Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 22, 1985, Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 Winnipeg free january 1985 Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade Equality of civil rights Libert of religion published six Days a week at 300 Carlton Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 Winnipeg free press Winnipeg Tribune 1890 Donald Nicol publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor Murray Burt managing editor Rudy Redekop controller a member of the Manitoba press Council starting at the top Ronald reagans second term As president of the United states seems to be starting on a wave of voter Confidence that almost matches the support shown for him after the assassination attempt in his first year in shortly after the March attempt on his 67 per cent of those polled said he was doing a Good Job As a new York times Cross country poll of adults has just produced a 62percent approval rating for his the majority opinion includes Union members and poor since the logic of his approach to the Economy is that Union members and the poor will help him to reduce his enormous spending deficit by having their social Protection programs the reason for their support for him must lie in his theatrical skill in making things seem As they Are his economic policy in his second term will continue the first term theme of spending More than his govern ment earns through tax the billion current deficit that he has created will keep growing As he spends More on defence than is needed or can be efficiently to protect the tax in creases will be fiercely to protect the Penta he will continue his firs term policy of cutting social the Lon term damage created by his deficit financing will have to be solved by arms control policy in his second term has an ambiguous in he softened his ant soviet rhetoric so As to reduce his warmonger image among Young and women now he has secured a resumption of arms control talks with the soviets so that the record will suggest that he wanted to be a his Choice of negotiators for the three level talks with the soviets puts in question the seriousness of his commitment to achieving any Only one of them is a career official with experience in such the other two have been chosen because their ignorance of arms control issues and of the techniques of negotiating arms control is less important to Reagan than the fact that both played key roles in destroying any Hope of Senate ratification of Salt their value to him As his arms control negotiators is their proven disbelief in arms one of Max has coauthored an article appearing in next sundays new York times Magazine whose theme is that the near term Outlook for the coming arms control talks is with him at the that is a prediction Worth Kampelman does have negotiating experience of a having been part of the delegation in the three year shouting match that was the Madrid portion of the continuing conference on Security and cooperation in retired Texas democratic senator John known Best for his Speed in saying yes to any Pentagon request during his undistinguished Senate has no negotiating experience at All and knows nothing about the icbms and slams that will be his negotiating reagans policy towards the Middle East in his second term May continue to be a fervent Hope that it will disappear off the his firs term symbolized by the terrible Slaughter of 241 marines in 1983 by lebanese revealed his enormous ignorance of the regions realities and his failure to learn As he went after four years of his ineffective the shining achievement in the Middle East remains the 1978 Camp David accords Between Egypt and Israel that came about because of the efforts of former president Jimmy the Reagan administration now talks of discussing the Middle East with the soviet Union but hastens to add that no joint approach is in Central Reagan is signalling that his second term attitudes will stress brawn rather than without a scrap of he has unilaterally broken off the discreet talks with Nicara Gua that have been going on for months in an attempt to improve bilateral he has resumed his Campaign to secure funds from Congress for the Central intelligence Agency secret War against reagans main offering seems to be this has its attraction but More is expected from the chief executive of a superpower in a dangerous reminds everybody talks about the cold but nobody does anything about 0 liberals need the pm is not finished the Hartline separatist nearly 500 in who marched out of the parti quebecois conference after losing their Effort to keep Quebec Independence in the party program physically left the Hall but they did not quit the they can read a poll As Well As they know that a frankly and wholeheartedly separatist party will not win a Quebec and so there is Little Point in quitting the pm to form such a there is always room for splinter parties in the political some of who followed Camille Laurin into organized opposition against Premier Levesque and the pm majority will probably feel inclined to Start a new party that will not dilute its thinking with compromises and will proclaim the pure and True gospel of Quebec such a party would be Able to draw some manpower and some electoral support away from the especially in the Montreal pm organizations have always been centres of opposition to but without the Well oiled province wide machine which Levesque and his allies such a party would Likely do no better against the established parties than the parti National did against the liberals and conservatives in last years Federal the dissidents can follow the example of former finance minister Jacques Parizeau and withdraw from they can stay in the parti quebecois and try to be the conscience of the forever tugging it away from pragmatic electoral considerations and Back to Ward the principles of a few might find new political Homes in other organizations in the Union for or in Federal but if Laurin allows them to scatter they will cease to be a United they Are not numerous enough to carry a vote in a pm party they will be reduced to writing memoirs about the Heady Days of 1976 and the disarray of the pm and the Strong polling Lead for the Quebec liberals seem to spell doom for Leves que and his one poll has even found that the pm would do better with Pierremarc Johnson As Leader than with but the election is not being held now and there is no compelling reason for Levesque to upset his timetable and Call he will need time to establish local organizations in the districts where the disappointed hardliners can no longer be counted on to do the party local work for he will need time Talent the current excitement Cool Down and to show that he can pull together a presentable government from those who remain with the liberals Are asking the Quebec Public to restore Robert Bourassa to the Power from which they removed him eight and on half years Bourassa won elections in the Early 1970s by playing on fear of the separatist alternative which then As soon As the pm started backing away from Bourassa ceased winning the former Premier has not sought a seat in the Quebec Assembly As a premiering waiting would normally his years out of Power have not made him noticeably More appealing than his shrill denunciations of the pcs new policy Orienta Tion May express either the anger of the righteous Man or the frustration of a politician who sees Power once again slipping from his with Levesque still in command of an army though is still probably the biggest and Best equipped in the the liberals Are a Long Way from polls which seem to be delivering Power into their hands should be read with great by Wilson special to the free press Otta Wathe slight improve ment in Liberal standing in the Gal Lup poll instead of the predicted slump to below the new democrats level should discourage some of the party sniping that has been aimed at John Turner in recent a much More cogent reason for ending the would be the damage it does the party As Well As its something liberals ought to be Able to see from the effect ant Clark sniping had on the conservatives Only three or four years finding feet it has not yet been demonstrated whether be an effective Leader for the liberals in opposition or so far the problem has not Only been that he is still finding his so is the party its image than its All the signs visible to any outsider suggest at this most liberals Are preoccupied with the wrong problem to get Back into of facing the hard Job of devising and agreeing on the sort of policies they believe would be most appropriate for the rest of the 1980s and the first years of the next the Liberal party has been operating in a policy vacuum Ever since Pierre Trudeau completed his constitutional it still oper ates in a too much time is wasted on sterile debate on whether the party should move to the left or Plant itself firmly in the Centre of the the debate is pointless because it ignores three vital factors d political Power in Canada is Only secured at the National level by capturing the support of the Centre d the greatest problem facing All Canadian political now and for the near to Middle is How to broaden the base of the country Economy sufficiently to avoid the looming Prospect of heavy Lon term that does not lend itself to left right solutions unless someone thinks the most improbable of All things is happening and that the Canadian people Are moving towards they Are d the next most pressing prob getting National finances Back in is not a left right Issue it is urgent because until that is accomplished Federal administrations will go on being unable to Govert freely instead of finding their policy choices constrained at every disarray any one who doubts that the govern ability of Canada is seriously impaired need Only think Back to the recession of 19811982 when the government was unable to adopt Normal counter cyclical measures because its finances were already in such total this is not a left right Issue be cause a socialist government would find its policy choices just As con strained As a conservative one does uncaring police i would like to thank the Chap bundled up in sweaters and scarves who waved us Down on a late sunday afternoon on Highway half Way Between the Birds Hill Park intersection and the obscured by blowing were several cars scattered helter shelter along the the High Way was a Sheet of without that citizens Quick and responsible a there would have been Many More after finding a place to Park beyond another and while this Good citizen attended the people of yet another i moved up the Road to warn oncoming after about 20 i was replaced by another responsible citizen this a Cross country by this time some Good Samari tans had picked up the Accident victims and taken them to we left the scene in search of help to relieve the two volunteers still on the we had some disappointing a in Crew was repairing a signal damaged earlier at a two in police cars were there and As we drove up one i ran through the Manitoba blizzard Snow and requested that the remain ing car radio the departing car and have it go to the Accident area and wait with its warning lights Flash ing until the ramp they there were two More police cars at an this it was Winnipeg and East Paul i thought the City police could Man this intersection freeing the East Paul policeman to head out and relieve the the East Paul policeman would not even hear me in aware of it is All i could get out of we were greatly disappointed in their response and Good citizens risked their lives with no warning equipment prevent further two police forces with fully equipped vehicles Avail Able ignored the Don Scott la for Inkster Winnipeg mad race much printed and so has lately been expended on the dire need to curb the superpowers armaments both nuclear and conventional in analysing the reasons behind this Lunatic com two Are customarily offered by columnists and editorial writers military superiority and the opportunities for raking in a and far More possibility not been american strategists believe that the soviet Economy will eventually be bankrupted under the sheer weight of attempting to match nuclear whereas the Economy can afford to carry the resultant military overburden until such time As the russians have been starved in the the Quality of our lives suffers ably and the threat of split second annihilation looms larger and we Are All eventual losers in this Call it More plough Jeff Winnipeg letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from writers must give their name and names will be used and letters Are subject to undemocratic in your frontage article ads Clank on extra Billing free january 17 on the Manitoba medi Cal association District 1 meet you leave the impression that the contentious Issue is the preservation of extra that your re Porter might get this perception is because Mma confused the discus Sion by stating that those who Are the Mma government tentative agreement Are doing so because they Are trying to preserve extra this is not we Are opposed to ratification of this agree ment because it is no and we said so at the the referendum is not on extra the referendum asks whether Doc tors will accept a fee package of per cent for plus a three year period of possible arbitration begin Ning in and whether we want compulsory dues the per cent for 1985 is ridiculously Low when you Bear in mind that we received Only two per cent in 1984 and three per cent in if we agree to a watered Down version of arbitration As described in this proposal we for at least four Cut ourselves off from any Protection that is Avail Able to the profession through the clause on arbitration enshrined in the Canada health we Are also disturbed by the historical fact that the government employed doctors of Manitoba had compulsory arbitration in their contract and it was taken away from them when they used it on Only one the government can Call the Deal off on 30 Days can they be trusted to adhere to this agreement this agreement is also going to be a template for other provinces to there is much con Cern and dismay in Ontario and they have sent experts to Manitoba to urge Manitoba doctors to be More circumspect and the Mma Manitoba government tentative agreement stacks up poorly with what was achieved in in Nova Scotia they settled for an immediate per cent plus another per cent on april they gained final offer binding arbitration that has no government mandated ceiling As is the Case Here and no 30day termination we should be Able to negotiate something much better than most doctors at the meet ing objected to the secrecy that surrounded the even Mma Board members were not trusted with the knowledge that negotiations were occurring and what was being sending out the ballots by registered mail within 48 hours of the Board and with a preamble giving Only one Side of the and no general meet is not giving enough Opportunity for the profession to consider the question it is tantamount to taking a vote and then engaging in the if this had been the strategy in the last Federal election we would have elected John Turner As prime because at the beginning of the Campaign he was by far the most popular this undemocratic method of taking a vote was rejected at the meeting of District which contains around 80 to 85 per cent of the voting doctors in the they have voted by a three to one majority that the ballots Al ready sent in Are to be so that doctors can vote on the basis of More Complete and More balanced Henry my Secretary Mma District 1 Winnipeg at present and a Liberal one did until a few months the need to recover the capacity to govern with some Freedom of policy choices is unless one believes that the least possible government is always the it is on these great issues of the Day that the liberals ought to be it is no use them wasting their time wishing Pierre Trudeau had not stayed so Long or that Turner had turned out to be a different sort of col they do not know where they stand on the most important issues facing them on Turner is Likely to be a better guide than most men they could Oil Shock they would do Well to for that he made an inter As chairman of the International monetary funds interim committee when the first of the great Oil shocks were sending the world Teeling and the problem of recycling huge surpluses of Oil Dol Lars was hanging Over the International financial a Wiser party would remember and encourage him to put that sort of experience to work in guiding it to wards a firm and sensible approach to this country greatest problem broadening the economic Turner himself will need a steady he lacked it during the Campaign but he seemed to have it in the past and it can hardly have died As Well As the has some serious reassessing to career ruined inaccuracies when i read letters written by a representative of the Winnipeg coordinating committee for disarmament about i am this is the same group of people who stood and cheered while a Man with a Black Hood burned the United states Flag in front of the consulate last this is also the same group that openly fought with police in front of to cameras during their so called peace protest on the american invasion of i contacted this group for their opinion of the shooting Down of the korean one person would not comment and another insisted it was a spy plane on a Mission for the it did not matter that there were women and children on there Are hardcore known communists among the Winnipeg coordinating committee for disarm of they Only admit to being concerned citizens for i realize that there Are thou Sands of people who Are Good people and truly dedicated to peace on but i Hope they do not ruin their career by being involved with groups such As the i was and now my career and possibly my future is Gord Friesen Winnipeg not a free press i was sorry to read that you plan to Start a sunday if you Are you must admit that you Are doing this purely to undermine the to kill their one exclusive feature Multi to dispose of them As was done with the can you not live and let live a democracy needs diverse news re a monopoly is ethically wrong for a democratic if your ploy eventually liquidates the we will no longer have a truly free you would print Only what suited Margaret Pask Winnipeg the recent coverage you provided of my portable wheelchair ramp research project in the article collapsible wheelchair ramp passes trial free january 4 was i like to Correct a few in the first i never told anyone wheelchair lifts Are not por fact the warehouse where my ramp was located had its floor level four feet above i would not have been Able to get into the building if a portable supplied by Exel had not been loaned for the it was very portable and easily transported in a pickup in reuse of my ramp in two or three locations makes it More economical than the Cost of wooden which cannot be the last Point i wish to make is that there Are funds left in the research project to demonstrate my prototype at a number of locations for a few i would Welcome the Opportunity to do so for anyone who could make use of Jenkins Winnipeg but you must come to the Ronnie wearing his new ;