Letters, July 20

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2024 (766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kinew’s false arguments

Re: Kinew urges Ottawa to speed up plans to hike defence spending (July 18)

First of all, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is actually aligned with the once-socialist federal NDP, which in the last 30 years pledged to spend more on the military than Canada’s two traditional parties of Big Business, the Liberals and Conservatives.

Kinew’s dangerous plea for faster growth of military spending is littered with false arguments.

1. Military spending is known to create far fewer jobs compared to investments in education, housing or social spending.

2. Militarism actually harms global stability and Canada remaining “strong and free,” especially if there’s a war.

The lavishing of money on the military without first publicly agreeing on a military doctrine appears at first to be senseless.

Why does military spending “need” to increase to an arbitrary two per cent of GDP level?

If there ever was a countrywide discussion on foreign policy, the following questions would need an answer rather than false arguments:

Is it our aim in NATO to defeat Russia and China?

What prevents NATO from calling for mutual, balanced and verifiable disarmament to end the danger of the present, most dangerous arms race?

Would the military be used only to defend Canada’s sovereignty?

If we are to send troops overseas, would it be to uphold once again the fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the UN charter after the last world war, thereby respecting the right of national self-determination and the territorial sovereignty of all UN member states?

Darrel Rankin

Winnipeg

It’s extremely depressing to read that Wab Kinew is urging Trudeau to meet our “expected” NATO spending. Who are we under threat from, exactly? If anything, Kinew all but admits that our greatest threat is the United States themselves with their economic stranglehold on us (and the world).

All NATO has ever amounted to is an offensive (not defensive as claimed) military cartel led by the U.S. in service of U.S. interests. Yugoslavia, bombed and broken up, thousands dead, scores displaced. Libya, which before NATO’s murderous campaign, had the highest life expectancy, lowest infant mortality rate, highest GDP in Africa. People had food, education, and health care. After NATO; slave markets, destabilization, inflation, poverty, hunger, chaos. An objective reduction in quality of life and security. They’ve also overseen a disastrous war in Ukraine.

Is this the organization Kinew should be selling for? This amounts to the NDP warmongering, which is really a shame.

Maybe he should take the moral stand and tell Trudeau to leave NATO. We would do much better to spend that money domestically on housing, healthcare, food security, poverty reduction, renewable climate solutions, and on and on. It could also be a jobs program, just not one dependent on the U.S. war machine.

Aaron Bethnell

Winnipeg

Bravo to premier

Our premier made us proud recently to bravely state that we need to meet the NATO demand of two per cent GNP. Bravo! I am even more proud to have voted for you. Now, let’s talk conscription!

Realistically, it’s needed in Canada now more than ever. As a young person, I would have benefitted from the discipline; now in my senior years, I could still contribute and I would.

I loved the way Premier Wab Kinew said, ‘Our true north strong and free’ — our north, our relations, our province; we are at risk.

Yvonne Lewis-Ballantyne

Winnipeg

Right spot for centre

Re: Neighbours divided on drug treatment centre in Linden Woods (July 18)

Residents in Linden Woods are now expressing the same concerns that some living near the Bruce Oak Recovery Centre did prior to its opening.

Folks worry about safety concerns that will result with a drug treatment centre moving in close by.

I can tell you after many years of working with people experiencing addictions in a similar quiet neighbourhood that this is not the case at all.

First, if those living in the centre are unsuccessful in their recovery or chose to use again, the last place they will want to be is around this location. They will leave the area if they make that unfortunate choice.

Secondly, there is no better place for these recovery centres to be located than in safe, friendly neighbourhoods. Clients of the centre can slowly integrate into the community free of substances and in a safe environment.

I am hopeful that those expressing concern will realize that these centres are needed in all areas of the city and that besides seeing new folks in their community from time to time, I don’t believe residents of Linden Woods will even notice this centre.

Melissa Dvorak

Winnipeg

Flawed definitions

Re: Reforms needed to address antisemitism at Canadian universities (Think Tank, July 18)

The authors of this op-ed decry that universities in Canada have not been listening to the Jewish community.

They claim the “encampment” movement is anti-Israel and therefore antisemitic. Their advice: “reject the demands made by groups such as Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights which undermine academic freedoms” and implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. It is a highly controversial definition that equates criticism of the state of Israel with antisemitism.

Free Press readers can find this definition online. Draw your own conclusions.

It is difficult to comprehend how advocating for Palestinian human rights is a manifestation of antisemitism or undermines academic freedom, nevertheless this is what is asserted. We are told the IHRA definition has been adopted by the Canadian government. Perhaps readers can recall the visit of Ukraine’s (Jewish) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Ottawa in September 2023 when the entire Parliament rose to applaud a Nazi SS Galicia veteran as a hero of Ukraine.

If this is an example of the application of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, then I think we must look to draft a new one.

Rubin Kantorovich

Winnipeg

The audacity of Trump

Re: Sorry, not sorry — not one bit (Think Tank, July 19)

I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on this U.S. political gong show and all the rhetorical reaction. Thank you to writer Judy Waytiuk for her ever so accurate column.

She’s absolutely right in saying what needs to be said, but is being avoided like the plague by every reporter, anchor, etc.

Avoiding laying blame on Trump’s incendiary verbiage that has led to so much hate and violence in that country is pure stupidity at its finest. Commentators who continually turn a blind eye to this truth are playing a game on insidiously thin ice. The narcissism displayed by Trump and the Republicans is probably the worse ever in the history of U.S. politics and utterly horrifying to say the least.

Encouraging hate, discrimination and violence, including the sickening Jan. 6 insurrection because he lost the election, are frightening actions by any president. Yet he has the audacity to blame everyone else for his attempted assassination.

The absurdity is the fact that he is now seeking immunity for all his many crimes thanks to Republicans’ intentionally calculated U.S. Supreme Court ruling for election purposes.

It’s only natural to put the blame where the blame belongs — on him.

Darcia Albrechtsen

Winnipeg