Canada’s role in Europe
Natalie Nougayrède’s piece (Why the wrath over EU-Canada trade deal? 11 November) describes the Canadian virtues of solid democracy, tolerance, openness and decency, and goes on to quote the Canadian trade minister’s statement that Canada is a “country that shares European values”. Why wouldn’t Europeans want to trade with us?
Still, many Europeans and Canadians are leery of the new trade deal, so perhaps a different arrangement might work better than the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta): full membership in the EU. It seems there will soon be a vacancy, when the UK finally moves towards the exit, and Canada might make a suitable replacement.
Canadian society is multicultural, and proud of it. While English is the lingua franca throughout most of Canada, French is widely spoken. Increasing numbers of Spanish speakers have expanded our linguistic diversity.
Canada fought in Europe in both world wars. It has paid its dues.
And the seven years of negotiation that went into Ceta have surely paved the way for a Canadian application to join the continent with which it has so much in common. Canada’s full membership might make it easier for both parties to accept a mutually advantageous trading relationship.
Canadian republicans might happily exchange the English monarchy and the British Commonwealth for a seat in Brussels, and I think we might feel right at home there.
George Bruce Levine
Ottawa, Canada
• I do not see any reason why Natalie Nougayrède calls the anti-Ceta demonstrators “radical left”. A broad coalition of church, union and environmental groups, in addition to millions who signed an online petition to stop the trade deal, express valid concerns. Without leaks we the citizens would still not know what was written in the treaty. Only after the continued protest did the negotiators adopt minute changes. Where is the democracy?
Even our MPs couldn’t read it beforehand, and everything was in English. Who in the French or Spanish parliaments understood what was written inside?
Nougayrède’s democracy argument does not hold. Only the Wallonia parliament dared to speak out against the deal. If everyone in the EU were asked, chances are a majority would reject the deal.
“EU officialdom must ... think ... how it needs to convince citizens of the benefits of free trade.” What are the benefits for sub-Saharan Africa or the common people in the EU? Trade deals impoverish the great majority of people, which is one of the major reason for the ongoing migration crisis.
All major economies became rich without free trade. Only after their economies could compete internationally did they gradually open their markets. The latest example is China, but so did Germany, France, Japan, the US and Great Britain.
Steffen Müller
Hastings, UK
The Brexit conundrum
With reference to the high court ruling on article 50 (11 November): what a farce it is. We have a government that only managed to persuade one in four of those eligible to vote for it to do so, trying to usurp the will of parliament on the basis of a very marginal referendum result. On the economic front we have neoliberal free traders who do not want a free market in labour, even though labour makes up a significant part of most markets.
These are just the latest examples of a trend. It has been my impression that since the late 1970s the western world has been slipping back into a new dark age, where decisions are made more and more on the basis of belief, mysticism and wish fulfilment than on evidence.On the basis of what has happened in the last few weeks and months I think that we have arrived. I look forward to the new enlightenment.
Malcolm March
Dorchester, UK
• Polly Toynbee writes, “Theresa May cannot tear up our right to be EU citizens without the authority of parliament” (11 November). Yes, she can and should, because she has the authority of the British people. I wish we Germans had a chance to have our say.
This has been an era of surprises – Brexit, Trump (You call this democracy? First past the post didn’t win!). And Germany? Perhaps we wouldn’t vote to leave the EU, but I want the Deutschmark back again before the EU bankrupts us.
Derek Murphy
Bad Pyrmont, Germany
• Is Polly Toynbee serious? She hopes MPs “represent” their constituents by ignoring and overruling their clear vote for Brexit, thereby “saving the UK” from its own people (11 November).
This elitist, know-better disconnect from ordinary voters is what led to Brexit (and now Trump) in the first place. Perhaps commentators should begin listening to us pesky masses too?
Richard Abram
Sydney, Australia
• A big thanks to Polly Toynbee for having had the courage to spell out the truth about the EU referendum, rather than hiding behind the pretence that the “British people have spoken”, like too many politicians and commentators.
Simon Coates
Brussels, Belgium
• Was it satire, or did Polly Toynbee really say MPs should ignore the electorate and vote to remain? It seems democracy is only good enough if it suits her particular brand of politics and the rest of the electorate should be led to the promised land whether they choose to go there or not.Shameful.
Stephen Morris
London, UK
Thanks for the respite
What a relief! After what seems like half a century, I relished a complete issue of the Weekly (11 November) that did not contain a single reference to Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. I know we’ll pay for it next week, but it was great while it lasted.
John Hardie
Farrellton, Quebec, Canada
• Thank you, thank you. I have not read or listened to any news since the disastrous US election, in which a minority of voters chose a demented racist to replace our first African-American president. So I was apprehensive about looking at the Guardian.
But as I turned each page, I became increasingly relieved to read about the rest of the world and nothing about my out-of-control country. (I thought it was deliberate until I read the explanation). Life goes on outside the US.
Pam Olsen
Ada, Michigan, US
• A bold move by the Weekly issue’s non-mention of the then current US presidential elections. Further proof of its rational and cool outlook.
E Slack
L’Isle Jourdain, France
Editor’s note: the US election result came after the deadline for our 11 November print edition. Instead, Guardian Weekly produced a special digital edition for subscribers, which was available on 9 November. And we provided a US election special in an expanded 18 November edition.
Vietnam a lot like Cuba
Christopher Goscha’s review of The Penguin History of Modern Vietnam made me think of another small country, Cuba, with whom the US has only recently started to mend relations (28 October). Despite some softening of sanctions against Cuba, this Caribbean country faces an uncertain future, still subject to continuing American sanctions. Why does tiny Cuba, a country the US used as a playground and in whose politics the Americans have interfered for more than 100 years, still attract the venom of its close neighbour? Perhaps because Cuba is so close geographically and so long a battleground for internal US politics. It is ironic that the US, a country defeated in the Vietnam war, has made peace with Vietnam but cannot reach a similar rapprochement with Cuba, a country whose leadership and style of government the Americans seem unable to accept.
Wayne McNulty
Wellington, Ontario, Canada
Briefly
• I’d say the new, wider gaps in Toblerone (18 November) even further suit the configuration of a gat-toothed smile – apropos of dental caries. The sweet always did worry my molars.
R M Fransson
Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
• Since the 1990s polling techniques have become increasingly sophisticated. However, the landslide victories of 1992 (UK, Conservative), 2014 midterm elections (US, Republican), and both Brexit and Trump’s victory were all wrongly predicted. Nevertheless, the Labour victory for Blair in 1997 was correctly forecast. Are we to conclude that right-leaning voters are less honest than left-leaning voters?
Jennifer Coopersmith
Bécherel, France
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