Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 2, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba A18 Winn pm Smi dec Imbie 2000 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights scrutinizing doctors the College of physicians and surgeons of Manitoba says it will investigate All 17 Doc tors involved in the scandalous conduct of the health sciences centres paediatric cardiac surgery this investigation will be done in As the medical act in the Hsc saw 12 babies and toddlers die under the knife of an incompetent surgeon and medical supervisors who ignored the tragic Manitoban and canadians concerned with medical ethics and the administration of health care could ask Why they should Trust the College in this the College of physicians and surgeons gave Jonah Odim his licence to practise in the College was responsible to ensure Odim had not Only the experience and qualifications As a while Hsc granted privileges to the safety of the Public was also the responsibility of the col it failed in this five of the Chil Dren who died As a result of dims work should not have and four others might not had they been sent for surgery out of judge Murray Sinclair concluded after his three year the College exists so watching Over each ensure their Peers conduct them selves professionally and provide Good care to the colleges gives More Ink to the Issue of licence fees than to the rights of the statute provides More Protection for doctors under scrutiny investigations and hearings Are confidential and any glimpse the Public is allowed is sparse and arbitrary than for Public anyone wanting to Check the professional record of a doctor will be told Only whether he or she had Ever been not whether or How Many complaints or investigations that doctor had it justifies this secrecy As a Means of protecting physicians but the Public also deserves More secrecy allowed babies to die in the care of an unqualified surgeon hired by a Hospi Tal that did not Check into or assess his now the College will investigate behind closed doors the conduct of surgeon Jonah Odim and of his Bosses and Peers at Public Faith in the its physicians and Man agers and Faith in the medical profession As a whole has been sorely shaken by the baby deaths that Trust can Only be rebuilt by peeling Back the the must rebuild Faith with the the system of lice sure and review of physicians needs Many for All doctors should be compelled to report to the College any concern about a physicians the culture of secrecy and Protection that per Vades the medical act thwarts the colleges ultimate the Public deserves a full airing of its the basis of its findings and the resulting disciplinary stifled Market in Premier Gary doer said he would consider lifting rent in he handed that Issue to consumer affairs minister Ron who said he was studying it As part of an impossibly complicated review of which he indicated would include everything from homelessness to no exaggeration fading paint on suburban apartment needless to Lemieux has not gotten to the Bottom of the huge pile of problems he is busily and the likelihood is Remote that he Ever will find a policy that fixes perfectly and All at despite his monumental work in Howe and despite the fact that rent controls Are a key piece of the Jigsaw he puzzles Lemieux has boldly decided that rent controls Are Here to this is bold because the simple fact of the matter and perhaps that is Why it escapes Lemieux grandiose ambitions is that rent controls have Sti fled the rental Market in no new apart ment buildings have been built in maintenance of Many existing buildings has As has their with the result that prop erty taxes have shifted from apartments to owner occupied in and perhaps More much of the intercity housing Stock is so rundown As to be worthless and there exists no incentive to another simple truth is that you get what you pay Manitoba rental housing Stock is an obvious example of but this appears too Basic for Lemieux to in the presence of rent landlords have and have that they will not risk capital on in the presence of rent controls and the absence of new vacancy rates have fallen to historic lows and a housing shortage is headed in the direction of a housing if the private sector will not build the housing that is needed because the government refuses to make it that leaves Only the government to build that would be very bad policy and terrible news for Day blocks Alliance growth As the dust and More and More Pun dits pore Over the election it seems less and less Likely that a United height move ment can succeed with the prese fit by present leadership i mean More Stockwell Day than Joe but the statement fits this is not really a new the problem with the United height movement is that Many progressive conserva particularly older have no intention whatsoever of voting for the Alliance or anything that looks like because they feel that the Alliance has destroyed the party that they some progressive conservative Las in Manitoba feel that it is no conflict to support their former Cabinet colleague David Newman standing As a pc in River while also lending sup port to Vic Toews representing the Alliance in but there Are Many other Provin Cial pcs who have been involved in Federal politics for whom this is simply if not turn to Ontario and you might wonder Why the populace can elect the righting Mike Harris As but leave the Alliance in the quite righting or Mike Harris is still a and not a member of the there is something about the Alliance that a significant number of tories just do not want to vote that something May not be Stockwell Day because it was also Preston but it is what they see that both men it is hard to get away from the fact that the liberals pulled off a stunning electoral Victo Jean Chretien has won three consecutive yet it is hard to believe that was a ringing endorsement of his conduct of gov Chretien mentioned during the Campaign that he might consider quitting Dur ing his next mandate because he and the liberals were concerned that he was the biggest obstacle to his governments the message from this election is that Chretien government was elected despite the disillusionment of the the failure of the Canadian Alliance to take advantage of that disillusionment is a True vote splitting does not explain in in progressive conservatives Are not voting for the Alliance because they do not want even if the pcs were not to run a it is not obvious that they would come out and vote for the i know disaffected liberals who voted for the pcs for the first the Alliance As it now stands is never going to get those that leaves us with this question to Ponder if there is going to be a True alternative to the liberals in the foreseeable future who changes their the Western born Alliance or Joe Clarks progressive conservatives Joe Clarks support is sufficiently Small that it is tempting to believe that he should fold his tent into the but that will not achieve the desired those votes Are whats by winning Calgary secured a beachhead in the Alliance a More significant i would than the Small Alliance gains in it is easier to believe in Selling the pc Mes Sage in Alberta than it is to see True growth in the Alliance vote in and that is because the alliances Leader from the wet suit escapade through creationism to his performance in the debates and in his Concession speech does not demonstrate or the political to Garner Broad it is difficult to see Joe Clark emerging As the head of a United right Over the next few his party is an interesting but a Rump it looks like remaining As Long As the West feels it can be represented by a party that Ontario finds socially chances that Joe Clark will go before the next by keeping the pcs in play he has achieved a whether the Alliance can remake itself into a party that is acceptable to Joe Clarks pcs depends on whether the West can allow its party to be led by a More easter style the place that straddles the political and Geo graphical Divide is it is tempting to look to the likes of Brian Pallister or Vic Toews As politicians who could Lead a party that would amalgamate the pcs with the pal Lister got nowhere when he ran for the Leader ship of the he looks More successful now but bringing the right together does not look any easier than it has Ever music for an Earnest epoch where in Winnipeg would a Greybeard like myself go to play if he wanted to go out to play this is not a question that usually con Cerns because my keepers do not usually allow me to go any where except to it occurred to me How when i actually slipped the Leash and went out on a Friday my son plays Bass guitar in a band with the Friendly name of acid splash and a week or so ago they had their cd launch at the Pyramid he is not a Normal boy and so he wanted his parents to attend the his Mother had some serious business to attend to at one of Premier Gary doers Bingo so the chore fell i cannot say that it was actually but it was certainly interest i was the oldest person in the place and was the object of some curious attention because i was so obviously out of place clearly either a policeman or a Pervert of some the opening act gave what was probably the worst performance i have seen on stage since one of the local television stations stopped inviting eighty Earold accordion players to entertain their sunday afternoon Audi if the music was at a record the volume was at what must have been a record i Learned that when sounds Are produced at High enough Decibel lev Els you can no longer distinguish it does not matter what instruments Are being played because the ear runs into just a Wall of you May attribute this to old but the wife of one of my sons band colleagues approached me and shouted in my ear something that As nearly As i could like an apology for the fact that the band had forgotten to bring their ear plugs and the bar had run out of so i dont think i was the Only person having a when the opening act finally acid splash came they played at a slightly lower volume and i was Able to remove my Fin Gers from my i was pleas Antly i dont much like the kind of music they play in i really dislike it but the musicians were Good and the stage presence was for a i actually Felt kind of proud or at least As proud As a Parent can feel of a son who does his hair up like a demented aunt Jemima and bounces bar Chest de around a stage wearing Noth ing but leather leggings and a guitar what struck me about that was the Audi nobody seemed to be hav ing any they were All and attractive and Good miss they should have been having a perhaps they but they sure didst look like it to someone who can remember when music was even the bar did not seem to be doing much Busi Ness and the ten minute specials on shooters that were announced every hour or so did not attract much when there was a break in the everyone seemed to be engaged in really Earnest i cant Tell you what they were talking because everyone kept a cautious distance from As if they feared that Middle age might be catching it is actually a genetic disease but they looked As if they might have been discussing the origins and evolution of the Viet Nam War or the mystery of holy i left after about three hours because i had to catch a bus Fil Ial Devotion does not extend to offering a ride when i got to main Street i discovered that i had about 20 minutes to kill before the bus came so i went into the Winnipeg hotel beverage room to pass the the crowd was More my own age crowd is perhaps an exaggeration there were about a dozen All of them Greybeard like if the Young people at the Pyramid did not seem to be enjoying them selves the older Folk at the Winnipeg clearly were having no fun at on the Way Home on the i gave this some every age has its the 1960s were exciting the 1970s were fun the 1980s were ambitious the 1990s grew perhaps the millennium will Mark the age of being Earnest in that actually seems like a kind of Nat ural progression or if you and there Are prob ably worse things that you can do than be to my having fun is not one of Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free Ress est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 f vol 129 no 3 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 of Council Rudy email Nicholas Hirst Deputy Edford ;