Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 21, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A14 Winnipeg free press monday june 21, 2004 Freedom of Trade comment editor Terence Moore 697-7044 Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights editorials Patricia move out t he Patricia said their fond farewells to Winnipeg this weekend in preparation for their move out of Kapyon Barracks to new quarters at Camp Shilo. During the 84 years since the regiment first settled in Winnipeg they became part of the City a sense of itself connecting Winnipeg to War and peace to the far Flung places where they have fought and to the cruel realities of a dangerous world. They Are going but not far. At Shilo they will still be within commuting distance of Winnipeg and they will still be heartily welcomed by Winni Eggers when they visit the City. Members of the regiment who keep their Winnipeg Homes and commute to work at Shilo will continue to enjoy the City swarm appreciation for their role. Units of Princess Patri Cias Canadian Light infantry were first quartered at Winnipeg a fort Osborne Barracks part of which is now the Asper jewish Community Cam pus in 1920. They remained there through the 1920s and.?30s, when canadians were hoping against Hope that War was a thing of the past. But the Patricia were called out again in Italy and Holland then in Korea and since 1953 in a series of theatres under the Aegis of the United nations because peace remained a Hope for which people strive not a state they have attained. Each time the Patricia or some of them returned Home to Winnipeg with new Battle honours added to those they had earned in Belgium in 1915. It is easy to imagine As the summer holidays begin and the lilacs Bloom that War is something other countries do that Canada picks no quarrels needs no army. But that is the pleasant dream of a summer afternoon. Wars Are now in Progress in Afghanistan Algeria Colombia Congo Chechnya Iraq Kashmir Nepal and Many other world trouble spots. As a trading nation a Commonwealth Mem Ber and a democracy Canada is connected to one Side or another sometimes to both in these conflicts and must be Alert to defend its interests. Living As we do under the shelter of . Military defences canadians can easily conclude that they have nothing to fear. But by leaving our defence to the americans we will leave most of our foreign policy to them also. If this country will not defend itself it will have nothing to say about How it is defended or whom it is defended against. The Patri Cias who Are now packing their bags Are a key ele ment in Canadas dwindling claim to Sovereign Independence in world affairs. While they were Here Winni Eggers were reminded now and then of the reasons Why this country has armed forces. The abandoned Barracks will now fall to the Canada lands company an Agency run by a government that May share the Canadian distaste for cruel realities. The name Kapyon with its heavy freight of human courage and clashing empires May be erased from the face of Winnipeg. But even if Canada does not always know Why we have an army Winnipeg does. While that memory remains Green the City should keep a place warm for the Patricia a Monument or memorial or per haps a functional building within the redeveloped Kapyon site. It was Well to Grant the regiment the Freedom of the City. It is Well to Tell them they Are always Welcome As treasured compatriots and Neighbours. It will be better still to Reserve a place and Mark it As the place Winnipeg keeps for the Patricia because the City honours them. Making a splash it is getting clearer that a lot of Winni Eggers want a water Park and see a Way that could actually become a reality. Grass roots efforts to bring a water Park to the old Winnipeg Arena soon to be abandoned have focused the attention of Winnipeg a youth and of those who see the paucity of bold exciting venues in this City As one reason Winnipeg it is not regarded As a dynamic Canadian City. I know this will work Here because of the support of these kids asserted Sieg Holle a Toronto devel oper who revealed his blueprint for a water Park last week. His news conference was attended by High school students leading a petition for the Park signed so far by 13,500 people. But where in this Heady talk is City Hall the City called for propos als earlier this year from developers with designs on the old Arena. The deadline passed three months ago still no word publicly about what was suggested and what has Promise. The ideas which Council lors should be discussing Are still bottled up in the administrative offices. A water Park May or May not be the Best use of the old Arena. Those who submitted proposals and bids on developing the prime piece of City land and property May be equally concerned about the Lack of action and interest from the City. To redevelop the space would have consequences on the sur rounding commercial District which has grown with the influx of big Box and retail stores to the extent that traffic congestion is a problem. This too is Council business. Winnipeg a new mayor should ask some pointed questions in the first week at the Job which among the ideas proposed for the Arena made the Short list Why has the Public not seen them once they Are published everyone will be Able to see if a water Park is merely a Good perhaps viable idea or if it is the Best idea. And Council should get Down to work to All the work required around Polo Park to get the Best idea off the ground. Love . Wealth not values Beijing ? if anti americanism is on the Rise around the world no one told the kids in the student visa line at the . Embassy in Bei Jing. The quest among chinese students for visas to study in Ameri Ca say . Embassy officials has become so intense that it has spawned internet Chat rooms where chinese students Swap stories about which arguments work Best with which . Consular officials and even give them names like Amazon goddess too tall Baldy and handsome just How closely chinese students Strat Gize Over the internet on How to get visas to Amer Ica ? at a time when fewer Are being Given for Security reasons ? was revealed to the embassy recently when on one Day one con sular officer had scores of students come through with the same line which some Chat room had suggested would work i want to go to America to become a famous after hearing this All Day he was surprised to get one student who came before him and pronounced my mom has an artificial limb and i want to build a better artificial leg for my mom and that is Why i want to study in the .? the consular officer was so relieved to hear a new line that he told the Young Man you know this is the Best Story i be heard this morning. I really Salute you. I a going to give you a you guessed it. The next Day every other Stu Dent who showed up at the embassy said he or she wanted to go to America to learn How to build a better artificial limb for my said one . Official we have to be so care Ful what we say because it gets into the Chat rooms right hearing stories like this you have to won Der Are Bush officials right when they Dis miss All of this talk that president Bush has made America More unpopular in the world now than at any other time in postwar history do people really hate us Don to those visa lines say otherwise this is Worth a closer look. To begin with there a few technical Rea sons Why anti americanism generally does not have the same Edge in Asia As in Europe and the Middle East. Asias leaders As a group have much More legitimacy than leaders in the Arab world either because they have come to Power through free elections or because they have delivered on their Core Promise to their people of economic growth. Because of that they Don to need to demonize America regularly to deflect their Peoples anger from them. Also Asia generally is focused like a laser on economic development ? and countries like China see investment and technology Transfer from America As critical to their growth. People in Asia do not hate the United states Singapore a elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew said to me. Big countries like China and India Are focused right now on their economic development and they see in America an enor Mous Well to draw technology and economic growth but Here a the problem Young people want american education and technology More than Ever but fewer and fewer want to Wear our to shirts anymore ? want to be identified As As one former . Diplomat in Beijing put it to me they want to Cherry pick us not line up with us. We be lost the idea of America As the embodiment of the Promise of Freedom and democracy ? not just of technology and High living standards ? is integral to How we think of ourselves but it is no longer How a lot of others think of us. They Are now compartmental izing. The uni lateral War in Iraq the postwar mess there the walk away from Kyoto and other treaties the Abu Gharib scandal have taken a toll. The idea of America As embodying the Charisma of democracy has been damaged. As the Polit ical theorist Yaron Ezra i put it America As the do gooder has been Hurt but America As the goods doer is still fortunately this situation is not irreparable. The longing for an America that exports Hope not fear and that is an example of the Best glob Al practices and values runs really deep in the world. In fact it is one reason that some people abroad Are so angry with president Bush ? because they blame him for taking that Amer Ica away from them. I a convinced a differ ent approach or different administration would elicit a big response from the world. But for now we will pay a Price because when people want to line up for our visas but not for our policies it Means americans alone will have to Bear the Burden and the Price of those poli cies. That is not Good for us. When you lose your status As a Power with values you weaken your ability to fight those Powers without values. America relives its Golden age there was a weird dreamlike Quality to the Bing ears even the ears of quite important peo lengthy obsequies for former u. S. President ple while holding Forth on some Favourite topic Ronald Reagan. For several Days every time such As tax cuts or the evil Empire. Was i catching some real news we saw instead of the usual scenes of carnage in Baghdad or the nervously twitching face of Paul Martin making things perfectly Clear that Flag draped coffin first in California then in Washington. My nine year old granddaughter was reminded of that cheerful old fashioned fireplace with its Burn ing log that Many television stations feature on screen for several Days every year during the Christmas holidays. Faces rarely seen on the Small screen in a decade ? mrs. Thatcher Brian Mulroney Nancy Reagan herself ? became almost familiar once again although or. Mulroney was introduced by Larry King on can As a former British prime minister. Perhaps Larry mis took him for Churchill there was general Al Haig who annoyed Many by taking charge when Reagan was shot. There was the elder George Bush Reagan a vice pres ident and later a one term presi dreaming or did i see Gorby wince at the Mem Ory watching it All unfold America seemed to suffer a mass remembrance of things past. Like Proust a wet cookie that Flag draped cof Fin and the ghost like faces of yesteryear seemed to open the floodgates of recollection. For several Days we witnessed an absolute orgy of reminiscence. Often the same anecdotes and observations were repeated Over and Over again on different programs by differ ent people. Was mrs. Reagan wrong As some said to gaze adoringly at the president while he delivered his state of the Union address did he keep Jelly Beans or gumdrops on his desk did he invade Grenada or was it Nevis what was the name of that White House astrologer president Reagan of course was always Good at turning Back the clock. Many who pay Little attention to the passing Parade May have been surprised to learn that or. Reagan had in fact survived into the Twenty first Century having been born As Long ago As 1911 during the presidency of William Howard Taft. He was already Well up in years a senior citizen when he began his own first term As president and he already had several careers including that of movie Star behind him. It is said that he kept a picture of Calvin Coolidge in the Oval office and Coolidge who served As president from 1923 to 1929, appeared on Reagan a list of unjustly neglected american presidents. One reason for that preference May have been that president Reagan was one of the few peo ple left in Public life in the 1980s who actually remembered silent Cal As a living person. Those were the Good old Days everybody talks about with a swing on every front porch and a Mary Pickford picture playing in a Dou ble Bill with a Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckler Down at the Roxy. It was an Era All american voters seemed to remember Well even those who were not born until after the second world War a conflict in which presi Dent Reagan himself fought on the Hollywood front. One has a vision of the future creator of reaganomics and the conqueror of Grenada As a freckle faced kid in plus fours his nose deep in a battered copy of Booth Tarkington a classic of american boyhood Penrod. Paul Whiteman a orchestra is playing Dardanella on the radio. The Stock Market has yet to fall. The dodgers Are still in Brooklyn. Stan Lau Rel has just been introduced to Oliver Hardy for the first time. There is a Chicken in very pot and a Ford in every garage. A Golden time. Is it any wonder that a boy who thrilled to the adventures of Little Nemo Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers should dream of Star wars As the 21st Century came into View As Reagan week continued toward that final scene at Sun set the to talk grew More and More dreamlike. What about a new face on it. Rushmore what about kicking Alexander Hamilton off the ten Dollar Bill should the Pentagon be renamed will he come Back like Arthur the once and future president stay tuned. Dent himself looking solemn and already contemplating although he gave no sign of it a spectacular Parachute jump on his Eightieth birthday several Days after the funeral As if to remind him self that he at least is still vibrantly alive. There was Patty Davis the late presidents younger daughter the former rebel and Flower child with her dark hair Long and wild As if in atonement for All the terrible things she used to say about her parents. There was Ron Junior the retired Ballet dancer recall ing How his dad the president had the strange habit of literally grab ? 2004 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 vol 132 no 199 a member of the Manitoba press Council Rudy Redekop president up Canadian newspapers limited partnership Murdoch Davis / publisher Nicholas Hirst / editor Patrick Flynn / Deputy editor ;