The Peterborough Examiner

Canada must choose its battles wisely

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Re: “Russians encounteri­ng resistance in Ukraine,” Aug. 4.

One of the blessings of living in a multinatio­nal or multicultu­ral country is the opportunit­y to maintain an ethnic heritage and to share aspects of our “cultural values” with other Canadians -- acceptable cultural values at any rate. An even greater blessing of the same is to leave behind the more negative aspects of our homelands. Bringing the internecin­e tribal or religious “troubles” of our homelands to be “fought out” again, in Canada, just doesn’t wash. Neither, I might add, should using Canada as a base, or supply depot, for fighting out the “troubles” back home be accepted or tolerated.

And so it is with no little regret that we read the recent opinion piece by RMC professor of political geography Lubomyr Luciuk. Prof. Luciuk reports on a recent visit to Ukraine where, among other things, he relays his impression­s of the beauty of that country and his visit to Canadian Forces -- commanded by a Canadian of Ukrainian extraction -- who are training the Ukrainian military -- formerly one of the largest, most well-equipped in Europe, but now suffering from a “Russian invasion.”

The professor goes on to explain that he explored the dangers of the front line, as a private citizen, to find out what kind of a difference Canadian military training was making. He found that in a unit of Ukrainian government forces sappers, de-mining the territory in which they were posted.

Since most military readers might consider land mines as essentiall­y a defensive weapon, one has to wonder who laid these weapons that now need cleaning up? De-mining in peacetime is laudable; de-mining in wartime is called tactics.

But what’s really wrong with all this is the “political geography,” for Ukraine, bless its national heart, has nothing at all to do with Canada and most Canadians. Neither do the Ukrainian dissidents or indeed invading Russians.

There is no threat to the security of Canada coming out of Ukraine, or indeed any of the world’s hot spots -- unless, of course, Canada chooses it involve itself in them.

Canada has chosen to involve itself in Ukraine, largely at the behest of a Canadian political interest group and THE world superpower. It is daunting to think that the next time “a balloon goes up” somewhere on earth, somebody else with clout in Ottawa will have the nation deploying our military and choosing a side. K. Quinn Owen Sound

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