Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 1, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winnipeg free press november 1995 a bigot resigns what kind of circus is this the government of Quebec is supposed to be serious has it been taken Over by clowns Jacques Parizeau was elected 13 months ago As Leader of the parti quebecois and Premier of he seemed to want the Job but after the hair breadth defeat of his sovereignty he is it would have been More honest to let his electors when he sought the that he was Only dabbling at on referendum Parizeau appeared before his sup porters and on National television to announce that Money and the ethnic vote had prevented the French speaking peo ple of Quebec from endorsing Quebec this vicious and irresponsible remark was made in the name of the parti quebecois by its Leader and in the name of the government of Quebec by its first in announcing his resignation Parizeau said his remark had been harsh but that it reflected a reality he his resignation without an apology immediately after this disgraceful performance left unfinished business for the party and the govern other canadians can not readily sit Down and conduct Public business with a ruling party and a govern ment that hold the twisted View of democracy and com Munal relations that Parizeau Parizeau version of the referendum result is false because there is no knowing How Quebe cers would have voted if there were no business class and no ethnic forty per cent of French speaking voters opposed yet Parizeau does not single them out for some Felt free to vote for sovereignty because they were sure others would vote against and the referendum would even if Parizeau could turn All Quebec vietnamese and scots into old Stock it does not follow that they would vote to destroy their his comment was vicious and irresponsible because it encouraged French speaking separatists to single out people with Money and people of the ethnic minorities As their Polit ical it is perfectly True that his program is aimed against people with which he would devalue by Sepa and people of ethnic whom he would isolate behind National but his party has found some support in All classes and All language class and ethnic hatreds Are easy to it takes a vicious and irresponsible politician to drop the Parizeau showed his character and seized his did he show the character of his government and his move ment Deputy Premier Bernard Landry and bloc quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard should promptly declare their if this manoeuvre is aimed at sliding Bouchard in sideways As Premier of he should let the Public know whether Aims to Rule As the Scourge of the business classes and promoter of hatred against Quebec ethnic a Day to remember remember the moment october no per yes per remember 60 per cent of francophone voted in favor of con Vinced they achieve the degree of cultural Secu Rity they desire within remember this was supposed to be an easy Victory for the no they once had a 10 Point Lead in the remember with two weeks left in the a panic stricken Daniel Leader of the no publicly pleading for prime minister Chretien to open the door to constitutional remember prime minister Chretien saying no to constitutional then saying remember bloc quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard and outgoing Premier Jacques Parizeau hammering away at the fact that Canada has refused to Deal positively with Quebec five constitutional remember the feeling of helplessness millions of canadians Felt As the polls consistently showed the yes Side leading with Only Days to go before the remember the panic in the Money the real doubt about what would happen next if the yes Side won even a narrow remember tens of thousands of canadians being mobilized in the last Days of the Campaign to Fly into Montreal to show their love for Quebec and remember the grinding agony of watching the vote count on television and How Long it took for the no a tenth of a percentage Point at a to break the 50 per cent remember Sandi Macri of who told the free press she cried when her congregation Sang 0 Canada in Church and that she understood Mon Days vote meant there would have to be remember the 40 per cent of francophone who once to stay in Canada despite the pressure being brought to Bear by their political family and to All of Premier Gary Filmon and opposition Leader Gary doer yesterday responded that constitutional talks Are not even though a constitutional con Ference is required by Law in some people have Short Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1672 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy Redekop publisher Eikill Ca Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor Brian Cole editorial Page editor directors Calvin James circulation Verne Kalichuk Hunan resources Stephan Majorki operations Perry Nixdorf Glenn Williams finance 1995 Winnipeg free a division of newspapers division of Thomson Canada limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Manitoba r2x pm 5977000 a member of the Manitoba press Council editorials Freedom of Trade a Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Brian Cole 6977044 a last Chance for Canada canadians outside Quebec face a Choice in the weeks and months they can choose 10 equal provinces and lose or they can choose special status for Quebec and keep a margin out of nearly five million cast in mondays Quebec per kept the dream of Canada but both out going Premier Jacques Parizeau and bloc quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard made it Clear they will be and if the nine English speaking pre Miers cling to the Equality of the if they refuse a Quebec Only round of constitutional change and return to their Power Piggy backing on Quebec Canada May not make to the Quebec intergovernmental affairs minister Louise Beaudoin put the option succinctly monday if you love recognize the immediate responses of the premiers Are not Man Tobas Gary Filmon is prepared to put distinct society in the cons Titu but Only if it confers no special Powers on other notably Mike Harcourt and Albertas Ralph we rent even willing to go that they every Power Quebec we these two warring visions of Canada two nations versus 10 equal Frances Russell provinces have formed the fault line of Canadian federalism for the last but Treyve never come so agonizingly close to actually rupturing the critical times Call for imaginative for All prime minister Jean Chretien apparent weakness in his native he enjoys High credibility in English now is the time for him to Call on the prime minister should canvass the other but As expect there is no consensus or no willingness to move towards asymmetrical then he should make his own offer of distinct society and validate it through a National asymmetrical federalism special status or distinct society Doest destroy the Equality of All Canadian it merely Means the citizens of Quebec choose to have their provincial government exercise Powers other canadians leave to the government of the extraordinary events of the past few weeks and the obvious Goodwill in English Canada have provided an Opportunity for the prime minister to build a new Canadian consensus by forging a blend of dual Ity and provincial canadians stared into the abyss for excruciating hours monday evening As their country Hung by the Slen Derest of near death experiences change a majority of English canadians May now be ready to give constitutional recognition to Quebec Dis Tinct along with the specific Powers necessary to preserve and protect the French language and Cul Ture in North one Way to achieve duality with provincial Equality would be to con Statuti Onalie a two Way Power flow with negotiated National Many of the exclusive jurisdictions Quebec wants communications and for exam ple Are not needed in some cannot be afforded by other provinces and so could be ceded in whole or part Back to Quebec has always had de Facto special status and Canada has not been the possible Legal complications Pale by comparison to the agonies of negotiating the end of Canada in an atmosphere of eco nomic and political Canadas going Over the Heads of the premiers can be doubly justified by the fact the separatist govern ment will never come to the table to negotiate anything but ind Epen for his the prime minister should reflect on his own in his address to the nation last wednes Chretien said All govern ments and provincial must respond to the desire of canadians everywhere for greater decent to whom has the prime minister been talking besides the the Reform party and the neoconservative business establishment he certainly Hast been talking to the citizens of the have not take for this billion of its billion budget comes from the government of As Canadas presence so will its moral authority to tax and redistribute National wholesale decentralization int about bringing government closer to the its about downloading Public services to governments that cant afford them so they can be privatized or Canada has to fight its Way Back on a number of what will focus All our minds on the task ahead is the memory had just votes switched sides Canada would be no Frances Russell covers politics for the free her column appears wednesdays and the dangers of playing with fire but Canada pos1 Saie Vyree Menton Montreal the Bonfire that burned beneath the giant oui sign on Catherine Street was All rage and a living Symbol of How Little was accomplished in mondays referendum vote but How much it will mean to future the fire for the most an innocent parking lot Kiosk that rested too close to a raucous demonstration in downtown Mon Treal on monday the fire was sparked by Nylon Canadian flags which were torched and Laid upon the ground As for the reporters and police who watched the fire Burn higher into the Early morning it was an unusual postscript to an evening of High political at the Story seemed to be the near death experience for Federal who won the five week referendum Battle but by less than a sellout crowd at sky dome in As the fire burned and the yes mob continued to Mill it became obvious that some no matter How Are very troublesome to put we should for a moment consider the because in themselves there is a great of nearly 5 million eligible 94 per cent went to the at last per cent million voters dated for the no while per cent million voters chose the yes More importantly for those who wish to appreciate the 60 per cent of Fra Coph ones supported the Sovereign list As one yes supporter said the Day after the for those with a stake in the outcome who had watched the photo finish of the Vot it was a night of sadistic ten the tiny no Victory was also an indication that the historic Federal posture towards Quebec has worn out a vote Victory in an election where nearly 5 million peo National reporter pie cast ballots should indicate to anyone with an ounce of political wis Dom that the Well federalists have been drawing on for the last 25 years is almost mondays result has been called a vote for and there is Indica Tion throughout the country that there is a new Era of cooperation and open mindedness to Settle once and for All the historic and unfulfilled demands by further to prime minister Jean Chretien and other federalists wrote a lot of cheques during the referendum Cam promising change and Settle ment on All outstanding issues and it has come time now for those cheques to be and More specifically francophone have slowly built a base of support for their Sovereign list suffering from a historic disadvantage As the conquered people of a dispute Between european we eventually saw in the 1970s the maturing of the quiet the emergence of the parti quebecois and its landmark Victory in the provincial election in then came the 1980 the 1982 repatriation of the Constitution with out Quebec consent and the begin Ning of the ill fated Meech Lake constitutional Accord process which was followed by another the Charlottetown this Litany of failure led to the re emergence of the parti quebecois As a governing party with a mandate to hold a this Cycle should not be a mystery to rejection upon no matter what the ultimately Breeds contempt and the separatist spirit of Quebe cers is now a Force to Deal with and a political movement that is teetering on the Edge of democratic and Legal any Hope of keeping Canada United will require Faith from both que Bec who must find their place in the and from Feder who must change their View of the country to respect the unique entity within its regardless of How sympathetic one is to the que Bec it must be clearly apparent to Many in the rest of Canada that the French culture of the province is those who wish to spend More time debating this deserve another and if there is to be another federalists can take Solace in the fact that while a majority of francophone voted for that same majority May not support the sometimes Radical philosophies of Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau and other militant certainly the fingerprinting that went on referendum night that essentially put a target on the Back of ethnic and anglophone voters As the cause of the Sovereign list defeat was further indication of it is no longer sufficient for the Federal government and the rest of Canada to look at the upheaval in Quebec As a fire that must be Quebec aspirations for Independence Are clearly a reality and to ignore them is to condemn Canada and Quebec to an endless Cycle of sadistic tension and fires that will Burn endlessly and out of Dan Lett is the free Piess National his column appears youths Jostle each other monday night following the vote on Quebec ;