Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 18, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba A 4 Winnipeg free press i u ocl Obei 1995 such a Nice convention renewal of the new democratic party started on the wrong foot delegates to the party Ottawa leadership convention were denied the Chance to choose the party Leader because someone decided that democracy would be too rather than face a Runoff ballot on which he might win or might front running leadership candidate Svend Robinson dropped out of the race leaving Alexa Mcdo runner up on the first As the Only remain ing she won the race by if this is new democracy in it looks remarkably like old machine the British Columbia gadfly and the Only member of parliament on the convention garnered 655 Delegate votes on the first ballot com pared to 566 for Mcdonough and 514 for lome a Saskatchewan my until his defeat in obliged to drop off the q declared his support for if most of by Stroms delegates followed his Lead and Mcdo coughs support held reasonably she was then assured of Robinson and his supporters attracted a decent share of those who voted for Nystrom on the first then Robin son was assured of a party with a High regard for democratic practice would allow the Roughan Tum ble of convention floor politicking to Settle the in the Robinson astonished the watching nation by withdrawing from the race that he was i want to pull this party together and youve done a Superb youll be a great Robinson told the result was doubly astonishing since the party had taken pains to make the leadership race seem open and regional primaries were held among party members to ensure that Only candidates with solid grass roots support were on the convention Nystrom handily won the Prairie regional where the party has its greatest grassroots but he did poorly in Trade unions affiliated to the nip and in the Quebec and Atlantic province party which Are Little More than empty Nystrom attracted 47 per cent of the nationwide vote in the Mak ing him the Clear front runner in a Field of four Candi but since unions and empty shells played a Large role in Delegate Nystrom grassroots sup port did not translate into first ballot Delegate votes at the the party needs to show the Public that it can make Tough by backing away from a showdown Over the Choice of a the party advertised itself As a chummy Little social club where everybody gets a prize and nobody this is a group that runs away from Tough March of atonement depending on who was doing the a million Black or perhaps marched in Washington this week to demonstrate against violence while re dedicating themselves to take More responsibility Over their own it was an extraordinary display of made politically potent by its sheer num Bers and spiritually uplifting by its message of if Only nation of islam reverend Louis far had not organized and led the largest gathering in Washington since Martin Luther Kings March in there be this problem of having to Sepa rate the message from the Farrakhan recently referred to Judaism As a Gutter religion and called jews and catholics he is just As fond of homosexuals and racial tension has been escalating in the United lately in very Public those cheering Black Law Stu dents celebrating Simpsons acquittal earlier this month was one such this weeks March in Washington is it is not hard to understand Why Black America is in a mood to statistics published this week show that one of every three Black american men in his 20s is either in on parole or on that figure becomes less astonishing when a Fuller explanation is offered Blacks make up 13 per cent of americas regu Lar drug users equivalent to their proportion of the population but they account for 35 per cent of drug arrests and 74 per cent of drug related prison including Possession of Small quantities of the police know where to get their or do they As a Winnipeg film maker put it if every cocaine user in Hollywood was arrested and sent to a truer Story would be and fewer motion pictures statistics and messengers the peaceful March of so Many men aimed at bettering their lives through atonement of sin and the Promise of a peaceful future is an event that cannot be with an election Only a year it will not Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy email my of Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor Brian Cole editorial Page editor directors Calvin James Verne Kalichuk human resources Stephan Majorki operations perrr1 Nixdorf advertising Glenn ice 1995 Winnipeg free a division of newspapers division of Thomson Canada limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Manitoba r2x pm 6977000 a member of the Manitoba press Council vol 123 ij031i Canada Posi no editorials Freedom of trate Liberty of religion m Equality of civil rights Brian Cole 6977044 welfare haunts Ontario pcs Toronto almost from the moment he was sworn Dave Tsubouchi has Floun dered about in the Job of Community and social services the tuna Man has displayed Shock ing insensitivity and apparent incompetence As he led the conservative assault on welfare his responses to opposition and Media questions have been laughably As his government Cut benefits by 22 per Tsubouchi suggested welfare recipients buy dented tins of tuna to make ends then he suggested they make bulk purchases to Cope with the he told opposition maps his ministry had prepared a food budget for the poor As an example of How they could get by in the new tory world of but he has declined to make this helpful document available to the the minister has been flopping around on the Issue of Benefit cuts for the during the election Premier Mike Harris assured disabled ontarian they would be spared the Tsubouchi said the definition of disabled was under but then it was discovered that a regulation removing thousands of disabled people from welfare Rolls had been passed into said the we the Regula Tion was a drafting error and was hastily the minister said no one was affected before the mis take was trouble the error was discovered by a reporter not Tsubouchi or his bureaucrats the Harris Cabinet which must approve such it was a major Blunder at the very top of the Given this sort of the question is Why Hast Tsubouchi got the Hook Why does he continue to swim with the other Sharks who make up the Harris Cabinet its easy to see Why the Premier has not removed the minister after doing exactly what Harris promised in the common sense the pre Mier would look rather silly Canning a minister for following government and he would look equally silly if he dismissed his minister Over the drafting Tsubouchi May have been directly responsible for the regulation but the entire Cabinet seems to have missed the boat As har Ris would have to fire himself to be the opposition parties so avoided demanding Tsubouchi res ignation which is Treyve been haying a whale of a time baiting the minister in question liberals and new democrats Rea son As Long As Tsubouchi Hes a perfect Symbol of the govern ments harshness and they see in Tsubouchi a Way of demonstrating to the Public that the Harris Agenda for change As they Long a to simplistic formula for governing this the welfare Issue is rapidly becoming a political quagmire for the every Day seems to bring a new horror Story of another inno cent family victimized by the the latest a single Mother near London who is raising two disabled teenage the Benefit Cut has severely affected her ability to care for them and even the local conservative member has come to her Huron map Helen Johns has reminded her own government that the cuts we rent supposed to Hurt the Johns notes that if her constituent is forced to place her daughters in an the Cost will far exceed whatever savings accrue through reduced welfare Ben but when ideology triumphs Over sound that what Hap and ideology is the Corner Stone of this which is in the it Doest matter who is the minister for Community and social being a political Neo May be making More gaffes than an experienced map would in the but even a More seasoned minister would still be saddled with the thoughtless welfare policies of the j i Hardy is Toronto correspondent for Thomson news welfare has become a political quagmire for Ontario conservative Premier Mike How to Market death by Anthony Lewis new York times Boston in recent weeks leading newspapers have car ried full Page advertisements for Reynolds tobacco they were message effective the first featured a Large photo graph of a fat faced Man smiling a somehow menacing below it was the headline who should be responsible for your a bureaucrat or you the Federal bureaucracy wants to Tell you and your children How to the text they want to become responsible for teaching your children about important lifestyle decisions and we All agree we must do some thing to keep cigarettes out of the hands of children under the age of but the answer int More Bureau a proven solution is to teach Young people How to resist peer pres the unmentioned target was pres ident Clinton proposed measures to discourage teenage children from on the basis of a scientific finding that nicotine is an addictive he would prohibit the Sale of cigarettes in vending machines and forbid tobacco company sponsorship of sports the second and took up the Point about peer it showed five one of them offering a pack of cigarettes to another who turned it Down with a disgusted look on her experts have Long maintained that the influence of Peers is one of the most influential factors in a Childs decision to the text the and offered parents a brochure on How to talk to their kids about resisting peer pressure to the Reynolds Campaign shrewdly seizes on the current political fashion in this hatred of the gov but it is just a tiny bit deceptive in suggesting that what is involved Here is a government attempt to dictate childrens life on the logic of this there should be no government efforts to prevent driving by Chil liquor should be available in vending machines to which children have easy a civilized Community has just As much interest in keeping cigarettes away from children As it does in pre venting underage driving and drink for what is at Issue is not just a private life it is an addiction that imposes terrible costs on the killing More people than alcohol or Road according to the centers for disease smokers die each year from tobacco related Caus and nonsmokers die from causes related to secondary drug and alcohol abuse Are universally recognized As social but illness caused by smoking costs the government twice As much As the medical effects of those two combined More than billion in entitlement payments for veterans care and the adults Are free to run the risks of but if you asked heavy smokers whether they wanted their children to take up the my guess is that most would say they know How pow Erful the addiction How hard to if we Are to reduce the human and material Cost of it is Cru Cial to keep children from becoming that is Why Clinton pro posed his and that is Why Reynolds and other tobacco companies Are fighting it with ads and the Reynolds advertising Cam with its kind offer of a brochure for parents to help teen agers resist peer pressure for smok is laughable tobacco companies strive to Hook Young peo and not least with its Joe Camel cartoon designed to Appeal to teenagers dont just happen to Clinton said in proposing his restraining measures two months there victims of billions of dollars of marketing and promotion Al campaigns designed by top psychologists and advertising a 1973 memorandum by an Reynolds recently outlined a strategy to attract learn ing a Reynolds spokesman said it never became company tobacco people live a they merchandise and they want to Prosper in their but they also want to look and feel like decent we May appreciate their but we do not have to believe Anthony Lewis is a political Colum nist of the new York ;