Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 25, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba A 1 o Winnipeg free press october 1995 editorials Brian Cole 6977044 reforming adoption she was Only 17yearsold when she found herself lying in a Hospital alone and con Vinced that she must offer her soon Tobe born baby for she had no social friends and even her Boyfriend had helped her to understand the facts of life there was no Way she could give her baby the kind of life the child until this kind of thinking was pretty much the Norm in if a girl became she would often give up her the undefinable Bonds of Mother and child broken it was often argued that this was the Best thing for All and that was often but it was also True that adoption want always the Best thing for the Mother or the child it just happened to be the Best thing for everybody the truth is that years ago the overriding concern of the Day was the stigma of teenage pregnancy cast a much larger Shadow 20 or 30 years ago than it does today and families were not always ready to Deal with an unwed teenager with a child of her adoption was seen As a clean solution to a Messy problem the baby is placed with a Loving everyone can get on with the rest of their of for the Young woman who would spend the rest of her life wondering about the child she gave years nobody really seemed to understand the sense of loss and despair that Young girls experienced after giving up their that feeling of hopelessness was compounded by Laws which still make it if not for a birth Mother and child to seek each other in its difficult to believe that As a society we were not Able to see the human suffering that could arise from separating a Mother from her ostensibly but times today agencies like adoptions options avoid the problems of the past by offering open placements which provide for Contact Between the birth Mother and her and while governments and no government agencies work to educate teenage girls against becoming preg they Are also there to help those who find them selves in difficult there is also a growing awareness that birth mothers and their children have a right to seek each other that is Why family services minister Bonnie Mitchel son should be commended for promising to overhaul Manitoba antiquated adoption British Columbia and Alberta have moved to liberalize Access to information about birth mothers and their Chil while protecting their rights to the Filmon government will be reviewing those changes and looking at other options to make it easier for Mother and child to reunite if they Mitchelson is striving to give something Back to birth mothers and their something that was taken away Long something every Mother deserves a were not that dumb its a Good thing the voters Are smarter than some politicians think they otherwise the politicians would have a Bunch of fools to Justice minister Rosemary Vodrey handed a Cheque to mayor and mayoral candidate Susan Thomp son less than 48 hours before the polls opened in today municipal the Money was promised during last Springs provincial election Campaign and will be spent hiring 40 police this is yet another Feather in Vodrey Tough Guy to rest nicely beside the other ones opposition to gun Boot Camps for juvenile delinquents and the crusade for a tougher Young offenders Vodrey says negotiations concluded in september and the Cheque was approved last councillor Amaro chairman of the cites Parks and culture said any delay May have affected regular police recruiting time was of the As it turns Silva the City had already started recruiting the new police personnel last on a Wing and a prayer we went out on a he if taking a government at its word is going out on a then All were left with is a Wing and a municipal politics in Winnipeg is not yet a partisan the main contenders All have support from members of the three traditional provincial governments Are not in the habit of publicly endorsing May Oral in ministers have steadfastly refused to comment on Campaign announcements made by the leading even those that Call on the provincial government to change the Way it treats the City of voters can see through Vodrey trans Parent they will make up their minds Well enough with out her Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1690 Rudy Redekop publisher email Fluffy Nib Ca Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor Brian Cole Edi Tunal pays Edilio direct is Calvin James Verne 1 Turnan resources Stephan Perry Glei Juwil hams Eizun Csc 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 it till Miia Freedom of Trade Libert of by Flats a chill in the universities the striking professors at the University of Manitoba have every right to be concerned about academic four years the agriculture now highways Glen whose is the current Tor appointed chairman of the University Board of wrote a letter to Brandon University president Dennis Anderson ask ing him to muzzle faculty criticism of the Premier Gary Edu cation minister Linda Mclntosh and labor minister Vic Toews daily take the Side of the University of Manito Bas administration against the pro the administrations offer puts academic Freedom at find lays dated july could hardly be More although he later claimed he had no recollection of it dear it i am writing to express my concern Over comments attributable to Bill Paton of the Brandon univer sity in the april 1991 edition of the Brandon Sun about the supposed Impact of anhydrous ammonia a common fertilizer on the Lack of under standing expressed by Paton about the Fate of anhydrous ammonia under Field conditions has cast a dark image on agriculture i would like to express the difficulty we have when poorly researched statements Are made to the press about or any other for that in the i expect Paton other faculty staff to discuss concerns with my staff and with scientists at the University of Manitoba or agriculture Canada before making Public statements on issues of this we have a highly competent staff in the depart ment who would be very willing to discuss matters of concern which require a technical i would be very grateful if Frances Russell Paton could be made aware of our concerns in this Anderson told the free press he disregarded find lays warn i have not instructed staff nor would i instruct staff to do the president As you can the centuries old role of universities is to be an autonomous place where Freedom of academic expression is who used to teach at agriculture said he recall the the person or the letter in that Ive written hundreds and hundreds of Grant president of the University of Manitoba faculty says the ministerial let Ter shows the faculty concerns Are academic Freedom is not some Ivory Tower concept that is of no con Cern to the wider Woods when you Send your children to you want them to get degrees that Are Worth if this University develops a reputation in the academic Community that it is susceptible to the kinds of pressures is academic Freedom at risk at the University of Manitoba that Are outlined in this then the Best academics wont come Here and the Good ones that Are Here will tend to go the Worth of a degree is Only As Good As the Quality of the institution that awards Woods says academic Freedom has intrinsic importance to the growth of knowledge and ideas in a universities have to be free to act As society professors have to be free to be society the University whistle blowers in scientific research and political and economic their most vital role in maintaining free speech and free discussion in a democratic society precisely when the economic or political Power Structure wants to silence Woods also raises academic libel if people feel they May be Laid off or that they dont have a proper Way of Appeal and our complaint about the univer Sites offer is that there is no proper Appeal mechanism they May be reluctant to speak out in the first this letter shows that our fear is not this letter shows the reality that academic Freedom is on the line is the faculty association insists the strike is about academic integrity and is not about Money or protect ing the association says it is prepared to accept both pay cuts and it Points to three clauses in the University which together will allow the administration to target individual professors for Layoff with an Appeal process that leads right Back to the same coupled with the governments daily castigation of the find lays letter is already enough to Send a chill through Manitoba uni Frances Russell covers politics for the free her column appears wednesdays and polls can be harmful to our health Ottawa one can Only Hope that less than a week before Quebe cers go to the polls to decide their future and the future of the we dont find out that Public opinion polls cause the health effects of polling Are a concern in Quebec because Over the last no less than 20 major pub Lic surveys have been conducted for National news add to that the innumerable secret polls performed for Large political parties and and you Are left with a profound fear How often can you perform a Biopsy without threatening the health of the patient aggravating this sense of concern is the fact that the results of the polling have How shall we say a tiny bit what then have we Learned from the polls that Quebec voters have a serious multiple personality it is no longer just a matter of separating the want to go peo ple from the want to stay for the so called Quebec nationalist could be a separatist As is often the a federalist who voted for the separatists in the last provincial election but who wishes to remain in in a nationalist could be someone who is willing to vote yes but who Doest want the yes Side to an analysis of several polls this week concluded that Between one Quarter and one third of the yes sup National reporter port could fall apart if those soft nationalists believe the yes Side would on top of All you have Anglo phones and allophones voting for consider that a group of nuns have formed a society for support of the yes while the Hells Angels motorcycle gang Are surrounding their heavily armed Headquarters with no the poll results do con firm something that Many in Quebec both separatist and federalist have been saying for a Long a Clear majority of Quebe cers Are United in their desire for change within the Canadian specific Al change that recognizes Quebec unique culture and the subject of change has become the definitive Issue in the the polls have shown More than 60 per cent of Quebe cers want to stay in Canada but with a new Legal Frame work that recognizes Quebec unique sensing the majority desires both campaigns Are using it As their separatists Point to various failed attempts at change namely the Meech Lake and Charlottetown constitutional accords As evidence that federalists want to maintain the status federalists have promised change but Only when Quebec chooses once and for All to stay in in the last week before the referendum the federalist no forces seem to be tripping Over each others definitions of Quebec Liberal Leader Daniel obviously concerned about momentum in the yes Cam said last weekend that change should involve constitutional Amend ment and the inclusion of the much dreaded distinct society reference that has proven to be such a Speed bump in the unfortunately for prime minister Jean Chretien would not go along with the suggestion by the head of the no a great Deal of change is Chretien but the Constitution is off the prime ministers response Many fuelled Momen Tum for the yes Campaign less than a week before the Chretien has expressed an Hon est fear of constitutional wrangling in the perhaps he senses that normally a forgiving and flexible become angry and vengeful in a constitutional perhaps he is just taking his Cue from provincial including Manitoba Gary who have resisted giving in to Quebec demands for special status in the Constitution for Many years arguing that giving any province special status could Lead to Legal problems in the Many Are now measuring these hypothetical concerns against the very real threat that separation As the yes Side inches closer to foreign investors have dumped Canadian investments faster than the Montre Al canadians shed the Dol Lar is falling fast and interest rates Are sure to which will certainly bring Home the importance of the referendum debate to canadians living outside of actual separation could bring economic chaos to both Quebec and canadians have resisted Quebec demands now for decades All it has brought us is angst and As an Island of francophone in a sea of anglophone in its very essence Quebec is distinct despite the protests of the perhaps it is time to seriously con Sider giving Quebec its place in the it is now Clear that Quebe cers will willingly stay in Canada if there is meaningful change that at least partly satisfies Quebec desire for a Spe Cial place in the and after decades of angry and destructive debate about the Gulf that lies Between Canadas two we need a poll to Tell us Dan Lett is the free press nation Al his column appears ;