Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 5, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2025 WEATHER LIGHT SNOW. HIGH -14 — LOW -16 SPORTS JETS BEAT CANES, PUSH STREAK TO SEVEN / D1 Trump wants 1.8M Gazans kicked out WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take “ownership” in redeveloping the area. Trump’s audacious proposal appears certain to roil the next stage of talks meant to extend the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. The provocative comments came as talks are ramping up this week with the promise of surging humanitarian aid and reconstruction supplies to help the people of Gaza recover after more than 15 months of devastating conflict. Now Trump wants to push about 1.8 million people to leave the land they have called home and claim it for the U.S., perhaps with American troops. Trump outlined his thinking as he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where the two leaders also dis- cussed the fragile ceasefire and hos- tage deal in the Israeli-Hamas conflict and shared concerns about Iran. “I don’t think people should be going back,” Trump said. “You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location. I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy.” Trump said the U.S. would take ownership of the Gaza Strip and rede- velop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and turn the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” in which the “world’s people”— including Palestinians — would live. “We’ll make sure that it’s done world class,” Trump said. “It’ll be wonderful for the people — Palestinians, Palestin- ians mostly, we’re talking about.” Egypt, Jordan and other U.S. allies in the Middle East have cautioned Trump that relocating Palestinians from Gaza would threaten Middle East stability, risk expanding the conflict and under- mine a decades-long push by the U.S. and allies for a two-state solution. Still, Trump insists the Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza. He spoke out as his top aides stressed that a three- to five-year timeline for recon- struction of the war-torn territory, as laid out in a temporary truce agree- ment, is not viable. Last week, both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II dismissed Trump’s calls to resettle Gazans. But Trump said he believes Egypt and Jordan — as well as other coun- tries, which he did not name — will ul- timately agree to take in Palestinians. “You look over the decades, it’s all death in Gaza,” Trump said. “This has been happening for years. It’s all death. If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.” Trump also said he isn’t ruling out deploying U.S. troops to support reconstruction of Gaza. He envisions “long-term” U.S. ownership of a rede- velopment of the territory. AAMER MADHANI, ZEKE MILLER AND TIA GOLDENBERG ● GAZA, CONTINUED ON A2 Ottawa, province put $80 million towards northern sea route Tariff threat gives Churchill boost M ANITOBA’S waterway link to European trade — the Port of Churchill — was the recipient of nearly $80 million in funding an- nounced one day after Canada avoided sweeping tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump. “The timing couldn’t be more per- fect,” Premier Wab Kinew said Tues- day, standing beside federal ministers and Port of Churchill leadership. Building up Canada’s only deep-wa- ter Arctic seaport connected to rail benefits Canadians on several levels, the premier said: it bolsters the local economy, creates a new trade route to global markets and shows the U.S. that Manitoba has an Arctic presence. “Arctic security is something we’re both interested in,” Kinew said. “I look forward to hopefully being able to take some of our American friends to Churchill soon and show off this great port, this amazing asset.” The funds, tabbed jointly by Mani- toba and Ottawa, builds on decades of investment in the area, Kinew said. Last year, the two governments committed $60 million to begin port upgrades and finish the Hudson Bay Railway’s stabilization. The feds have invested $277 million over the past six years to restore the railway and port. The rail line runs from The Pas to Churchill. The port makes Manitoba a “Maritime prov- ince,” politicians say, because it leads to the ocean. “In these unpredictable times … investing in the North, in the Arctic is more important than ever,” said Dan Vandal, MP for Saint Boniface–Saint Vital. GABRIELLE PICHÉ ● PORT, CONTINUED ON A2 ● TACKLING TARIFFS / A3, 4 Governments flex muscle at border crossing EMERSON — Federal Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Premier Wab Kinew used the Cana- da-U.S. border as a backdrop Tues- day to tout the creation of a “fentanyl czar,” who will work with the U.S. to curb drug trafficking. The two leaders were in Emerson to sell the new position as a way to boost border safety, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump post- poned 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods for at least a month. “The interpretation of today is Ca- nadians should know we have a very strong border, and we’re making it stronger,” McGuinty said. “Canadians should know we’re co-operating between different orders of government. Canadians should know that their efforts to stand up for Canada are not in vain.” McGuinty, Kinew and Terry Duguid, the federal cabinet minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada, spoke to members of law enforcement agencies at the event, including the Canadian Border Services Agency, RCMP, Manitoba Conservation and Manitoba First Na- tions Police Service. A federal border officer demonstrated the use of a machine that detects dozens of items, including drugs and explosives. While Kinew didn’t take questions from the media at the show-and-tell, he did talk about the issue at a news conference later in the day. The premier, who has spoken about “Trump-proofing” the economy, said it’s his responsibility to keep Manito- bans safe. “I don’t know anyone out there that would say Donald Trump and I are two peas in a pod, but if we share an interest in cracking down on drug trafficking in our respective juris- dictions, then I think we both pursue that at the same time.” The event was supposed to include a demonstration of one of Canada’s new Black Hawk border patrol units, but that was cancelled at the last minute without explanation. Canada has invested $1.3-billion on border security in response to Trump’s rhetoric about cross-border drug trafficking. Despite the hiccup, McGuinty said the event was not just to send a message to Trump. SCOTT BILLECK MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Federal Public Safety Minister David McGuinty (at mic), Prairies Economic Development Minister Terry Duguid (centre) and Premier Wab Kinew (left) address border security Tuesday. A WINNIPEG man arrested for human smuggling last year is back in custody accused of traf- ficking more migrants while he was on bail. Abdi Ali, 31, was denied bail Monday by provincial court Judge Margaret Wiebe. “Mr. Ali was already released on conditions, and he flagrantly ignored the condition to remain in Winnipeg and was found at the border in the company of illegal migrants,” Wiebe said. “I fail to see how he can be trusted on another form of release.” Court heard Ali was driving north from the area of the Em- erson border crossing, headed to Winnipeg, when RCMP pulled him over for speeding on Feb. 22, 2024. Eight foreign nationals, all with passports from the Republic of Chad, were in Ali’s van. Police released Ali with a warn- ing, but after learning he had been a suspect in two smuggling inci- dents in the area, followed him to Winnipeg, where he was arrested that same day. Questioned by police, Ali, who was found in possession of $2,300 in U.S. currency, claimed he had picked up the passengers in Blumenort, where they had been staying for 15 days in a farmer’s shed. Court documents filed in a civil forfeiture proceeding say Ali told police he was an Uber driver and was taking his passengers to a shelter. DEAN PRITCHARD Accused human smuggler, 31, arrested again while out on bail ● BORDER, CONTINUED ON A2 ● ARREST, CONTINUED ON A2 ;