Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 30, 1978, Winnipeg, Manitoba Printed and published Dally except sunday by tie Winnipeg free 300 Carlton a division of publications Western Richard Malone publisher Peter Mclintock editor Malone chairman h Shelford and Maurice Western Ottawa editor Winnipeg free press provincial protectionism the provincial governments have been much critic often with Good for maintaining preferential systems to ensure that local firms enjoy an advantage in tendering for they do at the expense of the since governments Are very Large purchasers of goods and the added Burden May be there is a second important objection the policy tends to balk Anize the Canadian common it is not surprising that it has been pursued with Zeal by the Levesque the condition of the Ottawa owing to the absence of treatment plants on the Quebec is a National there is a Federal provincial plan for remedial it has been blocked Ever since the pm took Power by the insistence of the provincial government that bidding on contracts must be limited to Quebec less commonly noted is the fact that the greatest of All Canadian can play the same there were charges last week that three computer contracts were shifted from Ontario to either in disregard of lower tenders in one without a Call for firms were apparently told that the decisions were taken for socioeconomic these allegations have been met by Jeanpierre minister of Supply and not with but with defensive quite upholds the governments role As the great dispenser of it alters the tendering diverting contracts Here or in furtherance of National the ministers decisions were quite Normal to ensure a better distribution of government it was Only fair to ensure that other companies have a reasonable share of the in one Case a Quebec company had been in others companies in the West or the Goyer suggests that the accepted bids Are not greatly out of in the absence of we cannot even be sure of the Federal government is unwise for another if it claims for itself a right to Divide up markets and to award contracts according to its perceptions of the National How can it complain if local governments do essentially the same thing in accordance with their perceptions of provincial advantage it is important to the country that Ottawa should strongly resist provincial Goyer does not seem to realize that his own practice of paternalism weakens the ability of the government to play this role since the Federal example is in contradiction to Federal childish and arrogant the government members on the Public utilities com Mittee May have been tech and Correct in pushing through the remainder of the annual report of the Manitoba Public insurance corporation while opposition members were a but they were entirely wrong from the Point of View of the general not too Many months ago these same members were accusing those who were then in government of being arrogant and unbending in their attitude toward the rights of the committee meetings have never been Cut and dried of meetings have been delayed As Many times be cause of the absence of government members As they have because opposition members were not the action of the govern ment Rushing through the remainder of the report without Benefit of opposition and with out the presence of the Gen eral manager of the was both arrogant and Chil the More so because the minister Harry had earlier re fused in the legislature to answer questions on the subject on the grounds that they could be asked at the appropriate time in it May be annoying to have opposition members pose questions about the operations of be those operations As in the Case of government de or once As in the operations of Crown but the questions Are part of the demo cratic and the pub Lic has Little sympathy or tolerance for governments that abuse the rights of opposition Glass houses people who live in Glass the liberals in the com Mons Felt that they had conservative finance critic sin Clair Stevens Over a barrel when he alleged that some Liberal maps had speculated on the Canadian but did not name in a they when challenged in of put up or shut Stevens chose the latter apologized to the House regretting any embarrassment he May have caused any and stating that he could not substantiate his allegations at this such a Bac Down should have been grist for the government and it would have had not Ste Vens brought to members attention some excerpts from Hansard which showed that on two occasions prime minister Trudeau had made remembered words from stellas birthday by Jonathan Swift this whatever the fates shall still be kept with Joy by me this Day let us not be that you Are and i grown nor think on our approach ing and talk of spectacles and pills tomorrow will be time enough to hear such mortifying much the same allegations against the opposition As Stevens made against the and that Trade minister Jack Homer was in the same last november Horner said there Are Ca Nadian citizens on the other Side of the House betting that the Canadian Dollar will go Down they Are buying american canadians sitting on the other Side of the when challenged to name he everyone can Rise and say that they Are not buying any american Dol Many financiers Are and some of the members on that Side of the House on february tru Deau stated the member knows that if i were to give an answer to a ques Tion about what Exchange rate the government Felt appropriate for the Dollar it would set up a wave of speculation which he and his friends might perhaps make Money out and on april the prime minister said i understand members opposite would like to engage in speculation they would like us to Tell them the Way it would if they want to risk some Money they can do it on their three wrongs do not make a and the liberals unsubstantiated accusations do not excuse Stevens Alle but before crying about the abuse of privileges of maps As Justice minis Ter Ron Basford was Quick to do time in a similar situation the government May think May 1978 pages 3756 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights showing the Flag France in Africa by Leo Ryan the weak Point in russian african strategy get Tough with Cuba Washington sound instinct impels presi Dent Carter to denounce Cubas intervention in Afri but the administration should go beyond Mere talk to organize diplomatic and economic pressure thai genuinely hurts Fidel for the cubans represent the weak Point in the new and potentially dangerous soviet strategy in roughing up Castro not Only hampers that it also reas sures opinion in the and Friendly countries in ways that facilitate passage of the most serious american Busi Ness with Russia another agreement on arms russian new Forward policy in As i can testify after a recent trip to ethic is truly by offering cuban military assistance to a liberation front fighting the Portu the russians gained a foothold in now the backed by threaten the pro Western re Gime in in the russians won the inside track in Ethiopia by helping the Mengistu regime in Addis Ababa resist an invasion of Ogaden prov Ince from now the russians and cubans will probably increase their standing in Ethiopia by help ing Mengistu subdue a secessionist movement in from the rus sians Are in a Strong position to assert influence across the red sea in saudi and southwards through by Joseph Kraft from Angola they can align themselves on the Black Side in the Battles now developing against the minority regimes in Rhode Sia and eventually South those Are and which May never Many sophisticated people argue that having influence in Africa is a headache rather than a they be Lieve a Good american Strat egy would be to let the rus sians bog Down in the dark continent As the United states did in As the Success of Many military regimes Indi it is not hard to control african countries through application of a Little especially since the cubans tend to take away from the russians the curse of being White the inner dynamic of what is called soviet imperialism is not so much a master plan As an appetite that grows with the unbroken string of successes in Africa is Apt to push Moscow to even More risky Ven Tures perhaps in the per Sian Gulf or Southeast Asia or even most of these considerations Are Well understood in Congress and among the United states friends and allies the germans and not to mention the egyptians and have All been joining an increasingly Large body of americans in calling for a tougher stance in the is clearly not going to Send the linkage advocated by both Henry Kissinger and zbig Niew Brzezinski on the pres ent White House staff strategy of making arms control negotiations conditional on soviet Good behave risks a double first in where the russians will probably continue to and then of an arms control agreement which is genuinely in the american putting pressure on by is More discriminating and far More Apt to pay As a first Washington can begin to reverse the moves toward reopening diplomatic relations with the Castro re Gime which it has then Washington can begin to organize among Friendly countries support for economic the in have reason to fear the russians in and they should have enough clout with the europeans and venezuelans to restrict shipment of Petro Leum products to Russia would then be obliged to undertake that costly if matters continued to the United states might be replica Ting the 1962 quarantine of to tighten the naval noose around Oil shipments to the getting Tough with Cuba in that Way would not Only make the russians think twice about their expansion is african it would also show doubters among the allies and even More in Congress that the Carter administration is pre pared to stand up to such a showing will eventually be necessary to create the right atmosphere for passage of the arms control agreement now being worked out Between Moscow and Washington which is vital to the whole my own feeling is that if the president does not take the Lead in tightening pressure on developing Public dislike of what the russians and cubans Are up to in Afri Ca will Force the policy upon him Paris Frances new intervention in Zaire is perhaps the most striking so of the old Dulles Domino presi Dent Giscard Destain has been following this Precept in Africa now for Well Over a the French Leader holds that without Active support from the the soviet Union could continue to top ple Black such As human lives As Well As vital sea raw materials sup plies and investments would be with a certain flair and promptness that has significantly enhanced his status As an International Giscard Destain has been filling a void in Africa that president Carter has not dared to fill because of the Vietnam other for Mer colonial Powers such As Belgium and Portugal prefer to stay out of the african and Britain Al ready has its hands full watching the tense situations in Rhodesia and South Afri this signifies that in face of the communist offensive on the african launched with the support of cuban France is the Only Power to show the Western Flag when the chips Are in Frances help is applied to moderate French speaking Giscard Destain has stressed he will respond quickly to appeals for help from Frances allies in Afri Ca if they Are threatened with subversion from out this has clearly been the Case in though there Are Many questions to be asked about the regime of president the growing protector role of France is clearly designed to thwart three countries most closely linked to the Kremlin Algeria and the main pro Western guerrilla group in has Inci dentally a barely disguised Bureau in Paris where Ango Lan diamonds Are traded for weapons and from the Start of his Politi Cal career under the Groom ing of the late general de Giscard Desta ing has been a keen observer of african every he has gone to Africa on Hunting Giscard the africanist As the press Calls him these Days possibly under stands the african mind As Well As the experienced diplomats in the French foreign French soldiers Are Active not Only in but also in Mauritania and and form part of the United nations peacekeeping Force in under bilateral defence various african states Are quite Happy to Call upon Frances As Felix of the Ivory coast put it the other Day european Mem Bers of nato make no Bones about being dependent on the United so Why should we be ashamed of cooperating with France the idea of a pan african Security with Europe an logistics support was Exa mined seriously at this months franc african Summit meeting but it May take a Long time be tween Conception and Reali if it Ever material izes among the principal obstacles Are the wide divisions in Africa and differences be tween France and what Giscard Destain has in in the Long is a kind of eur african variation of the Atlantic Alli in the France has a Good diplomatic card to play in but it is not without defending Western interests against communist backed aggression is easily justified As Long As the regime being shored up is not completely disc re there is a difficult decision to make until the africans France wishes them to do take responsibility for Secu Rity into their own but not for a while yet know nothing Are in afro Only As asv0u2in9 info Jenec weather no warning the weather instituted for Manitoban this undoubtedly is a Good thing As an editorial on this Page last week but what Good is a weather watch if the warning comes too late for people to do any thing about it last thursdays storm or storms that caused much damage to Winnipeg by heavy High goofball sized hailstones some reports have a couple of Small tornadoes was predicted by the local weather office Only when the storm was almost on at a local weather forecaster was talking to a radio station about cells around Ashern which were moving North and expected to dissipate during the eve other forecasts on radio and to continued to predict mostly Clear to even the sky in the West was As Black As the Ace of Spades and everyone with half an Eye could see what was in the storm struck some areas about but there was no Public warning until 40 minutes or so before presumably somebody at the weather office in the meantime had looked out the window and noticed what was there is an old Bridge say ing to the effect that a Little peek is Worth two so in weather it would a visual sight ing is a sight More accurate than All the paraphernalia the weather office uses to reach its to often inaccurate and late London the earliest presence of workers in company boardrooms will be around 1984 under new proposals issued by the labor there May be nothing but coincidence in that but the reaction to the proposals expresses something of the magic of the immortalized by George Orwell in his novel about a totalitarian the extreme left fears it is a the captains of private Industry fear it is the beginning of the end of Civili in fact the government has steered a course Between extremes on it was faced with a Royal commis Sion headed by lord Bullock which in re commended that there be worker representation on boards of it was suggested that there be equal representation on these boards by workers and Stock the system would be that an application for such representation would be made by a recognized Trade Union and confirmed by a secret ballot of All employ in addition to the worker and shareholder represent there would be a third group of selected the Bullock report recommendations differed from the systems that have been adopted in Sweden and West Germany in that they recommended instead of i representation for the after thinking about and absorbing has at least tethered the Bullock re if not killed As there is to be an election either this fall or next prime minister James Cal workers in the boardroom by Frank butter Lagan has promised Legisla Tion based on the Bullock re but he has been vague about when it will be Intro perhaps no the legislation would essentially provide for greater consultation Between management and the shop workers would be Able to de by statutory More information about the affairs of their company if it was not otherwise fort com but they would have to wait up to four years before proclamation of a statutory right to get on the and even then their participation would be limited to on third of the number of the emphasis of the governments policy is on Volun tary this is being tried out Al ready in some of the state owned notably the Post where a two year Experiment is under was with seven Board members each from management and unions plus five Independent it is too soon to Tell How the Post office operations have been there have been no major disputes since today scripture and thou didst Divide the sea before so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land and their persecutors thou threw est into the As a Stone into the mighty More thou reddest them in the Day by a Cloudy pillar and in the night by a pillar of to give them Light in the Way wherein they should Nehemiah the Experiment began in Jan nor has there been any startling evidence of change in two years ago the mood of the country was quite differ Militancy was High in a Trade Union movement which had become a partner in gov but now there is a notice Able change in Public Atti the big two of the Union Jack Jones and Hugh have gone into a third major Union Arthur has been discredited by his own blatant sex the Public has made it Clear that there must be limits to Union one Union Frank Chappie of the even went so far recently As to say that his Union was already As powerful As it should of labor is a minority de pendent on support from a Broad if it were to win a resounding Victory at the polls things might be Dif but at the moment such a Prospect is extremely even if the labor government loses and the conservatives return to changes in the Struc Ture of Industrial manage ment Are Likely to but the conservatives have Al ready recognized that there is a need for some form of better communication be tween management and and that workers can offer More than their brawn in the big defect in British Industry has been inefficiency and All political parties Are agreed that it must somehow be ;