Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 5, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 Winnipeg free december 1981 Lii Iii j Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade Equality of civil rights Liberty of religion published six Days a week at 300 Carlton Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 Winnipeg free press 1872 Winnipeg Tribune 1890 secrecy at aut Opac something is wrong at the Manitoba Public insurance corporation if the Odd Case of the million towing contract is anything to go two major questions arise from this How Well is aut Opac management doing its Job where did that management get the outrageous idea that the people of this province have no right to know the names of those who Are awarded Large contracts by aut Opac the available evidence is that aut Opac sought Public bids for a next year contract to Tow disabled vehicles involved in accidents to aut Opac claims one company offered to do this task for a reported less than anyone that company got the aut Opac management did not bother to establish two matters of fact that the average Manitoban might presume to be crucial exactly who were the principals of the winning company and did they have the technical capability to do the Job others did ask those including this the incredible official aut Opac reaction was that aut Opac does not care who owns a company winning a contract As Long As it does the when it was pointed out that anonymity for these principals could raise questions in the Public mind about whether they might or have connections employees of aut Opac the Penny dropped and aut Opac management undertook to find out the identities of its Lucky contract when the information became aut Opac senior management obtained Legal advice that it was technically possible to refuse to pass that information on to armed with this the decision was made to keep the informal sort this absurd in had the potential for creating continuing problems because of unanswered questions about the background and history of the company awarded the these some of them raised by interested parties who lost in the bidding for the contract deserve a thorough investigation and Public disclosure of the answers because they May affect Public Confidence in the Way that aut Opac is doing its a major first step in Clearing things up has been taken by the minister responsible for Bill very he bypassed the senior got the names of the contract winning company principals and made them More Uruski condemned the policy of keeping such names he said a Public tender is a Public tender and they the names should be made he is absolutely still to be assessed is whether Auto acs contract letting procedures meet the High standards expected by the Mani Toba in this Case and in any future such a policy review clearly must be an Early priority with who has displayed an encouraging commitment to protecting the interests of the democracy delayed when the turkish military overthrew the government of prime minister Suleyman Demirel 15 months the generals promised that there would be eventually a return to a democratic there was no reason not to believe them then turkish military has seized Power several times in the past when it believed that the civilian authorities were losing and each time returned to the Barracks after putting things in there is still no reason to doubt the generals frequently repeated promises to restore but the events of the past 15 months particularly those of recent weeks indicate that it will be some time in and that when it does it will be of a different nature from the civilian government that the military booted it would perhaps be too Strong to say that the generals coup was welcomed by turkeys but it had become Clear that a succession of civilian governments were unable to terrorism was raging through the the Economy was near collapse and the National Assembly was paralysed tothe Point that it was unable to pass even the simplest housekeeping in Turkey was without a government and there is no question that the Couo was welcomed by the majority of the turkish today it appears that most turks Are still Content with the military government led by general Kenan the military regime has kept most of its the inflation rate has been the Economy is terrorism has been ruthlessly repressed and the general Quality of life has How Long this Content will last with almost All political activity forbidden is difficult to but rather than loosening Evren has recently tightened the consultative Assembly that he promised to set up to draft a new Constitution has now been but it includes none of turkeys main politicians nor any members of its political instead it is composed of prominent conservative turks from almost every walk of Fife except just after the Assembly was the government formally dissolved All political parties in the it then purged the state run television network of More than 100 journalists who were politically former prime minister Bulent Ece Vit was sentenced to four months in jail for publicly criticizing the Evren claims that these actions Are not another step away from but a step towards in his it May be that they but he has never made Clear what kind of a democracy he envisions in he has made that there will be no place in it for the old political parties nor for most of turkeys the return to democracy is Likely to be gradual and eventually May be Only a modified form of it that will be closely supervised by the in the Turkey remains the Only member of the nato Alliance without a democratic although this May be a cause of some embarrassment among turkeys the Best approach for them to take is to help in restoring health to the turkish Economy and quiet encouragement to the military to Speed up its return to the focus on the Crow senator Hazen the Federal cabinets most outspoken supporter of the present crows nest agreement on freight was strangely subdued on the subject when he appeared before the National Farmers Union convention in Winnipeg he made no mention of the controversial subject during his wide ranging speech in which he talked of the National Energy the need to return rapeseed to the control of the Canadian wheat Board and the Good As he saw in finance minister Allan Maceachen he ducked one question from the and was not really trapped into saying anything significant until the conventions official thanker finished her remarks by demanding1 from the senator a straight answer As to the Crow rate is on the bargaining table in the Federal after senator argue replied in the other delegates demanded that he state his personal position on the it was at this Point the senator sounded like a messenger carrying news that the Battle had been he replied that he personally favored the retention of the but that if the final decision was not exactly to his he did not intend to throw up his arms and abandon other the senators As Cloudy As it bore great similarity to the position taken earlier in the convention by agriculture minister Eugene who managed to collect his share of Boos and hisses for stating in the interests of economics and transportation in the Crow rate had to be the message is not one that the National Farmers Union wanted to but it is one that will be welcomed by other organizations that Are closer to the mainstream of Canadian the fixed rate provided by the Crow has distorted the economics of Grain transportation in this and is threatening to be the biggest bottleneck strangling the necessary expansion of rail transportation facilities needed to develop Western the expensive sidestepping of the Crow by the use of tax Money to buy railway and to maintain Branch lines from other than Normal rail makes a mockery of attempting to say that the Crow agreement has not already been the acquisition of taxpayer owned equipment used to haul Grain is in effect a breach of the original agreement which if it did not that the responsibility for railway equipment belonged to the the Crow agreement is of historic and emotional but since fallen by the Wayside in the More immediate and practical considerations of stripped of qualifying senator argues statement seems to indicate that this is the conclusion Likely to be reached around the Federal Cabinet table in Donald Nicol publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor Murray Hurt managing editor Rudy Redekop controller Gall Phil Mallette near the moment of truth by Anthony Westell special to the free press Ottawa were nearing the moment of says governor Gerald Bouey of the Bank of he Means that we Are going to find out fairly soon whether or not the Canadian society will Bow to the Market forces he and the government have unleashed in the Battle against using the monetary the Bank has been steadily reducing the rate of increase in the Money and allowing interest rates to mobilizing its fiscal the government is raising taxes and squeezing these together with external pressures produced by similar policies have now driven the Economy into a with production falling and unemployment Ris to Bouey and to finance minis Ter Allan this is a painful but necessary period of transition from an Economy in which inflation has been a daily reality to one in which stable prices will be the As Bouey puts the recession creates an environment that is no longer conducive to a continuation of rapid there is now a real risk that Large Price and Cost increases will Boomer Ang on those who try to Force them because there Are no longer so Many eager buyers willing to pay inflated inflated costs cannot be passed on so he warns that it will take but he expects businessmen to learn to hold Down costs and prices in the increasingly competitive and he believes labor unions will moderate wage claims when they recognize that the alternative May be in we shall All come to accept that the great inflation is Over and that we can plan for the future without building in constantly rising prices to cover constantly rising a flexible Economy that is the Market discipline for containing inflation that we have Al ways been Able to rely on in our free economic he told the Montre Al chamber of that is the discipline that we shall have to continue to rely on if we want to enjoy the great economic benefits that come from a flexible and dynamic econ talking to he seems to have been a Little less conf what i Hope is that people will respond to the forces in the he is reported to have that is How our system but does it work that Way will workers and Consumers respond As Bouey Hopes he is not entirely sure were nearing the to Mentor he conceded in his speech that markets Are not As flexible As he would like because labor and other organizations have Power to resist adjust to fight to maintain wages and living to pass along the pain of recession to weaker groups in the Bouey appealed to the actors in the Market place to accept Market discipline in the interests of beating but he must know that that is a vain labor and others will fight not Only in the Market but also in the political for will com Bine to seek to dominate their Section of the and will demand Protection against foreign Competition labor unions will strike to maintain the Pur chasing Power of wages Farmers will want marketing boards to manage everybody will put pressure on the government to relax the squeeze on the Maceachen is already under immense pressure to change his and it will get worse As an election draws even if the liberals hang the opposition parties will bid for votes by promising easier can Market forces prevail in such circumstances will the voters in a modern democracy such As Canada allow their government to put them through the wringer of a recession in order to create the conditions in which the Market can work or will they demand some other economic sys tem presumably some variety of socialism those Are the Central questions of the times demanding As Bouey said were nearing the moment of Why is Art gallery South still hidden in Vancouver developers planned an office building with reflective Glass Type of facade that mirrors the surrounding City Council turned it Down on the advice of the Urban design it was consid ered incompatible with the neighbouring which had fascinating de tails and decorative features of an earlier the reflection of the Sun would have created a problem for the such antagonistic arrangements May Rise with impunity in one notorious example is the Woodsworth which some have called doers after the minister of Public works at the the hexagonal building of Glass is completely out of character with the neighbouring neoclassical government including the legis lature the crowning perfidy is the above Street connection smack into the facade of the elegant Law courts old Market Square retains historic character of this abomination was justified be cause an underground connection would Cost much when shall we learn that we must not Compromise on such important buildings and neighbourhoods a scar was placed on the Fine Law courts building for the Sake of saving a comparatively Small sum of Why did we not insist that the Southern Side of the impressive Winnipeg Art gallery be open to View instead the government refused to pay the Little extra Cost to expropriate the adjoining the City has no design standards for but now there is a proposal in plan the proposed Blue print for the next 20 the idea is to have an Urban design Board which will be responsible for establishing criteria for such elements As Side maximum building height and and acceptable build ing what is Good design is a most Subjec Tive and sensitive aesthetics Are an elusive Quality to set Down in Stan there is some criticism in Van Couver that the Urban design panel meddles in the work of it is generally accepted As doing a creditable Rob and chairman of the Vancouver says All big projects Are referred to it for appraise the City normally accepts the recommendations of the panel which consists of three a landscape Urban professional Engineer and staff of the City planning Val Werier we Are concerned about the physical design and How it is related to the Overall explains thus the slope of a planned building would be altered to allow More Sun into neighbouring a new Struc Ture must respect the handicraft and decorative facade of existing nearby there must be some compatibility in details and if you build next to a building with some says you respect whats an illustration in Winnipeg of compatibility is the Owca building across from the newer part of the University of it was built of the same dark red Brick and of a design in Harmony with the existing it gives a sense of neighbourhood and character to the nondescript Concrete not so at Portage and the oldest building is the Fine Bank of of Stone and classic proper then the Richardson building erupted from the Street Clad in nondescript or exposed the others Are in Concrete and the latest is the Triec building Clad in the facades Are the common Bond at Portage and main is sustained by the Concrete barricades against the the Concrete barricades have robbed Portage and main of its Charles historic coordinator of who recently visited says there is hardly a new building in Winnipeg that would have been permitted in the Loop in Chicago in terms of architectural design and Quality of but Winnipeg has proof too that a design panel can accomplish great in the historic restoration Here it is enforced by a zoning limited to the old Market Square the objective of the Zon ing bylaw is to retain and promote the architectural and historic character of the it controls the exterior materials and colors used on new and renovated encourages Pedes Trian character in the area and regu lates building the historic Winnipeg advisory in effect a design rules on any changes made in the including refacing and the committees rulings must be approved by the environment since the committee started operating two years the Overall Quality of design has been improved with the support and enthusiasm of owners and retiring chairman is head of the depart ment of landscape architecture at the University of says he we have Bee attempting to be helpful without compromising the standards so far we have been a recent example is an two Brick building on Princess taken Over by the Winnipeg police it had been modernized in 1954 with a new front of stained completely out of character with the rest of the building and the now it has been replaced with old Brick of the period and everyone was pleased with the final a Fine mix Rattray says there is a Fine mix on the committee Dave a plan Ner who is the new and a member of witty and associates Les architect Gerry professor of his tory Karl real estate appraiser Ross landscape a Lombard North group Fern Desilets of trend Interior consultants and Ray England of Toad Hall we May not have agreed at the says but Al most without we have ended up unanimously of a like the committee has worked and if there is to be a design panel for the entire it should have a wide plan Winnipeg recognizes that the City must set an example by assuring a High Standard of design Quality in All works for which it is the City indeed should set an exam ple in the design of its own let us insist that there be respect for the old buildings and a Stan Dard of excellence in new develop ments to give some style to the ;