Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 28, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winn Pic fib Lieuary 2001 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights butt it out the vital and Polo Park shopping centres have responded to the wishes of their customers by Banning tobacco smoking in their food this will improve the shopping experience for those who Are annoyed by other Peoples tobacco it will also remove a health Hazard for people who work in food workers in other restaurants and bars Are still exposed to secondhand smoke unless the place is exceptionally Well ventilated or the owner has decided to ban As most have the Manitoba government should protect the health and safety of those workers just As it protects them from injury by Asbestos dust and other environmental the surgeon general and the National research Council concluded in 1986 that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in no smok subsequent stud ies have for that non smoking women married to smokers Are twice As Likely to get lung cancer As nonsmoking women married to it is not always Clear Why a particular cancer patient got but the general connection Between passive smoking and cancer is now too Clear to Winnipeg City Council could try to regulate Tobac co use in Public places but its Powers Stop at the City limits and it has no authority Over workplace the workplace safety aspect of passive smoking is Best resolved by the provincial govern which can Lay Down a uniform Standard throughout the province and which enjoys abundant enforcement it would be illogical to have one Rule for Smoky workplaces in Winnipeg and another Rule in other municipalities death by lung cancer is As terrible outside the perimeter Highway As it is outside of the shopping there is Little Evi Dence of bars and restaurants responding to the scientific evidence and to the preferences of the nonsmoking Market forces have worked in the Case of two shopping malls but they show no sign of working More generally in bars and restau it is unreasonable to ask table servers and other workers in bars and restaurants to continue accept ing injury from secondhand it is taking too Long for the food services Industry to face facts and catch up with Public Premier Gary doer and his government Are responsible for making employers offer a reasonably Safe secondhand smoke is intolerably the government should establish a clean air Standard protects workers from secondhand smoke and make sure it is Rookie diplomacy a bitterly divided israeli labour party agreed this week to join in a government of National Unity with prime minister elect Ariel that is Good news for for Sharon and the International Sharon and his liked party take a far harder line on negotiations with palestinians than the out going government of Ehud Sharon promised labour the important positions of the defence and foreign which will be key to any negotiations with Yasser Arafat pales Tine authority and which May indicate that the harsh talk he delivered during the election May moderate into a More workable negotiating Posi Sharon May be less pleased with the results of United states Secretary of state Colin powells visit to the Middle East this week and the International Community will be slightly puzzled As it awaits a clearer signal from the new Bush administration As to what its Middle East policy will on his first International tour an indication that the new american administration puts a High priority on achieving peace in the mid dle East urged Israel to ease the restrictions on the movement of palestinian workers and goods that have been in place since a new Intifada erupted six months the israeli government quickly an indication of How much Power Washington can although Powell stressed that americas Long time support for Israel will not there was a sense from powells comments that More will be expected by the Bush administration in the Way of accommodation of palestinian interests than Sharon has yet shown himself willing to leaving the Middle Powell spoke also of easing sanctions against of allowing More civilian Aid while tightening control of military and strategic that is Fine but bad policy those controls Are already in place and Are routinely violated by Russia and the same judgment can be made of powells advice to Israel that country Security can not be left to the whims of it is still Early Days for the Bush administration and Powell is a Rookie at but his first International foray indicates that even More inter Esting Days lie Qatar airs the real news by Thomas the leaders of the 22 Arab nations will gather in Jordan in a few weeks for a Summit meet ing to discuss the Ara israeli whats striking is that not one of these leaders has been chosen in a totally free and fair no other Region of the including sub saharan is so democracy the Good is that there Are democratic stirrings these Days among Arab most notably in where discus Sion forums recently calling for greater free speech and political the forums were shut Down last week by syrian Security but other Flowers Are not so easily crushed most notably Qatar Al Nazeera satellite to established in 1996 by Qatar progressive Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa As part of a move to introduce democratization in his tiny persian Gulf Alja zebras 24 hour news programs have swept up Arab audiences from Morocco to Al Nazeera owes its Success to the fact More than any other to station in the Arab it airs free and Lively offers timely even interviews israeli and allows anyone to criticize Arab if you polled Arab leaders and asked which would you get rid of Israel or Al Nazeera Al Nazeera would win hands when Egypt Hosni visited Qatar a year he asked to see the Al Nazeera after getting a firsthand look at the tiny to station in the smallest Arab which had taken away Many to viewers in the biggest Arab Mubarak declared this Matchbox All this noise is coming out of this Matchbox indeed it Al Nazeera is not Only the biggest Media phenomenon to hit the Arab world since the Advent of it is the biggest Polit ical sometimes it goes Over the Edge and Burns people because some of its broadcasters have their own and sometimes it hypes the fighting in the West Bank in inflammatory but in a Region where the evening news for decades has been endless footage of Arab leaders greeting each other at the and singing each others it is no wonder that with its real news and real has every Arab with a satellite dish trying to bring in its signal and every Arab Leader gnashing his Tunisia and Morocco have All broken diplomatic relations with Qatar at times after being criticized by and one Egypt Ian newspaper reportedly retaliated against Al Nazeera after it criticized Mubarak by run Ning a cartoon depicting the Al Nazeera news anchors As jews wearing i toured the Al Nazeera studio a few weeks while in and asked Abdullah the Deputy what the secret of its popularity we were he to prove that you can have an Independent arabic news Channel that did not have to go to London to protect but could broadcast from an Arab were ready to inter View after we interviewed Ehud some people protested Why Are you showing Barak when israelis Are killing palestinians but a lot of other viewers praised with a i omillion and staffed by vet Erans of the abcs arabic Al Nazeera is starting to shame the grovelling official Arab which explains Why Al Nazeera was banned from joining the government Domi rated Arab broadcasting they said we didst follow their code of Media said our compensation was that the same year we were banned from this Union we won three International journalism awards to be Al Nazeera goes easier on Qatar than it does on saudi but it has actually aired charges of torture in now other arabic stations Are trying to do what we Are said Salah the chief news Edi but they have not reached our because we have Freedom Here that others dont adds Jamil one of Al jaz eras top people Are starting to through that rulers Kings can be scrutinized and held account when Al Nazeera torches an Arab that country ambassador will often come out to Lodge an official the ambassadors will come Here to the studio and said after they get done they will i have conveyed my official now i would just like to say personally that Al Nazeera is new York times Alberta loves fumbling Ralph Edmonton the defining moment in the Alberta election leaders debate came in an Exchange Between Premier Ralph Klein and nip Leader Raj who has been saying Nice things about ostensibly to undermine Nancy Leader of the second place lib eral did it again on live television monday i like he and i sorta like who later told me that he was outraged by the condescension of the remark arid responded without shot Back Klein you will come to regret a preference for i assure you will regret what you in that Pannu seemed the better the bigger on a Mission and confident that the future of the nip was about to become As Bright tomorrow As it was 15 years ago when it won 16 seats and was the so Why we rent the 60 or so faithful gathered in pan Nus Campaign Headquarters in a dowdy strip mall on a freeway out of town turn ing cartwheels because this is not the perceptions of an outsider simply dont Square with the reality Pannu is a Man of a retired professor of education who looks is years younger than his 67 yes he is yes he has an admirable social conscience his Indian background is not a at least not in Urban he is run Ning on some of the same turf that twice sent Alliance my Rahim Jaffer to but the reality is those factors were Only enough to give him a 57vote margin in the last election four years ago when albertan were angry about while today they Are awash in the reality about a brighter future is right there for anyone to see in the chief electoral officers report on the 1997 in Edmon dubbed opposition City because it is the base of support for 15 of 17 opposition Mem the nip elected Only two Las in 18 City seats last time and they were an ohs Distant third in All but two of the former Leader Pam Barrett won the other nip Only to resign last year after a near death experience in a dentists which made her party look More than a bit goofy and resulted in Pannu becoming Leader by popular City councillor Brian Mason held is Barretts seat in a by election and became Deputy again by the hard reality is that if Pannu is going to make Klein regret his Hes not going to make him regret them or so what about is Macbeth to an she seemed an Over modulated phony who always looked straight into the used annoyingly inclusive pronouns like you and her responses were Pat phrases that had been rehearsed to death and she As they on repeatedly calling Energy deregulation a fiasco of it is and exhorting viewers to follow the by which she meant that there was a tie Between tory Campaign donations and Oil and Gas inter but at Liberal Headquarters they were whooping and Why because she had never per formed Well everyone was afraid she would lose track of the forget what she wanted to would sound shrill and out of in she exceed Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 r vol 129 no 84 2001 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 de what seemed phony was Actu ally a Media heralded her borrowing of Brian mul moneys famous you had a Choice delivered while attacking Klein for approving the expenditure of to defend Stockwell Day in a defamation As the defining As for As everyone Here refers to pre Mier he seemed annoyed to be even sharing a platform with the other he Fum bled with talked to the leaned on the podium and seemed always to have one hand in his his suit jacket undone to his substantial his defence of his Energy deregulation pro which forced Energy prices up a Stag Gering 300 per cent and which is being fixed by issuing some billion in rebates to angry con seemed he with a straight the Kyoto saying they had frightened off electricity producers who rely on he seemed the when it was All seemed to agree that his closing that things Arent As bad As the opposition portrays them a reminder that billions have been restored to social that taxes have been Cut 22 per that the province has a surplus and will be Deb free in a couple of years carried the for the most its deregulation was not All it was touted to its costing billion to buy off and the Money could have been used those were in the mail last week and the election is less than two weeks that the real Rudy email Nicholas Patrick Flynn Deputy editor ;