Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 1, 1998, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winnipeg free september 1998 Brian Cole 6977044 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion of civil rights he must be joking Quebec people have twice said no to separa once by a Large majority and once by a slim Premier Lucien Bouchard that a Bare majority is All he needs in a third he must be the supreme court of in a decision Bouchard wrote that an expression of the democratic will of Quebe cers would Confer legitimacy on the efforts of a Quebec government to secede from Canada by constitutional in this con we refer to a Clear majority As a qualitative the referendum if it is to be taken As an expression of the democratic must be free of ambiguity both in terms of the question asked and in terms of the support it the court never fixed a specific percentage that would remove All Ambi Guity from a a Bare Howe would be full of Ambi it would be open to Challenge about rulings on spoiled ballots and other technical following two failed referendums in 1980 and it would provide one yes that must be set against two the people Are not buying Bouchard argue two polls published on the weekend showed that half of Quebe cers believe a separation referendum needs More than a Bare the prevail ing View seemed to be that a 60 per cent majority would be Bouchard is on the wrong Side of the he is at Odds with the supreme court and the majority of his own he is at Odds with common prime minister Jean Chretien and his intergovernmental affairs Stephane have been arguing for a majority greater than 50 per but they have not Laid Down a specific at the there is no need for the Quebec and Federal governments to agree on this no referendum will be held until after the next Quebec elec if the pm lose that the Case is if they win and set about holding a they will need to ensure others take the result the referendum matters As a Way to give legitimacy to a future Quebec governments Pursuit of Independence and to launch negotiations to secure a Bare majority would Confer ambiguous legit Quebec bargaining position would be federalists should press Bouchard on this Quebe cers reminded at every Opportunity that reflecting Thepe Means wasting a year or two in the communal strife of a referendum but Why now As Welcome As must be to patients and care givers health minister Darren Praznik infusion of an additional million into the health care system is unsatisfactory to the extent that he failed to answer the question Why now the opposition rather that the new Money is bribe a Chance to Start buying Back support for the Filmon government in Advance of an election next there must be some truth to the charge we Are talking after All but so what would it be better to wait until after an election next year to Start spending either the system is in crisis and needs Money As the opposition or it the nip cant have it both More spending is occurring now because the provinces fiscal House is in order and there is Othef than borrowed to spend on health but Praznik has not made this nor has he made Clear Why he chose the seven priority areas he in million for diagnostic we know that a great Deal of sober study went before the Deci in breast we know that after a great Deal of the benefits of screening Are but the lobby is in we know the new million will relieve an extra 650 people in need of hip and knee but we dont know whether this Means a backlog will be cleared up the beginning of an epidemic in an aging More we know from recent conclusions by National think tanks that there is enough Money already in the and what is needed is better we also know that despite constant references to waiting Manitoba has no methodology for determining whether waiting lists Are real or healthcare Reform has been a Long and difficult it has created a great Deal of anxiety and a Good Deal of always with the goal that the system would be better for Praznik should convince us that this sudden transfusion of Cash is the dividend we Are reaping for past and that it is not the result of fear of negative or partisan political Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy publisher cd Nicholas ill Tor Brian editorial Page editor Harry Brown circulation Tiloa and marketing Lodisio Luray Glenn administration 1998 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 the pay equity betrayal can you name the Leader of a North Ameri can country who has a reputation for dishonesty and shabby treatment of women who work for him president Bill Clinton May be a popular but think compared to the performance of prime minister Jean Chretien on pay Clinton transgressions look positively Clinton sin was that he lied when he said that he did not have sexual relations with Mon Ica it nearly Cost him his Chretien did the same in the Case of female Federal civil servants when he promised Back in 1993 to abide by the tribunals Deci Sion on pay last the statement turned out be a retroactive Chretien decision to fight the tribunals ruling represents a breach of Faith that could be More damaging to his reputation with his female supporters than Clinton the difference is that Clin ton eventually came Amer ican whose president has done much to Advance the cause of women were Able to publicly Diss Clinton about his personal and continue to support his in there May be no Hope left for Over Penni Mitchell Canadian data entry Sec librarians and other women in affected Job classes have watched As their leaders lust for a surplus budget has been satisfied at their since he eliminated the Dian advisory Council on the Sta Tus of slashed the Federal women progranvby40 per and Cut Transfer ments that once cushioned the effects of poverty among women and not to mention breaking his Promise to Start a National Day care one might think that Chretien performance rating would have no where to go but then came the flaccid excuse last week that government cant afford the billion even though there is a Federal surplus Worth More than even Treasury Board president Marcel Masse confirmed on the Day of the tribunal ruling that government had the necessary reserves set women in the lowest paid occupations in the civil service were promised pay equity on International women Day in Treasury with whom the Public service Alliance of Canada was to Nego was in the midst of a relent less attack against Public and after several Sac asked the human rights commission to the tribunal cleared the log Jam by recommending a methodology for doing the Job comparisons Treasury Board and Sac still have to negotiate the pay the tribunals method would result in an average pay increase of per hour for employees in affected Job it int but it adds up nearly a Quarter of a million every work times 13 Sac Esti mated it could Cost billion the government said t t Thile Many Legal experts agree that the w v tribunals ruling is Clear and government believes it has an escape a Bell Canada Federal court Rul ing by Federal court Justice Francis Muldoon is being cited by government As constituting a Legal and thus grounds for an in contrast to the which held 250 Days of hearings before recommending a method of measuring the wage jus Tice Muldoon heard no expert Tes Timony on methodology and held Only four Days of hearings before making a ruling that narrowed the basis for comparing jobs at Bell so whats a country head employer to do Issue an apology a Cheque like any Politi he weighed the As a he knows that the Cost of the tribunals decision is not a Legal basis for an As a he sent out a message that underpaid female workers Are not Worth an extra Dollar per and that they Are not Wor thy of his being Able to get away with doing the wrong thing is a vast distance from doing the right perhaps it is the same size As a wage or As uncomfortable As the space Between the Pil Low talk and there is a Mere breath of space bridging a Promise and a it is Here that a leaders integrity is a Liberal government would abide by the tribunals and work with representatives of the employees on a mutually acceptable and workable plan for the implementation of equal pay for work of equal Liber Al Leader Jean june Penni Mitchell is coordinating editor of horizons her column appears on dont panic they screamed when people in author Ity Tell you not to it is probably a Good time to that Little Gem of Folk Wisdom is resonating these Days As the worlds financial markets continue their canadians of modest who Are trying to save for their retirement or who cherish a few weeks of warmth in Florida every might think that they have some reason to worry As the Toronto Stock Exchange records a Sharp drop in share prices and the value of the Cana Dian Dollar continues to slide with no Bottom in our captains of How Are sternly admonishing those timid souls to stiffen their spines and hold fast to their on both sides of the they Are issuing their admonitions in full Page newspaper the latest Canadian financial institution to have Stern words for the timid is the Canadian Imperial Bank of be the bears Are Hun it they know that recent mar Ket fluctuations have made Many of us what do we do with our investments there waiting for us to to act emotionally and sell off our investments at bargain often much less than we bought them if you let your emotions get in the Way of your investment they will and you will the of is to control you emotions and go to see a c1bc financial adviser who will help you devise a financial institutions in the United states Are pitching much the same message in ads which Are even to the Point that John Dafoe their authors doubt that the aver age investor has an attention Span sufficient to read an entire sentence in one Prudential securities As Strong As the Rock of Gibraltar puts it this Way the Market is but your investment strategy should it the ups and Downs of the Stock Market Are a Way of life for Lon term but some times extreme volatility can make you think twice about your go to a Prudential financial adviser and get a Merrill the big takes a often omniscient of the current financial the headline on its full Page and in the new York times read the View from Merrill putting the world in perspex whatever the superiority of Merrill Lynch world its advice to the nervous investors is much like that of the others As we think investors who hold a Lon term perspective and a carefully balanced portfolio can successfully weather the global this is no Good and sound advice which most investors will if Only because they have no our financial wizards would reassure us if they did not strive quite so hard to be reas there is something faintly worrisome about their Ever so careful Choice of where people on the Street might talk about a Stock Market our great financial institutions prefer to refer to recent Stock Market they May be Frank and bold enough to refer to volatility or even extreme volatility but that is As far As most of them will Only Merrill Lynch will use emotive such As global storm or ongoing in doing so they violate Cibos strictures against emotionalism but they get closer to what most people most people will probably take the brokers advice and stand their will be less that of a person bravely facing the future and More like that of a Deer immobilized in the Glare of the oncoming John a foe is a former free press editorial Page his column appears on captains of finance Calm approach but their faces Tell a different ;