I'm proud of how Canadian law enforcers handled the protesters

Canadian police officers face off with protesters in Ottawa this week. Reuters

I write in reference to Laura Koot's op-ed As a Canadian, I'm ashamed of Trudeau's crackdown on the protesters (February 20): for more than six hours, over two evenings, I binge-watched the professional behaviour of Canadian law enforcement officers slowly, deliberately and safely return the city of Ottawa back to its citizens. Yes, there were minor skirmishes, and yes, windows in mostly abandoned vehicles were broken to remove them from areas they were illegally parked. But what a small price to pay to deal with a small number of occupiers who were anarchists and not protesters. I am not ashamed at all about how Canada managed this peacefully with very few minor incidents. I fear more for the indecisive, divisive leadership that exists in all of our political parties at every level.

Alex Zahavich, Abu Dhabi

All Canadians have identical rights. Those rights include the right to express one's opinion and another is to peacefully, lawfully gather to express one's point in protest against a perceived injustice or to support any issue one chooses. [But] no Canadian has the right to disrupt the lives of others, create economic distress or incite anarchy. It would be wise to remember that mob rule is where the roots of the Nazis began. A democracy is built on respect, which includes the rule of law and the rights of others.

Gordon Paul McWhaw, Abu Dhabi

Ending the pandemic requires a patient public

I write in reference to Patrick DeHahn's article Washington prepares for lorry convoy protest (February 23): there is undoubtedly a strong anti-government sentiment prevalent among millions of North Americans, particularly in the US but also in Canada. This sentiment has become even stronger due to Covid-19-related mandates enforced by the national governments in both countries. I can understand the frustration among many of them, for life has hardly been normal since the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020. A number of people have lost their jobs and livelihoods and are hurting very badly. That being said, everyone needs to be a little more patient as authorities slowly but surely contain the spread of the virus. Maybe it's just a matter of a few more months. In any case, I hope this particular convoy stages a peaceful protest – unlike the ones in Canada in recent weeks.

K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India

Amazon's Lord of the Rings missed a trick

I am writing in reference to Katy Gillett's article 'The Lord of the Rings': why are people commenting 'evil cannot create anything new'? (February 14): this is on behalf of the "traditionalists", as the writer describes us, whose opinion over the cast's diversity in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been misconstrued. Our preferred alternative to the show's diverse characters is not a lack thereof. In fact, rather than creating new characters out of the blue – purely for the sake of being diverse – it would have been better to introduce already existing diverse characters into the story. JRR Tolkien, who wrote the Lord of the Rings books, created more than a thousand unique characters of all shapes and sizes and from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities that the show could have used. The creators wrote in new characters that don't fit into the world in any logical sense and, instead, just cause confusion to anyone who is well-versed in Tolkien's mythology.

Tolkien's legendarium is very close to my heart, and it has helped me get through some tough times in my life. Along with the entire community of "Tolkien Nerds", I wish for this show to live up to the incredibly high standards set before it. [But] we are disappointed with what Amazon has shown us so far, for quite understandable reasons.

Joel Kaufmann