Bill C-51 is forcefully touted as protecting Canadians against terrorism. It exploits amorphous fear in the same way that occurred in the United States after 9/11 where the Bush government introduced sweeping laws restricting civil liberties under the guise of protecting the United States from attack. Ironically, the more defensive we become, the less freedom we actually have.

This is all part of the ongoing deconstruction of our Canadian democracy undertaken by Stephen Harper and his neocon government through the systematic and incremental erosion and weakening of its structure and effectiveness through funding cuts to Statistics Canada, the firing of scientists, the closing of environmental programs, the open attack on democratic activist groups and charitable organizations by the CRA and a host of other seditious ways that compromise freedom in Canada–all the while purporting to keep our country and out economy strong and our democracy safe.

As with politics anywhere today, the truth is hard to find. The real and salient questions about the war in Iraq are never addressed such as why the West has taken the lead in the fear response to ISIS when the immediately neighbouring countries in the Middle East and in particular the Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Jordan, Iran and others have expressed little concern and offered little or no moral or practical support for the war against them and even less public condemnation of their atrocities. If the immediate neighbours have so little concern, why is the West so agitated? The answer may be oil, not morality.

Another major unanswered question that receives little media scrutiny is in relation to the major silent partners in any war – the global arms industry that makes massive profits selling weapons to both sides in any conflict. They are amoral war-profiteers who are rarely taken out of the shadows for their complicit role in global strife and who account for a significant portion of the GDPs of the G8, Russian and Chinese economies – the military industrial complex that is the beating heart of most developed nations. In Iraq, few questions are asked about where the massive amounts of military weapons and ammunition come from that arm ISIS and how these are paid for. Who is supplying (and resupplying) the ISIS fighters while profiting from this war and its ongoing misery? The public has a right to know. The only practical answer to this and all global conflict is strict weapons control, not moral platitudes or geopolitical posturing. It is time for global arms reduction rather than proliferation and a peace economy instead of a war economy.

A third issue that is contained in media reports is the one of ISIS selling oil on the “black market”. How do you sell oil on a “black” market? Pipelines and ships are easily tracked by sophisticated spy satellites so how does ISIS sell “black market” oil without the West knowing and who they are selling to? The same applies to “black market” weapons. It appears to be an unresolvable mystery to the West as to how this happens, one that they have little interest in solving.

If we start asking some real hard questions about the silent partners of war we will not need the trumpeting ram’s horn of Bill C-51.

Robert Bahlieda, Newmarket

Blaney raises a valid point by reminding us the Holocaust began with words. As part of their fear tactics to support Bill C-51 the Harper government has been using words to subtly denigrate and vilify Muslims. And as with the Jews in Nazi Germany, Muslims in Canada cannot easily defend themselves.

If a Muslim criticizes the government they run the risk of being labeled as a trouble maker or perhaps even a terrorist. The Harper government has made Muslims the focus of fear on the part of targeted voters while simultaneously silencing the victims of its election strategy. Sadly this appears to be the Canada many want.

In response, the rest of us need to get out and vote to “Stop Harper and Save Democracy.”

Randy Gostlin, Oshawa

I’m not in habit of writing opinion, but Blaney’s comments worry me as much as the media’s response to them.

What was failed to be recognized is that, in his comparison to the Holocaust – what role is he playing? The Nazi government postulated and gesticulated about the evils of the Jewish people, and the Hebrew ‘threat’ to their country, indeed a threat to all of Europe.

Blaney, and the Conservative government are not in the role of the Jews, they are in the role of the Nazis. They are the government that is postulating and gesticulating about the jihadism threat to our country, indeed a threat to the entire world.

It is scary to hear such things, especially knowing that he did not speak ‘off-the-cuff’ (since no one in the Conservative government can) but had full backing of the PMO.

However, it is even more scary to realize that not one member of the media even noticed the role reversal.

Rick Piovesan, Aurora

Fanatics seem to be created according to some sort of formula for each is a master in the politics of division; separating the world into ‘us’ and ‘them’, and casting their enemies as irrational, cold blooded killers bent on attacking ‘our’ freedoms and beliefs.

Fanatics consistently exaggerate the threat posed by ‘others’, inflaming nationalistic fervor by wrapping themselves in - or in some cases, merely standing in front of - a flag while praising the righteous heroism of those who fight for them.

Safely guarded from danger themselves, fanatics employ fear and distrust to incite others to violence - whether it be discrimination, bombings or outright invasion - in pursuit of their holy grail; an expanded platform for their conservative ideology, the funds to wage perpetual war, and most importantly, the ability to influence and control others, for that is the wellspring of their prestige and their power.

What a pity that so many Canadians, unnerved by even the remotest possibility of ‘terrorism’, cannot discern the far greater danger posed by the unprincipled zealot who stands in our own Parliament; for to disarm him, we need only deny him our support at the ballot box.

Mike Ward, Duncan, BC

Justin Trudeau recently chastised Prime Minister Harper and claimed that he was fomenting unrest and misunderstanding.

I believe in a world of peace and harmony, and so too does Stephen Harper.

Add joy, delight, and inspiration to that list.

We all do.

Unlike Justin however I am not so blithely naive as to not recognize the existence of nasty and vicious people, factions, and armies in this world.

If he truly believes the world is totally benign and innocent he should leave every lock in his world unlocked.

I seem to recall the last time that happened very bad and potentially deadly things happened.

It is worth noting that at the same age as Justin is now, President John Kennedy was dealing with the Cuban missile crisis, and moving legislation through congress to lower taxes.

He told the American people that we choose to go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard.

Can anyone really claim that they could see Justin doing anything similar?

Brian Beckett, Nepean

It is disturbing, indeed chilling, to hear our apparently Orwellian-titled “Minister of Public Safety”, Steven Blaney, defending what surely is the most dangerous, anti-democratic, and demagogic piece of legislation ever foisted on the Canadian public since Japanese internment with the risible claim that “The Holocaust did not start with gas chambers; it started with words.” Actually, it started with the very opposite: with the suppression and prohibition of words, along with any and all forms of artistic, cultural, intellectual and political expression at odds with Nazi ideology.

One hopes that is only coincidence that Blaney bears a striking physical resemblance to Joseph Goebbels, appointed the “Reichs Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda” shortly after the Nazis seized power in Germany in 1933. (Blaney is balder, but then Goebbels was only 35 at the

time.) Goebbels quickly established supervisory agencies (called

“Reichskammers”) to regulate, censor and outright ban works (and their

producers) in every field of cultural endeavour: the press, radio, film, theatre, music, literature and publishing.

Interestingly, it was the democratic Weimar Republic, not the Nazis, which first introduced hate speech laws against “insulting religious communities”,

used to prosecute virulent anti-Semites like Goebbels. Did they work? On

the contrary, they allowed the Nazis to present themselves as victims of political persecution by an ostensibly anti-German and Christian-hating Jewish minority. We all know what happened next (except Mr. Blaney, apparently).

I am not a Muslim but I fear for their safety as this government continues to stoke the fires of Islamophobia through this wholly unnecessary and counter-productive “terror” legislation. The Canadian Government does not need new laws to protect itself from Canadians. We need laws to protect us from ever-more sweeping intrusions into our private lives by this

demonstrably paranoid Government. The Minister’s dismissive comments and

woeful ignorance of history are making me, a member of the public, feeling very much less safe under his watch. Mr. Blaney is either too much of a knave or too much of a fool (Lenin’s “useful idiot”) to be anybody’s Minister of Public Safety.

Edward Ozog, Brantford

It is quite apparent for the real reason that Stephen Harper created Anti-Terrorist Bill C-51. . . he has no desire to again run and hide in a closet as he did during October’s Parliament Hill terrorist shooting. Fifteen quivering minutes alone in a dark cubbyhole. . . that would test the resolve of any Prime Minister!

Richard Krieger, Victoria, BC

It was so that Trudeau (pere) desired to drag Quebec up to be a great people from the shambles New France had become in 1968. Darkness and Duplessis had enveloped them with parochial views and backwardness. Trudeau used Toronto money to buy Montreal a new subway, apparently something we didn’t get, and gave them all the federal government jobs they wanted and hardly qualified for. Today our Foreign Affairs sends out mangled French speakers for the world to admire and second rate intellectuals to solve Ukrainian problems. The dope Baird was the icing on the cake. Today Trudeau (fils) argues to Quebec that Bill C-51 is wrong and we are trussing ourselves up into being a surveillance state with state hatred toward Muslims. He is out of sync with Quebec’s view of the Jews which has always been despicable and now they are ready to run a million Muslims through the gauntlet. In October it may happen that Quebec, who never really changed, rejects Trudeau and his regional Liberal party. The ROC has long forgotten the Liberals or never really knew them and we may land up with another Tory majority.

Bryan Charlebois, Toronto

We are made to believe more people die in this country from the flu and various other diseases than from terrorism. Yet there is such knee-knocking fear being projected by those who have obsessed themselves with the profitability of war, when the bombs, guns and tanks are used recklessly in foreign lands. The young men and women who are allegedly terrorists are saying loud and clear that they are broken to pieces watching the same countries, and the same people, being slaughtered and feel compelled to do something, erroneous as it might be, about it. Stevie boy wonder of Ottawa is finding it so hard to wrench himself away from his misconception of endearing himself to voters. Wish he would do some listening rather than make himself so impenetrable.

Gloria Ramnath, Shelburne

The Star is right in saying that without pushback, the bill in its present form is a threat to “human rights, freedom of speech, privacy and the security of the person”. Indeed in the bills broad from, it is the equivalent of giving government a blank cheque.

But just what kind of pushback is required to establish balance? It is clearly not an easy task when even the ideology that spurs terrorists such as ISIL in those unspeakable atrocities is hard to define. Yet a good beginning is to realize that nothing can shame those who perpetuate it. That their ideology is rooted in being entirely justified in wanting a caliphate state and that not a stone will be left unturned in doing that.

Indeed some analysts reckon that not even gums can defeat that ideology. Certainly not head on against ISIL itself. A huge onus then is for the Muslim world to do more in working in tandem with government in measures that will lead to achieving a much needed balance in the bill before parliament.

Claude McDonald, Kitchener

When Stephen Harper was elected with a Majority Government, he made the statement that in five years, Canada would be a different country. Overall, he has been quite successful in changing Canada. We are now a meaner and more bigotted country with little or no opportunity for our young people. The rich have never been so rich, the middle class is obliterated and poor are getting poorer. This does not bode well for Canada. Now, Stephen Harper is foisting Bill C-51, the new security act, on us. The ramifications of this act, “An Act to enact the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act and the Secure Air Travel Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts”, will negatively affect every Canadian Citizen. It will allow any law enforcement agency in Canada to investigate any Canadian Citizen for any political whim.

I think that it should be called the “Harper Gestapo Act”, because that’s what it simply is.

G. Burns, Oshawa

Anyone who believes that the RCMP is an independent body is disillusioned. The boss of the force is given that job by the prime minister and he acts at the behest of the P.M. Thus the Mountie boss, Bob Paulson, acted on instructions from his boss to release the Zehaf-Bibeau video just three days before the prime minister’s ill thought out Bill C-51 is to be debated in committee; not in parliament where debate was cut short by the P.M., but in a committee dominated by the P.M.’s acolytes.

So like it or not, Canada and Canadians will be saddled with a bad bill because the boss of bosses wants it that way. Commissioner Paulson - step aside, you have done your duty to your benefactor. He’ll take it from here. And those 18 seconds you deleted from the Z-B tape; well we of a certain age remember another leader who ordered words deleted from a tape. That would be disgraced U.S. president Richard Nixon who had 18 and a half minutes erased from 3700 hours of tapes to try to avoid impeachment in the Watergate affair where he had used illegal tactics to try to defeat his political enemies.

Joe Spence, Kanata

Excellent analysis by Thomas Walkom. While our economy is in deep trouble,our neocon p.m is in full speed propaganda machine mode to deceive Canadians on security issues and create fear and blame Canadian Muslims.mr harper is following the u.s where homeland security has become huge business .billions of dollars are spend to the point of no return has been taken over by private security firms,spying on their own citizens. Mr Harper is taking us in the same direction , a very scary and dangerous.

Rafat Khan, Mississauga

Two articles in today’s Star:

1. Cynical Tory Pandering (Editorial)

2. Conservatives ramp up use of fear tactics (p.A6) reflect the Harper Conservative’s implementation of the U.S. Bush Republican policy of exploiting American paranoia for their political advantage.

This “boogeyman” strategy” has reduced America from a once respected nation to a 21st Century shadow of its’ former self.

Let us hope that Canadians do not buy into the artificial “ protecting Canadians from the boogeyman “ rhetoric being marketed by the Harper Conservative Party in an attempt to get re-elected.

Will Canada follow their American counterparts into obscurity by buying into the Conservative “fear tactics” political strategy or demonstrate their astuteness by electing a Party that will demonstrate concrete leadership by addressing social issues that benefit most Canadians ?

Doug Thom, Oakville

I have had it with Prime Minister Harper’s fearmongering.

Raised in the United Church of Canada, and presently a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, Stephen Harper is a professing christian. In worship, he will have recited with the congregation: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27). He will have heard or sung repeatedly the invitation to “Fear not!” He will be familiar with these words from I John 4: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” These are not just pious phrases. Rather they root the very values that many of us Canadians are trying to live by.

Please, prime minister, be true to who you are. No reelection is worth not being so!

Bob McElhinney, Toronto

Tim Harper’s review of the Tories’ political use of fear covers off a more recent example of our government’s continuing strategy for getting and staying elected. But in sticking with what appears to be their only hope, the fear engendered by the Al Shabaad advertisement brought to us by the Conservative Party of Canada might go a bit far. Personally, I’m no more frightened by our homegrown, jihadi wingnuts than I was before. But I do wonder about the apparent merits of the advertisement on behalf of Al Shabaad recruitment? I would guess that the fearful romance of the ad recruits more to terror’s cause, than it draws new adherents to the Tory fear-for-all strategy. But in this, Mr. Harper succeeds; I’m more scared of him than ever.

P. D. Brown, Orillia

Anyone care to predict just when, between now and the general election (whether in October or sooner), Harper’s spy agencies will “uncover” exactly the kind of conspiracy to attack the West Edmonton Mall, or other equally iconic target, that will justify everything he is currently proposing? Maybe around the opening of the Mike Duffy trial? And we will have to take it on faith that the threat is real, because the RCMP never lie, and vote him back in again to protect our freedoms with ever tighter restrictions of them.

Robert Fothergill, Toronto

I totally and whole heartedly support the establishment of Office of Religious Freedom to support the fight against oppression overseas and the government’s position on it at “home.”

I am, however, confused as to why the government does not consider empowering the ORF to look at similar offences at home to enable those few women that the government believes are being forced to do so against their will by their family of friends to seek help to free themselves of such oppression.

By banning such clothing, which clearly some believe to be a religious requirement, the government is acting as an oppressor and denying those few people that wear such clothing out of their own free will of the right under Charter of Rights.

How does banning the wearing of a niqab change the person, threaten public safety or further our values? Let us be sensible and Canadian.

Hakim Feerasta, Toronto

Poor Steven Blaney. To support the Reform/Conservative party’s new ‘anti-terrorism’ legislation, he sunk to new rhetorical lows.

First, he parroted out the wonderfully kindergarten-level phrase, “Hate begins with words.” Perhaps we should now call him Senator Joe (as in McCarthy), whose hate expressed itself in words — false accusations against innocent people.

Second, he trotted out highly inflammatory comparisons with the Holocaust. The Reform/Conservative rhetoric always seeks to foment hatred and distortion for political gain.

This kind of black and white thinking is not worthy of our Canadian heritage.

Richard Hood, Toronto

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said, “The Holocaust did not begin in the gas chamber; it began with words.” Scholars mark the beginning of the Holocaust as the day, Jan. 30, 1933, when Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg. That is when the heads of a state decided to pursue a vigorous persecution against a faith-based community. From a rhetorical point of view, this is not a good way for the minister to justify his position.

Throughout my six decades of self-expression I have tried to correct misrepresentations about Judaism both in myself and in others. And what do I have to show for it? One of the most powerful members of my federal government feels justified in misappropriating a tragedy that wiped out more than half of my family to urge a virtually doomed piece of legislation — Bill C-51.

Firstly, it will result in a blizzard of constitutional challenges as it violates the basic rights of Canadians. Secondly, it has been shown that it is easy to induce false memories in subjects even with the limited means of duress allowed in psychology experiments and psychotherapy. Thus most data it produces will reflect the biases of the interrogators.

Thirdly, the first thing I was taught in information technology was GIGO — garbage in, garbage out. Actions based on invalid data will put Canadians in harms way and fail to remove others from its path.

Moses Shuldiner, Toronto

Before Steven Blaney invoked the Holocaust as justification for Bill C-51, he should have studied German history a little more closely. He would have found eerie similarities between Harper’s reaction to the shooting on Parliament Hill and Adolf Hitler’s reaction to the burning of the Reichstag on Feb. 27, 1933.

The day after the fire, Hitler persuaded the president, Paul von Hindenburg, to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree, which was formally titled “Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State”. The Enabling Act, which was passed less than a month later and allowed the Cabinet to make laws without going through Parliament (like Orders-in-Council) was titled “Law to Remove the Distress of the People and the State”. Compare those with the preamble to Bill C-51, which begins, “Whereas the people of Canada are entitled to live free from threats to their lives and their security.”

Now consider what was in the Reichstag Fire Decree. Article 1 states, “Articles ... of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. Thus, restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press, on the right of assembly and the right of association, and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications, and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property are permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.” The Enabling Act states, in Article 2, “The national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet may deviate from the Constitution as long as they do not affect the position of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat.”

Compare that with Bill C-51. Here is Part 2 (the “Secure Air Travel Act”), Section 28, which describes “Powers to enter, seize, and detain”. “The Minister of Transport may enter any place ... for the purposes of making inspections or audits ... regardless of whether or not the inspection or audit relates to that place or to the person who possesses, occupies or controls it;” Section 29 grants immunity to agents of the Minister: “A person authorized by the Minister of Transport to verify compliance with the provisions of this Act ... does not commit an offence if the person commits any act or omission that is required ... and that would otherwise constitute a contravention of this Act or its regulations.” In other words, the government is above the law.

Part 3, which amends the Criminal Code, includes, in Section 17, text discussing arrest without warrant: “a peace officer may arrest a person without a warrant and cause the person to be detained in custody ... if the peace officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the detention of the person in custody is likely to prevent a terrorist activity.” Section 24 discusses “Fear of certain offences”: “A person who fears on reasonable grounds that another person will commit an offence ... may, with the Attorney General’s consent, lay an information before a provincial court judge.”

There’s a lot more in a similar vein. The essence of Bill C-51 is that agents of the government can do as they please in the name of “combatting terrorism,” just as long as they can find a judge to give them a warrant, and not even then, in some circumstances.

Now let’s look at the minutes of the conference of ministers, on 7 March 1933. “The Reich Minister of the Interior spoke about the Reichstag fire and the punishment of the culprits, and stated that it was urgently necessary to hang van der Lubbe at once ... To be sure, the law that currently applied to arson only provided for a prison sentence, but it had to be possible to impose the penalty of death by hanging for such a heinous crime and to apply it retroactively.” “The Chancellor stressed the fact that, in his opinion also, it was urgently necessary to hang van der Lubbe. The German public absolutely expected this. He could not recognize the doctrine of ‘the law must be observed,’ if the entire national life had to perish as a result.” But in the next paragraph, Hermann Goering admits, “Whether the person arrested at the Belgian border had any connection with the deed was still uncertain.”

Of course, Stephen Harper has not yet called for the re-instatement of capital punishment, yet. But his “lock ’em up and throw away the key” utterances are not that far off.

Sinclair Lewis wrote, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Well, fascism has come to Canada. I sincerely hope the voters take the opportunity to root it out at the next election.

Henry Lamb, Thornhill

This year is a federal election year, so next year should be a good year for Stephen Harper to read some history books and then start his real autobiography. He should have a lot of free time on his hands then and would want to ensure that all Canadians know what a great job he did for (on?) us.

Hopefully he will tell all about his early hopes and dreams for this once great country, and how did his early political affiliations affect him into how and why he did the unpopular (to Canadians) and undemocratic (to everybody but him and his caucus counterparts) things he did during his tenure as PM. We all would like to know how it - the country, not the book - will turn out.

And he can call the book “My Struggle.” That copyrighted title should soon be available, after these past seventy years.

John Purvis, Colborne

I agree that Muslim Canadians are not the enemy, but the terrorists in our midst and throughout much of the world are for the most part Muslims, staunch believers in all the heinous parts of the Qur’an. Just as the Old and New Testaments have portions that we have long since chosen to ignore — such as permitting slavery, stoning women for adultery, an eye for an eye, cutting off the hand of a thief, etc., so have moderate Muslims chosen to ignore similar passage in the Qur’an.

But Prime Minister Harper is right to be concerned. We see on a daily basis what is happening throughout the world: in Britain, France, Holland, etc. and especially in Middle East countries. Islamist terrorists, such as ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban and others want nothing short of world domination and are using terrorism and the fear it generates to achieve this goal. There are already whole towns in Britain and France where Sharia law is the modus operandi and it will likely get worse.

Our laws have to be able to expose and punish those who want to destroy us and we must not hide behind euphemisms when trying to expose the perpetrators of terror. Our ability to live freely in a free land depends on our ability to root out terror wherever it exists and hopefully stricter laws will be of help.

We are not alone in the world in making such a choice and while our freedom overall should not be impinged upon, we must have the means to protect ourselves.

Frances Weingarten, Toronto

I agree with the Star’s editorial on Justin Trudeau’s call for civility in the main; and your last paragraph, in particular. Unfortunately, I think Mr.Trudeau has finally found a major politically divisive issue, and he is hanging on like a mad terrier; hoping people will forget his total lack of policy and vision.

His analogy to Komaga Maru and the St. Luis is risible. The “one is too many” referral to the refusal of the Canadian Government to allow in the Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany –and comparing anti-Semitism to anti-Islam; or the silly neologism “Islamophobe”; is spurious simile at best; hyperbolic prevarication at worst.

Jews escaping Nazi persecution were true refugees. Most (but not all) Muslims are not; and the ones causing the most controversy and resentment are the ones that arrive as immigrants expecting to take advantage of all the services and freedoms available here; but putting little or nothing into their new home; and using our acceptance and laws to attack the very freedoms and values they so ardently sought when immigrating; and which were not available in their home country. These fundamentalist Muslims are not seeking to integrate into Canadian society. On the contrary; they seek to impose their archaic practices and beliefs on us; using “religious freedom” as a club. How much religious freedom would they have in the country from where they escaped?

I am not speaking of all Muslims here –just a tiny minority; but it is this minority that by their actions cast a shadow on all Muslims; who might not want to challenge the more aggressive groups within their Diaspora. I know whereof I speak; I have a number of Muslim acquaintances. They are fine and upstanding citizens, and they feel exactly the same way as do I.

Nota bene: Jhanzab Malik accused of plan to blow up U.S. Consulate in Toronto –CBC March 11, 2015.

There would be less need of a Bill C-51 if such radical activity did not recur. This nut is here on a student visa. This is how such ingrates repay Canadian generosity.

Sigmund Roseth, Mississauga

I like to think of myself as a liberal thinker. I try to accept people for who they are regardless of their politics, the colour of their skin or to whom and how they choose to prey. I also love the diversity of our incredible city and country. It makes us strong and a positive example to the rest of the world.

Having read this mornings comments by Chantal Hebert I feel the need to comment on the subject of wearing the niqab in public. The women depicted in the article are fine. I don’t see the wearing of a head cover be it by Muslims, Jews or Christians as offensive in any way. This said, I find the wearing of a niqab in public as highly offensive as I would someone wearing a goalie mask or any other type of mask concealing the face. More so, I believe that if you wish to vote in this country that both photo ID and the ability to identify the individual should be reqired. If this poses as a problem to a niqab wearer then they must accept our traditions and torarances and not vote.

When a decision is made to come to Canada I bel‎ieve that like my parents, it’s done for a better life and opportunities that don’t exist in the Country of their origin. Why else would someone leave family, friends, language and what is familiar? I may not accept everything that Harper preaches but he is bang on here. There is very little more offensive than an individual with a covered face at a Canadian citizenship oath ceremony. I say respectfully and without prejudice to the wearer that if it means that much to you then choose a different country.

Dennis Schembri, Etobicoke

After reading the comments from Mr. Harper’s two hack spin doctors, John Robson and Warren Kinsella a while back in the Intelligencer, I am flabbergasted with the gall of those two.

They go on and on about how Mr. Harper screwed up and how Mr. Harper lied to every one when he first said that we were not at war and now admitting that yes we are now fighting because they are shooting at us, and how he screwed up by depending on oil, promising that we would have a surplus in the budget, wait for it.

Both those spin doctors; Robson and Kinsella blame the N.D.P and the Liberals because they should have known that Mr. Harper was telling a lie.

But if those two spin doctors cannot blame Mr. Trudeau or Mr. Mulcair, they blame Pierre Trudeau who is dead.

Mr. Harper said that it was ok for all those foreigners to buy Canadian companies and closing them down, because the OIL was King and we did not need other jobs, He should have realised that this country is not Dubai and cannot survive with just one commodity and that we do need other kinds of jobs. But do the Conservatives care?

Now watch how many will be deserting the ship by taking retirement before the elections and collecting their pensions.

I always believed that it was illegal to buy elections, but again the Conservatives think that is O.K. to lie about everything and to keep on taking your freedom of speech by making new laws and by promising all kinds of new spending

And now Warren Kinsella is at it, again, now he brags about how Mr. Harper and the Conservative Party are using fear to win the elections .I quote Warren (Harper has captured the fear Zeitgeist (NOTICE HOW IT IS IN GERMAN) Hitler used the same tactics ,by blaming the Jews

Warren even brags again about it by saying that in between love and fear, fear will always win

I am writing this letter now because after the Conservatives are finished with this new law, taking more of our freedom away,” I FEAR” that I will probably be thrown in jail for having my opinion and disagreeing with the Government ,

Pete Brodeur, Frankford

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