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Invites reader to re-issue letter

August 4, 2016   ·   0 Comments

This is in regards to your editorial of July 21 “Please! No ‘Trumpism’ here”

In your article you reference that sadly you were in receipt of an e-mail that was also sent to Sylvia Jones and Dave Tilson.

Someone had written in to them and to your paper regarding the Bastille Day carnage in France.

As a paper you decided not to print this person’s letter but rather to comment on it because of what you call “its troubling content.”

As a reader because it was not published I have no way of knowing the content or context of the person’s letter and in fairness to you if it was a rant or hate filled then I would agree that you should not have published it.

Where I have the issue is that once you decided not to print the person’s letter you then  decided to give your comments on the issues that he or she was concerned about.

From your comments I perceive that the writer was concerned with the terrorism that is going on and that they felt that we should all be speaking out against it.

Your comments state that they felt more action was needed from NATO and Canada militarily to wipe this out and that new immigrants especially from Muslim countries should be properly vetted in regards to extremism, that we should also monitor mosques for extremist’s views, and that moderate Islamists should be encouraged to speak out against extremism.

From your comments regarding the writer’s letter I do not see a letter full of hatred but one of concern.

As an editor you set the tone and go on to talk of Donald Trump and his views but from your comments regarding the person’s letter once again I see nothing that says he or she made any reference to Donald Trump and his views.

You also go on to say that countries that have a more open door policy or that are more tolerant  than France or the United States see less terrorism and that Canada since the Liberals came into power and with the influx of Syrian refugees has had no terrorism.

You go on to say that Germany with 40,000 refugees has escaped the horrors of terrorism.

While you are right about no known acts since the Liberals came to power you fail to mention the Toronto terrorist group and the terrorists’ failed attempt against Via Rail.

Also the events of the past weeks in Germany are in direct contrast to your statement.

With all this said I believe the writer had a right to say what he or she thought and if it was not written in a hateful way their concerns should have been printed so each of us as readers could determine for ourselves whether or not they were justified.

When we visited Pier 21 in Halifax (the immigration arrival port where my Mom arrived) there is a display with a quote from John Diefenbaker regarding the 1965 Canadain Bill of Rights.

In it he states that “As Canadians we have freedom to stand for what we think is right and freedom to oppose what we believe to be wrong”

This includes speaking out for or against something.

Does this not apply to the writer of this e-mail?

If as a paper you were restricted on what you could or could not write then you would be crying out in protest.

Whether we like it or not, individuals are concerned with these events of terrorism that are taking  place and policies that bring it closer to our shores.

As such they have a right to speak out and to encourage others to do so and I believe that your paper may have done a disservice to this writer.

Your comments were your views as a paper and the way that they were written made the writer’s letter seem frivolous, fear and racist driven and hateful.

The purpose of letters to the editor is to express one’s views if it is done in an acceptable fashion.

We do not have to agree with the person but as I stated our bill of rights gives that individual the right to express his or her views.

While you put the slant of “Trumpism” on the letter we would be better asking ourselves how such an individual is getting that much support.

Could it be because there is so much going on that most people find contrary to their values and beliefs and they feel no one other than a Donald is listening?

We all need to be respectfully speaking out for what we believe whether it is this or something else.

I encourage the writer to reissue his or her letter, maybe in a different tone, because all views matter.

David Boyce
Mono ON

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