Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 21, 1991, Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 Winnipeg free january Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights published seven Days a week at 300 Cartton Winnipeg r3c 3c1 by newspapers division of Canadian newspapers company limited Telephone 9439331 a member of the Manitoba press Council Bruce Rudd publisher John Dafoe editorial Page editor David Lee managing editor Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 settling a lost strike Manitoba nursing Union is now losing the strike it could not now it is time to pick up the Cut the losses and limit the the Union gambled that the ministers were just that they could find More Money tucked away in some secret pocket if they needed it to Settle a nurses after 20 Days of Demontra publicity and it is Clear the government not there is no secret it is time to Stop talking about 24 per cent and Start talking about both sides in the dispute have been careful and the Manitoba nurses Union has provided essential services to such an extent that about of the striking nurses continued to in Winni pegs health sciences where about nurses work during a typical 24hour about 350 have worked under the essential services agreement during the some patients and some doctors whose operations have been delayed Felt that essential services were being unreasonably supervisors at the Misericordia Hospital found themselves so overworked that they closed the emergency but the withholding of service has not reached an intolerable the provision of essential service is a measure of the nurses Good they have not acted in a provocative manner aimed at producing backs work they have made a reasoned argument for the pay increase they the reasoning could be challenged at some As in the unions refusal to regard pay equity raises As real but the Union has resisted the temptation to arouse Public the government and the have kept the debate Calm and health minister Don Orchard and Premier Gary Filmon have echoed Public sympathy for the nurses position while pointing to the advantages of the settlement that was offered and the reasons Why the offer could not be the Union held meetings this week where the members were invited to stand up and reject the governments latest which they naturally those meetings show the Union leaderships determination to hold out for or at least for something that looks like they do not show the members private views about the adequacy of the the decision not to hold a secret ballot also indicates the unions belief about what would happen if they since they cannot agree about the second and third the two sides could try for a oneyear agreement and come Back for a fresh attempt one year the Union might have difficulty cranking its members up for a strike two years but the economic Environ ment May have there May be room to move on the application of pay equity and on the distribution of increases among different the Union has been scoffing at pay equity raises on the grounds that the employers had to pay those anyway sooner or the members will not when the Money appears on the longer they continue the the More weeks pay the nurses the Union appears to know that the members enthusiasm is even before the strike began All the signs said a Rich settlement was not Twenty Days of strike have shown the signs were prolonging the strike May increase the damage to health service and push the government toward a legislated it will certainly Cut deeper and deeper into nurses earnings without improving their pay the dispute is Ripe for that last herculean Effort that produces an weasel words about War 1 a Bullet manufactured at a munitions Plant in the american 2 sold As Standard ammunition for a machine gun made in 3 these were sold to Iraq to equip some of the iraqi 4 will be used in a War to and kill soldiers from the american there is a need to Tell men and women who face the Prospect of death own or others they Are the Thunder and lightning of a desert there is a need to Tell whose civilian support counts a great that they belong to a peace Loving nation their soldiers fight Only to forge a new world those were the words sent to american troops by a senior commander and to the american people by their president As the Gulf War those words Are needed if soldiers and citizens Are to recast and accept the unacceptable behaviour of human beings who As Best they try to kill one they make War almost the lexicon of the Gulf War has often been comic sometimes president George in his first talk to the american spoke of an ally who had peace in his an enemy who pillaged and plundered a tiny the military term a foul sounding word for a soviet made surface surface ballistic has entered the language More quickly and repeatedly than the missiles have left the military needs such jargon As fur Ball Slang for tangled air fights or More themselves out pilots description of fighter Crews who shoot one another by does it need the most de personalizing of military terms collateral to describe deaths of civilians men and women in the military need words As a shield just As civilians need War to look More like it does in the comic books or on the video code words take the Edge off for people who fear or have family who Are near where bombs Are code language and glory Are Good analgesics from being witness to fear or the pain of people who Are injured and the agony of families whose members dont one Aid to decoding is the on the scene reporting by Cable network news Crews who use satellite transmitters powered by portable generators to give North americans another picture of code words will most certainly continue to Rouse people to take part in and show support for the As pain relievers they Are quite it would also be healthy for people every so to think about them and face the reality they around with a gun Bill time for meeting meters senior bureaucrats and Junior Cabinet ministers Sel Dom need a nudge from anyone to spend Public Money to make their jobs Many May have passed a device that might save treasuries Bagful of Money but cause bureaucrats some initial As they sit Down this month to touch up spending estimates for the next fiscal they should consider investments in meeting the meters most resemble Large taxi meters that Are placed on display for those who take part in a a Little Advance input of the hourly wage of a meetings the Cost of equipment or other and the meter will tick off the for meetings that have Advance a second display will subtract the increasing Cost of the meeting to Tell those in attendance How much Money a loud mechanical Clunk every second will remind everyone that valuable time slips the loud Clunk has drawn attention and initially suggested to buyers that the meeting meter is Little More than a the sound effect can be silenced and the meters put to practical nowhere can it be better used than in the civil service at All Levels of government where real time often seems to the chief thing that Many bureaucrats do is hold some meetings Are held in the some Are held out of town for a few some have time spans that stretch into and continue discussion of issues while Only the people who attend meetings the most Likely result of a Long sequence of meetings is a decision that must be confirmed by another great Gaggle of bureaucrats or most often in higher up or faraway if they the decision must then be explained through Long of meetings to More Junior civil servants who Are least Likely to even the most Hardy of bureaucrats might be dismayed to discover what All those meetings to improve on their triple ratings of effective and eliminated Treasury boards Are advised to approve meeting meters and to make their use dont forget to include by Stewart Macleod Thomson news service Ottawa with the world in it seems irrelevant to be writing about Domestic legislation and backroom manoeuvring on parliament Hill yet life in Ottawa goes what Doest appear to be going on to a successful is the governments controversial gun control its still being studied by a special com Justice minister Kim Camp Bell still maintains she is committed to its and no my will admit to being cowed by the gun but since when did maps admit to being cowed by anyone and since when did a Cabinet minister admit to being uncommitted to legislation she or he sponsors everyone is going through the motions All its just that most people seem resigned to the fact that the Bill will never become innocuous legislation for anyone favouring additional controls Over guns in its not easy to understand Why there is such opposition to this seemingly innocuous All it would is ban combat Type Wear such As automatic along with Large ammunition there would be a Cooling off period Between the application for a gun permit and its and applicants would be not for the first maps Are quickly learning the dangers of fool ing around with gun the gun lobby in Canada May not have the influence of the National Rifle association in the United but it does very since this Bill was introduced in parliament last protest mail has been pouring into the offices of to the Point where Many of them have no desire whatsoever to vote on the its largely an Urban Rural Divi but not while most of the proponents of stricter gun controls Are there Are also a great number of Hunters living in tighter controls most of my mail comes from the says an my from that area who privately favors tighter gun but is not supported by his he Hopes the Bill wont come to a with the growth of the Reform party in the the last thing this government needs is legislation like he the growing consensus is that he probably has nothing to worry in from the moment the minis Ter took the unusual step of referring the Bill to a committee before it received second Reading in Parlia there were doubts about the governments commitment to the Bills Are invariably Given committee study after second Reading approval in but backbench tory maps started sounding the alarm Bells before this vote could be even though the Bill was drafted in reaction to last years massacre of 14 female univer sity students in maps soon began hearing that it would unnecessarily restrict recreational gun the arguments being heard by this committee have changed Little since earlier gun control legislation was introduced in proponents of controls say guns exist for the Pur pose of killing and that the majority of murders Are committed with fire opponents cite individual free the fact that the vast majority of gun owners Are highly responsible and that not Wear Are responsible for the Justice minister appeared be fore the committee to reiterate the governments determination to see the legislation but then said she would consider technical she was Well aware of the Urban Rural split on the whether you can make Blanket rules that would apply to Urban and Rural differences in the criminal i am not she but i am interested in looking at the dont be surprised if and other possible Are still being looked at in the next what the committee might recommend if it does before this session of parliament is prorogued is anyone but it certainly didst do much for its credibility when it initially refused to hear submissions from the parents of Vic Tims of the Montreal second thoughts severe time constraints faced by the committee make it impossible for us to hear your testimony at this the parents were the committee later had second thoughts and found the but no amount of new testimony is Likely to result in this particular piece of legislation coming before parliament for a speedy lithuanian plea ten months the people of Lithuania exercised their right to self determination and chose to elect a government to represent them As a free and democratic Sovereign a this behind the leadership of vytautas Landseer then carried out the wishes of its electorate and in a lawful and peaceful the Constitution and Laws of the sover eign Republic of this action should never have been in fact and by the Sovereign Republic of Lithuania never ceased to by this a Large window of Opportunity for the governments of the free world was opened for them to diplomatically recognize the Republic and initiate Trade relations with a new world leaders provided nothing More than the rhetoric of vytautas Landsbergis denouncement with no hop ing that the soviet champions of perestroika and a new world order would eventually come what came around were sanctions and More than one week tanks rolled into communications were Cut off and civilians were Mur dered by soviet the free worlds reaction was to Cut off Aid to the soviet Union not to provide the Aid to Lithuania that they have pleaded expatriate lithuanians and those of lithuanian descent have raised millions of dollars and provided Mil Lions of signatures on petitions and letters in an Effort to have other governments in the world act in a forthright no Diplo Matic or Trade relations have been entered As much As the soviets have reneged on promises and supposed so have the governments of the free world failed to support a Sovereign republics wish to become a member of their fraternity and end More than 50 years of occupation and the blood of those murdered in the streets of Vilnius during the attack is As much on the hands of major and Mitterrand and All the leaders of the free world for their inaction As it is staining the soul of Mikhail once the lithuanian Community Council of Winnipeg urges citizens to write their members of parliament and demand that the government of Canada do the right thing and go further than their stated considerations and give Lithuania its sought after diplomatic recognition and Trade peace can still win our our people Are willing to die to prove Gali Cutis lithuanian Community Council of Winnipeg letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from writers must give their name and names will be used and letters Are subject to correction As the Grey haired nurse quoted by the free press in the 11 article on Militancy in i would like to commend your report ers interest and willingness to address other than monetary issues related to the i would also like to Correct a misquote which had me Back then we didst even learn to do ivs intravenous tubes and now nurses routinely put catheters into Peoples what i said was we didst learn to give in medications and now nurses routinely put medications into catheters in Peoples Karen bin Winnipeg frustration although having had Only limited experience As a substitute teacher in French immersion schools in Winni i have very Strong opinions about them i would like to share them with your the image that most clearly comes to mind when i think of those schools is that of frustrated Young students gasping for the right French words with which to express begging to just this let me say it in English express themselves in English with teachers standing be fore looking at the and Ere Ere French immersion by their nature and your reporter was Correct in her assessment that the students speak English everywhere outside of the classroom stifle dare i say muzzle potential for self expression in these with the emphasis on doing every thing in far too much is left perhaps when this mania for Suc which has prompted so Many Well meaning parents to enrol their children in French immersion pro has faded from Pur collective is a civil service Job really Success will we again Grant Chil Dren the luxury of an education in their own language an education where they can explore thoughts and ideas to their fullest in a language that conies naturally to John Hamilton Winnipeg French program i am writing with regard to the january 5 article immersion Boom brings mixed i am a French immersion graduate who is now studying French at the University of i agree although when i completed Grade 121 was considered in reality i was but i do believe that the schools i attended Sacre Coeur River Heights Junior and Kelvin High school offered me the Best French immersion education with their guidance through teachers and there comes a Point in ones Aca Demic career when one must look to oneself for the motivation to work to become i found that Moti vation As i entered High school and made the decision to continue my education in i to this continually looking for ways to enrich and practise my in my it is this attitude alone which shows the Success of the French immersion programs in Katherine binding Winnipeg Reading skills an intellectual debate addresses the issues and does not attack the abilities of those Are not of like having said we feel compelled to respond to miss Tarnava com ment in a letter headed misses the Point free january 13 which attacked our Reading compre Hension Reading comprehension requires More than simply knowing the meaning of each it involves the ability to understand both the implicit and explicit Mes sages conveyed by the be assured that we Are Well aware of Samuels by saying that during these difficult economic As opposed to Hus should relinquish their Samuels implied that women work is not As valuable As one does not have to read Between the lines to recognize the blatant sexism inherent in this Brownell saudino department of psychology University of Manitoba rapid fire guns semiautomatic rifles should be outlawed in Canada for everyone except the military and special branches of our police Semi automatic weapons by their that there Are cer Tain circumstances under which it is All right to open up on animals or their existence is an exam ple of technology itself creating a worst Case scenario for legitimate Hunters and collectors must forfeit semiautomatic weapons As the Price society pays in order to deliver the message that Canada is not a land where rapid fire guns despite the powerful cultural influence exerted on us by the we Are still a More peaceful nation and we must act to withstand the influence of american television and Rifle Assoc a Canadian manhood must not be seen to be rooted in having Access to rapid fire every society has an unfortunate few who go in a society in which semiautomatic rifles Are to tally a maniac will have less Opportunity to get control of rapid fire a society that actively rejects semiautomatic weapons and the idea that it is acceptable to use them will Likely produce fewer people who believe it is their right to Slaughter people perceived to be the source of their in return for the Security of Rais ing our sons and daughter in a nation free of rapid fire collect target shooters and a few Hunt ers must relinquish these instruments of contrary to what one sees in it is never accept Able to mow Down Large numbers of semiautomatic rifles should be outlawed in Canada for everyone except the military and special branches of our police Robert Page Elm what we need is a missile that seeks out moustaches worn by names beginning with the letter ;