Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 23, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade wednesday August 23, 2006 Liberty of religion comment editor Equality of civil rights Gerald flood 697-7269 editorials Manitoba a softwood i t was Only eight months ago that Tolko Indus tries was threatening to shut Down its Sawmill in the Pas a move that would have eliminated hundreds of jobs and crippled the towns ability to pro vide municipal services. Concessions by workers and help from the government prevented the shut Down but those measures in no Way guaranteed a Bright future for the operation. More needed to be done. Some of that More arrived yesterday when prime minister Stephen Harper announced that legislation to approve a softwood lumber Deal with the United states would be introduced next month. Passage of the Bill will ensure that More than $4 billion of $5 billion of punishing tariffs collected from Canadian lumber producers Over the past four years will be returned to them. Its Money that Many Strug gling producers like the Sawmill in the Pas could sorely use to Deal with rising fuel costs and to adjust to the impacts of the stronger Dollar and increasing Competition from Eastern Europe. But More important in the Long run is that the agreement will create stable and predictable Access to the . Market for at least three years and for As Many As nine years or More. That must be Welcome news in the Pas and in every Sawmill town across Canada. To be sure the amount of lumber produced in Manitoba is Small compared to the rest of the coun try. Manitoba produces Only about one per cent of softwood lumber in Canada ? about 250 million Board feet a year almost All of which is sold into the . The few hundreds of jobs that lumber production creates in Manitoba is As nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of jobs in the rest of Canada. But the value of rebates and a predictable Access Are the same for every Mill and Mil worker hoping for a secure future. The softwood Deal is not perfect As everyone agrees. But it is better than the first draft unveiled in april and it is the Best Deal that Canada has been Able to get after years of trying. Certainly it is bet Ter than no Deal at All. There Are political Points to be made on the merits of the Deal that both the conservative government and opposition parties Are Likely to try to score. Failure to pass the Deal How Ever will dash the Hope it creates for Large and Small lumber operations and instead would precipitate an election. That would be a foolish and waste Ful outcome. If the opposition parties want to play Deal Breakers they will richly deserve to be punished at the ballot Box. Still waiting Stephen Harper promised in january selection that his government would introduce a Way to guar Antee that canadians would get health care services in a timely fashion. Health minister Tony Clement insists that Promise remains a priority but his com ments this week indicate he has no real plan about How or when it might get done. The Canadian med ical association has already done some of the hard thinking on that and or. Clement should look to their proposal to make guarantees a reality. Or. Clement is discovering like so Many Federal ministers before him How hard it is to move the provinces to make meaningful reforms to the Way they deliver health services. The Campaign to reduce waiting times began under Jean Chr Tien and made some strides under Paul Martin with the provinces agreeing to set the maximum time patients can safely wait for certain procedures such As heart bypass surgery. The next phase would see the provinces agree to meet the deadlines for patients but there is no recourse if time limits Are missed. And Ottawa has no constitutional Power to step in if promises Are not kept. Or. Harpers plan was to set up a system whereby patients who did not get a health service in a timely fashion in one province would be sent elsewhere for care on the Public Tab. But when asked this week about How that Promise is proceeding or. Clement responded that he is still thinking about it. Coincidentally yesterday the Canadian medical association elected As its next president or. Brian Day an orthopaedic surgeon from British Columbia who runs a successful private business. Or. Day Sells surgeries to patients under private plans such As the workers compensation Board. He knows from experience that the private sector can play a role in the delivery of Public health care ? the provincial government has contracts for service with private clinics. But . Is not the Only province expanding the private involvement in pub Lic health in the Wake of a 2005 supreme court decision that said a ban on private health insurance trampled individual rights Quebec has implemented wait time guarantees. The province has pledged to Send patients waiting too Long for care in the pub Lic system to other jurisdictions or to a private clinic. The cams proposal would expand the Quebec plan with a National framework jump started with Federal seed Money to provide the same guarantee to All canadians. Or. Days election should give the Cha renewed Energy to promote its wait time guarantee plan across the country. Or. Clement cannot Force the provinces to sign on to such a plan. But the history of wait time reforms shows that the Federal govern ment can have influence through its Treasury and Many negotiations with the provinces to get change going. Good health care demands that it be timely. If or. Clement does not push the provinces to guar Antee timely care canadians will continue to wait. Have your say 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 riders fans Are Loyal re advertisement in the aug. 16 edition of the free press depicting a Banjo picking Saskatchewan roughriders fan. As a Saskatchewan roughriders fan living in Manitoba for the last three years i have to say its really too bad that the Grey cup com Mittee has to use rider fans to guilt their Loyal fans into supporting their club by depicting a hillbilly from Saskatchewan. The irony of it All is that a hillbilly picking his Banjo depicts the True loyalty of a riders fan through thick and thin. This is unlike the majority of bomber bandwagon ers i be encountered since i be lived in this province which shows me How Loyal rider fans truly Are. Go riders Brendon Sayers Forrest fans owed an apology re construction of seats for cup reminds team of goal aug. 22. I was pleased to see the headline about stadium expansion for the Grey cup but disappointed to read Avi Sapers comment musing about whether the bombers will have a Chance to play in front of 15,000 freezing and mostly inebriated fans in those i think Saper owes the club and its fans an apology. Not Only do the comments discourage ticket buyers they also misrepresent the typical bomber fan. As a faithful attendee for the past 32 years my Overall experience is of enthusiastic patrons who Are interested in Good football on the Field. Yes it will Likely be Chilly on Grey cup Day however the characterization of most of the South end zone As drunk is inappropriate. Priti Shah Winnipeg what if they were White re mean spirited Brand spoof is no joke aug. 22. I Haven to seen the photo mocking Manitoba a spirited Energy branding but ill accept Gordon Sinclair a version of it. Or. Sinclair admits to finding the picture of the super imposed spirited Energy logo Over three men passed out at a bus Stop highly amusing until he notices that two of the men Are of aboriginal appearance. So let me get this straight. Does or. Sin Clair feel its of to laugh at these people in the picture if they Are White i be seen Many such sights in my travels around the world and in Winnipeg itself and i can Tell you that my first emotion is one of sorrow regardless of a persons race that people can become so despondent and sink so Low not one of Humour As or. Sinclair a first emotion was. It is Well known that or. Sinclair is a Champion of aboriginal rights and if his intentions Are pure in that regard he should be commended. However any person who admittedly exhibits a Basic contempt towards unfortunate people by laughing at their misfortune until he realizes they Are a part of his celebrated cause cannot be considered a True humanist and is a Champion of no one. Walter d. Hickey Sandy Hook letter of the Day Good Job free press re Home at last aug. 22. I would like to express my sincere thank you to the Winnipeg free press for doing a Good thing. I read in yester Days newspaper that the result of pub Lishing All those pictures of animals in need in saturdays newspaper was an awesome Success. Thank you for giving those animals a Chance at a Good life. Every living animal deserves that. I Hope that in future years you will continue to support this worthy cause. I also believe that your support should also be Given to other animal shelters in the City in order to also give them a Chance at life. Sometimes the news is full of bad things that happen but in this Case it was Good to see the Good that came out of it. Hope is somehow restored when you see stories like this published. Again i thank you for caring. Cielo Beltran Winnipeg ethnicity should to matter i am glad that Gordon Sinclair thinks it is racist to laugh at images of aboriginal people who appear to be homeless. It is sad that it appears he did not think it is just As hateful to laugh at images of homeless people regardless of their ethnicity. Doug Smith Winnipeg Plum Coulee is peachy when it comes to the Banning of liquor in provincial Parks it seems the Manitoba government is prepared to punish All of us for the acts of a few idiots. Maybe we just have to follow a different path. If you missed Plum festival in Plum Coulee aug. 18-20, you missed the Best. The Small town of Plum Coulee is one of Manitoba a Best kept secrets. As members of the Winnipeg nomads trailer club some of us attended the Plum festival this last weekend and the experience to say the least was wonderful. The hospitality and entertainment was second to none. Old time dancing coun try and Western music Friendly people something for every one no drunks no Row Diness a quiet Campground most everything for free. We really need to support such fantastic family events such As this. Bare yogis a local Morden group is an exceptional band that amazed us All. They did three sets saturday night and if you like 1960s and ?70 music the beatles Bruce Springsteen rolling stones then you should have been there. Unfortunately they per formed to limited crowds ? the Likely cause no Beer Garden. Who needs it when you have bands of this calibre and other great per formers who performed likewise. Plum Coulee had it All ? and without any problems. Next year Mark it on your Calen Dar Plum Coulee Plum festival Good people providing a wonderful time for those of us who appreciate the hard work and sincerity that goes into providing a great family experience. Tim Connell Carman too harsh on airline re a certs thanks for a nothing North West aug. 19. I think Lindor Reynolds was Overly harsh in criticizing Northwest airlines. While most commercial flights operate Well enough to make connections it is unwise to schedule critical events too closely to the arrival of a flight especially when More than one flight connection is needed. For the International journey your writer undertook i would have left the first Day in Costa Rica open except for a Standard precooked hotel room. Northwest also has two flavours of their inconvenience package ? one for Domestic ., and one International ? and most Pas sengers arriving in Houston from Minneapolis would Likely need Only the Domestic . Package. Upon discovering the five minute Domestic . Phone card just ask for an International one As i did in Minneapolis when the Winnipeg flight was delayed. Ted Iwanowski Fairfield Calif. Fol Lorama does City proud Fol Lorama is a Celebration that reminds us of who we Are and our responsibility to convey the world a message of Unity. It was a great experience to see Young canadians doing extremely Well in maintaining and exchanging their culture from learning and taking part of ethnic cultural events. I saw that each and every Pavilion participant was outstanding and talented. I had the Opportunity to meet with Many travellers and famous artists from the United states and overseas. It was great to see people learning about cultures other than their own. I also noticed that Many participants grew up in Canada and became professionals yet they maintain their culture with deep respect. I applaud their Outlook and their upbringing and most importantly i applaud Winnipeg in promoting the Rich diversity and culture throughout the City. Anju sen Winnipeg Winnipeg free press. Today a question previous question should Drivers of vehicles that use cleaner fuels get a tax break should an accused who is aboriginal be entitled to an All native jury yes 60% / no 32% / undecided 8% / total 645 vote online at poll ? 2006 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian Andrew s. Ritchie / publisher newspapers limited partnership Bob Cox / editor published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Patrick Flynn / Deputy editor Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 ;