Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 27, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Brian Cole 6977044 focus Winnipeg free press May 1997 appeasing Quebec wont end National Unity crisis Canada has three solitudes the Canadian political spec Trum on june 3 will look like an abstract painting a mix Ture of emotion and the results will be profoundly confusing at a time when we need clarity of no one really wanted this it caught the electorate off and voter apathy toward what could be significant issues is significant and the same mood per Vades Canada now As during last years Quebec this the country wont Wake up and get involved in the last minute that Why we will have a new but few will be Able to read Reform will fail in its attempt to win the Ontario breakthrough it but it will hold on to the base of its support in Alberta and its which was desperately seeking has secured its Loyal followers with mixed Mes Sage of Tough love for Quebe cers and even tougher love for the liberals will surely lose seats in Ontario to Jean Charest and the tories and will not make any major gains in Quebec once Charest gets in the Way despite the weakness of the bloc if liberals lose additional ground in Manitoba and the their 22seat hold on a majority govern ment will be the tories will be the and they could end up being the Power brokers in a minority the caucus would consist of soft separatists in Quebec and old line tory loyalists in with maybe a few stragglers from the the five party spectrum created after mondays vote will be the worst possible result for the coun the results will prove that the Issue of Quebec participation in Canada int wanted by a sizable portion of Quebe cers As we already suspect but also by a growing Audi ence in English the size of that audience can be directly measured by the membership in reforms Reform has effectively played the distinct society Issue in Alberta and two provinces where the electorate is deeply suspicious of Ottawa and its the and in which Chretien and Charest Are lumped together with Gilles Dueppe and Lucifer Bouchard struck a chord out Here it said these men All have the same self interest and it is not the same As this is the lingering nature of reforms Appeal Ottawa does things that Manitoba Doest like changes the cf18 contract to Mon Treal from it shoves a socialist like wheat Board Down our it forces us to pay a sales tax still bitterly unpopular in and it is sure to Promise More Powers to Quebec to buy its loyalty a profound concern in both Alberta and the vote for Reform is a rejection of the old fashioned and sophisticated political relationship Between Ontario and Quebec that has kept Canada that relationship is also perceived to have prevented Alberta and from growing even faster within both provinces Are Ham Strung by inter provincial Trade barriers particularly in agriculture and food processing that favour and the old school alliances will do nothing to change this both provinces lose out in the equalization paying billions each year to support provinces East of the Ottawa at a time when Money for social programs is especially it rubs us the wrong Way to see a province allowed to take the Money and say that it does not want to be part of the partnership while Chretien and Charest represent the two Manning and Reform represent the third Solitude in Canada disaffected English westerners who Are tired of the Quebec Issue and who Are suspicious of the Central Canadian Agen that Why Chretien Doest like Reform ads lumping him together with Dueppe and it cuts him off from the West the same ads effectively emphasize the differences Between Manning and Charest and help ensure he wont make a breakthrough in the West with rights Centre voters because they emphasize the closeness of his relationship with if canadians elect a government monday that solves the Quebec it wont be the end of our National Unity a sizable num Ber of canadians in Alberta and can be identified As the third Soli and they wont be Happy with solutions made in Donald Campbell is a Calgary letters to the editor hip reviewer tragically mistaken in response to John Lyons review of the new tragically hip album live Between us hip live album offers Little to i feel he was tragically for hip fans have had to sit by the radio or wait in lines overnight to get a taste of the raw Edge the band gives when playing now we can own it and it Doest Dis Lyons gives Many reasons for his three Star none of which Are first he questions the fact that they recorded it in not caring if this was the Best performance of the but accusing the band of maybe Selling out to the he Doest note that the band mainly records All of its albums in new does that mean that they have never been Loyal to Canada he also questions the Canadian Content of the album is it not enough that the songs Are written and performed by must they preach Only about certain Cana Dian facts or places to be classified As Canadian Content later in Lyons he says the album is heavy on recent Materi As a can be i didst realize that for a song to become someones it must age like a Good half of the album is at least five year old material and the rest just like a Good concert should the tracks on the album include such greats As new Orleans is blow at High dough and nautical which i guess Are none of Lyons this album is exactly the reason the hip has been Able to come to Winnipeg six times in the last four that and the fact they keep up the great work and to you maybe you should put Down the Canadian Flag and think about Why you Are waving Jason Franklin Winnipeg satirical note misinterpreted there has been a very Strong reaction to a letter from me that was printed May feed inmates to the i must emphasize that the letter was satirical in and was not meant at All to be taken some peo ple have misinterpreted the letter to reflect certain racial but nothing could be further from the 1 am a University student who has studied aboriginal singing and drum Ming with an taken part in numerous and volunteered his time to visit an aboriginal Community to play guitar for the i am truly sorry if my letter has offended and Hope that upon those who misunderstood its meaning will see the satire which was Marcel Dierckx Winnipeg City forgets those still flooded while the flood of the Century is still fresh in our please realize there Are Many people South of Winnipeg up to their ears in water who find some of the statements made in the newspapers most while duffs ditch performs its magic save we people to the South of the City Bat the the greater amounts of rising water forced upon us As a we All the tragically hips latest a live captures the popular bands stage show and is a a Reader How 10 Road is 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 Tor 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 sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone understand the necessity of protect ing the City but once it is safely guarded behind the we get the feeling the urgency is Over and were forgotten on May Premier Gary Filmon made a statement in the free press that individuals building South of Winnipeg in flood prone areas must take some responsibility for after dealing with these Waters for More than so i have always noticed that water flows the Assiniboine and Lasalle Rivers All flow toward one namely it seems the people of Winnipeg have built Homes in one of the lowest Points in the int that Why duffs ditch and the Brunk ild Dike were built in the first place to protect those people the responsibility of paying for them fell on the wallets of All the people in Manitoba even those in the South who now find the flood Way works against Stott Niverville hat off to Home town i am a transplanted i have lived in Victoria for the past two i have always spoken very highly of my Home even when peo ple made fun of our freezing temperatures and our Large population of we Are a Hearty group of and we have much to be proud my heart was breaking when Mani Toba was being flooded and i spent Many nights watching the news with tears rolling Down my i feared for i was in constant Contact with my checking to see that they were i donated and kept people in my prayers and i am now More than Ever so proud to be from watching Mani to bans on television showing their courage and i burst with Pride and seeing everyone help their fellow care and gave of their you showed Canada and the rest of the world what i have known my whole we Are a special full of much Rich in wonderful great world class sports teams and but not the to top that All we have the most Friendly people in the please take Pride in your and know that you All showed such and such positiveness even when things looked my hat is off to my Home Carol Rivett Victoria Central Canada Tough on West for your you could have borrowed from a certain French revolution artillery officer for a headline them a taste of grape How very ontarian and Quebec ish of Arent you dangerously droll to encourage enforcement of the gun registration in Ontario and cigarette smugglers flout Federal running their Booty across the Border with nary a Whit of concern whereas Here in that same Federal Law seizes Ordinary citizens cars and trucks and levies hundreds of thou Sands of dollars in thank the penalties were held to be so vicious As to be Nev the secret cigarette police Force is running full Speed ahead out they even lock us up for Selling that dangerous Barley out Side one is bemused if one for one that the gun registration is As relevant in Rural and Western As it is on Bloor Street or in a univer sity in but those Good Folk in Ottawa will sure give us the full treatment when it comes to enforce ment and the need to bring those westerners into line started when they sent the military to the red River Colony from Toronto and hanged Louis of they didst need to hang Ontario or Quebec rebels when they revolted As a matter of they made them ministers of As recently As last year they made one of the Fly a but Riel was West of the Golden Triangle so they sent soldiers with and their belief that they have to be Tough with we westerners Roy Yerex Winnipeg vote to press Point the flood claims for the 1995 flood Haven been settled yet since the fed eral government and the provincial government push it Back and Forth Between each since it seems that Manitoban dont lets show All politicians that we do count and stay Home on june you think they will care about Manitoba after they wasted their Money on their campaigns and nobody showed up at the polls but them Matthias Goebel Douglas poster hangers should pay the City of Winnipeg is always on the Lookout for More Given the costs of Snow flood Street cleaning and Here is an idea that could prove of Benefit to the resources of the City administration and to the aesthetic qual Ity of our fair the unsightly mess seen on Power poles where posters Are and taped on top of each other could be a Money maker for the have the posters removed and the Cost of removal charged Back to the organizations who had the posters put up in the first Dianne Burnett Laurie Logan Winnipeg suspicious about Suga shop uhkh6uar afford pad houlon6 ;