Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 20, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba U 18 Winnipeg free january Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights published seven Days a week at 300 Carlton Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by newspapers division of Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 a member of the Manitoba press Council Arthur e Wood publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor Murray Burt managing editor Rudy Redekop controller Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 the place for waste disposal residents of the Rural municipality of Rossburn have sent two messages to residents of the City of Winnipeg by voting to reject a hazardous waste treatment Plant in their one of those messages is the other is councillors in Winnipeg should pay attention to they should invite the Manitoba hazardous waste management corporation to try to find a place for the Plant in Winnipeg or very near to the City in which the bulk of the waste is the Clear message in the 376to279 vote against the Rural location is that no matter How great an economic Carrot is dangled in front of those who have chosen Rural the majority have More interest in preserving Community rather than altering the million waste treatment Plant could have resulted in 30 permanent jobs and a regular flow of trucks into the Village of Rossburn where merchants would certainly Welcome new there was also the off Hance that an Industry which generates hazardous waste would find the Western Corner of the province a far More attractive place to none of those reasons was Good in Exchange for the guarantee of a moderate economic the Community was required to View itself As a repository for the tonnes a year of hazardous waste produced in the Region produced the least of any Region in the province a Mere per an estimated 84 per cent of the poly chlorinated acids and heavy Metal solutions the Plant will treat or ship elsewhere Are Winni pegs the residents of the Rural municipality of Rossburn knew Well that councillors in Winnipeg have Given a Public interest group to oppose a planned Gold mine in the Ontario sector of Shoal and May give the City councillors want to be very sure that Ontario waste will not endanger City drinking the councillors have not formally invited the hazardous waste corporation to place their Plant in the City whose industries and whose residents gain the greatest Benefit and Bear the greatest responsibility Safe waste the corporation will not go where it is not unless City Council issues the the Corpora Tion must turn full attention to two other communities that have some interest in the Plant also in the and where risk perception among the scientists and scores of others who Are employed by atomic Energy of Canada is the results of the Rossburn should be a Subtle warning to Winnipeg that the principle of As Well As is a consider Able there has been some speculation that if the merchants and other residents of the Village of Rossburn had joined in this weeks vote the outcome would have been there is reason to expect that those whose work advances nuclear Power will be sanguine about any is far More Likely to be at ease with accepting a Plant if the City of Winnipeg will seriously consider accepting City councillors should set aside their fears about facing a Nimby Battle in their they should invite the corporation to investigate site selection in unless they the Opportunity to safely handle the waste of Urban life May Well go where hazardous wastes have too often gone before simply Down the the Dollar going Down three things that economists and others had been waiting for took place in the Canadian Economy this week statistics Canada reported a marginal decline in inflation the Bank of Canada eased up slightly on interest rates and the value of the Dollar started to head downward on world the fact that they happened together was no Cionci a single minded concern about inflation was what drove Bank of Canada governor John Crow to keep interest rates punishing by it was the High interest rates that attracted foreign Money to Canada and kept the Dollar once inflation appeared to be interest rates began to foreign investors started to look elsewhere and the dollars value started to anyone who could predict How far the process will go could make a lot of finance minister Michael Wilson believes it will be enough to save the Canadian Economy from recession this he May Well be though there is Little doubt that economic growth will be slow and unemployment will go up at least a the lower interest will be Good news for those parts of the including which have not shared the overheated Economy of the lower if it continues to will be bad news for those canadians who have been flocking to Border towns to shop but Good news for Canadian exporters who have been badly Hurt by the overvalued the december drop does not mean that inflation has disappeared but there Are some encouraging the average rate for 1989 was per cent but More recent trends Are More in the last three months of the inflation Rose at a rate which would average out to Only four per cent a there is no such thing As an unmixed Blessing in the if the value of the Dollar continues to prices of imported goods will increasing the inflation rate once on top of a year from now the Federal governments goods and services tax will add a Point or two to the inflation under the Best of 1990 is not going to be a great year for the Canadian moderation in interest rates and the value of the offers Hope with steady the Economy will hit Bottom with less of a bump than Many had in the footsteps of Laurier no need for preference it was a Liberal Federal government which first declared its intention to break Down the provincial barriers which inhibit Trade within that makes it surprising that the liberals in the Manitoba Legisla Ture Are the Only party urging the provincial government to erect some new the liberals want Manitoba to get Back into the discredited old game of giving preference to local they want Manitoba contractors to get jobs on the construction of the Conaw Apa Hydro development even if their bids Are As much As 10 per cent higher than a that could be an expensive policy for the people of with the potential to boost a considerable portion of the projects it would also be an unnecessary Manitoba contractors dont want they already have an Edge Over outside firms simply because they Are closer to the and they want to retain the Opportunity to bid on projects outside of this province which could be lost if Manitoba discriminated against outside there is not even any Assurance that the 10percent preference would steer More jobs to local it could simply encourage them to put in higher bids than they otherwise would have there Are ways of ensuring maximum Benefit to Manitoban from the massive Power development and Many of them were applied by the previous new democratic party government on the Limestone work can be divided into smaller contracts which local contractors will find easier to bid the government can make a special Effort to ensure that local contractors know what contracts Are preference in employment can be Given to especially most northerners can be provided with effective training programs to prepare them to take advantage of employment re erecting inter provincial barriers is an unnecessary backward it would damage the interests of both Manitoba and the country As a it is surprising to hear Manitoba liberals advocating by Christopher Dafoe special to the free press the great Canadian which occasionally gets excited about Polit ical matters the Diefenbaker Deli appears to be preparing to look the other Way while the Liberal party goes through the harrowing process of selecting a new under the one might suppose that there would be great interest and excitement at tending the search for a woman or Man to carry on the great work of Mackenzie Pearson and Trudeau not to mention Alexander Mackenzie and John after every body hates Brian Mulroney and it would be perfectly in order to encounter widespread interest in the female or who might Well replace him As prime minister after the next Federal is not run Ning it May Well of that the Public feels that anybody would be better than the liberals might select Wayne or Shuster to Lead them and have no fears about not sweeping to Victory in the greatest landslide since the unfortunate incident at Al in weary of waiting on the other a great tide of apathy and disillusionment May have swept Over the Long suf Fering Canadian the weary of waiting for a Politi Cal Messiah or a Galahad on a White May simply have tossed in the millions of dollars will be spent to make the candidates for the Liberal leadership but it seems unlikely that any amount of Money will create the sort of excitement that some observers of the political scene appear to Hope Charisma cannot be purchased for cold political Appeal is not for in a political you either have it or you it is possible to have it and then lose it and it is not always possible to get it even if experts Are called in to make Over the magic evaporates the alleged front runners in the Liberal race have not found the magic Jean Chretien was once thought to be an exciting Fig but recently he seems to have dwindled into just another politician Reading a he was once sup posed to have Charisma whatever that the old magic appears to have it May return to him who knows what a million dollars might it seems like a Long Paul Martin the younger has been running hard for but nobody can remember what he looks like or what his views those for whom the name rings a Bell still get a mental picture of the elder Martin when the name Paul Martin is men can Over a million dollars change that Lack of recognition for the Young tycoon Only time can but Hopes Are not running Martin May be working on a new image or he May be trying to remember what his old image if he had modern political life can be the West complains that it gets Short shrift in and yet Western liberals seem unable to Field a the support for Lloyd who would make a perfectly respectable prime minis indicates that Western liberals Are willing to fight with their jaws but not with their Cheque could Axworthy have run successfully without Money every body seems to think that you need at least a this might be the moment to take a serious look at a political system that depends so heavily on Cash Over at the present moment the most interesting candidate for the Leader ship of the Liberal party seems to be the formidable Sheila there was a wonderful picture of Copps on television the other she appeared to be vaulting Over a table in order to punch a conserva Tive my in the her methods May appear to be unorthodox and unlike those traditionally employed on Canadas generally Dull political but new times often require new methods and the Copps enthusiasm May be just what this country needs to bring it Back to left Hook deadly Copps at first to have More brains than Many of her male and her left Hook can be i am pulling for various reasons will be Given to support the View that the country is not yet ready for a female the in has been ready for a female Leader since the Day after when you consider some of men who have been prime it is surprising that it has taken so Long to give serious consideration to a the time has never been Winnipeg in Winter is dangerous to frail when the Sun Winter is a season of exquisite the fresh Snow is so White that the crystals dance and sparkle with bluish tints and in midday the shadows trailing the Trees Are Black in the there is purity and dazzling Light after a new this is the first time in my life that i dread and that is because i am still in the category of a disabled i have been on crutches and have progressed to a Cane following an Accident in which i broke my left getting around outdoors on crutches or canes is a formidable and hazardous there is too much Snow and ice about the streets and sidewalks that can be Winnipeg in Winter is dangerous to the disabled and the immediately the streets become rough and ambulances Are Busy Rush ing the younger people too to Hospital emergency they suffer from broken Shoul if the Cost to society in Hospital Bills and the grief to the individuals were it would be enormous Winter imposes barriers that May not be obvious to the Mobile i went to a restaurant with a Friend but we decided it was out of i dare try to climb Over the Snowbank along the we went even the legislative building was out of Bounds for me while i was on there is parking set aside for the handicapped at a convenient Val Werier place beside a its Okay for but the slope of the ramp is too Steep for me to navigate on the cold weather also inhibits the disabled who drive their own cars or for fear they May be stranded or John executive director of the Canadian paraplegic Assoc a Manitoba says for that at a Church function he May the accessible in trance is at the no one May be around if he got into Winter is a restricting Environ says people also get out of shape because they dont get around even More debilitating is the Lone Liness and isolation that comes with Here adequate transportation is the most pressing need for the particularly the Lane Points out that welfare assistance does not recognize the need of the isolated and poor disa bled to obtain wheelchair taxi ser vice for social As for Handi social visits Are the last Lane says that As a whole other avenues Are improving for the As for physical he observes we Are now at the stage when it is no longer a question of whether it should be done but How to do it being poor and disabled is a Dou ble it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of the permanently disabled Are says Laurie National coordinator of the coalition of provincial organizations of the for these transportation in Winter looms As a major problem and forces them into the disabled Are the first to says when companies Cut Back on they Are the last hired and the first fired because they Are usually employed on a contract or term the recent annual report of the Federal employment equity which requires employers of a cer Tain size to provide information on affirmative reveals that the disabled lost jobs in Bea Chell surmises that this is due to the downsizing of although there have been advances concerning the Beachell says that Peoples attitudes generally Are still somewhat Dis the general Public perceives disabled persons As having less skills and not being Able to perform on the Job As the no disabled people for tend to View the Blind and deaf As a subsidiary 1 know that from my association with a late Friend although initiated and ran a most successful he took part in a Range of intellectual and physical pursuits far beyond that attempted by the majority of sighted yet when we went into restau the waitress would always ask me what my Friend would like to he was considered noncom Patent because of his he an individual of unusual ability and Many disabled could be productive citizens if Given the Beachell says there needs to be More assistance in the Way of transport design of the More flexible work hours and hiring prac and adequate from my experience As a disabled they need All the help they can Snow and ice on streets and sidewalks make outdoor activities hazardous task for ;