Today’s Meeting was in person and no recording is available.
President Dave congratulated everyone for attending today, the most for any meeting so far this year and welcomed all.
John English, guest speaker and Honourary Member of the Club
Asma Alwahsh, guest of Shawky Fahel and potential new member
Nicole Lup, guest of Lumi Mironescu
Tara Hesch, guest of President Dave
Bell Ringers
In recognition of the topic of the speaker today, President Dave, declared all Canadians, working to keep our country great, as Bell Ringers for the week.
Louise Gardiner is happy to have recently been in Cancun at a conference for Travel Agents and that she is now ready to begin her new career as one!
Shawky Fahel is happy that one of his long-term residents, the KW Woodworking and Craft Guild, in one of his commercial buildings that needed to be sold due to expropriation, has been able to find a new location and also that another of his buildings, the former Towne Bowl has a new resident – The Sports Link.
Lumi Mironescu is happy to have recently been in Cuba and that she is back now and able to bring treats.
Our guest speaker today was John English, introduced by Ross Newkirk.
John English was raised in Plattsville and received his BA from the Waterloo and his MA and PhD from Harvard. He taught at the University of Waterloo from 1971 to 2009. He also served as the Member of Parliament for Kitchener and is currently Co-Chair of the Canadian International Council. He has written biographies of Pierre Trudeau, Lester Pearson, and Robert Borden and several other books, including a history of Kitchener with Ken McLaughlin. He is an honorary member of the Kitchener Rotary Club and is a Paul Harris Fellow.
The title of John’s presentation was “Canada and the Second Coming of Donald Trump”.
He began with the statement “The only thing any one can predict with certainty about Donald Trump is that he will be unpredictable! We have a circus, and it has too many clowns. But for Canada, what is going on is no laughing matter.”
John quoted former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who this weekend wrote, “The new world order of the last 35 years is being demolished before our very eyes. It is ahistoric moment. John then reflected on several other such moments such as the Congress of Vienna, World War 1 and the end of the Great Empires, Worls War II and the creation of multilateral world order, and, the 1989 collapse of Communism and the impacts they had on Canada. He stated that some of the past moments were triumphant, but this one “does not feel good”.
He added, “Before our eyes, every single pillar of the old order is under assault – not just free trade but the rule of law and the primacy we have long attached to human rights and democracy, the self-determination of peoples, and multilateral cooperation between nations, including the humanitarian and environmental responsibilities we once accepted as citizens of the world.”
“What shocks us, especially as Canadians, is that the assault is being led by an American president. The US was the anchor for Western democracies and the world trading system. The anchor has come loose.”
“When a world order collapses or is demolished, there are casualties. Living beside the United States, we never that we would be a ‘Poland’. For Canada, this was the dilemma we faced at Confederation and the four decades immediately after, but not in our lifetimes. During the 19th century, the US had a very vigorous expansion policy taking by war or purchase – Louisiana, Oregon, California, Texas and Alaska. Their eyes were on us but our link to the British Empire saved us. Later, we were protected by the world orders developed after 1918 and by geography.”
“History is not reassuring for the neighbours of regimes that become autocracies and the US, I fear, is tumbling quickly into autocracy where the rule of law, and democratic freedoms are disappearing. Such regimes do not respect international norms. The British helped is in the war of 1812 and burnt down the White House, they are no longer available to do so again!”
John concluded by saying there are four key things and Canada and Canadians can do in the face of what is happening.
- Find allies, particularly in the European Union, the UK and in strong international organizations.
- Worry about the Arctic. Trumps desire to take over Greenland is very real and with it our Arctic is caught between the US with Alaska and Greenland and Russia.
- Keep American relationships but do so carefully. We do have allies in the US, and we need to maintain those and grow new ones that will help us.
- Don’t lose the moment. Canadian pride is growing, and we are becoming more vocal and demonstrative about our love for and support for our Country, this needs to continue. We also need to recognize and capitalize on some of the economic opportunities that do arise.
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