The Globe and Mail - 21.10.2019

A12 OTHEGLOBEANDMAIL | MONDAY,OCTOBER21,

EDITORIAL

PHILLIPCRAWLEY

PUBLISHERANDCEO

DAVIDWALMSLEY

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

C

anadians going to the polls on Monday can reassure

themselves that, whateverthe next federalgovern-

ment throws at them, it will pale in comparison to

the recent crimes and misdemeanours of the Trump admin-

istration.

In the past few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has

trapped his country on a busted elevator that is crashing

through the lowest floors of morality and common decency.

It was on Oct. 6 that Mr. Trump suddenly announced he

was pulling the last American troops out of Syria, an act de-

signed as an invitation to Turkish President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan to attack Kurdish forces that had, until that mo-

ment, been allied with U.S. forces fighting the Islamic State.

The subsequent conflict has killed more than 100 civilians

in Syria and displaced more than 300,000 people. Despite a

partial ceasefire, Mr. Trump has likely condemned to death

hundreds if not thousands of men, women and children, and

callously forsaken a loyal ally.

He has also inexplicably allowed Iran, Russia and the

genocidal Syriangovernment of Bashar al-Assad to increase

their influence in the region, to the detriment of U.S. inter-

ests. And he has sent a blunt message that the United States

cannot be trusted, even by those who fought shoulder-to-

shoulder with its military.

And yet, while the blood was caking on the bodies of the

innocent this week, and captured IS fighters were escaping

from Kurdish prisons, Mr. Trump was focused on what really

matters: making a buck off of real estate.

It seems preposterous to be writing these words, but the

White House last week announced that the 2020 G7 summit,

to be hosted by the United States, would take place at a strug-

gling Florida golfing resort owned by Mr. Trump.

Never mind that the U.S. Constitution says a president is

not allowed to accept payments from foreign interests and is

not allowed to take any payment from the federalgovern-

ment beyond an annual salary. No, no. Mr. Trump’s hotel

would host the G7 “for the good of the country.”

By late Saturday night, the hapless Mr. Trump had changed

his mind and announced the summit would be held else-

where. He blamed “both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irra-

tional Hostility” [sic] for his reversal.

This is not an excerpt from a proposed script for a black

comedy about a witless, third-generation dictator trying to

direct state funds into his family business. This is the actual

state of the degeneration of Mr. Trump and his presidency.

Were we really supposed tobelieve thatgovernment offi-

cials independently came to the conclusion that the best

place to hold the G7 summit was a Trump resort?

“It’s almost like they built this facility to host this type of

event,” said an unnamed but enthusiastic official. Not likely.

Canada once hosted a G8 summit (before Russia left the

group) in a resort that brags of being the world’s largest log

cabin. The most recent G7 summit, in August, was held in a

century-old French beach hotel. It went off without a hitch.

But only a Trump resort will do when a Trump sits in the

Oval Office.

Mr. Trump is now facing a deepening impeachment inqui-

ry related to a July 25 phone call to Ukrainian President Volo-

dymyr Zelensky, in which he implicitly threatened to with-

hold aid for Ukraine unless Mr. Zelensky agreed to investigate

spurious allegations against Mr. Trump’s domestic political

rivals.

In the capper to the latest White House insanity, last week

the U.S. President’s acting chief of staff frankly admitted that

there was indeed an expectation that Mr. Zelensky would get

his aid money in exchange for doing what Mr. Trump de-

scribed in the phone call as a “favour.”

At this point, the Trump administration is in such disarray

that it can’t even stick to basic talking points. Its shameless

efforts to prevent White House andgovernment officials

from testifying at the impeachment inquiry are also failing.

Last week, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, for-

merly an unbreakable ally of the President, confessed that an

impeachment trial may now be inevitable.

Still, Mr. Trump continues to insist there was no “quid pro

quo,” and that he was onlypressing a foreign government to

investigate his election opponents out of his great concern

for fighting corruption wherever it exists.

That concern ends where Mr. Trump’s bank accounts

begin, obviously.

Meanwhile,

inthelandof

DonaldTrump

ALBERTAVS.THUNBERG

Re Why Jason Kenney Is Afraid Of

Greta Thunberg (Oct. 18): Alberta

Environment Minister Jason Nix-

on says that Greta Thunberg

“doesn’t understand” the prov-

ince. How can a 16-year-old from

Sweden know a Canadian prov-

ince better than a grown man who

has lived there all his life? But

maybe, with the benefit of a dis-

tant viewpoint, she really does.

Either way, Mr. Nixon and Jason

Kenney’s reaction to Ms. Thun-

berg’s visit to Alberta, along with

the “we love oil and gas” posters

pasted on the legislature win-

dows, seems to show a lot less ma-

turity than this precocious young

woman.

LukeMastinToronto

For more than 30 years, I have nev-

er missed voting in a federal, pro-

vincial or municipal election. I

may not vote this time. I want to,

but I am struggling to see why

Alberta matters.

Greta Thunberg has just spent

multiple days here. That’s about

as much or more time than our

federal leaders have spent in the

province this campaign, including

Andrew Scheer, who is confident

of Alberta’s Conservative base.

What does it say about the

province’s place in federal politics

when a famous anti-pipeline cli-

mate activist has upstaged those

seeking election?

DanPetrykCalgary

UNDERFIRE

Re Ex-Dragon Cranks Up Heat On

Oil Sands’ Critics (Report On Busi-

ness, Oct. 18): It astonishes me

that Brett Wilson and his fellow

Alberta oil boosters keep raising

the idea of separation. If Alberta is

having problems building the in-

terprovincial infrastructure need-

ed to transport oil and gas, do they

think those prospects would im-

prove if the province became a

sovereign entity? Separation

would make the environmental-

ists’ day.

Moreover, if the fossil-fuel in-

dustry collapses, Alberta would

likely need the support of a broad-

er confederation to transition its

economy.

LeonardBaakStittsville,Ont.

OH,OBAMA,OH

Re Oh, Obama (Letters, Oct. 18): A

letter-writer credited Barack Oba-

ma for the quality of drinking wa-

ter that Canadians and American

share. One should ask the people

of Flint, Mich., how they feel about

Mr. Obama’s response to their wa-

ter crisis.

But I believe we do share much

with our U.S neighbours: We too

have a leader who has flouted the

rules, yet still seeks re-election.

However, it would be on Cana-

dian voters if we do not hold our

politicians to a higher standard.

ShawnLeasaStratford,Ont.

Real capitalism requires steward-

ship of public and private capital.

Democracy depends on reasoned

consensus forged from respectful

dialogue. Conservatives have tra-

ditionally exemplified these val-

ues, but on both sides of the bor-

der they have more recently

shown disdain for science, equita-

ble capitalism and rational lead-

ership. Society needs to rise above

the tired frontier of economy ver-

sus environment, partisanship

versus citizenship.

There is prosperity in building

sustainable economies to meet

the challenges of climate change

and the care of our planet. I be-

lieve Barack Obama was right in

voicing support for a prime minis-

ter who is more attuned to that

challenge.

GordonCartwright

HighRiver,Alta.

AMINORDETAIL

Re The Major Facts To Consider

With Minority Governments (Oct.

17): The salient fact behind a mi-

nority government in Canada is

that Canadians themselves have

not voted to support a majority

government. It reflects political

diversity among the people them-

selves and must be respected.

A minoritygovernment is not

an aberrant form that requires

rectification. On the contrary, it

demands that the political parties

themselves work together in a

way consistent with the popular

will. Under those conditions,

some form of co-operation or

coalition is not a sign of failure,

but a duty to the electorate.

LarryHannantVictoria

The scientific evidence on climate

change now tells us that Canada

must not only meet its targets

from the Paris Agreement, but

surpass them. This election may

deliver the means to accomplish

that goal: a coalitiongovernment

whose left-of-centre leaders may

just have the fortitude to more se-

riously address the climate crisis.

As such, it is my fervent hope

that such a coalition would un-

derstand any government’s fore-

most obligation should be achiev-

ing a consensus on an issue that, if

not prioritized over the next four

years, may become an irreversible

disaster.

LeonePippardNationalRound

TableontheEnvironmentandthe

Economy,1989-1994;Fredericton

Re Scheer Makes Minority Leader-

ship Pitch (Oct. 18): Andrew

Scheer says that if the Conserva-

tives get more votes than the Lib-

erals in a minority election out-

come, he should have the right to

form government. Is he trying to

change the rules of Parliament?

It’s a sitting prime minister

who has that right, and in Canada

it’s about the confidence of Parlia-

ment – not the number of votes

one party gets. Mr. Scheer seems

to be thinking like an American.

ElizabethFernandesToronto

BANTHEMALL?

Re The Parties’ Takes On Guns

And Crime (Oct. 18): Those who

fight the banning of handguns ig-

nore their biggest use: suicide.

The great majority of suicide

deaths are by handgun, including

two in my extended family.

If banning them prevents even

one suicide, it is worth it.

DavidChalmersOttawa

Would a handgun ban include the

police? Like the theft of a handgun

from a store that was then used to

kill people on the Danforth in To-

ronto, a stolen police handgun

could be used for the same pur-

pose. Why should the police be

given the privilege of self-protec-

tion when I would not be extend-

ed the same? Yes, let’s have a ban,

but it must include all of society –

otherwise, there would always be

a group with better access to safe-

ty than everyone else.

AlexDoulisToronto

GARNEAU’SRECORD

Re Worried Canadians Urged Gar-

neau To Halt Max Jet (Oct. 18):

Transport Minister Marc Garneau

is an accomplished Canadian who

has been an astronaut and head of

the Canadian Space Agency, and

holds a doctorate in electrical en-

gineering. The catastrophic acci-

dent involving an Ethiopian Air-

lines Boeing 737 Max jet seemed

to be one where a prudent minis-

ter would want further informa-

tion prior to taking any action –

like Mr. Garneau did in seeking a

briefing the next day – or possibly

none at all.

The plane was not built in Can-

ada. The accident did not involve

a Canadian airline. It did not take

place in Canadian territory. I be-

lieve Mr. Garneau’s behaviour was

entirely appropriate for the cir-

cumstance.

BrendaDunbarWaterloo,Ont.

DONOTTALKABOUTIT

Re Moment in Time – Fight Club

Makes Its Debut (Oct. 15): I quote:

“There’s probably not a person

alive older than the age of 20 in

the Western world who doesn’t

know what the first rule of fight

club is.” For my benefit, since I am

older than 20: Could someone

please tell me what it is?

LindaLumsden

Peterborough,Ont.

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