Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 28, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba A12 Winnie fax Frky Macii 2001 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights weighing in on waste inn speggers were evidently paying lose attention in february when mayor Len Murray and the City Council debated a plan to Cut the volume of Garden waste and reusable material that is dumped every Day into the cites Landfill a poll in the first week of March found that the Public was Well informed and had definite opinions about the the Council refused to adopt a key feature of the a charge for any household that discards More than two bags of garbage on trash collection Council lors were dissuaded from adopting the fee because of angry Tele phone Calls from people who were opposed to the poll Howe that 50 per cent of the people who were ques 9 toned supported the plan and Only 47 per cent opposed fewer than four per cent were unde the plan was untidy at first because it applied Only to parts of the City where trash is collected at curbside or in the Back Lane from each House districts where collective Auto bins gather garbage from groups of Neighbours would remain free to throw grass recyclable materials or anything else into the Auto bins without this disparity weakened support for the when Murray announced that Auto bins would be he lost support in districts where the people Are attached to their Auto bins and do not want to see them even with these controversial half the people questioned in the poll favoured the mayors its underlying logic was appealing that the Brady Road Landfill site should not be filled with grass cuttings and which can be but Only with matter that cannot be sold for scrap and cannot be rotted for soil half the Public evidently accepted that the reasoning did not Appeal to 47 per cent of the people who either want to keep their Auto bins or dont believe they can compress their trash into two bags per collection Cycle or who for some other Rea son Felt the plan would be unsuitable for councillors were dissuaded from following the mayors but next time the matter comes they know that the by a slim were with the the slim majority is Likely to once Auto bins Are the recycling idea can be judged on its own merits without the complicating Factor of different service in different once a fee is if the Council can be persuaded to agree with the householders will quickly find ways to minimize their garbage and most will find that two bags per collection Cycle is All they need the City to collect from the poll results should encourage mayor Murray to stick with the recycling his goal is Well Cho sen and Well he still has to do the patient work of ironing out the building support for his plan and bringing it Back before the Council in conditions where it will be easily keeping peace defence minister Art Eggleton last week outlined some proposed changes to Canadian military policy that would drastically change this country approach to International canadians take a great Deal of Pride in the fact that from Suez in 1956 to Bosnia their peacekeepers have been prominent in almost every United nations the in has always looked to and Canada has almost always answered ready ready even though in recent years it has become apparent that because of severe cuts to Canadian the country has not been ready at in the last two years this has become an increasing embarrassment for canadians and a growing vexation for Canadas Eggleton proposal would reduce the although it is unlikely to eliminate the rather than committing Canadian troops to sustained Eggleton would adopt a get in get out fast approach in which Canadian soldiers would be among the first to set up a base of operations and then quickly depart As they were relieved by troops from other the proposal is a realistic response to what this nation can do with an undermanned and ill equipped but it does represent a redefinition of Canadas International Eggleton has cited this country limited commitment in Eritrea and before East where six month limits were set for As an example of How troops might in the future be whether such a policy fulfils Canadas responsibility in International affairs will be the subject of much critics have already weighed in protesting the limitations it if Eggleton proposals become pol there will be a need to build in a certain flex Bil peacekeeping operations do not always run like they Are often unpredictable and Ottawa must be Able to extend a Short term commitment into a longer one if circumstances but in the absence of any apparent will on the part of the Liberal government to rebuild the Canadian Mili tary into a credible fighting or peacekeeping it is a workable policy that recognizes the a client Canadian school tangle impedes Reform in this town Are like Colour helium filled birthday party they look impressive for a then Drift away never to be seen the Federal government launched a balloon barrage at the opening of Canadas 37th Parlia we must work together to create Opportunity by building a world leading Canad an Economy driven by ideas and said sortie Canada will Only realize its full potential by investing aggressively in the skills and talents of its peo said other building this skilled work Force must be a National said one big wonderful education is key to our growth in a global but the reality is that it is almost impossible to get anything important done in this Field because of the Way we govern everybody has a piece of education in this country the Federal the school Edu cation teachers unions in a few cases even parents and these often competing interests bump and grind against one another creating a confuse Complex and clamorous situation in which it is difficult to make education a priority with a coherent National Canada is the Only Industrial nation that does not have a Federal department of our Constitution makes education a provincial responsibility a Power that is jealously guarded by Many particularly que the Federal government exacerbated this situation several years ago when it turned Over labour training to the our muddled situation was apparent when the new Federal governments of Canada and the United states unveiled their programs ear Lier this Canadas Federal government had to tap dance around the subject of the system George the qty Leif Uina made Educa Tion Reform his first pro Good people Postai to Are frustrated teacher Bush plan was except just carry Oil tonal for a couple of Rea states and local governments in the Federal system have a lot of clout in but they seem to agree the Federal government has an important role in this critical the during the Days of former presi Dent Ronald were going to scrap the Federal education department a policy that is nowhere to be seen Bush not Only proposed a lot of but also he set out conditions for his largess something Canadian Federal governments Are often afraid to to get the Federal states must arrange to test children in math and Reading from the third through eighth districts and schools that improve achievement would be rewarded those that after a three year would be we must focus the spending of Federal tax dollars on things that said he added too often we have spent without regard for without judging Success or failure from year to that sounds like a summary of too Many Canadian Federal government the Lack of Federal is not Canadas Only problem in Many of our municipalities and school boards Are at loggerheads Over financing and organizing How much of the Edu cation Bill should provinces pay How Large should school districts be How much Power should provincial bureaucrats have the situation is particularly bad in Ontario where the provincial governments hastily implemented plan to reorganize major municipalities and download jobs on them has resulted in taxpayer confusion and almost constant warfare Between the province and some ideas about making our education system More flexible and challenging have a difficult time making their Way through the no mans land Between entrenched Provin Cial and municipal if they do manage to crawl they face another Challenge school Board administrators and some teachers who like As Long As everything stays the a outgoing Winnipeg who quit teaching after a few sums up our problems the system is Good peo ple Are frustrated bad teachers just carry finding fault in no fault system last june wrote a column about the difficulties i experienced trying to have an Auto theft claim settled with i know the exact Date because a copy of that column is the top Page of a Bulky file on my a file sent to me by mar Garet Benjamion shortly after the column she had underlined a quote to the effect that most people Lack the time to fight aut Opac and just give not me she wrote in the indeed Over the past eight or so Margaret has hounded me to write about the faults of no fault insurance for Bod ily injury hounded is perhaps an what she has been is when she discovers something she thinks germane to the Issue she lets me when she meets people who Are unhappy with the treatment they Are get Ting from she encourages them to or she gets their phone numbers and sends them she sends copies of stories about Auto insurance from newspapers in Canada and the she is hoping to see a Branch of a Saskatchewan coalition against no fault insurance established in Why because she is convinced that our publicly owned monopoly insurer has reduced insurance rates at great Cost to victims of Acci by alone decides the serious Ness of losses and injuries in accidents and awards compensation on the basis of formulas and precedents commonly referred to As the meat if victims their Only recourse is to Appeal Auto acs ruling to appeals to the courts Are prohibited by legislation establishing the no fault when no fault was brought in in it was argued that it would be a fairer and less expensive with lawyers and courts out of the it was argued that everyone would be better victims would no longer need to hire expensive lawyers to sue for Bompensa Money that would be lost if the courts found against victims without Money for lawyers would no longer suffer As a con sequence of not being Able to afford people at fault would be no questions and every aut Opac consumer would pay reduced premiums because Money would no longer be wasted in court Battles that amounted to Little More than fishing trips for More that was it still and i suspect in the the system if most people were not satisfied with the compensation they receive from the Hue and cry Long ago would have led to decisions to scrap no but because something works in the does not mean it works in the and that seems to be the Margaret thinks it Doest work and clearly the people she has had Call me dont think it works and clearly organizations such As the Manitoba bar association dont think it although no one seems to listen much to the complainers they have axes to margarets particular complaint is not spec she was rear ended on june her pickup truck was hit so hard that it flipped into the air and came Down on the Drivers causing injuries to her shoulder and she was in physiotherapy for about three months and was then declared As rehabilitated As she was Likely to in the her symptoms had she still had lumps and did not have full use of her she was in California some months later and saw a doctor at the University of who examined her and concluded she was still suffering from injuries that required treatments and physiotherapy that she was denied she would like to get those treatments Here but Doest feel she should have to fight aut Opac to get and instead wants to fight the larger the elimination of no that her the reasons i bring Margaret to your Atten Tion Are not that i Tomk she is that no fault is a the fact is i dont know whether it is or i bringer to your attention because she rep resents a problem with no fault what if the victim Doest agree with conclusions of Auto acs adjusters what if the a year saving is the result of arbitrarily deny ing victims of accidents just compensation or treatment Why does the ombudsman 1999 report show that there Are More complaints about aut Opac than any other source in former nip Cabinet minister Sam Yuskiw conducted a review of which led to some 54 recommendations about improved Yuskiw estimates that More than two thirds of the recommendations have not been including a recommendation that aut Opac pay Legal costs for persons who Appeal its when you they have a Battery of but you there is just its a very lopsided he he also says that if he could do it Over he would have gone he would have recommended that the claims process be stripped from aut Opac and vested in a Sepa rate and Independent body that would conduct appeals bound by rules of evidence just As is done in but not by its operating on the wrong Prin Ciple your insurer should be on your Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol n0110 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 Rudy Ismail Nicholas Patrick Flynn Deputy editor ;