Prime Minister Trudeau in Washington (MSN)

Concerns: the Environment

After posting my article about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to Washington, I started feeling uneasy. Had I intimated that I supported President Trump? No, I fear Mr Trump and Canadians feared the first meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Trump. Would Mr Trudeau sell the country? No, but Canada is a signatory of the Paris Agreement. Yet, Trudeau and members of his government agreed to re-open the Keystone XL Pipeline. That worried me. Would our prime minister agree to another arrangement that could cause an environmental accident? The pipeline is in need of repairs. Will this be done? With respect to climate change, experts have determined that we are about two minutes before midnight. (See Doomsday Clock, Wikipedia.)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/what-canada-agreed-to-in-paris/article27742735/

Washington: a Successful Meeting

Prime Minister Trudeau managed his first meeting with President Trump successfully. He achieved this victory by stating that he had not travelled to Washington to “lecture” President Trump on how to govern. He also stated that Canada and the United States had lived in harmony on their respective side of a border that stretches from sea to sea. Canada’s motto is A Mari usque ad Mare (see the Canadian Encyclopedia). Moreover, Americans and Canadians had fought together and died together on various battlefields. D-Day is the foremost example of a combined effort. In short, we have respected one another so Canadians have earned the right to welcome refugees while fighting terrorism.

“One swallow does not a summer make”

No, I have not turned into a supporter of Mr Trump. I fear Mr Trump and reject his belief that all Muslims are terrorists.

However, until President Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met, I believed that solidarity and résistance were the United States’ and the world’s only way of surviving the Trump era. One swallow does not a summer make, but last Monday I saw a relaxed and happy Mr Trump. He was not the man who had been issuing no end of executive orders, as though he did not have an administration and the United States had lost its government. But there had been a dialogue and an acceptance of differences. In other words, Canada could continue to welcome refugees.

Many refugees have now entered Canada illegally and to my knowledge, none have been returned. Two men were outside in the bitter cold when finally a trucker stopped and picked them up. The trucker called 9-1-1. The men were frost-bitten and no one can enter Canada illegally.

To my knowledge, however, refugees have not been returned, but Canada has to amend its immigration legislation to accommodate circumstances it did not expect. President Trump’s Islamophobia and xenophobia are driving people out of the United States.

At the moment, refugees to Canada are applying for refugee status after entering Canada. The Canadian government has yet to amend its immigration laws, so applying after entering is a temporary policy. Authorities are also making arrangements so frost-bitten refugees can be hospitalized at no cost.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/13/americas/refugees-flee-united-states-for-canada/index.html

Conclusion

No, I have not become a Trump supporter, but it would be my opinion that Justin Trudeau shaped events skillfully. There are times when humans are powerless and times when humans can configure reality. At the moment, Canadians are probably configuring reality.

However will President Trump stop building a wall to keep Mexicans out of the United States ? Will he stop thinking that all Muslims are terrorists and attempt to prevent them from entering the United States, in defiance of the American Constitution and the decision of courts. I don’t know and we don’t know.

On Wednesday, President Trump asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to “hold back” on settlements and told him that it was for the Israeli and the Palestinians to decide whether they would be one state or two states.

“I’m looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like. I’m very happy with the one that both parties like,” he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israeli-settlements-trump-presidency-1.3983943

Love to everyone ♥

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©Micheline Walker
17 February 2017
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