Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 7, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press March pager Many see Broadbent major legacy to be the establishment of the nip As a vital Force on the National a decent and a caring Maui Broadbent was a politician concerned with Justice and fair play Ottawa he matured and carved out a role All his own in Canadas Polit ical not intellectually tied to the old of either Europe or Western Canadian de Broadbent managed to show there was a highly visible role in Canad an politics for a party that simply spoke for the concerns of Ordinary he came As nip Leader to epitomize for the de cent caring that was no by the time of the last Broadbent had become one of the most effective speakers in the very Early on in that Par he had also become the party leading spokesman on the ranking issues of the be it tax threats to the Ca Nadian or Atlantic i rarely faltered his capacity to find the Core con Cern in the unfolding events rarely if Ever and that concern was the not of a roaring but of a Man concerned with Justice and fair play even while he shared the distaste of his David of accommodations made to the Rich and in the major whether on Meech Lake or free Trade late in the when John Turner finally got the it was for the who made the most forceful Points on the opposition in speeches that were relatively Brief and carefully Joan Cohen Ottawa editor in he had become virtually the voice of the for some time one must Point the others in his caucus have tended to fade from in his had his difficult the most memorable was brought on by his Quick support of Pierre Trudeau unilateral constitutional offering in that brought a bitter party in Saskatchewan and Alberta members deeply the bitterness lived on for some argue that the splits and of one Type or continued behind the scenes through to the 1984 by then Broadbent was being pressed by some party intellectuals and party critics to ease off his fight for full employment and take a More hard nosed stand on economic acknowledging the problems of the deficit and particularly labor wanted no Broadbent was caught in the yet Broadbent never appeared to lose command of his this with the bitter backstage debate Broadbent moved onto the hustings with an upbeat Campaign that saved the party finding a More Neutral ground with a cease less attack on the Bobbey twins of Bay Street and Wall Street who led the other it helped that the Turner liberals were ready to collapse in English when the votes there were Broadbent nip had in fact More seats than the by when the Mulroney government had lost its innocence and canadians by the millions were looking around for another party to or at least support in de Broadbent Little with its reliable set of values and steady was the one they turned for a time in honest Edas canadians knew had achieved what Canadas social democrats had Only dreamed and made his party 1 in Cana of it did not but the legacy is there to build Broadbent had worked to get a party organization in place across the country in recent a Good Deal of Effort had gone into establishing a presence in with a few fairly vigorous local organizations now in some see the National party Structure and the vision of a National nip As Broadbent major search for role it is time to move As the party executive clearly recognized in its planning last in the Days even As members search the horizons for worthwhile leadership the search for the party appropriate role in the pos Broadbent will get under Way in in Public pronouncements this past members showed Little interest in abandoning their dream of and the essential search for a Middle ground in Canadian politics that necessarily accompanies they Are probably the old Kcf nip that of being the leading Edge on social policy and in questions of Public is largely obsolescent social watchdog there on the other a full time Job to be done As a watch dog on behalf of social for All Levels of society be the cause affordable or preparations for free what the nip probably in is a thorough search of the issues most pressing society and a careful debate about its own value in practical in it probably needs a massive upgrading of its own potent and intelligence Ca so that maps can again begin to make a significant Impact in parliamentary of Only makes it Strong on the opposition Side of the House As fighters not plan ners of As onetime National director Gerald Caplan once to be planners and with this Capa ble of convincing canadians they can govern the they will need much deeper and Stillmore honest analysis of Given their value can we await developments with keen focus Bourassa beams with space Plum Premier Robert Bourassa of who helped prime minister Mulroney get where he has landed another big last after two years of the Federal government announced that its National space Agency would be located in the Mon Treal instead of the Ottawa Canadas As some exuberant Quebec editorialists Are Call ing the will manage Cana Das civilian space directing and coordinating spending of nearly billion to the end of the who had been aggressively demanding a Federal decision in favor of acknowledged his catch with quiet neither he nor Mulroney want to awaken resent ments of the kind that followed awarding of the Federal contract for cf18 aircraft which went to Montreal at the expense of both leaders know How vulnerable Ottawa is to charges of favouring and How difficult it is to Deal with such impressions in other parts of the willing to Crow French newspapers Howe were More than willing to Crow about the new an economic and political Vic trumpeted la editor Alain Dubuc wrote that the space Agency had become a major political of the kind that could influence an election More than Meech Lake the constitutional Morfe than any other economic the space Agency was a test for the Bourassa As Well As for Brian said Dubuc said the decision was economically and always had Given Montreal Leader ship in the Canadian aeronautical but it was also of enor Mous political he because it allowed Bourassa to make a triple demonstration of what separates his liberals from the parti he Bourassa showed that he will not yield on All fronts just to get ratification of the Meech Lake wrote he showed his government is Able to stand up to Ottawa in defence of Quebec interests and to claim its proper he showed that despite its Imper can serve delighted Bourassa was no doubt de lighted with this editorial endorse and especially its downgrading of the Meech Lake Accord As less important than the space this corresponds to the line Bourassa himself has been taking As he prepares for an elec and As a Meech Lake agree ment seems less and less Bourassa would have liked a fully ratified Meech Lake agree recognizing Quebec As a Dis Tinct As the Centrepiece of his next and Mulroney would have liked to be Able to deliver it to but that is not going to at least not in Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon and new Brunswick Premier Frank Mckenna have seen to so Mulroney delivered the next Best thing space Agency and both he and Bourassa James Stewart in Quebec will be agreeably surprised if que Beers accept that As a better than even Trade for Meech the space Agency of is going to create some Dis Ontario Premier David Peterson wanted space Agency in the Ottawa either on the Ontario or the Quebec close to the National research Council and the capitals advanced computer Indus so did a lot of the Ottawa Peterson is not Happy at i think it could have been a Symbol of Unity in this he rather than a Symbol of disunity which i think it will but hardly anybody outside Ontario grieves on the rare occasion when that Rich province loses a Federal least of All the fact that they won the space Agency in a tug of War with Ontario hot with the West or with an impoverished Atlantic province adds spice to the did Quebec win this one fairly there is Good reason to think attractive living about half of Canadas aviation Industry is based in along win Many High tech communications and defence its a City with French and English uni several International Orga a bilingual capacity and attractive Montreal has a lot to offer the 200 researchers expected to work in the especially since Canadas most important space Effort will be to help build and launch a billion Orbital space platform in cooperation with the the european Community and the Mulroney How was obviously weighing some political considerations other Wise it would not have taken so Long to put the space Agency into Montre Mulroney probably want worried about Liberal Leader John Turner or nip Leader de Broad both of whom Are on record As favouring Montreal for the but Mulroney clearly wanted to bring some goodies to his Friend who had helped keep que Bec federally tory last and now understandably expects Mulroney help in keeping it provincially Bourassa another hearings unlikely despite Casino critics clamor Are you in favor of the province of Manitoba operating a year round Casino in Winnipeg that a Liberal Fin Mailin Coupon which appeared in daily newspapers May sound straightforward to the increasingly vocal opponents to the the Issue becomes More com plex for those who realize gambling is not new in this province and remember the purpose of the Casino is to produce funds for health from the moment culture minister Bonnie Mitchelson and health minister Don Orchard announced the governments intention to hold a year round with an anticipated profit to go to special health reactions have ranged from a supportive belief that this innovative step will assist both health services and the Economy to dire predictions that this ill advised venture will sink Manitoba to the Depths of if the latter Assumption is the Prev Nice should already be Halfway to that destination because casinos have existed Here for Many the most notable has been the one held for 90 Days a year at the Winnipeg convention Centre and despite a rather seedy there was Little attempt to close by relocating the Casino to the More elegant fort Garry with a strict dress code and the government Hopes to add a touch of Monte Carlo class to the thus assisting tourism in Manitoba by attracting those who might other Wise go to Las vegas or Atlantic supporters also envisage positive economic As the owner of the fort Garry hotel was delighted to get More while other hotel operators were confident of under the dome Arlene Billinkoff benefiting from an anticipated inflow of even mayor Bill who is not a big supporter of initially said the City would appreciate More a number of potential recipients of the Revenue were also willing to accept the As the president of health sciences Centre there was a limit to How much people can be taxed and since there were people who would Gamble whether one approved or someone might As Well Bene officials of several other hospitals in Winnipeg and Brandon took a similar a with a pressing need for they would refrain from the Grace general owned by the salvation did have a moral objection and rejected funding from a tax on Peoples morality was a common theme in concerns expressed by a number of Church represent who tended to ignore the fact that Many churches use in the form of Bingo and As a source of apparently it is the Type of Gam rather than gambling which poses the major some acknowledged the inconsistency in their but remained firm in the belief that this particular of the vice would have a negative Impact by taking food away from creating addicts and attracting a criminal element to the although a Winnipeg police spokesman said no significant increase in problems was the roman Catholic archbishop of Boniface and the ukrainian Arch Bishop they would not say Gam bling itself is but did believe casinos have a tendency to attract organized and Foster greed and because of those Norrie has asked Winnipeg police to do a More formal study about whether there would be More problems in the new Casino than the current critics Are urging the government to hold a referendum or Public hearings before proceeding with this the latter action is not required by Law because the proposed gambling changes can be done by and Mitchel son said there was no need for Public Consul tation because lotteries and casinos had Al ready been accepted As part of life in that May but opponents insist the Issue is of such importance that the Public should be because the government was not Liberal Leader Sharon Carstairs decided to fill the Gap by giving citizens an Opportunity to express their views through an informal newspaper while she admitted this Survey would not be truly she hoped it would pressure the government to hold the question in the poll did not reflect the total but in her neither did the governments two issues Gam bling and health care had been mud she Many May believe lottery funding should be used for health care but Are opposed to the concept of nevertheless she did not want to take a major step although the Casino May produce an extra she won dered whether the government had taken into account the negative such As the Impact of increased robberies and prostitution on the court system and the Drain on social assistance How much of the alleged profit will remain to be spent on health she opponents to the Casino believe those questions must be answered at Public hear Ings before any changes but late last week the government remained Adamant that there was no with preliminary poll indications that a majority feels the same does anyone want to Wager whether it will actually succumb doonesbury the by swing for Jong and Ponall 37 that 15 May allays by Garry Trudeau what huh that 17 ;