Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 18, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba 18. 1981 7 the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters irom readers writers must give their name and address the author s name will be used and letters Are subject to editing women support lifestyle course readers forum in the article lifestyle course not for High schools april 2, it was reported that the curriculum policy review com Mittee asked Why education minister Keith Cosens took the advice of the women s Institute a Rural non educational organization to incorporate the lifestyle studies course into the Junior High school level. Our organization s main thrust since the first local was organized in Manitoba in 1910, has been education for women and families. Many of the ongo ing programs of the 1980s Are in place partly because of Institute pressure and sponsorship through the years. Public health units is one of Many examples. Further since 1934 an Institute Mem Ber has been a member of the depart ment of education s advisory Board As one Means of making the voice of Rural Manitoba heard. Today some i members representing a Broad spec Trum of political and religious affiliations educational Levels and interests a majority of them residents in Rural Manitoba continue to Monitor propos als affecting Homes and communities. We feel we truly represent the grass roots. As important we do our Home work. Further we appreciate the re Spect government has always Given us. The Manitoba women s Institute fully endorses the inclusion of the pro posed mandatory lifestyle course Deve loped by the Manitoba Home economics teachers and now endorsed by the Manitoba teachers society in the High school curriculum. We relayed this position to the department of education three years ago. Prior to meeting with or. Cosens in january 1981, provincial Board Mem Bers contacted their respective school division officials including teachers and superintendents first to find out what is presently being taught and secondly to enquire How this course could be fitted into the present curriculum. As could be expected there was both positive and negative reaction and support. With these opinions plus personal experience As parents i Board Mem Bers were receptive to the inclusion of these studies on consumerism nutrition communication and parenting responsibilities incorporated at the Grade 9 and Grade 10 level the Point at which All students would be exposed to these practical lessons for some teachers said that the curriculum in Grade 11 and Grade 12 is now filled and also pointed out that some students still leave school at age 16 and so would not have the Benefit of these courses. Our members Are concerned women who will actively support and work for any program that will strengthen Homes and families. We believe that the Home is the first teacher but recognize Many Homes do not or Are not Able to provide this educational information for their children. This is Why we support the mandatory inclusion of the proposed lifestyles course into the school curriculum. Lois Edie president Gwen Parker executive Secretary Manitoba women s Institute Dugald Man. Cheap at the Price High feelings on language foreign languages which seem anathema to James Richardson it Al., often contain concepts that have no parallel in English. One that comes to mind although it has a Saxon Root and therefore May be More acceptable than the dreaded French to or. Richardson is schadenfreude. A Lovely word and i m certain that had or. Ryan won in Quebec or. Richardson would have been equally full of that too. Or. Richardson and his coterie of Ameri can satraps have been placing advertisements the full Page variety in newspapers. One Lan Guage one Canada sort of thing. This is not English that he s championing but rather like so Many other Western business men 1 should have realized a Long time ago thai one certain Way to be a Canadian and not mindlessly aping everything american was to move to Quebec. I me Maii Zeim Means i remember that we were the first people Here and will probably be the last while Lea Anil res head towards big Disneyland in thought and deed. Our Home in Quebec will be ready in two weeks. As an sex Winnipeg Ger 1 am excited at the Prospect of living in the Only True non american social democracy. If 1 had the resources of a Richard son at hand i too would crusade for one language in Canada French. Schadenfreude to you or. Richardson. Brian Jewett Ottawa Ontario not bilingual with regard to the letter one can free press april 7 by miss a Gjok Ottawa s policy of bilingualism raises mixed but Strong reactions among canadians Fleming of Thunder Bay. Out. At age 30, 1 May not be classed As being in this Young lady s generation but 1 am also English Canadian. I was educated in England and did not take French in school. And i am sure that there must be Many others like me in Canada. I assume that miss Fleming is not yet in the work Force nor a taxpayer. She obviously does not realize the problems facing some people who Are looking for employment. Our unemployment figures Are High now with out having certain jobs open Only to people who Are bilingual. There Are a lot of people who do not speak French and who do not wish to. As James Richardson s advertisements pointed out canadians for one Cana if Canada went bilingual. English speaking people would have great difficulty getting promotions or even getting jobs. Why should French be put above any other language spoken in Canada i believe in Freedom of speech and Equality so let us be equal and partners let us All speak the Lan Guage we want to not one that is forced upon us. Mrs. C. Fleet Winnipeg anti French in Manitoba about but of a total population of people Are French. This compares to approximately British German and 73.0co ukrainians. Why does the supreme court of Canada Rule that All governmental matter relating directly to the Manitoba government be bilingual Only three per cent of Western canadians Are French. Seventy seven per cent Are British. In All of Canada outside of Quebec the number of French speaking people is Only live per cent. Seventy eight per cent of canadians outside of Quebec Are of British origin. Obviously prime minister has influence on the courts i would thrill him to see All of Canada go bilingual and finally unilingual French. De Parker Winnipeg 1 would like to express my support of canadians for one Canada As outlined in their advertisements. Miss Linda Johnson Winnipeg i agree with your editorial of april 3, 1981, that the expiration of the ramp policing contract in Manitoba is unfortunate. I have tried and am hoping to negotiate a new one soon to restore full authority Over the provincial police services of the Force to the attorney general of Manitoba. But i do not agree that my Cost sharing proposal is unreasonable for the provinces. If Manitoba had accepted my offer in full not counting the phase in which 1 am proposing con tract policing for 1980-81 would have Cost Manitoban if you had substituted a new Force like the Ontario provincial police or the Quebec police Force for Manitoba excluding Start up costs it would have Cost Manitoban for that year unless ser vices or police salaries were Cut. Canada provides ramp offi cers across Canada including Manitoba to do Federal policing at the total expense of the Federal taxpayer but provincial policing is a provincial responsibility. Canada pays nothing for the Opp and a of but my offer included substantial continued contribution by Canada for the ramp division in Manitoba. We do so because of the benefits obtained for Federal policing but no one would expect us to pay More than they Are Worth. You say my proposal is unreason Able but compared to what Bob Kaplan p.c., . Solicitor general of Canada Ottawa errors in Masada the most expensive movie Ever made for television Masada is Over now. I watched All eight hours of it and i enjoyed the movie. If the movie writers Wii cd have spent More time and part of the million on a Little More re search they could have prevented two grave mistakes in the movie. Mis take number one in part two at the beginning of the show when a group of men dressed in White Robes climbed up the Mountain towards Masada a commentator referred to the men in White saying the essene were an extremely religious jewish false the essene were not jews every member of the essene brotherhood had to be a pure blooded descendant of the aryan race. Mistake number two later on in the same two hour show there was a scene showing some Mem Bers of the so called essene inside the jewish Temple of Masada Reading aloud from the jewish scriptures the to Truh. This is impossible no member of the essene brotherhood would have Ever set foot inside a jewish Temple or read from the jewish scriptures because they did not believe in the Law of the essene had their own manuscripts which antedated the jew ish scriptures by centuries. Or. H. Mueller Winnipeg with reference to Paul Sullivan s column of april 9, who s celebrating i wish to commend or. Sullivan for bringing to the attention of mayor Bill Nome and the general Public considerations of historical fact however unpalatable they May be to some peo pie. The material or. Sullivan cites from the encyclopedia Britannica on the origin and function of the croatian state during the second world War is not communist propaganda it is a matter of historical record. Some people rewrite their history to suit their politics others simply ignore it. The former Are usually accused of cynical manipulation of fact while the latter Are often excused for their naivete. But the result is the same the perpetuation of myth. The myth in whose Celebration out mayor was invited to participate is characteristic of historical myth. It provides people with identity and Pur pose at the Cost of truth. The truth is indeed that the croatian people suffered under foreign oppression As Long As any people known to history. The tragedy is that their Short lived Independence 1941 to 1945 depended on the same nazi Germany which visited such murderous tyranny on the rest of Europe. The deeper truth ignored by those who would prefer to forget this association is that the Croatia of Ante Pavelic was fundamentally opposed to the human values cherished by those who joined to celebrate its memory in Winnipeg this past weekend. The Root of this sad irony is deeper however than Mere ignorance of historical fact. For what redeemed the nazis in the eyes of so Many both East and West of Germany was their deeply serious anti communism. Then As now anti communism appears to Many peo ple As a virtue sufficiently White to lighten the most evil of vice. And the nazi Conquest of Eastern Europe which was a prerequisite to the Geno cide of the jews was proclaimed and justified As an anti communist Cru Sade. A sad fact of life is the realization that it was not the nazis mass murder of jews gypsies communists and so Viet War prisoners that turned the popu Lar tide against them in Eastern Europe but their indiscriminate tyranny and destruction. It is unfair however to single out croatians or any other group for having been soft on nazism during the War when our own statesmen had Sung its praises before the War and Western governments showed remarkable and consistent leniency in admitting and domesticating nazi criminals after the War. And it would be grossly unfair to do so when we ourselves have acquiesced in the terror that has ravaged latin America for decades in the name of anti communism. The truth about Croatia must be known not for the Sake of shaking the Finger at a particular group in our society hut for the Sake of the truth about ourselves and our world be thai truth in the Europe of 40 years ago or in the Canada of today. . Steiman associate professor of history the University of Manitoba Winnipeg the recent controversy resulting from Doris Anderson s resignation from the Canadian advisory Council on the status of women cac warrants comment in regard to the structural makeup of the cac and its relationship to Resolution 166 of the Royal com Mission on the status of women the commission s report called for an advisory Council which would be directly responsible to parliament but. Instead it came to be to the minister of the status of women Lloyd Axworthy. The women s movement in Canada has an under lying potential strength that is not fully recognized. First the goal is singular Equality with men. It is not clouded by any other Issue and it is morally captivating thus ensuring endorsement by the vast majority of women. Women s political voice has structured itself primarily into the National action committee nac with its provincial chapters which provide action at the grass roots level and into the cac which is a group of intellectuals operating with direct input at the Federal level. Issues and recommendations Are ail channelled through the cac and then to the government. The cac is not an elected body it is appointed by the government and As such it is elitist. It is elitist because a relatively few women and men carry he voice of half of Canada s population. When the government deals with the cac it is looking at one or two individuals who represent half the voters in the country. Such a scenario presents a working relationship in which personalities play a significant role. Personalities once they have taken a negative direction Over an Issue Are rarely persuaded to reverse that direction. By structuring the cac with responsibility to one minister the government has effectively ensured that the Brunt of any dispute would be directed to one individual and not to the parly in Power. If the advisory Council were responsible to parliament such Dis Putes could have the potential to bring Down the government. Full implementation of Resolution 166 would increase the political aware Ness political participation and the clout of Canadian women. Roger Toews Winnipeg tories fail to learn lesson in budget c7 Al in 1974-1975, Manitoba received 32 per cent of its Gross Revenue from Federal transfers and equalization. By 1979-1980, the Federal share of Manitoba s Revenue had risen to 43 per cent. This year Ottawa is forecast to contrib Ute about 40 per cent of Manitoba s Money. About half of this a projected million is equalization payments due to Manitoba As a have not province. Provincial finance department officials explain that the increase in Feder Al Money is due to the dramatic Rise in Oil and Gas revenues in the producing provinces. Equalization is based on a formula averaging the Revenue prov inces get from 28 different taxes. Prov inces below the average receive Money from Ottawa to compensate for their lower tax take. Another explanation for the jump in the Federal share of Manitoba s budget has been the unexpected Richness of Ottawa s payments under the established programs financing act cover ing medicare Hospital insurance Post secondary education and nursing Homes. But the equalization portion of Mani Toba s Federal Money is significant representing about 20 per cent of the budget. The 11 per cent increase in Federal payments since 1974-75 is an indication of the province s relatively Pooi economic performance. Provin Frances Cial finance officials admit that on a per capita basis Manitoba now receives More equalization than Quebec although it is still behind the Mari times. In fact unexpected equalization in creases in the past two years have assisted the province in reducing its deficits. The Bare figures Tell the tale. In 1979-1980, Manitoba took in Mil lion in equalization. Last year the figure was initially projected to be million but came in at million. And for 1981-1982, Manitoba is already anticipating a record million in equalization from Ottawa. This represents an increase of nearly million in two years. The Bright equalization picture is however bad news for the province. It bears up other statistics Canada and conference Board data and projections showing Manitoba s Economy perform ing near the Bottom of the National scale. According to i he conference Board Manitoba s average annual rate of growth Over the last 10 years has been he lowest in Canada. In 1981, it is expected to rank ninth. Provincial comparisons for 1980 place Manitoba tenth in terms of employment and labor Force growth eighth in wage and salary increases and tenth in housing starts which declined by 52 per cent during the year. According to conference Board projections for this year Manitoba will be tenth in terms of wage and salary growth tenth in personal and disposable income growth tenth in retail sales growth tenth in labor Force growth ninth in employment growth and ninth in housing Start increase rates. Total real output in the goods producing sector of the Economy declined by 4.9 per cent in 1980, with increases in mining 14.1 per cent and utilities 1.9 per cent being More than offset by declines in agriculture 10.5 per manufacturing 2.1 per cent and wholesale and retail Trade 3.8 per cent this gloomy picture presents a Chal Lenge of frightening proportions to the provincial government. The budget brought Down tuesday by finance minister Brian Ransom is an equivocal response. While into government has budgeted for a record million deficit it is apparent it remains wedded to its four year belief that Only the private sector can he the engine driving the provincial Economy. Once again the government has rejected direct Public investment except in Hydro should the Western Power Grid or Alcan smelter come to pass As a Means to revive the econ omy. Even lie deficit May not be a stimulative tool if the government repeats its past budgetary practices. For the last three years the govern ment has persistently overestimated its deficit and expenditures and underestimated its revenues. In 1978-79, the government forecast a s129 million deficit but had an actual deficit of million. In 1979-80, the government projected a deficit of s122 million but ended the year Only s45 million Over Revenue. And in 1980-81, although the bocks Are not yet closed the govern ment started out with a million deficit and Hopes to have it pared Down to million. Ransom admits that the government prefers to budget the worst Case Way so that if err it is Best to err on the Side of projecting too High a deficit than too this style of fiscal management Bor rowed directly from former . Pre Mier . Bennett May give the government a comforting feeling but it. Does quite the opposite to the econ omy. It turns the province s fiscal Power into an accountant s exercise. If reve Nues go Down in this Quarter expenditures must follow in the next Quarter. All is neat and tidy and in two of the past three years almost in balance if current expenses alone Are consid ered. Balanced budgets do not create eco nomic growth especially in Manitoba. But unfortunately As Ransom s words indicate the tories seem not to have Learned the lessons of he past three years. Doonesbury Wix chaw my Stuffy of Hartou Betti about w ? self a m Eer in touch Ivy my fkun6s i be 1 ;