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Dear Republic:
Your article about the reasons that Americans come to Canada ("They All Run to Canada", issue 178) concludes that "there must remain some element of our cultures that is strikingly different, different enough to cause enlightened American war resistors to flee here" and that "it's specifically something that America is not, and it's got something to do with war."
This assessment is very generous to the American war resistors in question because it applies a high-minded and principled rationale to what are often very mundane legal problems for those Americans in question. Why do they come? They come for exactly the reason that the article dismisses: Unlike Mexico, Canada looks like home in almost every way (geographically, culturally, linguistically economically, politically). The important and unsubtle difference between the two countries is that the jurisdiction of commanding officers from the US military and officials from the US Department of Justice ends at the 49th Parallel.
—Pietro Mercantile, Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Dear Republic:
As much as I admire your evident social conscience and your impulse to social activism (I voted for you), I am appalled by what I see as your contradictory stand on honouring fallen soldiers. Rex Murphy said that General Hillier should not be required to wear the failings of government policy. And neither should any foot-soldier of any rank or branch. These (mostly young) men and women are working stiffs doing a dangerous job and when they are killed in action, their deaths are worthy of the respect of their employers, you and me.
Disagreeing with the mission is another matter. The blatant sophistry of your “No moral obligation at all” rests entirely on equating honour with political support. Muddying the issue by juggling different meanings of “sacrifice” does you no credit; nor does placing the blame solely on the Prime Minister.
The points we should be seeing clearly are both more intimate and big-picture than your analysis admits. I have been both badly treated and witness to bad behavior by the police, but that does not give me the right to hate policemen or the institution, or to fail to honour a death in the line of duty. Bad behavior by fellow citizens or, say, by the Taliban, demand corrective action. Disagreeing with this is not an option: defending ourselves or others from evil is an obligation limited only by our power to do so. In our collective social contracts we agree to have police and as citizens of the world, to fight wars of liberation. What evils and what wars are burdens of decision for us to make as citizens of a democratic nation.
—Dennis Yandle, life member, Royal Canadian Legion
Dear Republic:
Is contempt a crime when a court is contemptible?
This is an open letter to the Canadian Judicial Council in the matter of the trial and sentencing of Ms Harriet Nahanee late of the Salish Nation, for defending Eagleridge Bluffs against development of the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
In the matter of Ms Nahanee’s assertion that the Royal Proclamation of 1763 takes precedence over provincial law, why was Judge Brown even allowed to rule on this? An honorable provincial judge would have noted the obvious conflict of interest and disqualified herself.
Judge Brown’s contention that she didn’t know Ms Nahanee’s health condition is not sufficient excuse for sentencing an elder to the cold damp hole of the remand centre. Nor is Brown’s lack of knowledge of the conditions in the remand centre. Justice demands punishment should fit the crime.
The use of a “contempt of court” injunction against Ms Nahanee was itself contemptible. As Madam Justice Quijano ruled in the Cathedral Grove case, there are other laws that apply. Contempt of court is not in itself enough to remove people from crown or contested land. To do so is presumption of guilt. Worse, it allows the courts to be used by other organizations to subvert the law, in this case a road-building company and British Properties (BPP), a land-holding corporation owned by the crown.
Brown’s excuse that “Ms Nahanee demonstrated no remorse and did not apologize for her conduct” indicates ignorance of legal principles centuries old. Even an incompetent judge under a just system will understand it is she who should show remorse and apologize to the relatives and friends of Ms Nahanee.
Investigating the Brown decision is precisely what we’re paying the Judicial Council for, especially so when a judicial decision results in the death of a 71-year-old elder protecting our land.
—Jim Erkiletian, Nanaimo BC
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The Republic of East Vancouver masthead
The Republic of East Vancouver supports no party, advocates
for no cause, represents no group, serves no master, and considers
problems with no preconceived notions. We hope to afflict the comfortable,
both materially and intellectually, and comfort the afflicted—of
both kinds as well, and we are trying to do both things at the same
time.
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Kevin Potvin
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