Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 31, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free october 1981 leg free press of Trade Equality of civil rights Liberty of religion published six Days a week at 300 Cartton Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 Winnipeg free press 1872 Winnipeg Tribune 1890 Donald Nicol publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor Murray Burt managing editor Rudy Redekop controller editorials preparing for the crunch As Canadas first ministers prepare once again to seek a constitutional the Price of failure should do much to concentrate their neither prime minister Trudeau and his two provincial nor the eight dissident can be sanguine about the prospects for Canada if next weeks meeting in Ottawa does not produce a reason Able consensus an amending formula and a charter of for failure next week will mean after a bitter debate in the House of he will go to London with a constitutional package which is certain to cause in the British parliament and is by no Means assured of prime minister Margaret Thatcher has agreed to present any unilateral Federal package to Parlia but she cannot guarantee its there is now that resistance to a demand that Britain should impose a drastically revised Constitution on unwilling canadians has spread far beyond the handful of maps and lords who had some personal relationship with the supreme court of Canadas decision that unilateral Patria Tion would be unconstitutional in the conventional sense has caused concern among a Large number of parliamentarians who regard convention As an essential Protection of democratic they have now petitioned Thatcher to allow a free vote on the Canadian even if Westminster should the result would be increased strains on Canadian at a time when chief concern of government should be to heal old regional unilateral Patria Tion would be guaranteed give a new lease of life to Quebec separatism and to make life More difficult for those in mat province who Are fighting for the federalist the Prospect of failure next week is no More pleasant for the dissident if Ottawa goes ahead unilaterally and the British parliament they will have lost if Westminster rejects the Federal the premiers should be no More Happy than Federal politicians with the constitutional crisis which would in those everyone involved in mondays should be looking vigorously for a they May Well be quietly doing just though most of their Public statements offer Little evidence that they in his graceless and provocative Tele Gram to the premiers last week did Little to indicate j flexibility on his at his press conference on he did hint at a willingness to consider some of the proposals that could Lead to a measure of he has been sending out his bit players to keep the atmosphere As tense As Justice minister Jean Chretien has been mounting platforms to announce in one breath that Ottawa is looking for Compromise and in the next that it will not Budge an Inch on any the minister of Gerald delivered a remarkable attack on the premiers As allies of Quebec the fact of that it is the Federal course of action which is playing straight into Quebec Premier Rene Leves ques the tactics employed by Regan and Chretien seemed designed chiefly to enhance the Solidarity of the eight premiers when a More skillful approach from the Federal Side might just succeed in shattering nothing Ottawa offers in the Way of Compromise May win Over and Premier Lyon of Manitoba might be almost As difficult to win but a reasonable set of compromises just might make the gang of eight dwindle Down to the Odd there Are plenty of areas available for Saskatchewan Premier Allan Blakeney has been flying any number of balloons and even Premier Davis of who has been a Cypher on the constitutional front since his first constitutional conference in Victoria 10 years has been hinting that he May try to play a constructive role this though not to the extent of providing constitutional Guaran tees to his own French speaking the two areas in which Compromise must be found Are the amending formula and the charter of Trudeau does not much like the amending formula proposed by the premiers but he does not much like his own so agreement there should not be Compromise on the charter of rights will be More difficult to come by since the Federal government has a substantial political and emotional stake in the document now in its areas of Compromise there could be agreement that the charter should be imposed Only at the Federal level with the provinces invited to opt there could be general agreement on parts of the such As political and language rest left to an opting in there Are a variety of devices which would permit Public opinion to Over the response of individual provinces to the tru Deaus suggestion that he might be flexible on the timing of a charter indicates a Small step in that what no one knows at the moment is whether enough of those involved in next weeks negotiations Are prepared to move far if either Side goes into the negotiation prepared Only to make minor concessions in return for capitulation of the then the talks will fail and All canadians will pay the if Ottawa is prepared for real there is Hope for at least the measure of agreement which would conform to the supreme courts undefined version of gallery Phil Mallette Fuksa specs doves prevail tories spoil their chances the organization of Petroleum exporting countries May be a powerful Cartel but it is not a Cartel which can ignore world under pressure from saudi it has to a new pricing agreement which will freeze Oil for the coming year at Between and a that is Good news for the worlds poorest which have been the chief sufferers from the Oil Price for the industrialized countries of the Western world and for behind the open Price freeze is the discovery contrary to the expectations of Many economists a few years increased Oil prices really do Lead to cuts in they do it partly by leading to economic but they do i it As Well by stimulating in the world at the Price increases have helped Cut consumption by 30 per leading to substantial oversupply and making it possible for saudi Arabia to win its Battle for Price moderation in return for reduced even in the Price increases despite by the National Energy along with the Neps positive encouragement of a switch to natural have reduced demand for Oil by about 10 per that has useful implications for Canadian Consumers and it Means that demand for imported Oil is not As great As it might have been and that Means in turn that Consumers Are spared some of the taxes they would have had to pay to subsidize those imports for Canada remains a Long Way from self sufficiency and Progress towards that goal is still stalled by the fallout from years first version of the the open Price freeze does not make the goal of self sufficiency any less import whatever temporary world surpluses might and however much declining consumption May delay the v moment of Oil Petroleum remains a declining resource and the Day will come when the world will face a in the while the world glut relieves canadians from some of the results of their governments improve it also creates a curious if open holds the line Over the next few governments in this country will be deprived of some of the revenues which they expected to get out of soaring Oil harmful strike the latest move by the United steelworkers toward the reopening negotiations in the Thompson strike will be Welcome news in the Northern the Union has presented new proposals to the Deputy minister of labor for transmittal to the the now in its sixth has already had a serious Impact on Thompson and its the dispute is one that can be settled Only through intensive International Nickel can survive a much longer it has a stockpile of unsold and a Plant at Sudbury to take up the the Strong Union can also survive a much longer which May damage it in Thompson but is not Likely to have a significant Impact throughout the the Community of Thompson is not As fortunate As the company or the Union in its ability to Bear the consequences of a prolonged work the strike has already taken its toll of both the single men who have no reason to and the family employees who have found it necessary to seek employment elsewhere in order to keep their Heads above the financial problems that have engulfed because of its isolated has problems that Are not found in More southerly one of the problems is the higher Cost of or of existing when Normal incomes Are not the Community needs a even if the company and the Union can afford to postpone by Wilson special to the free press Ottawa continuing conservative squabble Over leadership is about the Only thing that could make it totally impossible for them to win the next a tether Joe Clark could win again or is doomed to perpetual As his party critics really depends on who succeeds Pierre Trudeau As Liber Al Leader the prime minister actually goes ahead with his professed intention to retire at some time before the country goes to the polls chances Good As matters Are the conservative chances of Victory next time Are excellent provided they do not tear themselves apart so far this autumn first in metro Toronto and now in Newfoundland they have been demonstrating As a they Are not fit to run a Rural township let alone a the uncertainty Over Trudeau future actions makes it impossible to predict the circumstances of the next if he does retire and if his successor is a Man of More than aver age the liberals May be Able to cling to at the tide is running against that in itself is not unusual for a government nearing midterm but some of the factors involved this time threaten their Central Canadian Power base and few things in politics Geem More certain than that even a Messiah could not restore their lost Western standing in the next elec the delayed budget will undoubtedly contain some measure its authors Hope will ease the developing housing crisis but that is a problem of formidable dimensions because it is so closely linked both to past inaction and to the rigid monetarism which is this govern ments Only economic unless budget measures prove to be unexpectedly effective not just in pre venting the widespread loss of Homes perhaps even More in reversing the serious downturn in housing this Issue alone could prove deadly to the governing Good sense May prevail during next weeks constitutional discussions but Trudeau messages to the pre Miers have not been those of a Man in search of they May have been written in a spirit of gamesmanship but that would be no Way to pm strengthened in the the prime minister carries out his threats to plunge ahead unilaterally with a constitutional pack age that intrudes on Quebec jurisdiction in language and the risk is very High that Premier Rene Leves que and his parti quebecois will be they have already demonstrated their political clout against the Federal liberals in the size of the conservative Victory their support produced in Joliette and in carving away a huge Liberal majority in the earlier Levis the prime minister is known to be reluctant to risk More by elections at one of the reasons Why speaker Jeanne Sauve did not receive the ambassador ship she had been led to with this mixture of dangers and uncertainties facing the governing the conservatives have the greatest need to appear As a acceptable political they cannot do that if they go on with their infighting Over Joe Clarks Leader not idea no one would pretend that Glare is the Ideal party his political errors just before and during his Brief period of office were even though he must have from it is natural enough that they left his followers dissatisfied with the qual Ity of his he still has trouble to the Public As a Man of if the conservatives want to replace their first need is an impressive someone around whom so much of the party would coalesce that Clark would see the writing on the Wall and give so far the attacks on Clark have been wholly the men behind the sniping have produced no Candi dates of their impressive or oth All the Effort has gone into destroying one not into building up a More satisfactory the effect is to destroy not just in but in the who wants to see a squabbling pack of politicians in Power even if they Are dissatisfied with the government Al ready there Manitoba gives Inco a licence to pollute in the processing of Manitoba is the second largest polluter in spewing out Sulphur a constituent of acid Ontario is the Sulphur dioxide emanates from two Northern the inter National Nickel Plant Inco at Thompson and the Hudson Bay mining and smelting Plant at flin the Sulphur dioxide is dispersed out of their tall stacks at the formidable rate of about tons per the Sulphur is contained in the 1 problem Sulphur dioxide mixes with oxygen and water vapor in the atmosphere to form acid the 1 environmental problem in North America it has destroyed thousands of is damaging to plants and it is also injurious to humans and it is estimated that if Inco Cut its emissions in ajl its plants by 50 per it reduce health care costs by up to million a now a nine member parliamentary committee on acid rain has come out with a National report which is strongly critical of Manitoba policy on environment it says of the Inco Plant at Thomp son the smelter has no emission controls in place at the present in this smelter operates under a control order from the Manitoba gov it seems that this control merely accords formal Sanction to uncontrolled atmospheric this and Thompson no emission controls in the curious philosophy that supports is totally incompatible to the commit broadly this criticism is a for the control order in a sense is a License to the control a Legal order issued under the clean environment specifies limits of prior to when operating at full Inco emitted to tons of Sulphur dioxide a control order of a daily emis Sion of metric tons was imposed no different than the previous pollution on this the accusation of the parliamentary com Mittee is justified that the control order merely accords formal Sanction to uncontrolled atmospheric poll the two Manitoba smelters have no control technology in says the in other the Sulphur dioxide simply funnels out of the built High enough so that it is mainly dispersed in the Atmo the Noranda Copper smelter in Quebec has no emission i other Large smelters have some degree of the parliamentary committee errs when it says the Inco smelter is currently emitting metric tons of Sulphur dioxide that is the maximum but because of reduced production since the emissions have been averaging about 700 tonnes per it is astonishing that Manitoba was not specifically invited to take part in Val Werier the hearings conducted by the Federal according to provincial government no notice was received to participate at the meeting held in officials Here resent too the fact that credit is Given to incas efforts at while ignoring similar Mea sures like has been rejecting Ore with a High Sulphur Content to reduce the emis in the milling where the metals Are separated from the waste High Sulphur Ore is Ken Inco superintendent of Public affairs at says that now about 50 per cent of the Sulphur is compared to 15 per cent in the that a result of negotiating items put in place by the control says a government control orders Are tougher in Ontario and at Sudbury the percentage of emissions compared to production is much the Inco smelter at Sud Bury no example of pollution incas super stack at Sud says the has become a Symbol of a wide dispersal of poll it emits tonnes of Sulphur dioxide per it reduced emissions by converting them into sulphuric acid and liquefying Sulphur mining companies say there is no Market in Manitoba for sulphuric the report Calls for reduction of emissions in the entire for Inco at it says it should be compelled to reduce emissions from the stack by 80 per cent within five it Points out that Inco has a profitable operation in Canada 1980 net income after taxes was Mil lion and can afford for to make necessary modifications at Sud Bury to reduce emissions by More than As for the hams Plant at flin the parliamentary report takes a Dif Ferent tack even though the current emissions Are roughly the at 700 tonnes per the report notes that this is an economically marginal operation and that it May be forced to close if it met the recommendation of a reduction in emissions by 80 per it would be the end of flin it does not refer to hams Overall operations in last net income after taxes was its return on equity was per compared to per cent for strange conclusion the report comes to a strange con Sulphur dioxide is transported Long distances in the air to Hurt far away so it concludes abatement of emissions at source will primarily Benefit canadians in it is the committees opinion therefore that the control of Domestic sources of acid rain precursors must be a countrywide undertaking and the wherever must be shared by All what it is saying is that Distant communities should share the costs of control since they will not be polluted As a by same the swedes and norwegians should pay Western Europe to clean up their or Canada should share the costs of the havoc caused by american the Cost of reducing pollution should be added to the product it is part of the Cost of Bill Inco senior Media of says part of the answer to containing emissions will come from tests being carried out at Thompson in a Ore from Sudbury is being for it is the big Cavalluzzo says the tests have the potential of convert ing As much As 80 per cent of Sulphur suitable for sulphuric a Market for Thompson sulphuric acid is being Inco will spend another million on a to end in late to determine whether the whole process is advances Are being prompted by growing Public concern about poll incas control order will be re viewed before the end of the year by the Manitoba clean environment a lid should be imposed on the stacks producing acid the technology is available to accomplish ;