Letters, Sept. 30: PM didn't cause Nazi gaffe but he should have immediately responded

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Re: Rota’s resignation doesn’t ease gaffe, Opinion, Sept. 27

Don Braid says that ex-Speaker Anthony Rota was “installed by the Liberals.” While he may have been one candidate put forward, the Speaker of the House must be voted on by all members. His role is to act as an impartial presiding Officer of Parliament; he does not report to the prime minister.

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There are calls for the prime minister to answer for having invited a former Nazi and applauding him in the House. But the Prime Minister’s Office cannot interfere with, or vet, the actions of the Speaker – even though I am sure they would certainly like to have done so. That would infantilize the office and weaken accountability. 

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What the prime minister must do now is pick up the pieces of this monumental, international gaffe. That’s his job and he should have been on top of it in the House days ago.

Nancy Marley-Clarke, Calgary

A history lesson

Re: House rocked by Nazi ‘hero’ gaffe, Sept. 26

Members of the Nazi SS “Galicia Division” were interned after the end of the Second World War near Rimini, Italy. They were screened by the British, Americans, Canadians, and even the Soviets, with no evidence of wartime criminality uncovered. Later relocated to the U.K., they were kept working for several more years before being “civilianized,” following which a number emigrated to other countries.

Concerns expressed when veterans of this division were finally granted permission to come to Canada in 1950 were investigated by the High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom. He dismissed  these accusations as nothing more than “Communist propaganda.”

Starting in the late 1970s, the KGB successfully orchestrated a disinformation campaign, Operation Payback, deliberately stoking tensions between the Jewish and Ukrainian diasporas over the alleged presence of “thousands” of “Nazi war criminals” in Canada and the U.S. These charges were thoroughly examined in 1984-1987 by the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals headed by Mr Justice Jules DeschênesHe concluded that reports about “thousands of Nazi war criminals in Canada” were “grossly exaggerated” and noted how there was no evidence of wartime wrongdoing on the part of the veterans of the “Galicia Division.”

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Want more information? Read the official report at https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/CP32-52-1986-1-eng.pdf

Borys Sydoruk, Calgary

Alberta’s demands impact the rest of Canada

I am vehemently opposed to Alberta taking over my retirement money. I do not believe there is a potential for higher payments which is predicated on getting over half of the CPP fund.

The prospect of an APP comes on the heels of the federal PCs (Stephen Harper) wanting to increase Old Age Security eligibility to 67 from 65. I have already written to Pierre Poilievre asking his intentions. Unlike Alberta MLAs, I actually received a response.

This issue has to be tied to the federal election in my opinion. Why is it provincial and federal PCs are so intent on getting their hands on my retirement money? I have an email from Rob Anderson in 2019 that states separation has to be pursued if an Alberta pension plan does not proceed. Is this the end game? If so, please be upfront and transparent.

I am outraged that Alberta is demanding half of the fund which would increase premiums for other Canadians. I have relatives and family in other provinces. I have never been so ashamed of my province. The term that comes to mind is “separatist greed.” Let’s hope Alberta doesn’t have another case of BSE where borders close overnight. Canadians rallied around the industry to help eat our way through culled cow meat and beef products destined for export. Do you think we’d get the same support if Alberta increases CPP for everyone else?

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The CPP has an excellent track record of return on investment and does not put my retirement money at risk. I like being part of a larger pool with other Canadians. I can’t believe the UCP is doing this to us. This is not the Alberta I have loved and promoted all my life.

JR Lemke, Airdrie

An ‘assault’ on democracy

Re: Open Letter to Albertans from Premier Danielle Smith, Sept. 27

“We won’t replace the CPP with an APP unless Albertans make it clear they want a referendum on this issue and approve it in that referendum (which would likely be held in 2025).”

Until reading this statement, I was comforted that for Albertans to desert the Canada Pension Plan would require a referendum. Also after reading editorials and letters from well-informed residents, I had concluded that this act of desertion would be unpatriotic, likely an unsafe gamble of our pension money, and most Albertans wouldn’t vote for it. 

However, now it seems that Smith must receive an unspecified number of Albertans requesting said referendum or our government may just go ahead and pass legislation without consulting the citizens of Alberta. This is an alarming assault on democracy.

Donna Bolan, Calgary

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Tide is turning against War Room tactics

Attention Alberta Big Oil War Room: People on Vancouver Island can think for themselves. When a duly elected (Nanaimo) municipal council votes to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to secure a decent future for their children and future generations, you can be assured that they have thought long and hard about it.

Organized efforts to throw sand in our eyes (2,377 letters and counting) by a wealthy outsider lobby group are not appreciated or appropriate. Most of us have friends in Alberta, and most of us also know that the majority of those friends are not in support of these disruptive and undemocratic tactics, nor of the “War Room” that has spawned them. The fact that some of their hard-earned tax contributions are being used to fund these efforts may not play out well during the next election.

Living on the coast, we understand all about tides. You cannot hold them back. It is time you realized that the climate change and fossil fuel tide has already started to turn.

Roy Collver, Qualicum Beach, B.C.

Virtual citizenship should not become reality

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I think Immigration Minister Miller has been watching too many virtual reality shows. His idea of immigrants clicking a button to become (virtual?) Canadian citizens is at best Hollywoodian. What’s next? Graduating students printing their diplomas from a website and celebrating on Meta with their classmates?

If Miller wants to do something productive, he should do away with allowing multiple citizenships, and re-establish what is missing in this country – a Canadian identity. A Canadian passport is accepted all over the world for travel and work. But too many so-called Canadian citizens are using that citizenship as a security blanket while they are involved in political activities in their home country.

Yes, I am a ‘landed immigrant’, and I had to surrender my citizenship and passport when I became a proud ‘naturalized’ Canadian citizen in 1974.   

Hans Firla, Calgary

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