Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 29, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 frit May 2000 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Clark backs off progressive conservative Leader Joe Clark on Friday ended weeks of flip flopping by announcing that he would definitely seek to win election to parliament in time for the fall the same newspapers that reported his decision also reported that the liberals Are gearing up for a fall Federal coming a Day Clarks announcement might have seemed like common falling when it it sounded More like Clark cannot be faulted for that coincidence of but neither could conservatives be blamed if they now Felt they Are led a by a politician whose judg ment has frequently been questioned and whose indecisiveness has become Clark has waffled and declared and ultimately changed his mind about running for parliament too Many his indecision has under mined the morale of his caucus it has left his political advisers scrambling to find any sort of explanation that might leave him looking like a it has left Many pcs wondering How they can remain support ers of a party led by a recent poll in Ontario indicates that the Canad an Alliance has doubled its support in Ontario in the last few largely at the expense of the pcs Alliance support has gone up eight per cent in the last three months while the tories have lost seven that shift will not necessarily translate into votes in the next but it can Only discourage almost As worrying As Clarks is his penchant for Hasty last he astonished his caucus by denouncing the govern ments clarity one of his maps resigned others swallowed it his Quick refusal a year ago to negotiate an accommodation with the Reform party in an Alliance against the liberals split his party and precipitated today the Alliance is on the the pcs Are in or so the polls unless he changes his mind Clark will not be leading his party from within the House of commons before the next Federal his face will remain a fixture in the visitors he has in that abdicated his future to he does have some time to convince tories that he can still Lead them they have time to decide whether they believe Maurice Richard most of us toil away at one occupation or Many people do their work very a very few perform it so Well that they transcend their occupy do them so in that they raise what they do beyond the level of work into an Art the Anonymous Stone masons who built the great cathedrals of medieval Europe that leave us awestruck still today the Carpenter whose Cabinet work is cherished centuries after he is dead the composer whose music transports generations of audiences the writer whose words will not be for they Are artists for All Maurice who died on was a professional hockey he was one of those few in any profession who take what they do and turn it into something that can never be hockey is a game that is often controversial criticized for the intensity of its passion and the level of its physical fans watched last week As Eric a superstar in the diminished Coin of contemporary was taken off with a concussion that May end his our memories Are Short and people Long for the Halcyon Days of hockey As it used to forgetting that it has always been Richards own career is proof of but hockey is also much More than and few players have personified its powerful attraction As Maurice the rocket he May or May not have been the greatest hockey player of All time fans can argue that for there have been More Graceful faster bigger scor but no other player perhaps has embodied the game so completely in All its aspects the the the the passion and the physical the rocket did not just work at hockey he worked and he will be remembered for acts of Faith Northern Ireland joint encompass ing nationalists and will resume work tomorrow because its loyalist members and their supporters have decided to be satisfied with the gestures the Irish Republican army had made in the direction of renouncing it is still far from certain who has renounced Vio Lence and who has not in Northern but it is Clear that the joint executive provides a peaceful and orderly Means of local government for those who wish to work within the when the British government suspended the joint executive on the parties in Belfast were left without a vehicle for peaceful the Ira promised to say where it hides its the Ulster unionists decided on saturday they would make do with that if the British government can persuade the two Camps to work together on some constructive they May find it was Worth the leap of Over Eil stopped bejn3 top in the Clinton household cleaned tue Cowboy Klein talks Tough Penni Mitchell that mister Hes More texan than Canadian if you ask me like a Baptist min ister trying to look like a swashbucklin1 he Rode into town last which As we All know is really a City and fired off a few rounds at them Lily slivered on account of the fact that they were Takin pot shots at his plan to mess with the feuding started Long before the pre Meairs got together last and longer still since mister Klein and his deputies rammed Bill 11 through the Alberta legislature something that happens a lot out on account of the fact they got no opposition to speak which is probably Why mister Klein dont care that most albertan dont want privateers Hitchin a ride on the medicare Wagon with folks its their Wagon aint it most folks want mister Klein to keep his buggy red neck off the but mister he thinks its mind your own Busi is what he said to our pre Meair and the pre Meairs of Saskatchewan and when they told him he was spoiling it for every the Bible says know thine which is Why we should take a minute and recall Why mister Klein is wearin the Black hat in this Coin Back four years the Eastern bastards the same ones that were Gonna freeze in the dark if the Alberta government didst get its Way durin the Energy wars they challenged Alberta to a on account of the fact that Alberta started Lettin doctors that did Cataract surgery charge their towers More than what was allowed under the rules made by the Eastern this time it was a lady Bastard Diane she was in charge of medicare in 96 she started Chargin mister Klein a month for Allowin them extra them Eastern bastards had plenty o rules the Canada health the Canada assistance plan All kinds of fancy ways of tellin mister Klein How much him and his deputies had to spend on Medicine and doctors and mister Klein he figured that private clinics would Cut the lineups for Cataract then some other Eastern bastards come along Callin themselves the con Sumers association of and they counted up the folks in line and found out that the Calgary clinics Chargin extra had people waiting in line Between 16 and 24 but folks Only had to wait seven weeks at the Reg ular they were also Chargin customers for new eyeball lenses that Cost less than a Hundred dollars a so Klein was ornery Long before he got to and ill bet he Hast read Murray Dobbins new Book the myth of the Good corporate citizen democracy under the Rule of big it says that privateers Are just chomping at the bit to grab the reins and pocket some of the billion spent on that you might be but the Book says that mister Klein int even the real bad Alberta is just a test the same mos that Are gouging americans with inflated costs and High administrative fees Are comin across the Border As soon As Alberta gives them private clinics Public Money for Lettin their customers sleep a lot o some of pm from Alberta like Kevin Taft and Gillian Steward who just wrote a Book called the economics and politics offo prof it Medicine there Sayin that on account of Naftal that a Bible that makes canadians follow the rules of the Southern bastards main there is no Way to protect medicare once the privateers Start jumping funny thing the Eastern bastards dont seem to care except forms Shes not in charge but Shes not afraid to Call a Spade a she says them Eastern bastards just want to please their the powerful Busi Ness its also got the nip the same commies who invented medicare hoppin they want to beat the privateers off with a Law that would Fine anyone that hands Over taxpayers Money to private we Best be on the cause As soon As Canadian privateers Start Runnin Alberta hospitals and private health consortium Are already Over part of the former Grace Hospital that mis ter Klein closed up in Well All be Talkin Penni Mitchell is coordinating editor of horizons her column appears on Call off that tory Coronation the Powers behind the progressive conservative party of Manitoba May be congratulating themselves at the Prospect of being Able to hold a Coronation instead of a fist fight to put their chosen Candi Stuart at the party Helm to succeed Gary per haps they have lost sight of their primary object this should be to limit Gary doers nip government to one this is no criticism of Murray in spite of his past Public invisibility on Manitoba political May Well be a Man who can give the party another three terms in office just As Filmon How Darren Praznik is right when he suggests that the contest has been rigged so that Only Murray can the tory brain Trust is feeding the perception that Manitoba conservatives represent the elite of the and Are made up of people who can Tell the rest of us what is Good for this perception is what makes it difficult for any conservative party to overcome the com Monas dirt image of the new like it or the majority of Manitoban want to believe they Are part of their provincial gov and not just the unwashed who need their betters to Tell them what to one of the Best ways of including people in a political party is to give every party member a visible say in the selection of a new More important it is essential to give these members a if the chosen candidate of the party brass can survive such a process he will have taken a giant step toward Persuad ing the party rank and file that he is a Man of the and not just a spokesman for the backroom boys who control the and sometimes badly at former Premier Gary Filmon cannot escape some of the blame for the present by announcing As he did on election night his intention to step Down he effectively threw a curve into the succession Eric Ste Fanson added to the problem when he decided that had had enough of the party was faced with overcoming the demoralization that followed defeat at the same scrambling for a new Leader when the main candidate had bowed those in charge created a process which required prospective candidates to finance a Campaign lasting two thirds of a this is not an easy task for anyone such As Praznik who did not enjoy the favour of those in control of the party if the conservatives Are smart they will move heaven and Earth to avoid making the Choice of a new Leader look like a selection by the party backroom the rules the party has adopted governing the new leaders Selec including the Early deadline for Nomina actually further the elite image of the whoever is in charge could do a lot worse than to get these rules amended and use the time to beat the Bushes to produce a respectable number of prospective Murray had to be asked to others should the objective should be to limit doer to one his first budget indicated that he had inherited a province in Good financial the announcements of new spending Are being made on a daily basis in quantities that resemble a december it would be difficult for doer to do irreparable damage to the province in four give him eight and it could be a differ ent when Gary Filmon took Over he faced real financial it took the conservatives More than a decade to nurture the perception of Manitoba As a Good place to locate and expand their Success was evident when the try As it could not find a deficit for its first Stuart Murray May be the next Gary Filmon with the enthusiasm and the can do attitude that was so characteristic of our former pre Mier at the beginning of his three adm Nistra needs to be seen to be fighting for the winning Over others who want it and who Are prepared to fight for the last thing he needs is to be handed the Job on a Silver Platter in a ceremony from which too Many Manitoban May believe they were if he the loudest cheering will come from one Man Gary Fred Cleverley is a Winnipeg his column appears on Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free presses 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 128 n0197 2000 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 q the Manitoba Prew Council Rudy email Nicholas j Patrick Flynn ;