Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-02-03, Page 44 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, February 3, 2016 • www.lucknowsentinel.com The Lucknow Sentinel PUBLISHED WEEKLY P.O. Box 400, 619 Campbell Street Lucknow Ontario NOG 2H0 phone: 519-528-2822 fax: 519-528-3529 www.lucknowsentinel.com POSTMEDIA JOHN BAUMAN Group Manager, Media Sales john.bauman@sunmedia.ca JOY JURJENS Office Administrator lucknow.sentinel@sunmedia.ca LINDSAY THEODULE Media Sales Consultant lindsay.theodule@sunmedia.ca MARIE DAVID Group Advertising Director 519 376-2250 ext. 514301 or 510 364-2001 ext. 531024 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO SENTINEL CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT P.O. Box 400 Lucknow ON NOG 2H0 For any non -deliveries or delivery concerns: 519-528-2822 • lucknow.sentinel@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTIONS Regular one year $40.00 + $2.00 =$42.00 Senior one year $35.00 +$1.75 = $36.75 Two year regular $70.00 + 3.50 = $73.50 Senior two year $60.00 + $3.00 = $63.00 Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All advertising and editorial deadlines: Friday 2 p.m. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions, and undeliverable copies (return postage guaranteed) are to be sent to The Lucknow Sentinel at the address indicated here. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicable rates. The Sentinel is available on microfilm at: GODERICH LIBRARY, (from 1875) 52 Montreal Street Goderich ON N7A 1 M3 Goderichlibrary@huroncounty.ca KINCARDINE LIBRARY, (from 1875 to 1900 & 1935 to 1959) 727 Queen Street Kincardine ON N2Z 1Z9 The Lucknow Sentinel is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns. For more information or to file a complaint go to www.mediacouncil.ca or call toll free 1-844-877-1163. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Lucknow Sentinel oc 4a Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Truth is, little will change in Canada's anemic foreign policy Itwouldbe easy, judging from the tenor of debate in the Commons this week, to conclude Canada's posture toward the rest of the world has changed radically in the first three months of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's tenure. It isn't so. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion makes fresh headlines almost daily — whether it's re -starting diplo- matic relations with Iran, get- ting chatty with Russia, mending fences with Mexico or scolding Israel for its settle- ments policy. That's not even getting into the planned pullout from the U.S.-led air war against the Jihadists in Iraq and Syria. Taken together, it begins to look rather dramatic. The truth, far more prosaic, is that not much has changed — not only under this govem- ment, but under the last four. Canada is a middling power that chronically underspends on defence and foreign aid and tags along symbolically with its North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- tion allies when doing so is politically convenient In return for this valuable service ren- dered to the world, Canadians expect leaders of serious coun- tries — the United States, the United IGngdom and France, to name three — to invite us to their summits and include us in their parleys. Their eye -rolling we perceive as irritation due to dust flecks, or something. In the case of Iran, the 4 Column Michael Den Tandt wholesale departure at issue is a matter of re -opening an embassy that was quietly shut- tered by former foreign minister John Baird in 2012, due to unspecified safety concems, even as the Great Powers con- tinued to work relentlessly towards to the nuclear deal that now has Iran re-entering the global economy, chattering back and forthwith the Iranian regime all the while. Canada intends to lift some sanctions. A junior attache at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa will no doubt note the address when the Canadian embassy in Teh- ran re -opens. Few others in global capitals will care. Britain restored diplomatic relations with Iran last year. What about Vladimir Putin, then? Former prime minister Stephen Harper made a great show oftrash-talldngthe Rus- sian strongman, though he did not go so far as to "shirt -front" him, as former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott once promised to do. "I have only one thing to say toyou," Harper grimly told Putin when the two met in 2014, "you need to get out of Ukraine:' The Russian leader immediately ordered Russian forces out of Crimea and — oh no wait. He grinned and instantly forgot the conver- sation, which was breathlessly leaked to Canadian media by Harper's aides. Canada under Harper offered modest support to Ukraine in its bid to push back Russian encroachment, but no weapons. Canada under Trudeau is poised to do the same. Israel, then. Surely there's a radical reversal afoot? Dion last November signalled his inten- tion to retum to Canada's vaunted "honest -broker" status in the Middle East, in contrast with the dastardly hawkishness and intransigence of the Harper regime. So far this consists of restating Canada's long-stand- ing position, advocating a nego- tiated two -state solution and a halt to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, while upholding Israel's absolute right to defend its citizens from attack. That's right: Opposing the settlements was official Canadian policy under Harper. He declined to say so while en route to Israel once in 2014, causing sharp intakes of breath on the part of Canadian foreign-policy savants and yawns elsewhere. Even regarding Canada's con- tributionto the U.S.-led air war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the importance of whatever outcome to the rest ofdie world is greatlyexagger- ated. It matters to Canadians, as it should, that we contribute to the fight for civilization. But the Harper government's commit- ment of six CF -18s and 69 ground soldiers, as well as spy planes, was small to start. This is of course why there hasn't been greater pushback from our allies on the pending withdrawal of the jets and their putative replacement with a new ground training mission that remains undefined. The old mission was exceptionally modest, in relative terms. So will the new one be. The reality is that, excepting a brief burst of uncharacteristic internationalism between 2005 and 2010 — expressed in hard terms as defence -spending increases, military hardware purchases and substantial aid to Afghanistan — Canada has punched below its weight in for- eign affairs since at least the early 1990s, and in some respects much longer. The Tories, despite their bellicosity, held defence spending to one per cent of GDP — half the rec- ommended NATO standard. New ships for the Royal Canadian Navy are years from completion. New fighter jets for the Royal Canadian Air Force are in limbo. This, de facto, has been Canada's foreign policy. So it remains. The adjustment under Trudeau and Dion's stewardship will be tonal — which is another way of saying trivial. As in the past, Canada's allieswillbe too polite, or too embarrassed, to complain — not to our faces, at least Many pancake suppers coming to Lucknow for Lent Ruth Dobrensky Lucknow News How about those "lovely" stormy days we've been having, it's as though winter is making up for lost time. I saw on the news one morning that someone from Brussels was pulled off the road by the OPP for not cleaning the snow off his car, for those of you who don't know, there is a big fine for that, so clean your vehicles off, for our safety and yours. Did you hear about those great athletes involved in Women's Hockey Day recently? The hope is that many of these young women will become "Lucknow Legends" in the future, congratulations to them all. Congratulations also to those intrepid firefighters who were hon- oured recently for their long service to our lovely community. Without our wonderful Lucknow Fire Department volunteers, where would we be? The Lucknow Ag Society held their annual meeting and dinner recentlywith 60 people attending. Their guest speaker, Amanda Brod- hagen spoke on Mentoring. Because of the recent inclement weather, the Lucknow Sepoy Ranees had to change their plans to go out of town, fortunately for us, we were able to meet at Mary's here in town for our monthly get-together. The Lucknow Rumoli Club met recently, despite the weather, for our monthly get-together. Luckily, everyone lives right here in town so no one had far to go. Coming soon to a church hall near you will be many pancake suppers, the start of Lent. Check out the ads in the classifieds to find a church for you to enjoy a great pancake supper. Sympathy of the community to the families of: Robert MacNay, 83, Goderich (formerly Amberley); Joseph Ditner, 70, Formosa; Mary Haldenby, 67, Culross Twp.; Joseph Simmons, 80, Wroxeter; Jeannette Duggan, 95, Stayner; John Mathe- son, 91, Luclmow(formerly Kincar- dine Twp.); David Sproul, 94, Gor- derich (formerly Dungannon); Una Mathews, 94, Exeter (formerly Kinloss Twp.); James Courtney, 88, Ripley; John Taylor, 93, Belgrave; Mary McMurray, 72, Exeter; and, Darlene Shobbrook, 75, Londesborough.