{"id":931984,"date":"2026-10-13T22:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T22:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931984\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T22:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T22:36:13","slug":"letters-to-the-editor-oct-13-people-who-love-canada-may-take-comfort-in-the-extreme-narrowness-of-the-parti-quebecois-victory-they-shouldnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931984\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters to the editor, Oct. 13: \u2018People who love Canada may take comfort in the extreme narrowness of the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois victory. They shouldn\u2019t\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a style=\"display:block\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/resizer\/v2\/CGVQFGADQBGCFCREMQEJYUE22I.JPG?auth=2052932625fcf6be6be9ef2b1c98facc8ed0ef3808b8f04ebeb1cd00fb7dc5d5&amp;width=600&amp;height=400&amp;quality=80&amp;smart=true\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" data-photo-viewer-index=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"figcap-text\">Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon speaks to supporters after winning the provincial election in Montreal on Oct. 5.Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n<p>Trump effect<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/opinion\/article-trump-didnt-intimidate-canadians-he-empowered-canadians\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/opinion\/article-trump-didnt-intimidate-canadians-he-empowered-canadians\/\">\u201cTrump didn\u2019t intimidate Canadians \u2013 he empowered Canadians\u201d<\/a> (Opinion, Oct. 10): Far from punishing allies, Donald Trump is doing Canada, NATO countries and Western Europe a big favour. What is happening to Western countries is the establishment of new alliances, new open markets and new friends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Canada is most certainly finding new customers for products once sold to the United States in large quantities. Although it will take time, these new alliances should be strong and steadfast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">This leaves the U.S. in a quandary. Even once the Trump era is over and (hopefully) cooler heads prevail, previous suppliers will likely have no need for the U.S. market. New markets and alliances would not change; even if the U.S. needs our aluminum, for example, we would have none left to sell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The shoe would be on the other foot, as the saying goes. God bless America may be apt as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Ted Parkinson Toronto<\/p>\n<p>And the award goes to\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/opinion\/article-nobel-prize-mark-carney-person-of-the-year-award\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/opinion\/article-nobel-prize-mark-carney-person-of-the-year-award\/\">\u201cA Nobel Prize for Mark Carney? Premature. Person of the Year award? Thumbs-up\u201d<\/a> (Oct. 8): Either honour would be a disaster for this country. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Mark Carney may well deserve Time Magazine\u2019s Person of the Year award for 2026, but Donald Trump would go ballistic and likely lash out further against Canada. We don\u2019t need to poke the bear at this time or incur his wrath. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Almost certainly, Mr. Carney will earn many prestigious awards in due course. Let\u2019s get on quietly with building our economy, infrastructure and national pride. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Joyce Rowlands Toronto<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">I\u2019m afraid I don\u2019t agree when it comes to awarding Mark Carney Time Magazine\u2019s Person of the Year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Under his watch, I believe the Canadian economy is in severe tank mode. However, if the award is given for ruinously pushing Canada\u2019s total debt to $2.4-trillion and deficit to more than $110-billion, I wholeheartedly agree. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Nancy Marley-Clarke Cochrane, Alta.<\/p>\n<p>Temperature check<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-missing-emission-goals-report-canadian-climate-institute\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-missing-emission-goals-report-canadian-climate-institute\/\">\u201cCanada is at risk of missing its emission goals, climate report says\u201d<\/a> (Report on Business, Oct. 8): The Canadian Climate Institute\u2019s latest report confirms a dismal pattern: Canada has never met an emissions reduction target, remaining an outlier among G7 nations as the only country whose emissions rose.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">While the new heat pump rebate program is a welcome step (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-ottawa-carney-heat-pump-rebate-program\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-ottawa-carney-heat-pump-rebate-program\/\">\u201cOttawa to launch $2-billion heat pump rebate program early next year\u201d<\/a> \u2013 Report on Business, Oct. 9), its gains risk being erased as fossil fuel companies expand production capacity to fill a taxpayer-subsidized pipeline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">To turn the tide, provincial and federal leadership should act decisively. Halt the expansion of natural gas infrastructure in new subdivisions and mandate heat pumps instead. Simultaneously, clean up our power grid by ending our reliance on gas-fired \u201cpeaker\u201d plants, which increasingly run continuously, and replacing them with cheap, clean renewables and battery storage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">If we hope to leave a liveable future for our children, stop building out pipelines and propping up unproven fossil fuel workarounds such as carbon capture. Invest in renewables and electrify everything in sight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Ray Nakano Toronto<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Most people\u2019s response would be to call the government hypocrites. Research on climate hypocrisy offers a better approach: While the government is both trying to solve climate change and causing it, our lifestyles also involve contradictions due to the way society is structured, from gas-heated homes to an economy dependent on big projects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Conversations should start by noticing this gap, rather than laying blame. Governments have backtracked, and that calls for scrutiny. But so too does our own reliance on fossil fuels. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">A change in Canada would require collective action to close the gap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Simisola Pelemo Priscilla Charlottetown<\/p>\n<p>Prairie precedent<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/politics\/opinion\/article-the-pq-is-back-in-office-without-a-lot-of-people-power-behind-the-new\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/politics\/opinion\/article-the-pq-is-back-in-office-without-a-lot-of-people-power-behind-the-new\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cThe PQ is back in office without a lot of people power behind the next premier\u201d<\/a> (Oct. 7): People who love Canada may take comfort in the extreme narrowness of the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois victory. They shouldn\u2019t. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Here in Alberta, we\u2019re getting a powerful lesson in how a party, once it gets its hands on power, has at its disposal the entire system of government, including taxpayer money, to pull strings and levers to get what it wants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The referendum includes nine other questions that I would describe as anti-immigrant and anti-federal government. Each one basically presents an argument for why it should be answered in the affirmative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The government has also launched a media campaign \u2013 a propaganda campaign, I\u2019d call it \u2013 to persuade people to give it justification for making life more difficult for newcomers and trying to wrest more power from the federal government. This sort of thing has been called, astutely, \u201cmanufacturing consent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Let\u2019s see how Paul St-Pierre Plamondon uses his grip on the reins of government to move public opinion in Quebec toward an approval of separation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Frank Burgess Edmonton<\/p>\n<p>Long memory<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/canada\/article-ontario-cancer-patient-who-was-denied-coverage-for-us-treatment\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/canada\/article-ontario-cancer-patient-who-was-denied-coverage-for-us-treatment\/\">\u201cOntario cancer patient who was denied coverage for U.S. treatment dismayed by province\u2019s revised rules\u201d<\/a> (Oct. 8): So the Ontario government shifts the administrative goalposts with respect to drug coverage and I believe essentially condemns a young man and father of two daughters to certain death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Ontarians are a kind and compassionate people and come the next election should not forget this hateful act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Alan Drummond MD, Perth, Ont.<\/p>\n<p>Fight on<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/canada\/article-adrienne-clarkson-calls-for-better-endometriosis-care\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/canada\/article-adrienne-clarkson-calls-for-better-endometriosis-care\/\">\u201cDecades after her diagnosis, Adrienne Clarkson calls for better endometriosis care\u201d<\/a> (Oct. 6): I can offer a story of hope to Canadian women quietly suffering with endometriosis. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">My story includes a misdiagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome and several trips to emergency over years of suffering. The final trip was in an ambulance and, on arrival, I insisted on being seen by an obstetrician\/gynecologist. That doctor\u2019s compassion and determination led to a diagnosis that still requires laparoscopic surgery today. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">There should be better diagnostic options, better education for doctors and women and earlier detection to prevent infertility. My story continues as a mom of two great kids. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">It was a worthy battle, but one that would have been unnecessary with the right investment in research and education.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Alison Pidskalny Calgary<\/p>\n<p>Hear that?<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/life\/article-as-hearing-aid-technology-improves-issues-of-accessibility-and-stigma\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/life\/article-as-hearing-aid-technology-improves-issues-of-accessibility-and-stigma\/\">\u201cAs hearing aid technology improves, issues of accessibility and stigma persist\u201d<\/a> (Oct. 6): It is beyond frustrating that those with hearing loss are denied access to low-cost solutions due to provincial government inaction, leaving them with no alternative but expensive traditional hearing aids. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">For those with hearing loss who might be self-conscious about using such devices, Apple\u2019s AirPod hearing technology, which is not available yet in the country, would allow them to appear no different from the myriad Canadians who walk the streets daily, talking on their phones or listening to music or podcasts. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Victor Nerenberg Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/opinion\/letters\/article-people-who-love-canada-shouldnt-take-comfort-in-narrow-pq-victory\/mailto:letters@globeandmail.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">letters@globeandmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon speaks to supporters after winning the provincial&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,60895,2922,1399,66],"class_list":["post-931984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-letters-to-the-editor","tag-noastack","tag-nopolly","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}