Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 8, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winnipeg free october Brian Cole 6977044 editorials Freedom Aff tale offal Tuftan Jefe Traffig of cml rights Amigo Mare the career Diplomat who is no longer Canadian ambassador to was right in a Small Way and wrong in a Large his protest against corruption in mexican government procurement was a Small skirmish in the vast Campaign that is needed to improve business and government ethics in Mexico and Many other when Perron granted an interview to Silenio he was still smarting from the july disappointment when Bombardier of Montreal won and then lost a contract to build subway cars for Mexico cites transit the transit commission was ready to award the contract to but the Spanish firm Caf con St Ruccione y auxiliary de ferr Carriles of Madrid complained to the Feder Al government which cancelled the tender and called for new in his Magazine inter Perron denounced the sordid Story of the subway car contract and fitted it with a pattern of corruption in Many canadians who have done business in Mexico would agree with him that personal favours and gifts that canadians regard As bribes Are essential in mexican business and Public he did not directly that Bombardier lost the contract because the Madrid firm delivered bigger Bombardier is no stranger to Bac stairs methods of winning government it recruited the former Bourassa government in Quebec to Campaign for the bid of its subsidiary Canad air which sought the contract to maintain cf18 aircraft for the Canadian Bristol aerospace of Winnipeg had submitted a Superior bid but the former Mulroney government gave in to Bourassaw urgings in 1986 and awarded the work to the Bombardier the world Bank and its sister institution the inter National monetary fund became concerned about corruption this year after they noticed Loans advanced to some third world countries disappeared into the pockets of officials and their world Bank president James Wolfensohn said last month my Bottom line on corruption is we must fight it wherever we find the current investigations in Washington into political party fundraising methods and the govern mental fraud trials in Saskatchewan show the Power and pervasiveness of the forces that produce corrupt Canada was Hurt when the cf18 contract was denied to the Best bidder and Mexico was Hurt when the Best bidder was not chosen to build subway Bombardier was the Winner in one Case and the loser in the Wolfensohn simple View and Perrons lonely protest Are tiny lights in the dark Ness where corruption they Are vastly outnumbered by the givers and receivers of passport diplomacy the foreign minister of David has expressed very deep regret Over the use of Canadian passports by agents of that country intelligence has offered no Assurance that it will not do it nor has it offered any apology for its unconscionable involvement of Canada in this disastrous because of foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy has wisely decided to proceed with a degree of caution in assessing Canadas relations with although no apology from Israel can be very convincing As Long As Israel maintains its right to use terrorism to fight it is not just for diplomatic reasons that one is Axworthy in recent Days has been meeting and consulting with his counterparts from Middle Eastern nations in an attempt to mitigate the dam age that Israel has done to Canada through this at the same time As he was trying to wring some Small satisfaction out of an unrepentant government in he has had to assure Arab governments that Canada played no role in the attempt to murder a top Hamas his Hope is that those confirmation yester Day the passports were forged convince terrorist groups such As Hamas that neither nor its played any role in the even canadians travelling in the Middle East today May Well be travelling More and if they must travel in More fear for their safety and for their than it is not because of any thing that Canada has it is because Israel has abused its Good relationship with this country and with its and in doing so has put canadians in a Public apology from Israel would do much to alleviate this until one is Axworthy caution Ean Only be accompanied by a Stern warning that such action is not Winnipeg free press free press 1879 Winnipeg Tribune Eti 19m Rudy email Nicholas editor Cole editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown circulation sales and marketing Laurie advertising Verne human resources Perry Nixdorf technology Gle w Williams finance and administration doer ducks Friendly fire n i do Leader Gary doer says he will listen to the majority in his not in deciding his a Small mias much with the Pace of organizational readiness and policy renewal As with the first became Public last Winter and revived again last week following the Portage la Prairie All of us As new democrats share the same which is to defeat the doer said in an the Clear want to go with someone who has improved the party fortunes in every election and brought it Back from oblivion to being the alternative to the conservatives in seven and a Small want to go with some one else who they believe might improve our fortunes even but they dont know who that doer admits some Discon tent with his leadership exists and says it has some legitimacy insofar As the size of the party membership is nip membership currently stands at doer about below what the party had when it regained Power in the nip who took Over in 1988 just after the former nip governments defeat on a Frances Russell budget sees the last decade As step by step rebuilding from utter the final two Steps rejuvenating member ship and policy Are about to in we lost we lost our political relevance and we lost our base to the Liber my first briefing As party i was told we were at six per cent in the our Only sure seat was we were million in debt and we were going to leave the tories with a sur doer the party has regained its base from the liberals and retired its the governing tories vote has Only risen two Points since their loss in the 1986 elec we Are in a position to go head Ohead with the dissent first surfaced last february when the party pres Roy sent a critical letter to the party Las and maps saying that too few were willing to speak out on the Side of party revitalize Tion and warning that the party is not owned by one person or Small group of Purvis has since made it Clear his criticisms were not directed at the party but rather at the party provincial who subsequently the party Stan Pat showing in last tues Days Portage la Prairie Bielec Tion has rekindled alarm in certain quarters that the party Hast renewed a senior Manitoba new who asks to remain says that at the 10year any Epli tical Leader should consider is there is some perception of Lack of depth which seems to Hurt this new Democrat in fact its something that seems to have Fol Lowed him since i dont know exactly there is a perception that he is a 15second clip kind of not so that has been a problem that he has been plagued the senior new Democrat his main concern was the Small we used to have a even when we we rent in far higher than i think the nip has to have a powerful organization membership Wise to off set the disadvantage they have from negative if you dont have a Good i think it is very difficult to overcome i dont want to make it sound As though its just the Lead i think the party should look at another senior party member agrees that it goes beyond the Issue of politics has changed a great Deal in the last 10 years and particularly the party support feel Dis a lot of people say whats the its its going to we cant do anything about the party is dormant in a lot of constituencies and we have a Long Way to the next two years Are going to have to be very Active if we Are to at one the nip was the most organized of All the parties but i dont think that True any another senior new who has had differences with the party Leader in the says nobody would be fool ish enough to talk about Chang ing leaders this close to an i think the party real izes that if there is Ever a time we have to pull together this is Frances Russell covers politics for the free her column appears on wednes Days and no answer to Call of the wild 4 met car it tin Uwi Tota Sou Geu wll to Llamas is a Village on Highway 5 West of Lake its name is Span ish for which is a curios Ity for Many but perhaps not Hunters who know Plumas is on a flyway and who annually trek there to jump ducks on potholes or to stubble shoot them from pits or blinds in har vested its the place where i quit Hunt ing More than 20 years and the place i find myself longing to return to each fall As the air fills with the smell of As the Days grow Cool and As the Sun slants lower on the deepening shadows and magnifying the Rich reds and yellows of turning and As flocks of geese in their thousands honk overhead night and the Day i quit Hunting was both my Best and worst we had pitted in Long before by Normal standards it would have been a miserable morning it was cold and the drizzle later turned to heavy wet but when youre dressed for when youre snug in a pit with a thermos of Coffee and Bap of sandwiches made up the night when adrenalin fills your veins and youve got a Shotgun in your a bag of shells within easy who As ironic As it May it feels great to be it is Pawn was late because of the ceiling in fog and Cloud have More than ipod you could Bear the honks and quacks of the whistle of Long before you saw Birds would suddenly appear out of the Mist and then disappear again perhaps because of the poor the flocks kept circling the rows of Grain where we waited and Theo they started coming in and undaunted by the bark of i had never seen anything like we were standing and shoot ing and still they kept coming and Canadas i shot a winged it Actu and it started a Long Glide to the i jumped up and chased after the Bird and finally caught up with it perhaps a Quarter of a mile from our i was i had been running in heavy clothes and carry ing a i was so winded that i stopped when i reached the a big that when it Hiss ing and hailing with its it might have been a desperate sur Vival but i dont think that Bird seemed it was raging it at what i had done taken the flight from its wings and brought it to its end in a Muddy Field on a cold wet morning in october near and for what i have no quarrel with Manito Bas or at least your average responsible i know How deeply satisfying it can be to push Bush for Upland game on a perfect fall or to watch the Sun come up or go Down Over a Marsh or stubble most Hunters i know dont much care if they get skunked being out in the wind and weath out in the wild and feeling a bit is i have Little for the Macho types who see Hunting As a competitive activity and Gas on about real Man stuff like the superiority of Bow Hunt i think poachers and Hunters who disregard bag limits Are stupid i also have no patience for knee Jerk opponents of Hunting who love a Good Steak or breast of Chicken but nevertheless think Hunters Are fair game for they no the same people who get Over bar Obi the first time one of Winnipeg Urban Deer makes lunch of their shrubbery and As often that wildlife officials shoot i guess what in saying is i love Hunting but not at least not since that fearless Goose tried in vain to put me in every fall i try to get Over and every fall i cant i was talking to famed Canad an writer and Arctic expert James Houston yesterday about his new the Lee which is a rip snorting Story about the blood Bath that was whaling off Baffin Island to the Houston lived in the North for 14 hunted with fault and often survived on raw fish and i thought he might provide the rationalization i seek to return to the to answer the Call of the wed but i was if you afford opt to do i say dont do he maybe next year Geraid Floyd is a free mess editorial his Solum ;