Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 14, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2025 A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A LTHOUGH friendship and mutual respect have flourished for close to a century in a 2,300-acre park and natural sanctuary straddling the Manitoba-North Dakota border, a grow- ing sense of distrust has sprouted at the International Peace Garden. The idyllic destination, located about 28 kilometres south of Boissevain and 32 kilometres north of Dunseith, N.D., which has been a long-standing sym- bol of peace between Canada and the United States since opening in 1932, is caught in the political crossfire of an economic war started by U.S. President Donald Trump immediately after be- ginning his second term in January. Trump, who has repeatedly spoken about making Canada the 51st state, has signed orders imposing crippling 25 per cent tariffs of virtually all goods imported from north of the border other than oil and energy, which are subject to a 10 per cent levy. Ottawa has responded with promises of retaliatory measures on U.S. goods. The less-than-neighbourly threats and counter-threats have some Can- adians making alternative summer plans, a concern for the non-profit that runs the peace garden. “We got four emails last week from Canadians just expressing dismay with the political rhetoric that’s been going on, with the tariffs and the trade war,” park CEO Tim Chapman told the Free Press Thursday. Chapman sent a letter to supporters last week saying that while he couldn’t fault the emailers for feeling the way they do, he wanted to reassure people that the park has always stood for peaceful co-existence and co-operation. “We’re apolitical and don’t really have any say or input in what’s going on in the political discussions,” he said Thursday. “But we understand why some of our Canadian visitors and members feel the way they are.” Chapman said he got back to each in- dividual, including one who responded by saying they were simply venting their frustration. Their back-and-forth led to the member agreeing it would still be a good idea to keep coming rath- er than boycotting the garden. Chapman has pored over another 20 or so emails he’s received since he sent Friday’s letter. About 35,000 people visit every year. The number includes conference atten- dees, summer campers and schools. The previous Tory government of Manitoba contributed $7.5 million in 2021 for its share of a capital infra- structure and facilities redevelopment plan, matching funds from North Da- kota. Damaged girders from the World Trade Center towers toppled in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks pay trib- ute to Canada’s support for the U.S. in the aftermath. Dwight MacAulay, a longtime prov- incial civil servant who sits on the garden’s board of directors, said there have been economic and political dis- agreements in the past. MacAulay, who grew up in Killarney, about 50 kilometres northeast of the park, said it’s a beautiful, easily access- ible attraction that often flies under the radar. Visitors don’t require a passport. In- stead they show identification to their home country’s customs officials after leaving the garden. “At the end of the day, we were, we are, and will always be friends,” he said. “That’s a given. And it’s unfortu- nate (angry) people have those senti- ments right now…. More than ever, it’s a time for people to visit the Inter- national Peace Gardens and realize what it is — a world-class testament to the friendship that has always been there between Americans and Can- adians.” Boissevain-Morton Mayor Judy Swanson said she feels stuck between a rock and a hard place. Boissevain bene- fits economically from traffic to and from the park. “But I do understand that things are different right now,” she said Thursday. “This isn’t about the people in North Dakota. They are friends and family of ours. But this is about the president, who in our eyes, is about to do some things we don’t deserve.” Swanson said people she’s spoken with have suggested they’re going to keep their tourism within Canada this year. “They really don’t want to go across the line right now,” she said. “I’m wor- ried as a community. It’s going to be a difficult time and I don’t ever recall having this feeling before.” Premier Wab Kinew, who is in Wash- ington along with the country’s 12 other provincial and territorial leaders to dis- cuss tariffs with American politicians and business leaders, said he doesn’t believe people should boycott the at- traction. “Listen, it’s great for us to shop Can- adian, to buy local, to buy Manitoban. But the peace gardens are going to con- tinue to be an important symbol for the connection between our two countries,” he told reporters on a Zoom call. “That will persist long after this cur- rent moment and the uncertainty and the emotions that have been brought forward will last.” scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca NEWS VOL 154 NO 81 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2024 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 CEO / MIKE POWER Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at www.mediacouncil.ca and fill out the form or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. 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Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada Near-century-old border symbol of peace collateral damage in Canada-U.S. trade war Caught in the crossfire SCOTT BILLECK BRUCE BUMSTEAD / BRANDON SUN FILES The Peace Tower at the International Peace Gardens may be gone, but the park, located between Boissevain and Dunseith, N.D., remains a symbol of international co-operation. ‘Buy local’ movement embraced by rural communities RURAL leaders have decided to take action in the shadow of tariff threats from the U.S. by vowing to buy Can- adian-made products. The R.M. of St. Andrews council unanimously passed a motion Tuesday, promising to purchase products made in Canada “whenever possible.” Mayor Joy Sul said the idea, raised by deputy mayor Rob Mirecki, is a no-brainer. “Say the grader needs new tires and they’re made in China, they’re made in the U.S. (or) they’re made in Canada. They should be buying (products) made in Canada,” she said Thursday. “Even, for example, paper towels, pens, office supplies, basically any- thing we use in the R.M., Manitoba or Canada will be given priority for pur- chasing.” The call to shop local has gained trac- tion across Canada in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned 25 per cent tariffs on a range of Can- adian products and an additional 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, both scheduled to begin in March. Canada’s premiers, including Pre- mier Wab Kinew, met with Trump’s advisers in Washington, D.C. this week. In St. Andrews, people have cancelled trips to the States and are checking their groceries for made-in-Manitoba products, Sul said. She’s backed out of an annual busi- ness convention in the U.S., in part be- cause of the expected hit to the value of the Canadian dollar amid a trade dis- pute. “It’s going to have a huge impact,” she said. In Gimli, a similar resolution passed at Wednesday’s council meeting. It calls on the administration to “bring forward recommendations for updates to the R.M.’s procurement bylaws, policies, and processes to ensure they are suffi- ciently flexible to support the purchase of local, Canadian and non-American goods and services, wherever possible.” “Everything is new in terms of the tariffs, and in terms of provincial gov- ernment supporting buying Canadian. I think this is the flow to the munici- palities to also look at their policies, procedures, etc., and update them and reflect on them,” said Christine Payne, the Gimli municipality’s manager of community engagement. She noted Gimli has several large manufacturers that would be hurt by U.S. tariffs, including the Crown Royal distillery. Saturday is the National Flag of Can- ada Day, with the added significance of being the 60th anniversary of the in- auguration of the flag of Canada. Gimli’s public works department will erect Canadian flags on Centre Street to mark the occasion. “I think it’s the conversation that is happening organically with all of the news that’s coming out,” Payne said. “This is just one way the R.M. can start to position and show our support.” malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca MALAK ABAS “The broader signal it sends is an escalation, a broad prolifer- ation of tariffs … widening the likelihood of a trade war that’s broad, hitting multiple econo- mies,” Holmes said. The Chamber is also among a spate of business groups that have long warned the Trudeau government that its three per cent digital services tax, which came into effect over the summer, would become a major thorn in the side of the U.S. The controversial policy has stirred the ire of U.S.-based lob- by groups, as it requires large tech businesses to pay tax on revenues earned through engag- ing online users in Canada. The Business Council of Canada’s CEO Goldy Hyder said the tax “continued to be an issue” raised in meetings he had in Washington this week with senior U.S. officials, congress- men and business leaders. “It is viewed by Americans as an irritant that violates the USMCA in the same way that Canadians believe tariffs violate the agreement,” he said in an emailed statement. The Trudeau government’s last budget estimated the tax, which is retroactive for the first few years, should bolster Otta- wa’s coffers by some $5.9 billion over five years. A White House fact sheet described it as unfair, saying Canada and France “use these taxes to each collect over $500 million per year from American companies.” Trump’s latest executive order says the U.S. will counter against a sweeping range of trade irritants, including subsi- dies and “burdensome regulato- ry requirements.” It also singles out a suite of non-tariff trade barriers, ranging from human and ani- mal health trade requirements to government procurement policies, intellectual property protection and digital trade barriers. “This could be a massive over- haul of how tariffs are set,” said William Pellerin, an internation- al trade lawyer at McMillan. Countries set their tariff rates under trade agreements and generally must set the same tariff levels for all countries — abiding by something called the “Most Favoured Nation” principle. That is, unless coun- tries enter into further trade agreements to further lower rates, Pellerin said. But this move would upend those norms, allowing them to be adjusted on a case-by-case basis. The move raises all kinds of questions about how it would work — not to mention how quickly all this could be imple- mented. Putting Trump’s order into force will launch the U.S. gov- ernment into a complex process that Pellerin said will likely take months to sort out — at the soonest. — The Canadian Press TRUMP ● FROM A1 Trump calls Indian PM a ‘great friend’ but warns of higher tariffs WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House with a bear hug on Thursday and called him “a great friend of mine,” but nonetheless warned that India won’t be spared from higher tariffs he’s begun imposing on U.S. trade partners around the world. Trump, who had previously derided India as the “tariff king,” called the im- port levies imposed by Modi’s country “very unfair and strong.” “Whatever India charges, we charge them,” Trump said at a joint news con- ference. “So, frankly, it no longer mat- ters to us that much what they charge.” As he has while recently hosting other foreign leaders, Trump talked about ensuring that the U.S. erases its trade deficit with India. He suggested that could be done by increasing U.S. energy exports to India but also prom- ised to restore “fairness and reciproc- ity” to the economic relationship and said he and Modi had begun working on a major trade deal that could be com- pleted later this year. The U.S. and India have a trade defi- cit of $50 billion in India’s favour. The Indo-U.S. goods and services trade totalled around $190.1 billion in 2023. According to India’s External Affairs Ministry, the U.S. exports to India were worth nearly $70 billion and imports $120 billion. Modi, meanwhile, continued his personal trend of heaping praise on Trump. The prime minister said that he’s determined to “Make India Great Again,” or “MIGA” — a play on the president’s “MAGA” or “Make America Great Again” catchphrase. Trump also said he’d back extradit- ing one of the plotters of the 2008 Mum- bai attacks — appearing to referencing Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was con- victed in 2011 in the U.S. for plotting an attack on a Danish newspaper. “He’s going to be going back to India to face justice,” Trump said. The presi- dent later added, “We’re giving him back to India immediately” and that more extraditions could be coming. Trump also said the U.S. would soon increase military sales to India by “many millions of dollars,” paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighter planes — some- thing the country has long sought. Before Modi’s White House arriv- al, Trump signed an order to increase tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, which affects American trading partners around the world — including India. — The Associated Press WILL WEISSERT ;