Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 24, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Ress Friday. April 24, 1961 t focus nazi Renaissance mainly for old by Serge d Adesky Chicago Sun times Munich reaction to a confidential government report on right Wing extremism is still echoing in West Germany. The report s contents were consid ered so disturbing by the West German chancellery that it was kept secret for months before being leaked to the pub Lic. In Early 1979, Bonn had become frightened by the Hitler wave in Public schools the popularity of the Punk movement with its nazi symbolism the booming circulation of Neo nazi publications and the rising number of Ultra rightist acts of violence in West Ger Many. So it commissioned a leading social research Centre Munich s sinus Institute to study the phenomenon. Empirical approach the sinus study the first of its kind in West Germany was conducted As a comprehensive empirical research project from May 1979 to october 1980. The sinus sociologists collected and Analysed hundreds of Neo nazi books and magazines and conducted 45 in depth psychological interviews Wilh people from the Core and fringes of the extreme right Wing scene. The talks yielded More than 160 hours of taped interviews. Beyond that sinus personnel polled a Sample population of West German voters regarding their attitudes towards right Wing Ideo Logies. The study s alarming conclusion altogether 13 per cent of the voting population about 5.5 million has an ideologically closed Ultra rightist world perspective whose main features Are a National socialist Conception of history a hatred of foreigners democracy and pluralism As Well As an exaggerated reverence of the nation the father land and the particularly worrisome to West Ger Man political leaders was the finding that about six per cent of the voters sympathize with right Wing violence and terrorism including such actions As the bombing of the Munich oktoberfest last year which resulted in 13 deaths and More than 200 injuries. This revelation contradicted the prevailing government View of right Wing terrorist activities As the random impulsive acts of half crazed individuals operating without any popular sup port. Instead the sinus researchers observed that in Ultra rightist thinking there Are no ethical or moral Bounds to but rather an almost mythological worship of violence and a Stead fast belief in its conflict solving purify ing consequently aimless mass assassinations like the one in Munich or attacks against refugee lodgings Are entirely consistent with the frightful logic of right Wing Vio moreover the researchers noted innumerable signs of a growing willing Ness to resort to violence. The members of Neo nazi groups openly admitted that in order to counter left Wing terror ism they too would go underground. The proclaimed goal of West German right Wing extremists is the establish ment of a National authoritarian or openly dictatorial government. As the sinus report expressed this aim one single party should Rule which really represents the interests of All Levels of. The population. The present ruling Par ties and workers unions Are harmful to the general welfare since their quarrels Divide the press Freedom hated this ideology has no use for pluralistic thought or Freedom of expression. In the words of one member of the fascist National democratic party of Ger Many its German acronym is the National parliament is simply an incompetent debating intellectuals Only write and never produce and "80 per cent of All journalists should immediately be thrown into another Ned member explained his advocacy of Iron listed Rule with the comment the germans without pressure and leadership Are the biggest pack of Swine existing on god s for almost All of the right Wing extremists the third Reich still has exemplary character and Hitler and Goebbels still incorporate the ideals of leadership. Those were one interview respondent exclaimed which can still be admired the persecution of jews under Hitler enjoys the open approval of most Ultra rightists. Some consider it to have been carried out to an exaggerated extent while others prefer to deny the genocide of jews by speaking of the gassing the main evil of present Day West German society according to the Neo nazis is the general collapse of values. They see signs of societal decadence in the acceptance of the Pill and abortion the spread of pornography the drop in the birth rate and the Rise in alcohol ism and criminality. Washington blamed the Ultra rightists blame the United states and the political system it imposed on West Germany after the War for their observation that everything is a shambles in our the United states supposedly re pressed then predominant values of nationalism decency morality faithfulness and love of country and replaced them with coca cola imperialism the beat and drug culture the disco wave Hollywood and the jeans hence the conviction that americans have left West Ger mans historically uprooted and alienated from their True but the truly deadly menace to our people in the extreme right Wing View Are the guest workers in West Ger Many. The foreign influences they bring in allegedly corrupt the race the Stock and the identity of the Germany people. As one indignant Neo nazi voiced soon the germans Are going to have to crawl into holes and the others will be the a final characteristic of right Wing sinus Institute reported is the so called Siegfried com plex or the notion of the upright German Cavalier who is constantly entrapped by the Tricky intelligent Neo nazi ideas Are most prevalent among germans Over 50 who represent the War generation the sinus opinion poll revealed. On the other hand the age groups under 40 appear to be relatively resistant to Ultra rightist Ide ology. Thus Only four per cent of Ger mans Between 18 and 21 years of age voiced Neo nazi leanings. This idealized 1933 portrait of Adolf Hitler symbolizes dream of right Wing West germans. Similarly most of the potential right Wing terrorists Are to be found among the older crowd. Of the germans polled who declared their support for Vio Lence Only five per cent belonged to the 18 to 21-year-old group while 59 per cent were Over 50 years old. The sinus researchers were Able to repudiate the government fear that Punk fans youth sectarians and members of motorcycle gangs might be the harbingers of an Ultra rightist youth movement. Instead they judged that such groups represented helplessly authoritarian but at the Core completely apolitical variations of modern youth besides the extreme right Wing Polit ical perspective held by about 13 per cent of the population the sinus study determined that 3? per cent of West German voters have an authoritarian Outlook on social matters. The members of this Large group on the one hand reject militarism nazism and the cult of leadership. On the other hand they yearn for a return to an untainted world freed from the conflicts of present West German Industrial society. Even in this authoritarian group of germans the sinus researchers observed the exclusivity with which such supposedly Germany characteristics As loyalty industriousness and conscientiousness Are claimed for their own the Ultra rightist s ethnocentrism and hatred of moreover a cultural pessimism is visible which carries anti pluralistic partly anti democratic constitutional debate faces keep on changing Ottawa faces the politics and the philosophy around Canada s constitutional discussion table Are con stantly changing. It was Ontario Premier John Robarts who started the wheels turning Back in 1967 at a confederation for tomorrow conference held in Toronto. The Federal government was invited to Send observers but not to participate. That meeting of premiers was Fol Lowed by the first full scale constitutional conference in Ottawa in february 1968, called by prime minister Lester b. Pearson. The premiers of the Day included Joey Smallwood of Newfoundland . Smith of Nova Scotia Alex Campbell of Prince Edward Island Louis Robichaud of new Brunswick Daniel John son of Quebec Robarts of Ontario Walter Weir of Manitoba Ross Thatcher of Saskatchewan Ernest Manning of Alberta and . Ben Nett of . Quebec was strongly defensive of Peter Thomson Ottawa editor provincial rights. So was Ontario but with a More magnanimous attitude toward lesser provinces and Quebec aspirations than some of the others. The Prairie premiers were still centralist As is evident in statements made at the Start of the conference and the Atlantic provinces were strongly centralist because they were the poor cousins of confederation. Brit ish Columbia was then in a world of its own that did not take much interest in things East of the Rockies. In his opening remarks Pearson noted that the position of Ontario is Central the loss that would be caused by dismemberment would per haps be greater for Ontario than for any other d d d Pearson s foresight accounts in part for the attendance and the positions taken by eight premiers at last week s conference in Ottawa where they pro posed a constitutional amending for Mula that would be much More protective of provincial rights than the one being railroaded through by prime minister Trudeau. This time the four Western provinces three Atlantic provinces and Quebec were the ones defending provincial Powers. The prime minister and pre Miers of Ontario and new Brunswick who have taken the centralist line were not invited to attend. It is a rather remarkable change in just 13 years. Back in 1968 the Federal government supported co operative federalism and was actually advancing the proposition of opting in As a Way of life in the Canadian federation. Now the Federal government has taken an aggressive centralist approach willing to go As far As the Law permits in intruding into provincial Domain. Ontario has taken the position that its interests Are better protected in a centralized Canada than in one main Taining provincial rights. The Western provinces partly be cause of increased wealth and perhaps partly because they realize that in a centralized Canada they will have Little influence because of population distribution have turned increasingly regional in their approach. And the Atlantic provinces at least three of them have taken the same View of confederation. The people heading Canada s 11 governments have All changed too. Now it is prime minister Trudeau and pre Miers Richard Hatfield of new Bruns Wick and William Davis of Ontario who were not invited. Those attending premiers Brian Peckford of Newfoundland John Buchanan of Nova Scotia Angus a clean of . Rene Levesque of Quebec Sterling Lyon of Manitoba Allan Blakeney of Saskatchewan Peter Lougheed of Alberta and Bill Bennett of . The change in provincial positions Over the past 13 years is obviously not a matter of political party so much As a reflection of the will of the people. D d d one of the unclear parts of the Feder Al government s amending proposal in its constitutional Resolution is just How the referendum would apply. The Resolution provides that if prov inces do not agree to a constitutional amendment the Federal government can Call a National referendum. It has been assumed by most people that a decision by referendum would require approval a majority in each Region of the country. Not so according to Justice minister Jean Chretien. At a press conference last week Chretien made it Clear that to Amend the Constitution by referendum All that would be required would be a simple majority nation wide. That Means that if Ontario for example voted heavily in favor of a constitutional change it would be difficult for the Western or Atlantic prov inces to defeat it. Odd hard on the heels of the april 13 election Victory by the parti quebecois has come the inevitable questioning of Liberal Leader Claude Ryan s future., and that has again raised the possibility that Justice minister Jean Chretien will go to Lead the liberals in Quebec. Chretien was pressed to go once before but resisted because he is much More comfortable in Federal poli tics and still has aspirations for the Federal leadership. It is doubtful he can be persuaded to go now. Consumer and corporate affairs minister Andre Ouellette is a More Likely candidate crts decisions will Cost Manitoban More next week the god of our antennas the Canadian radio television and telecommunications commission is expected to announce details of applications for two new television transmitters in Manitoba and to set a Date probably in june when these applications can be heard. Everyone in the business knows that Cynd in Winnipeg wants to put up a transmitting Antenna at Minnedosa to cover southwestern Manitoba and that the Brandon Tele casting company Cox to wants to open a new station in Portage la Prai Rie. Once the applications Are made pub Lic and a Date for hearings set just about everyone in the business will file objections. The present Winnipeg out lets will object to the Portage station because its signal will reach Winnipeg and its advertising salesmen will com Pete with those already Here. The bran Don station is not too Happy about the Minnedosa proposal because it will Cut into the virtual monopoly the station has with its twin network affiliations in southwestern Manitoba. Will anyone object on behalf of the Winnipeg viewers who will have to foot a substantial Bill to maintain their present Choice if the application to provide Portage with its own station is approved another Canadian outlet in the Winni Fred Cleverley Peg viewing area will be expensive for the viewers. The idea is attractive to the crts because it will make the now popular . Stations a bit More expensive to receive and May per Suade a few viewers to put up with a repeat of the Csc on two channels rather than to pay what it will Cost to get the . Stations after the proposed Portage station goes on the air. The whole thing is tied up in the number of available channels. A senior spokesman for the Brandon station Stuart Craig says the Portage outlet will seek to occupy Channel 13, because it is the Only one open to the area. Winnipeg Cable operators say that if the Portage station is approved it will be necessary to move one or two . Stations into a band Range higher than 13. Most newer television sets have a second dial containing the higher channels but viewers who do not will have to buy a converter if they wish to receive the . Stations at their new frequencies. Television channels it seems Are not allocated on e first come first served basis. The crts has some fixed guide lines in this matter. Viewers in Vancou ver got quite upset when the Csc decided to open its French language station on the West coast and squeezed two . Channels into what is called the mid band. They argued that there were not enough French speaking viewers to justify the station let alone justify removing some of the More popular stations from the lower band channels. The crts informed every one that it was in Canadian inter ests to have Canadian stations on the lower bands whether anyone watched or not and told those who objected to dig into their pockets for their convert ers gimmicks that Are priced from to even in the Toronto area the first orders to put Canadian ethnic language stations on the lower bands and bump the . Networks up into the converter Range raised similar objections but the stations went on the air and those who wanted to watch . Stations paid for the equipment that would enable them to do so. In Winnipeg Cable viewers already have the Cable Public Access station on Channel 13. But if anyone thinks that this station with its belly dancing Les sons and its special interest group programs is about to be bumped off the air that person is not familiar with crts rules. By Law and As a condition of licence for the Cable companies this station with its Public Access must be available in the channels 2 to 13 band. Even those Winnipeg viewers who have later Model to sets with the two dials will have to pay if the Portage station is licensed. Once the . Stations Are moved into the mid band the Cable companies will require More spectrum space from the Manitoba Telephone system and extra spectrum space costs Money. No one is willing to estimate just How much but when the Winnipeg Cable companies apply for a general rate increase in the neighbor Hood of per month per customer the Cost of extra spectrum space will prob ably be included. If the Minnedosa station is approved then there will be another argument for increasing the 25 cents a month Winni Peg viewers now pay to help their country cousins get better television. Perhaps of course the availability of another station will be Worth the Cost of the converter and extra Cable charges. However the Brandon station which offers both Csc and ctr to that City plans to make the Portage station a Csc affiliate. If it does and if the application is approved then Winnipeg viewers will see three of their Low band channels occupied by the Csc. There will be Csc French Csc English from Winnipeg and Csc English from por Tage. To get anything different particularly the signals from stations that draw the biggest audience we will probably have to do the Canadian thing and pay for the privilege. Unless of course the crts uses common sense and says that any Sta Tion that arrives after the Low band frequencies Are used up will have to offer its wares higher up on the dial. No one should hold their breath on this possibility. Doonesbury do a Little of for a Fri 005 me took. A goh5 conclusion that you cute Euby no Kevin Cou gpk6 u14n15 t05jkkhi5nkk out and no 0ius get Assep. Thar Fyk re thoth at last i have id let some ;