Dear editor,

Patrick Bateman samples complaints in Letters to the Editor (Political change in Canada is inevitable; we should embrace it) and concludes Canadians desire political change and should embrace it because it鈥檚 inevitable anyway. Lamenting that an unnamed 鈥渢heme鈥� of some letters counters what he says is 鈥渙bvious,鈥� he helps anyone not 鈥減aying attention鈥� by clearly stating: 鈥渁ny good nation should always be striving for more freedom鈥� and for 鈥渋ncreased wealth.鈥�

Bateman criticizes government for making Canada鈥檚 online content 鈥渢he most regulated of any industrial nation鈥濃�攑resumably exempting the likes of China, Russia and Iran.

The OECD, he says, puts Canada last among the world鈥檚 richest nations by 2060 when, as unpreparedness for COVID and climate change shows, we can鈥檛 predict what will happen in three years, let alone 40.

The national birth rate is 鈥減lunging,鈥� he says, due to the affordability crisis when in fact only Canadians of European descent have for decades had a low-to-zero fertility rate and, if immigrants are counted, Canada is actually growing.

Agreed: Canada under-funds our armed forces, but I wonder what domestic circumstance Bateman thinks would make them the 鈥渦ltimate insurance policy.鈥�

No party鈥檚 named, but is it mere coincidence that his list reads like Conservative Party talking points? 鈥攅xcept during the last domestic military deployment (to peacefully disperse 鈥淔reedom Convoys鈥� from the Capital and vital border crossings) the CPC affected outrage. But which party qualifies its affection for immigration? Which tries to pin rising house prices on Liberal PM Justin 台湾MM裸聊室? Isn鈥檛 free-market fundamentalism while discounting environmental costs a right-wing tradition? Bonus points for guessing which end of the partisan spectrum champions free speech鈥攁nonymously online where public servants are regularly threatened and smeared.

Canada is already free. Those who want more than that usually mean freedom to increase their wealth, usually when they have plenty already even though many can鈥檛 afford a home. Yet those increasingly expensive homes are still selling. Obviously there鈥檚 no shortage of money but the homeless and precariously sheltered aren鈥檛 sharing in it.

Some of us do hope 鈥渃hange is on the horizon,鈥� but Bateman鈥檚 innuendo doesn鈥檛 sound like what a broader sampling of Canadians want. It鈥檚 the biggest hint he鈥檚 speaking for Pierre Poilievre鈥檚 CPC Opposition.

Geoffrey Donaldson,

Denman Island