Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 3, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Pawley is very Good with people Jan Jota Howard Pawley plans to allow his whole caucus to take part in planning policy and making by Frances Russell a close Friend once described Mani Tobas new nip Premier Howard Paw Ley As decent insanely the 47yearold lawyer from Selkirk who was sworn in As the provinces 19th first minister on monday has also been characterized As a politician without an two More recent assessments by individuals involved with in fashioning the Dps spectacular re turn to Power 17 with 34 of the Legislatures 57 seats add new Dimen Sions to the but still relatively actor on Manito Bas political stage Hes everything de Schreyer was supposed to be and Hes Good with Hes a Good and Hes a team player a Good a very Good he has a remarkable ability to draw a the easiest thing for him to do would have been to put 18 people in the Cabinet straight then he would have had no but that int his his decisions Are always he plans a remarkable departure from the tradition of Oneman govern ments and Oneman he wants the whole caucus involved in decisions and his commitment to caucus is that a Back Bencher can have an equal say with a minister in deciding a policy or pro if the backbench ers idea is then it will Pawley wants us to operate As a if he it will make this government fundamentally different from any we have Ever had either in Manitoba or in Hawleys consensual approach has marked his entire political career and perhaps explains Why he was hardly known by Manitoban when he went into the election despite the fact that he was a key minister in the Schreyer Pawley once said it is my Obser vation that politicians usually bring about their own defeat because of their they lose their ability to Analyse Pawley first appeared on Manitoba political horizon at the age of 22 when he was elected provincial Kcf chair Man in 1957 in a youth he had a string of losses in Federal and Provin Cial campaigns until when he won Selkirk in the election which sawed Schreyer form Manitoba first nip appointed municipal affairs minis attorney Gener Pawley authored and piloted through the House some of the most important legislation of the Schreyer he chaired the committee which pro posed a Public car insurance plan for the province and pushed the Bill through a minority legislature in the face of mass demonstrations and death threats against the Premier in he brought in a massive new planning act governing the growth of Rural municipalities and so won Over the staunchly conservative Reeves that they petitioned Schreyer to keep him on after he moved to the attorney generals Porto As attorney he introduced the most progressive family Law in providing for an equal sharing of family and business assets upon marriage breakup and the concept of no fault in the division of the Law was subsequently narrowed by the conservative government and Pawley pledged during the election Campaign to review the Laws operations and make changes if despite this legislative Paw Ley still labors under a widespread Public image of himself As if not in an interview on his first full Day in Pawley talked frankly about this image problem and outlined his Hopes for the province Over the next four about his perceived Pawley says i think it stems from the fact that if i have a group i dont like to Start out by saying what i i want to hear what other people too politicians have a predetermined View and shut people they Are unwilling to change their ideas even when they find that maybe they but once i arrive at a i stick with Murray Hawleys former executive assistant when he was a Schreyer told one interviewer that his Boss had a wonderful ability to withstand but once he had made up his nothing could Sway during the height of the Auto insurance crisis in Pawley told party members that they had to be prepared to become the teachers and the prov Ince our classroom in Selling the plan to he told another gathering that the government had to be prepared to be Defeated on Pawley says his chief ambition for the aside from generating an economic is to address the dangerous feeling of alienation from government which he found among the electorate during the Cam people have lost Faith in the ability of governments to do to be i think that poses a very serious threat to our democratic sys if there is one thing above All that i Hope i can say i have accomplished after four years in office it is to give Manitoban the belief that they can be that government is respond i Hope that by Manitoban will be Able to say that my government was was equally available to a Peoples kind of govern ment i guess that i want to do for the province what i feel i managed to do for the and that was to build it to make people to get people involved and feeling they have some thing worthwhile to whether they be native new or what excites me most about politics and Why i have never really thought of any other Ca reer for myself is that it is a unique vehicle for the involvement and participation of people in a social Democrat because i see not As the Way to improve life for the mass in but As the most effective Way to improve life for each so that each individual can achieve his social and spirit Ual Pawley has a habit when talking to people of fixing their eyes with his and never letting so even when he uses phrases reminiscent of the Flower Power and participatory democracy years of the it is difficult to dismiss cliches or he clearly believes in he recognizes that his concept of government by caucus team has some of i know that peo ple want More than just having a government ask them what they i realize that people Are looking for fahd plan offers by Joseph Kraft special to the free press Paris the spirit of with emphasis on the crossing of every t and the dotting of every now dominates the approach to peace in the Middle hence the unseemly Bick ering among americans and Europe ans on the peace plan submitted by Prince fahd and the idea of a Buffer Force for the but the main parties Egypt israelis and palestinians re quire most of All a touch of the magnanimous vision that inspired the postwar settlement Here in Western Camp of is the indispensable building As Long As that settlement there will be no serious War in the Middle thus the maintenance of Camp David is the condition for peace in the and the world has reason to doubt the Good Faith of those who assert it is dead or the egyptian israeli settlement is Apt to unravel unless two conditions Are the formal peace Accord be tween Egypt and Israel needs to be Given life in regular meetings of offi cultural exchanges and joint projects for devel a Way must be found to ease the problems that now Divide israelis and Security guarantees of recognized frontiers of a Sinai Buffer if it comes into being with europeans and can bolster the settlement be tween Egypt and and Prince fads peace plan offers elements for negotiation Between Israel and the a but emotional conditions have to be Ripe before negotiations and Security guarantees can be Camp David would not have taken place had not president Anwar Sadat previously transformed the atmosphere by his historic visit to As there is a need for a transformation of the the egyptians once again face a difficult peace with Israel ended the terrible Drain of but it did Little to improve economic and social conditions which generate Hostil Ity toward the leadership among Egypt the other Arab states feed the internal opposition by isolating Worsen economic conditions so the egyptians can move past Camp David Only if peace is identified with More Hope of improved living Israel is a state bom of a holocaust tolerated by most of the civilized history teaches the israelis to doubt the value of frontiers and guar outside pressure Only makes them dig in All the prime minis Ter Menachem begin is doing just that and thus setting a tone for every body so the More than need to have their Outlook the palestinians have been fobbed off by the great Powers above the Arab Many Are exiles living in refugee Camps with no Prospect for they Are driven to concentrate on precisely those matters where Israel can least afford to be flexible statehood and the restoration of old claims on territory that is now part of the jewish but better prospects in the area there is there is arable there Are and there Are skilled and inventive past studies have shown Large pos Sibi what they have lacked is Politi Cal now world peace demands that there be pushed with great Force development plans encompassing Israel and the neighbouring lands occupied by and some europeans have already grasped much of the foregoing article is based on a paper prepared by Max the dutch associate of the great european Leader Jean Kohnstamm Points out that Europe bears primary responsibility for the holocaust which led to the creation of Israel at the expense of the he indicates the Over whelming european interest in avoid Ance of the economic catastrophe that would go with another break in Oil he shows that the postwar settlement in Western Europe was accompanied by a series of development programs from the Marshall plan through the Schuman plan and the european he also shows that the european Community now has the authority and the resources to put across major development in the mid dle of is no substitute for but development can change raise Hopes and Foster political a generous approach along these lines offers to the europeans something they cannot otherwise achieve a Middle East los Angeles times Syndicate government to have to have a and i also know that at some decisions have to be made and stuck but he remains convinced that one of the key reasons for his party win was his decision to strike task forces on a Host of issues and have his people out in the province for weeks on meeting in local Halls and Community centres with Manitoban to get their views on people really responded to the fact that we were interested enough to come and they helped i want to keep that task Force idea after each the Cabinet will be broken Down into three or four groups to travel around the prov Ince to listen to what is devastating to politicians and govern ments and leads inevitably to their defeat is when they allow themselves to wind up surrounded by parti sans and As far As a theme and direction for his government is Pawley admits that the provinces severe fiscal situation and the necessity to Clear the poisonous atmosphere away from our relationship with the Federal government will be his top priorities in the immediate the he is Likely to be much worse than the million figure announced by the outgoing government last some predictions Are that it could be As High As million and could reach million within 18 months unless remedying action is tax jump May be coming Pawley is not afraid to discuss the fact his government May have to in crease i just dont know at this we will have to see what changes we can i believe firmly in a cyclical approach Public spending to even out what he Calls the recessionary a Public presence in resource development and an fallout Effort to assist Manitoba Small business com As they Are the prime creators of jobs in this it May be fiscally irresponsible for me not to raise if that is i believe the political dam age of such an unpopular move can be reduced if we go out and speak to Manitoban and be Frank with Manitoban Are very politically Sophis they want be trusted by their they dont want to be taken for former Premier Sterling Lyon could have had the people behind him if he had taken advantage of the Peoples willingness to when people were worrying about he said in the House that hews sleeping Pawley is an Optimist about he believes that the Federal govern ment will respond to the fact Manitoba stands to be Hurt most by planned particularly the proposal to base equalization payments on Ottar the wounds a million loss to the province next year could be de the next few months Are i Hope when i Point this out to the prime i can make head there has been a completely poisonous atmosphere Between Mani Toba and Ottawa for the last four it is absolutely critical that this we want Ottawa to know that we Are prepared to Stop the wrangling right now and create a positive rela i feel the Federal government dismissed everything coming from Manitoba out of that must change and must change within the next three or four if Pawley is daunted by the massive problems confronting his fledgling and he gives no he says i believe in the potential of peo is Smith appointment counterproductive with the Swearingin of the nip considerable attention has been focussed on the Small number of the heavy burdens on some the selection of certain people and the omission of others from the inner it is additional proof that history keeps repeating a 13member Cabinet does seem minuscule when compared to the 18 people who had been in charge of various departments before november but the number is not the original nip Cabinet of 1969 also consisted of 13 which proved to be a relatively Lucky starting off Point since it continued for eight in creasing gradually to 17 despite opposition com ments about the Gargantuan size of the Lyon led tory Cabinet in its last when the numbers soared to the record level of 18 it should be remembered that in 1977 there were merely 15 members and three of those bore the title of minister without port the size of the can cause when the new minis ters were named this week there were immediate negative comments about the division of the most obviously overburdened individuals Are two year Veteran Vic who is minister of both finance and and newcomer eur under the dome Arlene Billinkoff Gene who is in charge of con Sumer and corporate Urban cultural affairs and the Mani Toba housing and renewal Corpora several More experienced ministers also Are carrying heavy with Len Evans responsible for natural re Community services and Cor Sam Yuskiw in charge of government highways and transportation and Larry Desjardins tending to sport and there is really nothing new about this in observers were aghast in addition to being the Gerry Mercier was the minister for Urban affairs and municipal while Bob Banman was responsible for com cultural affairs and the Manitoba development they were not alone in that difficult with Bud Sherman in charge of social corrections and and Harry Enns responsible for Public highways and the Manitoba Public insurance eventually some of that imbalance was altered by the addition of More people to the Cabinet and the redistribution of but a True balance was never presumably there will be a similar series of changes under this administration and with the new democrats May reach that elusive a More immediate goal is to have the right person in the right while concern is being expressed about the workloads of certain there is added apprehension about appointments to specific one of the More alarming examples is Muriel Smith As the minister of eco nomic development and who was Well known As a Leader of the party left Wing and ran against Middleon therond Howard Pawley for the is Likely to be viewed with suspicion by the Busi Ness that May Well Ham per Paw keys announced intention to work with private Enterprise where and depending on what Hap there May be a rapid change in that this situation seems to be a Mirror image of the time when Sterling Lyon appointed Norma Price As the minister of cries of protest emanated from the labor circles and troubles ensued until Price was replaced by Ken a former Union it is inevitable that in the future some of the responsibilities held by various ministers will also be taken away and Given to others and undoubtedly those who have yet to reach the Cabinet level Hope they will be next in at present Many Are sceptical about certain such As the promotion of Bac Bencher Pete Adam to the minister of municipal and question the omission of former doonesbury Public works minister Russ Hydro critic Jim Walding and onetime attorney general Al with More they had expected to be in the but now must wait with the other aspirants the Day when Pawley decides to add More people to the that Day May be relatively it should soon be evident that certain ministers will have difficulty coping with their Pawley has already indicated this will be the time to study performances and after that appropriate changes will be it is the traditional course of Lyon also studied and gradually added four while Edas listed by the resignations and defeats of some of his Cabinet added eight new people Dur ing his time in with such it is highly Likely that when the Public is next called to express an opinion at the polls about the there will be a Cabinet much different from the 13 people who were sworn in this there will be More new faces and possibly a familiar older one or after Pawley has admired the Saskatchewan Cabinet of 21 therefore those concerned about the current size of the Cabinet and the division of responsibilities need not like previous there will be which in reality Means More of the so Hans fv1 new peace Imam in its starting to 85 seen Asa Little cynic because propose a plan bask on cynical missile counts we How knew to be come unacceptable to the a a it looked More int5r 5stepih scoring a Public pslat10ns coup in Europe 1han in of i renamed pint kit that Only meant you me committe to changing the ;