Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 29, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A14 Winnipeg free press tuesday june 29, 2004 Freedom of Trade comment editor Terence Moore 697-7044 Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights editorials voters clip grit wings c canadians yesterday clipped the wings of prime minister Paul Martin keeping him in office with narrowed support. He has won the right to carry on with his prudent fiscal policy. With it comes the obligation to get to the Bottom of the sponsorship scandal As he has steadily promised ? to find out where the Money went and discipline or prosecute any wrongdoers involved. Stephen Harper brought his party the Ontario Success that Long eluded the conservative move ment during the years when the progressive conservative party was pitted against Reform or the Canadian Alliance. His performance fell far Short of his High Hopes of forming a majority government but it still marked an Advance Over past elections. He has earned the right to continue leading his party so As to prepare it for the next election when it should be a still stronger con tender for Power. The drop in Liberal support reflected pub Lic anger Over the sponsorship program As described by Audi Tor general Sheila Fraser. Or. Martin took Steps toward dealing with the spending abuses in that program in his first weeks in office. The Public however still does not know where the Money went after it was paid to advertising agencies in Quebec. Public disgust with the sponsorship program was most evident in Quebec where Liberal support dropped sharply and the separatist bloc sub Cois picked up support ? not because Independence is a More attractive Prospect this year than it was last but because Quebe cers federalist and separatist alike were offended by the theory that their Politi Cal loyalty could be purchased through government Grants to sporting events and Street festivals. Or. Martin wears the sponsorship program around his neck like an Albatross. To get rid of it he should encourage the judicial inquiry under John Gomery to investigate fully and report As promptly As possible. He should ensure that government departments and Public officials make available All records that judge Gomery wishes to see. Or. Mar tin should not allow the faintest suspicion that he is covering up misdeeds of his Liberal colleagues ? or his own involvement As minister of finance Dur ing the years when government sponsorship Money was being spread about his Home province of que Bec. Or. Martins Long quarrel with former prime min ister Jean Chr Tien has divided the Quebec Liber als. Besides bringing the sponsorship matter to a conclusion or. Martin needs to restore Liberal party Unity especially in Quebec through firm and principled leadership. The liberals remain Canada a one National party with maps from All regions but their claim to speak for Quebec is greatly weak ened. The conservative party formed just seven months ago was too hastily constructed to seem plausible As a governing party. Or. Harper seemed unsure of his own policy about the Iraq War about same sex marriage and the role of courts in questions of constitutional rights. He had the better argument about the govern ments registry of Long guns about the need to strengthen Canadas National defence and improve its relations with the United states. He needs to fill in the soft spots on his pro Gram and then defend it consistently during the new parliamentary term so that canadians will feel More sure when the next election comes where the conservatives propose to Lead their coun try. Though All parties proclaimed health care to be their number one priority the election in fact settled nothing about the Reform of Canadas costly and ill managed health care system. The parties All propose to spend More on health care but none of them offered the country Means for bringing the stimulus of Competition into health services or for guaranteeing canadians the timely care they want and deserve. All parties take their stand on the terms of the Canada health act which in effect ensures uniform service to All canadians. The ser vice is sometimes slow and inefficient but that is tolerated As Long As it is equally slow and inefficient for All patients. There is still room in Canadian poli tics for a party that would take the Chance of apply ing some imagination to the improvement of health care. In the parliament of minorities that canadians elected the new democrats May try to use their leverage to impose their ideas on the liberals. But they remain a fringe movement ? an enlarged fringe because Jack Layton proved to be an ener Getic and engaging campaigner but they still enjoy the support of Only about 15 per cent of the country. They Are in no position to fight another election again soon. Or. Martin should listen to their ideas As he would to any canadians but he should not let them push him off the responsible system of sur plus budgeting and debt reduction that canadians have endorsed. Spotlight shifts now to tories in the proverbial 11th hour of the Campaign yesterday prime minister Paul Martin declared again this is an election about the kind of Canada we last night As the polls closed and the truth wafted Back to Ottawa canadians gave their response but they were not addressing or. Martin so much As to the conservative party of Canada in returning the scan dal Ridden liberals to government albeit with a battered minority canadians did not vote for or. Martin and his liberals who have great soul searching to do today. Rather they voted against the conserva Tives and their very capable Leader. The party should not think of replacing Stephen Harper rather the conservatives must Start thinking hard about what kind of party they want to be ? one of perpetual opposition status or one that can find the right bal Ance of right and centrist positions so As to one Day form government. The election results pose a Stark and Singu Lar question to conservatives How conserva Tive do you want to be in another Era a Liberal loss would have been a certitude. Fractured and bleeding inter Nally the a scam affair ought to have knocked the stuffing out of the party banishing them to the opposition benches for some years of painful introspection. Canadas right of Centre alternative ought to have been poised to take firm control. Or. Harper has the natural Demeanour of a Man born to Lead. He exudes Confidence and Intel Lect with a Sharp wit and presence that put him clearly above the rest in the leaders debate. Until the final Days of the election it gave him the upper hand in the Cut and Parry of a sometimes ugly election Campaign. But none of this nor All of it combined was enough because the party has not come to terms with its Radical genes. This will always give licence to the Loose ideological cannons of the old Reform Alliance party ? Randy White was merely the latest and boldest critic of the charter of rights and freedoms and of judicial lawmaking ? to be spoilers. It permitted the liberals to seize upon the electorates fatal soft spot and that was precisely As or. Martin said hours before the vote was in the hand wringing Over what kind of Canada they want. At the heart of that description sits the Char Ter of rights and freedoms. Next to medicare ? the other hot Button of the election ? canadians regard this to be the most priceless aspect of Canadian life history and society and this country a contributions to the world an end ironic poll found in 2002. An Itsos Reid poll the same year found 75 per cent of respondents feel better protected with the charter and tellingly that 70 per cent would rather Trust their rights to judges than to politicians. The liberals widely viewed As corrupt too comfortable in Power and addicted to profligacy led with their chins with dirty election ads. Yet those ads kept medicare in reality a non Issue and the charter of rights at Centre court. And As a metaphor for the Canadian identity the charter forms the Crux of the conserva Tives dilemma still clinging As they Are to their Reform Alliance roots and the inherent mis Trust of the supreme court for the so called judicial activism that weighs in on the Side of individual and minority rights. To moderate their position on social policies such As Gay marriage and abortion the party would need to grapple with its fundamental doctrine of giving Ordinary maps More Power in parliament per mitting More free votes. Any attempt by the Leader to moderate the party Stone on social issues will most certainly run headlong into the values of staunchly traditional reformers. It would also put at stake a Quality that or. Harper holds in Spades ? integrity. Personally supportive of the traditional definition of marriage he has said he would invoke the charter a notwithstanding clause to override the supreme court in decisions that conflict with traditional social values. How could he now waver it would certainly shift the party dramatically away from the reformist populist move ment Preston Manning began 17 years ago. But that was almost a generation ago ample time to concede that moderation is key to electoral Success in Canada. Choosing to ignore the message of the 2004 Federal election ? that the electorate can for give almost anything apparently when the alternative is to leap into the unknown ? would consign the conservatives to opposition Sta Tus. That would be bad for Canada and Detri mental to this country a democracy. from Low potty talk to potty i tech by Elizabeth Schuett Cox news service Gibsonburg Ohio ? it in to a question of there not being any Good news to be had its All a Case of interpretation. I guess. I Haven to been Able to read any Happy nuance into what a going on in this world for quite some time now. That a Why my attention has been drawn to the in newsy news that has nothing to do with religious wars and or politics. I Hope. But the non news is big ? really big. Example while americans Are being blitzed with vice president Dick Cheney a emphatic pronouncement of the of word at Vermont a democratic sen. Patrick j. Leahy on the hallowed floor of the Senate we re overlooking the seriousness of what a going on in Japan. Naturally we re concerned by the news that this Man president of the Senate and Only a whisper away from the presidency appears to be cursed with a hair trigger temper that allows him to go around telling senators to of themselves. But there a a lot More at stake Here than a mans right to do what a mans gotta Here a the Way i see it while we re concentrating on the veep spotty Mouth Japan is out there cornering the potty Market with Multi thousand Buck models that not Only flip their lids when a user is detected but control the air temperature to ensure the user the maximum in climate control. Matsushita a chief Engineer claims this Model can bring Down the bathroom temperature by 7 degrees cel Sius in 30 seconds. Matsushita read it any Way you wish has also introduced a Model that glows in the dark and plays soundtracks of Birds chirping water Rushing and others. For those who care it will also digitally pro vide the user with a read out of his her body fat ratio Wash and Massage the buttocks and Mea sure urine sugar Levels. But the news is not All Good. According to the new York times one Hideki Nishioka a 90-year-old retired professor and the sitting head of the Japan toilet association says he always recommends that new schools in Japan contain at least one or two of the old style squat toilets to prevent japanese youth from becoming pampered and complacent thereby risking inferiority to their squat toilet neigh Bors of North Korea. Toto Japan a no. 1 toilet maker is ready to begin exporting its latest creations to China and the . For about $4,000, americans will be Able to boast an entirely new status Symbol ? a necessary that specializes in Bottom pampering. Tell me folks does decadence have no limit All of this toilet talk by the Way should be very Good news for the woman in South Africa who is suing the Sun International hotel Chain because she toppled off when one of their toilet seats broke causing her not Only pain and loss of amenities whatever that might mean in this Case but a phobic fear of toilet seats. See just when you thought you a heard it All. Meanwhile Over in Jolly olde England a Lovely new invention has hit the streets ? literally. According to bbl news a pop up toilet has been installed on a Street in Durham City. At the press of a Button the cylindrical Loo that by Day is disguised As a manhole cover will Rise from underneath the pavement. The High tech facility is Well lit As Are most of its users expected to Behas a three Man capacity and resembles a three Dent drum. The Public Relief innovation came with a Price tag of 20,000-pounds and has been paid for by a bar just opened in the City a North Road. Owners Are hoping it will keep the Over indulged from relieving themselves on pub Lic sidewalks and other inconvenient places. And there you have it folks my interpretation of All the news that a fit to print ? since the vice presidents latest interjections Arent. The Way i figure it if we re going to potty ? lets do it right. Elizabeth Schuett writes for Cox news service. Rudy Redekop president up Canadian newspapers limited partnership Murdoch Davis / publisher Nicholas Hirst / editor ;