Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 22, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 Winnipeg free press monday june Freedom of Trade Equality of civil rights Liberty of religion published and printed six Days a week at 300 Cartton Street. Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 943-9331 Donald Nicol publisher John Dafoe Edi Lyial Page editor Murray Bur i managing editor editorials sewage for Selkirk mayor Bill Nonie does not want to hear any talk about Winnipeg s sewage and Selkirk s drinking water while this City is campaigning to prevent pollution of its Shoal Lake water Supply. The state of the red River he says is a separate problem. He is partly right when Winnipeg started drawing its water from Shoal Lake More than 60 years ago that Lake was pure enough to drink without filtration. The City has some right to expect that the Lake will remain pure though How that can be accomplished remains to be seen. When the town of Selkirk dissatisfied with the poor Quality and unreliable Supply of Well water started drawing red River water five years ago the River was already polluted. About one tenth of the water in the River below Winnipeg consists of Winnipeg sewage effluent today As it did then. Selkirk could have done As Winnipeg did go years and gone further afield in search of better water. It chose instead to use the red River and must take the River water As it finds it. To that extent the mayor is right. But in a larger sense he is wrong. Dumping sewage effluent into a watercourse is an anti social act whether anyone is drawing drinking water from it or not. The red River like Shoal Lake is a Public asset which but for the presence of sewage can be used for recreation Industrial agricultural and Domestic water Supply and the propagation of aquatic life. Selkirk is the main complainer against Winnipeg s sewage effluent because Selkirk must Bear the Burden of purifying the water before it is usable. But everyone who might enjoy the red River below Winnipeg is injured by the presence of Winnipeg s sewage in the water. The mayor s argument comes Down to a claim that Winnipeg has the right established by decades of foul practice to pour filth into the red River while occupants of the shores of Shoal Lake having omitted to pollute that water to any significant degree in past years have no such right now. Besides the obvious parallel to which the mayor objects the two cases Are linked by the working of the system. The water Winnipeg drains from Shoal Lake becomes red River water and when Selkirk is prepared to take the risk Selkirk drinking water though much changed in the process. It passes through the bathtubs Abbato irs digestive systems and washing machines of Winni Eggers picking up a heavy Load of what is politely termed sludge through the sewage lagoons and treatment plants where it loses most of that sludge and thence to the Selkirk intake pipe. It is much transformed pumped dirtied cleansed diluted chlorinated and the rest but it is the same water. Winnipeg s discharge of effluent into the red River does not justify the Shoal Lake Indian band s proposal to pollute Shoal Lake. But the analogy works better the other Way around. Winni Eggers anxiety about Shoal Lake should help make them More sensitive to Selkirk s View of the red River. Polluting Public water is wrong in either Case. The difference is Only one of degree. Winnipeg s defence of Shoal Lake s purity would be much More convincing if the City were equally vigilant in the defence of its own River. Scapegoats for Moscow the trial four polish dissidents which opened last week in Warsaw is an obvious attempt by the polish government to Calm jangled nerves in Moscow. The four were arrested last fall and held in jail until june when they were released after a hunger strike on their behalf by members of the Independent Trade Union Solidarity. That release was singled out by the soviet Union As an example of the polish government s softness in dealing with last week the polish communist party received a harshly worded letter from Moscow demanding that All counter revolutionary elements be crushed and this week the trial of the dissidents began. Their crime is to have suggested in an interview with a West German Magazine that Poland quit the Warsaw pact. To Western minds that does not seem so heinous a crime but even in a somewhat liberalized Poland it is serious enough that the defendants face sentences ranging from five years imprisonment to death if they Are convicted. The night before the trial began party Leader Stanislaw Kania gave a speech in which he acknowledged the serious Ness of the soviet concerns but also pledged his continued Devotion to dialogue As the Means of solving Poland s problems and reaffirmed his commitment to Reform. The trial and or. Kama s comments represent the horns of the dilemma on which the polish government finds itself. The Kremlin has now taken off the velvet Glove to reveal the Iron fist beneath it and or. Kania must act in a Way that will not bring that fist crashing Down on Poland. On the other hand or. Kania and his government have a commitment to the process of Reform which they cannot abandon without risking a new wave of turmoil and unrest that might itself bring on the soviet invasion. Although Solidarity has dissociated itself from the views of the four dissidents on trial it has supported them As political prisoners. The release of political prisoners is part of the Gdansk agreement reached by the government and the workers last summer. It has not yet been implemented but remains one of Solidarity s major goals. Recently the government also announced another Mea sure that violates the Gdansk agreement tighter controls on unofficial publications and duplicating machines. By doing so it helps to appease the soviet Union but also risks instigating another major confrontation with the Union. Neither Side seeks a confrontation now. Poland is approaching what May be the most dangerous Point so far on its crisis Ridden Road to the communist party Congress that is scheduled to open on july 14. That Congress is expected to ratify the economic and political reforms that have been made since last summer and to enact measures that will make the party More democratic. It was just before a similar party Congress in Czechoslovakia in 1968 that russians invaded to crush the process of Reform in that country. All poles Are Well aware of that and that the warning letter their government received from Moscow was similar in tone and Content to one sent to the czechs prior to the invasion. The next few weeks will be a critical time in Poland. If the party Congress can be held As intended without bringing on soviet intervention the Road to Reform will remain open. It is Clear however that Moscow s fear of where the polish Road leads is growing and that its patience is wearing thin. It would not take much of a provocation to make the Kremlin decide to Block that Road with the russian army and the poles must travel very carefully indeed. No ambulance the Community of Leaf rapids in Northern Manitoba has reason to complain if its gravel Airstrip is not in shape to handle the province s new ambulance aircraft. People who live in Remote areas depend on air transportation for their very lives when medical emergencies happen. It is Safe to assume that if the Leaf rapids Airstrip cannot be used by the Manitoba government air service s new citation Jet then there Are Many other communities with gravel airstrips that Are in the same situation. It is not entirely the fault of the airstrips. The Manitoba government in selecting a pure Jet for ambulance service in the North knew full Well that Only perfectly groomed gravel strips can be used safely by such aircraft. The Pebble syndrome is an illness that is Peculiar to Jet aircraft when they Are used on gravel. Unless the grooming is perfect there is the Ever present danger of sucking a Loose Pebble into a Jet engine on take off and if this happens the Bill is usually in the Range. Jets Are modern and the ownership of a Jet adds to the prestige of the company or government department that can persuade its accounting department of the economic advantages either real or imagined. The present Manitoba government complained when its members were in opposition of the wasteful extravagance of the previous administration in the use of aircraft. To the credit of that administration it never attempted to use pure Jet aircraft on Northern airstrips. Jets Are More suitable for transporting politicians in style than they Are for Northern medical evacuation work. D you think the act has bombed the Issue of intervention by . Wilson special to the free press Ottawa in one four Day period the government published a report or dered by the prime minister arguing that excessive regulation of the econ omy is costing the Public huge amounts of Money and through Energy minister Marc Lalonde produced hints of still greater state intervention in the econ omy. Basic Issue this juxtaposition neatly illustrates one of the great Basic issues of the Day in this country the sort of economic society we Are to have in future. It is not one upon which the Canadian peo ple have been Given a Chance to speak because it was not frankly stated As a Campaign Issue during the last election. By the time the electorate can state a preference the country will have moved far past the Crossroads and will be Well Down one path or the other. The View that economic regulation in Canada has become excessive and very costly Over the years involving about 30 per cent of All economic activity comes from the economic Council. That is a body with no political Power and in reality no great influence upon events. The hint of still greater state direct Ion of the Economy came from one of the two or three most powerful men in Canada the minister of Energy who in own Field has already moved dramatically past the Crossroads. In fact the Choice has been made. The country is being pushed very firmly along the Road of greatly in creased state Power and activity with the aim of subjecting the individual to More and More authority exercised from the Centre. This is the will of the Little group of men who possess real Power in the country today they Are determined that their Diri Giste philosophy will prevail and Mold the future shape of the country. This historic shift in the thrust of government is the most important decision taken in this country since the second world War at least and the Choice has not been made democratically. The statement of intent did not come in an election Campaign but much earlier in some year end musings by the prime minister during a new year s broadcast. Or. Trudeau decreed then that the Market Economy was no longer work ing and that the Canadian people must expect More not less authority to be exercised Over their lives. Big govern ment is to grow bigger. Frank minister in a Way the country should be grateful to or. Lalonde he has been much Franker than his colleagues. Soon after his National Energy program carried state intervention further than Ever before in Canada the minister of finance Allan Maceachen sought to reassure the business and Industrial communities that it was not to be regarded As a general precedent. In fact of course anyone who understood the political process could see that it was a general precedent and that the next Steps would be taken if not by or. Maceachen then by some one else. This is what or. Lalonde appreciates the development at which he at least hints publicly even if he has not stated it with the Complete clarity that would be desirable. Bureaucrats almost All of this developing Power of the state will be exercised by bureaucrats and anyone who views that Prospect with equanimity should go Back and re read the reports of the auditor general Over the last decade. The bureaucratic process is Complex and inefficient and the forces that shape it Are much different from those the Public at a distance from Ottawa May imagine. A genuine sense of Public service takes a very Distant place behind. Career building and simple determination to make one s will prevail Over others. Or. Lalonde spoke of the general desire that the government should Lead. So it should but it should also get its priorities Clear. The most urgent prob lems facing the minister of Energy and the two or three colleagues who have real Power is not to extend the Power of the state but to employ it towards , solution of the country s most pressing problems. Two stand out above All others and they Are closely related. One is to end the abdication of responsibility for efforts to curb inflation and to support the Bank of Canada. Its twin is to Clear up the horrendous mess they themselves have made of the National finances. Unhappily those have Low priority in today s National capital. Natives rights Over the last several weeks there has been much made about developments on Shoal Lake the source of Winnipeg s drinking water Supply. Both Shoal Lake band no. 39a and Shoal Lake band no. 40 have recently announced plans to develop cottages on land which they have used for thousands of years. For Many years now non indians including people from Winnipeg have been quietly building cottages on the shores of this Beautiful Lake yet when the Indian people of Canada who have had rights to the shores of this Lake for thousands of years begin to make plans to make themselves self sufficient the City of Winnipeg threatens Legal action and other impediments to Stop the beginning of self sufficiency for Indian people. The question that i raise Here is a question that has faced the Indian people for the past 100 years. Certainly Winnipeg and its people have a right to drink clean unpolluted water. Certainly they must have Felt they have had this right to clean water since 1912 when a decision was made by the International joint commission to let Winnipeg draw 100 million Gallons of water daily from Shoal Lake. The in Dian people have certainly Felt that they have had the rights to free medi Cine free schooling the right to Hunt fish and gather front the and am be signing of the treaties. Certainly the Indian people either arbitrarily by the courts of Law or by direct omission of the Legal obligations of both the Federal and provincial governments of Canada to provide for these certain rights have Felt these rights threatened. How does it feel Winnipeg to have one of your Basic rights threatened How does it feel to have the very fabric of your life threatened How does it feel to know that perhaps in a few years a source of water which you deemed virtually infinite suddenly became finite and vulnerable to the whims of two Indian bands this is what we the Indian people of Canada have faced for the last 110 years. These have been the spectres which have haunted our leadership since the time of the treaties. This is the reason Why the Indian nations of Canada have unanimously opposed a striation of the Constitution because our rights As Indian people guaranteed by treaties have been threatened. Govern ments do not make treaties with tribal entities or bands because governments can Only make treaties with other nations. Perhaps it is time that this country letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from readers. Writers must give their name and address. The author s name will be used and letters Are subject to editing. No Choice for Israel responsibility took time to think of its dealings with the Indian people in terms of fulfilling its promises in the treaties. Perhaps now is the time to Ponder what it is like to have the shoe on the other foot. Our people have always been honorable in their dealings with non indians. That is Why non indians now run this country. Perhaps the Indian people have been too honorable and non indians have taken this to mean timidity and there fore take an Opportunity to bilk a country from a so called backward people. Had it not been for these so called backward people the first euro peans in Canada would have perished had not these indians shared their technology and showed the non indians How to survive in this harsh climate. It is probable that the Indian bands of Shoal Lake will act honorable but this time this innate sense of Honor should not be taken for timidity and stupidity. The Indian bands should be adequately and generously compensated to a threaten the Safe drinking water Supply of Winnipeg. Perhaps one of the Points of negotiation should be that Winnipeg join in the pleas of the indians to be heard and have their rights entrenched in any Constitution being contemplated. It is time that we As human beings recognize that we have Basic rights that must be protected. It is also time for the general Public of Canada to realize that the Indian people had great foresight in negotiating some Basic rights in the treaties. Edwin h. Bruyere chief fort Alexander Indian band dangerous Shoal Lake water threatened i still see some Young people thumb ing a ride on the streets of Winnipeg. Surely they should know that it is dangerous to ask for or accept a ride with strangers. M. Fraser Winnipeg caution called for Manitoba is on the verge of an elec Tion. One of the issues confronting the people of Manitoba is the proposed agreement Between Alcan aluminium and the Manitoba government. The terms and conditions of such an agree ment Are still to be studied examined and approved. Everyone would like to see Industrial growth and development in the prov Ince Tut people realize that the terms and conditions of such an agreement Are crucial. We have already witnessed the debacle of Chi which was presented to Manitoban by the Roblin Weir governments in the late 1960s. We know from experience that giveaways of our resources Are not beneficial to the people of Manitoba. Therefore a degree of caution and prudence must be exercised before any new Large scale eco nomic arrangements Are agreed to. Unfortunately Alcan has decided to enhance its image and its bargaining position by a series of so called Public relations advertisements simultaneously Alcan is promoting the progressive conservative party of Manitoba. There could be a backlash against the company and against the agreement because of the fact that an election May be called this fall. The directors of the company should be cautioned about the imprudent and unwise nature of their action. With an election imminent this Type of promotion can Only be regarded As political interference in the affairs of the people of our province. It should be stopped immediately. Otherwise Alcan s expenditures should be Classi fied As Campaign contributions to the progressive conservative party and treated accordingly by the chief elec toral officer. Russell Doern la for Elmwood Winnipeg with regard to your editorial june 10, Israel s unjustified raid do you seriously believe that Menachem begin would desire to ensure the end of any Hopes of peace in the Middle would he desire to risk the Success of Philip Habib s Mission if there was no justification for the destruction of the iraqi nuclear facility would you allow your neighbor who happens to be a sworn enemy to build and House an ultimate weapon when he has declared you the opponent in a holy you speak of the United states supplying the weapons used in the raid. What of the French who have sold themselves and All morality Down the River for Arab Oil while supplying Iraq with the capabilities to build nuclear bombs palestinian rights a Short visit to the West Bank or East Jerusalem would reveal to you the most human and humane rights accorded to arabs in any Middle East Ern country. It was the arabs who attacked Israel so Many times in the last 33 years. It is thus the arabs not the israelis who have said to the world that War is the Only Way to solve the Arab israeli it was or. Begin who invited Anwar Sadat of Egypt to talk peace in Jerusalem the City of peace. That the friends of Israel will find it difficult to support her at this time is certainly True. Few people appreciate those who must defend themselves publicly but Israel has no Choice. She must do so just to survive. I know that for every Public censure of Israel there Are those leaders who will privately Laud her for her determination and fortitude. I Pray for such Public outcries when god forbid the terrorists successfully infiltrate Israel Europe or America to Slaughter the innocent in the name of peace and human rights. Sholom Eisenstat Winnipeg i am tired of paying for somebody else s mistakes or misfortunes. I think the government has stuck its nose in far too Many places. It is getting to the Point where you Are better off on government assistance. People do not have to take responsibility for their families anymore. They can just take off and let family ser vices welfare or children s Aid take Over. If you Are unable to Cope with your children that is Okay somebody will take them for awhile and you can take them Back when you feel you Are ready for them. Can you blame anyone for taking advantage of such a situation or of staying on welfare for years i believe people should be forced to take responsibility for their own actions and the government should take a look at How it can help these people without monetary measures. The government is breaking us by trying to help the poor Little Guy. What Ever happened to the Good old Days when coping with your children was just part of the Job i hate to think what society will be like when the children of today Are the adults of tomorrow. Is it just that nobody cares anymore a. Wintink Winnipeg birthday Harold c. Bartlett Winnipeg bom Malmesbury Wilts England june 22, 1894 ;