U.S. Consulate in Winnipeg to Close

We've been here before. In 1986, a very hostile NDP government had cabinet ministers outside the U.S. consulate and burned an American flag down in opposition to Reagan and foreign policy, particularly Central America. The Howard Pawley NDP government was easily one of the most socialist governments  Manitoba had two years later crashed in the election that almost wiped them out. It took another NDP government under Gary Doer to mend the fences and have a consulate re-opened in 2001. It is under yet another NDP premier Wab Kinew that the consulate will close again.

Is it punishment for this province? Unclear. There are consulates closing including Nagoya, Japan which is easily bigger that Calgary and it is getting closed too. The position of an Agent General from Manitoba in Washington D.C that Kinew appointed just got a lot more important. It hurts the Americans more in terms of the loss than it does Canada, or more directly, Manitoba and Winnipeg. There are a variety of honourary and full consulates in Winnipeg. About 20 at this point. Who knows, in two years, there could be one again with a change of government.

Canada has 12 consulates in the U.S. with the closest to Winnipeg being Minneapolis. How important are these consulates? For Canadians, it represents access to services when they are travelling, working or in schools in the States. For businesses in those regions, it may be their entry way into Canada for sales or for purchases. When free trade was running smoother, it helped elevate many provinces and states to being each other's biggest partners.

The present consulate is at Portage and Main and while smaller than the large presence that was here in 1986, it had an impact at goodwill and helped in trading partnerships. There are elements within the U.S. who really want to pull all their foreign offices and forces and turtle within the their territory. Any time America has done that in the past, the war has come to them. Or the economic  harms if ones looks back to the 1930s.

While the departure in 1986 of the consulate from Winnipeg could be traced to hostile relations, the departure this time is not likely targeted. It's possible. If it was alcohol off Manitoba shelves, they might have closed Toronto's offices. Or Vancouver's. Winnipeg is only likely to grow in the future and the need for future services and investment will still be there. Expect that they return at some point.