Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 6, 1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba A6 Winnipeg f Rpp May 6 its now or never for Cuauhtemoc the 60 year old leftist candidate for the presidency of Mexico stands a better Chance at this years August 21 presidential election than he did in lie is unlikely Ever again to see a ruling party As badly weakened As the institutional revolutionary party Pri is the August election will be an important test of political Reform in Canadas partner since january 1 in the North american free Trade agreement mex Ico holds presidential elections every six but from 1934 until this year the same ruling party has Al ways won and each pres ident has personally chosen his own Succes whose father general Cardenas established the present ruling party and its system in is trying to break that unbroken string by beating the or i Candi if he he will show that Mexico has become a More democratic the results of the 1988 election Are still in Dis Early returns showed Cardenas winning against Pri candidate Carlos the com Puter compiling returns mysteriously crashed when compilation Salinas was in the Cardenas and his supporters believe he but the government credited him with just 31 per cent of the vote and gave the election to the Pri suffered a terrible blow in january this year when Chiapas indians Rose in armed rebellion against the Pride and Joy of president the rebel lion dramatized failures of the presidents policy of rapid industrialization and touched off a wave of demands for clean elections and curbs on a second blow to All mexicans but especially the ruling party was the assassination March 23 of Pri presidential candidate Luis Donaldo formerly social develop ment president Salinas nominated Colo bios Campaign Ernesto a former National budget director and Secretary of As the new presidential Zedillo and Cardenas both Lack campaigning flair and personal Zedillo has the Money and political machinery of the Pri behind but he can of Fer Little to satisfy the National thirst for political Reform that surfaced at the time of the Chiapas like leftists in other has Little of sub stance to say about Pris deregulation and elimination of Trade which have produced Evi Dent economic growth in but for a country grow ing tired of rigged elections and High stakes Cardenas offers a better Hope for mexicans and their rulers will be deciding during the next four months How much Reform they want to a Chance to be heard in spite of the Liberal governments pig headed insistence to freeze the process of reviewing electoral eight of ten provincial commissions have decided to proceed with Public hearings Manito Bas chaired by court of Appeal Justice Charles is one of the Justice Huband and his counterparts across the country Are right to move full Speed until the Senate approves the Bill and Royal assent is the current process is the Only Legal there is even a Chance the government will come to its boundaries must be updated every ten years to protect the principle of representation by the last Federal election was fought within constituencies formed after the 1981 if the Liberal freeze Doest the next Federal which can come As late As will be fought within boundaries badly out of British Columbia and Ontario will be denied their right Ful number of seats Winnipeg will be stuck with seven seats when it should have eight some Ridings in Toronto will have five times As Many voters As other Ridings throughout the that Means one canadians vote will have five times More or five times less Power than an other canadians there Are ways to apply pressure on the the tory majority in the Senate has already served no Tice it intends to Amend the offending piece of that the government will have to Cool its wait ing for the amending process to run its outraged canadians can use the Senate and the provincial Public hearings to Tell the government what they the liberals claim the entire subject needs review and that freezing the process will allow for a Complete Over haul of the that is the official the unofficial mouthed by members of the government says that partisan complaining from Ontario and Atlantic maps who would lose their seats As a result of redistribution won the argument in local partisanship was More important than a fundamental principle of parliamentary who let this happen Winnipeg free press int Fnu my 1 972 Frittum my Maurice Switzer publisher Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor John Dafoe editorial Page editor directors John Bardawil marketing Craig Barnard circulation de Belhumeur human resources Bill Burns Brian finance Stephan Majorki production division of now Wora Twu Atod division of r editorials Flor j 697044 the other candidate lit it oter Wigeon c you can never leave Home Lucien Bouchard could have been singing that old Groucho Marx song i must be going As he swept through British Columbia and Alberta Selling his separatist the response was typically mixed concern and affection in the usual none of those responses was Likely to move the Leader of the bloc Cut Ting through All the turmoil and emotionalism which surrounds Bouchard is peddling three essential messages Quebec Independence is in it will be relatively painless in the it will free the rest of once and for from having to worry about All three of those arguments Are powerful All three of them Are Quebec separation from Canada is not it would not come easily and it would in no Way put an end to the need for the rest of Canada to find ways of getting along with Quebec Independence is no More inevitable today than it has Ever despite evidence of increased support for sovereignty in some opinion the most recent poll shows the Liber als and the parti quebecois Neckband neck in popular Given the fact that a lot of Liberal support is concentrated in Ridings with a Large English speaking a close vote would probably mean a pm majority in the next would not Lead inevitably to whatever the pcs new policy document Independence cannot be achieved by the unilateral declaration of the provincial Independence affects the relationship of Quebec with the fed eral government and with All the other a lot of interests would have to be satisfied before the prov Ince set off on its even if the people of Quebec were to elect a separatist and even if the rest of Canada were to agree to the principle of an Independent the process of achieving John Dafoe Independence would be neither Quick nor the most crucial and most dangerous Issue to be settled right at the Start of negotiations would be the boundaries of the proposed new a there is no obvious reason Why an Independent Quebec should take with it the Northern territories that it got in there is no shared Geog language or culture that would make the former Ungava Region a Logi Cal part of a new Quebec there is not a shred of evidence that the peo ple of the area want to become part of that new there is plenty of Evi Dence that a lot of them hate the there is no Way that any que Becer would accept that a Square Inch of that territory be extracted from Bouchard told a radio audience in that was clearly untrue and it was also revealing of Bou cards if the people of Northern Quebec Are accepted As then a whole lot of them would want a lot More than a Square Inch of that territory extracted from an Independent there Are Cree in that most of them speak English and hardly any of them have shown any sign that they want to be carved out of on the other Bouchard does not consider the Cree of Northern Quebec to be or their up photo Bouchard line is not the Only Side in this separatism debate views to be the views of True Quebec then what happens to the pcs pledge that an Independent Quebec would be free and open to All ethnic and linguistic groups boundaries Are not the Only Tough is sharing the National debt would surely cause Bouchard says Quebec would pick up its fair previous pm estimates of what a fair share would be have been dramatically lower than anyone in the rest of Canada would sorting out the Public ensuring Access Between the Atlantic prov inces and the rest of renegotiating Trade dividing up the abolishing Quebec claim to guaranteeing the rights of English speaking minorities All would require Long and painful Degoti while those negotiations were going potential investors would be sitting on their Bouchard and the pm seem to As sume that they will simply dictate the terms of separation and the rest of Canada will snap to attention and that is not going to even if it were to Canada and Quebec could not then simply for get about each after in would still be where it is stuck there right Between on Tario and new All those relationships which involve Quebec with the rest of Canada the movement of people and goods and services would All still be there and the two countries would have to develop systems and institutions to Deal with in Many they might look very much like the ones we have in there might even be a joint parliament to regulate like it or Quebe cers and canadians living in the rest of the country Are stuck with each Bouchard May be whatever he wont be going but were really just folks my theory about canadians inordinate fascination with mass Media personalities is that they represent our substitute for the Hollywood movie celebrities we never Canada can certainly Lay claim to spawning some marquee names in the entertainment Industry movie stars from Mary Pickford to Michael and the voices of Joni Mitchell and the mets Jon Vickers but we tend to be net exporters of such talented per who seem to prefer to ply their skills in an environment where they can earn enough Money to on a Day today the onus of stardom is assumed by canadians who live the most Public since most politicians Are universally de and Many of Canadas Best hockey players now come from places such As Helsinki and the responsibility for being by default Falls to another group of very Public figures the men and women whose regular Job it is to de liver the so Valerie pringles role As female cohost of a morning television talk show qualifies her As Cove girl mate rial for a National Magazine like Chate her Canada am incidental Keith was chosen to sit on a keynote panel debating the americanization of the news during the re cent annual meeting of Canadas news paper like most broadcast Keith is cursed with always sound ing like Hes Reading from a Tele whether Hes saying please pass the 200 bosnian muslims were killed As he told his Toronto american television appeals to the lowest common most members of the general Public profess not to hold the Media in particularly High yet they seem fascinated by and constantly seek out their broadcasters Wendy Mesley and Roy Bonisteel were featured luncheon speakers at a couple of major Winnipeg gatherings this past the publisher of the free press is As puzzled As he is flattered to be invited to share his insights with members of the cites August Canadian club in an other couple of this very morn he was to fulfil a commitment to be interviewed or ambushed by Winni pegs preeminent radio talk show the latter is indicative of yet another curious not Only Are Ca in fascinated by what pass As Media personalities but our me Dia Are positively obsessed with their own this past the sports pages of both Winnipeg dailies featured columns and stories with Banner head lines informing the free world that the contract of a local hockey commentator would not be renewed by a City radio some readers May have been left to wonder what this terminated sports Caster had achieved to Merit such considerable attention surely nothing less critical to the future of Mankind than conceive a cure for or perhaps discover a tenth planet in our solar medleys visit to Winnipeg prompted a prominent free press columnist to devote one of his precious Days spaces to speculation about her status As the a wife of yet another me Dia Csc National Anchorman Peter then perhaps the Media Are More important than some of the More cynical of its members Are willing to during workouts at the downtown Voca i regularly encounter a local business journalist whose complaints about the toughness of making a Buck Are often interspersed with surprisingly Pithy observations about the world in i was responding to his recent tirade against the insanity of politicians and civil servants by observing that this was merely another manifestation of the crisis of leadership that confronts society when he stopped his animated pointed a ringer in my direct and said that what your Job is seven Days a i and he was absolutely Politi Cal leaders would kill for the Opportunity enjoyed by most journalists seven Days a week to widely disseminate information capable of influencing the course of the timing is certainly in March the results of a unique eight a Tion Public opinion Survey were an dealing with How people in the United and mex Ico regard the institutions of their respective including their the trend of the Overall response from Over persons surveyed not but there was a surprising consistency in How the citizens of eight progressive nations assessed the influence of five key when asked to rate the extent of positive influence on their societies of their unions and newspapers ranked consistently Only seriously challenged by the canadians expressed particularly Strong Faith in their giving them a 73 per cent goo influence compared to churches businesses governments 44 and unions for us Mere mortal this is pretty Heady we should be Able to handle the so Long As we stick to making speeches and stay away from ;