for about 40 to 50 minutes. He was the only candidate to leave printed information in our mailbox. He had an office on the corner of Pape and Danforth. On the other hand the Liberal candidate had very few signs, and all she did I noticed: left a message on our answering machine on Saturday. She had storefront office on the Danforth. She won. What a local candidate does to get elected is less important than who the party leader is.

The issue of women’s head cover at citizenship ceremonies: I attended such a ceremony as a volunteer on 29 June 2015. The new citizens had to identify themselves, were given papers, then they sat down. After instructions they were asked to recite the oath, all together, and the judge and clerk watched them say it. Sitting on the side of them myself, I could not tell whether they were actually saying the words they were instructed or not. The woman who said the oath with face covered was not the one who was responsible for this procedure to become a citizen. The prime minister raising this issue publicly during an election campaign showed a remarkable lack of judgment.

Miguel Prohaska, Toronto

I would hope our newly elected Prime Minister will not darken his victory by allowing Bill Blair to join the new government until he has cleared his name in allowing his police force to not charge a former mayor and admitted cocaine user to drive while drunk.

What if somebody were injured or killed. Residents of Toronto know only too well how Bill Blair behaved during the G-20 Summit.

Yes Mr. Blair is human, but he must take responsibility for his actions or inactions, before we can trust him in government.

Jeremiah Dolan, Toronto

Election movie, The Exorcist meets The Son Also Rises,

In a move of creative élan, Keenan renders Canada’s federal election as a popular film, one in which the protagonists cast out the questionable, in order to accommodate the wholesome. Whereas the Canadian electorate considers the promise of ‘Trudeau 2.0’ with incomparable delight, citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean adopt a more tempered approach. Over the last generation, the nation of Canada proved a consistent, unbroken supporter of the Cuban people, a moral bastion for Pan-America. With the re-orienting of international dynamics, a newly liberalized Cuba and inevitable American intrusion onto the island, the Americas wait with bated breath. The film we wish for is a different genre, musical romance, ‘El Trudeau Nuevo and the Beautiful Hemisphere.’

Caril Phang, Toronto

At last the tombs of old stock Canadian pharaohs have crumbled, hopefully burying the relics of arrogance, bipartisanship, bigotry, racism, lies, deception and interfaith communal fractures.

Let the ones who have survived either escape wearing niqabs or reform to join and work for a New Canada where everyone is a Canadian and celebrate the diversity of this great country we call Canada. Let us make sure those buried names are never uttered again.

We salute the new Mr. Justin Trudeau who has promised to lead us to the New Canada.

Shafic Kara, Markham

Congratulations to Justin Trudeau on his stunning and unexpected victory to become Canada’s new prime minister, which ended 10 years of the dreaded and regressive conservative leadership of Stephen Harper.

The son of the late Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada’s most dynamic leaders, the younger Trudeau’s Liberal Party has promised to raise taxes on the rich and reduce taxes on the middle class and increase government spending to help protect the environment and improve healthcare.

Kenneth L. Zimmerman, Huntington Beach, CA

Today we go back to being who we are. We will no longer pretend that we are not the custodians of a large part of the earth’s land mass including Arctic territory and we will once again become responsible custodians of the environment.

We will no longer pretend that we are a warring nation with a glorious military history.

We will no longer pretend that we are a large, powerful nation taking combative positions in international affairs beyond our influence and control.

We will no longer adopt US-style criminal justice because we see, by looking across the border, the unwelcome future that holds.

We will no longer suppress the free speech of scientists, citizens and groups whose views do not further the interests of the government

We no longer have a Harper Government – we have a Federal Government.

Lucille Joseph, Toronto

We can now push hate and intolerance back to where they properly belong – the churches. A small group of men, including the de facto murderer MP Chris Alexander, sought to supplicate their careers by insinuating to the public that the middle class was a useless appendage too expensive to further maintain by the corporate community. Harper’s curse upon us is that we have lost our better angels in the NDP and will have to deal with a debt-ridden population with no hope of a real job for a generation. We are no longer the generous people we once were.

Bryan Charlebois, Toronto

This campaign turned out to be the “Tired of the Tories” campaign. It goes to show that having the most money to spend on election advertising doesn’t guarantee them an election victory.

There are primary challenges for the new Liberal government that won’t be easy to solve. Let’s see what happens. When all is said and done, Justin Trudeau may be ready to be Prime Minister after all.

Joseph A. Monachino, Mississauga

Canadian voters have spoken loudly and clearly. They want true leaders who will serve ordinary Canadians and who will work on resolving Canadian problems instead of those who serve foreign and largely “elite”/monied interests. They also want leaders who won’t spend an inordinate amount of time, rhetoric, and precious national resources on quixotic adventures abroad that may provoke World War III.

A famous U.S. congressman, Tip O’Neill, once said that “all politics is local.” It would behoove Canadian leaders to remember this.

Dr. Michael Pravica, Henderson, NV

With the campaign behind us, it comes time for the government-elect to decide on its priorities for a new parliamentary session. If recent history is anything to go by, one option might be to get working on omnibus legislation, which could even include punitive measures with retroactive effect. What better way to hide from public scrutiny politically opportunistic, partisan attacks on constituencies you don’t much care for? After all, there is precedent for this kind of thing in Canada. If I had a choice, I might go after the parliamentary pension of anyone who represented the Conservative Party of Canada over the past ten years. Having already cost our country so much during their time in power, it seems absurd to continue paying Conservatives in defeat.

But on second thought, Canadians voted for change. And we can only hope that change means more to Mr. Trudeau than transparency and accountability meant to Mr. Harper from 2006 to 2015. A better starting point would be to do majority government respectfully. Why not foster support for a healthy democracy over the short-term interests of the most powerful political parties by prioritizing electoral reform? Prove to us that faith in the promise of doing politics differently is actually worth something.

Daniel McCabe, Toronto

Too little, too late!

The quote attributed to and released by Ben Perrin, lawyer in the PMO, certainly grabbed my attention! Why was this not made known sooner and on the front page? If this is not a compelling reason to ensure Harper is no longer the PM, supported by his Conservative MP puppets, I do not know what is!

Ben Perrin, Harper’s own lawyer, in the PMO, a lifelong Conservative supporter and insider, believes Harper has lost the moral right to govern, based on what Perrin has seen and heard in the PMO. Harper and his minions lie at every turn and will sacrifice any loyal supporter in the process. We all know Harper knew about the payout to Duffy made by Wright, and Perrin has let Canadians know that he did not vote Conservative for the first time in his life because of these repeated examples of lack of integrity.

What a statement! Or, should I say, wasted statement, shared on election day! If, by some warped twist of fate, Harper wins this election, then the delay in this statement being made known widely, will be an unfortunate factor! I believe Harper’s base would be hard pressed to re-elect him if they knew what Perrin had stated publicly!

Pam Tomasevic, Mississauga

What kind of a medieval system is our democracy operating from…just returned from my polling station having NOT voted! With proper documents in hand, I was forced to wait behind scores of people who did NOT have their documents. People had been waiting for an hour and many were leaving in disgust. The procedure to vote without documentation was reminiscent of a third world country. Would it be too obvious to suggest that a separate procedure and line be created for those NOT conforming to the protocol? Honestly, in an election where there is so much at stake, can we not transition from the ice age to the current century? Pathetic show to say the least!

Lori Kofman, Toronto

In a rebuke of Stephen Harper, the Star advocates a return to decency and celebrates the Liberal vision of open and hopeful politics. Yet the paper’s election night editorial dismisses millions of Canadians who support the Conservative movement as ‘arrogant’, ‘corrosive’, ‘dismal’, ‘repelling’, ‘divisive’, ‘scandal-ridden’, ‘contemptuous’, ‘socially-regressive’, ‘toxic’, ‘domineering’ and ‘draconian’ and claims the Conservative government ‘left desperate Syrian refugees to their fate’. On the heels of the 848-word partisan, mean-spirited, uncharitable and deeply insulting diatribe, the editorial concludes, in bitter irony, with an appeal to Canadian values of ‘fundamental decency and a sense of fairness’ - #cometogether - but only if you are an elitist Liberal.

Michael Zwiep, Ridgeville

Oh God! What a relief to see Harper’ s departure. Great to hear he is resigning as a leader of his party. I wish he was resigning from politics altogether and disappear from history

Mimi Khan, Toronto

All together now!!!

Ding Dong, Harper’s gone; His nasty ways were here too long; Ding Dong, King Harper’s finally gone; Heave ho, we made him go; The Wizard couldn’t help him so; Heave ho, him and Duffy both; They’ve gone where the nasty go; Below, below, below; Ding Dong, Stephen Harper’s gone

Welcome Home Canada!

Randy Gostlin, Oshawa

In 2003 the Progressive Conservative party merged with the Canadian Alliance party to form the Conservative Party of Canada. Stephen Harper was elected their leader and immediately radicalized the party to reflect his personal bigoted right-wing ideology.

Harper’s so-called Conservative party should have been given a name that better reflected the dogma of the micro-managing despotic leader. Several descriptive names spring to mind: the Aggressive Conservatives (his mean-spirited antagonism); the Depressive Conservatives (his endless talking points); the Excessive Conservatives (his endless concessions to corporations); the Unimpressive Conservatives (his string of budgetary deficits); the Oppressive Conservatives (his muzzling of federal scientists); the Possessive Conservatives (his assuming ownership of Canada); the Regressive Conservatives (his undermining of our democratic institutions); and the Repressive Conservatives (his Robo-callers, Bill C-51 and the so-called Fair Elections Act).

After the backroom boys and girls complete their mandatory period of navel-gazing, which is required after such a stunning defeat, they should turn the clock back for a future by rebranding themselves the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and then find a leader who will act accordingly.

Lloyd Atkins, Vernon, B.C.

Canadians reclaim their country from Stephen Harper: Siddiqui

“Ideology doesn’t hobble most Canadians the way it does Americans. A liberal or a progressive conservative could vote for a Bill Davis, a Brian Mulroney or a Jean Chrétien. In 2011, I endorsed Jack Layton.”

It appears that Haroon Siddiqui is back as a regular columnist. If so; welcome back. He was always one of my favourite columnists –for good and bad.

In today’s column I can find nothing to criticize. Like a Blue Jay; he hit the ball right into the park. His comment, quoted above, is right on the mark. We are different from most Americans –and from most other counties in our ability to tolerate and absorb different cultures and traditions –religious and social. We might not like it, but we “defend their right to be different” –to paraphrase a comment usually attributed to Voltaire. We seem to have avoided –largely –the polarization observed in the U.S. Probably, our style of governance has much to do with that.

I too, voted for Layton. I also supported Mulcair in the beginning. I liked his style; and I was somewhat taken aback by some rather foolish statements and poor choices made by Trudeau in the early part of the race. e turned out to be a fast learner; though no doubt profiting from some rather serious N.D.P. mistakes; particularly in Quebec. There, the niqab was a real wedge issue; but rather than switching to the Harper; they –mostly –chose Trudeau as the alternative; voting strategically to oust the Conservative Napoleon wannabe.

The saddest and almost maudlin moment was when he brought in the Ford mafia to help bailing his sinking ship. Politics don’t get more revoltingly bathetic than that.

Ultimately, it matters little. Nero fiddled, but Rome didn’t burn. A new political day is born.

Sigmund Roseth, Mississauga

Now that the door is finally closed on the Harper government’s “war on Canada” room, I am hopeful that, under the new Liberal government, at least one of our major Canadian icons will be allowed to regain its former iconic status: the CBC. Prior to the changes inflicted by the Harper government, the CBC was a forum for all Canadians to share their opinions, to talk with and to each other. It was a well-respected, objective and solidly credible and reliable source for all to learn about local, national and global issues. Our lives were made better by that CBC, in my view.

I cried the day that Tom Allen, host of the CBC classical music early morning program, felt compelled (pressured?) to apologize to the Canadian public for having shared diverse topics with us during his enlightening and entertaining musical program. I cried not only for the loss of his important voice, but for the censorship of our nation’s media. Your paper kindly published my opinion at that time, and I thank you for sharing it with my fellow Canadians.

Today, however, I am smiling. There is hope! I am excited, relieved and happy to be a Canadian, once more.

What has been done can be undone and made even better.

I completely agree with Justin Trudeau: “This is Canada and in Canada, better is ALWAYS possible.”

Let’s start with our CBC.

Kim D. Henderson, Victoria, B.C.

Congratulations Justin. You have surpassed all of our expectations! I now have a very short list of things I want you to accomplish early on in the mandate.

Fix the first-past-the-post voting issue with something to ensure that all MPs are elected by over 50 per cent of voters in a riding.

Give federal bureaucrats absolute protection from politicians; no politician should have the right to hire, fire, promote or demote a civil servant, thus ensuring that professional civil servants are able to give politicians their best advice – fearlessly.

Invite Elizabeth May to join the Liberal cabinet as Minister of the Environment. You will not find anyone more capable or more passionate.

Peter Bursztyn, Barrie

Chris Alexander loses seat, October 20th 2015

The issue in this riding was not so much about phasing out Mr. Alexander personally, as much as it was about cutting off all ties and associations with the horrific citizenship views that our former immigration minister had. These views were not something I personally wanted to be associated with, let alone dealing with the fact that the source of these views and bills was the leader of my own riding.

Being a woman of colour, and more importantly, being a Canadian who takes pride in our diversity, there is no place in society for the likes of the barbaric cultural practices act, oppressing women and targeting one racial minority.

Mr. Holland, who reclaimed his lost seat from the previous elections, better reflects the views of his riding – one that is very inclusive and supportive.

Jasleen Hora, Ajax

Did the Pepin-Robarts Task Force on Canadian Unity not recommend, in 1979, that the House of Commons have a certain number of Members elected by proportional representation in order that each vote count as much as possible in each region of a federal state like Canada ?

Could we improve Canadian unity if each vote counted as much as possible in each region in a federal election with, for example, 315 Members elected in 306 ridings with 9 seats awarded to the best second place candidates in 9 regions ?

Marc Williams, Montreal

Congratulations to Mr. Trudeau for showing the former prime minister that not only was he ready to lead the country, he was able.

Pundits are looking for reasons for the collapse of the Tory machine, there are many reasons, one of them being the evidence that came out in the Mike Duffy trial. It showed Canadians how the Harper government operated behind closed doors.

We should consider having Mr. Duffy’s charges all dropped and he should be allowed to sit again in the senate. How about a better reward, perhaps the order of Canada ! don’t laugh, if Dr. Morgentaler deemed important enough to receive this award, Mike Duffy could be in there with a shout.

I am quite sure that Mr. Duffy had a smile on his face as he watched the results come in on Monday night, I know another Mr. Duffy who was smiling at the same time.

John Duffy, Hamilton

Oct. 19. A date to remember. We managed to get rid of Stephen Harper and the Blue Jays scored a major win in the ALCS. This date should be etched in stone!

Bob Cooke, Mississauga

It has come to my attention of how segregated Canada is becoming. It is through the country’s economy. With a new majority Government elected it is my desire that one of Mr. Trudeau’s priorities is to save the middle class that is continuously faltering.

I believe this Government is very significant in the fate of the country’s long term economy and a very efficient way to save the economy is through reduction of the level of income inequality in the country.

Canada has had one of the world’s sharpest rises in income inequality transitioning from the 1990s into the new millennium. I am a worried teenager who is desperate to see change in the economy so that by time I am fully actively involved in the daily transactions of the country, Canada stands as one of the world’s leading economy.

Orlando Scarlett, student, St. Jude’s Academy, Mississauga

Catherine Porter rightly points out that women have unjustly suffered at the hands of Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. However, she then goes on to support Justin Trudeau’s plan to blindly appoint women to half his cabinet. What an absurd position to take.

Cabinet ministers have responsibility for overseeing billions of taxpayer dollars and to appoint inexperienced and unqualified MPs to these lofty positions, based on nothing more than ones sex, is nothing less than irresponsible.

The selection process should be based solely on ones ability to perform the duties they will be responsible for. For example, appointing a financial journalist to the position of Finance Minister is like placing a teller at the helm of a bank. Lets think before we jump.

Steve Craine, Toronto

I had always looked forward to Harper backing up his tough guy talk to Putin by challenging Putin to a cage match. But now that dream has been shattered. Prime Minister Trudeau will probably use diplomacy on Putin, instead of bully boy bluster, but it is always nice to know he is probably ready if Putin wants a cage match.

John Niddery, Coldwater

Let’s imagine for one moment that Ms. Teitel’s column was actually written by a male author about a newly elected “ Justine”

Trudeau (a female PM, in other words ). I am very confident that descriptions quoted in “ his “ column such as “non-controversially f---able “ or “ beautiful sticky sweet specimen “ applied to a female politician would cause a deafening uproar from your readership (male and female), with just accusations of sexism, unprofessionalism, objectification, triviality and so forth.

The fact that Ms Teitel is only quoting other sources does not excuse her for this display of useless pap, with no bearing to the serious issues at hand.

Silverio Viola, Thornhill

It is deeply troubling to read of two critics of Prime Minister Harper – letter writer William O’Meara and Erdmute Gottschling – enlist a comparison with the office of Canada’s Prime Minister with the darkest pages in our history of Nazi Germany.

What indeed does the insinuation that Hermann Goering, on trial at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity and Adolf Hitler, at the time of the Nuremberg trials – a dead corpse – have anything to do with Stephen Harper’s fight to contain ISIS – in some measure with the democratic approval of Bill C-51?

There is absolutely nothing factually or historically correct in their assertions.

The judgment of the Military Tribunal at Nuremberg for the 22 defendents for the Nazi war crimes against humanity was just.

The judgment of the Canadian citizens who voted in the October 19th democratic federal election was just too.

Surely these two critics need a lesson in Canadian parliamentary procedure and divest themselves of their disillusioned thoughts.

Bruce H. Bryer, Toronto

Dear Justin Trudeau:

Many congratulations on your landmark victory. Not only was it a win for you, but it was a collective win for our country as well. On Monday evening as I watched the voting results roll in from across our great nation, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the same optimistic excitement we all shared with our American friends south of the border during the presidential election of 2008. As one of those artsy sensitive types so deplored by the Harper regime, I am entrusting you with a lot of responsibility and hope. Your a smart, educated and personable young man, and if anyone can return our Canada to the ideals of honesty, individuality and universal respect that my grandfather fought so valiantly during World War II to maintain, it is most certainly you who can achieve that. We certainly cannot not live in a country where deceit, discrimination, fear mongering and promoting cultural insensitivity and hatred are part of our collective vocabulary. A successful government must have honour and integrity, and those are traits that sadly have absent in Ottawa for far too long. Good luck to you sir, because not only are you a teacher, but you had the most amazing teacher in your father. You have big shoes to fill, but the country has spoken and we all believe your most definitely up to the challenge!

Sandy McInnes, Milton

Our long national nightmare is over, Letters Oct. 20

The comments from the readers on the election results were insulting to Canadians and our democracy. Mr. Harper is not a dictator nor were we living a national nightmare. I hope this hyperbole was as a result of the truly uniformed. If I am correct I have a couple of friends who have lived in a national nightmare and a true dictatorship who could enlighten them. The Star could be more responsible about the extreme comments. If they were about anyone else I am sure you would have been.

Brenda Konkle, Oshawa

Carol Goar, in her Oct. 21 column, “Parting tribute to fine parliamentarians,” listed five individuals who have served Canada well. All are either members of the New Democratic or Liberal parties.

May I suggest Prime Minister Designate Justin Trudeau take those five names, add two Liberals he considers equally qualified (whether by service or candidacy), and then add three neutrals, that is, people not seen as associated with a party, and name those 10 to the Senate as an interim step in filling the Senate vacancies.

Don Jeffrey, London, Ont.

In June 2010, the Harper government issued an Order in Council abolishing the mandatory nature of the census, ending a Canadian tradition older than the country itself. Strong opposition to this arbitrary decision culminated in the resignation of Munir Sheikh, the Chief Statistician at the time. His predecessor, former Chief Statistician Ivan Fellegi, correctly predicted that low response rates among large segments of the population would result in biased data. Provincial governments, municipalities, business associations, research institutes, and social scientists, all joined in rare unanimity against the decision.

We will not repeat here the arguments which have been put forward many times to describe the deleterious effects of such an anti-science measure. Its negative effects have been clearly documented. Response rates plummeted and as a result, nearly a quarter of Canadian municipalities are missing data for 2011. What’s more, the 2011 data cannot be compared with those of previous years and many groups, including aboriginal, low-income and immigrant communities, are poorly represented.

The election of this new Liberal government provides an opportunity to stem the damage of these devastating changes. Mr. Trudeau has already promised to reinstate the mandatory long-form census and restore Statistics Canada’s reputation as a world leader in national statistics. Undoing these mistakes cannot wait; the time for action is now as Statistics Canada is on the cusp of launching the 2016 Census. An immediate Order in Council is the only way to implement the long-form in time for the census six months from now. This must be one of the first moves made by the Liberal government of Mr. Trudeau. It would mark a clear break with the previous government and ensure that future social policies can be made on scientific grounds rather than ideological dogmatism.

Alain Bélanger, president, Canadian Population Society, Benoit Laplante, President, Association des démographes du Québec, and 60 signatories (academics, directors of research centers and holders of Canadian Research Chair)

Canadians finally say no to Harper and his entire governing, Oct. 20

At last, Canadians served a strong notice to the politicians in this country: the government should govern as the government of all citizens-not just as a wedge of the citizens.

Every single decent Canadian in this country has the right to be treated like any other Canadian citizen and should be given the opportunity to feel positive and hopeful about being a Canadian. Every Canadian should feel that their interests are served by their government. Because of the patience and forgiving nature of Canadians, it took them a while to realize what the problem was but the message this time was loud and clear: let Canadians embrace the feeling of “Canadianess” and the government should stop treating Canadians as political goods: urban, suburban, Eastern, Western, Muslim, Immigrant, White, black, old stock, youths, female, middle class, upper class, rich poor, intellectual, environmentalist, and etc.

When you treat us like merchandise for your own political ambitions, we feel alienated and divided; the country loses its sense of purpose and with no real political leader to turn to it misses its vision.

Prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau-with his political instincts- understood the feelings of the Canadians and was able to connect with them. However, others, especially Mr. Harper, didn’t get it or didn’t value it enough. This election showed that American politics of treating citizens like political goods has no place in the Chadian political tradition.

Ali Orang, Richmond Hill

I live in the riding of Thornhill and am officially a member of a minority group since I voted Liberal in the election. I now live in one of those few 905 ridings with a Conservative member in the new Parliament and I am feeling blue. To our new Prime Minister, please don’t hold this against the good people of Thornhill. Please can we also have new infrastructure, better transit, greater environmental protections, more governmental transparency, a renewed long form census, unmuzzling of federal scientists, and the respect of the rest of the world even though we ended up with Peter Kent?

Marilyn Ginsburg, Thornhill

Seems like 905 ethnic voters want immediate immigration increases based upon their ethnic, religious, cultural and unlimited family reunification for those that look like themselves. However, likely not true for those from western Europe origins – the Star’s editors will make sure of that.

Gary MacDonald, Toronto

Bank of Canada holds rate steady; cuts growth outlook, Oct. 21

Should it really surprise that the Bank of Canada announced it will keep its benchmark interest rate at 0.5 per cent? Dealing with grim forecasts resulting from Trudeau’s election promises, one of which is to borrow, spend and tax $25 billion, the experts tell us the loonie is expected to weaken to $1.34 per U.S. dollar by year-end,

Brian Weller, Markham

How interesting that Justin Trudeau said “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” in his victory speech and Heather Mallick claims that “He disliked no one.” Well isn’t this the same Justin Trudeau who said there is no room for those who aspire to be Liberal MPs who are pro life on abortion and against same-sex marriage? Sounds like an oxymoron to me.

John Clubine, Etobicoke

May I add my sentiments to those of the many other, subsequent to the election results of Oct. 19.

Robbie Burns, without referring to the international opinion of Canada of course, said it so well with “O wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as others see us”. ‘Oursels’, in this case as way back then, referred to people who were so certain that everything they did was right, they had no reason to take a step backwards to see the effects of their reasoning. Thank goodness ‘the Power’ gave the gift to enough of the Canadian electorate this time around.

Ron Gibbens, Richmond Hill

If I may be permitted to offer a small bit of advice to our new prime minister. He is faced with the enormous task of repairing Canada’s domestic and international reputation. Demands for his time will be daunting. My career was spent providing support for clients in the IT industry. My response to unreasonable requests was, “Do you want it fast, or do you want it right”?

Ken Chevis, North York