Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 7, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a11 Winniw Shii m Aiudi 2001 t parliamentary conflict guidelines loopholes allow payday mess tighter conflict rules needed for parliament by Aaron Freeman a Law firm defending Alliance Leader Stock vell Day receives for its ser just before the Case is settled and the Bill is the firm or perhaps a senior partner at the firm donates to the in response to haranguing by reporters Over the the Alliance hires a whom they refer to As an Independent to review the party the party says he gave it a clean Bill of although it refuses to release his a second review will Deal Only with the narrow Issue of whether the party can comply with the Law firms request to change the name on the donation receipt from the firm to the the Alliance says the decision to hire Ben Nett Jones to defend Day was made Long before he became and that other Law firms gave even More to the party in the party refuses to say which after years of going after the prime ministers practice of refer ring ethics matters to his own inde pendent Howard the hypocrisy of the alliances approach to this Issue is like the ethics counsellors the Issue surrounding the payday affair is not whether the Alliance broke the the Issue is the rules and How they Are the liberals have Good reasons not to pursue the payday affair with they know whats in their own and not Only in terms of their failure to establish an inde pendent ethics disclosure of political donations is extremely weak in heres what we know about top Liber Al donors i whose Success is fuelled by Federal contracts and government intervention in Trade Dis donates More than a the payday scandal would not Likely have occurred if the Federal govern ment had closed these loopholes and adopted the system in place in Manitoba and Quebec Jonathan Hayward Canadian press Alliance Leader Stockwell Day is at the Centre of conflict year to the i every Canadas big five Banks Are among the top 10 Liberal these donations nearly Dou to Over in 1997 the same year the liberals introduced their proposed changes to the Bank i regulated such As broadcast and also feature prominently among top in broadcasters gave to the most of that amount coming from can West global and Craig i hire gun lobby represent ing a wide Range of wealthy inter gave roughly in and the list goes even a scant look at the list of top Liberal donors shows that they Are invariably those with the greatest stake in govern ment was the Alliance donation legally dubious it is unlikely we will Ever it is also not terribly the Standard for conflict of inter As outlined in the code for Public office not whether there was in fact a conflict of the Rule states that those who hold Public office shall arrange their private affairs in a manner that will prevent potential or apparent conflicts of the potential or apparent Stan Dard makes sense for two if a moneyed interest payoff Ever not Only is there never a reporter in the it is unlikely that the terms Are Ever spelled the conflict is inherent and often but rarely if we Are to have a functioning democratic the work Ings of government must not Only be they must be seen to be governance depends on the consent of the and citizens will never give that consent to a system they believe is the Alliance donation Likely crossed the line of potential or apparent conflict of but because parliament has repeatedly failed to pass a conflict of interest code for Only their parliamentary secretaries and governor Council appointees fall under the so while the Assis Tant to the Secretary of state for Amateur sport is covered by the ethics neither the Leader of the opposition nor his party is the absence of rules for maps pro Vides Fertile ground for Poten tial and apparent conflicts of but that nothing compared to the failings of our political fund raising hidden donations remain hidden when they Are routed through Riding Asso leadership or when they Are made to maps outside the election there Are no limits whatsoever on How much wealthy interests can donate to influence the democratic and there is a lag time of up to 18 months Between when a contribution is made and when it is the payday not Likely have occurred if the Federal government had closed these Loop holes and adopted the system in place in Manitoba and where corporations cannot give Money to political parties or Candi and All donations Are capped at this would also eliminate Many other conflicts that the current system in its efforts to clean House follow ing the payday the Alliance should push for a cleaner set of fund raising and conflict interest Aaron Freeman is an Otta abased writer and a columnist with the Hill Canadas parliamentary the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone number letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email pilots family sought Squadron Leader James Fielden Lam Bert of 421rcaf spitfire Squadron j1s212 was shot Down on and buried at his parents were Archie and Jessie Lambert of his wife was Peggy Lambert of i talked to two spitfire pilots who flew with him in Malta and one when in two sons of John Victoria military Cross and distinguished conduct medal phoned me after being in Cambrai museum last they were shown some personal items found on Squadron Leader Lambert that they Felt should go to a close if anyone can help locate a relative of James please Contact me at Box 204 Les Allison Roland secrecy surrounds upcoming Summit there has been a general Lack of information As far As the april Summit of the americas is discussion papers have not been distributed to the Public nor the Security has become the red herring in Conversa Tion and newspaper the Chretien government has not been forthcoming with any information about what is on the table for Dis Why All this secrecy without open democratic the Summit becomes a meeting of private interest groups especially corporate and banking concerns despite the participation of Many Steven Boldovitch Toronto As weather give cyclists room with the coming of Spring we will soon see More cyclists and joggers on our i would like to remind motorists to give cyclists a wide berth on our does it really take that much Effort to give the cyclist a Little More room on the Road a Hutchings Winnipeg school boards extremely healthy your recent editorials school vote disastrous 22 and school i Oard for a bygone Era 25 amazed readers by diagnosing the clinical death of Manitoba school boards on the basis of Low voter turnout in Winnipeg school divisions recent far better evidence exists to support the position that school boards Are extremely in this More than residents of Winnipeg school divisions Ward 1 braved one of february coldest Days to cast their this is a significant participation rate for a by election to fill a single vacancy on a nine member Board two thirds of the Way through a fou year term of nine candidates were nominated and Cam at considerable personal for the Opportunity to serve their Community in this important another indicator of the health of Manitoba school boards is your Edito rials observation that the parents of Manitoba show Good Confidence in the Public the High level of pub Lic Confidence in Public schools reflects Well on the school boards that govern As Well As on the Excel Lent staff they a1988 Royal commission in British Columbia stated that school Board governance translates the will of the peo through the efforts of elected into policies and regulations designed to direct and support teaching and learn your editorial stating that schools should be run by people who Are attentive and committed without being insiders of the this is exactly the role that school Board members perform throughout Manito school boards make considerable efforts to engage their communities in dialogue about educational purposes and their decisions reflect judgments about what Best serves the needs of the students within their respective in new Brunswick abolished locally elected school believing that Public education could be better managed through the provincial ministry of without their school communities found that they could no longer participate meaningfully in the governance of the schools to which they entrust their the resulting frustrations and operational problems have led the new Brunswick government to a realization of the merits of the school Board governance and to a Deci Sion to reestablish locally elected school boards in that democratic local control of Community schools through elected boards of trustees is one of the founding Princi Ples on which our system of Public education has been this Princi ple has served us and continues to ensure that parents and communities play a significant role in shaping the education of our key Toews president Manitoba association of school trustees Winnipeg film festival loses supporter think you want to support the local Cinema Industry try again we reserved tickets for hey Happy last the Telephone representative had advised us to make sure we arrived at the theatre prior to the appointed time of we got there at and were told by staff at the door to wait in what does reserved mean to you not the same As what it Means to the organizers of the local heroes film to them it Means to stand in line with the mob of people both with reservations and those looking for Rush get up to the front of the line and then be told we Are sold they gave away More seats than they Freebee tickets from radio stations were Given priority and All who remained in the line outside were admitted on a first served basis with no recognition for Reserva talk about an insult support local films not unless they Send me the ticket in Advance will i even think of attending a future Heather Gregory Winnipeg Napster allows music test drive Napster provides a Means of accessing free music Over the but is it so bad Why would someone go out and pay for a cd that they think is but when they play they realize it Only has two Good so they basically paid per with you can preview the music before you download it if you like then buy the the mp3 Quality will never be the same As that of a so Why complain Ive heard a lot of people saying if Napster goes there boycotting the record companies that Are against Napster has Way More sup porters than it does if Nap Ster goes do you think that the end think there is More than one Way to get free like Over news Independent web Sites and Kevin Gordon Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau 16 that you a pout shoot go ;