On the Governor General granting the prime minister’s request to prorogue Parliament last winter, Edward Keenan writes “To our country’s great shame, Madame Jean granted his request.” (“Democracy’s extended vacation,” Notebook, Jan. 7.) On the contrary, it would have been a shame if the unelected Governor General had refused the elected prime minister, instead of following the tradition of acting on the advice of the prime minister. How democratic would that be when the unelected can override the elected?

It is obvious that Mr. Keenan is dripping with venom for Stephen Harper but what happens when a future Governor General refuses a prime minister that he actually likes? Will he then change his tune and say that an unelected GG should not override an elected prime minister?
Last winter Madame Jean, under the advice of her constitutional experts, did the right and democratic thing instead of playing partisan party politics, which is best left to newspaper columnists. » G. Lee

SEXIST, NOT SEXY
As you struggle to find a replacement for Sasha on the back page of your magazine, perhaps more editorial caution should be exercised as the sex page attempts to find a voice. I am offended by very little, but I found the “Rejected letters to Penthouse” (Jan. 7) offensive in the extreme. I understand Edward Keenan was trying to be funny by describing an older woman’s body, and her attempts to seduce a pizza delivery boy, but the description was nothing but mocking, condescending and derogatory. This type of misogynist crap has no place in your magazine; rather it reads like the humour section of a skin mag mocking older women for trying to have any kind of sexuality whatsoever. How dare they! The second letter about a dad masturbating over his daughter’s 18-year-old friend was simply ageist and gross. So, in the first letter Mr. Keenan mocks an older woman for celebrating her aging body, and in the second letter mocks an older man for being sexually attracted to a younger woman. It’s as if Mr. Keenan can’t imagine what sexuality is like as one ages and finds it funny that his parents would even have sex. Really, this is beneath EYE WEEKLY. Grow up already and give us a sex column that’s interesting and edgy. Sasha may have veered off into sex workers’ rights a tad too often, but she was always respectful of everyone’s sexuality, no matter what their age or persuasion.  » David Johnson

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