The Globe and Mail - 13.11.2019

(Michael S) #1

A12 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER13,


EDITORIAL


PHILLIPCRAWLEY
PUBLISHERANDCEO
DAVIDWALMSLEY
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

R

ussia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election
that brought Donald Trump to power was never ex-
actly hidden from view.
A month before the 2016 vote, the Obama administration

accused the Russiangovernment of Vladimir Putin of stealing


e-mails from the Democratic National Committee and mak-


ing them public through WikiLeaks and two websites associ-


ated with Russian intelligence services.


Less than a year-and-a-half later, the U.S. Department of

Justice accused the Internet Research Agency, a troll farm in


Saint Petersburg operated by allies of Mr. Putin, of spreading


misinformation through social media designed to interfere


with the U.S. election. The DOJ indicted 13 Russians, including


Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch tied closely to Mr. Putin, on


fraud and related charges.


The fact that it was easy to trace the stolen e-mails to Rus-

sian intelligence, and then uncover the breadth of Russian ef-


forts on Facebook and other social media to promote the cam-


paign of Mr. Trump and harm that of his opponent, Hillary


Clinton, spoke to a certain audacity on Mr. Putin’s part.


But if the world hoped that the indictments of 13 Russians,

along with the financial sanctions imposed on them by the


United States, would discourage Mr. Putin, that hasn’t turned


out to be the case.


According to a New York Times investigation published

this week, Russian political operatives openly manipulated a


general election in the tiny island country of Madagascar in


December, 2018, barely 10 months after the 13 indictments


came down.


Madagascar, off the southeast coast of Africa, is not a strate-

gic prize. But it does have a valuable chromium mine, one that


the indicted oligarch and Putin ally, Mr. Prigozhin, has a ma-


jority stake in through a third company. It now appears that


the Russian interference was designed to elect a president fa-


vourable to Mr. Prigozhin’s ownership of a resource that peo-


ple in Madagascar protested should stay in local hands.


As many as 30 Russians, operating openly in Madagascar,

paid bribes, spread misinformation and propped up spoiler


candidates in the election. Things didn’t go as planned with


their preferred candidate, so the Russians switched allegiance


mid-election and put their support behind another man. In


the end, Madagascar elected a president who subsequently al-


lowed Mr. Prigozhin’s company to maintain ownership of the


mine.


Russia’s Madagascar caper is eerily similar to the granddad-

dy of modern election meddling: the CIA-led coup in Iran in


1953 that overthrew a popular nationalist leader in order to


protect British oil interests in that country.


Both were blatant violations of the sovereignty of foreign

countries by more powerful countries seeking to promote the


financial interests of their friends and allies. After 1953, the


CIA went on to support coups in other countries, notably in


South and Central America, often under the guise of fighting


the spread of Soviet Union influence during the Cold War.


And now post-Soviet Moscow appears to have become the

leading practitioner of this black art. This week, Ms. Clinton –


the target of Russian dirty work in the U.S. election – urged


British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to release a Parliamen-


tary report on Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referen-


dum and 2017 general election.


Mr. Johnson, who is pro-Brexit, has refused to do so until

after the general election in December.


This is the most shocking thing about Russia’s open attacks

on foreign votes: that some Western leaders, on one side of


the political spectrum, are willing to play it down.


Mr. Johnson should release the report, but it suits him not

to. And Mr. Trump still refuses to condemn Russian interfe-


rence in the 2016 election in a meaningful way.


It’s one thing for Mr. Putin to use his political assets to in-

terfere in foreign elections. It is another altogether for there to


be an under-reaction on the part of two Western leaders who


appear to gain from playing down the meddling.


Small countries such as Madagascar don’t have a chance

against Moscow. Mid-sized ones such as Canada can preserve


the integrity of their elections, but doing so requires more and


more money and vigilance.


What the world needs is the two most important Western

democracies, the United States and Britain, to demonstrate


that foreign election manipulation will be called out and stop-


ped, no matter where it occurs – or who it benefits.


Russia’sgame,


anditsplayers


intheWest


AFTER DON CHERRY

Re Fall Of An Icon: The Times
Changed, But Don Cherry
Wouldn’t (Nov. 12): Now that
Don Cherry is gone, the more im-
portant challenge for the Nation-
al Hockey League and its broad-
casters should be to change the
culture that celebrated him: to
make hockey a sport that wel-
comes all, regardless of race,
gender, sexual orientation and
how long one has lived in Cana-
da.
Hockey need only look to the
National Basketball Association
and the Toronto Raptors to see
what a more inclusive sports cul-
ture looks like.
Chris SasakiToronto

Now that Don Cherry is gone,
perhaps his segment could be-
come Player’s Corner. Every
week, the show could feature
captains of midget and junior
teams across the country who
could comment on the game. I
would value their perspectives.
Katherine PeelToronto

After a minor fender-bender in
her 80s, my mother gave up her
driver’s licence. Packing it in
didn’t negate all the great things
she had done over the years; she
just decided it was no longer an
appropriate vehicle for her. Don
Cherry has done many wonder-
ful things for Canada and local
communities, and will likely
continue to do so, despite
Coach’s Corner no longer being
an appropriate vehicle.
Jon McGoeyLondon, Ont.

Don Cherry may have shot from
the hip when he made his im-
passioned plea about wearing a
poppy. But I know – and I think
countless other Canadians do,
too – that his feelings came
straight from the heart.
I want to thank Mr. Cherry for
everything he’s done to unite
Canadians and make us proud to
be a part of this great country.
Wanda NowakowskaToronto

I just watched two past Coach’s
Corner Remembrance Day trib-
utes from the time when Cana-
dians were dying in Afghanistan.
There were raw and poignant
tributes to individuals who paid
the ultimate price. Don Cherry
made their sacrifices personal.
Can anyone name a person more
supportive of the Canadian
Forces and veterans than Mr.
Cherry? I can’t.
Colin Lockhart
Florenceville-Bristol, N.B.

Re On Don Cherry (Letters, Nov.
12): A few letter-writers believe
it’s a free country and Don Cher-
ry should be allowed to speak his
mind. Agreed. But why should
he have a podium and be paid
what was surely a princely sum
for often speaking like a court
fool?
Let him speak his mind over

beers at the local tavern.
Richard HarrisHamilton

I, too, am an old, cranky, white
male, born and raised in Canada
from ancestors who arrived from
Scotland in 1774. I have never
seen Don Cherry as an icon – his
notions about hockey seemed
obsolete long ago. I believe the
game is better because of prac-
tice routines developed by Rus-
sians, skating and passing per-
fected by Scandinavians, the
elimination of the red line and
better referees.
I also believe Mr. Cherry has
the right to freedom of expres-
sion, but not on television, not
with budding young players
watching. The CBC should have
clicked him offstage years ago.
Larry BlackBarrie, Ont.

Perhaps it’s time for Don Cherry
to consider a career shift to
where his temperament and
views would continue to find a
receptive audience: politics.
John SilversteinToronto

IF YOU BUILD IT ...

Re More People. Fewer Cars. Bet-
ter City (Editorial, Nov. 9): Every-
one in the housing business
should know that the solution to
the housing crisis is to build
more housing, quickly and at a
much higher density. For many
years, the City of Vancouver
seems to have worked very hard
to prevent developers from do-
ing so.
It never occurred to me that
the solution would be Indige-
nous groups who can ignore all
of the city’s requirements and
build on their lands whatever
they want, including 6,000 hous-
ing units on a relatively small
parcel in the city’s Kitsilano
neighbourhood. And with an ab-
breviated approval process, they
can also finish construction
much faster. Perhaps the city can
learn some lessons here.
What that would require is
strong leadership to defy special
interest groups and do what is
necessary to build more housing.
At the moment, anyway, that
kind of leadership seems in short
supply at city hall.
Garth EvansVancouver

The development industry
seems to have greeted, with
shameless enthusiasm, the
Squamish decision to ignore
zoning constraints. The Squam-
ish are within their legal rights,
but they should remember that
Senakw will have value because
it is in Vancouver, a city that is
livable largely because of plan-
ning rules. The rules, though on-
erous at times, exist to protect
the collective interest.
As well, when the Squamish
were peremptorily evicted from
Kitsilano in 1913, each head of
household received $11,250 – at
the time more than enough to

buy two houses in the city. Then
in 2000, the Squamish negotiat-
ed a $92.5-million settlement
with Ottawa to compensate for
Kitsilano and a North Vancouver
property. And in 2002, the
Squamish reacquired, after a
court case, the 10 acres now slat-
ed for this development.
Surely the original sin of ex-
pelling the Squamish has been
paid for. Yet the citizens of Van-
couver will have to pay yet again
with a massive development, un-
constrained by regulation and
designed without concern for
transit, schools, parks or the lo-
cal community.
Susan FisherVancouver

DRIVING FORWARD

Re Canadians Are Being Driven
To Distraction (Folio, Nov. 9):
While it is truethat government
policies and penalties can offer
some disincentives to dangerous
behaviours, there is another
powerful motivator.
Following the Ontario deci-
sion in Hunt v. Sutton Group –
when a woman, apparently
drunk at an office holiday party,
was injured – we all took notice.
Office parties toned down, taxi
chits were given out and atten-
tion was paid to how employees
were getting home.
Never mind that the trial
judge’s decision finding the em-
ployer liable went to the Court of
Appeal and was sent back for a
new trial. What we remember is
that we can be held personally
liable if someone we serve drives
drunk and hurts themselves or
someone else.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers have long
known about the risks of im-
paired driving through cell-
phone use. Requests for cell-
phone records after collisions are
the norm. In a 2017 case, Austin
v. Smith, phone records were
held producible just because the
defendant driver had a phone in
the car, without other evidence
of use.
There’s nothing like a lawsuit
to remind the community that
there are consequences to ac-
tions. Your data will find you out.
Barbara LegateLegate &
Associates LLP; London, Ont.

It seems to me an easy and effec-
tive solution to the problem of
cellphone use while driving
would be to have a 24-hour sei-
zure of the phone as a penalty,
rather like a 24-hour roadside
suspension of a vehicle. I guaran-
tee that drivers would pay atten-
tion to this penalty.
Lorna HrubyVancouver

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