Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 29, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Sunday in ctr Azine g sunday free press Winnipeg june 29, 1997 in a t forum Freedom of Trade in Liberty of religion in Equality of civil rights editor Brian Cole / 697-7044 editorial the Bayonet and the Spade Canadas first army was an army of the people a militia ordered into being by Louis Xiv in 1669 to protect new France. It was an unusual army not simply because it Wasny to a traditional standing army but because it Practised guerrilla tactics borrowed from indians who were its chief allies and most frequent opponents. It also was an unusual military Force in that its leaders were leaders in both military and civic affairs and its members were both soldiers and civil servants a they bore arms and shovels building Public works such As roads and Bridges during annual required periods of service ranging from one to two months. All males aged 16 to 60 were militiamen. There is an adage that one should begin the Way one Means to go on. It is Wisdom Worth remembering at this time when Manitoban a in particular pacifists such As mennonites a Are trying to Square their antipathy for armies with their experiences this Spring when 8,000 members of the Canadian armed forces marched flew and navigated to our Rescue in the Battle against the flood. These pages have contained thoughtful letters and commentary from mennonites who acknowledge that dogmatically demanding the elimination of armed forces because of the wars they May wage and the violence they May do precludes the possibility that they will mount defences and save lives. Rejecting soldiers for the evil some did in Somalia for example Means rejecting them for the Good thousands accomplished in Manitoba. This Paradox was More easily overlooked in the past. The mennonites for example were persecuted when they were forging their beliefs in 16th Century. In fact at that time armies were More Likely to act against the people than for them and they were More Likely raised to wage War than defend against it. Four Hundred years later however much has changed. Peace is breaking out All Over the planet and increasingly armies Are turning their attentions to keeping the peace rather than making the War which is the dilemma of the pacifist. But it is not a dilemma exclusive to pacifists. With the sudden end of the cold War we Are All left to wonder what we Are to do with our armies navies and air forces the Short answer a at least in the Short term a would appear to be not much. While the risk of global confrontation is easing it is not gone. And while there increasingly is consensus that armies could be dismantled it is not something that can be done quickly without risking serious destabilization a simply because we Are not confronting former enemies does not mean we necessarily should Trust them or they us. Building Trust will take time and slow deliberate Steps toward disarmament Are prudent. Nor As repugnant As it May be to some Are we about to eliminate the teaching of combat skills a efficient killing techniques a to the members of our armed forces. No nation should Ever put its citizens in harms Way a even in a peacekeeping role a without taking every precaution to ensure they come to no harm. But clearly we Are at a transition Point. This is most obvious when we look at the growing demand for Canadian forces to mount peacekeeping operations the most recent of which was the decision Friday to Send Canadian fighters to Bosnia to enforce the no Fly zone. Less obvious has been the changing role of the Canadian Navy. For More than 50 years the Navy a primary function has been to build and train for War in the North Atlantic. The contemporary Navy began by escorting convoys of supplies to Europe and protecting those supplies from attacks by submarines. More recently it concentrated on finding and tracking soviet nuclear submarines in the same Waters. Today however most of those underwater missile platforms Are gone and the immediate need for the Navy beyond search and Rescue is unclear. But the fact is some of the submarines remain and All of them could return. If the Navy is simply Cut Back to address current conditions it cannot easily be rebuilt if conditions change. The prudent course has been to maintain the naval Force but change what it does As happened when it supported the Canadian police action in Haiti. The Navy also increasingly is being used As a Symbol of Canada the peacekeeper. Our frigates Are steaming All Over the world projecting the idea of Canada in Advance of diplomacy. The logistical and humanitarian Marvel we saw the Canadian armed forces perform this Spring has prompted some to suggest the three branches of the services Combine to create a military swat team. It would Deal with disasters from earthquakes to Oil spills wherever and whenever they occur in the world. This is an idea Worth careful consideration a it satisfies both the needs of the cold warriors and the consciences of the peace makers. Its the Way we began. It should be the Way we go on. New York Summit Only sets the stage when the human race is confronted with a global problem of great urgency and complexity like global warming we know exactly what to do hold a special one week conference at the United nations where All the worlds Heads of government can make five minute speeches about it. All last week at the in National leaders marched up to the podium to gloss Over their own country a failure to meet the commitments they made at Rio in 1992, and exhort the world to do better next time. If you think that this is merely a hypocritical exercise in evasion however you Are missing the Point. The United nations conference is a Public relations exercise but that is necessary and worthwhile in a world where Public opinion must be persuaded to support whatever policy the leaders adopt. And most of the leaders actually do understand what needs to be done. They just can to do it until Public opinion backs them. The primary focus of the rhetoric has been on global warming the biggest threat to the stability of the global environment. That is because six months from now in Kyoto Japan a Large and serious conference will try to reach a legally binding agreement on How much each country must reduce its output of greenhouse gasses Over the next to to 20 years. Kyoto is the culmination of a yearlong negotiating process that will either give us Hope of stabilizing global temperatures and sea Levels close to familiar Levels or condemn us to drastic changes within the next generation if it fails there will not be time to build up to another such conference before the crisis is upon us. There is no longer any serious scientific doubt about the phenomenon of global warming and few government leaders doubt it either. But a fall politics is local politics a As . Congressman tip of Neill once observed. Most National leaders cannot ignore their local special interest lobbies until their pressures Are outweighed by coalitions of concerned citizens and external pressures. Take for example . President Bill Clinton. He has so far refused to set specific targets for reducing . Carbon emissions despite demands from the Green lobby at Home and pleas from key International allies like the leaders of the european Union. They have to get the . To co operate because it accounts for almost Gwynne Dyer Quarter of global emissions. So far or. Clinton simply wont commit himself. Or. Clinton must contend with a highly nationalistic . Senate where a majority recently indicated that they would Block emission controls that do not hit developing countries like China just As hard As the . So did or. Clinton really mind when British prime minister Tony Blair told the in on monday a we in Europe have put our cards on the table offering a 15 per cent Cut on 1990 emission Levels by 2010. It is time for the special pleading to Stop and for others to follow of course not. He needs that kind of external pressure to help justify a change in Domestic policy. The same argument holds even for the most reluctant countries of All Australia and the Oil producing states of the Gulf. Australians heavy dependence on Coal for Domestic consumption and for Export drives it to oppose any mandatory emission controls. The Gulf states even demand financial compensation if emission controls Cut into the Price or volume of their Oil exports. But intelligent human beings Are not scarcer in the australian and Gulf state governments than in the rest of the world. What they say in Public is not necessarily what they think in private. If a Strong consensus in the International Community compelled their countries to accept global limits on Carbon emissions they would not be unhappy. But they need the push. Not that the outcome is assured. The Fossil fuels lobby operating behind innocuous seeming fronts like the global climate coalition has enormous financial resources and political clout. The actual Deal that must be struck is fiendishly Complex with the old Rich industrialized countries taking deeper cuts in Carbon emissions so that some room is left for newly industrializing countries to grow. And the december deadline is real. Gwynne Dyer is a London based Independent journalist and historian whose columns appear in 35 countries. What was said prime minister Jean Chretien in a speech to the Earth Summit in new York tuesday june 24,1997. Since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro five years a owe have made progess in Many areas protecting the Ozone layer conserving straddling fish stocks and curbing pollution. There is a growing global consensus that the environmental harm caused by some is a threat to All. Since Rio we have shown what is possible when the nations of the world work together. But the fact is that some of our Rio goals elude us. We Are convinced that this special session presents a unique Opportunity to achieve an International Forest convention through the creation of an intergovernmental negotiation committee. Our government believes that a Strong legally binding agreement a that builds on the Forest principles established at Rio a is the Best Way to ensure the International will needed to reverse the tide of deforestation. A Forest convention will also help Canada achieve our own Forest management goals. Canada like most other industrialized countries will not meet the year 2000 targets for stabilizing greenhouse Gas emissions. The Structure of our Economy poses particular challenges in this regard. But the potential human and economic costs of unchecked climate change Are simply too High tor us not to take action now. In Canada our experience is that the Best Way to Deal with a Large intractable problem is to work out a practical step by step plan with realistic interim medium term targets. That is How we Are eliminating our deficit. Success builds on Success Confidence Breeds Confidence. And the process moves Forward. We believe the same principle should apply with the problem of climate change. That is Why our government supports the establishment of legally binding medium term targets for Post-2000 greenhouse Gas emissions smoking parents Hurt children i was relaxing by the neighbourhood wading Pool watching my toddler splash like an Otter Pup when an unwelcome scent tainted the summer Breeze. A few metres away a woman in designer shorts was sucking on a cigarette As she hovered Over her child. My first uncivilized impulse was to jump up and grab it from her Mouth. I restrained myself and glared instead. What bugged me most Wasny to being forced to inhale her second hand smoke. It was the sight of that cigarette dangling Over her baby a head. If she had the Gall to Light up at a kids Pool you can bet your Bottom Dollar she does no to think twice about polluting the air at Home. Proof about the hazards of secondhand smoke just keeps piling up. Children who Are exposed to this toxic brew have higher rates of respiratory illness sudden infant death syndrome Sid Middle ear infections and allergies. They re More Likely to develop cancer and heart disease As they get older. Second hand smoke contains More than 4,000 chemical compounds 50 of which Are known carcinogens. Governments Are Busy Banning smoking in most Public places from workplaces to air planes to shopping malls and restaurants. Non smoking adults done to want anything to do with the stuff. But Young kids done to have a say. If a father routinely filled his baby a bottle with Coffee or Vodka head be considered an unfit Parent. But turn Little Suzy into a passive smoker before she can walk and nobody says a word. The Ontario medical association declared last year that smoking around kids is a form of child abuse. It suggested that the government seriously consider Banning smoking in Homes with children pointing to the Success of Seatbelt Laws. If i thought passing a Law would work id say go for it. But i doubt that the solution is that simple. Parents buckle up their kids to keep them Safe a and because if they done to they might get caught and fined. Its easy to enforce what happens on Public streets and highways. But policing what happens behind closed doors is another matter. Instead the solution is linked to the sea change happening in Public attitudes towards smoking. As anti smok ing sentiment grows parents will hopefully feel More pressure to refrain from lighting up around their Little Teichroeb South of the Border judges in divorce cases Are increasingly considering smoking As a Factor when it comes to custody of kids especially if they suffer from asthma or allergies. Smoking restrictions have been imposed on parents As part of custody agreements. One Tennessee circuit court has adopted this Tough Rule for All custody cases a if children Are exposed to smoke it will be Strong evidence that the exposing Parent does not take Good care of that a a harsh message for parents who Are in every other Way Loving and competent. It should not mean a Lousy Parent gets custody based on non smoking status alone. But when All other factors Are equal failing to curb your habit around kids tips the balance. Then there was the phone Call from the Young Mother complaining that a child welfare Agency was threatening to take her infant away a just because i her baby was premature had breathing problems and was at High risk for Side. Yet the mom refused to comply with the simple request to keep her Home smoke free. Those who Frame this debate in terms of civil rights insist that any attempt to limit smoking a including around children a is a social what a next they complain fining parents for feeding their kids junk food the question of where to draw the line is valid. Raising kids Means judgment Calls and difficult decisions. Most parents want the Best for their children. All of us make mistakes along the Way. But smoking Isnit in the same league As the occasional bag of potato chips. We re talking about an adult addiction that poses health risks for kids who share the same air space. Its hard enough explaining Why Mommy or daddy smokes despite the big Black warnings on the cigarette labels. But what will you say when the kids find out what they be been breathing or when their health is affected if imagining that conversation does no to work nothing will. Ruth Teichroeb covers social affairs for the free press. 4 i ;