‘Demand better’
Dear Editor:
RE: U.S. ‘values democracy,’ Jan. 22.
Letters like this frame our current moment as a simple choice between leaders and between countries. I think that misses the deeper issue.
We are not living in normal times. Canada is facing economic strain, global instability and growing pressure from powerful nations pursuing their own interests. In that reality, the question shouldn’t be whether we trust the U.S. more than China, or whether one politician is better than another.
The real question is how Canada protects its sovereignty, its democracy and its people in a world where no major power is acting out of goodwill.
The United States today is not the same country it was even a decade ago. China is not a benign actor either. Pretending one side is purely “good” and the other purely “bad” oversimplifies a dangerous and complex world. Serious times demand serious thinking, not slogans.
What concerns me most is how politics has become a team sport. We argue about who won, who lost and who to fear, while far less attention is paid to plans, accountability and the growing concentration of power. No party, and no leader, should be beyond tough questioning. Liberal or Conservative, every government must be challenged on what it is actually doing, who benefits and how Canadians’ real needs are being met.
If we truly care about democracy and freedom, then our responsibility doesn’t end at the ballot box. We need to stay engaged, stop treating politics like a spectator sport and start demanding better, from all of them.
That conversation matters more than which political jersey we wear.
Lori Berlot,
Elora