Long way to go yet before Trump’s chaotic reign is over
The Star’s Alex Ballingall’s viewpoint on what Canada faces and what our government faces is spot on. President Donald Trump is about creating chaos.
Whether there is a short- or long-term goal behind his chaos we really can’t tell because while he seems to be the puppeteer, it’s not clear who is actually pulling the strings.
We are dealing with a government and a man who is only about winning at any cost, regardless of who or what they squash or maim to get there. We need only look at the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It is brash, boastful and full of ego and will leave the poor, the weak and the marginalized floundering.
We are the smaller neighbour to the north, and Trump and his sycophants view us as weak and vulnerable. He is devoid of empathy. He will come after us again and again and again and no matter who is in power. We can only hope they can continue to repel and outmaneuver Trump until his time is up, so we can get back to some sort of normalcy.
It’s going to be a long four years. We eventually found a vaccine to repel the ravages of COVID. But sadly, there is no vaccine against a man like Trump.
Matthew Marosszeky, Aurora, Ont.
Doug Ford is eroding our democracy
Democracy depends on voices being heard. So as Premier Doug Ford silences the voices of duly elected trustees and prevents them from doing their jobs, is it habit or strategy?
He took away expert environmental voices with the Conservation Authorities Act and First Nation voices with Bill 5.
He severely limited ɫɫ voices when he reduced city council by half. The media were kept in the dark when there was no media bus during the provincial election and when Conservative candidates refused to participate in all candidates’ debates.
Seniors and the disabled were stifled with Bill 135 when he limited the complaint process by giving home-care agencies and long-term care homes the responsibility to monitor themselves.
All of this looks a lot like a strategy to prevent discussion and opposition.
It allows concentration of power and the dissemination of misinformation.
It is the erosion of our democracy. Doug Ford is no folksy guy next door.
Gail Rutherford, Etobicoke
The Donald Trump Presidential Library? Comic books and hate
The Donald Trump Presidential Library will most certainly contain discriminating reading material for MAGA supporters. Business periodicals and comic books may figure prominently. Seek ye not a section on Science, and if you want a book on grammar or a dictionary please go elsewhere.
In the law section you’re sure to pick up The Outlaw’s Bible: How to Evade the System Using Constitutional Strategy. And if one requires further stimulation, there will be copious quantities of Trump: The Art of The Deal, Russian periodicals Pravda and Izvestia and quite likely, Mein Kampf.
Your library card is your MAGA hat.
Julia Bowkun, ɫɫ
Speed cameras nothing more than a cash grab
There are discussions on the fate of speed cameras as they face scrutiny by councillors who feel they may be a cash grab.
Of course they are a cash grab; always have been, always will be.
The problem with speed cameras is that the vehicle is charged, not the driver. Without police to stop dangerous drivers at the time of infraction and lay the appropriate charges (such as dangerous driving) speed cameras are truly no more than a cash grab.
We have several streets besieged by flagrant speeding. Parkside Drive comes to mind, and we all recognize the carnage on this street as well as the sabotage of speed cameras. Motorists are expressing surprise that multiple infractions are arriving all at once, and city councillors are trying to find a solution.
It is time we provide active enforcement in real time and and lay meaningful charges that fit the transgression. Anything less is an abdication of duty.
Richard Speers, ɫɫ
To public school teachers: Thank you for all you do
I have just finished my 31st year teaching at a private school. I have fewer years ahead of me than I do behind me.
However, I occasionally realize how fortunate I have been over the course of my career to see so many of my former students become successful leaders in medicine, law, industry, commerce and academia.
The public school I attended gave me positive male and female role models. Coaches taught me what integrity, honesty and discipline meant. A vice-principal imparted an important lesson when he chewed me out in public after I failed to live up to his expectations of what decency and honesty are. And of course I learned to think and write!
A story recently aired on the CBC about an online survey that drew “from nearly 5,000 responses from Canadian teachers, education workers and principals. Nearly 80 per cent of respondents reported struggling to cope, 55 per cent had experienced violence or aggression over the year prior and 77 per cent called students’ needs ‘significantly more complex’ than five years earlier.”
In my opinion the greatest thing Western civilization ever did was to bring education to the masses. How can my colleagues in the public sector teach critical content, ask important questions such as what type of a society we want to be (one that is pluralistic and inclusive or narrow minded and xenophobic?) if they are worried about their safety?
Today’s students are at the mercy of a system that does not give educators the tools to properly and appropriately deal with discipline issues.
To my friends in the public system, I would like to say thank you for everything you do. Please keep fighting the good fight.
We need you now more than ever.
Dan Milkovich, Burlington
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