Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 13, 2005, Winnipeg, Manitoba A11 Winnipeg free press focus wednesday april 13, 2005 albertan grit Teeth when using word Liberal hey Chuck what Are people talking about these words Are heard so often by my hot Little hungarian ears i even hear them in my sleep. I am supposed to know what people Are talking and presumably thinking about. It would be absolutely True for me to report that people Are not talking about Reg Alcock getting the Raspberry from senator Conrad. Who is senator Conrad you ask Bingo these Days everybody and his dog is asking whether people Are talking about the sponsorship scandal the Gomery inquiry and hey Chuck do the real people want an election right away this week the ctr evening news with Lloyd Robertson wanted to know what the real Centre of the country was thinking. So they brought the cameras into the Adler on line studio. It was the National edition of the show and so we were taking Calls from different parts of Canada. Several people who phoned wanted an election immediately. The callers who were most starved for an election were phoning in from Alberta. It cannot possibly Surprise anyone that albertan Are champing at the bit for a vote. They do realize it would be a major sacrifice. The Queen is scheduled to be in Alberta next month for Centennial celebrations. Alberta joined this Experiment known As the Domin Ion of Canada in the Spring of 1905. Premier Ralph Klein was itching to Host the Monarch. A vote in May or june would Likely Cost Alberta a visit from Camilla smother in Law. I never assume that everyone who reads this column knows the political landscape As Well As those of us who have millions of Canadian Kilometres on our odometers. So Here is Why a critical mass of albertan loathe the liberals. Some of it goes Back to the National Energy policy of a previous generation. Three decades ago the lib eral government in Ottawa Felt it was their Federal duty to plunder Albertas Oil wealth in order to make sure that Ontario a Economy did t suffer too much from the Oil shocks of the Day. Middle East politics drove up the Price of crude. Alberta has More crude than a Quebec scandal and so the Blue eyed of sheiks of Edmonton and Cal Gary Lethbridge Medicine hat red Deer and fort Mcmurray were going to make a Killin on crude. They still did. But some of the Cream off the top of the barrel was stolen by the liberals. Now there Are other reasons Alber tans grit their Teeth when they use the word Liberal. Memories of the old Energy policy Are just part of the pie. There is the culture of tolerance which Alberta enjoys. It is often mocked and even punished by Liberal Ontario and until recently Liberal Quebec. Albertan tolerate religion. Liberals sneer at people they think of As Bible thumping morons. Albertan tolerate americans. Liber als sneer at Alberta and often refer it to As the 51st state. Albertan tolerate individuals. Liber als talk about individualism As some sort of foreign concept adopted by american wannabes. Albertan talk about Freedom of Choice in health care. Liberals want to punish them Fine them jail them expel them. Of course when it comes to health care Quebec is the promised land do Jour. Lots of choices there and the Federal government does to scold them for abandoning Canadian values. Yes the callers from Alberta were the most jacked up about having an elec Tion. They said the sponsorship scandal made them mad. But the truth is they have been madder than hatters for As Long As a 30-year-old has been alive. In our next visit i want to ask you to help the Twenty and thirty somethings who Are wondering out loud on my phone lines about whether or not they should be participating in the next election. Its a consumer Issue folks. If you Are 30 and less have no memory of the cold War or the second world War elections Are seen As products and ser vices. What am i getting out of this what a the payoff Why should i puts my Money Down on a product called Canadian democracy which seems More irrelevant to my life than my dad s eight track tape collection. See a on saturday. Who knows by then Stephen Harper May have netted the bed and we May be in the Middle of an election Campaign. Charles Adler is heard weekday mornings 9 . To 11a.m. On Job. Adler on line National edition is heard weekday afternoons 2 . To 4 . . Crawford Summit new Intifada takes shape t Al Aviv ? the Public state ments of . President George w. Bush and israeli prime min ister Ariel Sharon in their joint press conference in Crawford Texas on monday reflected careful co Ordina Tion Between the two governments on every subject that was raised by the correspondents. Two subjects however that were not raised in the press con Ference were possibly More important. These were ? the Iran Ian nuclear Effort and the potential col lapse of the palestinian authority. Sharon came to his eleventh meeting with Bush since 2001, not Only with his Public aides but also with general res Meir Dagan the director of the israeli Mossad who carried two most up to Date files on those two subjects. He discussed them at length with his Cia counterparts. Both the . And Israel recognize the fact that they have no real Mili tary option against Iran. Its fortified nuclear facilities Are dispersed and built deep underground. Even if the . Acted alone Israel would be the target of the iranian retaliation. Hence they both support the european dialogue with Iran although they Are both sceptical about its outcome. Opinion the differences of opinion regarding various aspects of the israeli Palestin Ian conflict were not new nor Surpris ing. Even before he met with Bush Sharon was told by . Secretary of state condole Ezza Rice that the Dent would express Public opposition to the continued expansion of jewish settlements in the West Bank. Bush would also insist publicly on the Dis mantling of the illegal outposts that Sharon promised to dismantle Long ago. On the positive Side Rice told Sharon that Bush would reaffirm his commitments As expressed in his april 14, 2004 letter namely that due to realities on the ground Israel will not be required to withdraw to the 1949 armistice lines nor would it be compelled to dismantle the Large Popula Tion centres in the West Bank. Likewise Sharon told Rice that in the joint press conference he must insist that after the israeli withdrawal from Gaza there will be no shortcuts in the .-authored Road map to palestinian statehood and that there will be no final status negotiations before Abbas dismantles the terrorist Infra Structure in the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The contents of Bush Sharon discus Sion were conveyed yesterday in Cairo to president Hosni Mubarak by israeli foreign minister Sylvan shalom. The same report was also conveyed to israeli Deputy prime minister Shimon Peres. While the Public responses of Bush and Sharon were fully coordinated there were definitely conflicting interpretations of Mahmoud Abbas weak Ness. Sharon went to Texas determined to convey to Bush the message that Abbas talks too much but does very Little in fighting Sharon wanted also to warn Bush against Abbas tactics ? using his political weakness in order to extract More con Cessions from both Israel and the . Ten Days before the Crawford sum Mit Shimon Peres met in Jerusalem with palestinian prime minister Ahmad Aureia Abu Ala and with Muhammad Dahlan Abbas a Security Czar. Both warned Peres that the third Intifada is at the Dahlan said i want to be very Hon est with you Shimon. The Lull in the violence is Good for Israel. People Are More relaxed your Economy is again booming while in the West Bank and the Gaza strip nothing has changed. Therefore if you Don to make More con Cessions the palestinian authority will collapse and the Intifada will Sharon would have taken these warnings about the Intifada More lightly had they not been accompanied with very alarming developments on the ground. Because of Mahmoud Abbas weakness Hamas is increasing its popularity in Gaza and is Likely to make great gains in the coming Legisla Tive elections next july. All the pales Tinian terrorist groups including Abbas own Al Asa martyrs brigade Are smuggling arms and stockpiling them in the Gaza strip. Missiles among the arms smuggled Are five soviet made shoulder launched Strella ground to air missiles. What is More alarming during his meeting with leaders of All Radical palestinian groups Abbas invited them to move their Headquarters from Damascus to Gaza after the israeli withdrawal. Out going israeli chief of general staff general Moshe Maalon warned Sharon that after the israeli withdrawal Gaza would become a the . Is aware of these develop ments. Its envoy to the a general William Ward is being regularly sup plied with the intelligence reports about Gaza and the West Bank. Nevertheless Bush wants to give Abbas More time to fulfil his pledges. Bush with the support of the palestinians is committed to the establish ment of a palestinian state by the end of his presidency in 2008. The . Believes that its too soon to consider Abbas irrelevant and wants to give him More time to organize. I am disturbed and worried Bush is reported to have told his associates. In his press conference on monday Bush attributed the current tension in the Gaza strip to Lack of Confidence in either he added that the place to gain this Confidence is in Gaza and that he was determined to help Gaza become peaceful and self governing and a part of a future palestinian state. Bush had two treats to both Sharon and Abbas. Under the Guise of devel Oping the Negev and the Galilee Bush is sending to Israel a delegation to assess the costs of the israeli Infra Structure in the Gaza strip and the Transfer of its installations to the Negev and the Galilee. Bush will also be sending a delegation to Ramallal to discuss with Abbas the costs of the reconstruction of the Gaza strip. Thus Bush is demonstrating How far he is prepared to go to accommodate those israelis and palestinians who will be prepared to follow his Lead. The free press welcomes letters from readers. They must include the authors name address and Telephone number. Letters May be edited. Letters to the editor 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Fax 697-7412. Email letters to the editor protect Grey ghosts i Echo professor schaefers concern for the future of Woodland Caribou As described in the april 9 article Grey ghosts disappearing from forests. The Woodland Caribou is a Majestic and mysterious icon of Canadas wild lands. As a nation we celebrate the Caribou by placing its image on the 25?cent piece. The sad Side of the Coin is that Caribou Are in peril in every province and every territory and have already been wiped out of Nova Scotia new Brunswick and . Largely due to human actions. The Good news is that we have a Chance to save them. In Manitoba a Good Start would be having Woodland Caribou protected under provincial Law. The Federal and provincial species advisory committees have determined that Woodland Caribou Are a threatened species in Manitoba yet the provincial government chooses to resist their science. Conservation minister Stan Struthers claims that he is hopeful Woodland Caribou will be designated under the Manitoba endangered species act. Hope works Best when coupled with action. Leane Koss Winnipeg Pope set an example its Beautiful when people come together to sing songs of Hope and thanksgiving. Its wonderful to celebrate the death of a legend with such joyous Praise. But when people worship a mans life of love and Wisdom and turn a Blind Eye to his example its ugly. John Paul ii pushed for peace and Equality and economic Justice and the people worshipped him for it but while they were out celebrating children in the North end of Winnipeg were suffer ing. Pain and struggle still suffocate the North end of Winnipeg while people attended formal celebrations for a religious figure. What would the Pope think about the people who praised him at the service for him and then went on with their Busy lives this morning without giving even a thought about the broken people of Winnipeg its hypocrisy. Jon Braun Niverville Only a golfer Tiger Woods was not skating around two opponents and firing a shot from an impossible Angle and scoring a win Ning goal. He was not faking out a defender and slam dunking Over a 7-foot Behe Moth. Doonesbury he was not breaking five tackles and outrunning his defenders for a touch Down. Woods was in fact taking his time and hitting a Little Ball As close to a Hole As possible. So please save the round House uppercut punches the fist shaking Pelvis thrusting antics along with those Over expressive contorted facial expressions. Woods you Are Only a golfer. Ken Mcintyre Winnipeg Oleson is Correct Tom Oleson a article Don task the Church to change april 9, Page a12does a fantastic Job of defending the Church and John Paul ii. Or. Oleson is entirely Correct in saying that we need to believe in truth even if we Don to practise it. I like the Way he comes out at the very beginning of his article to say that abortion consists of killing Chil Dren. This is the kind of honesty and Freedom of expression that Many peo ple Don to take advantage of these Days. In our country ? in the Western world ? it has become almost impossible to say these things without Garner ing much criticism. It is a shame that people ignore that As or. Oleson says the process of life is continuous. He has summed up the Church a position on abortion very eloquently and Sim ply. Or. Oleson is right with regards to absolutism As Well. The Church should not change. The Pope is entrusted by the College of cardinals to maintain what the Church has proclaimed As True for the past 2,000 years. If the Pope would Bend Back and Forth like politicians do the Church and perhaps the whole world would be in grave trouble. Thank god the Church is absolutist it presents itself As the Only Beacon of truth and consistency in our modern world. Natalie Bisson Howden by Garry Trudeau ;