Letters, Jan. 24

Shameful remark

Trump has stated “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did — they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

Almost 160 Canadian servicemen and women died and many more physically or emotionally injured in support of the NATO’s Article 5 response to 9-11. All other NATO members who sent troops in support likewise suffered casualties. These casualties did not happen “a little off the front lines.”

Who exactly is being ungrateful? If I were one of those injured or a family member or friend of one who died, I would never be able to forgive the president or those who agree with his words. Shame!

Miles McPherson

Winnipeg

Hard divide

Re: Trump says Canada should be ‘grateful’ (Jan. 22)

The opening paragraph in a 2020 essay published on Fondapol.org written by historian Josef Konvitz read “Once or twice a century, a major crisis provokes a paradigm shift, a transformation of the overarching set of rules and assumptions that govern economic and social systems.”

How prophetic that was in relation to the circumstances Canada finds itself in today. A paradigm shift is not physical but rather psychological. Prime Minister Mark Carney can develop a plan to deal with the crisis that we find ourself in, but that will be the easy part. The hard part will be the shift in our thinking that has to accompany it. All of the focus to this point has been on our intregated economy, little on our intregated culture.

We watch American movies and television, we listen to its music and follow its daily news and while we claim a Canadian identity, much of it mirrors that of the average American. Canadians now will have to psychologically shift away from a pan-American worldview to a European/Baltic worldview. This will not be easy, but we can compare the process to that of the European countries that bordered Russia when the iron curtain fell.

Suddenly all of their cross-border travel was prohibited, communication was blocked and their worldview forced to focus west, not east.

If Trump does not back off, the Canada-U.S. border will be the new “iron curtain.”

Stan Tataryn

Winnipeg

Making an impact

Re: The U.S., a big borrower, can’t risk losing lenders (Editorial, Jan. 23)

Your editorial is highly relevant. The U.S. debt, now at US$37 trillion, is their Achilles heel and the world needs to recognize it.

The U.S. will not cower to military or political pressure, but you add US$8 trillion to the US$37-trillion debt they already own and the U.S. credit rating and interest payable on that debt will crush them. They won’t have money for weaponry. ICE will run out of mace. The billionaire club will have to start paying for their own parties. Canada owns US$426 billion of that debt, almost half a trillion.

Shunning U.S. liquor and withholding ourselves from trips to the U.S. are like throwing spitballs at a battleship compared to the impact that selling off U.S. bonds and equities held by Canadian institutions and individuals would have.

Remember what James Carville said in 1992, “It’s about the economy, stupid.” The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and cutting them off at the financial knees will have far more impact than anything else we might do.

Steve Oetting

Winnipeg

Regrettable loss

Canadians sincerely regret the loss of friendship and cordial trading with our American neighbours. This sudden change has not come about as an unavoidable coincidence. It is caused by the ambitious self-seeking policy of U.S. President Donald Trump and the politicians that support him.

The effect on Canadians is huge as travel, commerce and friendly co-operation have all been curtailed. This also affects Americans who have, to some degree, lost faith in their democratic system and the respect of world leaders and common people. The danger of this American president who has assumed almost total personal controls and rules by his own whims, threatens the rule of law in America and around the world.

Only Americans can change this by using their voting system while it stays intact. I for one want to contact all my American friends and acquaintances and tell them that I miss their friendship and the cordial, co-operative relationship Canada and the United States have enjoyed for so long.

I invite and encourage all Canadians to do the same!

John Sawatzky

Winnipeg

Economists as peacemakers

When I think about peacemakers I usually think of folks who are out on the street, collectively calling for change, and following in paths of people like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. They are documenting, advocating, and demonstrating against injustice and violence, calling for a better and more inclusive world.

The last place I thought we would find peacemakers was among economists. An economist myself, I have often been bothered by the fact that my profession seems obsessed with technical and mathematical finesse and unconcerned about how the economy affects real people. In the profession’s effort to present as an objective social science I think we have lost our ethical roots (and they are there, for instance in Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments).

In recent actions, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech in Davos and Jerome Powell’s response to his criminal indictment (one a prime minister and the other a central bank governor), both solidly rooted as economists, are standing up against rising authoritarianism. I am heartened by their efforts but realize this points to a dramatic erosion of the global political and economic order. If this authoritarian creep continues unabated, then we will eventually see these economists as idealists and fall more under the embrace of authoritarianism.

I support Carney’s call for an economic strategy that unifies Canada’s economy and realigns Canada with like-minded democratic countries. Equally urgent is the need to strengthen global peace- and justice-oriented civil society networks, not to mention multilaterals such as the United Nations.

Jerry Buckland

Winnipeg

Green appreciation

Re: It can be easy being green (Jan. 17)

As president of the Green Party of Manitoba, we commend your newspaper for running the “Green Page” these past many years. Your monthly feature has been an important voice for all things environmental, often highlighting the many people and organizations working to protect our planet.

Special thanks to your writer Janine LeGal for her insight and coverage of environmental issues these past five years or so. More than ever, in the midst of the current global climate emergency, we need regular features like “Green Page” and look forward to future instalments of this valuable series.

Dennis Bayomi

Winnipeg