Canada has role in new Trump world order, says local MP
By John Boivin
From Kiev to Cranbrook, Kootenay-Columbia MP Wayne Stetski says he’s hearing concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump.
Stetski has just returned from a 12-day fact-finding mission with Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to four countries bordering Russia.
“There’s concern everywhere we went about what is happening in the U.S. with Mr. Trump,” says Stetski.
He said Donald Trump’s friendliness to Russian President Vladimir Putin, his tweets during the campaign about NATO, trade, and a generally more US-centric policy has worried leaders in every country they visited.
But officials he spoke with “also expressed a very deep gratitude for Canada for caring about what is happening in their countries,” he said. As the U.S. role threatens to wane in the region, “all were extremely appreciative we were there and concerned about them. “
He said Canada’s pledge to station 450 troops in Latvia in March as part of its NATO commitment is highly regarded, and our role training police in the Ukraine. Stetski says he supports a Canadian presence in the region if NATO is to be serious about stopping any further Russian aggression.
“In Poland they have a saying,” says Stetski. “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
He said that message came home again at a memorial the delegation attended marking the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland.
“The reason things got as bad as they did was because people looked the other way,” he says.
Stetski is not on the Foreign Affairs Committee, but was invited to take the place of its NDP member. He says he’ll contribute his observations to the final report. The committee spent 12 days speaking with parliamentarians, business leaders, military officials and other officials in Latvia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Poland.
The Foreign Affairs Committee will now hold hearings in Ottawa regarding Canada’s foreign policy in the Russia-bordering countries before reporting to Parliament.
Stetski arrived home the weekend the US president issued a ban on refugees and visa holders from seven middle-east countries. While he MP says he hasn’t had any visa issues arise in his riding, Mr. Trump’s action will be the centre of an emergency debate in Parliament this week.
The trip was a reminder for Stetski that geopolitics “is very real” when you are in the Russian border states, and says what happens there can affect us in our Canadian comfort.
“We are interrelated in many ways. What happens in Europe has an impact in Canada,” he says. “We should be thankful and grateful for living where we do, but not be too complacent.”