Letters: Moe, other premiers should stand for Canada, not U.S.

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One doesn’t need to be a scholar of international law to conclude that a nation’s primary border security responsibility is determination of who is allowed to enter the country and what they bring with them.

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Neither does one need to be a constitutional scholar to conclude that border security is a federal responsibility. The Charter includes mobility rights. Anyone legally admitted to a Canadian province has a right to move within the country.

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Canada does need to get serious about border security. For example, over 80 per cent of guns used in crime in Canada come from the U.S. Going in the other direction, the U.S. has a right to take measures to stop traffickers bringing in fentanyl.

Lumping Canada in with Mexico is purely political; less than one per cent of the fentanyl entering the U.S. comes from Canada and most comes in through official points of entry, at the southern border, again emphasizing a country’s responsibility to control who enters and with what.

The availability of drugs like fentanyl also needs to be addressed. Domestic production of fentanyl is increasing in Canada and law enforcement at all levels needs to be involved in charging offenders.

For premiers like Moe, Smith and Legault there are no federal responsibilities that cannot be challenged by provincial legislation, withholding of revenue and/or subverted by the notwithstanding clause.

Rather than appealing to Trump-supporting Montana, and taking on responsibility for U.S. border security, they should quit the independence charade and get serious about being Canadian leaders.

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David Steele, Saskatoon

Avoid walk-in clinics for inoculations

Re: The letter “Health-care metrics are poor” by Gerald Saretsky. Most of the points he made I agree with.

Buut I would add that, along with walk-in clinics, a years-long wait list to see a specialist, waiting in emergency rooms as long as 12 hours, not having a family doctor and the list goes on are also unacceptable in a province that was the birthplace of medicare on July 1, 1962.

May I suggest to Gerald, as well as others who go to walk-in clinics for shots, to do their part to alleviate a small part of the issues he mentioned in his letter. Since pharmacists are now allowed to give vaccinations/COVID boosters, many people go there for these shots.

It is a very simple procedure: make an appointment, go to the pharmacy, fill out a consent form, get the needle(s) and walk out in a matter of minutes. Why waste a doctor’s or a nurse’s time in a walk-in clinic when they are dealing with more urgent matters?

Myrtle Theis, Saskatoon

Snow clearing prompts blizzard of complaints

Winter is here again. Also here are the complaints about the city’s snow clearing. Heads up, guys. This is winter. Snow gets everywhere. What’s guaranteed is that the snow will be gone come spring. Also gone will be the money we spend moving it around.

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Murray Marien, Saskatoon

Donations make good Christmas gifts

Can’t find a Christmas present for that hard-to-buy-for friend or relative? Consider making a donation in their names to a charity.

David Edney, Saskatoon

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