Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 1987, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg fret press january Page 7 focus caught in Chad War by Wiliam Pfaff special to the free press Paris the conflict in Chad is of no intrinsic importance to anyone except a limited number of people in to their French and americans All have been drawn Moa mar Qadhafi of carrying on the same policy As the american supported libyan monarchy he overthrew in claims the Northern Region of whose population More closely resembles Libya own largely Nomad population than the animist and Christian Black africans of chads the United states is involved because of Qadhafi Man the Reagan administration loves to Paris fed up Paris is fed up with and with the United states As which Paris looks upon As having prompted president Hissen Habre exploit the break that took place late last year Between chads rebels in the North and their libyan sponsors in order to try to reunite his Washington is sup posed to have encouraged him to think that France would have to Back him the French grudgingly did in with an Airlift of arms into the North and to protect As France is committed to if the affair goes the United states has itself made a million emergency Mili tary Aid allotment to the War in Chad is one More of Many intractable legacies of Coloni al the North and South of Chad should never have been put the North is occupied by moslem the South is wooded Savannah with a sedentary Black african population of the two have always been in France sent troops to support the government in Ndjamena against a Northern rebellion in and it has periodically been doing the same thing Ever in French and libyans reached a tacit agreement that left the North a zone of predominant but limited libyan the French governments reasoning was that this division was More or less Given the religious and cultural pattern of the French instructor with protective mask Aims Pallas antitank Bazooka in Aerial photo taken in Chad shows libyan country but also that the libyans would find it impossible really to control the people of the this Assumption was proven True late last year when the Northern rebel movement of go Kouni Luedde broke with Libya and ral lied to the established rebel Leader a former president of was mysteriously wounded and currently is being held incommunicado in government attacking claim to have Defeated a libyan in four libyan jets made a desultory bombing raid sunday in the South lobbing two bombs at desert according to French the at this Are thinking about what to the French government has no interest in further adventures in but it has chosen to exercise great Power responsibilities in and those include a commitment to Chad divided nation without resources or much of a whose exports Are peanuts and cot and principal the chadian be better left without Benefit of inter National intervention in their civil Qadhafi has made this impose but there Are two other Rea sons for International involve first is Frances in to support existing african Habre exploits break Luedde held in Tripoli Borders and defend the govern ments now in Power in the French speaking african existing african Borders have Little connection to ethnic or tribal or the logical grouping of resources and virtually no existing african government can make a serious claim to possess a National political All Are sectional or tribal in support which guarantees internal As in it is in the selfish interest of every established Afri can government to keep frontiers where they and to resist any attempt to redistribute Power on ethnic or tribal the other aspect of the affair which interests Washington is the Opportunity it presents to strike a blow against whose troops thus far seem to have done dismal and in has seemed More Peculiar than this is a matter that does not much interest which regards the colonel As a spent Force if he has Ever been a Force at other than in the imaginations of Washington More fervid the disagreement Between Washington and Paris has been feeding a kind of acrimonious gaullist al ready noticeable in the new French conservative governments relations with the other european Powers As Well As with relations Between Washington and the French have never been particularly easy Ever since Charles de Gaulle called on the French to rally to him in London during the while the United states placed its Confidence in moderate ele ments the Vichy government of marshal Henri since there have been better times and worse times in How the French and americans get the emergency in Chad is bringing out the manipulators and cheaters the cause of genuine refugees Montreal More than people claimed refugee status at Montreal Mirabel Airport in de after arriving on flights from various parts of the the number was unusually about three times As Many claims As in the previous there were people from Iran and Lebanon and Chile and other trouble spots of the but More than half the refugees were from and by no stretch of the imagination could they be described As fleeing from persecution at the influx of turks created severe headaches for Federal and Quebec immigration and not just because All these would be immigrants had to be clothed and housed at government the James Stewart in Quebec worst headache grew from the suspicion that Many of these especially the were not real refugees at they were simply using Canadas generous and rather Clumsy refugee process to jump the immigration line and get into the country the easy the suspicion was strengthened last saturday All the space in hotels reserved for refugees had been taken and a local Volunteer Sun managed to find Beds for 12 turks and two somalis at the old brewery the Soma Lis gratefully but the Turk ish men looked into the dormitory and angrily refused to stay expecting much better a commode they apparently walked the streets All night the incident caused much resent ment against the if this place is accepted by canadians in Why int it Good enough for turkish refugees asked Sid Ste director of Sun making promises the answer seems to be that immigration consultants or operators in for a Are making a lot of they arrange an airline advise the client to claim refugee status immediately on land with the understanding that they will be Well fed and lodged while they look for work and wait for Canadian immigration authorities to Rule on their status As the refugees have probably also been told an important truth that it can take months or even years for the authorities to process refugee if in that time the claimant has found a Job and settled his chances of staying in Canada Are very even if the claim for refugee status is eventually reject the Canadian of cannot go on letting its refugee and immigration procedures be manipulated and distorted in this it is not fair to genuine Refu or to immigrants patiently waiting in or to citizens who Are paying the Bills for bogus Ottawa tends to Dawdle Over these it is proud of Canadas officially recognized by the United As one of the worlds most accessible havens for last Spring it took the Federal govern ment several months to Stop an influx of portuguese who arrived at Mirabel with the patently Crockan Bull Story that they were Jehovah witnesses and victims of persecution in their Catholic Home now there seems a similar reluctance to Deal appropriately with the influx of who can hardly be considered victims of persecution in their those who cannot show a Well founded fear of persecution can be deported this is what the Mulroney government promised last when it announced plans to streamline the ref Ugee process and Speed it Noth ing was and now that More counterfeit refugees Are flood ing the Promise is being made immigration minister Benoit Bou Chard says legislation to tighten up without jeopardizing the chances of real will be introduced within a few that May be too to erase the damage already counterfeit and the governments tolerance of Are creating the kind of Public resent ment that could end up hurting genuine increase in the minimum wage gets mixed reviews attempting to end the year on a positive note and regain support from those whose votes Are the provincial govern ment has reverted to Days of old by announcing another increase in the minimum it was ironic that while labor minis Ter al Mackling was demonstrating nip concern for the working Howard Pawley and Eugene Kostyra were warning about future fiscal perhaps they did not believe the private sector required a similar level of after More than two years since the last minimum wage level had been an increase was but the amount and the application were open to the last change gave Manitoba the top rate in the country at an by the end of the province had dropped to 70 cents below the Northwest and 75 cents above British the with the latest the hourly rate will Rise to on april 1 and by giving the province the second highest rate in the increase is about 10 per compared to the jump in inflation since the last wage level was who had been at the Centre of the publicity about the govern ments misadventure in saudi was attempting to improve his image As he justified the while it was above he insisted it was still a catchup measure because minimum wage earners pay had not followed the inflation rate in the the changes would enable them to Cope with the rising Cost of living and reflect a fairer and More equitable share of the goods and services they he that principle of fairness was a determine under the dome Arlene Billinkoff ing Factor in the More contentious aspect of the new wage Levels a staged removal of the minimum wage youth the which currently is an will gradually Rise to the same level for those 18 years and older by april six other jurisdictions will continue with lower rates for the latest move should not Surprise pm improving the minimum wage has been a matter of principle with the during the Schreyer the rate was increased at least once each year and on one even exceeded the wage boards the process slowed Down prior to the 1977 when the government held off an other possibly hoping to appease growing discontent about its High it did not work and the nip was a change of seats produced a return to traditional stance As new democrats regularly attacked the tories failure to increase the the new insisted the province could not afford it until the Economy was Back on any in crease would Worsen said the but As Manitoba rate slipped to sixth the protest a higher minimum wage would provide More spending Power and the governments refusal to act was totally Indi Cating callous and insensitive treatment of those most in economic charged the with increasing the tories heeded the warning and in mid1979 announced a two stage increase of 20 bringing the rate to yet another increase of 40 cents was announced prior to the 1981 but the nip nor the voters were impressed and within months after the Pawley government was the rate was in creased by 45 cents to the second highest in the despite opposition predictions that such action would discourage eco nomic the government did not believe any problems would with the worsening of the Economy and the provinces credit there was a new reluctance to hoist the rates and despite constant pressure from for almost two years no increase Only when it was trying to recover from the French language disaster was the govern ment prepared to satisfy one segment of society by approving of a 30cent increase As of january while that action moved Manitoba to the head of the the minis Ter insisted the wage level should be regarded As part of an Overall social and economic that particular thrust ended temporarily with the approach of the next but after another nip the pressure re did other problems and As the yearned the government at tempted to score some political Points with the youth and those on minimum did it work while Mackling announce ment of the new rates was welcomed by labor some people under 18 feared the changes might negatively affect their ability to find several employers confirmed that indicating that the higher wage requirement might reduce the number of youth positions and some would be while few disputed the principle of in creasing the Basic minimum there was disagreement about the manner in which such decisions Are proper studies should be made to ensure a proper critics even Mackling acknowledged the need for a better method and said the problem would be for the to he was pleased with the increase and saw Little reason for he believed the amount should be even More than it is but he should realize that such a Promise May create even More problems which his government does not doonesbury by Garry Trudeau mawn6s doubt about its pack mans rms metes a ;