Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 25, 1991, Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 Winnipeg free january 1991 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 94 393 31 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 weep for the people official descriptions of the War in the persian Gulf can at the same both chillingly impersonal and absurdly reduced to television viewers on the same see the War presented both As a matter of indistinguishable flashes of explosion striking unrecognizable shapes and As a kind of medieval single combat Between president George Bush on one Kirie and president Saddam Hussein on the president Bush was in one of his single combat moods i his week when he declared considering the mans crimes against no one should weep for Saddam in no one is Likely to weep for Saddam there is no reason to do he appears to sleep safely in his he gets his three meals a his family Are safely Saddam Hussein is not fighting the nor is he one of its the War on his Side is being fought by half a million of his a Large proportion of them unwilling the victims of the War in Iraq Are not Saddam Hussein but those soldiers and the As yet uncounted iraqi civilians who have been killed or injured or rendered they Are the ones who Are paying for Saddam Hussein crimes and they deserve some members of the Antiwar movement manage to miss the target every bit As badly As president Bush they should we fight a War for the Emir of Kuwait with All his billions and All his Oil Wells and All his the answer is that it is not the Emir of Kuwait who is suffering from the iraqi he is comfortably the people who Are suffering Are the kuwaitis who were left behind to suffer the brutality and the pillage of the iraqi they presumably had their own thoughts about their autocratic though by the standards of their Region they lived enjoyed Good government services and suffered less repression than whatever those thoughts might nothing should have condemned them to be the victims of aggression and brutal the War is not a War of leaders or of millions of people on both sides Are the the victims and the potential that fact should not be blurred by those supporters of the War who tend to Brush off the people of Iraq or those in the Antiwar movement who Are equally prepared to write off the people of wrong Way Power sharing the chief reason that deep convictions Are touched and emotions Are stirred Over so arcane a matter As environmental assessment legislation is that a proper assessment carefully would demand a great Deal of new Power the Manitoba government has just changed its Law to allow some sharing of Power with politicians in other provinces or with the Federal in the process it has stirred people who View environmental damage in Alt jurisdictions and believe that a new arrangement is that arrangement would require less High level sharing and More sharing of information with the scientists and others who Champion Environ mental under a truly effective environmental Protection re no dams would be built by Crown no pulp Mills created for the Benefit of the private the premiers the friends of the a reelection bid or anything until the environmental consequences had been openly judged by experts and sent Back to a Cabinet in Good reviews would Stop politicians from behaving politically and harming the environment until and Vance knowledge of the damage that might occur was Given a Chance to harm governments not politicians tend not to the Manitoba governments recent amendment to its assessment Law was made necessary Only because people who believed two Saskatchewan dams would damage Manitoban water and some valuable natural assets in won court rulings which affirmed that the Federal government had a duty to look into those the Filmon government very naturally wants to in Manitoba Hydro planning of the Conaw Apa the sort of litigation and bullying tactics that Premier Grant Devine touched off when he objected to Federal review of the Raffert Alameda the solution the Manitoba government has pushed through the legislature and touts As a Model for other jurisdictions would require More Power sharing among politicians and could invite More Deal making of the sort which created the Rafferty a joint Federal provincial review of the Conaw Apa dam would mean that ministers at both Levels would have to agree on such significant matters As what the panel could look How Long it could take and who could sit on both politicians and bureaucrats in Manitoba gave soothing promises that any change in provincial Law would assure that the most stringent features of any participating jurisdictions review process would apply when two or More Are Manitoban will have to wait to see the Conaw Apa review in operation to know if there is any truth to those the Law As it stands does not guarantee environmental groups went into negotiations in de Cember with a list of items that would make joint reviews less subject to ministerial direction than current ones at either they came away with a Compromise which the government found guaranteed too much Power sharing in the wrong now the groups feel both angry and the of the betrayal remains to be the Conaw Apa review will be the first major it is not that politicians should feel More Comfort in giving themselves room to negotiate with colleagues in other jurisdictions than to make such a Radical shift As to subject their decision making to detailed and apolitical Advance it May be As naive of Public interest groups to expect that sort of Power sharing As it is to expect that Public interest groups know Well How to win in the Liberal Gaffe on the Gulf threatening subsidies there is no doubt who started the Trade War Over Grain the agricultural subsidies of the european Community turned that area of the world into a net exporter of grains which could be produced More efficiently the War is now being escalated by the Export subsidy program of the United the extent of this escalation has been outlined by lome chief commissioner of the Canadian wheat Hehn used As an example the Purchase of tonnes of wheat by at a Price of a the visible subsidy on this wheat is a since Farmers who grew the Grain were guaranteed a Price of almost a by the time transportation costs came the government ended up paying More than 80 per cent of the Money that actually reached the this kind of dealing is a serious threat to which exports a much higher percentage of its Grain crop than either Europe or the although Grants mean that Canadian Farmers got about can a tonne for the wheat they grew last the difference is Large enough to threaten Many with Hehn argues that the Trade War has driven the world Price of wheat so Low that it is in danger of if that the Farmers who will continue to be Hurt the most will be those in Western who Are efficient producers of High Quality grains but who cannot compete against 80percent by special to the free press Ottawa the problem for opposition politicians is not just to find reasons for opposing everything done by the party in Power but to give the Public a sense that they would make a Good alternative to those in the liberals disarray when they had to face the question of Canadian support for the United nations approach to the problems in the per Sian Gulf shows How far they still have to go to regain some of their old significant role the liberals were the party in Power when the concept of collective Security was embodied in the United nations on a basis intended to avoid the weaknesses of the prewar league of prominent Liber als played a significant role in its the party has been a consistent supporter of the in idea Ever yet when this involved something More costly than words the party tried to flee from the with its current Leader Jean Chretien producing the dreadful suggestion that if War developed in the persian Gulf the Canadian naval units and airmen already there should be if he had been in a position to put that proposal into which is to say if he had been in Power rather than in Canadas inter National reputation would have been in tatters and its influence it is no Mere question of prestige that was what was at stake was the country ability to have some influence on not just from time to time in the Middle East but in other parts of the the Chretien formula would have Des troyed All Canadian influence for years to when Chretien produced that idea there was Strong popular opposition to a Canadian role in the Gulf and he seems to have believed he could ride that particular horse to As the crisis developed into actual shifted and support for the United nations position and Chretien leapt from one horse to supporting the government position when it came time to vote and when it became obvious that even in Quebec opinion had along the the former Liberal John had delivered an excellent commons speech based on principle and adhering to Long standing Liberal his respect for principle infuriated Many of his former untenable position somewhere along the Way too Many canadians in and far too Many of the country Politi have drifted into the Unten Able position that desirable events or conditions do not have to be paid for through Money and sometimes blood and the United nations was founded on the principle that aggressors Hlin formed the response and opinions in a letter to the free press on sport Hunting verify that the writer is first of the Opin ions on meat eating Are that we should copy the cultures of another country and turn we could also copy the culture of some primitive tribe and eat but i guess grubs Are also living what about Birds nest soup the writer is obviously quite con tent in her sem Urban setting of Selkirk and obviously Doest de Pend on the Chicken or pig Industry in order to keep her Community viable or herself As she originally had no Choice but to eat we now have a Choice thank goodness and i choose to eat meat of both Domestic and wild i also have been known to consume fish and have even yanked a Carrot out of the Garden and eaten it raw Chicken is Good table fare but i prefer Venison because it is lower in Deer eat Hay in animal fat than both Turkey the encroachment of loss of pollution and Over Hunting that she Speaks about Are definitely concerns that Are facing our future and our childrens that is Why i belong to ducks unlit which is committed to restoring wetland habitats which is More than a place to Hunt the wetland ecosystem is an important web and without the billion that has been committed to the North american plan there would surely be More shopping malls and parking lots in the expanding Urban so our letter writer could find it even More convenient to visit and select her High tech food probably wrapped in none Cyc Lable As for bigger animals such As which have been credited with human thoughts and Intel we have to be careful Here because this could be the definite Start of a Bambi society Way of Deer die the same Way pigs and sheep in if these animals were capable of human a cow Proba Bly hide in Deer places any its Odds would be somewhat better in Deer season than on a kill on a further i Hope the writer practices some form of wildlife preservation other than letting her cat have its Hunting skills honed on the local song Bird i personally have taken an Active interest in preserving a woodlot for and even Poison i see to it that the resident Deer Herd is fed throughout the cold Winter nights and deep snows of the writer could contribute a lot of Hay As the Many Deer Hunters do each i insist her cat stays at Kitty can eat meow mix but a resident Coyote May need that Bird or Squirrel to make it through the Randy Chambers letters the Winnipeg free press welcomes tetters from writers must give their name and names will be used and letters Are subject to discredited recently a letter to the editor stated that the advanced human cerebrum evolved As a result of this formerly accepted View has been discredited by Many the earliest Evi Dence of True Hunting dates Back Only about a tenth of the period of human by the time humans engaged in True the opposable bipedalism and a form of language had already anthropologists were sur prised to find Cro Magnon Cave paintings featured few animals being this led to the conclusion that Hunting was not As important As previously thought and that the role of women As Plant gatherers has been Hunting caused the sexual division of labor and although the importance of Hunting sexist ideals if Hunting taught us to dominate rather than to the writer then refers to an an Nual surplus on animal excesses exist Only if animals Are viewed As commodities and not As components of functioning eco sys recreational Hunters Are like no other predator in that they do not follow the Laws of they select healthy animals All too the prime Breeding Hunting stimulates the birth rate and this can disrupt age leaving populations More vulnerable to in management has caused Deer to exceed the carrying capacity by 70 per the re sult crop Road kills and Hunters claim to prevent these although no one wants to see an animal this process is natural and vital to species it also maintains the food Chain by providing necessary food for Scaven an important component of every a death by starvation is not Jinhu inhumanity can Only be measured As cruel acts carried out by the needs of non game and indeed the entire dont figure in the Hunters Equa what if inedible or unsporting species overpopulated and required control we must View ecosystems As com not pools of resources where certain desirable species May be manipulated and Hunt ers have become experts at rational izing their we Are fortunate that More ecologists and biologists Are speaking out against this Barba Rous when the stability of whole ecosystems is at can recreational Hunting by rationalized to prevent the starvation of a few animals Todd Lawton Winnipeg nursing care on june i gave birth to twins Over two months my babies were in the neonatal intensive care Nursery and the to Nursery at the health sciences Centre for two my babies were cared for by nurses 24 hours a if it want for the professional care and support the nurses gave to my husband and my i dont know where we would be or if in fact my babies would be alive and Home with me i am extremely grateful to All the nurses and know that without them we the Public Are at a i am hopeful this strike can be settled real Pat Jones Winnipeg Money for nurses As i travel on Amtrak to Seattle for a visit in a Milder in Reading about Manitoba in interested in your problem with the nursing strike As i am a retired nurse educated both in North Dakota and i know nurses Are As a whole now where should the Money for an increase in wages come from my friends in both Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota Tell me the canadians in Manitoba Are exporting provincial Hydro generated Power to the United states for less than wholesale rates much less than Power generated by Coal or even Hydro in the if you Manitoban would set your wholesale rates for Power exported to the United states by the whole Sale rates of Coal generated in the you would have a legitimate profit to apply to your troubled health care Why not Why should you subsidize North Dakota and Minnesota while you raise your own taxes to pay even then a meagre wage to my Sisters in the service Anna shoe held grand discrimination i feel obliged to write a letter of support for your nurses during their struggle for social and economic i have Felt for some time that the Low salaries paid to nurses were part of the wider problem of discrimination against the salaries paid to nurses Are a reflection of general attitudes to Ward females in a male dominated Many in the nurses Union May shy away from framing the situation in such a Radical context but that in fact is the real when the nurses achieve their economic it will be one More step in the eventual social emancipation of women in Canadian must not be allowed to get away with it and if Force should be used to Stop that reflected the worlds understanding that giving Way to aggression had brought with it catastrophic costs that could not be endured at the end of the second world there was no popular illusion that the in approach would work without its members having to pay the new isolationism it is within the Bounds of reason to argue that Canada should not have become involved in the problems of the Gulf in the first that it should have abandoned its tradition Al internationalist approach in favor of a new it is not to abandon the entire United nations concept with nothing to put in its place As an alternative but that is the position of those who argue that no least of All the United should be using Force to make Iraq conform to the in is the new demo cratic party it is just the old prewar argument for trying to buy peace through the claim that it would have been enough to rely on sanctions is a cop out it would be hard to find a country and govern ment less Likely to reverse itself because of sanctions than the claim of opposition politicians that sanctions were working or that sanctions were having an effect was never related to effect on Saddam female dominated professions such As the nurses have the unique Opportunity to catalyse changes in attitudes toward women in Many other professional unfortunately in our for the most salaries reflect the value placed on a for society to value the nursing profession and not adequately compensate that profession for so Many years of dedicated service is completely Low wages paid to nurses Are a worldwide you have a unique Opportunity to make the cause of Manitoba nurses a water shed Case in changes of attitude toward the nursing if nurses Are an indispensable part of the Well being of the Money will be found its a question of if the nurses Back Down As they have in the past they will continue to suffer the inequities of Low to quote philosopher George san Tayana those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past Are condemned to repeat the time for change is now Kester i i i ;