Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 31, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba Comment editor a11 View Roythe West Gerald flood 697-7269 Winnipeg free press and beyond monday july 31, 2006 times Are a Changin and fast o Ottawa ? four Mega trends that have had a massive Impact on Canada and other nations Are changing ? not All of them for the Best. The changes United states foreign policy is dropping its Cowboy diplomacy free Trade which has greatly added to the worlds Prosperity May have hit a Wall the . Economy which has been responsible for much of the worlds growth is slowing Down and International terrorism is still a big threat but is no longer dominated by Al Aida. The changes All Impact on the ., but experts Here say they will soon affect Canada because we Are each others largest trading partners. About 87 per cent of our exports go to the . And roughly 24 per cent of its exports come Here. The . Economy is one of the worlds hardiest. Inept politicians crooked Busi Ness people obdurate labour unions and terrorism scares have not been Able to slow it Down. But there Are signs experts say that the . Economy is softening. Job creation has been pretty puny according to Ken Mayland an economist at Clearview economics. Retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.1 per cent in june the first decline since february. Analysts blamed near record gasoline prices and higher interest rates. Housing which has powered the . Economy for Sev eral years is showing signs of weakness. Doug Porter Deputy chief economist at boo Nesbitt Burns told Canadian press signs Are clearly mounting that the . Economy is slowing and really the Only question at this Point is How deep will the slowdown be. And that a still very much open to Bra research an Canada influential . Analyst adds Many investors will be Are hopeful that the Hurt if global Economy can comfortably withstand agriculture the unfolding . Eco Al subs nomic slowdown. Histo Dies Are by suggests the slowing . Not Economy and the fact lowered some in the . Con Gress face mid term elections in novem Ber have had a major negative Impact on world Trade talks under the auspices of the world Trade organization to. The talks Are not going anywhere. The . And the european Union both refuse to lower appreciably their Mas Sive subsidies to agriculture. Some Sec Ond rank countries such As Brazil Are reluctant to lower tariffs on Industrial goods. The Saddest aspects of the matter the talks have dragged on for nearly four years and few countries seem to care that this round of talks is dying. Canada and its Farmers will be Hurt if agricultural subsidies Are not lowered. And we will be even worse off if a failed round of Tariff lowering talks weakens the to. The to like its predecessor the general agreement on tariffs and Trade Gattis important to smaller nations such As Canada because it sets guidelines for world Trade and helps pre vent big nations from bullying us. As Well As Trade and the Economy . President George w. Bush has to worry about foreign policy. When he first campaigned for office Bush had modest goals for foreign policy. The . Should not meddle in the affairs of others he said. Then came 9/11. And suddenly we got the Bush doctrine of preemptive inva Sion forceful democratization and often unilateral action. America was going to be the worlds cop. The problem is that the Bush doctrine ? said by some to be Cowboy diplomacy ? did to work Well. America sadly is bogged Down in Iraq. It is too strapped to Deal with some of the worlds other hot spots. Bush a approval ratings Are at a near record Low. As a result Bush is changing his policy. He has conceded that his dead or alive rhetoric about enemies was mis interpreted in certain parts of the world. Now he is using diplomacy with Iran and North Korea countries he once said were members of the Axis of he has been cautious about getting directly involved in the Israel Hezbollah conflict. Meanwhile his Nemesis International tourism has changed but remains a threat. Experts now Tell us that some terrorist groups no longer take directions from Al Aida but the organization is still looked up to and can Supply some Money and advice. Suspected terrorists recently arrested in Canada Britain and the . Apparently had few direct links to Al Aida but did work with other terrorists using the internet. The thing that strikes me about these changes is How quickly they happened. Major trends used to move at the Speed of a Glacier. No longer. Tom Ford is managing editor of the issues network. Kinshasa ? it All could have spiralled out of control. But it did to which is Why the first democratic elections Here yesterday in Over 40 years Are a Harbinger of Hope for this african nation at the heart of the continent at least in the polls initial stages. In fact the most violence i saw while visiting nine voting centres spread across this capital City sunday had Noth ing to do with the presidential and parliamentary elections at All ? it was an angry mob of Young men attacking cars on a Rural Highway to protest the Lack of electricity in their Homes while the University staff their families work for remain plugged in. The Beer bottles and shovels thrown at our car were thank fully avoided if you re wondering thanks to my Quick thinking Driver i be been Here close to two weeks spending time with an elections observers group from the Institute for Community peace building at Canadian mennonite University. And although things certainly weren to perfect yesterday As 25 million people headed to the polls Many checking off the poster size ballots for the first time in their live the City remained intact while United nations tanks patrolled the streets and people buckled Down at polling stations to devote themselves to elections Success whether by working or casting votes there. I will celebrate by praying said Mesa Emma Nona a 60-year-old woman camped out in front of a Dank school b Issett ? almost 10 years ago i left this sleepy Little mining town behind. Now i a Back in Bissett again ? the place that attracted newcomers decade after decade chasing dreams of Gold. Even my great Grandfather came Here for work in the 1930s. Now a sum Mer Job offer at the local hotel pulled me Back. Its a Chance for my son and i to get out of the City for the summer. I called it a working vacation. A bit of bookkeeping and waitressing in return for a Nice Little wage and free room and Board. When would i Ever get the Chance again there a the family Factor too. It just so happens lots of my relatives work at the hotel. There a my mom aunties an Uncle and some cousins. So the Job is also a Chance to spend some time with them. Making memories i guess. Like my mom says we can All sit Back in the years to come and say remember that summer when we All worked at the hotel remember when my daydreams of Pauline Johnson Canoe rides and Scenic nature walks will have to wait for a Little while though. After Only a few hours its obvious there slots of work going on around Here. Besides the mine this hotel with its quaint bar is one of the biggest anchors of the Community. The Gold mine that went to sleep much like for Mer Bissett resident Janine to Schuncke a fable Queen of Rice Lake has reawakened again. The Promise of Well paid jobs has brought a few miners Here from other provinces. Bissett locals and oth ers from nearby communities like hollow water Reserve and Manigotagan have also found work Here. Its Good to see familiar faces. Probably the Best kept secret about this Little town is the uneven male to female ratio. Single women in search of Romance would do Well to pay a visit Here for a few Days i Tell you. You will find a number of eligible single men right Here in Bissett. After a Long bout of dry weather Forest fires have returned this summer too. One night the fire is so close you can see its Pink Orange glow on the horizon to the East. Firefighting helicopters criss Cross the skies and word is the boy scouts will be pulling out of their wilderness Camps until the weather improves. They be been coming up from the . Every summer for years Ever since i was a child. Blessed rain comes but brings Power outages along with it. Hmm i forgot about that. We enjoy Tea and conversation by candlelight that night. Well so much for doing some writing on the com Puter that evening. These Are the Good times though. The town is alive with activity. I know i should to even mention it but eventually the mine will close Down. Maybe not tomorrow or even the next few years but it will happen. I know because i be seen it happen before. Circles remember maybe the veins of Gold deep in the Earth below will thin out to threads or the Price of Gold will fal Ter. Nobody can predict it. But for now its about the Good time. Besides the town will never die. During its biggest Peak in the 1960s, this town with its Hospital Bowling Alley theatre bakery Bank and mine ballooned in population to almost 2,000. With the mine closed there la still be about 120 people who have settled Here for Good. Sometimes Early in the morning or during the Golden hours of evening you gaze at the Lakeshore and feel what it is that keeps people Here. No sirens no traffic. Sometimes its nothing but the sound of the wind in the Trees. Its the most peace Ful place i be Ever known. But right now there slots of work to do. Later there a time for family and friends. Time to catch up and play a few games of cards out on the hotel Verandah in the evening. We make plans to pick blueberries when the heat Dies Down. Maybe after work ill walk Down to the Beach and watch the kids in Silhouette swim and tease each other. Does to seem that Long ago i did just that too. Circles. And maybe ill just sit and listen to the loons Call out to each other. Congo votes amid Calm and Colour room in downtown Kinshasa perched on a nearby Bench in the Early morning twi Light. It was 5 45 ., and the Cloudy eyed Nona said she was eagerly waiting for polls to open at 6 00 So she could cast her ballot. For Nona who had participated in other forced elections before where she had Only the Choice of one candidate the dictator Mobutu sese seko the thought of missing the Chance to cast her ballot was distressing. So she said she dressed in her most formal outfit and headed out Early bran dishing her voter id card like a grand Mother possessed ? where i met her waiting impatiently. When you Only can vote for one candidate its not real she said. This is a very free transparent vote and with the radio and television telling me there could be lines i am going to make it on and lines there were lines the stuff of legend which Many voters Here will surely Tell their children for years to come and one Hopes elections to come. While some voters at the stations i visited were in and out in 15 minutes others found themselves in the Middle of angry groups where police guards had to reluctantly act As supervisors. The second i set foot in any poll Wear ing a journalists accreditation around my neck i had at least one person approach me to inform me of their con Cerns with the voting process which quickly ballooned into crowds of 20 or 30 bored bystanders who also offered their opinions of the alleged wrongdoings. Outside the City a downtown electoral commission offices i encountered one such furious crowd. We have been Here for three Days sleeping outside said one woman who said that after she lost her required identification card issued earlier this year to registered voters by the elec toral commission she was so desperate to get another one shed been waiting nearby for bureaucratic paperwork to Clear. Packed outside on the Gates next to the commission a crowd of about 50 people ranted their frustrations about the cards that they feared would never come. However in classic congolese style the president of the Centre assured me the cards would arrive within two hours ? and were in fact already prepared ? just waiting for an official signature before they could be distributed. It want three Days overnight it was Only one night he sighed. And there weren to 100 people waiting like they re saying its Only about 60 people. They left and came Back and left and came and that a the thing about voting Here that in a place where imperfection dominates even the most mundane of activities roads pocked by craters Greasy francs taped together the absence of garbage cans or trash collection and an endless pile up of litter the tipping into violent disaster of every horrible what if or could have been was avoided by a certain sense of Humour about the entire proceedings. The High Point of the Day was watch ing other congolese observers choke Back giggles while a High Strung elec Pioneer Bent on perfection had a fit after a lost deliveryman stumbled into the wrong room during ballot counting a sure sign of the election ers Diligence. Or maybe it was the women at another polling station separated from the men in their voting line establishing their own line nearby after accusing the males of being too aggressive and loudly berating them much to the amuse ment of bystanders. Or the Best of them All wandering on a refugee Camp near one of the main highways Here last night ? a place where children run on a former soccer Field with bloated stomachs and inhabitants live in soggy cardboard lean tos plating paltry meals in their tiny vegetable gardens i voted today yes i voted today we All did said one Man sitting in the late evening dusk with his friends. He grinned ruefully. They can kick us out of our houses but they can to kick us out of the polling ;