Opinion: Waterton-Glacier Peace Park a reminder of goodwill between nations
In the weeks ahead, you will hear more about the Rotary International Convention coming to Calgary from June 21 to 25. Up to 20,000 Rotarians from around the world will descend on our city.
Article content
Article content
Given the current times, several Rotary members thought it would be appropriate for Calgarians to learn more about a peace initiative with our friends in the United States that was conceived, promoted, and nurtured to this day by Rotarians on both sides of the border.
Article content
Article content
It all began when a group of Rotarians from Cardston invited fellow Rotarians to a goodwill meeting at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton Lakes National Park in July 1931. More than 100 Rotarians from Montana, Saskatchewan and Alberta attended.
Article content
Article content
There was a consensus to advocate for the creation of an international peace park that would encompass both Waterton and Glacier national parks. It was resolved, 'that the proper authorities be petitioned to commence negotiations to establish the two parks indicated as a permanent International Peace Park, which will be definitely set aside for this laudable purpose, pledging our loyalty and allegiance to foster all international relationships.'
Article content
Canadian and American Rotarians reached out to their respective federal governments and, in the days when things could get done expeditiously, the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park — the first of its kind — was commemorated on June 18, 1932.
Article content
Article content
It's worth noting the words of leaders of the day.
Article content
Prime minister R.B. Bennett said, 'It is my earnest hope that this great International Peace Park stretching across our common frontier and in which citizens of both our countries may seek recreation, may forever remain a permanent memorial of all that neighbourly relations should be between adjoining nations.'
Article content
Said U.S. president Herbert Hoover: 'Dedication of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is a full gesture of the goodwill that has so long blessed our relations with our Canadian neighbours, and I am gratified by the hope and the faith that it will forever be an appropriate symbol of permanent peace and friendship.'
Article content
The peace park combines the 525-square-kilometre Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada with the 4,144-square-km Glacier National Park in the U.S. The arrangement allows both national parks to operate as separate entities under the peace park mantle. Thereafter, the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park Association was created to perpetuate the message of peace and goodwill inspired by this monumental achievement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
44 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
GOLDSTEIN: Carney's hocus-pocus plan to increase debt and balance the budget
Get the latest from Lorrie Goldstein straight to your inbox Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives for a press conference on Parliament Hill following the Cabinet Policy Forum, in Ottawa on May 21, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / GETTY IMAGES Prime Minister Mark Carney's promise that his government will 'spend less and invest more' is the same sort of fiscal flimflammery as Justin Trudeau's claim in 2014 that as prime minister he would grow the economy and 'the budget will balance itself.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The budget never balanced itself under Trudeau, even before the pandemic hit in 2020. His 2015 election pledge of three years of 'modest deficits' in 2016, 2017 and 2018 followed by a balanced budget in 2019, turned out to be a myth. As for Carney's pledge to 'spend less and invest more' respected University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe, writing in The Hub, noted that 'Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre dismissed Carney's proposal as 'cooking the books' and history justifies the skepticism.' Carney dismissed that criticism by suggesting he has more experience than Tombe as an economist and economic manager. Jake Fuss, director of fiscal studies for the Fraser Institute, called Carney's pledge 'creative accounting' because 'Mr. Carney's math doesn't add up.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In fact, Carney is planning to spend more and borrow more than the Trudeau government. This while abandoning the 'fiscal guardrails' that former federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland said were important to maintain the integrity of federal finances, at least prior to her resigning when she said the Trudeau government had abandoned them. Freeland is now minister of transport and internal trade in Carney's cabinet, so perhaps she's changed her mind. So how is Carney going to make good on his promise to balance the budget in three years while spending more and increasing the debt? This apparent economic miracle will only be achievable because Carney is making a new distinction in government spending. He's separating the operating expenses of the federal government — the cost of daily operations, plus cash transfers to the provinces and benefit programs such as Old Age Security, $10-a-day daycare and dental care — from capital spending on infrastructure. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney, who criticized Trudeau for driving up the operating costs of the government by an average of 9% annually, says he will reduce those increases to less than 2%. He will then invest more money, financed by more public debt, in fast-tracked, nation-building infrastructure projects such as housing construction, making Canada a clean energy superpower and other initiatives designed to bolster our economy and make it less reliant on the U.S. The problem with redefining debt is that it's still debt for the people who have to pay it back with interest — taxpayers. As Tombe, put it, 'Carney's financial sleight of hand will not actually balance the budget.' Carney's election campaign platform outlined $130 billion in new spending over four years with total deficit spending of $224.8 billion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's 71% higher than the $131.4 billion in deficit spending the Trudeau government predicted during the same period in its fall economic statement last December, although had Trudeau decided to run again his election promises would have increased his projected deficits. Read More To be sure, if will be a positive step if Carney can significantly reduce the operating costs of the government, a major component of which is the cost of the federal public service. But it will also be interesting to see how he will achieve this, given that his intention, aside from making use of Artificial Intelligence, is to cap the size of the public service at its current level of approximately 357,965 people. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's an increase of more than 100,000 civil servants — almost 40% — compared to when Trudeau took office in 2015. Carney's promises also depend, according to his campaign platform, on achieving $28 billion in savings from 'increased government productivity', $3.75 billion from 'increasing fines and penalties' and $20 billion from revenue generated by Canada's counter-tariffs in its trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. Some economists agree with Carney that redefining public debt into operating and capital spending components will make it more transparent, but others warn the temptation will be to redefine operational expenses as capital investments, in order to meet Carney's promise of a balanced operating budget in three years. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. What the Carney government intends to classify as operational expenses versus capital investments won't be known until the Liberals unveil their budget in the fall. That said, capital spending to fund infrastructure in tough economic times to boost the economy is hardly a new concept. Done competently, it can work as planned, in the same way a homeowner taking out a mortgage to buy a home can increase the family's equity, provided he or she can meet the mortgage payments. The key word is competently. One of many examples of previous capital investments by governments in concert with the private sector turning into financial disasters are Light Rail Transit projects in cities such as Toronto and Ottawa, funded by the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Meanwhile, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux reported last year that the federal, Ontario and Quebec governments have earmarked up to $52.5 billion — 60% paid by the feds, 40% by the provinces — for 13 projects intended to create an electric vehicle and EV battery industry in Canada. That's $6.3 billion or 14% more than the $46.1 billion the industry plans to invest in these projects, with many companies now cutting back or delaying production due to slow EV sales. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Ontario Columnists Sunshine Girls
Calgary Herald
an hour ago
- Calgary Herald
Group pushes for faster action on growing city's tree canopy
More urgency is needed in expanding Calgary's tree canopy, a green cover that lags behind other Canadian cities, says an environmental group. Article content Article content While members of the Calgary Climate Hub say they're supportive of the city's efforts in adding trees to its leafy inventory, it should be moving faster and in a more even-handed way. Article content The city's northeast and downtown need to catch up to the rest of Calgary in its green numbers, said Heather Addy, a volunteer with the group, who notes the city has set a goal of doubling its canopy from the current 8 per cent coverage of city land by 2060. Article content Article content 'The northeast has a much lower tree canopy, it's below 8 per cent — some of those are new communities but some are not,' said Addy, a University of Calgary professor emeritus in bioscience. Article content Article content 'And the downtown needs more trees — there's not much for people who work there but also for those who live there and it's hot during the summer.' Article content Last November, the city announced it will receive nearly $61 million from the federal government's 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program — a 2019 election promise from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to plant an additional two billion trees across Canada within a decade. Article content Article content Article content The funding will allow for 930,000 new trees to be planted across Calgary over the next five years, which the city said will help expand its overall urban forest canopy and provide equitable access for all residents. Article content Article content Addy said the city's goal of 16 per cent trees coverage over land it owns should be nearly double that, a standard that's been met or sought by other Canadian centres and even more trees will be needed to replace those that die from drought or disease. Article content 'It's really something for Calgarians to come together on,' said Addy.
Global News
2 hours ago
- Global News
Trump's new steel tariffs will cause ‘mass disruption', Canadian industry warns
U.S. President Donald Trump's heightened tariffs on steel and aluminum coming into his country will 'create mass disruption and negative consequences,' Canada's steel industry warns. Trump said on Friday that he will double the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50 per cent. Catherine Cobden, president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA), said the steel industry in Canada and the U.S. were highly integrated and tariffs would hit steel producers on both sides. 'Steel tariffs at this level will create mass disruption and negative consequences across our highly integrated steel supply chains and customers on both sides of the border,' Cobden said in a statement Saturday. The tariff increase will take effect Wednesday, Trump said in a Truth Social post shortly after he announced the new rate for steel imports at a rally with steelworkers in Pennsylvania. Story continues below advertisement 'Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before. This will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers,' Trump wrote. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Cobden said the move 'essentially closes the US market to our domestic industry for half of its production.' 'It is vital that the Government of Canada responds immediately to fully re-instate retaliatory steel tariffs to match the American tariffs and to implement as quickly as possible new tariffs at our own borders to stop unfairly traded steel from entering Canada,' she said. She said a trade war between Canada and the U.S. would 'have unrecoverable consequences' on the North American steel industry. 'The new government has already consulted on possible new measures. The time for the Canadian government to act is now,' she said. Trump announced the increased duties on steel during a rally at U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant near Pittsburgh Friday evening, where he criticized countries for 'dumping' their 'garbage' steel products into the U.S. at a lower cost. 'We are going to bring it from 25 per cent to 50 per cent the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States,' Trump told the crowd. Story continues below advertisement 'Nobody is going to get around that.' In March, Trump put 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the United States. The president has said his sweeping tariffs will bring manufacturing back to the United States. –with files from Global's Sean Boynton
