Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 21, 1999, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus Winnipeg free press Wjk i o september f i o what was once a Novelty in is now a ritual refi gees have tongues wagging tongues Are wagging time across British for weeks the topic in Corner at office on open line has been about one Issue the would be refugees that have washed up along the provinces coast what initially was a Novelty when the first vessel was discovered in Nootka sound july 20 has become a dreaded four boatloads carry ing 600 migrants from fijian province on chivas Eastern coast have been processed to Date by Immi Gration and a fifth ves Sel is believed to have landed in some time this its passengers disappearing into the residents Are now wildly speculating about 10 to 15 More boatloads expected to make landfall before the Pacific turns Stormy in late terms like human cargo and Snake Heads have become part of the West coast while there was a snippet of ambivalence Back in july about the cynicism has now set in with a when news of the first ships arrival first some Rea soned that it was hypocritical to feel Good about the cuban athletes who defected in Winnipeg during the pan am games earlier this but to now condemn the fijian residents similarly fleeing a repressive others were Adamant from the Start these folks were queue jumpers attempting to exploit Cana Das generous immigration there was about their refugee the widely held belief was that they Are economic refugees seeking their Fortune in North Send Emback has become a widespread Battle it is interesting that such a harsh reaction to the migrants should pre Vail in a place like the lower main where so Many people themselves Are onetime but its precisely because so Many have come to Vancouver from other of Canada Barbara Yaffe countries jumping through arduous and Tim consuming hoops that the negative reaction has been so is also consid Erable anxiety about this trickle of chinese possibly turning into a major like resembles the United nations with an incredibly diverse population that More or found a Way to live in some fear any further tipping of the balance could be harm Ful to the there is also a Strong View in a province that is represented in parliament mainly by that Canada is far too Liberal in its Immi Gration Why should it take up to two years to determine if a refugee claimant has a legitimate Case Why should those whose claims get rejected be permit Ted a succession of interminable appeals Why should Canadian tax payers get stuck with the Bill for the whole process what kind of system do we have anyway when so Many applicants simply fail to show up for hearings and Are never heard from again Vancouver newspaper columnist Trevor Laurens expressed the views of a Large number of people last week when he wrote Ottawa is a willing accessory to this delivering exactly what the Snake Heads its the Canadian Way not to nip this crime in the Bud but to process it hiring More Immi Gration streamlining the greasing the efficient but on the other Van Couver columnist Stephen Hume weighed in with the View that the boat people at least have a right to be heard chill Canada is not burst ing at the seams with fraud boatloads of migrants washing up on shores have residents divided on what to do about Lent or the Federal government clearly is making policy up As it goes trying to grapple with what has turned into a major Challenge in terms of resources and Public relations it has Only recently started seek ing and getting some cooperation from the initial Boatload of migrants was treated More delicately by the feds than the latest there have been allegations from leg Alaid lawyers representing the chinese that their clients Are being mistreated by ramp authorities at the Esquimalt military base on Van Couver Island where they Are being and instead of allowing the migrants to leave after initial with appointments to return for further Immi Gration Canada is insisting the latest group be detained until their claims Are their it has been is for their own Protection from the Snake Heads who would want to collect their to per passenger the provincial mean is expressing outrage because it is having to pick up a Large unanticipated Bill for the while its True that Ottawa is responsible for paying for the immigration and ramp share of the province still running a Large deficit must cover Legal Aid and welfare is also responsible for the Tab involved in providing care for the several dozen children who have been among the the province is demanding that Ottawa help with these sudden and unexpected it is not an overstatement to the 600 souls searching for a better life on this Side of the Pacific have turned life upside Down this summer for British columbian and their Barbara Yaffe is a columnist with the Vancouver letters to the editor Why not hang a human body in the Woods i cannot believe of tax payers Money went to Diana Thorneycroft so called Art display i think we All know we Are going to die one and i think deep Down we do acknowledge it whether we openly admit it or As we Are so Bent to proclaim that As Are not Why not hang a human body in the Woods if she wants reality of excuse the government would not dare pay for i am not an animal nor am i an Art critic a provoke push my Damn right it it pushes the buttons to Alert people As to what the government does with their Manitoba is known As the child poverty capital of bad health care and shortages All but it can give Money to this woman to hang dead rabbits in the Bush for the Sake of i cannot think of a word horrific enough to describe such so called nor a phrase Strong enough to describe the government official who hands out these Wake up people and Check where some of these Grant monies go and what Flynn cancel this firm Peg exhibit i am writing to you on behalf of peo ple for the ethical treatment of Ani Mals an International organization with Over Mem Bers dedicated to the Protection of Ani we have received complaints about the Mons trance exhibit by Diana Thorneycroft that opened at the Norbert arts and cultural Centre on we strongly urge that this exhibit be cancelled due to the Dis respect it shows toward Shannon cruelty caseworker and res Cue abhorrent misuse of tax dollars this is in response to the article concerning Diana Thorneycroft and the abhorrent misuse of my tax i i should thank Diana for sparking the outrage that will turn me into an Adamant opponent of the Canada Council and the Money How to reach us the free press welcomes letters from letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed address and Telephone names will be published but not All letters May be edited for style and Short letters Are less Likely to be please address letters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg letters can be sent to our fax number letters May be submitted through the internet at letters letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone that it evidently throws away without any intelligent thought Robert Etherington Winnipeg Farmers should Cash in on Grants in response to the frontage article in the 10 Issue of the Winnipeg free press about the so called Winnipeg artist Diana Thorneycroft Hare raising in which the so called artist claims to be celebrating the Glo Riou Ness of i would like to announce that i am celebrating the putrefaction of my tax May i have a Canada Council Grant please i fail to see the reason for idling put Money for such so called Bovine excrement one would be led to believe that the so called artist is Well connected to the Canada coun the Only honourable act of redemption on the part of the so called artist that if she has a conscience would be for her to donate the to a local i am certain that any self respecting Farmer in Western Manitoba would rather gladly hang dead Rab bits from their Trees for a Grant of a than claim an acre for government at one dead Rabbit per acre the average Section of Farmland would qualify for a Canada Council Manitoba would then be stinking Rich with also on the front the article about the plight of the Rosenberg family was very pay your taxes please we could hang at least More dead rabbits with the amount that you owe Revenue i if Rosenberg were to hang dead rabbits he would qualify for a Canada Council Grant for his Art and thereby pay his Bern Balchen Portage la Prairie where Are voices to support artists i write in support of Diana Thorney i am appalled and disgusted by the puritanical and hysterical response to her is Thorneycroft stature As an artist reaches Well beyond the boundaries of Winnipeg and her body of work has a National and an International the outcry against this exhibit and the Rabid denouncement of her is a sad commentary on the state of our society and the strength and moral influences held by that such a Hue and cry has been raised Over her representation of a natural process is has anyone tried to under stand the ideas and questions she is representing or is everyone simply shocked to see cute Little in a state we will All enter where Are the voices that defend the artist where is the support from with in the Winnipeg arts Community is it fear or apathy that no other artist has raised his or her voice to defend Thorneycroft right to artistic free How soon will it be before groups within our society dictate what can be presented on stage or what books will be deemed suitable for publication where Are you Robert Enright and Brian Drader where Are you Mike Olito who stands with the artist no one shame on Harry Rintoul Lake a mockery of death i am becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the Art that i see in galleries in the idea lurking behind artistic endeavours is that for it to be it has to be some artists will say that Art is supposed to open our eyes and make us i do think a lot about what is happening around i watch the some times with i read the new spa i see friends of mine struggling through difficult most of the time when i go to galleries i wish i had my eyes not because i cant handle the Point that is being put but because i have seen enough of it in tired of Diana Thorneycroft wants to open our eyes to death and a theme so overdone it is no longer even remotely Why Doest some one come up with an original idea Good Shock Art for me would be the feeling i would get if i came across an original Art it seems to me that if artists Arent done trying to outdo one another penchant for they could All get together for a week in a locked airtight room with the rotting carcass of their Choice while Thorneycroft photographs them i Hope in not giving anyone whenever the Public Doest like yet another shocking piece of Art we Are condemned by the artist for being i guess the real Point is that if the Art going Public were we mind having the same ideas shoved into our faces every time we enter an Art i Haven seen this new show by but from the very nature of the work As described in the i do not see How shaving the fur off of stuffed toys and mutilating dead rabbits will put anyone in touch with for anyone who has lost relatives to death or has seen loved ones suffer through a display such As this one would seem to make a mockery of Evelyn Yauk punch in nose would Loo a so inspired to the Story of Plana Thorneycroft Art that i have decided to apply for my own Canada Council my exhibit Wilbo walking up to people an4 punching them in the it is meant to Pel berate the glorious Ness of Surprise since Good Girt provokes each work is bound to be a masterpiece rat Michelangelo Greenl 1 Winnipeg doonesbury by Garr Trudeau wa5 that nonsense about branpin6 m in Bush andh5 to the 0acx ch5ck out 7h15photo from up ;