Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 8, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 March 2001 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights unmaking a Martyr Bernard who is about to become Premier of knew perfectly Well that the Federal government would not bring him before the assembled Heads of state of the Hemi sphere when they meet at Quebec City on april to make the request was to invite a canadians had almost forgotten about this prac Tice of Quebec nationalists who look for injuries to inflict upon themselves so As to make martyrs of Lucien during his years As Quebec never renounced the aim of provoking quarrels Between French and English in Canada nor the ultimate aim of separating Quebec from but he seemed to have dropped the practice of inventing thin pre texts for yelping against the Anglo fed eral Bernard Landry this week reminded the country How easily that game is played and How tiresome it Landry has said he intends to use the gathering of Western Hemi sphere Heads of state and Heads of which is a meeting about hemispheric free As an occasion to promote Quebec the government of Canada would be insulting its guests if it made them listen to an axe grinding tirade from prime minister Jean Chretien should not make them listen to representatives of political movements with claims to Advance and he should not make an exception for the head of the parti knowing he had no business appearing at such a Landry knew he could get himself rejected just by True to the customary Pat Quebec International relations minister Louise Beaudoin immediately called a press Confer ence to announce that the Federal government was silencing the people of the Federal government is gagging the the government and the people of its she her claim had no the the government and the people of have ample Means for expressing the people of Quebec have twice expressed themselves in refer Enda in which they rejected Landry idea of separating Quebec from Landry and the party he leads continue to Badger the people of Quebec to Cut their ties with Canada and put them selves wholly at the mercy of is Beau Doin and their the people of Quebec Are not but Landry and is Beaudoin will not take no for an in this Twilight of the sovereignty the separatists of Landry generation have nothing to lose by going for grasping at any pretext to pick a Landry and his party Are Likely to lose the election he will have to hold two or three years that leaves him about two years to persuade Quebe cers that they Are ill treated and misunderstood within hence the absurd attempt to claim that the Federal govern ment is gagging the the government and the people of if Landry and his colleagues Are shrill and desperate with about two years to run until they Are out of they Are Likely to grow More so As the months Manitoban should resign themselves to a regular diet of martyrdom loudly carefully orchestrated martyrdom from Quebec new martyrs chief and his hotel Heartbreak conservative Leader Joe Clark has used his question period opportunities in the newly elected parliament to nag the government about prime minister Jean Chretien role in winning a Federal government loan for the Auberge a commercially precarious hotel in Chretien Dis his persistence has kept the question before parliament and the the Case is difficult because the business development Bank rejected the loan application and then granted it after the prime minister spoke to the head of the which is an Arm of members of parliament Are free to make representations to Federal agencies on behalf of their con but they can pay a political Price if they intervene for an unworthy the Power of the prime minister is much greater than that of any other member of parliament and much greater discretion should accordingly restrict the use of that the prime minister should not intervene in a Case unless it is absolutely squeaky clean in every respect because once he asks the Agency to approve an the application is almost assured of the prime ministers subordinates can scarcely risk defying his even they must twist government policy to the prime ministers action was not it was unwise and it is quite properly subject to criticism by Clark and the prime minister should show parliament that he recognizes the basis for the criticism and he should announce the basis on which he will in future intervene with government agencies on behalf of his that All there is to it do you remember Dean Kamen maybe after its been a few months and the Obser vation has been made that Peoples memories Arent what they used to be and attention spans Are getting to Kamen is the american scientist whose invention tantalizingly called it garnered a Brief burst of fevered attention in the Early Days of this codenamed the mysterious it creation was touted As being bigger than the world wide an extraordinary invention that would change the the Way cities Are designed and How we founder Jeff who apparently saw a demonstration of Sang its Prais Silicon Valley entrepreneurs reportedly invested in the world Learned that Harvard business school press paid us for a future Book about even though the editor and the literary agent involved didst even know what it stories like this Are even when there is nothing new after the initial there is often enough residual hype to carry things when nothing is left to observers can remark on the and then on the hype about the but for All the grandiose trappings of this Story that a Promise to change life As we know it our collective interest in Ginger waned rather Ginger didst really have at least not in the mainstream daily this and Kamen Are Back in the according to inside Maga which used corporate surveillance experts for the the it invention int about time flying saucers or beaming Ginger is a Hydrogen powered As first rumoured a couple of months Ginger represents the first generation of a new Mode of transportation that will compete with and possibly replace the ramifications of a Hydrogen Economy would be profound on everything from the Environ ment to the Energy business to global the Magazine for his Kamen says Hes keeping mum on until next an emission free Mode of transport is an invention with considerable Merit and no doubt its exciting to Many people especially those who live in smoggy you have admit a High tech Scooter is a bit Anticlimactic when youve been dreaming of the but maybe the technology fatigued among us were already predisposed to feel this perhaps we were nonplussed about gingers comparison to the maybe some of us figured we already have More than we can Han with email and various wireless and Bear to even con Sider something something some thing imagine How the poor internet addicts must have hearing that a new invention was on the one that would eclipse the world wide int one techno obsession enough internet addiction sounds a bit but has been identified As a legitimate condition affect ing As Many As 11 million people checking your email monitoring your Mutual funds at work or playing online games do not qualify As internet Richard an internet behaviour expert at York University in likens True inter net addiction to gambling a pathological behaviour that consumes Peoples Tak ing them away from the real world and All its pleasures and often times they miss work or spend hours and hours carry on extramarital cybersex and participate in various online activities that end up affecting their own offline make no mistake about internet addiction is and chances Are Good that someone you know has states Daviss if youve already managed to find this web site on your you might Well be an but its probably nothing a ride on flying or a Hydrogen powered could it watering red River Metis roots a few years Caroline Chartrand sought help from Plant Gene resources a fed eral seed to find the seeds of More than 100 varieties of heritage vegetables she and her colleagues have traced As having been grown in Manitoba in the is Chartrand says almost All of the vegetable seeds Avail Able commercially today Are hybrids genetically modified versions of their bred for size and Colour or other desirable characteristics and Many Are is Chartrand and a Small group of Garden ers Are trying to bring Back the original plants harvested by those who helped Settle the red River among the list of 100 the Federal resource Bank held seeds for two they conserve historic varieties of that Why we thought they have some of the things on our it was a bit of a setback forms Chartrand Metis horticultural a Small gathering of diehard gardeners who Hope to bring Back the cultivation and seed conserva Tion practices Metis people Practised As the province was being the society began searching seed keepers across North Ameri Ca and has gathered a clutch of seeds once sown the problem now is getting them into gardens and producing new seed to be harvested and it is part of a resurgence in or heir gardening seen today among dedicated Green it is also time consuming and labour intensive seeds planted one year produce vegetables that cannot be eaten because they must be used to produce More making those seeds requires careful control of their Polli nation to ensure Cross pollination the Nat ural importation of genes from similar plants does not mar the Gene that can mean nightly trips into the vegetable Patch to tape up the Flowers and sometimes hand pollinating seeds or roots Are collected the first planted the sometimes the vegetables cant be eaten until the third its a lot of but reclaiming the prac Tice reclaims As with if these original gardening ways Are not resin they will be lost and a link with history and culture explains is its like a survival everybody used to do it Harvest seeds but when seeds became More readily available commercial people started los ing the the commercialization of Home Garden ing seeds Flowers and vegetables mirrors the change that has taken place in where local companies that offered seed were gradually bought out by multinational the result was fewer varieties of seeds that Are genetically new seed is bought every while a lot of people believe in the few really have the time or dedication to commit to the is Chartrand has she and four others held together informally by the cause Are looking for they Are holding a workshop this month for those truly interested in working to bring Back old species of cucumbers and but they Are very selective in whom they last a similar workshop was advertised and eight people is Chartrand but no one showed this people had to preregister and pre about a dozen making a workshop she at the people will be shown How to protect and then Harvest the no one will be Able to eat the vegetables the first As seeds must be the society work has seen gardens grown in Community such As the flanks of rail in gardens of outlying Rural communities and this Corn will be planted at is Char Trand the suit of now antiquated Garden practices has taken her and col leagues to where Metis heritage gardeners exchanged inform a seed Exchange is the most pressing concern of is Char brands group now is to get enough people involved and skilled to put the seeds into the because the longer they stay in seed the less Likely they Are to Ger the group is also looking for Avail Able Root cellar space to store harvested roots for it will take years to bring this piece of the provinces culture Back to with every seed Hope takes is Chartrand says she can work with anyone interested in sowing heritage can Contact Caroline Chartrand at 9 961 William this Springs work shop May but those interested in future seminars Are Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free presses 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 1 vol 129 no 92 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 Mem below the Manitoba press Council Rudy email Nicholas Patrick editor ;