Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 16, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Brian Cole 6977044 focus Winnipeg free press a 4 May 1997 f i o political wrestling share common ground and in this watching the leaders i recalled those occasions when i have Stum bled on and momentarily lingered Over so called professional wrestling on what is its attraction to its i have won dered the rules seem Only sporadically enforced it hardly seems like sport it often seems silly and the level of acting is seeing muscular adults using the ropes to catapult themselves at other muscular adults Calls up Mem ories of smart ass kids bouncing themselves off Chain link fences to Jostle other kids in the school Yard or of less sophisticated but comparable activities in the partisans of wrestling might have had similar thoughts had they come upon the party leaders engaging in their professional these so called it seemed a game without rules shouting was the preferred manner of discourse it often seemed silly and the level of acting was at one Point the camera was on Jean in full oratorical ostensibly responding to a Point made by Preston almost Over Riding was the off camera voice of Manning Over and Over again youre not Lis he was right but a Man who keeps saying youre not listening when someone else is is not listening in its homely this non Exchange epitomized much of the show not so much a debate As a politicians carnival in the spirit of Monty As in the sandboxes of child survival was a function of com powerful dogged determination not to be deflected by anyone or anything above of these were one must beware of being indignation real and Point scoring these Are All part of nor should one expect All political Dis course to be reasoned and passion but at its worst to be there were illuminating moments no one could be heard or so Complete was the cacophony of each striving to be heard William Neville above the in the 1986 Manitoba provincial leaders a shouting match developed Between Gary Filmon and Gary when Sharon Carstairs pointedly observed that voters were being Given it glimpse of the Way the other two it the it was a defining Morii ent it also suggested a lesson two tempted to play the silly bit if there is a third present to Call a the two can look damned this with five some sort of contagion set any Leader not attempting to drown out the oth ers ran the risk of being thought wanting in the this impression was reinforced by the Sec Ond debate being conducted in constrained Alexa Mcdo coughs interventions and virtually sidelined the result was largely a three Way with something less of the previous evenings chaotic sound and t t Tith All these it is still possible to glean impressions and even to speculate on impacts for negative impressions May be As consequential As positive the abrupt and unexpected termination of the second debate occasioned More speculation than anything actually said during did Chretien Benefit through not having to answer Tough questions did Charest suffer through not being Able to build on the momentum of the previous evening will Canadian history turn on these questions if a disappointing debate can have a debate that didst take place can be focusing on what did in the first round Gilles Dueppe was clearly an also ran who gave the impression that he wished he were somewhere Only when the debate switched to the Unity question a political debate has much in common with world wrestling federation the rules Are did Dueppe seem animated by a sense of purpose but then he also served As a foil for Charest and care Charest displayed some of the qualities in make him the most popular of the leaders Intelli his approach combined a constitutional position intended to dislodge soft nationalists and soft liberals in Quebec with an economic policy aimed at detaching soft reformers this Strat egy assumes that these economic poli cies will not drive conservatives into the arms of the its a risky Manning tended to preach self righteousness in hardly below his approach was less suited to a debating chamber than to a court he seemed to think he was entitled to Frame questions and insist that others answer needling attempts to Cross examine Chretien and Charest presumably cheered his own partisans without having any apparent Impact on their the least known of the National party Mcdonough benefited by being there her message was a puncher version of what she has been saying since the election was with no she did not equal her rivals when it came to Chretien seemed energized by Dueppe As by no and nothing asked by Dueppe whether he would accept a yes vote in a future Chretien replied Quick what is the question he might equally have will you accept the no vote in the last two for this was a High Point in an often sluggish in times past when Chretien was being his verbal Intel cities added to his Charm the artifice was that it seemed straight from the mangled syntax and in the first he seemed so Over scripted As to create anxieties that he want sure what he was say the strategy was to give As Little As possible away which was probably successful even As it offered Little for the debates of this kind May pro vide sometimes Acci into the minds and characters of those who would that is not inconsequential ultimately Many voters will choose the Politi Cian whose judgment they think most some bases upon which to judge judgment were on offer this but on the it was slim William Neville is a Winnipeg his column appears every second letters to the editor assistance beyond words first let me try to express my deepest respect and admiration to the multitude of people and companies that contributed to the Effort of containing the flood of the assistance individuals gave to Neighbours and people they didst know is really beyond but this is Manitoba and we have established ourselves As a pretty giving the diking labours under some very poor working conditions especially if it Rains Are debilitating to say the Chrisp Winnipeg civic employees prove their Worth get behind your civic employees you really need during this we have seen a Community of people come together for the Good of the the City of Winnipeg the the red the salvation army and countless volunteers who Are win Nipges Unsung heroes deserve a Pat on the the City of Winnipeg can not express its Heartfelt thanks enough for the efforts of the government peo ple involved in organizing and fight ing off the mighty red sea As it is so nicknamed i cant understand How mayor Susan Thompson sees her future for the City As getting better with laying off her highly skilled and trained Skeleton of civic employees and contracting out their work to other people that will not be Able to be trained to assist in a Dis any disaster for the that Winnipeg will experience the Only people benefiting from contracted out work Are the owners of the companies that receive the contracts not even their employees really Bene i urge All the people of Winnipeg to think about future and the Quality of life in Winnipeg and How much peace of mind we have with the highly skilled and trained staff the City of Winnipeg i urge All Winnipeg Gers to say no to mayor Thompson and say no to councillors when it comes to laying off the majority of City of Winnipeg employees when their contract is up in Carol Kawanza Winnipeg How to reach us the free press welcomes letters from letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed address and Telephone names will be published but not All letters May be edited for style and Short letters Are less Likely to be please address letters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg r2x letters can be sent to our fax number letters May be submitted through the internet at letters letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone 97 victims better treated we want and a recently announced program by the Federal and provincial governments has raised serious questions of preferential treatment for red River Val Ley part of the new Canad Manitoba agreement on red River flood disaster assistance is that eligible Agri cultural producers will need to be compensated for damages caused by the 1997 flood at Levels generally consistent with those provided under the crop insurance in the Assiniboine Valley had a major flood event with flows on the upper Assiniboine River exceeding All previous extensive damage to farm land Many tame for age stands were lost and Many crop acres were either not seeded or seeded too late for crop insurance cover approximately agricultural acres were we clearly demonstrated to Premier Gary Filmon and his colleagues at that time that unseeded acreage insurance under Mic did not in the Assini Boine agriculture minister Harry in a letter to Keystone agricultural stated that even if insurance programs Are considered to be inadequate from a Farmers own i do not believe that they should expect Finan Cial compensation when their Valley lands Are what has changed in 1997 in Rural municipalities and the City of Brandon were declared Dis Aster Many rms had washed out culverts and they have had to fight for their disaster assistance Money from the Federal government and still have not received All of it two years in 1997 a Advance magically appeared one Day after it was could this have anything to do with a Federal election being under Way maximum disaster assistance pay ments to individuals have been increased from to in Many producers in the Assini Boine Valley had More than damage but were told not to expect any the Federal government assured us two or three years ago that there would be no More and hoc programs for How would they classify this program our hearts and souls go out to those individuals experiencing disaster this we know from experience that disasters Are very traumatic and costly to the individuals we Are sure that those involved in this years disaster would agree that All Manito bans should be treated Keith Virden Miniota Stan Alexander use plate to thank country to show our gratitude to the rest of the country for their incredible Gen Why dont we Start All Over with our licence plates and print on or words to that Duggan Winnipeg inquisition facts Are Clear i take a Strong objection to the Arti inquisition still fascinates Cen Turies after its end Bart free May 3 because of the false information it the writer took the opinion of one Fernan do Ayllon of As fact and wrote his Story without investigating the i quote Ayllon they used to say the Spanish inquisition had killed hundreds of thousands of peo yet in 350 barely peo ple were condemned to death in latin America and he also Calls the facts about the inquisition a How can Ayllon make such a when it is a Wel Docu rented fact that one Tomas de a Jesuit priest and con Fessor of Queen Isabella of also known As the Butcher killed More than people by in the Brief Span of 14 under the Chris Tian Standard and in the name of the Torquemada burned Over people and sentenced to torture Many Well known historians refer to the inquisition As that abominable and abhorred instrument of wholesale it is True that the roman Church took great pains to make sure that All records dealing with the Cru Sades and the inquisition were put to the but some important records escaped the flames and they Are Avail Able to anyone who wants to take the time to look for i because i have seen these records and have studied Mueller Winnipeg Nightingale said it All the letter by James Mcgoey expressed an of held View on the place of nurses in the health this perspective is not a new need one say More in rebuttal than to quote Florence 1859 no not even a Ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than devoted and this definition would do just As Well for a it might even do for a Peter Warren Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau 9my ;