Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 15, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press january Page 7 Hinh easing military tensions Washington one of the More remarkable out growths of the 1975 Helsinki final act is tomorrows open ing in Vienna of what Canadas department of National defence Calls a seminar on military Doc it is not really a seminar at All but it will have some aspects of whatever its accurate it is an event that did not seem con 14 years in Canadas chief of defence general John de will be so will general Colin chairman of the joint chiefs of Albania out they will be joining their counter parts from the other 33 states that signed the 1975 meaning every european state except Alba Nia but including the soviet they will discuss their National military doctrines in an at tempt to prevent misunderstand Ings that could Lead to accidental a real seminar involves a free ranging discussion on a Given sub in which individuals Are encouraged to put Forward and develop ideas of their own that May Advance understanding of the subject or May suggest workable solutions to related the Vienna participants will be putting Forward Only their National Posi in an Effort to have them understood clearly by All their especially those with whom their countries or have in ideological although the Helsinki document has become synonymous with human an important part of it was a Call for Confidence building it was recognized that National military organizations can affect the political atmosphere by virtue of their secrecy and by perceptions of their history provides examples of David Macdonald Washington editor conflicts that began because one states military forces seemed to be preparing to attack another although subsequent investigation proved that not to be the certain kinds of military manoeuvre can cause a Chain reaction in other one example being the czars order for general mobilization of the russian army in the weeks before the beginning of the first world the final act bound its signatory states to building Confidence in each other by such devices As a 21day Advance notification of Mili tary exercises using More than 000 states undertook to invite military officers from other countries to observe these exer it was though not that states also invite observers to smaller strange concept this was a very strange at to soldiers of All ranks in the North Atlantic treaty organization and the Warsaw there was much suspicion about the first including theatrical hid ing of certain weapons systems and adjustment of manoeuvres to hide what were believed to be original and effective methods of deploying familiarity bred it opened military eyes on both sides to the fact that very few military methods Are known Only to one every seasoned military professional has read hero Dotus and the Best accounts of the campaigns of Scipio Napoleon and soviet troops in East Berlin Helsinki accords require reporting of All major military other spectacularly successful practitioners of the military their ageless lessons Are As closely studied in Moscow As in Kingston Royal military while National military organizations were getting used to the idea of having potential enemies watch preparations to fight the Helsinki process was evolving the con Fiden rebuilding measures concept in a series of review important to what begins tomorrow in Vienna was the Stockholm con Ference on such measures and on held Between 1984 and it produced and More measures to build Mutual Confidence about military prior for was doubled to 42 notifiable troop exercises were shrunk by half to or 300 in View of How much can be accomplished with a fairly Small group of highly trained Shock it be came mandatory to notify ahead any practice Parachute assaults or amphibious landings involving or More it also became compulsory to invite observers to any such exercises involving paratroopers or amphibious land ing Advance notice it became impossible to hold Large scale exercises without Long prior Advance those involving troops needed a years those involving troops required two year on site inspections of National territory were to ensure compliance with notification re tomorrows discussion of nation Al military doctrines is another helpful step on the Road to eliminating causes of Mutual it will begin with exchanges be tween the top military figures in each Lowe ranking generals will conduct a january 22 26 discussion on More detailed aspects of the composition of military this will include How the organizations Are used and it will cover policies on preparedness for warfare and future weapons systems purchasing training and Mili tary manuals will be discussed january followed by a discus until february of How coun tries finance their military opera including what share of National financial resources each dedicates to defence this will include senior civil ser vants from defence because this is part of the Helsinki involving countries that belong to neither nato nor the Warsaw discussions will take place on an individual country not on the basis of agreed bloc Canadas voice will be heard on its Meech Lake shuttle seems despite maritime support Halifax Premier John Buchanan sunny renewal of support for the Meech Lake Accord and most anything else that would get the Deal passed before its june 23 deadline was one of the rare Bright spots in senator Lowell Murray recent swing through the shuttle Mission continuing his Kissinger like shuttle among the provincial the minister of state for federa Provin Cial relations paid visits to premiers Joe Ghiz in Charlottetown and Frank Mckenna in then came Here to Check in with both Ghiz and Buchanan Are Meech Lake and both indicated to Murray they would go along with a so called parallel Accord a kind of Sid letter that would address the concerns of Mckenna and premiers Gary Filmon of Manitoba Douglas Mackay in Nova Scotia and Clyde Wells of the parallel Accord idea was but what it would really be Hast been made after his meeting with Buchanan de scribed it As a political agreement that would address the issues of native women and minority language its hard to How it could be passed at the same time As the Meech Lake Accord which was Mckennas original nor would it be Likely to satisfy All the needs of All like so much of the Meech Melo its More theatre than sub a testament More to the failure of Canadas premiers As Sta Tesmen than a realistic Way of producing a Constitution that will serve the beyond the next first ministers whats at Issue now is saving the Accord More than rescuing a vision of Canada As an amalgam of distinct societies in which All Peoples rights Are wan Hope the parallel Accord scheme is u sign of Mckennas genuine willing Ness to continue the negotiating pro it has Ghizas Atten if not but to Lowell Murray last it must have seemed a wan As he tends the Meech Lake Accord on what is Evi Dently its death there Are few reasons for Frank Mckennas objections to Meech Stem from his presiding Over a bilingual province that has seen linguistic tensions increase markedly in the past year and a he blames Quebec language which have Given the right ant French faction plenty of ammunition in new the con federation of regions now operating in the has helped to increase these it won four per cent of the vote in the 1987 provincial and support has been a constitutional Deal that fails to protect minority language rights better English in Quebec As Well As French in Manitoba is unlikely to win Mckennas doubtful starter and a political agreement Dis cussing the Issue perhaps Only promising to do something about it further Down the Road is a doubt Ful starter in new at this Murray is just Rais ing the question of whether a Paral Lel Accord should be he has Ghizas but has got nowhere with Gary Filmon or Clyde he also has to persuade que Bec and and Hast yet Lowell Murray shuttled out to Saskatchewan and an attempt last week to enlist Mckenna As a Federal go Between to Manitoba and Newfoundland Mckenna told reporters after his meeting with Murray Ive indicated in not pre pared to do that my View is that the government of can Ada has the major role to play at this stage in trying to pull together some kind of an even Ghiz seemed Given the intransigent positions of Manitoba and a parallel Accord is a Long Way he told the Canadian Murray is a son of Nova where politics is bred in the and Hes credited with great Powers of gentle in saving Meech prime minis Ter Mulroney seems to have set him an impossible medical bureaucrats lacking in common sense it does not require a chartered account ants qualifications to determine that a few House visits by a at about Are a lot cheaper than five weeks in a at More than a there is a Good that Manitoban were forced to pick up the Cost of the latter because the government bureaucracy would not authorize the the results Are a net Cost to taxpayers of close to plus whatever Don Orchard pays his speechwriters to de yet the High Cost of this High along with others generated by similar will trigger yet another confrontation Between the government and the most visible target in the medicare the the prescription would appear to be Large doses of common the incident referred to became Public knowledge last the daughter of a 77yearold complained that her mothers costly Hospital stay might have been pre vented bad not the Manitoba health services commission come Down so hard on whose Irish training drummed into his head the both to the patient and the patients of House Egan is a general part of the group known As full service it is the group that has been hit hardest by medical House Calls have been duly noted by the and targeted by they can understand that each such paid at the rate of approximately is almost three times the paid for an office the bureaucrats have not figured in How much can be saved by paying a House Call rather than shelling out for a Hospital perhaps their calculators Fred Cleverley Arent suitable for larger the bureaucrats obviously have not count the number of Hospital Beds occupied by elderly people with problems that could be treated at if House Calls were recognized As a solution to health care rather than a problem to there might be Money to be there is a chronic shortage of Hospital and nursing Home there is a lot of space available in All the bureaucrats can see is the Cost of allowing doctors to go to their patients rather than having their patients come to the bureaucratic pref is for expensive Ware housing of patients in Hospital Beds needed for More acute most Manitoban will be surprised to learn that the average patients Cost for doctors services in a single year is what is surprising is How quickly this average Cost can be if a doctor gives a patient a Complete medical in his he is paid one followup again in the doctors adds and already the patient is within of the average a second followup Call and the average is the patient is on the doctors record As costing for the too Many of these patients and the doctor is on the carpet for the government criticizes doctors who exceed the Seldom mentioned is How Little actual treatment is required to push a patient Over that two and one half times the which seems actually Means Only that a patient has in a about Worth of a Gas then there is the age an older doctor usually has older who need More not enough older doctors exist to have their own they Are crowded in with younger doctors who have larger num Bers of younger Only to a computer does this make the Public May deplore the disappearance of the family but the system discriminates against such a doctor looks after his doctors flock together in group practices because in those when one doctor is on his patients Are seen by others in the their yearly list of patients grows and the average Cost per patient the Bureau Cracy does not care if one patient sees several doctors Only if a doctor sees the same patients too one result is that Winnipeg has become the Walkin medical clinic capital of the doctors can see Many patients get paid the minimum for an office visit and at the same time reduce their average patient the government understands that the proliferation of Walkin clinics has become a costly part of the medicare but has yet to grasp the reason these clinics have sprouted in malls like weeds along the sides of anyone knows that it is unfair to compare apples and the Manitoba health services commission sees nothing unfair in criticizing a doctor who sees 600 average age 45 or in a year because his treatment exceeds that of other doctors who on the More than twice As Many patients whose average age is most doctors believe that a medical practices review is a necessary part of any medicare Manitoba doctors had such a review in place when they owned and operated the Only health care scheme in Manitoba All by under the old Manitoba medical doctors divvied up the total often accepting 85 per cent or less than the fee schedule in return for guaranteed when the government took the main role of policeman was assumed by Bureau with some medical input but with a Battery of new what disappeared in the process was flex doonesbury by Garry Trudeau into Lisp in 6 teaching ;