Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 1987, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free january Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights published seven Days a week at 300 Carton Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Donald Nicol publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor Murray Burt managing editor Rudy Redekop controller a member of the Manitoba press Council editorials be patient on Potash minister Wilson Parasiuk is Back from his third trip to India in two with his enthusiasm for a Manitoba Potash mine showing no signs of being the minister willing to concede that concluding a Deal with India that could see the develop ment of a mine will require patience on the part of for that Manitoba taxpayers be thank it is now almost a year since Back from a trip to said he had made some tentative arrangements for the possible involvement of Manitoba in a partnership with the mines and Metal trading corporation of to develop a new Potash mine near Lazare in Western a month after he made the the same Indian company signed an agreement to buy More Potash from Saskatchewan than that province had Saskatchewan was Able to pull off the Deal because it agreed to accept some of the payment for the Potash in India made there has been no mention of what Manitoba would buy in return for Indian purchases of Parasiuk Hopes for a Potash mine in this province face some severe it is difficult to see How such a mine could come into being in the near future without substantial financial backing from the govern the world Potash Market is swimming in surplus Saskatchewan will lose More Money Selling Potash this year than it did and has developed production capacity sitting in this it is unlikely that private capital would be attracted to another new with its initial development costs and a Low potential for the Manitoba Enterprise would have to compete against a firmly entrenched largely backed by the Saskatchewan that has no intention of losing its dominant position in the Manitoba is in no financial position to undertake the development of such a and should Haye second thoughts about creating a new Potash source that will have to compete with mines already developed and with surplus Manitoban will have to Hope that Parasiuk is a Man of limitless Margaret Laurence Canada lost one of its Foremost novelists and finest writers when Margaret Laurence died earlier this when her first novel this Side Jordan was published in 1960 there were some perceptive critics who recognized that an outstanding new Talent had appeared on the literary this was followed in 1963 by the tomorrow Tamer which contains some of the Best Short stories Ever turned out by a Canadian both these As Well As the prophets Camel were set in Africa where Margaret Laurence had been living More and she Felt constrained to write of her own country and especially of life in the Small Manitoba Community where she had her roots and whose idiom and customs she knew so the result was a remarkable series of books written in the 10 years Between 1964 and 1974 and dealing with the fictional town of this is usually identified with Neepawa where Margaret Laurence grew although it is really an amalgam of Many Small towns and villages throughout Margaret Laurence knew All too Well the crippling inhibitions and prejudices that held Sway in these often a legacy from their scots Irish presbyterian but she also knew that courageous and Noble natures need not she wrote of Brave notably Hagar Shipley in the Stone who battled against the Odds and never surrendered and because she was by now a master of her and because she wrote with compassion and with a deep understanding of human she created memorable characters men As Well As women who will remain an imperishable part of our she herself encountered hostility and mean minded Ness and on several occasions there were attempts made to suppress the use of her books in schools because they were judged by some to be obscene and she was wounded by these charges and would reply indignantly that her books in highly moral because they asserted the eternal dignity and Worth of human in of she was right and it was her self righteous critics who sinned against the an examination of the theological themes and biblical overtones in her novels would be a fascinating and worthwhile in an introduction to a collection of her she revealed something of the Way she conceived her role As a the whole process of fiction is a mysterious she and a however remains in some ways a perpetual or perhaps a perpetual an explorer of those inner Terri those strange lands of the heart and she was not Only a great writer but she was a Wise and kind woman and All of us Are the poorer for her chutzpah do Voyageur give festival do Voyageur top Marks for every year the festival gets another years delay on repayment of the which it borrowed from the City in 1981 to buy and renovate its Hall and office building on tache the usual excuse is they do not have the Money just this they do have the and so this year the line is that the City should lift the forgive the loan and just forget about Ever seeing its Money a year ago the festival organization got a Grant from the Federal and provincial governments As part of their joint tourism development program to finance a study on festival finances and after that Worth of expertise and the ensuing internal the festival executive has found the Way to improve their finances Stop paying their they hardly needed a study to discover that destination which is the grand title for the Federal provincial tourism would have done More Good All around by paying the City Council a instalment to reduce the festivals the festival All on their own and free of had come up with the idea of not paying the that is what they have done in each of the last three the City should never have advanced the loan in the first place because it Drew the festival into expanding beyond its festival spokesmen themselves Are saying that people Are now tired of the festival and need to be offered something different and More the City should never have tolerated the annual deferrals of repayment because the deferrals fostered the illusion that the loan was not really a loan but could be transformed bit by bit into a now the festival is trying to Cash in on that make it a reality and make the City and its taxpayers Shell out to a profitable Enterprise the they would not give to a Money losing one five years the councils answer should be a Flat if the festival fails to make the agreed the mortgaged building should be repossessed and the occupants charged the Council has better things to do with of taxpayers Money than give it to an entertainment Enterprise which does not need crucial decisions face tories by Stewart Macleod special to the free press Ottawa according to pollster Allan who expressed his opinion on television last the Mulroney governments perform or Lack of is its overriding his View is that previously fingered As the main culprit in the governments sagging popu is not the real Issue after its a performance he it is the absence of an understandable string of successes that Are associated with government great chances that being the the government certainly has some glorious opportunities to perform in Seldom has a Federal government entered a new year with so Many major issues on the front the trouble is that All offer equal risks of int it funny that just a few Short months ago everyone was say ing the Mulroney government had no Agenda now we Are suddenly talk ing about Agenda however that May it is a crucial year for a government that now is a full 10 percentage Points behind the opposition if performance is replacing credibility As the prime it becomes even More of All the major items before the none can be pushed out of it is a Case of win or lose with the final outcome apparent to All in each take the free Trade negotiations with the United by october president Reagan must inform Congress on whether there is an agreement with the recent softwood lumber fiasco indicates just How difficult it May be to reach any comprehensive Accord in the next nine this is certainly a performance Challenge for the Mulroney so is tax that is one of the major preoccupations of the finance department these particularly now that the americans have re formed their it is something that cannot be pushed aside As Many previous governments have there is no Way to change taxes without getting Buffet Ted from some politically risky then there is the Long promised Reform of our social including unemployment Tam Pering with even in the name of is As politically risky As tax perhaps even More do not forget the federa Provin Cial conference on native previous meetings on this subject have never come close to another if it will be in front of National television Audi efforts to get Quebec to sign the Constitution Are intensifying and Are almost certainly to come before the prime minister and provincial government before the year is although a Federal headed by senator Lowell is quietly trying to reach a Broad consensus before the Issue becomes too there is still a Strong possibility of a highly visible even if the negotiations come to naught before a conference is the failure would be obvious to Mulroney has placed a High priority on bringing Quebec into the constitutional vote promised let us not forget capital punish ment i the prime minister would prefer to do just but having promised a parliamentary and a free on the subject during this Calendar Mulroney has Little it is Clear that a majority of maps favor restoring the death but the prime minister is not one of them and it is still not Clear How his government might react to a vote to reinstate capital these Are not by any Means the Only major issues facing the govern ment in although they May be the most obvious when it comes to assessing Success or if Gregg is right about performance being the key to the governments 1987 is probably the most important year in the political life of one Brian drug prices in his letter drug changes de fended free december 20 Harvie Andre assured us that drug prices in Canada were suppressed by mass buying and Price negotiations of provincial and that a review Board will Monitor drug prices under Bill my experience with drug prices is reflected in two recent a tube of pol Sporin not a prescription drug Cost three years an identical Purchase last no vember Cost almost double the Cost of the earlier a vial of Beagan a prescription for treat ment of glaucoma Cost in the same prescription on december Cost an increase of almost 25 per cent in two in Light of i fail to see the need for government Protection of pharmaceutical corporations who Are already Able to increase Revenue rates against the helpless All i see in Bill c22 is another de Thornhill Winnipeg Harvie Andre Nomi ups while following the Progress of the free Trade wars Between the United states and i recalled an incident that could be prophetic As far As the results Are Early in this the Ontario government built a railway from North Bay to Moosonee to amongst other the fabulously Rich Gold mines of the Kirkland Lake area now mostly dead and the Rich Silver mines of Cobalt also Long the line was called the Temiscaming and Northern Ontario or the and soon Canada received complaints from the on behalf of the Texas and new Orleans and which complained their cars were getting mixed up with the Canadian cars of and with utmost despatch orders were Given and the name of the illicit Temiscaming and Northern Ontario or was changed to the Ontario Northland or so the Texas and new Orleans Railroad have not had any More it appears that the will not tolerate any More mix ups like lumber being mixed up with american George Russell Winnipeg private matter the women of this country should be outraged that a Young woman private decision to seek an abortion becomes frontage news across this could not happen if abortion were taken out of the Crimi Nal although it is the roadblocks put up can and do re move that Choice from Many by retaining that control Over Canada is behind other Western women should not put up with this Lack of they should let their members of parliament in no Uncertain that like any other medical should be a private matter Between a woman and her the state has no business Grace Ivey Winnipeg letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from writers must give their name and names will be used and letters Are subject to care for elderly it is unfortunate when a subject such As the medical care of the elderly receives publicity with Only one Side of the Story being i refer to the article physicians Bills for Calls in care Homes under study free december it is apparent that the primary role of the medical review commit tee is to keep the costs of doctors visits to their patients in personal care Homes at the lowest possible commendable from a financial Point of but what about Quality of care standards there is no doubt in my mind As in any area of Public there will be abuse of the system by some the committees role is certainly to detect and apprehend such offenders to the full extent of the do not make it appear to the Public that doctors in personal care Homes Are generally suspected of being i write As the administrator of an accredited personal care who is proud of the Standard of care being provided to our when i read of the complaints and troubles being experienced by our counterparts in other i cannot help but think that the things being reported could not happen in our Home without something being done about the physicians on our regular attending staff visit on their set Day each week agree to see each others patients at the request of our professional nursing staff when necessary and meet regular on their own to carry out clinical review of the total care being Here Are some Points worthy of consideration by the and also by the medical review committee and the College of physicians and surgeons with the advancing age and in creasing number of elderly in our Only the most urgent Candi dates for continuing care Are being admitted to our personal care Homes the result a higher level of care Are the elderly citizens to be denied the professional expertise of physicians in diagnosing and regulating their once they Are admitted to a personal care Home d As health usually deteriorates with advancing should the elderly person not have the advantage of frequent monitoring by a to follow up on concerns noted by the nursing to pre clude further and pre vent costly hospitalization when acute illness or Accident strikes requiring at tending physicians will often Dis charge patients when they know they will be receiving continuing medical assessment and Atten Tion in a Good personal care this not Only saves costly Hospital Days for the elderly but also frees up much needed acute treatment Beds for others who Are urgently awaiting d for the elderly person whose Days in this life Are num How much More dignified and peaceful it is to end ones life in the familiar surroundings of their with those caring for them whom they have come to know and than to be moved out to a Hospital to the former is what can happen in a personal care Home where a doctor Calls most Days and gives the needed medical support to the nursing staff for such terminal care and without going into the obvious Cost savings can be added to the much preferred Comfort and an invitation still stands to Rogers and his committee to come to meet with representatives from my Board of the medical and nursing staffs and to review our pattern of medical Hayes administrator Mead Wood Manor Winnipeg school Board the editorial spenders and cobblers free december 20 starts with the Contention that the voting patterns emerging on the school Board of the Winnipeg school division do not provide a rational method for making decisions and ends up with the suggestion that education in Winnipeg is served Best by obstinate trustees who Are insensitive to representation from the both opinions verge on As if that were not the writer then argues those positions by attempting to discredit trustees who Are prepared to listen and the delegations who appear before the delegations Are dismissed As nothing More than lobby groups who Haye Only their self interest in mind while trustees favouring the retention of programs Are labelled cobblers and swingers contrasting with references made to trustees who favor spending cuts by their proper such editorial writing is Best relegated to the Garden Patch for deep it is not unusual for trustees to change their it has been done Many times in the past and will occur in the obstinacy is not a virtue in Public affairs and Only a foolish trustee discounts Public pressure As of no the editorial makes much out of the boards decision to reconsider cutting the food experience portion of the nutrition program in the new the who also Are appearing in support of the program offered a wide Range of reasons Why the program should be at least one compelling argument was provided by a representative of the South East asian refugee Community the school nutrition program provides the Opportunity for asian households to learn Western food values necessary to the physical development of growing children in a climate considerably More severe than in South East that Point almost Over looked in the Rush to trim the Bottom would be sufficiently significant to warrant reconsideration of the boards approach to the the current school Board has Cho sen to Chart its own course rather than accepting without question the near panic reelection decisions of the previous that election turned out not to be a conclusive statement in favor of spending the Case for any spending cuts is yet to be the budget process extending Over the next two months is the time for such de Kowalchuk Winnipeg caring for Sheik it is interesting to note that health minister Larry Desjardins says the province cannot afford the per cent increase awarded to Manitoba doctors through yet through this same govern ment sent millions of dollars to a Sheik in saudia it appears our nip government is More concerned about the welfare of a Sheik in saudia Arabia than the health of the people of pooles Winnipeg of its terrible Junior wants to be president when he grows ;