Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 28, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba THINK TANK COMMENT EDITOR: RUSSELL WANGERSKY 204-697-7269 ● RUSSELL.WANGERSKY@WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A7 TUESDAY JANUARY 28, 2025 Ideas, Issues, Insights The slide back towards war: Kagame and Trump W E seem to be drifting back into the world of “might makes right.” That would be a bad place to be. Last June, the president of Rwanda, Paul Kag- ame, said that he was ready to go to war with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) if neces- sary. He still hasn’t formally declared war, but 3,000-4,000 Rwandan troops are already across the DRC border and many more are just behind them. When U.S. President Donald Trump first broached the notion of acquiring Greenland in 2019, he called it “essentially a large real estate deal.” Now he says that he won’t rule out using military force to gain control of the vast territory, which is part of Denmark but free to leave if its people (mostly Indigenous Inuit) wish to. I know, you’re saying to yourself that this is a ridiculous comparison. The two potential victims are completely different: the DRC is a poor trop- ical country with more than 100 million people, while Greenland is a prosperous Arctic country with only 52,000 citizens and Denmark is a mem- ber of NATO and the European Union. There’s an equally huge disparity between the two potential aggressors. Rwanda is a heavily armed and militaristic country of 14 million peo- ple, sort of a big Sparta, while the United States is … well, it’s a heavily armed and rather milita- ristic country of 341 million people. So kind of a gigantic Sparta, but with a more relaxed moral tone. Nevertheless, it is fair to judge them by the same rules, for they are all sovereign states and have all signed the UN Charter. Article 2 states clearly: “All members shall settle their inter- national disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.” That means they have promised not to settle their disputes by war — and the African pair, Rwanda and the DRC, also signed the Charter of the African Union, which requires the member states to respect the borders “existing on achieve- ment of independence.” In other words, they agreed never to change or challenge the old colonial borders, however irrational they may seem in ethnic or historical terms. Otherwise, African countries would face generations of interstate wars as various coun- tries tried to achieve more “convenient” borders. And amazingly, it worked, more or less. These rules have for the most part been obeyed for more than two generations. There have been many in- ternal wars but few cross-border wars, and even those rarely result in border changes. Moreover, in the few cases where borders are changed by force, other countries do not recognize the chang- es as legitimate. This remarkable turn towards peace and jus- tice, which has seen deaths in the world’s wars fall from a million a month in 1942-1945 to tens of thousands a year by 2020, was driven mostly by the fear of nuclear war. The great powers did not dare fight each other directly because they would be destroyed by nuclear weapons. They also tried to damp down other, lesser wars because they worried about escalation, and most other countries were glad to have an excuse to stop. The period between 1950 and 2020 was probably the most peaceful in the history of civilization. The new rules made sense in the circumstanc- es, so people behaved accordingly. Indeed, after the Cold War, I could go into the foreign affairs ministry in Moscow and get approximately the same lecture about the need to obey the rules that I would receive in the state department in Washington. The worry is that the generations turn over and gradually the old lessons are forgotten. Russian President Vladimir Putin probably knew the rules once, but he doesn’t think they matter any more. Donald Trump has probably never heard of them. They both think you can just grab some territory and get away with it, like you could in the 1600s or the 1800s. They are wrong. Actions have consequences, and in the current era everything connects. Putin thought he could conquer Ukraine in a week, and next month will mark three years of war. Trump really could seize Greenland in a week, but the blowback from everywhere else would be hugely damaging and long-lasting. As for Paul Kagame, he really should know better. This is the third time in the past 30 years that he has sent his troops (or Tutsi militants like the current M23 militia ) into the DRC to seize the northeast region’s rich mineral resources. Twice the African Union has come up with enough forces to push him out, and it might yet manage it again. So it’s not over yet. The erosion of the post-1945 international rules is real and alarming, but so far enough people still remember why we made them in the first place. Gwynne Dyer’s new book is Intervention Earth: Life-Saving Ideas from the World’s Climate Engineers. Community Connections is a vital library service COMMUNITY Connections, the low-barrier library resource hub in the lobby of Millennium Library, closed on Dec. 31, 2024 because the City of Winnipeg did not renew funding for 2025. Community advocates have been urgently call- ing for the space to reopen, given how vital it was for downtown library patrons. At the executive policy committee meeting for budget delegations on Jan. 22, the Downtown Community Safety Partnership proposed that they could replace Community Connections in the Millennium Library lobby. While DCSP does important work in downtown Winnipeg, they are not a library service provider, and thus are not a suitable replacement for Community Connections. Some city councillors argue that Community Connections, because it helps patrons access resources related to mental health, addictions and food security, in addition to so-called “tradi- tional” library services, is a social service that should be funded by the province. This is incor- rect. Community Connections is a library service and ought to be funded as part of the municipal library budget. When Millennium Library introduced metal detectors and security screening in 2019, many patrons no longer felt comfortable accessing the main library. Community Connections was established to mitigate this barrier by providing library services outside the security checkpoint. Librarians were paired with community safety hosts and crisis workers to better meet the needs of all patrons. Patrons who were not intimidated by the security screening could still enter the main library, while those who were uncomfort- able with it could go to Community Connections. Before its closure, around 100 individuals daily accessed Community Connections. They used the internet, got library cards and found help with resumes, system navigation, tax filing, ID replacement and more. Community Connec- tions responded to 45 per cent of all information requests at Millennium Library, more than any other reference desk at that branch. People go to Millennium Library for many reasons: to sign up for a library card and check out books, access the internet, participate in pro- gramming, use the washroom while they’re down- town without having to pay for anything, work on resumes or simply sit and chill in a comfortable, quiet, friendly space. Community Connections offered all these library services, tailoring them to the specific needs of a target group of patrons, as library services always do. The services inside the main library are likewise tailored to the needs and interests of patrons, whether they are parents, crafters, job-seekers or simply readers. When the library offers toddler storytelling programs, do we call it a child-care agency or say it should be funded by the provincial families department? No, we fund it as a library service and recognize that this group of patrons — fami- lies with toddlers — needs particular accommoda- tions and an appropriate setting. When the library offers knitting classes, do we say it should be funded as an arts organization? No, we fund it as a library service, specialized for the particular needs of patrons looking to build creative skills. When the library offers an Excel training class, do they expect someone from the main resource desk to teach the class? No. Even if that librarian may know how to use Excel, they bring in a specialized instructor so that patrons receive the best possible service, and librarians aren’t strained beyond their capacity or performing extra duties. There should not be a double standard when it comes to offering specialized services to the patrons who benefited from Community Connec- tions. While some patrons come to the library looking for knitting patterns or resources about spreadsheets, others come looking for info on housing, mental health supports or food security. All patrons deserve to receive quality service at the library, specialized to their needs and interests. Downtown libraries will always be places with higher-needs patrons — librarians across the country have known this for a very long time. Community Connections allowed the Millenni- um Library to take a proactive approach to this reality, rather than reacting to situations. Its staff had extra training in de-escalation and crisis response skills, just like the children’s area is staffed by librarians with experience serving young families. With the closure of Community Connections, Millennium Library has lost four full-time equiv- alent positions, so the remaining staff, already understaffed, will struggle to meet the needs of those who previously accessed Community Connections. Community Connections is a vital library ser- vice and is the city’s responsibility to fund. It is critical to ensure that all library patrons — even those for whom the metal detectors are a barrier — can receive the quality access to information that they have a right to depend on. Samantha Klassen is a community advocate and member of Make Poverty History Manitoba. Investing in a greener economy U.S. PRESIDENT Donald Trump is threat- ening to impose a 25 per cent tariff — a tax — on Canadian goods, especially on Ontar- io-made cars. The simple truth is that retaliatory tariffs aren’t enough ammunition for this fight. The American economy is too big. The last time Ontario’s auto industry faced a threat on this scale was 2008 — when Dodge and Chrysler went belly up and thou- sands of Ontario autoworkers lost their jobs. The 2008 crisis teaches us that the best way to fight future Trump tariffs is to build a self-sustaining economy now. An economy that can’t be held hostage by a mercurial president. Ontario responded to the 2008 auto-in- dustry crash by investing in a homegrown green economy. It passed the Green Energy Act which guaranteed favourable electricity prices for renewable energy companies that opened manufacturing plants in Ontario. The Green Energy Act sparked a surge of green investment in Ontario. Shuttered Dodge and Chrysler factories were reopened and repurposed to build solar panels for Canadians. Roughly 30,000 Ontar- io workers were re-employed and retrained in the green economy. The most important tool in our fight against petulant tariffs is unity: coming together to build a made-in-Canada green economy. But we can’t win this fight with one arm tied behind our back. And that’s exactly what punitive free trade rules are doing. In 2013, foreign governments sued Ontario for its Green Energy Act. International free trade rules required Ontario to treat foreign produced goods and Canadian businesses the same. Offering incentives to companies who built factories in Ontario, “discriminat- ed” against foreign solar panel companies. In 2013, free trade won the day and freshly opened Ontario solar panel factories closed. Today, a unified Canada has the chance for round two. Canada’s free trade agree- ment with Mexico and the United States is up for renewal in 2026. Thirty years ago Liberal and Conservative governments got us into this mess by sign- ing on to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization — ushering in the era of “free trade.” The free-trade era overhauled a Canadian economy built upon domestic industries, to one dependent on exports to foreign coun- tries. Trump’s tariffs are a seismic threat be- cause elites in the 1990s designed an econo- my beholden to exports to the United States. In doing so, elites sacrificed Canada’s abil- ity to invest in itself. In exchange for access to foreign markets, Canada gave foreign companies unfettered access to Canadian markets. That meant stripping protections for bur- geoning Canadian industries, shelving build local, buy local requirements and repealing environmental regulations which dispropor- tionately affect foreign companies. Since signing NAFTA in 1992, foreign companies have sued Canada 40 times for having the audacity to: support local businesses, phase out coal and ban dumping radioactive waste in the ocean. The free-trade deal promised Canadians an era of prosperity. It promised Canadians that we could trade our way to a better life. Instead, it unleashed a race to the bottom. Free trade pits Canadian workers against cheap labour in Mexico and China. When Canadians fight for better wages or try to protect the environment, corporations re- locate overseas, knowing full well they can sell those foreign-produced goods back to us. Since the free trade of the 1990s, Cana- dian wages have stagnated. Canada has hemorrhaged 540,000 high-quality man- ufacturing jobs. Global carbon-emissions have exploded to ship goods which should be made in Canada, halfway around the world. The only winners in free trade are cor- porations. Corporate profits are 12 times greater in 2024 than they were in 1994. Free trade is a rigged game. It under- mines good, local jobs, it devastates the environment and it makes every Canadian vulnerable to the whims of an unreliable trading partner. Free trade works for corporations because it was designed for corporations. We need a system designed for Canadians. That means taking the fight to Trump by investing in Canada and breaking with free trade rules which have suppressed these investments for 30 years. Luke Hildebrand is co-president of the NDP Kenora—Rainy River riding. BONNIE JO MOUNT / THE WASHINGTON POST In Qaanaaq, Greenland, residents live between the gargantuan Greenland ice sheet and the frigid waters of Baffin Bay. They are also pawns in U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed North American power play for territory. GWYNNE DYER SAMANTHA KLASSEN LUKE HILDEBRAND ;