Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 8, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Hopes for more preservation As an academic historian, pre-1914 St. Nor- bert has been the subject of much of my work. Growing up in St. Norbert, I spent many hours exploring and playing in what has been known recently as the Lemay Forest when it was still church property. Since the beginning of the current develop- ment controversy, I have been supportive of the numerous efforts by individuals and agencies to preserve the area’s natural state. As seen on these pages, and elsewhere in the media, the reasons for opposing development and preserving the forest for public use are numerous, varied, and in my opinion, legitimate. The existence of a graveyard and the number of infants buried there is a major concern and requires more serious investigation and research before any more trees are removed or develop- ment approved. It is, however, my hope that the entire subject property be preserved intact for public benefit and that the current owners accept a reasonable offer in compensation. In addition to ensuring the respectful protection of the graves, a suitable tribute to the over 3,000 children who died within the walls of the orphanage would be to have the subject property renamed Le Forêt des Inno- cents/The Forest of the Innocents. PHILIPPE MAILHOT Winnipeg Valentine for the newspaper Re: Setting a clear path forward as thinking, considerate citizens (Think Tank, Feb. 7); Meta blocked news in Canada; ads for scams are tak- ing its place (Feb. 7) These two articles dovetail nicely as one described the growing danger to the public and legitimate, professional news sources from mega corporations and individual malfeasance, and the other championed the need for all of us to use our brains and think as a means to combat misinfor- mation and manipulation. These articles illustrate the value of a good newspaper — it rounds up the news of the day — serving up details about things that are actually happening, but also offering sep- arate, nuanced views of writers about the things that are happening One of my New Year’s resolutions in January was to limit exposure to broadcast and stream- ing news services as a means of preserving my sanity and mental health. I eliminated all news sources except the Free Press for a month. At the end of my experiment, I feel informed, enter- tained, challenged both socially and intellectually and ultimately connected to my community. This newspaper is doing a good job of reporting on the state of our city, province, country and world. Thank you and wishing you an early Happy Val- entines Day! THERESA SHAW Winnipeg Political winds changing It seems that Pierre Poilievre’s obsession with blaming Justin Trudeau for all things wrong in Canadian politics and his phony “Axe the tax” slogans have come back to haunt the federal Conservative party. His lack of ability to actually endorse any origi- nal policies that might be important to Canadians are now being overshadowed by real issues which are being addressed so well by what has, for a long period of time, been considered a lame duck prime minister. Suddenly, the Conservative leader has aban- doned his previous rhetoric and misinformation campaign and is now promoting policies such as strengthening the border, clamping down on fentanyl dealers and putting “Canada first.” Unfortunately, he is a little late to the party as these issues are eerily the same as those being addressed by the unhinged leader to the south who deals in lies and misinformation and whom he seems to want to emulate. Polls would indicate that what was once per- ceived as a consensus win for Poilievre has now become a closer race due to the present gov- ernment’s handling of tariffs, border crossings and the economy. Canadians are coming to their senses and realizing that the future four years of dealing with a revenge-seeking American government might be better left in the hands of a Canadian government that deals in international politics with grace and diplomacy. BRIAN DYCK Winnipeg Supply management issues Re: Amid U.S. tariff threats, a fight may be brew- ing over Canadian supply management (Feb. 5) As a farmer for over 35 years, I find the asser- tion that Canadian dairy and poultry farmers will be unable to compete without the supply manage- ment system a flawed argument. This started in the 1970s, so for two generations farmers have not experienced the markets with- out the quota system. A major cost to any aspiring farmer in this system is the purchase of quota, which restricts how much they can produce in a year, millions of dollars of which props up the dairy and poultry boards and makes new entrants into the industry unfeasible. Thirty-seven per cent of dairy production and over one-quarter of chicken production in Canada comes from Que- bec, which gives Quebec producers more political clout than those in other provinces. The protection of poultry and dairy has an adverse effect on other industries, like beef, as countries refuse to take Canadian beef due to the protectionist policies in place. I believe that Canadian producers are of the highest quality and are more than capable of standing against their American competitors in an open market as long as Canada doesn’t become a dumping ground for excess American stock. Removing the supply management system would also benefit our cattle producers by allow- ing them to enter new markets. KERRY ARKSEY Winnipeg Don’t move too quickly Re: “Taking down barriers” (Letters, Feb. 6) On the matter of interprovincial trade, Gerald Farthing asks, “… why aren’t the premiers mov- ing more swiftly, i.e., at warp speed, to address this matter by doing away with as many such barriers as possible?” While I’m in general agreement with moves to examine and reduce outdated and obviously unnecessary barriers to interprovincial trade, I would be cautious of any panicked, “warp speed,” change to existing regulations. As a federation, Canadian reality is carefully balanced between its outward facing national aspirations and ex- isting constitutionally based areas of provincial jurisdiction, and these provincial differences need to be respected. Though my personal inclination is in the di- rection of a greater national perspective for our federation, in terms of internal “trade barriers,” I take a colleague’s caution: “Removing inter- provincial trade barriers can be shorthand for reducing worker, consumer and environmental protections to the lowest common denominator … What if we don’t want the heaviest trucks pounding our highways into gravel? What if we want our Crown corporations to hire Indigenous people? What if we want to favour unionized contractors for projects? These can all be ‘trade barriers’ depending on who’s defining them.” And the oft-cited benefit of unfettered interpro- vincial free trade, touted as being anywhere from $50 billion to $200 billion, on closer examination appears illusory and more in the realm of public relations than fact. If changes are to be forth- coming, let them be in a positive and affirmative direction, rather than in a race to the bottom that only benefits the few and undermines what makes Canada distinctive. In the weeks ahead, under Trump tariff pres- sure, politicians will need to show some ethical backbone if hard-won worker, consumer and environmental protections are not to be diluted. SIG LASER Winnipeg LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WHAT’S YOUR TAKE? THE FREE PRESS WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU. The Free Press is committed to publishing a diverse selection of letters from a broad cross-section of our audience. The Free Press will also consider longer submissions for inclu- sion on our Think Tank page, which is a platform mandated to present a wide range of perspectives on issues of current interest. We welcome our readers’ feedback on articles and letters on these pages and in other sections of the Free Press ● Email: Letters: letters@winnipegfreepress.com Think Tank submissions: opinion@winnipegfreepress.com ● Post: Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, R2X 3B6 Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. OUR VIEW YOUR SAY COMMENT EDITOR: RUSSELL WANGERSKY 204-697-7269 ● RUSSELL.WANGERSKY@WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A8 SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2025 The poster boy for U.S. government disruption I T’S difficult — and getting more so with each passing day — to get a handle on just exactly what Donald Trump is trying to achieve in his wildly chaotic second term as U.S. president. But if there’s a single circumstance that aptly sums up the daily maelstrom that Trump-led U.S. politics has become, it might be the controversial effort to install Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the new administration’s secretary of health and human services. In touting Kennedy — a polarizing figure with deep roots in the anti-vaccination movement and a long history of spreading misinformation and widely debunked conspiracy theories — as an appropriate choice to head America’s health infrastructure, Trump has effectively laid bare the three-pronged strategy that underpins much of what has transpired since his inauguration last month: Disrupt. Distract. Dismantle. Since beginning his second non-consecutive term as president (with the widening inclination of his loyalists being that their boss didn’t lose the 2020 election and therefore essentially never stopped being president), Trump has employed a chaos-by-design approach to governing, nominat- ing for his cabinet a roster of individuals whose (lack of) qualifications and personal biases make them decidedly inappropriate for the roles he intends them to fill. From original attorney-general pick Matt Gaetz, forced to withdraw after scrutiny of his checkered personal past became too intense, to anti-“woke” former Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth as defence secretary, to deep- state conspiracy theorist Kash Patel as head of the FBI, to former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, known for her sympathetic views toward foreign dictators, as director of national intelligence, Trump’s list of nominees seems mostly intended to embody his personal contempt for the government agencies he believes have mistreated him and to ensure the loyalty of those who lead federal departments is to Trump first and to processes and institutions second. Assembling a rogues’ gallery of cabinet nom- inees has also served as a useful distraction of public scrutiny from many of the other outra- geous actions Trump has taken, mostly through the issuance of masses of executive orders, since retaking control of the levers of power. And it’s testament to the Republican Party’s recently-gained complete control of Congress, as well as the GOP’s outright acquiescence to Trump’s authoritarian whims, that he’s actually getting away with most of the egregious over- reaches he has attempted. Even the process to confirm Kennedy, a candidate so wildly unsuited to the role of health secretary that no right-thinking legislator could support his appointment, has advanced past the crucial Senate finance-committee stage. Mem- bers voted along party lines, 14-13, in favour of moving the issue to a full-Senate vote; among those in support was Louisiana Sen. Bill Cas- sidy, a physician by trade and lifelong vaccine advocate who raised legitimate concerns about Kennedy’s qualifications but ultimately bent to Trump’s will. Kennedy now sits one Senate-chamber vote away from gaining control of the United States’ massive health infrastructure. He deflected demands, during the hearing, that he must set aside his vaccine skepticism and prioritize the American public’s well-being; such a pledge would have been pointless anyway — if there’s one thing Trump has demonstrated during the entirety of his mercurial careers in business and politics, it’s that promises are meaningless when he’s in charge. If installed — still not a guarantee, given the Republicans’ slim Senate majority and the pos- sibility a few might briefly summon the spine to oppose this most outrageous of Trump’s cabinet picks — it’s almost certain Kennedy will wreak havoc in America’s health sector. He will disrupt; he will distract; he will dismantle. In other words, exactly what his boss intends. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis STEFAN JEREMIAH / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ;