The Saudi situation

Re: Saudi Arabia expels Canadian ambassador, Aug. 7

One could safely assume that with the jailed civil and women’s rights activists, Canada was doing what it always does, which is raise the concerns through normal diplomatic channels.

So what did Global Affairs hope to achieve by using social media? It would be a strange thing indeed, if a post on Twitter caused a country like Saudi Arabia, whose violation of human rights are legendary, to buckle under social media pressure. Everyone has seen first hand what social media accounts like Twitter can do to a person’s reputation, staring with politicians. Donald Trump’s liberal use of Twitter is regularly lampooned, which should be enough warning for any politician that when you use social media, you do so at your own peril.

As a result of what Global Affairs has done, we find ourselves in a position where diplomacy with respect to Saudi Arabia just got harder. Being right came with a price. Jeff Spooner, Kinburn, Ont.

Since the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932, perhaps the most significant intrusion into Saudi domestic affairs was the pressure to abolish slavery. In 1945, the Roosevelt administration urged the Saudi king to abolish slavery.

In the early 1960s, John F. Kennedy again put pressure on Saudi Arabia to outlaw slavery, which it did in 1962.

Foreign advice, recommendations and sometimes even pressure can be useful in helping a country promote human rights. Bruce Couchman, Ottawa

I can’t think of a better time for the Liberal government to correct one of its blunders than now, being as Saudi Arabia has taken its stance against Canada.

The time is here for Trudeau and Co. to rescind the cancellation of the Energy East Pipeline and declare it, as it should have been from day one, of national interest. It is time to use Canadian oil.

We do not need Saudi, Iranian, Venezuelan, Libyan or Nigerian oil. Canadian oil will work just fine, thank you.

Let’s not perpetuate the immoral banning of Canadian oil any longer. Send the Saudi ships back to Arabia full of their oil, and get on with the pipeline to the Irving refinery in Saint John. Jim Anderson, Victoria A few months ago, the media was filled with reports of recently graduated Canadian medical doctors who could not get internships. Now, we read that internships are being given to foreigners because of hospitals getting $100,000 for these internships.

Foreign internships should only be allowed after all Canadian medical graduates have been placed. Our children should be allowed their chance to live their dream. Charles Macleod, Red Deer, Alta.

The Canadian government should offer all Saudi students and interns immediate landed immigrant status, so that all Saudi visitors could have the option of living in a free country. Mark Sexsmith, Toronto