Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 29, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 free april Winnipeg free press of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights published seven Days a week at 300 cart dirt Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by newspapers division of Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone a member of the Manitoba press Council Arthur Wood publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor David Lee managing editor Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Chamorro takes office Nicaragua transition to Freedom and democracy this week is a time of Hope and of president Violeta Chamorro continued to strike the right note by talking of reconciliation during her inauguration but put in question her own political survival by her first major retaining As army chief of staff Humberto who was defence minister in the former sandinista can Only make those familiar with Nicara guas recent history fearful for the fledgling democracy although his was the chief of the Nieman sandinista party directorate that ran the coun try in politburo giving the interviews and making the Humberto was and is the key Symbol of party Power because of his control of the largest army in Central his importance outranks that of even Tomas the sinister stalinist who ran the san dih Istas secret state Chamorro publicly Calls her decision an act of reconciliation with the Defeated privately defends it As an act of political realism necessary to a peaceful she herself will be defence minister but her political oversight will be limited by her ignorance of military she has made her oversight task easier by sensibly abolishing the hated military conscription that was a Factor in the Peoples rejection of the this will keep the army at its current size of roughly to Jolo and should help to whittle it her instruction to Humberto to Cut the army size should also although his estimate that he can Cut to about 40000 men Over 18 months should be rejected by her As too few and too Chamorro ought to consider abolition of Nicara guas state this was the Good idea of Costa rican president Oscar architect of the Central american peace plan that has allowed her to come to Power and chief executive of a state with no if that were to be stated As a it would help with one of the serious problems that she has created by keeping Humberto the danger that the nicaraguan rebel movement May now refuse to the rebels made a recent Deal with the sandinista to Complete disbandment by june their compliance with it is important to future social Tranquillity in her decision has made it harder to govern with the rickety coalition that she led to two refusals on inauguration Day to serve in her Cabinet by leading figures in the 14party group Are a bad As Are the indications of intr coalition anger at the decision and at the arbitrary manner of its beatific words and gestures in political campaigns and on Public occasions Are Fine but there is a country to run and a people to lift out of economic the virulently ant american diatribe of Daniel Ortega at the inauguration and behaviour straight out of the 1930s by the disciplined sandinista supporters who screamed hate slogans and threw water bombs at the new both show How hard will be Chamorro president George Howe made it harder to paint her support As a political liability by ending the 1985 economic embargo and by generous further action on inauguration the most important action was restoration of Nicara guas per cent share of the sugar which will allow Nicaragua to earn dollars by Selling up to tons of sugar in the the quota was Cut in 1983 and terminated in 1985 by the Reagan it is a More dignified form of help than the desperately needed million emergency Aid package now meandering through his ability to certify that Nicaragua now is not a marxist Leninist state will also make it eligible for Export import Bank credits and without which virtually bankrupt Nicaragua would find Trade difficult to Chamorro biggest Job will be restoring a debauched defeating inflation and getting nor Mal Commerce moving she will Best achieve that by changing from an inefficient command Economy to the demand Economy she rightly canadians will wish her Good Luck and a fair talk calmly about taxis owners of Winnipeg taxi licences tried to Block Reform of the licensing their attempt has now it is still not too late for the owners to take an interest in the details of the Reform that is taking shape and try to ensure its transport minister Albert Driedger told the owners this week that Don Norquay will continue to chair the Manitoba taxicab the boards rep Opton Winnipeg taxicab service and regulation will continue to be the basis of Reform the government will not buy the existing licences Back from the present Are reasonable decisions based on the facts of the the licence holders were asking for dismissal of Norquay and abandonment of his if the government meant to proceed with the owners wanted the government to buy All their licences at these though stridently sex lacked a Good foundation and Driedger has not accepted the March report proposes an immediate auction at which 20 licences for a new class of luxury cab will be offered for holders of existing licences would also be allowed to switch to luxury cabs if they luxury cabs would charge higher fares but the vehicles would have to meet higher standards of Comfort and equipment than those which apply to regular holders of the existing 400 Winnipeg taxicab licences object to an increase in the number of taxis in the fearing loss of income and loss of resale value of their some organizations representing Howe complain that some Winnipeg taxis Are old and poorly maintained and not useful for physically disabled the licence holders have argued strenuously against expansion of the taxi Fleet but they have not offered better ideas for improving the if the Industry does not come up with a better the taxicab boards March proposal stands an excellent Chance of being adopted because it makes Good it recognizes that taxi utilization in Winnipeg is restrained by a shortage of it recognizes that some Winni Eggers need cheaper taxis for Basic transportation while willing to pay a Little look for a higher level of cleanliness and it leaves licence holders free to offer luxury or regular depend ing on Market profitability and the licence holders by the March the Board would keep an Eye out for Adverse effect upon licence holders resulting from the first addition of 20 taxis to the Winnipeg if demand increased so As to keep the additional taxis then another 20 licences would be auctioned followed by More until 100 cabs had been added to the 400 now on the the Industry is nervous about the addition of 100 but there would be plenty of Opportunity at each stage to test whether passengers were coming Forward to keep the new taxis the number of taxis in Winnipeg has not increased since licences were traded last year at prices of around no solid information is available on the income a Winnipeg taxi the Price people Are willing to pay to obtain though not conclusive is the Best available sign of the Revenue which the people involved think a taxi can business organizations and individual users told the taxicab Board at Public hearings that the service is any Winnipeg Ger or visitor trying to Flag a cab on a downtown Street quickly learns that this City is Short of All these facts show that the number of taxis should be though they do not show How Many taxis should be taxi licence owners have tried a variety of Means to Advance their they have tried breaking up Public hearings of the taxicab they have tried riotous conduct at the some taxi Industry figures have tried threats of according to the boards March in recent weeks they have tried outrageous demands such As firing of Norquay and government Purchase of their All these having they May now be reduced to looking calmly at the facts and suggesting reasonable improvements to the taxicab boards time out on parliament Hill by Christopher Dafoe special to the free press the time May have come to Call a halt to All political activity for what might be called a Cooling off Peri according to reports from dismal scenes unfolded in the House of commons this week when a Dis Pute broke out Over remarks made by my John Nunziata during recent Liberal leadership As everyone knows by described separatists As Trai tors to Stern measures of is a fairly Strong at one time the punishment for a traitor involved Par tial hanging followed by Dise Bow such Stem measures Are thank a thing of the but most nations continue to take a fairly dim View of treason and traitors and nobody enjoys being unjustly accused of the is a separatist a traitor to Canada it i treason generally refers to disloyalty to a Sovereign or head of a Trai Tor has been described As one who is false to his allegiance or acts Dis loyally to King or i suppose you could say that some body who dedicates himself to breaking up the country by removing a part of it is being disloyal to Canada and that a whether he wants to remove Quebec or Western Canada from the Conedera is being disloyal to the old a kind of it is curious that so Many of the Quebec members took personal of Fence at the charge of disloyalty to they cannot All be separate it is highly unlikely that any of them could be called feel Are running and nowadays a Mere word can drive people into a frenzy of which is Why it might be Wise for every body to take a cold pop a valium and choose their words with greater the Canadian parliament has been Rowdy in the but it is not often that members come close to actually exchanging we have seen wretched scenes on television depicting fist fights and near murder in the parliaments of other but once known As the peacekeepers of the have usually stopped Short of mayhem on the floor of the the old Pax canadians May soon be a thing of the past unless Stern measures Are parliamentary debate appears to have fallen on evil political debate in general seems to have taken a turn for the worse in recent Laurier and if they found themselves restored to life in the House of might wonder where they in they would probably Call the Back number nowadays it is not considered Nec Essary to refute an opponents argument by offering a better argument of your the Art of persuasion is considered a Back today you simply Call your oppo nent an idiot or a insult his make fun of his re Mark that he is probably too stupid to understand the legislation under consideration and let your Case if an opponent gets up to speak you drown him out with come to think of most cats Are smarter than mind an increasing number of maps actually seem to Bel Naves and some suffer from these afflictions Only on a temporary others Are chronic disturbing problem this recognition of the stupidity of Many prominent politicians is a disturbing problem of modern at one time it was possible for Many foolish politicians to conceal their they Seldom passed among us and when they did appear on television or speak on radio they were often careful to hide their True opinions behind evasive answers and plummy now that question period is Tele the True extent of the horror is revealed for All to any Canadian can now tune in almost any Day and watch his my behaving like a fool or a lout in the House of commons at years ago most parliamentary orations went unreported and the nonsense uttered by Many parliamentarians Bac Bencher and cab inet minister alike was not noted by the voter at now it is spread out like a Brazen Sunset for All to see and hear and the situation is rapidly getting perhaps the nation would be Best served if everybody went fishing for two it May be time to give Meech these Parat ism and everything else a Good a rest cure for maps might prove to be the salvation of our troubled dirty City during my stay in Winnipeg As a i have come to find the Core area a literal disgrace to the in forced to live in the Core area because of my schooling and my building is Well kept but the surrounding areas Are so Gar i feel As if i live in the ghettos of new Many times i have walked around noticing the numerous articles of garbage thrown and piled about convenience store new spa broken clothes and dirty i find it disgusting to live in a City which int so big that it cannot maintain a sanitary the Core area is a stopping place for Many Why cant the City take the time and Money to keep it clean the City is spending million to clean up the Sand and Salt distributed in the what about City streets Are the garbage distributed year round the Core initiative program was created to improve the intercity area but i feel it has greatly failed As far As the garbage cleanup is con because the Core area is greatly is this program just another write off for the govern ment if this part of the program has failed thus what about when the funding stops next year i heard one fellow say to his Friend one this is what Winnipeg about the problem is recognized by Many Why cant the City clean up its act As Well As the garbage Cathy Buttazoni Winnipeg poor response i wish to remark on the response that i received on a recent saturday in regard to the Western Canada As a Volunteer i had the task of displaying 30 posters promoting the games throughout a very popular retail and residential i received a negative response to wards the games and Many shop owners refused to display the Post i dont think the retail District is aware of the potential that will be available to them come july during these nine tourism will increase the economic Revenue of the province of this summer Winnipeg will be the Centre of hosting athletes and Many More to accommodate the games new facilities have been built and Many others yet there still seems a Lack of which appears to be synonymous with the City of Winnipeg has spent a considerable amount of Money on facilities and advertising the but still the eyes of the Public remain Benton Winnipeg letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from writers must give their name and names will be used and letters Are subject to Earth Day the Earth Day Celebration evoked Many considerations after my visit to the exhibits at the Assiniboia i was eager to share in the information offered at the variety of Booths but i found some of the things that i saw at Earth Day question the overwhelming distribution of paper and samples of cellophane struck me As contrary to the Princi pal of Earth i believe a great Deal of information could have been offered by poster with concise de tails of particular environmental author Marjorie Lamb claims the greatest amount of our garbage comes from paper and i would believe her claim after what i saw distributed at Earth Day a second observation came to me after conversation with a woman representing a business i told her i resisted buying the product she represented because of the plastic she told me the Container was biodegradable and game me a pamphlet to show the pamphlet said the Container was recyclable very different con i left Earth Day realizing that the problems we Are addressing have a very Broad we must look at rethinking our approach to All the products we Purchase and we must recon Sider our we need to question whether we need the production and whether we can accept its packaging As Gar recycling is valuable after we have reconsidered the products and packages we Are Earth Day made me aware of our excesses and that it is necessary for each of us to consider them very Laura Dean Winnipeg Stark irony Christopher Dafoe poignant Eulogy to his pet cat Mab who had to be put to sleep after 14 years when she became too ill to live much longer without suffering struck a responsive chord in my heart goodbye to an old free press april it brought Back memories of a similar experience with our Daugh ters 13year old dog Bootsy and i could empathize with Dafoe sense of yet i was struck with the Stark irony of the this tender account appeared right below a striking photo of an easter Lily with a Bible in the background with the lettering holy Bible prominently vis it is True that a picture is Worth a thousand consider ing what a significant Celebration easter is since it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus it seemed like a crushing affront that no mention of the meaning of this Day was made in connection with this photo or anywhere on that a pet who had Given Joy and companionship to a person received a tender tribute in the press on her passing but the Savior of the world who came to redeem Mankind and who gives life that will never end to those who believe in him did not rate even a word of tribute or acknowledgement in your paper on easter i found that to be quite Rogalski Winnipeg cartoon incorrect i am writing in regard to the editorial cartoon appearing in the april 8 Issue of the free depicting a Puritan Christian Wear ing and Selling around his neck Hung a sign Good Christian moral values Only considering the growing intolerance evident in this a cartoon such As this comes As no As a i must object to what you Are suggesting through the publication of this car the cartoon says three things to it tells me that Christian moral values Are it tells me that christians Are narrow minded in their and it gives me the impression that christians Are dour and kill the tells me a different Isaiah verse All you who Are come to the Waters and you who have no come buy and eat buy wine and milk with out Money and without verse 7 of the same chapter let the wicked forsake his Way and the evil Man his let him turn to the and he will have mercy on and to our for he will freely god is asking us to buy his which is Christian moral values Are received from god upon which it self is a free gift from As romans the gift of god is eternal life through Christ Jesus our your Price of is too regarding the second verse 8 of Isaiah 55 for my thoughts Are r Nei ther Are your ways my de clares the As the heavens Are higher than the so Are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your god does not give us spiritual blinders when we put our Faith and Trust in him becoming a Chris in just the opposite god makes the spiritually Blind Able to and those who think they can he makes we read about this very thing in John which Jesus for judgment i have come into the so that the Blind will see and those who see will become and in regard to the last Isaiah you will go out in Joy and be led Forth in is 1 Peter though you have not seen you love him and even though you do not see him you believe in him and Are filled with an inexpressible and Glo rious in All three the word of god has shown that your depiction of the typical Christian is incur Ronald Hofman Winnipeg running out of Wood is no they should have ;