Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 29, 1982, Winnipeg, Manitoba We Juji Ujj Jajjo Winnipeg free press 6f Trade few Luarty of 6fva sights Liberty 6f ftef0l6rt published Days week at Ciri cirt r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 Werft Lefi free press 1872 Wenri Peg Tribune 1690 Donald Micol publisher John Datoe editorial Page editor Muf flav Burf Clari Apfl 6dk6f Wudy Rebl Kip 6bvtr6fler sections of Public opinion have become aroused if the to fitted states and Europe recently about the danger to Huff Anity of growing nuclear weapons this rofl Ceffeli has been expressed it heated discussion at Public itt protest if efforts to organize on the Issue and in what is known in the United states As the nuclear freeze a March of significant numbers of Winnipeg efs took place some weeks marches have take i place if villages in Britain that close to bases where nuclear weapons or May soon mass rallies have occurred in West and in several they have occurred spontaneously in each location because Large numbers of people from All walks of life have decided that they want to express their worry about the nuclear weapons this development has pleased the dedicated band of those around the world who Are deeply committed to achieving Complete disarmament but whose frustrating role it is to spend much time holding Earnest meetings with Small writing passionate articles in newsletters and otherwise trying to galvanize what they often see As an apathetic it also has delighted the soviet onion and its relentless the of makes sure that this democratic phenomenon is virtually unknown in viewed from the the Western antinuclear move ment is for it May reduce the ability of in governments to sustain the consensus needed to support defence spending in general and nuclear weapon deploy ment in in a recent press president Ronald Reagan suggested in his own foreign agents were involved in organizing the nuclear freeze everyone realized he was talking about the Kab but attempts to secure his evidence produced mumblings about secret reports by intelligence it later transpired that his real source was an article in a Magazine by a known believer in Kab conspiracy Reagan then the Federal Bureau 6f to investigate this alleged threat to american finding mass demonstrations to be antidemocratic is a contradiction if terms such gatherings closely express the concept of democracy than do most political systems that have sit ice they afe Flot it very effective Way of establishing and control Liftig Public Phi key but they do serve to give vocal expression to ideas that Are attractive to those who turf the sheer fimbers involved require Fesper Toful attention for these ideas by All who Are involved Iri or Public although it would be wrong to suggest that ideas expressed in this Way should inevitably Lead to Public marches and rallies should not be brushed aside just because the topic is distasteful of and trying to those holding political Power Iri they Are an important part of the freedoms that Are characteristic of it is the very fact that those worried about nuclear weapons can publicly proclaim their dissent from their governments policy that makes life in a democratic society such an attractive to say that such protesters Are soviet dupes is to miss the it is Plain that the recent discontent in democratic countries about the scale of nuclear weapons stockpiles is a genuine expression of citizen thousands of people do Todt go out to March on cold Days because vehement tracts written by committed Dis armers have suddenly persuaded any More than they do so because sinister Kab agents have tricked they do of because publicly available facts have made an impression on them and because a probably arranged by committed allows them to express that privately reached Reagan and others disturbed by mass protests against nuclear weapons would show greater understanding of democracy if they abstained dishonourable motives to those engaging in such improved the of their own arguments and conceded that any subsequent failure to persuade should be followed by modifications in the government policies being a Brake on bundling Hows business in Telephone the decision bythe Canadian radio television and telecommunications commission to allow residents of three provinces an the Northwest territories to own All their including the first set at each is known As rate part of the decision forces the Telephone company to maintain the customers even though he might choose to Purchase All his phones from sources other than the in Many it is similar to the situation with Cable the Cable company supplies the and charges but the customer decides which Brand of television set he will buy and one of the main advantages of such a system is that it acts As a Brake on Cross subsidization of Telephone the decision would indicate that the Federal regulatory where it has believes that it is entirely too cosy an arrangement a Telephone company to tie up All its charges in a neat package labelled monthy service there Are Many canadians who will not Benefit from this several including have Telephone systems operated by their provincial govern while the general perception of a private Telephone company is one of a profit making corporation which has to be controlled by the government to protect the the perception of a government system is often that of a benign and Friendly organization which operates with the Good of the Public in the truth is somewhere in Between in both private a owned Telephone companies must provide reasonable service or face the ire of their customers at Public and government owned systems do face the same temptations to Cross subsidize their costs As their private compete government owned Telephone systems have behind the private companies in giving up their monopolies of equipment private companies have not rushed to allow their customers More but have been forced by government regulatory agencies to give their customers these newfound customers of privately owned government regulated companies were forced to allow customers the right to own their own telephones Manitoba Tele phone acting on orders from the extended the same privilege to to the detriment of the Manitoba business customers in this province still do not have the same right to private ownership of something their competitors have when dealing with their private Telephone r the ability of these private companies to Cross subsidize their costs will be severely limited by the most recent crts the crts acted in what it believed to be the Best interests of the customers of those until the Manitoba Telephone system follows this Manitoban will continue to be the victims of Cross subsidization costs imposed on their use of Basic Telephone communications created among other the flights into the never never world of research and development that have marked recent its Quick action it is possible that meteor developments a firm in which former Liberal Cabinet minister Judd Buchanan is a just Luck Cyan dealing with the Federal bureaucrat any organization that is Able to obtain a permit to build an apartment Block within a National Park in just three weeks must have something going for the Park includes a year round Community whose affairs Are handled by Parks getting permission to build there is complicated to say the Nysp for meteor developments Wirich had planned a 76unit apartment building in what was once a Community a Parks Canada Leon has said that such plans would usually take three months to Deal in meteors the permit was issued in three before an environmental assessment was who said he was ordered to sign the resigned the Deal smells to High environment minister John Roberts maintains that Buchanan involve meet in the company had Kcf influence on the Buchanan says he had no influence at All in the he should know his Way around Parks since he once served administer responsible for the Security Issue by Wilson special to the free press Ottawa the judicial decision Al lowing police to Bug private premises but denying them permission to make a secret entry to install the equipment Niay represent Good Law but it reflects poor the decision came from Justice David the Alberta Jurist who headed Long Royal commis Sion on ramp activities and his decision now is consistent with his conclusions at the end of the inquiry that the actions of the criminal police and the Security service must be within Stric interpretations of the officers Zeal the Security problems that led up to the inquiry really All arose from the Zeal of officers operating in a situation where they had neither Clear direct Ives from the government nor the Clear Protection of the Law for much that was expected of the report from Justice Mcdonald and his col leagues was powerful on the need for a Legal basis for police and Security service activities but exceedingly weak in its refusal to face up properly to the real question of governmental responsibility for much that the is coming closer to facing that Issue in a somewhat indirect than he did when he approved the his recent decision makes i Clear the basis of his knowledge of the Law and the ads rebuttal i wish to comment on some of the letters in readers f6rumv free november 20 particularly the two written by members of the univer sity of Manitoba department of eco professor Vorst has ignored some important he refers tothe Mas proposal for binding arbitration with an opting Dut escape almost 100 per cent of the doctors in Manitoba practise under they Are not allowed to Bill patients directly for insured services or to the so doctors who Are not involved in the they do not receive Money directly from the but Deal their patients on an individual this Small minority does not represent a threat to the All other doctors in this province support the principle of Are practising under medicare and have indicated their willingness to forgo the right to opt out for the duration of the this can hardly be consid ered an escape when i was a University just Mil Wor Frey lung prior to when some members the class were at Home those of us who were present would frequently be subjected to Long tirade by a professor who was upset by the poor but the wrong people were being attacked we were the Good up Why is professor Vorst attacking those doctors who medicare and Are trying to preserve he goes on to say that fee increases awarded by a mutually agreed upon arbiter May Well necessitate a higher level of doctors should not be allowed to escape the same risk of an Adverse t the answer to this statement is Obi of course they should not be to by to binding the doctors should be required to give up the right to take Job the right to opt out for the duration of the contract and be required to accept As final the decision of the arbitration Board with respect to the doctors involved in tons Are on record As having agreed to As to the matter of amount at risk for the government is six per cent of its the amount at risk for the doctors is Joo per cent of their this is a risk the doctors Are willing to take As an alternative to annual Stephen in his nor do j have the privilege of out and nor does he have the privilege of being wakened at 3 from a sound sleep by a student who is having trouble with his term nor does he have the privilege of being called away from recreational activities or functions by a student in need of emergency nor does his wife have the privilege of reheating dinner because he was delayed by an ailing As these people Are using their position at the University to Tabish credibility with the As they should a higher my Winnipeg letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from writers must give their name and address names will be used and letters Are subject to facts of medicare a great Deal has been written and spoken about the present doctor gov Ern ment controversy on binding arbitration and on opting out some of it some of it and unfortunately much of it Complete ignorance extending to blatant it might be appropriate to Point out one fact that has been consistently overlooked by the Media and by the of that important fact is that medicare was forced on the medical profession by the Federal government of the prior to All govern ments were told by the Canadian medi Cal association and by the provincial medical associations that the plan was too would be too costly in the Long and ultimately the Vic Tims of scheme the physicians would become scapegoats for All the shortcomings from excessive from overuse of diagnostic services and whatever other complaints could be foisted off on people have been told that it is their inalienable Birthright to be Able to go to any medical facility at any time of the Day or Winter or and get immediate attention for any actual or imagined illness dentally acquired free of of these services Are not the profession is at the time of implementation of the great the physicians were Given the option of operating in or out of the scheme open and receive Remur Ner Atlon directly from the government insuring or up put and Deal with your patient most including chose to opt in initially in order to give the scheme a change the prove a few diehards chose to stay out and remain Independent including a doctors we fled the government plans of Britain and Continental they warned the rest of us of the lon term consequences of government controlled time has proven the Canad an medical the provincial medical and the refugees from overseas medicare it took this writer seven years to be worn Down to the Point of opting out and dealing directly with his medical and Hospital costs have gone but not As much As the Gross National with their relatively High incomes and their relatively Low physicians Are High profile but significantly powerless individuals and easy to the fact that most of the High income is related to Long and irregular working hours of if the average physicians 60 hours per week were reduced to the average Industrial week of 40 or government ten Joyee week of with fringe benefits of paid paid sick paid pension plan indexed to inflation with respect to government and regular Coffee Breaks during working the so called High hourly medical income would having closed my off ice for two Days a week Over the past two and worked Only about 40 hours each week As a j have of Pond that the extra time i have for recreation and relaxation is and my wife claims that having me at Home for dinner at 6 instead of is very Nice it is up attractive that if the provincial government will put on salary for my j then it wont have to wring its hands my being opted put any lacking the ing arbitration is the my win Peg information and experience gained As Royal he feels that the government must face its Respo Sibili it is not quite Clear Why it should have taken the work of two Royal commissions there was an earlier one headed by Max Mckenzie to get to this unsurprising in some the balance Between the interests of the state and the rights of the individual May be so delicate that it is difficult to Frame a general Law that will apply fairly and reasonably in All possible that certainly is not the Case in legislation dealing with wiretapping and other forms of eavesdropping and electronic if a country legislators Are Satis fied As ours Are that there will be times when it will be justified for the police or Security service to1 place listening devices in Peoples Homes or then it is simply ducking an important part of the problem to make no provision for them to get the equip ment in place without breaking the no difference the real Issue is the Sanctity or otherwise of not the extent of the Law of if the legislature of a country decides that it is within the acceptable standards of their society for this surreptitious interception of communications to place at then the Basic decision has been there is no important forgotten oath have doctors who closed their doors on the sick forgotten the oath that they took were these doctors forced into the medical or did they choose it of their own free will i no longer have a High regard for most As they Are now nothing More than vultures who Are holding their patients As hostages by their partial withdrawal of to put an end to this door i have a to All patients whose doctors have closed their files change doctors to one who puts your health before Money for the doctor you change to will be there when you need because he did not close his the doctor who did close office cannot be depended on of he close it he will Crit and the next time May Cost you your once these so called doctors find their offices empty and no income coming maybe then they will appreciate what Money they get and will think twice before closing their doors on the health and concern of their Winnipeg difference whether the intercepted communication is by face to face by by in some the Law of trespass becomes an obstacle where the conversation is by Telephone or if a persons conversations his wife or business associates is going to be listened to it probably s not a matter of first importance to the target that there has been a trespass in his living room or Tje is Likely to consider the intrusion on his privacy greater in Theca of Thea Tual eavesdropping Tjian the trespass scruple it is not moral scruple that Jias kept this country parliament ing to grips with the sort of Mcdonald court it is the casual approach the Trudeau government to the whole it almost entirely ignored the two reports from Royal commis Sions studying Security if it had paid objectionable police activities of the Early 1970s could have been it has not ignored the Mcdonald commission proposals but it has been exceedingly lackadaisical in acting on fifteen months have gone by since the decision was taken to establish a civil Ian Security service separate from the the proposed legislation to establish it is still before a Cabinet com has to be both reasonable and delivery people hop on and off the Drivers seat dozens of and the police have better to do than to act As glorified babysitters to the one Hopes that such bureaucratic creativity will soon impose on us tooth brushing after every meal Ron Michelutti Winnipeg ads deserve raise i found Gordon Sinclair quasi satirical invective of this province in his column whats up Doc free november 17 juvenile in tone and in poor our doctors deserve every cent they and More if one considers the tremendous responsibility for human life and Well being that they carry 24 hours a i wonder whether Sinclair would dare to question the salaries of some football or hockey players their salaries Are several times Higier than those of our Eustace Zug Casky Winnipeg anti Seatbelt i read the editorial free november 13 which pred compulsory Seatbelt with the fallacy in the argument is the premise if it is then legislate we so Pyle ban whose Spica i ravages in comparison tithe nonuser of seat bits Are and the use of firearms for sport to eliminate accidental shoot we already have an example of such lunacy in the recently pm Seq Law Tjit forbids cyclists to Wear one can hear the traffic perfectly Well despite my chief ejection the Seatbelt legis Al legislative its it yera r card but not the grasp mtr raid i v i ;