Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 23, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba THINK TANK COMMENT EDITOR: RUSSELL WANGERSKY 204-697-7269 ● RUSSELL.WANGERSKY@WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A9 SATURDAY MARCH 23, 2024 Ideas, Issues, Insights Two wrongs, no rights “A CROSS Gaza, more than one million people, half of the entire population, are experiencing catastrophic food insec- urity and are at increased risk of acute mal- nutrition and death.” — International Rescue Committee, March 20, 2024 This is a column I never wanted to write. For those familiar with my heritage, you know why every paragraph is wretchedly painful. If you don’t know me, the explanation is coming. What’s most important on this day, is not my personal pain. It pales in comparison to what is experienced by the families in Israel connected to the thousands of men, women and children who were raped, beaten, burned, knifed, shot and kidnapped by the epitome of evil — Hamas. What’s equally important is the pain inflict- ed on Palestinian families by the inevitable response to Oct. 7. The unimaginable sorrow is not mitigated by the fact Hamas lit this rocket. When it comes to urban warfare, innocents always exponentially outnumber the guilty. Collateral damage is a deeply unsatisfactory clinical term. When a parent sees a child turned into a corpse, there is no explanation connected to Oct. 7 that suspends the anguish. When a par- ent is unable to feed their child because there is no food, and no safe path to finding any, there is no language to soften the suffering. I am a child of parents who suffered every indignity imaginable in the Second World War. I am a son of Holocaust survivors, an eyewitness to all the consequences of survivors’ guilt and shame. Both my parents would have traded their lives for those they lost to Adolf Hitler’s “final solution” to the “Jewish Question.” I have been rewarded with the attention of millions of Canadians and Americans over half a century for telling stories that vividly animate the human condition. But I am at loss for words to adequately de- scribe the pain of listening to testimony about the events of Oct. 7. There is no video available to illustrate the worst of it, Hamas assassins torturing and murdering Israeli children in front of their parents and doing the same to parents in front of their children. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe my personal pain, watching Palestinian children emaciated by hunger, manufactured by warfare. And I have no adequate words to describe my revulsion over the post-Oct. 7 hurricane of antisemitism worldwide. My world includes the Adler fami- ly’s promised land, Canada. It was in 1960s Canada when I first read Ad- olf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. I wasn’t old enough for high school. But desperation ignores age. I needed to know why my parents were so different from those of my classmates. I needed to know what made them suffer the panic attacks and dramatic mood swings of post-Holocaust trauma. I needed to know why Jews incurred so much resentment, wrath, and ultimately, genocidal hatred. I could tell you that what impacted them only affected my curiosity. But my recurring night- mares put a lie to that. On history’s calendar, the Second World War ended nearly 79 years ago. In my sleep-disordered mind, the war never ended and never will. In my dreams, the furnaces at Auschwitz that consumed my paternal grandmother and grandfather, uncles, aunts and cousins, are nev- er turned off. When I awaken, I am shaken by the knowledge that many in this world, some of whom are reading these words, want the ovens turned back on. They reject “Never Again.” They crave “Again and Again.” Nobody taught the lessons of the Holocaust like the late Nobel laureate, Elie Wiesel. He was raised in a Romanian town not far from where my father was born in nearby Hungary. He survived the same concentration camp where his family and my father’s were incinerated. The words in his 57 books have been helpful to my understanding of the traumatized mind. I can only imagine what he might say to the prime minister of Israel about human depri- vation in Gaza: “Bibi, these children have the right to be fed. The Jewish State that rose from the ashes of Auschwitz has no right to allow them to starve. Hitler and Hamas stain human- ity. But they do not grant their victims a licence for inhumanity.” I have three personal requests to make of this world. Please ensure that Hamas never governs an inch of territory anywhere, that the Oct. 7 hostages, alive and dead, be released, and that the children of Gaza receive nourishment. It is not their fault that some of their kin murdered mine. Charles Adler is a longtime political commenter and podcaster. charles@charlesadler.com Wab Kinew and pragmatism LAST October, a Globe and Mail article intro- duced Wab Kinew, Manitoba’s newly elected pre- mier, to a national audience with the prediction that under his leadership the NDP government would be guided in its actions by “Prairie prag- matism.” We all know that Manitoba is the start of the Prairies going west. What pragmatism means is far less clear. After a varied career as a musician, author, broadcaster and university administrator, Kinew only entered party politics in 2016. His evolution as a political leader is still unfolding and the future trajectory of the NDP government largely remains to be seen. As a non-partisan commentator who has never met Kinew, I am interested to see how over time his government balances realism and idealism, ideological principles and political pragmatism, and inspirational rhetoric and practical actions. Pragmatism is a varied, contested philosoph- ical tradition, as well as a popular, vague label used in media. After offering some brief points about what it means to be a pragmatist in politics, I point to some early signs that premier Kinew has a pragmatic streak to his leadership philosophy and style. In general, pragmatism involves practical reasoning, problem solving and cautious change. This orientation is somewhat different from an ideology which represents a more comprehensive view of human nature, a vision of the future, and a prescription on the role of government in achieving that vision. In terms of the traditional ideological spec- trum of right versus left, pragmatism is centrist. Ideologies which emerged in earlier centuries are seen to have little relevance to governing in the 21st century. Most members of the public are not ideological. What they want are governments that are more responsive, work better and are affordable. Pragmatists recognize that policies are not eternal truths, but hypotheses being tested to see how they work. In addition to experimentation, pragmatic governing places more emphasis on sound procedures than on the fulfilment of cer- tain ideological principles. Pragmatic leaders and governments worry about the feasibility of their policy and budgetary choices. Calculations about feasibility involve judgments about available policy knowledge, money, organizational capacity and the urgency of the required actions. Pragmatic leaders recognize that meeting the public where it is — not being too far ahead of public opinion — is crucial to successful govern- ing. Also, it is not enough just to make the “ right” decision; achieving understanding and support for decisions, especially among the groups most directly affected, is a crucial further step in the policy process. Pragmatic leaders insist they will govern on behalf of all segments of society. They strive for co-operative relationships with different groups and organizations and seek to avoid conflict. Governing on the basis of a real, or a perceived, consensus is seen as the basis for both good poli- cy and good politics. In the face of uncertainty, resource scarcity and the risks of political backlashes, pragmatic politicians tend to exaggerate the constraints they face in making and defending tough choices. As a result, marginal or incremental changes from the status quo become the predominant pattern of policy making, including budgetary policy. Decisive, bold and radical changes are mainly avoided as too high risk. Pragmatists often claim to be “telling it like it is,” not telling the public what it wants to hear. “Under-promising and over-delivering” is their mantra for successful campaigning and govern- ing. In an era of permanent campaigning which involves heavily reliance on political marketing, inspirational and aspirational rhetoric may be used to disguise a moderate, incremental govern- ing style. The dividing line between ideology and pragmatism is not straightforward. Many of the multiple tasks of governments do not give rise to ideological disagreements. Within political parties there are varying degrees of ideological conviction. Even a government that follows a moderate, incremental governing style relies to some degree on values and a general sense of direction. How does this summary of pragmatism fit with the governing style of Kinew? Somewhat, but not perfectly. As Manitoba’s first First Nations premier, Kin- ew brings deep knowledge of Indigenous history, heritage and spiritualism to public office. As a relative newcomer to party politics, he is less steeped in social democratic traditions represent- ed by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federa- tion/ NDP, which has always combined an aspira- tional social movement goal of greater equality with the electoral politics goal of winning power. Given the repression, lack of power and poverty faced by Indigenous people, there is clearly con- siderable overlap and intersection with the broad goals of the NDP. Early in his governing period, Kinew has dis- played some pragmatic instincts. Here are some examples condensed to brief points. One of his fundamental political beliefs, he declared, is that the economic horse must pull the social reform cart. He went on to say this means that budgets must be balanced, if not immedi- ately, then at least before interest payments on provincial debt limit investments in priority areas like health and education. He kept the tax cuts introduced by the former PC government. On criminal justice, he accepted the need to deal with the sources of crime, while also promis- ing to come down hard on serious offenders. On education, facing a backlash, the govern- ment backed away from a plan to eliminate provincial exams in favour of other student assessment methods. Using his strong communications skills, Kinew has been highly visible on all major issues and he has sought to assure all parts of society that his government will be responsive to their concerns. In a relatively small, less affluent province such as Manitoba, realism often combines with pragmatism to produce moderate governing approaches which match the beliefs of most Manitobans who are not strongly ideological. The Pallister period illustrates the dangers of a domi- neering, ideologically driven premier. Paul G. Thomas is professor emeritus of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba. Do away with mining gaslighting CHERRY-PICKING environmental issues and den- igrating Manitoba’s environment framework may provide good fodder at the door for environmental fundraising campaigns, but in terms of public policy, it is nothing more than gaslighting. The lobbyist for the Wilderness Committee, quoted in the Free Press article ”Concerns raised over mining exploration in caribou habitat,” (March 13) puts science and professionalism on the back burner. Manitoba has one of the most rigorous and thor- ough processes for protecting our environment. So when lobbyists attack mineral exploration using misleading statements, they also attack the fabric of science and professionalism. Mineral exploration permits in parks, like ex- ploration work planned for Grass River Provincial Park, are only issued after professional biologists at the wildlife branch evaluate the potential effects on wildlife and ensure the project is compatible with the goals of the park. In this case, the permit requires the diamond drill rig — a unit the size of an ice fishing shack — to be slung by helicopter to the site. If there are any caribou in the area, the process is immediately cancelled, according to directives embedded in the Wildlife Act and in the Canadian Aviation Regulations. Mineral exploration is not mining. Calling explo- ration projects “mining” is deliberately misleading. Early-stage exploration projects generally consist of remote sensing or by walking the ground. Access to mineral dispositions is usually by foot, boat, truck or more commonly now, by helicopter. If we look at real data, tracking from March 2018 shows that the Reed caribou local population has remained stable and was possibly increasing over the nine-year modelling period, averaging about 330 individuals. Many mining companies actively work to enhance wildlife management within the regions where they operate. An excellent example is Hudbay Minerals’ work with caribou in the Grass River area, as pub- lished in their annual sustainability reports. The paid lobbyist of the Wilderness Committee recently said that a Manitoba exploration company would “bulldoze caribou.” No one is bulldozing caribou. It is a ridiculous statement. And it does nothing to improve the environmental performance of mineral exploration, mining, or any other development being proposed for our province. In fact, there is good evidence to suggest that these types of projects have virtually no negative impacts on caribou populations. Manitoba needs mineral exploration projects. Manitoba needs mining. Billions of dollars are left on the table annually because we have not properly developed our mineral endowment. Compared with jurisdictions with similar mineral endowments, Manitoba is losing out on between $4 billion and $6 billion in GDP annually. In other words, a healthy mineral industry would put an additional income of $5,000 for every man, woman and child in the province, plus the related taxes at each level of government to pay for health, education, roads, and other services. And Manitobans, including those working in these industries, care deeply about the environment. That means we have an opportunity, and a responsibili- ty, to show the world how we can develop mineral projects properly. But first, we must move past the cheap rhetoric and start focusing on real solutions. MaryAnn Mihychuk is president of the Manitoba Prospectors and Develop- ers Association. MARYANN MIHYCHUK PAUL G. THOMAS LOAY AYYOUB / WASHINGTON POST FILES A Palestinian family inspects their destroyed home after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza, in late February. CHARLES ADLER ;