Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 21, 1979, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free july f i Flora eyes Home of sir John by Victor Mackie up news service Ottawa Flora Macdonald likes to take time out from her Busy schedule As Secretary of state for external affairs to gaze out the Large windows of her Well appointed executive suite on top of the Pearson its a Beautiful just look at she says enthusiastically to her windows provide a panoramic View of the Gatineau Hills and the Ottawa an area steeped in lying immediately below is Sussex drive and off to one Side the handsome heritage Home in which sir John Macdonald owned by the British government it is British territory As the official Resi Dence for the High commissioner to even the same name Flora is a great admirer of sir John and sharing the same feels she has close links with the grand old Shell Point out the window of the bedroom where the political Warrior breathed his some Day Well get that Back for she says with quiet the British Are hard bar gainers youll have to pay a lot of or provide them with a residence in fair her visitor Well do she and knowing her ability to get things you cant help but believe she has covered a lot of territory since being sworn into office last during her visits to Paris and later to she was dismayed to discover that in regular periods when no Summit meeting is in Progress there is no Canadian press full time representative in either there Are 414 foreign correspondents in Japan and not one she Points she Hopes Canadian publish ers can improve on that situation in the near questioned about International Trade minister Michael Wilsons Toronto speech in mid june suggesting there would be greater stress on increasing ties with the and lessening of the emphasis on Trudeau third miss Macdonald says the Trade options have to be thoroughly examined in that has not yet been develop opportunities she said this country should be taking advantage of every Opportunity to develop Canada has got to convince the for that we Are not just a resource Rich but that we Are a manufacturing she also thinks Canada has a great Opportunity to develop greater Trade with South an assessment of our trading relationships is being trading policies have to be discussed As they relate to foreign in she had a talk about policy with Gerard Canadas ambassador to and has indicated to the department he will be staying on for the time she is preparing for a visit to Black Africa at the end of this she has had a Brief respite from her tiring schedule with a Short Holiday in Quebec where she brushed up on her Shes a determined woman who has made her Mark in opposition and now is ready to make her contribution As a senior ranking member of the Cabi miss Macdonald was one of prime minister Joe Clarks Topnotch choices for the first tory Cabinet in 16 since being sworn into office june life has been the Arab fiasco was dumped in her Lap when prime minister Clark As he now says spoke too soon in declaring his governments policy of shifting the Canad an embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusa external affairs had to Bear the Brunt of the uproar that with the Arab world warning it would businessmen were smooth talking Flora stepped in to get the government off the quietly but expertly she extricated her Leader from the diplomatic morass he had stumbled Arab diplomats emerged from a session with the new minister convinced that All would be Stanfield admirer now that the government through prime minister Clark has announced Robert Stanfield will head a Mission to the Middle she is an admirer of she is convinced Only Good can come from the econ Serva Tive Leader agreeing to take on the the Way we have handled it pro Vides great potential for us to develop a proper Middle East Stan Field May Well come up with ideas which we can build not just in the context of what Canada should be doing but looking at the whole problem in the Middle she said in an inter soon after assuming her Flora had to prepare for the meetings of the organization for economic cooperation and development in Paris last she made her first minis Hydro 4day week a Shock to customers trial speech and urged major Industrial countries to continue to assist developing she stressed that foreign Aid will continue to have a High priority while she is Canadas foreign there had been detailed Brief ing sessions for the Recd in addition there had to be exhaustive briefing sessions from her officials in preparation for the Tokyo Summit con Ference held later in i cant say too much in Praise of the officials in my they did a Good Job making sure i was she As a look for Little change in foreign Power is refreshing her enthusiasm shines from her it is she loves her new Job and revels in the hard work and Long after seven years in opposition and after Many years As a party worker watching the conservatives suffer defeat at the hands of the it is refreshing to be in her beige two piece tailored worn with a Brown Blouse and patterned make her look Cool and elegant even at the end of a Long working she has made a lot of friends within the tory party and out Side and they Are All delighted to see her talents they have writ ten and called to Tell her some of her righting colleagues dont appreciate her left Wing but she has company in the she has a great admiration for the Way Joe Clark handled himself during his first major test As a world Leader at the Tokyo she knew the press reports suggesting he was a fumbling individual were wrong and she enjoys relating How prime minister Clark won plaudits from other leaders and officials at the conference for his it was entirely different from any other conference i had attended As an in we were on our the seven the seven foreign ministers and the seven finance we were in a All 21 of with Only seven not takers and no that when the Good solid briefings paid she i was very impressed with the Way our prime minister he knew when to make a when he could help out and when interventions were not she the three delegations that appeared to form the closest associations with Canada were the United France and West she was particularly pleased about the rapport with France that that was partly due to the fact the French delegates were seated next to across the table was the West German she said that president Carter and Joe Clark met informally and hit it off the president was pleased to accept an invitation to visit Ottawa this fall and she is convinced the two men will establish a Good solid working the seven leaders left Tokyo with a new appreciation of the seriousness of the Energy situation and determined to take action in their respective coun now Canadas first woman foreign Secretary and the Boss of external miss Macdonald travelled to Ottawa 22 years ago from her native she was looking for a Job that would provide her with lots of trav she had worked in the United states and in tory he was nearby she liked travelling and decided her Best bet for a Job that would provide her with travel was a Post with Exter when she got off the train in March 1957 she went to the civil service commission and put in an she was told shed have to return and write she was staying at the nearby was the conserva Tive a lifelong Flora decided to drop in and say she says with a Grin i wanted to Tell them this instead of wishing that monday was a just think about going to work at the head office of Manitoba if you get the then every monday during the summer will be a for employees of every weekend in july and August plus the first weekend of september is a Long when you try to do business with Manitoba Hydro on you get a bit frustrated by those recorded announcements that Tell you Hydro is not at just read a report Given by Hydro assistant general manager of human then you will discover just How Well the compressed work week really Manning claims that throughout Europe and North manage and unions have been engaged in experimentation and implementation of modified work schedules that run contrary to the classic and historical five 40hour work Hydro has become some thing of a Leader in the Field in this Manitoba Hydro did not arrive at the present where its head office employees get a summer Choc full of Long in a single Back in 1971 the Utility experimented with what Are called flexible work which gave employees a Choice of working Between 8 and 4 or 9 to 5 it discovered that 80 per cent of the staff preferred the earlier so that they could get Home but it also discovered that real productivity existed Only during those hours when All staff were at their in Hydro adopted an experimental program that gave head office employees Long every week end during july and and Reco Vered the time by having employees work an extra half hour per Day during october and this idea was eventually expanded to include May and with the Basic intention being to give employees extra time off during the warm whole year next the idea has become so popular that unions involved have been pressing to have the Long weekends extended to the whole for the Short workweek in the summer management is striving to contain the period has proven and another tory had come to they offered her a Job and there she remained for the next nine years be coming executive director for the progressive conservative Headquarters and ultimately National Secretary of the when the National Leader John Diefenbaker encountered difficulties with in the Flora was in the hot the two sides in the bitter fight that ensued focussed on pressures were being applied to Force Diefenbaker out of the he suspected Flora Macdonald of being involved with his opponents and issued instructions that she be she holds no i suppose in the Job i held then it was bound to happen that id catch it from both she left in 1966 and the tory party lost a valuable but she was soon to a political she was offered a Post with an Adver Tising Agency in a television station in Ottawa sought her services and a position with the political science faculty at Queens University Beck she decided on the latter because it offered a base on which she could build a political she is what is described As a political she stayed at that Post until 1972 and later attended National defence col specializing in Canadian and International she established her Home in Kingston it had been represented in Parlia ment by sir John because it was closely linked with Canadas Politi Cal she quickly decided that it was not adequately represented by the then finance Edgar and determined to seek election to the she was involved with Community organizations and was playing an Active Benson soon got the message if he ran in 1972 hed be he bowed out of politics and Flora Macdonald was first elected to the House in that Fred Cleversey Van Ageous in employee the ability to recruit and decreased there Are problems As the Short week applies Only to head office because those employed in what Hydro describes As its Field staff have to work a full week in the summer to take advantage of the Short construction Hydro employees who have to work alongside private contractors have to keep private Indus try on construction usually involve a six Day work not a fou Day week enjoyed by the head office Hydro admits that the Short week produces some inconvenience to customers and other outside but based on the com pressed work week has worked within Manitoba customers ignored the Hydro report ignores an important the inconvenience mentioned that involves customers would be a major concern to private because without private Industry would Hydro has the Only store in when it comes to supplying electricity to every Manitoba customer outside Winnipeg Hydro customer inconvenience can be easily ignored by anyone in a monopoly no one would begrudge employees of Manitoba Hydro their summer full of Long but the report on the Success of the compressed workweek ignores what effect the presence of such a week will have on the rest of the if a major employer such As Hydro can afford to operate a fou Day can other Large employers argue that they cannot a Long every during the summer months is but can the econ omy afford it holidays must be paid either in lost income or in reduced Hydro May be Able to customer but the rest of the Economy aut Opac review an Echo of past the governments announcement of the Manitoba Public insurance corporation review was no in part of the news release almost word for the february throne speech Promise of a study to focus on the further Extension of the no fault principle in relation to both bodily injury and property As Well As a reevaluation of the role of both the private and Public sectors in All insurance even after several the idea still appealed to the half of it was even acceptable to opposition Leader Howard who said if the emphasis were placed on the no fault his party would approve of the As political they were fully aware that the second area the role of the private sector would probably be the dominant Factor in a Tortini tinted objective the no fault concept was merely a he it was an at tempt to Shade the governments main objectives to find an opening for the insurance firms who provided undaunted support for the tories in their fight against on the surface the Threeman com Mittee will be undertaking a task which should be after nine any organization must be reviewed and on that the operations and services of the along with a study of no fault and compulsory collision insurance Are valid involve ment of the private sector is also valid from the conservative Point of that does not necessarily mean Pic would be in the ministered had aut Opac is Here to but in an improved the chairman of the new Michael has already talked under the dome Arlene Billinkoff about the exciting approach in Quebec where the government has a monopoly on personal injury while vehicle damage is left to the private it sounded like the Type of Compromise which might receive Manitoba government and Pawley was almost willing to bet it would be recommended in the report to be received in he envisaged a system whereby the Pic would be stripped of a major part of its present with two thirds of the Money now received by the corporation going to private would be an Ideal situation for the tories and the he cautious Mcgill preferred to focus on the need of any institution to keep abreast of the changes and to study other this was not a formal he but rather a review it will be an expensive Threeman with to de to be with two of the Mem Bers living in British some of that Cost is but Burns has stated they also intend to travel and consult with others in the insurance when the nip returned to Pic would be returned to its former position with improvements and private companies would be sent pack Pawley of there was the possibility that this review might result Only in constructive rec ;