Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 13, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba A12 Winnipeg free May Brian Cole 6977044 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights the debt busters there is a tendency on the part of some to see Canadas shrinking deficit As a kind of Green Light to do one of two things Cut income taxes or spend More on social a Large number of Manitoban appear to according to a poll conducted for the free 41 per cent of Manitoban want to see the Federal government reduce the compared with 25 per cent who would like to see new spending programs and another 25 per cent that want income tax this is not a and canadians were put through the wringer Over the last few years As Federal and provincial govern ments waged War against the they Are Likely to remain conservative on fiscal issues for some and there is a need for the Federal deficit has yet to be eliminated it is now expected to come in at about billion for the last fiscal year and some politicians Are already spending the so called deficit tory Leader Jean for wants across the Board tax while new democratic party Leader Alexa Mcdonough is preparing a spending there is no question the simple Choice Between spending More on social programs or cutting income taxes lends itself to Slick marketing on the election it also makes for clean distinctions on the political spectrum if you favour social program youre a if you want income tax youre a lost in the is the larger question what is in the Best interests of canadians part of the answer is to broaden the discussion to include something missing from political platforms but which weighs heavily on the minds of Manitoba voters the despite All the talk of beating Down the Canadas billion debt the result of accumulated deficits remains a big con Cern in the Ottawa spends about billion a year 30 per cent of the budget servicing the it is the largest surpassing health and education the High debt combined with relatively slow economic creates doubt about Ottawa Abil Ity to sustain social programs or make tax particularly if the Economy takes a canadians would Best be served by a fiscal policy that recognizes the need to balance new spending and tax cuts with the need to reduce the Politi Cal party that develops such a platform should get the Green Light from canadians on june so that party appears to be the no knockouts Here Ever since John Kennedy out pointed Richard Nixon in the first High profile televised Politi Cal their handlers and sup porters have lived in Hope and fear of the Winne Takeall the underdog lives in Hope that he or she will hit a Home run against an oppo nent with a Well placed the Favourite lives in fear that the underdog May do just Canada has had its fair share of memorable Politi Cal debates Over the Brian Mulroney scored a knockout against John Turner in 1984 when he told the then prime minister he had a Choice when it came to approving a laundry list of patronage Turner gained some measure of revenge in 1988 when he used the debate to make free Trade his his performance boosted his Campaign it want enough to win the last nights televised debate was not one of those classic if there is one thing that canadians should be Able to agree on today it is that a format featuring five leaders butting Heads for tworan half hours is neither particularly enter Taining or part of the reason is that the televised debate no longer is the big Deal it was a generation nor Are politicians As vulnerable to slipping up on Cam Era As they were in years gone the proliferation of electronic Media has forced politicians to become More Media unlike Richard today politicians Are not Likely to let voters see them sweating under the Glare of hot television it does give leaders a Chance to impress with their if not their tory Leader Jean for used the occasion to show that he has what it takes to make a Good prime minister some Day Alexa Mcdonough was passionate if not convincing Preston Manning was Earnest if not inspiring Gilles Dueppe in Case there was any that he is not Lucien Bouchard and Jean Chretien demonstrated that he is prime minister because he is Able to find the Middle solid performances but not Likely to change the course of this election Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy Redekop publisher email Ca Nicholas Hirst Brian Cole editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown circulation sales and marketing Ian Cummins technology Laurie Verne Kalichuk human resources Glenn Williams finance and administration 1997 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 125 no 131 Boring and proud of it Montreal dear rus sell Baker of the new York times you sure nailed us when you Canada is Boring beyond but there was a Brief flurry of excite ment when Quebec voted on whether to Canada immediately resumed being As Boring As you wont be surprised to that we conquer our bore Dom up Here by following whats happening Down for theres one thing we know about the its unto ring beyond i just read that More than people filled an Alabama Arena to watch the ultimate fighting an event some describe As human the Beefy contestants kicked and head butted one and in seven of the nine bouts fighters spilled As your own paper one 323pound fighter spent much of his match atop his 215pound Batter ing the smaller mans face with his Knees and fists for almost 10 until a referee finally stopped the bloody a Man who took his sons to witness the fun they see it every Day in the its a controlled every Day in the he nothing Boring about in another unto ring american event in a controlled situation occurred when prison officials in Florida turned on the juice to execute a Man in a 74yearold electric maybe the situation want All that con after the leather mask on the Fellows face caught sending Foo Long flames into the air and filling the execution chamber with truth to that has never happened in we have no electric we dont even hang people How Boring that must sound to the proud citizen of a nation that since 1976 has legally murdered More than 300 and in Texas entertained proposals that the relatives of any murder Vic Tim be granted the supreme plea sure of witnessing the death throes of the this want the first time a prisoners head caught fire in that same but state legislators oppose switching to lethal injection on grounds it int sufficiently i dont know whether you but i think this bracing attitude towards Law and order helps pre vent the from declining into conflict is never and As one of your own leading William Young Black and latino men living in americas ghettos and Barrios Are under siege and at War the criminal Law and police practices in the he Are blatantly but never since every second american Home contains a 28 states allow people to pack concealed Grad school kids carry semiautomatic weapons aboard american and gun homicides by Juve Niles have quadrupled since the we canadians have occasionally been so Boring As to Sug Gest that you americans Are a Shade but then youre among All the nations of the Western the one that throws the biggest pro portion of its people into Hoo Segos is the population grew 13 per cent from 1980 to but the number of americans behind bars grew 172 per since 1980 the number of adult americans under some kind of correctional supervision parole As Well As incarceration has grown from million to the National times a number rapidly approaching the six million enrolled in the nations higher education say what you will about the but a nation with almost As Many convicts As College Stu dents cant possibly be if current trends three quarters of All the african american men in California will be in prison within 30 and let me be the first to that a growth Industry like that is anything but the Gap Between Rich and poor is already bigger in your coun than it is any where else in the Western every it yawns if your Gigantic num Bering tens of millions and still chooses to Rise up in a bloody dont at it wont be Harry Bruce is an editor with the issues Day care plan deserves a look t t then a Parent lies to a then tells it the lie is for its own theres a Good Chance that child will eventually Stop expecting adult voters May be no according to one of the first election 58 per cent of voters say they dont expect politicians to keep their promises after an who can blame them when the alternative to lowering our expectations is feeling angry about being betrayed ten years prime minister Brian Mulroney vowed to develop a National daycare it turned out to be a scheme of tax Breaks for families who used daycare there would be no uniform standards for training professional daycare no minimum require ments for child coworker no funding directed to a combined system of nonprofit Cen where Parent run boards determine hire staff and set and licensed family Day no funding formula under the Canada assistance no wonder women Felt the Mulroney approach was a slap in the it reduced kids and their care to a the sting was Sharp because the Federal report on the task Force on child chaired by Katie was being heralded across the country As a Canadian Blue print on building a Quality publicly funded daycare Winnipeg professor Jack London was a member of the task which released its 390page report in March the mul Roney government ignored our Hopes were raised again during the 1993 Federal when the liberals vowed to Cre ate additional daycare spaces As soon As the Gap grew More than three per no sooner was the Gap prerequisite surpassed than Day care was Penni Mitchell wiped from the Liberal drawing according to the National action committee on the status of women voters the liberals initiate a Cost shared daycare program unless a majority of provinces asked them the conservatives still favour tax deductions for Day care an approach that benefits wealthier the liberals would allot child size tax credits to some really poor who be paying tax Reform would spend nothing on Day and encourage mothers to stay Only the nip remains committed to a cos shared National daycare plan that would create daycare spaces by the turn of the there is Strong economic Evi Dence that investing in programs for children Early on is a Cost effective Way to create solid the stimulation children receive in their Early years plays an important part in developing an ability to learn and process not just while parents Are at but throughout their statistics Canada confirmed recently that the poorest children Are More than three times As Likely As the richest to require remedial classes when they reach school Liberal incumbent David walk whose Winnipeg North Cen tre Riding has one of the highest Levels of child poverty in Cana believes that the ultimate Alexa Mcdonough alone champions daycare solution to child poverty is an Economy that creates of the estimated 21 per cent of Canadian children who live in families below the poverty nearly half of their parents do in those very jobs that the Economy something is dangerously wrong when the government defers its social responsibility to the econ omy an Unac countable measurement of the mood of and of those who have lots of now that deficit reducing projections Are coming in ahead of a National daycare pro cos shared Between the Federal and provincial govern ments and could achieve several National first it would expand the accessibility of affordable services for children so their parents can farm or go to school or attend especially for people who find themselves in Low paying Quality Day care is essential to increase their participation in the secondly it would be a massive investment in it Doest Hurt that Day care is one Way to reduce the learning disparities Between Rich and poor children before they Are school Cut Ting the Strain on social pro Grams it also would create thousands of stimulate building construction through capital expenditures and have spinoff effects in industries that produce playground equipment and childrens without political the Lawrence the National railway or duffs ditch would never have been a National daycare plan can be created if we have a vision that looks into the Penni Mitchell is coordinating editor of horizons her column appears ;