Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 14, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press May editorials editor John 6977044 same sex Justice a landmark Ontario court ruling allowing four women to adopt the children of their same sex part ners sends a Clear message once again to politicians who Are dragging their heels on Gay rights governments can either bring their Laws into line with the charter of rights and freedoms or be forced to do so by the in this Ontario provincial court judge Nevins said that it was discriminatory to prevent Gay couples from adopting children they Are raising he granted adoption orders to four lesbians who were help ing Parent their partners biological Ontario child and family services which will Likely now be had previously refused to recognize same sex and therefore prohibited that person from adopting it is Only logical that when a couple is committed to raising Chil Dren both part ners be granted Legal status if they Are fit Par this is important not Only in making Deci Sions about the Chil Drens clouding everything from medical emergencies to dealing with school authorities in giving children the added Secu Rity of knowing should something happen to their biological they will still be cared adoption also ensures that should the relationship break both parents will have a Legal obligation to support the children while this is the first court Case in favor of Gay adoption provinces vary widely in what is reflect ing canadians Lack of consensus on this Manito like does not allow a homosexual to adopt his or her partners but a single Gay person can adopt a by Saskatchewan permits adoption by sin Gle homosexuals or Gay the ruling echoes other court decisions in recent years which have found that discrimination based on sexual orientation is More court Chal Erges Are especially in the areas of same sex employment benefits and Legal marriage for Gay at the same the Chretien government was come under fire from the Federal human rights commissioner for delaying a promised amendment to the Canadian human rights code to protect the Ontario adoption ruling has recognized the reality that sexual orientation Doest determine whether an adult can provide the love and nurturing every child de the Manitoba government should listen to that message and Amend this provinces legislation to reflect that a sneer from Yeltsin prime minister Jean Chretien was in Moscow last week for the be Day like other West Ern he declined the invitation to watch the Celebration of russian military might that paraded through red Square in scenes reminiscent of the glory Days of the soviet the reason for of is that the same military that paraded so impressively through Moscow is still in the midst of a far less impressive military Campaign in since Russia has waged a War of destruction against the using bombs and bul tanks and artillery to beat them into the russians have paid no regard to whether the casualties that they have inflicted have been civilian or that War has aroused some deep concern in the but perhaps that concern has not been focussed so much on the Fate of the people of Chechnya As it has on what the War says about the nature of the new Chretien was right to forgo the military he was right to strongly and publicly raise Canadas con Cerns about russian actions in president Bill Clinton expressed the same worries and russian president Boris Yeltsin sneered at his he All but spit on brushing aside As a matter of no consequence Canadas cares for the people of this far away caucasian that happened despite the fact that As Host of the upcoming g7 Summit in extended every Courtesy to Russia is not a member of the which represents the most powerful industrialized nations of the but it desperately wants to Chretien offered to Yeltsin a stronger presence at this g7 meeting than Russia has Ever been in he received nothing but in there is a message not just for but for All the nations of the g7 As they prepare for the Halifax that message is simple the Russia that the West had hoped would emerge from the collapse of communism is not yet the Russia that we Are neither is it the rus Sia to which we have promised billions of dollars in Aid and when Yeltsin arrives in he should be strongly reminded of it wipe the sneer from his Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor John Dafoe editorial Page editor directors Verne resources Stephan Majorki operations Perry Nixon or advertising go finn Williams finance 01995 Winnipeg free a division of newspapers division of Thomson newspapers company limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Manitoba r2x pm 6977000 a member of he Manitoba press Council f cellular Phon free area vegetarian space Interne free zone breastfeeding As theatre show lounge fat free nosh Nook ambience area lets really think about mom mothers Day has Long been my least favorite Holiday of the it has nothing to do with the schmaltzy cards and commercial Over kill that accompany this tribute to it has everything to do with my own Mother a woman of Many gifts who traded in a promising teaching career for domesticity after the birth of three children in less than four How Ever torn she May have Felt at the that what women of the 1950s determined to fulfil her role As wife and she shepherded her Brood through More than a decade of birthday music minor hockey and report the ironing Basket was perpetually overflowing but our clothes were Al ways wieners and Stea kettles and other newfangled convenience foods were dinnertime but we always had plenty to ours want a Kitchen floor anyone would want to eat but mom was always wellhead and ready to discuss current or give advice on a school pro she have known what to do with a pair of knitting but she always found time to Volunteer with Church charities or lend a listen ing ear to a neighbor Over the Back in she was a Flop at being the kind of Mother who garnered Praise in those Days one Content to Excel at child rearing and Domestic and we kids had no qualms about pointing out that she want anything like the moms of our most of the she laughed off our but on bad she looked Over her restlessness became More she began substitute although she was careful to arrange it around her family sched when being a fillin was no longer she applied for a string of permanent teaching Only to be met with stinging rejection her credentials were outdated and she was too old by her late 30s to compete with fresh faced University a dozen years juggling a household just didst count for much in the workaday Ruth Teichroeb after several demoralizing she went Back to University and finally snagged a Par time Job teaching an elementary special Educa Tion her letters that year i had left Home at eager to try my wings brimmed with she thrived on the Challenge of finding new ways to reach children others had Given up when she was offered a full time teaching Job in the same pro she jumped at the two weeks before she was to begin that on a muggy August a time bomb went off in her with no she suffered a massive cerebral Haemorrhage and slipped into a without regaining conscious she died five Days later at not Long after i realized that without the family of my childhood had died that Day from then mothers Day was a lost some it was a Day to Block out it was a time to remember and As i got i mourned not Only for what id but for what she had been de i raged at the cruel joke Fate had snatching away her hard earned and i As daughters to make sure that never happened to As far As i was she had Given up too for too in the name of somebody else ill conceived notion of not that she would have i dont remember her pinning blame on anyone for her years at although she did take great Delight in singing along to the South Pacific number in going to Wash that Man right out of my by the Early a copy of Betty Friedan groundbreaking Book the feminine mystique sat on her but she was ambivalent about its even As she struggled to reclaim her the fledgling feminist movement both intrigued and repelled on the other the message made perfect sense to Twenty years after her it still part of me will always rage at the forces that pressured and so Many other women of her generation and be to give up too but what is also clearer now is what she her version of motherhood taught me that gleaming floors and gourmet meals we rent As important As time spent with her children that a life enriched by music and books and friends was Worth More than keeping up with the she taught that the outside and the people in were mys teries to be explored that differences were to be not most of she showed me that there is More than one Way to be a i realize that that is truly something to How much is an my really Worth by Stewart Macleod Thomson news service Otta not easy to come to the defence of a member of parliament who advocates a hefty wage increase for himself and his but Reform party my Jim Silye from Calgary Centre has a Good his mistake was in suggesting an exact a in today cos cutting that simply wont this Silye has the right there is no reason Why the income of maps be brought out into the like other Public ser vice there is no Rea son Why they submit expense with just like other lets not hold our eliminating parliamentary Perks has tradition ally proven to be More difficult bringing peace to just look at All the agonizing going on Over revisions to the current pension plan with the former be Able to Start collecting pensions at the age of by most standards that not Al beit a bit of a comedown from the cur rent which allow former with six years or More of to Start collecting retirement income the moment they leave the a lottery for so to what Silye has much to the dismay of Many is to bring the entire Benefit package out into the even he admits to be ing taken Aback by the starchy read there is no doubt that most maps earn every cent of their its just under their uniquely confusing pay most taxpayers dont know what that income needless to this does nothing to enhance the reputation of our elected represent their Basic salary is a on top of they receive a tax free expense this is not to be confused with allowances for constituency the does not have to be accounted for a system that would Send shudders Down any corporate since the Basic salary and expense allowance would put the my into a High income tax it has been estimated that the total package is re ally equivalent to a on top of in the words of is is the three pension plan which is Overly what lie wants is to kill the special pension plan so that maps will be treated no differently than other pm that is a perfectly reasonable promo hell Proba Bly be remembered Only for mention ing a if the tax free expense Al Lowance were eliminated and maps were expected to provide for their own retirement a Case could be made that the figure is not sex of is not to say it could be sold to the a straight salary of lesser along with accountable expense allowances open to Public View could easily be there is absolutely no reason Why employers in this Canadian taxpayers know How their employees spend the historic argument that maps have unusual sex such As is prob ably but they Are not alone in this they Are alone in be ing Able to meet these expenses with a no accountable and there is no reason Why taxpayers be aware of How Many times and take advantage of their free air travel its a pity Silye blew it by mentioning which makes it look like a it Doest help that Hes personally Well have to wait until the idea re emerges through some other preferably one of modest who wont propose a particular that amount is better left to outside advis ;