Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 7, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Pm a Winnipeg free july it i u Brian Cole 6977044 editorials Liberty of religion Equality of get nights tax break pondered the Canadian Bond rating service has per formed a valuable service far the people 0f Manitoba not so much by rewarding our hard won fiscal health with an improved credit rat but by spurring debate about what we should do with the last the Agency upgraded Manitoba credit rating for the first time in a the new ing reflects the fact the Economy is growing smartly and that the Filmon government is not Only posting budget but also is Chipping away at the debt while sitting on a nest egg of the Agency that for All its fiscal achieve the Filmon government must be mindful that it is not other especially neighbouring have also got their fiscal houses in and Are taking Steps in some jurisdictions to restore funds Cut from health and while oth ers Are improving their competitive positions and political popularity by cutting it noted Manitoba has the highest personal tax rate in West Ern implying a tax Cut would be a Good thing while it is not the function of a Bond Rater to Tell Manitoba what to if Only by it is use Ful to have an outsider remind us that we should get on with making the fact finance minis Ter Eric Stefanson should have about million in savings and surpluses to spend Over the next four that More than enough to Cut sales tax by one per or shave four percentage Points off personal income which would make Manito Bas rate second Only to the rate in either of those options might be politically Adan and they might be necessary should we find ourselves too far out of step with tax Levels but after a decade of restraint and All the pain that has a feelgood tax Cut now seems before taxes Are we should first look at social services and not whether they Are Good but whether they Are the Best services we can is the healthcare system positioned to Deal with an aging population has the level of service deteriorated Are our children get Ting the Quality education we wish for them at the same after a decade of reminders that debt payments Rob us of perhaps it would be prudent to Ratchet the debt Down and slowly improve services and make targeted tax cuts with the which Are annual not on shot Stefanson has rightly promised Broad consultations before choosing the he should get on with the in the he should stand by his statement that the Praise of the Bond raters is really nothing More than recognition that we Are headed in the right one tree at a time Canadas failure to gather support for an inter National forestry agreement reflects the prob lems that impede Progress towards establishing International environmental at the Earth Summit in new York last prime minister Jean Chretien Call for an International agreement to Stop deforestation went unan mainly because of opposition from the United states and other logging but also from powerful environmental Canada wants an International Standard just Strong enough to deflect International criticism of its forestry such As the Boycott of Canad an Wood products that Greenpeace is attempting to effect in the and others object to any Standard at All that an International authority could require them to there May be some some self serving piety under the cloak of an ecological conscience about the Canadian but the american opposition to any Standard at All Only underlines the importance of putting some code into the Canadian initiative would be at least a first the environmentalists oppose it because they regard it As Little More than a licence for nations to continue to destroy the worlds they want a much higher that level of control is clearly unattainable right in opposing a More modest forestry the environmentalists further the cause of those who oppose any controls on logging at in by rejecting what they regard As they allow worse to or Chretien proposal May be but moving ahead one step at a time will get the world closer to healthy forestry management More quickly than jumping up and Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est i Winnipeg Tribune est w90 Rudy publisher email Nicholas editor Brian Cole editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown circulation sales and marketing Ian Cummins Laurie advertising Verne Kalichuk human resources Glenn Williams finance and administration 1997 Winnipeg free 9 jams ten of Joy Lojen 9f Thomson Canada limited seven Days 9 week at u55 Mountain m Somalia inquiry is mistaken it was Only a Bunch of dummies resembling the military leadership Klein key to Unity Deal Ottawa a lot of Many of them in the can Stop caterwauling about Canadas break one of our biggest constitutional problems is on the verge of being As the last Federal election one of our major prob lems is the debate Between those who think All provinces should be and those who support a distinct society in this argument has been going around and around for so Long it has made Many canadians but there Are signs now that the constitutional merry ground May be slowing key Polit ical leaders Are beginning to agree that if the term distinct society raises then we should think of some different words As Alberta Premier Ralph Klein allow Quebec to protect those things which make it such a unique part of our kleins attitude is one of a number of Bright spots that have recently illuminated the dark Corners of our National Unity Bright spot 1 Dianne Cun Ontario minister of intergovernmental told Toronto Canadian club on june 2 the Federal election Day that Ontario values and respects the Legal and cultural uniqueness of our neigh Bour and longtime companion in confederation and our largest Canadian Trade the statement did not get much coverage because of the but it was important up until that the government of Ontario Premier Mike Harris had not said much about que becs is cunning Ham went farther if there is a Way of recognizing the distinctiveness of Quebec that meets the approval of and All then the government of Ontario would support Bright spot 2 a few Days after is Cunningham pre Mier Harris told reporters that the words distinct society Are too emotionally but the Prin Ciple of recognizing what makes Quebec i dont think is a the Challenge then for us is to find wording to reflect Bright spot 3 about this Quebec Liberal Leader Daniel Johnson said he is prepared to consider wording other than Dis Tinct added that he understands Quebec federalists need the help of English speak ing Canada to sell their ideas in the Bright spot 4 and perhaps the brightest of Albertas pre Mier Klein told the Edmonton premiers dinner on May 9 i have consistently both in Alberta and in appearances in that i believe the people of Quebec should be Able to pre serve and protect those things they currently enjoy that make Quebec unique in Canada such things As heritage and i n other i believe in a Canada where All have equal Sta but a Canada that allows que Bec to protect those things that make it such a unique part of our National he added i dont think those two principles cancel each other and Hes under his Quebec would have the same Powers As other but could use them to protect its without other governments or the supreme court looking Klein is going to put his National Unity plan before the nations premiers at their annual conference in August in Bright spot 5 Federal Unity minister Stephane Dion has shown he is Bright enough to let Klein try to work out a Deal without Federal theres a Good Chance kleins proposal will succeed at with the leadership of Alberta and two key provinces that the Royal Bank says will Lead Canadas growth in the next other provinces such As Saskatchewan and Manitoba in the West and the Atlantic provinces May support kleins British As is an new Brunswick Premier Frank Mckenna is already on record As wanting a passionate spokesman for he May find him in none of of will make Quebec separatists but a successful Resolution May help reassure Quebec and it should be noted that the premiers Are not being asked to take a Radical Canadas 1867 Constitution contains protections for Quebec civil code and educational As a senior courts already take into account Quebec uniqueness in making even the motion authorizing the late Meech Lake Accord which said Quebec constitutes within Canada a distinct society recognized the principle of the Equality of All the but lets not get into Meech Tom Ford is managing editor of the issues fudging the facts about crime a member it tog than Stela press Well vol 125 n0 181 it is probably Only a Small thing for our police David to accept an award for reducing City Centre crime while knowing that the Fig ures on which the award is based Are terribly it is a Small thing but it is a disturbing exam ple of executive behaviour in the where perception takes precedence Over substance and where nobody is to for things that go from the very top executives who can get themselves hired by saying All the right things appear to fall Short of the Mark when it comes to the chief Cassels is using a tactic so popular these Days downplaying what May have gone wrong to justify Public behaviour that we would never have expected from the Norm the Bob tafts and the George blows who were our chiefs of police in the it does not really matter whether the crime statistics were wrongly crunched by the whether crimes were investigated but not or whether the figures were out by a few percentage As the chief or by significant As claimed by other police the fact remains that our chief stood on the plat television cameras and took credit for something he knew had not pen Edthe when admitted that statistics issued by his department had been out of line for the past four the reports of the Inci Dent stated that even if a conservative version of the error was the error would have wiped out nearly ail of foe drop in downtown crime claimed by the award perhaps we should blame the Fred Cleverley pressure on our Public figures to be politically to Tell peo ple what they want to there is no doubt that few people in Winnipeg like to think of our downtown area As being danger Ous to walk the businessmen who organized the awards for lower crime rates were rewarding what they really wanted to be chief Cassels suggests that the mixed up computer wont affect the fact that crime in Canada is and that Winnipeg must be part of the Munfor we Are forced to con Sider the chiefs statement in the Light of that made by Jack Haas the president of the Winnipeg police he has been quoted As follows there is a ton of pressure on police to Tell people its Safe to come Down town and that the problem int All that even if it Haas Eek says that his the police who Deal with Day today incidents Down say that crime is actually not it certainly Doest do much for Public Confidence to watch the Cassels crime figures were chief receiving an award for declining crime and then to be a few Days later that the award ceremony was Only win Dow that things Are not the Way they were being paint chief Cassels cannot be blamed for the fact that win like other is a lot less Safe these Days than it used to he cannot be blamed for society decision to create the conditions in which crime flour he can be How to Tell things As they we can take the bad we should remember that the chief is playing the game the Way a lot of people want it to be played these a no nonsense police chief who made the mis take of calling a Spade a Spade would never be hired in today we want someone who picks his words carefully and who is aware of All the politically Correct procedures needed to keep the special interest groups after we picked a prime minister who got himself elected by promising to abolish the goods and services tax and then told us he did no such we even reelected we tolerated far too Long a chief of our defence staff who never heard of the meaning of the word we employ a chief commissioner who can find millions to be saved in a City budget after telling the City Council there was not a Penny Why should we be upset because we have a police chief who tells us crime is Down when u int it is what we want to int to Fred Aeve Jey is g Winnipeg his column up peas on ;