As we stockpile weapons for Ukraine, we should remember Canada and its NATO allies are not at war

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2022 (1627 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada is not at war with anyone.

There are some who wish we were. They talk loosely of establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine and of shooting down any Russian warplane that dares to enter it.

Fans of no-fly zones include Canada’s former chief of defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier.

But he is not alone in his bellicosity. The opposition Conservatives want Russia’s ambassador expelled from Canada.

His crime? He speaks for Russia, a country that — so far — we are notoriously at peace with.

None of this is meant to diminish the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of its smaller neighbour is unwarranted and almost certainly criminal.

Insofar as there are ever any good guys in war, Ukraine gets to wear the white hat.

Russia has been unable to articulate a believable justification for the war it began. Its stated reason — that Ukraine’s “Nazi” government represents a threat to Moscow — makes no sense.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former comedian, is not a Nazi. He represents no threat to anyone.

That having been said, it is useful to remind ourselves exactly where we are. Canada and its NATO allies are not at war. As we stockpile weapons for Ukraine, we should keep this in mind.

Instead, we are showing our distaste for Russia’s actions by levying economic sanctions against it.

But these sanctions are limited, and exclude important elements of the Russian economy — including oil and gas exports — that are deemed important to the West.

One of Saskatchewan’s biggest employers is Evraz, a steel producer owned by Putin-friendly Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. So far, Canada has not levied sanctions against Abramovich.

Canada is also a source of manpower for the war. Canadians are travelling to Ukraine to join those allied with government forces fighting the Russian invaders.

This too is more complicated than it might seem. It is not illegal for Canadians to take part in foreign wars — as long as they and the fighters they are allied with adhere to the laws of war.

But those who are not careful might find themselves inadvertently at odds with Canada’s draconian anti-terror laws. These criminalize efforts to use terror to effect regime change anywhere in the world.

In the end, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a war between the two parties. The West, including Canada, is trying to give it greater significance by defining it in apocalyptic terms as a battle between good and evil.

That’s why both sides use metaphors from the Second World War. Putin describes the war as a continuation of Russia’s bloody fight against Hitler. The Ukrainians do the same, conflating the Russians with Hitler’s Nazis.

Neither picture is completely accurate. The historical relationship between Ukrainian nationalism and Nazi Germany was a complicated one.

But the Nazi metaphor plays well in the West. We have all seen the old movies where Nazi villains are ultimately defeated by virtuous freedom fighters.

It’s never portrayed as a costless victory. The freedom fighters pay for their victory in blood. Yet for reasons that are never entirely explained, they win anyway.

And so, we told, they will win again. The Russians are evil. Putin is a mad man. They have more guns.

In the real world of facts, all of this might pose a problem. In the metaphorical world of politics it does not. All that matters is that the metaphor holds.

So far it is holding fast. The federal government is determined to present Canada as a country at war. It is only when we think about it that we remember that the opposite holds. Let us hope this happy situation holds.

Thomas Walkom is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Reach him via email: walkomtom@gmail.com