Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 12, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press january Page focus Compromise is Best Hope for new Deal o Ottawa speaking of Meech think what would happen d prime minister Mulroney Al Lowed senator Lowell Murray to abandon his shuttle quest for agree ment on an and handed the task to a distinguished who would work with the premiers to find a Way around the Meech Lake bringing his findings to Murray and the for this Willard the former supreme court Justice comes to he is an ind Epen creative and effective thinker who commands the respect of canadians generally and would bring a fresh perspective to the discus d the sole in such an assignment would be that que Bec is guaranteed from the outset its demands for constitutional change will be met to the degree already granted in the Meech Lake Quebec would continue to have the right to veto Senate re form and opt out of new National social with compensation it would still be called to preserve and promote Quebec distinct this guarantee would not be be Premier Robert Bourassa would be Able to assure his National Assembly and Quebe cers from the Start that they will lose no rights or Powers if first ministers reopen the Accord and make Senate Reform d even As All this was set in Ontario Premier David Peterson would propose that unanimous provincial support not be required for constitutional changes affecting the Senate As provided by the Meech Lake Quebec would have the veto it asked other than the existing provi Sions would Senate Reform could be achieved if seven prov representing half the Canad an support the Mea Joan Cohen Ottawa editor Petersons move would have two highly significant the dominant voice in English has the most to lose if Senate Reform gives the country outer regions More so Long As the unanimity requirement Ontario can Block any move that genuinely gives the regions a stronger if Peterson took the initiative and gave up his own the prospects for agreement on a reformed sen ate would improve such an act of Goodwill would establish a far More positive Atmo sphere for the discussions to just for one of the parties to the Accord would demonstrate that it can come off its accustomed and make a positive contribution to the new pressure with his Good Friend David Peter son committed on this Bourassa himself would be under new pressure to state his own Posi Tion on Senate Reform and give a quiet undertaking to support More equal representation in a future constitutional agreement on an altered constitutional Accord will not come Easi but with these three the readiness of the parties to look for a consensus should increase Robert the Quebec business and others would have us believe that Canada is in another great like the free Trade Battle of a year oui or non and in their quickly translates into another question Are we will ing to accept or Are we not yet the debate in Manitoba and other regions of Canada established the fact that this question does not adequately state the if the question Are canadians will ing to sign the Meech Lake Accord and thereby accept then it is necessary to add another phrase on altered terms which limit unnecessarily the capacity of the Constitution to adjust to the or of other regions of the those terms potentially damage Manitoba newfound lands and even if that province is genuinely interested in obtaining a triple e it has not been demonstrated that que becs interests cannot be met in a Way that is less harmful to the other in talking of the Miracle of Meech Robert Stanfield and his group of 100 make a serious omission they neglect to acknowledge while the Meech Lake Accord responds to Quebec con it creates a whole set of new problems for other in though they do not say As they Are taking not for or against Meech Lake but for Quebec interests and against those provinces who stand to see their opportunities of is their but the unfortunate effect of this kind of lobbying Effort is that it keeps the discussion from it closes off the search for creative alternatives that can accommodate both sets of for free Trade there were Only two possible you wanted it or you did there could be no question of going Back to the bar gaining in the Case of Meech if the will there is a third option son of Meech Lake As commentators have dubbed it from time to Only genuine and the intervention of one or several intermediaries can produce it will almost certainly look very much like the Meech Lake but there will be some but critical adjustments Here and cling to idea the Core problem is that like the pro Meech Lake has refused to think in these has Clung to the idea that Meech Lake was a taking As its definition the fact that the 11 governments managed to agree on a single on a certain Day in our and since the important provinces of Quebec and As Brian Mulroney has de fined remain Content with the there can be no prob from Ottawa perspective Meech Lake is singularly worthy of acceptance because a everyone agreed to it once and probably would never reach a consensus around an altered document and b because Quebec has said it will not accept instead of producing ideas for dealing with the concerns of Mani Toba or or calling on the More powerful provinces to take some Murray and his aides have concentrated their Effort on fending off the on trying to demonstrate Why Meech Lake is the Best Deal Avail or no different from the kinds of things Pierre Trudeau once of or simply subjecting the dissenting provinces to the government in the pro accepted outright Quebec Premier Robert Bourassaw Posi Tion that Meech Lake must be passed without a comma change and mutely accepted his decision not to say a word on any other constitutional subject until it yet Quebec demands Are not the and constitutional concessions that fully respond to them need in no Way inhibit Mani Toba or both prov inces would diminish the Impact of the distinct society inserted on Quebec behalf Clyde Wells in Newfoundland for sex protecting Quebec linguistic position in an entirely different but essentially this provision does not touch on Manitoba or newfoundlands and directly none of their nor is it reasonable to refrain from making major concessions to where Only a private Prin Ciple is at if Only Quebec is the Price is not unreason the chances of a major constitutional if nothing is salvaged from the Meech Lake Are indeed at Best Quebec will isolate itself from the rest of and All future constitutional at it will attempt to negotiate a separa mild demands the demands it has made of Canada Are indeed mild that it should be Able to protect itself from domination by anglophone Canada by having veto Power Over All changes in Canadian institutions that it should be Able to operate its social programs in its own receiving its share of funds from Ottawa to assist a principle fully recognized in a succession of Laws in the 1960s when Canadas social net was being put in place that it should have Powers Over i Migra particularly because of its concern about the relative decline of francophone in the Canadian population that it is by any Analy Sis a distinct let canadians find a Way of achieving this that improves on Meech and that recognizes that the Constitution must accommodate the growth and the aspirations of All if Brian Mulroney and his government would stand before us in defence of All these Canada would be a prouder coun Ontario taxpayers dont seem to mind having pockets picked Toronto the Ontario lib eral government seems to have found a Way of putting people to sleep while raising their the liberals since 1985 have been the tax ingest government the prov Ince Ever in Only five years their Revenue from taxes and fees has almost doubled from billion to because of both numerous tax increases and natural economic total helped by pay ments from the Federal government and the inevitable has jumped from billion to these might be thought the sort of excesses that would Start outraged Eric Dowd in Ontario voters marching in the but poll after poll has shown the liberals hovering around 48 per cent support among ample for a comfortable even More a new poll shows the Public specifically with relatively Little concern about in the poll by Goldfarb Consul Tants Only nine per cent said High taxes Are their major housing and pollution were among larger half of those polled said they were not familiar at All with the tax increases in Ontario 1989 budget and most of the rest had Only limited they also thought by a margin of More than two to one that Ontario tax increases were More reasonable and had less Impact than those imposed by the Mulroney progressive ontarian under the liberals Are getting More services for the extra tax they particularly in Fields such As health and social which had been notably under fund they May appreciate the in creased services and accept that they have to pay it could even be argued they have become inured to tax but there also has been a substantial difference Between Ontario and Federal tory tax the fed eral tories Are putting a lot of their eggs in one the goods and services now planned at seven per cent and due to come in next the furore Over this tax has been even More intensively when it was threatened at nine per for two nobody can fail to be aware which for most people is to the any tax revolts you have read about recently have been Over the Federal tories sudden the Ontario tax increases in con Trast have been brought in a Little at a time and spread Over Many at least 30 different major increases in taxes and fees have been imposed by the liberals in five some of these have been substantial even in one shot the retail sales tax paid on most goods went up from seven to eight per most have been substantial acc personal income tax has gone up three from 48 per cent of Basic Federal tax when the liberals took Over to 53 per in All a giant taxes on Beer and gasoline have All gone up three times and the Cost of a Drivers licence has jumped in a couple of stages from to for a three year to spread the tax increases around even the liberals have even invented new like the commercial concentration Levy of per Square foot annually on commercial properties and parking lots in the greater Toronto area to help pay for improved transport the Liberal strategy has worked because the scattered and constant tax increases have brought isolated screams but no huge Ontario taxpayers do not seem to notice they Are dying the death of a thousand new year Doest Stop flow of inquiries new years make Little difference in the ombudsman my desk is no less cluttered than it was at this time last year and the year it continues to groan beneath a smorgasbord of complaints and this weeks assortment includes queries about the weekly mortgage rate outlines that confound readers and Send them off on wild Goose stories that begin on one Page and end on another and those two old typos and misspell your mortgage Chart has me wondering if in being ripped said one Reader who asked if the Canadian Imperial Bank of commences five year rate listed in the 24 Chart was the Reader had just received his mortgage renewal and noticed the discrepancy Between the Bank Docu ments 12 per cent rate and the charts listing of 11 per the supplied by the Winnipeg real estate Board and published in sundays your Money Section of the free incorrectly listed the Cibos Lon term rate All through the month of i dont know what the problem was at the real estate Board but we contacted them three times to have the incorrect rate the Bank spokesman the corrected rate appeared in last Sun Days your Money two photo outlines this week confused several on the caption beneath a photo on Page 20 showing romanians lined up to buy newspapers read romanian women sweep Street in front of foreign ministry office before soviet foreign minister Shevard Oadzes visit i find any women asked one How does this sort of thing happen the world photos that moved 6 ombudsman Barry Mullin already had been purged from the electronic photo desk but photo editor Jon Thordarson and graphics editor Paul Pihi Chyn indicated that an editor must have had More than one photo from Romania to choose from last saturday the editor made a copy of one picture but took outline information from another photo off the computer Lack of specifics in the outline information beneath a photo on Page 3 tuesday sent several readers off on wild Goose the captioned browsing for showed shoppers examining stacks of books at the childrens Hospital Book Sale and said the in their 29th have raised More than million for the outline failed to make it Clear that the photo had been taken at mondays on Day Sale of paperback As a Reader Roger Lewis and several others thought the childrens hospitals annual two week Book Market must have begun without them you sent me and in told a lot of others on a wild Goose Chase by not providing the proper said Pat chairman of the childrens Hospital Book said about a dozen people made the trip to William Avenue on tuesday and wednesday Only to find they had wasted their i know our including the and we ran in the free press was Bjarnason it definitely didst mislead the and was published sunday and indicated in bold Type that the pocket Book Sale was a on Day the confusion arises from the three Book sales the Hospital holds an there Are on Day sales of paper backs in november and january and the More Well known two week bookmarked each Bjarnason said readers Haven missed the childrens Hospital 30th annual that Sale will be held april 23 to May 5 at vital Centre during the malls operating photographer Gerry Cairns said he provided the photo desk and editors with the Correct information about the on Day Reader Ted Willcox takes exception to turns jumps in newspaper i wonder what the reaction of free press advertisers would be if they saw a product of theirs described partly on one Page and partly on wrote i can but no publisher in right mind would even consider doing such a in so fed up with Reading a paragraph or two then having to Hunt for the remainder in another part of the the hardships readers must Many readers objected last year when the business Section forced the relax Page inside the Tempo the television they were More convenient on a Section the change meant readers have to turn inside the Section and fold the Page Over to get the the to listings in their familiar the inconvenience of turning stories is newspapers dont go out of their Way to inconvenience editors strive to keep turns to a minimum and to deliver the brightest and freshest news of the they also face the task of selecting a menu of top stories for the front Page or a particular Section but interesting and meaningful news stories and opinion pieces dont come in prescribed often they Are longer because they must put an event or development in perspective for leaving them intact Means fewer stories on the trimming them severely deprives readers of it would be Nice if newspapers could be All things to All we live in an imperfect world where turns Are a Broadsheet newspaper Necessia when it comes to typos and grammatical goofs i can count on miss Sinclair to keep me informed of our latest her marking pen was working overtime last month As she spotted died in an editorial when the writer really meant there were the typos and misuse of two words in a news review piece on disperse was used when the author meant disburse and remuneration had been used instead of by Garry Trudeau doonesbury if i look at wm6h00r so that goop enough Fok ;