Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 17, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press january getting worse defence minister David Collenette gave strict orders in december that members of the Canadian armed forces were to Stop talking to the Media about the misconduct of the Canadian airborne regiment in Soma he was concerned about protecting the fairness of court martial proceedings against some of the soldiers accused of others in the command Structure were More concerned about the reputation of the Peter Ken commander of the for had objected strenuously when newspapers and television stations published the snapshots one Mem Ber of the regiment took of the somali teenager they beat to death at the Canadian Camp in Belet the horrifying pictures of the Blind folded beaten and had been suppressed for fear of prejudicing the right of accused soldiers to a fair court martial it portrays us in the worst possible colonel Kenward but the Light keeps getting a video is in made by members of the regiment in Belet Huen As a memento of their famine Relief the snippets that were shown on television on the weekend showed Canadian soldiers referring to the somalis As nig dogs and making insulting references to them and talking of the need to kill More of the chatter on the video could be laughed of f As foolish banter and tasteless Braggadocio except for the sur rounding members of the same unit actually did beat a somali prisoner to death during that tour of they actually did take pictures of each other in the course of doing when Collenette ordered the military to keep their Mouths his order seemed to be aimed at major Barry the military surgeon who has complained publicly that he was ordered to destroy pictures of somali patients and it was far from Clear that major armstrongs comments could prejudice a fair trial of those facing courts it was abundantly Clear that Collenette was getting nowhere near the causes of the airborne failure at Belet the fair trial pretext has been milked for More than it is there is clearly a unit of the Canadian armed forces when sent on overseas cannot be relied on to uphold Canadian values or carry out a mis Sion with tact and Collenette should quit put together a full and unvarnished account of what happened at Belet Huen and Tell the Public what he is going to do to straighten out the airborne i spreading Reform no doubt Premier Gary Hilmons heart missed a beat or two when he Learned that reformers in British Columbia had elected a popular member of the legislature to head their provincial a similar develop ment in Manitoba would spell serious trouble for Fil Mon and the provincial conservative British columbian have a history of inventing right Wing alliances to keep the new democrats at but this time it is Apt to produce the opposite a coalition of liberals and conservatives governed the province from 1941 until 1952 when it was converted into the social credit party by who ruled for 20 years before the new democrats under David Barrett came to the Reform party in is the latest version of that under yet another it shares Mem Bers and ideology with Preston mannings Reform party but is a separate the new democrats Are delighted that reformers elected Jack Weisgerber to be their Weisgerber is a seasoned member of the a former sacred Cabinet first elected in new democrats Are Happy because a Strong Reform party Means a split vote Between the official opposition liberals and the reformers which could open the door to reelection for Premier Mike Harcourt new Filmon wants votes split among the liberals and new if they manage to do equally Well across the Filmon will win More seats than either of his a threat to the Manitoba conservatives would be a righting political party weakening the tory stronghold in Rural if that new party were to be led by a Well respected apostle of Manitoba conservative the retiring la from Pem Don Filmon would have plenty to worry Preston Manning has won the Battle within his party to keep reformers focussed on avoiding the Dis traction of provincial Filmon can feel free to hug the political Centre As Long As he is not outflanked on the right by disgruntled no such threat is Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1972 Winnipeg Tribune est 1999 Rudy Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor John Dafoe editorial Page editor directors John Bardawil marketing Stephan Majorki operations Perry Glenn Winnipeg free a division of division of Thomson company limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Manitoba r2x pm a member of the Manitoba press Council editorials fuss Domoff to rated Liberty of religion Equality of Gleif rights editor John 6977044 unknowns in jets equation John Loewen and his 69 col leagues who make up the Mani Toba entertainment Complex Are faced with looming a suspicious nervous politicians and an Uncertain set of they need a site approved by the Between and million from senior govern ments and twice that in private sector contributions before anybody can de cide to build a new Arena in Mec must make Public its financial that will not be Loewen until senior governments say How much Public Money is on the he Hopes that will happen next he will not say How much private Money has been committed so Only that it is a very substantial the search for Money private and Public is complicated by two major unknown factors the financial Impact of a labor agreement signed last week and the Revenue sharing arrangement among the owners that May emerge after jets president Barry Shenkarow asks nil commissioner Gary Belt Man to make Good on his informal pledge to spread Gate and television revenues around the no Community minded or will invest More than a pittance in a venture that is unlikely to if the economics of nil team operations look then investors will be attracted by the if they do no investor will touch it and the whole initiative will since we have no Way of coldly assess ing we Are left with a Long list of before May the Date after which the Mec option to buy the jets investors must know the Complete Rev Enue picture for the team they must agree on the ownership Structure of the new Arena they must know if enough tickets can be sold at a High enough Price to sustain the costs of operating an nil politicians hate hypothetical ques but that is precisely what they Are confronted with not even the most enthusiastic jets expects City Hall to contribute services and co operation Are All that is the is sue at City Hall will be site not Loans or mayor Susan Thompson wants the downtown York Avenue site Mec wants the site North of the that according to must be made by the end of january if construction is to begin this in time for a 1997 the provincial government has Al ready said that a contribution is consistent with recommendations of the Mauro Liberal Leader Paul Edwards says that figure is not out of nip Leader Gary doer stuck his neck out before the Kenaston underpass was killed and suggested that the million ear marked for that project be dedicated to a new doer had no Way of knowing that those words would make his party the most generous of he is Quick to Point out that new democrats also want to scrap the subsidy Deal signed in a Deal which will Cost Manitoba taxpayers somewhere Between Mil lion and million this doers generosity refuses the potential of the controversy becoming a major election that leaves Lloyd Axworthy and the Federal Axworthy has the examples of Quebec Edmon ton and Calgary to make a Case for us ing infrastructure perhaps cos shared equally with the province and to build a sports Complex for but Axworthy is keenly aware that Public acceptance of a fed eral role is dependent on private com neither he nor any other politician dare Saddle the taxpayer with any debt if the jets cannot survive in the Long Loewen is Clear on this Point if things dont work out five or eight years from the Community will be left with a Deb free a he wont give Loewen is cautious in the sex he wants the Noble cause of Public service to sideline nagging doubts about the viability of the the affordability of the Arena and the Wisdom of Public but this is not Only about Community this is about profit and debt and Loewen and his More than know that a business Deal stands or Falls on the strength of the the prob Lem with this Deal is that the numbers Are not yet known to the politicians who Are being asked to make decisions on behalf of Many of whom do not share Loewens enthusiasm for the profitable or Loewen is accountable to his investors the politicians Are accountable to eve Loewen asks for which will come More easily after he tells what he knows and admits what he Clyol Winnipeg i folks renewal corp Parks Canada i in main line labor agree on wage Rise Jyh business and labor dont often they just could and Over Manitoba minimum too Only the jobs of the minimum wage Board and labor minister Darren Praznik would be made much but Only for this according to the labor business has built a consensus for a 50cent increase in the Basic last raised in it is the second lowest in the Manitoba federation of labor has renewed its longstanding proposal to Peg the minimum wage at 60 per cent of the average Industrial it has proposed the target be reached by staged increases of 10 per cent the first would be 50 were the Mil target in place this Manitoba would have a minimum wage of an 90 cents above Ontario now the highest in can the National Council of welfare guidelines state a single person in Manitoba is at the poverty line at an a single at an Mil officials calculate that it would take four years to reach their goal us ing their after they annual increases would Tail off sharply careful not to prejudge Frances Russell the minimum wage boards says he finds even a Short term agreement Between the two traditional adversaries he All but rules out the mfrs proposal to make the minimum wage a percentage of the average Industrial in not saying there int Merit in having some kind of trigger rather than a Board but there Are pluses and negatives to the min ister Mil president Susan har Kulbaba says the the federation sees the first 10 per cent Rise As the not the we would not be prepared to agree to the first increment unless there is a commitment to the she once we got the minimum wage to 60 per the annual increases would be very it would mean it would never fall seriously behind it would also mean it would be removed from the political Arena and recognized for what it is a matter of Basic social Justice for those who cannot speak for the Mil appended its Brief to the minimum wage Board to its annual presentation to the provincial which took place last the Brief challenges the popular As sumption that High minimum wages mean Job losses and citing the Brief says there is Little or no evidence to support such a the economic policy Institute of reviewed several studies on the relationship Between teenage employment and Low wage firms like fast food the review turned up evidence that minimum wage increases had no significant Impact on the Mil Brief the re View indicated that an increase in the minimum wage had a positive effect on higher wage without Impact ing on other working Condi numbers of numbers of shifts or consumer those firms studied had enough flexibility to Deal with a higher minimum wage without the horrific consequences predicted so often by opponents of minimum wage far from being a drag on the the Mil Brief a higher minimum wage would be a shot in the the increased ability of workers to spend would provide an immediate and significant economic stimulation to the province but particularly to Small since mini mum wage earners tend to spend their entire income Between virtually All of the increase would enter the communities economic Cycle from the perspective of govern the Mil a higher minimum wage would reduce social Assis Tance increase tax Revenue and free up More jobs by eliminating the need for Many minimum wage workers to hold Down two or More jobs at a higher minimum wages simply move minimum wage earners closer to a fair share of the economic benefits they the Mil Brief business activity should not be permitted to be based on an unreasonable minimum wage amounts to a subsidy for business at a direct Cost to workers already living in Pover Winnipeg Harvest estimates that 25 per cent of the its families Are working one earning an hour Likely the minimum wage says she survive without a food Winnipeg har Vest helps a 1 cant imagine what would happen without ;