New year and new growing pains

New year and new growing pains by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East The world celebrated the arrival of the new year 2022 with hope and desire for a better life with the problems of the past two years to be forgotten. It seems however, that new problems are on the horizon, more concerning than ever. At home in Canada we continue to face the last hurrah of the Covid-19 called Omicron, with the usual politicians and civil servants still not having learned from their mistakes and starting to become a real burden on society. We need some radical changes and very quickly, otherwise we will sink into a world from which there is no return. On top of worries about the pandemic and an unusually harsh winter, we are now facing a disruption of supplies which are just beginning to surface in the shelves of the nation's stores. Combined with a national inflation rate of more than 4.8%, the worst in the last 30 years, we are not enjoying the beginning of the year very much. In view of these facts the political debates are starting, as parliament reconvenes at the end of January. We are likely to see the same spewing of hot air; endless debates without ever considering the real problems the nation faces. A new issue has appeared on the national scene: the new rule stating that anyone driving a transport truck across the Canada - United States border must be vaccinated. That rule is now being enforced by both the Canadian and United States governments. This rule seems to be exaggerated, ill conceived and clearly intended to hide the supply chain problems that will become more and more felt by the general public. It is easy to blame somebody else for your mistakes and the federal and provincial governments have developed real talents for spin-doctoring issues. Why is it that truckers were exempt from the vaccination rules for the last two years and suddenly they are not, when most of the population is vaccinated. However, Omicron does not care if you are vaccinated or not. Countries such as the UK, Ireland, Denmark and more, are now considering lifting all pandemic restrictions. Our politicians are seemingly deaf and blind to these issues, lead by equally unprofessional health apparatchiks who are even suggesting that a valid vaccine passport should require three vaccinations. They are also proposing more lockdowns and are the prophets of the apocalypse to come. It seems that a reaction is finally in the making. Truckers from every corner of the country are ready to demonstrate in Ottawa for freedom, to the dismay of the official media and other government subsidized organizations which are doing their best to ignore them and misinform the public about their purpose. It will be interesting to see how events unfold. Let us see if we have any democracy left in Canada. Do we still have freedom to demonstrate? freedom of speech? We are living in interesting and unpredictable times. Let's hope that our supplies will not be further disrupted. There are real problems looming on the international scene as well. The tensions between Ukraine and Russia are particularly worrisome, because Canada has the third largest Ukrainian population after the Ukraine and Russia, with a sizable minority population of Ukrainian descent, numbering 1.3 million. The winds of war are blowing strongly with Russia flexing its muscles in claiming that its national security is undermined by the NATO, the United States and the European Union. Unfortunately, the diplomatic discussions to avoid an armed conflict which might have grave repercussions on the world scene don't seem to be making any progress. Several rounds of high-stakes diplomacy have failed to yield any breakthroughs, and tensions escalated further this week. NATO said it was bolstering its defence in the Baltic Sea region, and the U.S. ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert to potentially deploy to Europe as part of an alliance "response force" if necessary. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said he is prepared to send troops to protect NATO allies in Europe. In a show of European unity in Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an easing of the crisis. "We ... expect clear steps from Russia that will contribute to a de-escalation of the situation," Scholz said. Macron, who said he would talk with President Vladimir Putin by phone, added: "If there is aggression, there will be retaliation and the cost will be very high." The U.S. and its allies have vowed to hit Russia with sanctions like never before if Moscow sends its military into Ukraine but they have provided few details, saying it's best to keep Putin guessing. To complicate issues, Russia continues to mobilize more forces at the border of Ukraine and NATO allies and the US are doing the same. These actions do not bode well for a peaceful outcome. The Canadian government announced Tuesday it's withdrawing the family members of diplomatic staff stationed in Ukraine amid heightened fears of an invasion. "The safety and security of Canadians, our personnel and their families at our missions abroad is our top priority," said Global Affairs Canada in a statement. The U.S. State Department has also ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to leave the country, and it said that nonessential embassy staff could also leave. Britain said it, too, was withdrawing some diplomats and dependents from its embassy. As we watch the rapidly evolving situations both in Canada and internationally it is not the beginning of the new year for which we hoped. All that remains to us is to hope and pray that cooler heads will prevail.