Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 18, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Pm Frid 19s7 editorials Itaf fits Standin i Xebec Premier Lueien Bough and struts about Fin his Little league playground of que Bee City that International Law gives him a Legal right to break up Canada if the que Bee Public approves a referendum on the he adamantly to Send a representative before the supreme court of Canada to defend his opinion in the Federal governments secession Bouchard Justice Paul objected this week to the appointment by the supreme court of a prominent Quebec separatist lawyer to join in argument about the legality of the participation of Andre he would not add credibility to the supreme courts hearing and the Quebec govern ment would not recognize the t6 any boxing Champion who refuse to fight the top contender can be stripped of his that was How sugar Ray Robinson lost his nation Al boxing association world middleweight title in that is How Canadian and International opinion May judge Bouchard theories of secession if he refuses to defend a country does not become Independent merely by mouthing the it must find someone to recognize its Canada is under no Obliga Tion to accept such mouthing unless Bouchard and his government have followed the procedures prescribed by he contends that his proposed third referendum following two Defeated referendums would be sufficient in International but the Mere saying does not make that he should find someone outside his Small Circle of friends who agrees with that the question before the supreme court is exquisitely the first part does the Canadian Constitution permit secession is stacked against the the second International Law permit secession is stacked against the federalists if Bouchard opinion is the third Law should prevail if the two conflict crucially important to the achieve ment of Quebec if Bouchard is afraid to debate that reasonable question How will he Ever find the courage to debate it later if he will not debate How will he future administration or the French government or the Canadian parliament to recognize an unilateral Quebec Independence by refusing to take part in the supreme court pro Bouchard is weakening his by appointing a leading separatist attorney to stand in for the Quebec the supreme court is ensuring balanced the resulting summary of the Law on Quebec secession will command by refusing to make in Ottawa the claim he likes to make in Quebec Bouchard implicitly admits that he is talking through his Rescue on Portage place and Eaton which draw Good prove that Portage Avenue retailing can now that the owners and managers of Eaton place Are willing to take Over the main Eaton the Central business District May once again become Winnipeg strongest retail the experience of Portage place and Eaton place also shows that the shopping Public goes where land lords provide interesting buildings to receive the nine floor Eaton store has never had the kind of remodelling that would make it As interesting As the nearby indoor the crowds that once thronged Eaton have drifted away partly to the suburbs and partly to downtown stores whose owners have invested in the new owners would Haye a Chance to apply in Eaton store the same kind of imagination that was used to turn Eaton old catalogue sales building into the shop Ping mall and office Tower of Eaton the owners of Eaton place came Forward to take Over the Neighbour building because they cannot afford to have a abandoned building next door to their this same logic also appeals to other Portage Avenue property owners who want to improve the look of the Street since they Are the ones with the most to lose if downtown Winnipeg abandonment of the nine Storey building would have been a heavy blow to the rest of Portage including Portage place which three Levels of government sponsored to improve the North Side of Portage competing suburban mall ers May not be pleased to see three Levels of govern ment once again subsidizing their downtown but million a year for three years is easily justified As a Way of averting the heavy losses and spreading Urban desertification that would Fol Low abandonment of the Eaton Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est it Winnipeg Trot we test 189q Rudy publisher email Nicholas Eli apr Brian Cole editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown circulation sales and marketing Laurie advertising Verne Kalichuk Hyman Glenn Williams finance and administration 61997 Winnipeg free a i Siyl Jbf q pushed when Days 9 week Banks whine about rules Canadas Banks Are Whin ing once again about the tyrannical Bank act under which they have grown they imagine a great Many lines of business at which they think they could make even More Money and they imagine new owners they could sell them selves to except that the Bank act stands in their for the Good of All they they should be allowed to do pretty Well anything that any other Canadian company or any Bank in another country can if this were actually the solution would be simple any Canadian Bank that is on balance harmed by the Bank act and the rest of the regulatory regime that governs and supports the Banks could surrender its Char Ter and cease to be a federally regulated then it would be free to do All the insurance marketing and car leasing and Merg ing that it believes to be they do not do they cling to the Federal Charters and the Bank act which they claim to find unjust and now Why would they be that that that Blind to the True interest of their shareholders the answer lies in Canadian Bank customers which is to say most adult Cana Terence Moore Diane and Many Canadian Chil Dren believe that Federal regulation under the Bank act makes those institutions More trustworthy and More reliable than companies that Are not regulated in that i this May be an illusion other companies May deserve More Confidence than the federally chartered and federally regulated but it is a reasonable because Federal Regula Tion has worked Well ins promoting Bank Prosperity and preventing Bank and it is a vital feature of the Canadian commercial landscape people Trust Banks to handle Money properly because of their track because the Bank of Canada and the Deposit insurance corporation and the superintendent of financial institutions Are looking Over their making sure they do not throw the away at the race people do not necessarily believe Banks Are Nice or Friend Banks have tried to Market As Friendly and banker who lets Friendship guide his lending decisions is probably not a very Good a Good banker is one who knows How to make borrow ers How to Call a loan the other creditors of a declining the things that make a banker succeed Are in the Nice and Friendly Bankers can smile As warily As but the things they must do to succeed Are often hard things the depositors need to know that the banker will do the hard because if the banker f ails to protect the Banks assets then the Deposit Tor Money is at while the Bank executives go around Chat who May need someone has to be looking Over their shoulders seeing that the collateral really is what it is said to be Worth and1 Borrower really can afford the promised interest the Long history of banking and Bank failures shows that Lim its should be set to the risks Banks take with their depositors Money and outsiders such As fed eral regulators should poke into the obscure Corners of Bank these Are not absolute guarantees against Bank but they help and they do under lie the Public Confidence that keeps Banks in if Canadas whining Bankers think they can do without the Confidence of canadians that has been built around the Bank let them abandon their Federal Charters and convert their Busi Nesses into simple credit card issuers and car dealerships and insurance on the other they want to conduct banking and submit to Federal banking let them quit whining and go about their Busi Public Confidence built on the Bank act has allowed the Banks to buy up the Trust Industry and the securities now they Are buying the insurance Indus imagining that insurance is actually just another form of Sav ing which is a business they think they know soon they will have nothing left to buy except each once they have written themselves a Bank act that makes them Mere Compa Nies like any they May find that Public once is extremely difficult to Terence Moore is a free press editorial his column appears on Public transit is Worth saving vol125li0191 by Gerald Mcduff special to the free press transit is in a troubling decline that will Speed up As local governments reduce staff and chop services in a now familiar Rou Tine meant to make them look Wise and a bit of daring and a touch of imagination could reverse the for Public transportation should be supported for what it is or should be an Essen tial service managed by govern ments on behalf of As a next governments at All Levels should pledge to share the Cost to ensure Community transit systems Are available As widely As reasons abound for putting not funding in Public and so do the benefits the service makes cities and towns More liable by helping to control suburban and exurban and pollution Drivers addicted to using their cars have an alternative people relying on inexpensive Public transportation fixed income unemployed workers and the poor of it is probably wildly optimistic to expect the Federal and provincial to even discuss investing More Money in Public what makes an answer urgent is a reality local governments Are Only now beginning to face the smaller amounts provinces Are allocating to the headache became More acute recently with a Survey released by statistics Canada that shews Urban transit ship has few sliding reaching the lowest level in the past 25 each Canadian took an average of 46 trip in the lowest ms9 at 43 j financially Between 1995 and billion was collected in fares but operating expenses were the difference was made up in subsidies everybody the figures Are proof enough for Privati Zers to want publicly owned systems dismantled and but the opposite Choice of hav ing Community transit paid for out of general government funds has its professor Barry of the University of Ottawa geography Points out that police and fire departments Are paid through various everybody Doest end up giving the cops a Token when theres a when you have a fire or an emergency or they have to use the jaws of you dont give these Guys a he one of the causes for the drop in use of Public Tran sit to the growing dependence on the private a Point also raised by Marcandre president of the Toronto based Canadian Urban transit Drivers dont pay the full Cost to drive their cars Drivers dont know this if they they accept the researcher Parrel Richards of the nonprofit transport 2000 agrees and argues that fringe developments have led to an increase in car ownership directly in proportion to their distance from the the switch to cars is tremendously costly because the Cost of supporting the infrastructure Urban Road maintenance and the like in Low density suburban areas is subsidized by people that live in the inner to strike a he suggests a True user pay system that the suburban infrastructure is no longer subsidized the situation will Correct itself Over Charlebois thinks that unions have so monopolized Tran sit staffs that managers do not have the flexibility of changing work rules that Are outdated and dont reflect the present Many systems Are stuck with this and there is nothing we can do or face a he proposes a non confront tonal forum a place of convergence where All the interested including unions and could reach a other solutions Are As novel As the problem is Charlebois wants a Federal tax break allowing employers to give their employees free bus Wellar claims car owners would opt for Public transit if traffic regulations were More strictly under his plan presented with a laugh or two cities would rent Busy inter sections for the renter or contractor could Fine any Dri ver committing an Richards would introduce a multiuse pass valid on All types of Public and would have far priced taxis ferry riders from Remote areas to major transit in the words of Wellar in any Urban each Mode would play us appropriate the off to so editor with to of swes ;