To write a letter to the Calgary Herald to express your opinion on world and political events, it is a fairly simple procedure. There is an email address for where to send that gets advertised in the Herald. Your output needs to be of a certain standard as to grammar and professionalism and it cannot be more than 150 words in length. Since we are experiencing trying times having effective governance in Canada and with international threats and tariffs taking place, with even threats of invasion, I felt the need to express my opinion to help shape and discipline our collective consciousness. It is at this time that we need to let our voice heard.
Don't turn your back (March 27/25)
Canada is in a very vulnerable position when it comes to American aggression. Political leaders say “this will never happen.” Truth be told, Canada could not fend off a military invasion. Trump can transform the military to support his authoritarianism and then give incentives to invade. Money talks. How can we stop them? We need to take President Donald Trump's threats seriously by collectively making sacrifices to do what's best for Canada to preserve our identity, sovereignty, natural resources, and stand up for our democracy. You cannot ignore, as Canada needs you to act. Don't be fooled by disinformation, or misrepresentation of "Canada First" dialogue. Now is not the time for political infighting. We need cooperation like never before. Which political party will show the most respect for diverse opinions, be more respected internationally, and will protect and unite us the most coast to coast? Is this not what matters now?
Be very careful of hidden agendas (April 05/25)
With more polarized viewpoints and international pressures, parties are crossing over to be more left, right, or central. Premier Doug Ford acts more Liberal in Ontario and Naheed Nenshi is NDP because being Liberal has been a no go in Alberta. The Federal Liberals are moving more central if not right of centre. Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are from very far right to centre. Let’s face it: politicians just want to win with promises and incentives - if only they could practically deliver. Just because a party behaved in a certain way historically no longer means they will be going forward. Half of America voted Republican based on tradition, but President Donad Trump’s authoritarian behavior was not expected. Now Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Poilievre is in sync with Trump. Hopefully not for the sake of our freedom and democracy, but similarly, he does want to “axe”, dislikes the media, is negative, evasive, and supported by the far right.
There's method to madness in U.S. (April 09/25)
People say that U.S President Donad Trump and Elon Musk are insane. They maybe, but actually they are also shrewd but corrupt businessmen taking advantage of their power without regard for anyone else. What they want is financial reward or authoritative power. The immature investor and common folk are just “sheep” to be managed. You might think Musk is losing his shirt with Tesla, but I am sure he is doing just fine with his investments. No doubt they are managing their investment portfolio anytime they announce tariffs as on again, off again. They have the upper hand in knowing when to buy or sell as they control when announcements are made. Note the markets viciously swinging with each announcement, suggesting the oligarchies are wildly busy.
Social media's influence on partisan politics (April 16/25)
There is a purpose for partisan politics to keep ruling governments in check, but there has been an alarming trend of parties becoming too polarized, therefore jeopardizing collective cooperation for effective governance. Social media has played a role in this by causing more aggravation by party lines. As voters gravitate towards social media, parties are influenced by voter preference. Mainstream media, such as CTV News, should be a more credible source based on fact reporting by professional journalists with verification. Both forms can exhibit some bias, but social media videos not sourced by mainstream can lack verification and spread misinformation. Even if mainstream seems too analytical and boring to some, while social media maybe more direct in expressing personal views, it is obvious which media source you should trust the most. Doing so should help "calm the waters", keep us united sharing ideas with commonality in critical objectives.
Government’s Backup Plan (April 23/25)
An IT Manager ensures his company’s data centre has a thoroughly designed and tested disaster recovery plan (DRP). A vulnerable public company implements a "poison pill" to prevent it from being taken over. If a desperate US invades Canada to annex, the poison pill is our line of defence. Upon failure, our government should switch its databases to an alternate site, then destroy existing servers before losing control of them. Elon Musk will be after Canadian citizen's private information and to cut off payments, such as CPP and OAS. The backup databases and passwords could possibly reside in a country like the UK. This thinking maybe obsolete with cloud technology and AI and needs much more planning and design, but the idea here is that government needs to "outsmart" the US if vulnerable to keep our private data secure and perhaps elected officials govern our country from a remote location.
Realigning Canada’s trade partners (April 30/25)
As to tariffs, Canada is caught between two manipulative super powers. We should work more with China, now that the US is being governed without much regard to civil liberties. Western propaganda paints China as the enemy when in fact the US with aggressive tactics is trying to retain world dominance. Therefore, our 100% tariffs against China’s EV’s were done to protect America’s overall auto industry. But why are we still trying to protect our industry against China while the US tries to destroy it? Which economy represents a safer investment option going forward? Chinese automakers are more cost effective and technologically advanced, as our decaying industry needs a remake using vertical integration to avoid product obsolescence. China wants to build up our economy by giving us a competitive product to sell locally and internationally. If China assembled vehicles in Canada, this would help keep those employed in this industry.