Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 25, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free september 1981 Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade Equality of civil rights Liberty of religion published and printed six Days a week of 300 Carlton Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 Winnipeg free press 1872 the Winnipeg Tribune 1890 Donald Nicol publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor Murray Furt managing editor Rudy Redekop Iran bloodletting grows Iran deterioration from the standards that Mark a decent society is picking up the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini judicial system is casting aside All pretence of providing a fair hearing and compassionate sentencing policy for those brought before it on criminal in its Rush to Deal with what Are admittedly politically tempestuous that sys tem is dispensing with the safeguards for suspects upon which is based Public respect for the Rule of in so the system is also placing in the most unfavourable Light imaginable the contribution to it of one of the great religions of world history Khomeini appointed ayatollahs had already brought into disrespect their religion and Iran judicial system by irresponsible exercise of court Power in the Early Days of the iranian when they roamed the country ordering mass executions of All who dissented from the new an a weak might have been made that extreme measures were needed to restore order to a society in the throes of adjusting to the Post Shah that argument no longer can have any it seems to have become enshrined As a principle for the clergy controlled there is Little doubt that the murders carried out in the name of the revolution in its Early Days bred deep hatred of the Ayatollah Khomeini Rule among different religious and ethnic sections of the iranian his Iron grip on state based on religious zealotry and insane intolerance of different approaches to religious and political has been exercised through a Nightmare of oppression whose inevitable result has been violent instead of displaying the least flexibility and understand his in has been to order More and More it is Early Days yet to compare him with the most notorious mass murderers of such As Stalin and but the difference is of rather than since Abolhassan Banisadr was dismissed from the presi Dency of Iran last june the judicial system has claimed More than the key charge in these cases has been of subscribing to the relative moderation that was backed by that dissent began with exactly the kind of Street Demon stration used by the Ayatollah and his henchmen to topple the Shah and to display to the world what was claimed to be Public backing for the illegal seizure and Captivity of american the Ayatollah ordered the dispersal of these demonstrations and arrest of All participants appeared in were denounced by a single were denied the right of rebuttal or of defence by Legal counsel and were promptly sentenced to death by vengeful clerics sitting As this led to dissenters arming themselves As Protection against arrest and certain death when taking part in political Street the ayatollahs reaction has been to order More gunmen into the streets to kill in the name of last the Ayatollah Mohammad i a Khomeini appointed judge of the Tehran revolutionary supervised the judicial murder of 182 dissenters within 24 in the newspaper islamic he told the faithful that it is unnecessary to take Street demonstrators to court since they Are at War with he recommended saving time by shooting wounded demonstrators where they Lay and said that arrested demonstrators should be executed on the against a he expressed worry that shooting May be too humane and merciful a death for in he the punishment will be that determined by the death by the worst Means by by amputation of the right Arm and the left now the blood orgy is to spread to the Tehran chief Assadollah has announced that 12yearold children taking part in demonstrations will be he also says that a fundamental Protection for the accused will be stripped away names of those arrested will not be this Means that suspected women and children can be seized and shot or hacked to death without their friends or relatives having any idea that it has such behaviour is Standard in totalitarian As Well As in such As Argentina and that Are held by the Reagan administration to be merely the Ayatollah Khomeini contribution is to establish in the minds of no iranians and iranians alike that such contempt for Basic human rights is a Standard to be expected wherever control of government passes to those who supervise the worship of god in the fashion favored by have i got screws for you Quebec faces a tight budget Are judges too lenient attorney general Gerry Mercier blames trial judges in Manitoba for imposing unduly Light sentences on rapists and the proof he presents is that during three years the Crown has appealed the sentences of 30 persons convicted of sexual offences and won stiffer sentences from the Appeal court in 20 of those with two yet to be Merciers does not show How Many convictions for sexual offences in those years led to sentences with which the Crown was nor does it show How Many persons convicted of sexual offences appealed and won lighter that information is not readily but in its Merciers score card does not permit calculation of a batting average for Manitoba judges in sentencing sexual the fact that the Crown won stiffer sentences in about two thirds of the cases where it asked for them testifies Only to the astuteness of Crown attorneys in choosing which sentences to but judging the judges on the basis of statistics is a Tricky business in any a judge must sentence each offender on the basis of the whole facts of the Case and established sentencing practices and none of which appears in Merciers no judge should Ever be asked to impose sentences on the basis of quotas to be filled or statistics to be if a particular judge regularly finds his sentences being changed on he and his judicial Brethren soon get the message that he is out of step with prevailing views on but Mercier is not warning that particular judges Are out of he is voicing an ongoing concern on our part for what Are perceived to be totally inadequate sentences for rape and sexual assaults upon women and he finds a reluctance by Canadian courts in both trial and appellate divisions to impose maximum sentences for he is dissatisfied in a general sense with the performance of the whole the system Over which As presides leaves sentencing to Merciers Crown attorneys have ample when the department appeals a to argue for a stiffer his tabulation shows How successfully they do that like every other the Crown is not always Happy with the judges but there is no objective basis for finding that particular sentences or sentences in general As Mercier totally deciding what sentence is adequate is a matter of judgment which is Why it has to be left to the facts Mercier cites would allow him to congratulate his employees on their Success in winning increased sentences for the Type of offence he is concerned they would allow him to congratulate himself on applying his departments efforts to win the stiff est sentences that can be wrung from the judiciary against rapists and child molest for the better defence of women and children against sexual but his Effort to turn the facts into a criticism of judges is Merciers comments May be music to the ears of people who have the vague sentiment that criminals Are coddled while honest people suffer or that soft hearted judges Are responsible for they May also please activist women who contend that the courts do not take sexual offences seriously All he has really is that the Appeal route is still open to the As it always has when a sentence appears too Light and that his department uses Joe wins again Joe Clark finds himself faced with the need to prove Over and Over again his right to Lead the progressive conservative last at the party National he beat off those who sought to remove him from the party this he won two More he persuaded members of his caucus since i have taken a decision to remain As Leader it is their obligation to pull behind that and he convinced the party metro Toronto which likes to think it can determine the Fate of National not to demand a leadership the trouble with Clarks victories is that they always look like defeats to the vote at the National convention was widely interpreted As damaging to the caucus approval appeared to be voiced with Little the vote in Toronto was too narrow for if his party keeps demanding that Clark keep establishing his right to the leadership and each time he it offers him another lukewarm the ultimate result will be to leave both him and the party with their political credibility badly considering the Opportunity the tories Are being offered by the bumbling and confrontation of the Liberal that makes no by Frank Walker special to the free press Montreal because it is More movement than political party the common thread is Independence Trie parti quebecois has always had trouble with it has tended towards the if you Call massive deficits and extravagant pub Lic service contracts conservative so it has been consistently Liberal with a touch of As in thrown in for Good mating the two was relatively easy to begin now it is More the assorted chickens have come Home to it is the time for decisions if the financial position of the province and its a credit rating Are to be main both ways having it both ways is no longer possible even for such a the Art As Premier Rene a Defi Cit of billion and growing Esti mates or guesses place it As High As billion cannot be shrugged glib statements that an uncommitted million is easy to find in a budget of billion just will not do the party in every sense is now it is not so much where to spend but where to Cut and not so much from whom to lift the Burden of taxes but where to put it in such a Way As to cause the least the budget on which the election was fought and in part won was clearly an election even the Premier admits it was thrown instead we Are facing a supplementary budget which will be closer to the real thing and which neither the right nor the left of the let alone the will but what to Cut and whom to tax is where the problem for the fiscally the social sector is where the savings should be achieved for the liberals the fight is to preserve Valu Able social programs and tax those who have the resources to be if someone other than Levesque was at the the Issue could threaten the As it he will need All his skill at Compromise and persuasion to hold together that mass of conflicting views which is the parti substantial cuts Are already in in education More than just Progress Ive frills have adult Educa seriously needed in a province where according to one authority some citizens Are has been seriously though untouched Are suffering in the service areas and cannot achieve further economies without damage to the whole social services generally Are being Cut Back with some doubts As to the Justice of procedures which seem to hit the Anglo sector harder than there is always of and we Are already seeing an Escala Tion of those tedious verbal blasts aimed at the Federal government which even the French press is beginning to find narrowly but Ottawa bashing has always been the escape Hatch for Quebec politicians in and the Graver the problems within the province the louder and More vicious it will Wear thin in the Long there is a limit to the effectiveness of these at they Wear thin with time and even the most ardent supporter of the Premier has limits to his or her cred blaming High interest rates on Ottawa is to see the world through very dark the rates have exacerbated Quebec problems but Ottawa did not sign the Public service and quasi Public service contracts which now account for More than 50 per cent of All the provinces our government did that and for reasons which had nothing to do with equity but a lot to do with now the alternatives Are hardly alternatives any the government must have both More Revenue and less to take on the unions in the Public service is not something the administration would like to even though it might have Public contracts Are contracts and trying to change them outside the Normal bar gaining process would be probably to increase taxes would again add to the existing imbalance Between Quebec and other prov inces and might be counterproductive unless done most but done it must Medicine pinched Medicine and education Are already talking about the need for Volkswagen Medicine instead of which we Are supposed to have had Cadillac is a flippant and unfeeling Way of discussing serious there is a limit to cutting departments and service whether in the schools or the hospitals nor can such cuts be implemented without straining other services which Are also under there Are always savings to be achieved but they Are not As easy to find As critics of government with Independence out for the moment though it can easily be revived As a prime Issue for any one of a number of specious social policy has come the glue which holds much of the party to threaten let alone curtail will further weaken party deprived of that Consolation and faced with tax increases to be must be general will leave a lot of very disappointed party Mem the Unity which survived the referendum defeat and the abandon ment of the sovereignty Issue for the general election is going to be tested if the left can stomach retrench ment and the right higher Levesque will chances Are he there is no one inside or outside the with his Quebe cers will understand that he does not like what he is doing to that others Are forcing him to do that he is just another decent Little Guy caught up in forces beyond his con it May be but it is que lotteries flourish the most flourishing retail Busin esses in Winnipeg Are the stalls Selling lottery the american showman Phineas Taylor Barnum is said to have made the cynical comment a sucker is born every that fact and its potential for exploitation has not been missed by govern ment looking for easy sources of with its flexible code of morality and hypocritical excuse that profits from legalized gambling would be used for Good government lotteries a tax on poor legislated itself into the lottery Busi canadians will not have forgotten those years when sanctimonious Feder Al governments intercepted and confiscated mail addressed the Irish ticket Sellers were pro ticket buyers made their Pur chases used nos de plume to outwit authorities and travelled to ire land to pick up their illicit now by a deft feat of legislative legerdemain government has sanitized Domestic lotteries and sanctified their Purchase of a Canadian lottery ticket once in a while is nothing to be concerned but the illusory glow of sudden kindled by High pressure is creating an alarming number of too Many canadians of modest Means Are buying fistfuls of lottery tickets on a regular with the forlorn Hope of becoming instant the great majority of canadians Dur ing their lifetimes will never get Rich or even near Rich playing these number the real winners in this legalized Racket Are the shills employed to promote the lotteries on radio and Winnipeg police chief Ken Johnston has been critical of government participation in legalized gambling and its aggressive promotion of lottery free press editorials have made the Point that government run lotteries Are a tax on the on the weak and on the hopeless in like the govern ments hide is and its taxing conscience Well it is not Likely to abandon this lucrative source of Tyre Winnipeg letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from writers must give their name and the authors name will be used and letters Are subject to medical excellence equal rights doctored reports anyone who read the september 15 free press frontage headline Doc tors Lead lawyers As nations top Money earners either yawned and turned to the sports or paused to question the glaring flaws in such a ridiculous if Federal income tax figures show doctors As the highest then thousands of senior civil corporation professional ath letes and airline ship and Independent Busin Ess people Are failing to report a size Able chunk of their Revenue Canada had better investigate this serious misrepresentation better completely revamp its out dated and illogical method of classify ing Why Doest the tax department pub Lish separate data on the average an Nual incomes of nil hockey players of air Canada pilots of provincial and Federal Deputy ministers because it is easier to perpetuate an unfair indict ment against doctors who Are historical targets of the Public sour it really is a devious government you Force most doctors into medicare by making opting out practice As rigid and difficult As Possi then you consistently produce doctored reports to show that More and More Public medicare dollars Are being gobbled up by the medical pro the Only crimp in this heretofore mass deception is the average readers boredom tolerance doctors make a lot of you so Tell me something newsworthy for a John Laplume communications manager Manitoba medical association Winnipeg True conditions with regard to your Gandhi blasts foreign Media free sep tember i follow closely news items about India reported in the North american in this context i can not but with Indira Gandhi Contention that the exaggerated gloom an doom picture emanating from for eign news dispatches does not reflect the True conditions in in my one of the reasons for the Lack of objectivity is the especially of the United to influence Indian policy and the recent decision of the Indian govern ment not to accept a Reagan appointed nominee with known Cia ties As ambassador to India is a valid Case in in spite of its third world status and the much touted does not succumb to superpower can the same be said of other asian countries Fali Savak we would like to express our congratulations to Winnipeg residents for the Quality of medical care available in their our Fivey Earold daughter was admitted to the Boniface Hospi Tal this summer As the result of an we were extremely impressed with the professional compe psychological supportiveness and general friendliness experienced by our daughter and ourselves in All the departments with which we had Contact medical intensive surgical intensive xray and we found the care to be characterized by medical excellence and High the accounting end by a and Lack of the bureaucracy which so often complicates accidental our deepest gratitude and thanks to those who took care of our daughter and contributed to her Happy recon and Heidenreich West Germany not prime monster it appears that the free press when publishing a picture of prime minister Trudeau chooses a photograph which shows his hair thinning it is not what is on top of a persons head that is but rather what is under Trudeau has More than proven himself in this area and he is not the prime monster of there Are times when it is easy to Overlook what has been accomplished under his Valerie Smith with regard to the article dispute threatens native family Grants for daughters Cut free septem Ber i would think that All canadians should be treated As but since anyone of native Canadian blood is the Only original and first historically then first priority should be Given to if people were to treat our native canadians As and with the respect that every citizen perhaps one Day we might walk Side beside in Mutual i commend the free press for bring ing this matter to the attention of the Mirochnick Winnipeg its an Alan Macea do we want to sponsor him for 10 cents a mile to help the crippled Economy i ;