Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 7, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Fri March 2001 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights the Forks Portage there seems Little doubt the stewards of the Forks want to begin putting the shovel into the development will spark the inter est of and commercial in Par holds the Best Opportunity to help pay the Bills of maintaining the heritage the Forks North Portage managers Are Quick to assure Noth ing will be done before Public win nip Eggers will be generous with opinions on what they want their beloved Forks to their views ought to count in any plans for the How More development takes shape at the Forks while serving the inter est of the North Portage area is a but not prob the Forks was envisioned from the outset in the mid1980s As a Gath ering place for and people do flock to the piece of land nestled along the Banks of the Assiniboine and red drawn largely by the River food courts and boutiques to a lesser the childrens museum and Manitoba theatre for Young the 1999 pan am games proved in Spades that Winni Eggers and Manitoban generally Are suckers for free entertainment at Large open the Forks is a Suc Cess As a communal gathering but not so successful at paying its Way it has relied on Public subsidies since its on the other Side of the North Portage has grappled for years with the dual problem of draw ing people and in the same years people began flocking to the they drained out of the downtown and the Exchange twinning those distinct interests into one entity the Forks North Portage was believed to hold out some Hope for resolving the people problem downtown and the Money problem nearer the Little development has happened at the Forks since the Union of the two which has not appeared to help North Portage much More Hope for renewal at North Portage and the Exchange District beyond it has sprung from development that exploits the advantages those areas have to offer on their own old warehouse space has attracted the new red River College Campus and an empty Eaton depart ment where parking is has sparked talk about building a downtown sports and entertainment these Are called logical fits development that makes development on one Side of the tracks should not grossly undermine that on the but a relation ship Between the two should not be so restrictive As to suffocate As appears to have happened at the there is some renewal taking place downtown but this need not draw Effort or Money away from the the managers of Forks North Portage should open discussion about commercial development and Public use on the land along the Winnipeg Gers and Manitoban will want lots of room set aside for Large Public but appropriate commercial or retail space can enhance the attraction of the heritage there is room and time enough to serve both the Bank responds the Bank of Canada yesterday noticed what other canadians have been noticing in recent weeks that an economic slowdown is upon the Bank Low ered its interest rate by half a Point As a dramatic Way of spurring investment and economic explaining its the Bank said since the Banks last fixed announcement there have been indications that the slowdown in the Economy in the first half of 2001 could be More pronounced than and there is a risk that weakening Confidence could delay the recon in recent information suggests that the positive underlying momentum in the Economy at the end of 2000 was somewhat less Strong than had been previously and that pressures on productive capacity and inflation Are lower As a unlike the Bank of finance minister Paul Martin has been relying on the tax and spending policy he announced on before the first signs of economic slowdown unlike the Martin has refused to adjust his policy in the Light of the new conditions that have been turning steadily worse each week of this for his own the minister declines to present a though it is customary to present one about this time of he is leaving the country without economic he is relying on the Bank of Canada and its manipulation of interest rates to steer Canada away from economic conditions have been changing rapidly since Christmas so that the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada have had to tear up fore casts As fast As they Issue private corporations including Nortel networks and the big three automobile makers have also been adjusting rapid the Federal government should be equally Nim it should at least present a budget when budget time Rolls around and not leave it to the Bank of Canada to make things work clinging to the Arab past by Thomas Friedman the past six months of warfare Between israelis and palestinians constitute a Funda mental turning Point in their struggle one As important As the 1948 and 1967 and one that demands that we look at their conflict in a new the the through which much of the world first looked at the Arab israeli conflict after the 1948 was David Goliath a tiny jewish state standing up against seven Arab armies seeking to destroy that paradigm lasted until the 1967 when Israel occupied the West Sinai and the Golan and a new paradigm took hold Israel As with israeli policies in the territories compared to South Africa under apartheid or France in the 20002001 Israel palestinian War shifts the paradigm once Why because when prime minister Ehud Barak of Israel and the president put Forth a peace plan while not entirely acceptable to the contains for the first time All the elements of a Deal that they were seeking a palestinian state in virtually All the West Bank and territorial compensation for land Israel would retain for a re divided Jerusalem and restitution for the palestinians and the palestinian leadership rejects this offer and the palestinian Street reacts to Ariel Sharon silly provocation on the Temple mount rather than to the Clinton Barak proposals on the then you have to admit that another paradigm is at work to say that israels rapacious Settle ments in places like its trigger Happy soldiers and roadblocks throughout the West Bank do not prolong the conflict is to deny real but to say that those Are the whole Story is utter since it was precisely such settlements that Barak was offering to the conflict today Between israelis and palestinians is not just about politics or it is about modernity for both Arab leaders and the Arab it is about the tension Between a developed society that is succeeding at modernization and an underdeveloped one that is failing at it and looking for others to Why is israels most dovish Shimon who aspired to forge a new Middle disliked by Arab leaders More than any other israeli official it is because a new mid dle East is a problem for certain Arab leaders but by no Means because they feel that in a Region focused on development and democratization they cannot succeed with out fundamental change nor could they blame Israel for their when the Only Issue on the Agenda is liberating then Ariel Sharon is the but when the Only Issue on the Agenda is modernizing the Arab then certain Arab leaders Are the prob and they dont want to be seen As the prob so they keep their people focused on Israel and the old Middle its not that the palestinians Are anti mod its that their Young people Are not being Given a real Choice by their leaders to move in that they Are constantly being told by their leaders and fellow arabs to stay in the old definition of to stay in a Perma nent revolution against to build their society and dignity through conflict against not through Success at mod All of these messages Are now wrapped together in this Intifada Intifada ii is pales Tinian youths trying to emulate the Hezbollah in and playing out some heroic 1960s Che Guevara struggle against the israeli its palestinian youths lashing out at the Symbol of their failure to build a modern society Israel and its palestinian youths lashing out at the instruments of their decline own their message to israelis is we Are we May not be Able to make but we can make you mis Erable and we will do that even if it is making us i have argued from the Start that such an approach will achieve nothing Good for the at least some palestinians Are starting to question it As read the respected palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttas March 1 oped piece in the Jerusalem Post some voices in Palestine Are starting to say for the first time looking beyond where exactly Are we now Barak and As Well As their Are no longer hould it we have accepted the Clinton ideas where is the in Palestine and the Arab of the 1970s and 1980s rhetoric going to Lead us hugging medicare to death although Many of our politicians dont like to admit the financial pressure on our health care system shows few signs of after the politicians might Haven we already pumped a lot of Money into health care last the Federal government and the provinces agreed on a new scheme that will increase Ottawa Cash contribution from billion a year to billion in in some led by Ontario and have boosted their a lot of this Money is going to go to rectifying longstanding personnel problems such As shortages of doctors and other healthcare not much of the Money is going to be Avail Able for some Basic healthcare consultant Michael in his four Strong winds says four challenges Are whistling around the ears of healthcare they Are the idea that health care should be As much about improving health As treating disease the massive demand by increasingly internet literate and aging Boomers for greater Quality and appropriate Ness in healthcare the rising costs of new healthcare technologies and financial con in other higher and often More expensive demands have slammed into limited government the Deal reached by the Federal government and the provinces does Little to manage these and remember the prime minister and the pre Miers Cut the Deal when the Economy was what will As some when the Economy and government revenues begin to falter by the should know what Hes talking about Hes a Harvard trained economist who was a Cabinet Secretary in de Schrey ers nip government in Manitoba and a Deputy health minister in Bob Raes Ontario nip gov he served As Volunteer chairman of the Board of the Canadian Institute for health and is now a consultant on health care one of the problems we have in Canada is fixating on the United were always comparing our system with that in the we spend per cent of our Gross Domestic product on health the with a largely private spends in our per capita spending on health was com pared to in the a lot of canadians love our healthcare poli and there absolutely sure they dont want the but the Ardour of canadians for their health care May be a prob Lem we May be hugging it to a lot of politicians Are afraid to Reform health care for fear of being punished at the but some changes Are necessary if health care in Canada is to Decter Points a Way out of this conundrum Stop look ing South All the time and study health systems in other industrialized nations All of which Are having trouble with healthcare demands and in for both Margaret thatchers conservatives and Tony Blairs new labour had programs to pay private institutions out of Public funds to deliver some healthcare some socialists would scream if such a policy was implemented in Canada look at All the abuse they gave Premier Ralph Klein when he opted for a similar plan in the fact remains that private sector delivery of health care has been adopted by not Only Britain but also by the social democrats in another example of Heath care Reform in Australia hospitals Are no longer considered to be standalone facilities they now have specific responsibilities As part of a web of ser vice providers including Community and in these clinics doctors Are no longer top dogs they work along with other healthcare professionals such As nurses with increased lessons can also be Learned from projects that use nurses to Man phone and internet help lines thus helping to prevent lineups at expensive emergency then there Are advanced information systems that could Tell experts More about what were spending for what illnesses in our health care in most of the worlds industrialized nations primary care Reform is considered these Are the experts people usually go to first when there if there efficient and stay open 24 hours a Day they can reduce healthcare costs by reducing lineups at Emer gency with million in Federal about 140 Pilot Community health clinics were set up in should be Able to learn something from their experiences in improving Pri Mary but we May need dare i suggest it a Royal commis Sion to haul health care out of the political swamp and to do a proper Job of analysis and Ken who was hired to study Saskatchewan healthcare thinks Fyke says a publicly funded health care system is the the most equitable and least expensive to but our system needs he and the solutions Are very careful consideration is called for not like the screaming match we had in the last Federal election Over two tier health the More you think about that election the More sense a Royal commission Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free presses 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 129 no 91 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 Pratt Council Rudy email Nicholas Patrick editor ;