Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 24, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba As Winnipeg free june 1997 Brian Cole 6977044 editorials Freedom of Yade Maberly of religion Equality of civil rights Yeltsin at Denver if Russia looked a Little out of place at the g7 Summit that ended sunday in it is because it United states president Bill Clin ton had dubbed the meeting the Summit of the a diplomatic skirting of the present reality that does nothing to change that in Many in pretty Well All of the original criteria for g 7 membership in Russia does not measure the country is still racked by the turmoil that gripped it after the collapse of the soviet it has not yet achieved a Market Economy or a fully functioning democracy it is the erratic East of Europe and the primitive North of an economic Basket Case and a Politi Cal powder the incongruity of Russia As a member of an expanded g8 did not escape russian president Boris Yeltsin enemies at who Are already mocking him As the beg Gar at the Blackie ban and while that characterization May have some unpleasant truth to Yeltsin and Russia of also much More than Russia bought its ticket to the affair through Yeltsin essential acquires at some risk to himself and his to eastward expansion of but a Strong Case can be made for inviting him of the issues on the table at Russia could make a even a necessary contribution to some the problem of sanctions against for exam ple and is or will eventually have to a key player in other global issues that the g7 is attempting to to play that role Russia needs to continue in the direction Yeltsin is taking bringing him into the High councils of the elite not Only strengthens his position at but gives the g7 an enhanced Opportunity to assist in the creation of a free Market democracy the g7 itself is also becoming less of an economic forum and More of a political As the Agenda for the Denver meeting Russia May have some Way to go before it is an economic Power once but it has never ceased to be a political Force whose capacity for wreaking harm and if that is where its interests is Undi tying Moscow to the g7 helps to ensure that it will see that its interests lie in More constructive that is one of the most useful purposes the organization can serve As it attempts to get a handle on the curbing violence the Liberal governments firearms registration system May or May not get guns out of the hands of the Point is hotly but in time there will be facts to show whether a Benefit has been what we know for is that most Vio Lent crime and most murder in Canada do not involve firearms even if it succeeds in its will obviously have no effect on that huge volume of Stab bings and other non gun violence that fills our courts and our passionate debate about the merits of gun registration should not Lull canadians into feeling that violence has somehow been dealt with because Hunting weapons Are going to be Regis the Point was brought Home by a release yester Day of information on violent crime compiled by the Justice Branch of statistics the Agency found that in Only two per cent of Canadas violent crime victims encountered assailants Bear ing in violent incidents where no one the use of a knife or Blunt object was More Likely to result in injury to the victim than when the Perpe Trator was armed with a almost 33 per cent of assault victims who encountered an assailant armed with a knife suffered major compared with 16 per cent who encountered one armed with a the Agency of approximately deaths in Canada caused by 13 per cent were 81 per cent were suicides and most of the rest were Acci none of this proves that gun registration is with out the police Hope that owners of guns will take greater care to store them Well and prevent theft if recovered weapons can be traced Back to the owner from whom they were owners deny that this purpose will be experience will in time provide an what the statistics do show is that the net gain for Public safety will be modest at even after guns have been brought under better the quest for Means of curbing violent crime must Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press esl 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy email Nicholas editor Brian Cole editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown circulation sales and marketing Ian Laurie advertising 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 Glitt no70 dont ignore the victims the saying must not Only be but must be seen to be for victims of sexual jus Tice is often two weeks Justice Kerr twaddle and the Manitoba court of Appeal overturned a nine month jail sentence for a Man convicted of sexually assaulting a 12yearold girl and gave him a conditional sentence to be served in the the said the was a willing last week after i wrote about i received a phone Call from the victims she says her daughter is fed up and Doest want to Deal with what happened but a lot of peo ple have vowed to make sure other sexual assault victims Arent eclipsed from making sure that conditional sentencing Doest become the latest get out of jail free card is Only part of the and while it was the judges com ments about her daughter he said she was More sophisticated than Many of her age because she babysat that caused a storm of protest after the the Mother blames Justice minister Vic Toews for not instructing his departments prosecutors to Correct blaming comments about victims during Penni Mitchell sexual assault in five different prosecutors dealt with the Case none spoke to the victim or her no victim Impact statement was introduced in the daughter never none of the prosecutors disputed defence lawyer Amanda sans re Grets statements that the girl a willing when Dean James Bauder was released on no Protection order was issued to protect the the victims family was even advised not to bother com ing to they also say they we rent told that charges of uttering threats and dangerous driving against Bauder stemming from incidents involving death threats and an attempt to run Down the victim were even though Bauder pleaded the Case involved a dozen court appearances stretching Over 18 it seemed that Justice had finally been done when judge Susan Devine sentenced Bauder to nine months in jail and refused to Grant him a conditional noting that the incident want a onetime judge Devine even commented that the sentence sought by the Crown was on the generous so what did go wrong with the Bauder Case provincial nip Justice critic Gord macintosh describes it As an ugly Parade of for which Justice minister Vic Toews must take macintosh says Crown prosecutors caseloads Are bust ing at the seams and that budget cuts have left the Branch without adequate that Doest explain Why five differ ent Crown prosecutors didst speak up to defend the girl who was victimized by her and again by the everyone forgot the victim was a macintosh women groups and say Toews should Issue directives to the Crown to make sure victim Impact statements Are routinely introduced and that Protection orders Are automatically Given to protect victims and the the victims Mother has writ ten a letter to Toews in which she outlines his departments mishandling of the i do it she says of the although she has advice for other victims and their talk to the she even if they dont want to talk to attend every court the leniency shown to Bauder was not an isolated a Canadian study showing that less than 13 per cent of men convicted of sexually abusing Chil Dren receive sentences longer than two years suggests that Many other assault victims Are at the Federal there May be a need to prohibit sex offend ers from qualifying for conditional there is also plenty Toews can do while he Waits to hear from the supreme in addition to responding to Calls for better he could release the report from the Lavoie already delayed a Many of the lessons Learned from circumstances that led up to the murder of Rhonda Lavoie by her estranged husband can also be applied to cases of sexual Penni Mitchell is coordinating editor of horizons her column appears on the Leader always knows Best the question of where Preston Manning and his wife Sandra rest their Heads at night is surely one of the least important political issues facing canadians it is not of that mannings decision to go Back on his word and forsake his Humble hotel room for the solid comforts which a grateful nation offers the Leader of the opposition at Stornoway has caused some comment in political Cir the spectacle of a holier than thou politician caught in the web of his own hypocrisy is always a source of innocent merriment for the general bogus outrage for political opponents and Gleeful satire by Polit ical when the opposing politicians and political cartoonists have had their the question of the Leader of the oppositions resident should be a Stornoway is it is paid for and the sensible thing is for Manning to move in without any further by doing so he will have to Swallow his previous smug cracks about turning the place into a Bingo but he will be doing the sensible and practical the Stornoway tempest in a Teacup does have an interest beyond the temporary embarrassment it has caused Man Ning and the Reform it offers canadians a timely reminder of the nature of Politi Cal populism As Practised by Manning and his the Bedrock of Preston Man rings populist theory is that political political policies and political action should flow from the grass the Reform he is a party that works from the Bot Tom unlike the old line Par ties that function from the top policies in the old parties John Dafoe Are imposed by the in the Reform party they represent the common sense of the com Mon that Botto up theory is sup posed to apply to the Leader and to All of the party elected Mem members of according to this Are elected not to express their own views or exercise their own judg ment but to be spokesmen for the views of their those who fail to reflect the views of their constituents Are be to thrown out of office at any that is the theory and it has deep roots in parts of Western putting that theory into is fraught with As generations of Prairie populists have found in the past and As Preston Man Ning is discovering the problem How do you keep track of the will of the peo ple even the most devoted populist politician is Likely to find that All of his constituents do not Preston Manning divining the will of the r think the same Way and that Many of them change their minds Over following those twists and turns of Public Opin Ion is never easy and often the answer to that in populist movements past and has been to put their Faith in the the Leader is presumed to have a direct pipeline to the grass he has an almost mystical connection with the popular he can even discern currents of desire that Are invisible to most of his even on the relatively trivial Issue of his place of Manning was Able to detect a sudden shift in Public opinion which surprised even some of his closest political canadians until regarded the opposition leaders official residence As a waste of Public Money and an unjustified political had suddenly changed their minds and were demanding that Manning move into few oth including Many were Able to detect this tidal wave of but Man with his mystical Bond to the could feel its and that is the Paradox that has haunted populist movements through most of established to take Power from the politicians and invest it in the they end up giving their leaders even More Power than the conventional parties there is another As they approach political populist movements tend to become More and More like conventional in Only one of the trappings of populism is left the Al powerful John Dafoe is a former free press editorial Page his column appears on ;