Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 30, 1987, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press june Page 7 focus despite the biggest protest since the doctors complained in 1962 Devine stands firm on protest fails to Sway pcs Regina in this the most often used yardstick when measuring political discontent is the medicare crisis of during a three week period when the provinces 600 doctors with Drew All but emergency political emotions reached a fever the Battle Over medicare peaked when a province wide organization known As the keep our doctors add committee organized a rally on the Steps of the Legisla it was a demonstration against medicare that carried the support of most of the Media and much of the business although As Many As were expected to show up for the antigovernment Only about turned out on a warm summer while the numbers were smaller than it remained the sin Gle biggest show of Public opposition to government until june 20 of this on that a crowd estimated Between to marched on the legislature from a downtown Park to protest recent cutbacks by the progressive con the event is being heralded by the nip opposition As a sign of the new political the new democrats see it As Clear evidence the Devine government has lost its credibility with the Dale Eisler in Saskatchewan the focal Point for antigovernment sentiment is a new provincial As it contained an array of tax increases that Fol Lowed an earlier announcement of cuts in faced with a billion deficit in its last fiscal the tories indicated months ago that they were setting out on a course of the most controversial cuts have been to the provinces prescription drug plan and the school dental an annual family and individual deductible of has been applied to the drug with the govern ment picking up 80 per cent of the costs after the deductible has been to defend the changes against nip Devine Sim ply Points out that the Saskatchewan drug plan will be the same As the one in nip As Devine Fields criticism of health cutbacks by citing the comments of a cancer specialist in Winnipeg who says that he recommends to patients who dont want to wait for an operation in Winnipeg that they go to another such As in another High school Stu dents have been removed from dental program service for kindergarten to Grade 8 students has been contracted out to private As a 294 health department dental therapists have lost their what is causing the Devine tories the most political is million Worth of new taxes in finance minister Gay lanes new coupled with the program cuts and the elimination of civil service the projected annual deficit in the new budget has been shaved to the tax increases have left no one the one per cent provincial Flat tax on net income has been increased to per the provincial sales tax has gone up two Points to seven per cent and a Gas tax has been the tories originally took off the Gas tax in 1982 As they promised before coming to at the same they had also promised to remove the provincial sales tax and Cut income tax by As much As 10 per to Lessen the fallout from imposing the Gas the government is offering to rebate the tax collected to individual but not to commercial to get the annual Drivers will have to keep their tax receipts and submit them to the govern the moves by the coming without warning after last Falls provincial Are at the Root of the political in spite of the Public de Vine shows no inclination to Back in he dismissed the recent demonstration As an and inspired event that attracted mostly hard boiled nip if i was a part of an nip administration and did what 1 did in last weeks do you think there would have been the same demonstration do you really think that Devine in other Devine has no intention of backing Down from his policy of restraint aimed at cutting the provincial not Only will they not be but the tories believe that politically they Are on the right course because eventually the action they take now will give Herti political room to move before the next As Devine believes that reducing the size and influence of government is a growing political if the government is Able to achieve its goal of balanced budgets with a minimum of social then the tories argue they will eventually reap the re wards of the bitter seeds they have sown in their new Celebration of holidays shows Quebec evolution by Barbara Black special to the free press Montreal is that strange week Between National a genial balancing act typical of que june 24 was Jean Baptiste Day or Quebec National Holiday As even English speaking news announcers Call it and tomorrow is Canada for a few celebrating the National like so Many other things was a political in my own the francophone at one end of town celebrated Jean Baptiste Day with a bean a Church a concert of old time fiddling and a Midnight the anglos celebrated a week later at the other end of town with hot dogs and no now people go to or to or to the celebrations closest to their the big Blue and White Fleurdelis Flag which sprouted last week on my neighbors Lawn was noted with Friendly and not with the trepidation it might have engendered Back in june 24 has undergone a lot of changes Over the reflecting the changes in this vibrant it of As a religious the feast Day of John the Patron Saint of new parades of the faithful took place All Over the province and they were always climaxed by the final float carrying representation of the Saint As a Little boy holding a baby in the the roman Catholic Church was no longer synonymous with Quebec Cul Ture and the Parade was getting stale and too narrowly in parades of any kind were a dangerous provocation to the increasingly audacious protesters of the at the Parade of Pierre Leader of the Federal Liber stayed defiantly in the reviewing stand under a barrage of bottles for All he while mayor Jean Premier Daniel Johnson and other officials prudently took it was seen by Many As Trudeau finest when a papier mache statue of the juvenile Prophet was toppled from its Perch As the float made its Way along Sherbrooke officials vowed that this would Bethe last big and it what followed were years of experimentation As Quebe cers sought to Channel their powerful emotions into a satisfying Public the answer seemed to have been found in the Early 1970s when a spontaneous party erupted in place Jacques the cobblestones Square in old Montre tens of thousands of partying youth whooped it up All night it was an eruption of a Celebration of being of being simply in the most interesting City on the of everyone wanted to do it All Over again the next year and an committee of show people was set up to organize another spontaneous an element of nastiness crept rowdies nearly spoiled the party and merchants complained that the Square was full of garbage the next one year the fete took place on mount the Hillside Park in the Centre of the with a full slate of Quebec most popular singers whipping the huge crowd into a frenzy of the grass was nearly ruined by thousands of stamping victims of drugs and alcohol littered the shrubbery and City authorities vowed never to allow a repeat provincial thrilled with the outpouring of Quebec nationalism but faced with an annual Blowout which was too unwieldy to be decided not to have one big party but a lot of Little local after a period of growing it took this years Jean Baptiste Day was the kind of bewildering melange which reflects today on june 21 there was a televised show on the moribund expo 67 site on he notre Dame which was at tended by an estimated enthusiastic Young the program started with a nod to the goo style Patriot is with the Gilles Vigneault Anthem Mun but it soon swung into Edith butlers unique Brand of frenzied tender european ballads and an imported French Singer called and a Gutsy performance by who looks like Madonna and has a voice like the most interesting sign of the times was an historical pageant which took place in the atrium of a downtown Montreal office Jacques Samuel de Cham Louis Joseph Papineau and a Host of other figures from que becs history books were portrayed with Elan by immigrants recently arrived from Cambodia and dozens of other they were All in the process of learning French at bees language school for Immi which organized the event for an appreciative audience of about Winnipeg native Barbara Black is a Montreal writer and Ottawa should take a lesson from disastrous Edmonton strike Edmonton canadians want to know where this postal strike will take they should recall the 1986 strike and lockout at the gainers meatpacking Plant in in that ugly gainers owner Peter Pocklington tried to wreck the Union by hiring replacement work the unionists responded with amazing resolve and for weeks they fought fierce Battles with police on the picket lines and the terrible images flashed across the to the astonishment of Many who thought Pocklington would have his he was forced to Settle after six bitter everybody lost the de Don braid in Alberta Monton who spent million to control the the workers now toil at a Plant operating at Hal capacity because their own boy Cott of gainers products was so the conflict became a Symbol of the wrong Way to handle a the postal dispute is heading Down the same dangerous at least until this weeks decision to appoint a the governments tac tics were very similar to pickling tons and the workers stiff backed reaction exactly the the re sults can Only be disastrous for the for Canada Post and for the tories political already we see the same violent not just in one but in Many the coun people who have never hit any thing but the pavement Are ready to slug an armed every town or City with a postal station has the potential to become a if the strike breaking tactics this could be the most dangerous and divisive strike Canada has Ever Many of Brian Mulroney tories seem to think this is just they believe that canadians Are sick of bad postal service and want the unions to achieve they feel the country will endure months of erratic service from re placement they have the idea that canadians wont be sick ened by the sight of Ordinary citizens and police bashing each other every the gainers strike shows that All these premises Are disastrously in the most business Loving province in the strike eventually turned nearly everyone against Premier Don no Lover of finally saw the trend and told Pocklington to end it before the government Pocklington had some sympathy at first but it vanished because peo ple Learned something about his workers and what they mostly they killed pigs for Low wages and the profit of a hockey team the sight of these people literally fighting for their menial pitted against other people hungry for aroused deep Public sym the same thing will happen with the letter carriers As canadians be come More aware of their every Day they lug heavy loads in one of the harshest climates in the because of dog Slippery streets and the constant they have the highest injury rate of any Public including sol they endure abuse from peo ple who confuse them with the far More militant inside be fore this strike the letter carriers had Only walked out twice in 15 for a total of two it will become Ever More obvious that their Job involves real already they look Good com pared to replacement workers who stagger around late in the evening trying to find or return mail to the depots in canadians will begin to wonder who is More responsible for the mess at Canada Post letter carriers who do a fairly Good Job every or managers who Ballyhoo super mail boxes and then watch the doors fall Don braid in an Edmonton journal labor is of two minds Over final offer selection we believe this legislation is Good Legisla Tion and will Lead to More Harmony in the said Al the labor minister May also believe in Santa it is an Over simplistic approach to a Complex situation we say to the govern withdraw the its not too late to see sense you have been Iliad Vised it is unnecessary and those Are some responses by labor representatives to the provi Sion in the labor relations according to the a Union or management May request final offer selection during one period 60 Days before a contract expires or in another period beginning 60 Days after the Start of a strike or if employees decide to use that the Issue would be referred to an arbitrator As Selec would order either the unions proposal or the company proposal to be adopted in its As management was not in a spokesperson for the Winnipeg chamber of Commerce said it would Force businesses into a form of binding arbitration with the gun at the head of the employer and the trigger in the Finger of the Mack Ling admitted the change might favor pm but believed that was necessary because the preponderance of rights still remained with it provided a More equitable he Wilf president of the Manitoba federation of agreed because the Bill would pressure both sides to reach an agree but other Union officials were less maintaining it would erode the right of Union members to engage in free collective with such conflicting reactions from those under the dome Arlene Billinkoff whom the government is supposed to the Bill should be advised tory Jim but the minister if we waited for the unanimity of opinion on any desirable social i dont think we would Ever do that might have been but the critics Are probably pleased about the minis ters determination to this Bill shows no respect for the constitutional rights of workers and will Lead to the defeat of the predicted it was wrong and is it fair asked Sharon was the government really listening the Amend ment is an unwarranted intrusion and a major charged Gary come to your senses despite such Mackling was confident the winners of this legislation would be the people of there would be More fairness and when the Bill reached committee where the Public could make it was apparent the measure was not fair for every the government was not surprised by managements rejection of the but the split in labor response was even supporters were not totally although Hudson of the Mil congratulated the governments innovative this Bill was merely an because the Only source of bargaining Power available to a Union was the ability to withdraw their labor and bring the operation to a As Long As management had the right to give away the jobs to the balance of bargaining Power would be he anti Scab legislation was for Many Howard Pawley has rejected Union demands for that legislative nevertheless the final offer selection was acceptable to the majority of Mil members because it created an incentive and in creased pressure on both parties to bargain in Good said we urge you to that presentation was one of the few to lift Mackling Jeff National president of the Canadian Union of Public described the Bill As unforgivable and contemptuous of free collective it was dumb for the government to pass a Law that does something worse than what the parties would have done on their he such action was impractical and possibly Dan you have divided us in a Way manage ment has never been Able to he you should not have done it is workers rights were being taken away by this which believed the Best solution would be anti Scab urged the government to recon Sider and not the Manitoba organization of nurses association and the International ladies Gar ment workers Kiuon insisting this legislation provided the worst form of arbitration and should be John presenting a joint Brief from the confederation of Canadian unions and the Canadian association of mechanical and Allied said the Bill introduced a Crapshoot mentality into collective bargaining a brainchild of academics and bureaucrats who Lack the knowledge that is derived from everyday experience in anti Scab legis lation was the government should scrap this but would the government heed that advice although a special Cabinet committee had been set up to reconsider the Mackling insisted that while amendments might be he had no intention of backing away from the Bills Central Princi he really believed this legislation was Good and would Lead to More but if the responses Are any it May produce More this the govern ment seemed to be playing doonesbury by Garry Trudeau havoc Fields some it i know too uhprbs5ive so you can say thata6ain Congress Wien fun what can i onto directs actual fightin0s unto theron fi6htin6 there in a constant state of re treat it was a Wing Rainy and then they Hap hanukah apparently they Cele brate it i ;