Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 18, 1996, Winnipeg, Manitoba A6 Winnipeg free press March 1996 editorials Brian Cole 6977044 key rises to the top Rey the Winnipeg North my who was recently appointed parliamentary Secretary to the prime is demonstrating Why he deserves that lofty he is showing courage and principle fighting his governments illiberal immigration the first assault on traditional Liberal thinking came when former immigration minister Sergio Marchi announced a reduction in the number of immigrants Canada would allow into the the reduced quota was a direct contradiction of the Liberal red Book Promise of rather than fewer then there was the insidious Landing fee of a de Facto head tax on immigrants and protest was muted and the tax was last year the liberals floated the idea of demand ing a surety rumoured at be extracted from sponsoring family members who wanted to bring relatives Over from the old it was eventually scrapped after Pagtakhan and others explained How serious the consequences would the latest Battle is Over a change to income Levels necessary to sponsor rela Tives under the family it was proposed that those income Levels be raised from to for single people and from to for a family of to compound the problem for income Levels were grouped according to population since a population of was arbitrarily that meant Winnipeg was treated the same As Toronto and even though the Cost of living Here is substantially in other what was affordable for Winni Eggers May not be for yet the financial capability of each was deemed to be the government was scheduled to implement the changes this month but has responded to pressure and agreed to put the changes on the Chretien governments immigration policy has been flawed from the Start because it was formed on the basis of data collected in Toronto and attitudes prevalent in Southern the Ontario Liberal caucus and senior bureaucrats inside the immigration department convinced themselves that immigrants on welfare were a major Cash Drain on the As it turns their data was sketchy and their however misguided for was ridiculous for parts of the country such As where Immi Grants make up less than one per cent of the welfare cases and where More population is necessary to Supply employers with willing employees and the provincial Economy with More people to buy goods and Pagtakhan has lobbied successfully enough that this policy will be immigration minister Luci Enne Robillard should stay in close touch with Page he understands the situation much better than his Ontario colleagues or the nearsighted bureaucrats in the department the Cabinet needs reminding that Liberal governments before them understood Well enough that without immigration the country would have tuning out violence Canadian broadcasters and Cable companies Are Cele Brating a Small and so they the Canad an radio television and telecommunications commission has made it possible for parents not Only broadcasters and Cable companies to regulate what their children can and cannot watch on using the Chip invented by Tim Collings of Simon Fraser parents will soon be Able to Block out television programs that Are More violent or More sexually explicit than they want in their by simply choosing a parents can censor any pro Gram that exceeds what they consider acceptable Levels of sex or objectionable during the past month both the american government and the european parliament have passed Laws requiring All new television sets to be equipped with the there is no consensus among experts on the link Between television violence and the behaviour of that dispute becomes less important now because parents who Are convinced there is a negative influence can simply disable the transmission from reaching their Chil Dren at least in their own there is More that parents can if enough television Consumers pressure production houses to Stop making violent and if Consumers of other products Stop patronizing companies that sponsor violent then there will be less violence for parents to parents May feel powerless As individuals to combat the proliferation of violent programming but collectively they could put offenders out of the Chip draws attention to the pervasive presence of violence on the screen and gives parents a tool to com Bat Tim Collings has done broadcasters and Cable companies a Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy 6mailrudyredekop@treepress.mb.ca Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor Brian Cole editorial Page editor directors Laurie Calvin Verne human resources Stephan Majorki operations Glenn Williams finance 1996 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 124 no 99 t and Here is your you i a Felt the new id Dollar cow networks hype primaries Florida there is absolutely no indication any where Here that average americans Are As interested in their primary elections As the Ted Kop the Tom Brokaw and the Dan rathers of the National television networks would have everyone while primary particularly last weeks super tuesday Battle when Florida republicans sup ported Bob make great nation Al they simply dont rate Down at the local level on television newscasts or even in the larger regional it was not until the Orlando sen Tinel was faced with the task of fill ing up its massive sunday paper just two Days before the vote that the Pri Mary fight made the front Page or anything More than a Brief inside All along the Road to local newscasts mentioned the primaries in the states we passed but Seldom were these mentions at the top of the the same Orlando Sentinel that put Florida primary on the front Page sunday used the space the previous Day for a different it explained the shortcomings of rent Acop Security whose presence at Highway rest areas was established a few years Back when Florida reputation As a dangerous place to visit was front Page news everywhere else in the Fred Cleverley Security at Highway rest stops still interests Florida but the emphasis has shifted to the ques Tion of whether the guards Are pro Viding Good value for in any it was a far More important Issue than the Republican As far As the newspaper was con just three Days before the vote was the closest we came to the Campaign itself was Back in when Vic president Al Gore came to town at the same time we the Security was the main reason that primaries make Good National but Are less interesting at the local is that Only about half the people in any area Are democrats Are simply coasting toward their con knowing that they will nominate president Clinton for a second it is usually this Way with the party that happens to be occupying the White House when time for a re election Rolls the party with the president in Power concentrates on allowing him to be presidential no easy task when it comes to Bill Clinton while the other party tears itself to shreds try ing to choose a Leader to Challenge an incumbent the democrats did it when Ronald Reagan was finishing up his first and the republicans Are at More vicious than the democrats Ever were because the secondhand third place contenders had the Abil Ity one with the other with rhetoric to keep the feeding frenzy of the National Media going Strong for it certainly looks like Bob Dole will get the Republican and for the logical reason that republicans believe he is the Best available candidate to beat Bill the americans will get As excited about their election As the National news anchors say they Are but not until the real race is being the one Between Bill Clinton and Bob listening on the radio not Only to the fights Between candidates but some rather spiced up commentary by such talk radio hosts As Gordon living proof that anyone can Host talk radio an outsider can be forgiven if he believes that the republicans have so damaged them selves that president Clinton will have an easy a look at recent history shows How silly it would be to make such an it was a Cana Dian Stanley who always pointed out that anything can happen in a Here in Florida that Campaign wont even Start for a few months Sqq Florida has caught Hawaii Dis every store on every Street Calls itself a factory one of the things you learn quickly is to read the Fine even on the Bill for a Flea Market operates seven Days a week on High Way 192 in just South of stores for several Kilometres on either Side of it have signs with Flea Market in Large Type and the word prices in very Small Type not much wonder a lot of tourists have trouble finding what they Are looking everywhere you Are smothered in official looking Coupon books offer ing unbelievable for exam ple would you believe a Days inn hotel room for less than even if you have four people to fill it or a Howard Johnson room for four peo ple for in one hotels Here use the air Canada seat Sale they advertise a Low but have Only a few rooms available at that checking out the Howard Johnson i was first told that i was at the wrong the clerk did offer to Telephone the Correct to see if that her not mine room was Avail they All had lots available at to Fred Cleverley is a Winnipeg his column appears liberals have out etched Meech just a few months Short of the sixth anniversary of its the Meech Lake constitutional Accord has been reborn As the lib eral governments new rebalanced the resurrection started soon after the excruciatingly narrow federalist Victory in the Quebec referee when Ottawa introduced legislation recognizing Quebec As a distinct the remaining body parts were resuscitated in the february 27 speech from the Romeo Leblanc announced that the government will not use its spending Power to create new share Cost programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction without the consent of a majority of the out leeching Ottawa also pledged to compensate financially provinces who opt out of National programs so Long As their versions meet values and this is a further watering Down of today National standards and even of the accords National these values and principles must be achieved through Federal provincial under this medicare would not have the throne speech even revived a part of the discredited Charlotte town constitutional promis ing to give the provinces exclusive jurisdiction Over labor mining and of re balancing has one redeeming it is not set in constitutional Cement but is an administrative mean ing that a future National govern ment with the intention to act like one can walk away from once As with the original All the focus of dissent and controversy is on Quebec distinct the Reform and those premiers hostile to French Canada except As a crowbar with which to pry More Powers for continue to make All the4mischief Frances Russell they can with this self evident once Little or no Atten Tion is devoted to the real problem with Charlottetown and Meech Charlottetown rebalanced the provincial ligation and there the destabilization of the the provincial ligation ethic is now so deeply rooted in the consciousness of Canadas economic and academic elites that it has become almost pavlovian despite being rebuffed twice by the people of the chattering classes Are regrouping for a third the business Council on National issues invited All the decentralise warhorse from the including former Alberta Premier Peter former constitutional affairs minister Joe Clark and former nip Leader de to a close door session in also present was the new Young lion of Gordon former Liberal now commentator and Fraser Institute senior fellow in Canadian Gibson believes that massive decentralization is Given Ottawa fiscal Straits and the unquenchable desire of All the Gibsons idea of decentralization is chilling for have not provinces for More Ottawa absolutely must he writes in his thirty million he goes on to say that forced decentralization is no bad the Basic concept Here is government closer to in govern mental Home is where the folks have the knowledge and resources to do the he advocates the end of the Cen trial government As we know Lim iting its Powers to such things As International National Secu transportation safety and provincial most of its functions involving direct Contact with citizens would be turned Over to a provincially appointed Federal thirty million makes chilling Reading for those canadians who dwell in the seven have not Gibson wants equalization to go to not because in its current form it subsidizes noneconomic areas and encourages people to stay living in canadians should be Guaran teed Equality of not Equality of he in Canadian historian Frank under Bill correctly identified the source and the intent of provincial Iza Tion in one of his it is truer today than it was nearly 60 years our really big problems today Are nationwide in if not world and can Only be handled by a government which is National in its under Bill there Are interests in this country who do not want effective govern ment at they do not want to have their opportunities for making prof it As they see fit regulated by any they know that the provincial governments Are not big enough to regulate or control and so they Are Strong advocates of provincial Frances Russell covers politics for the free her column appears wednesdays and ;