Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 11, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a18 the right Choice w Hen canadians go to the polls on tuesday to vote for a new Federal government it is unlikely that a majority of them will choose to re elect Stephen harpers conservatives. The reasons for that reluctance May be various and several but the nature of Canadian politics Means that it might not make much difference that or. Harper could still be returned As the prime minister of another minority government or even of a majority although the latter seems to be increasingly improbable if this weeks polls Are any indication. One reason that canadians Are Cool to the conservatives is or. Harper himself. As a politician he is not particularly likable. He is aloof and Distant and his sense of Humour rarely connects with that of Ordinary people. He seems to Lack empathy his humanity breaking through Only rarely and barely. In a More perfect world whether we like or dislike people personally would not affect our assessment of How they do their jobs but As every election proves our political world is far from perfect. A More serious concern than or. Harpers personality however is his obsession with secrecy. Most conservative Cabinet ministers and maps Are forbidden for example to speak spontaneously in Public about Public policy or government business. This May be nothing More sinister than an Effort to ensure that they Are All Reading from the same Page but it also serves to raise suspicions that there is something More to it than that. In the past some conservatives have embarrassed or. Harper and the party with comments endorsing a right Wing social Agenda that is anathema to most canadians. The party says there is no such Agenda today but secrecy is usually taken to mean there is something to hide. If or. Harper wants the Trust of the voters he needs to present to them finally a government that they believe they can Trust. There Are other reasons Why people May choose not to vote conservative some trivial Small cuts to arts funding some worthy of serious debate the Cost and course of the controversial afghan War. The most serious Issue confronting the conservatives however is the one that or. Harper appears to have hoped to avoid facing when he called an Early election the current economic crisis. The opposition parties have been making political Hay with the economic troubles and the fears of a recession that have gripped the world. Canada is in a better position to weather this crisis than any of the other industrialized nations but the liberals and new democrats argue that the Harper government has no Clear understanding of its magnitude no empathy for its victims and no Clear sense of direction in How to Deal with it. Polls this week record declining tory popularity and a corresponding surge for Stephane Dionys liberals and Jack Lay tones nip so those arguments May be finding resonance among voters. The position of the major parties on the economic crisis is revealing of their nature under their current leaders. Or. Layton embraces a socialism so anachronistic that it was abandoned decades ago by the european social democrats that or. Layton holds up As an example. The nip blames big Banks and big business and would tax and spend the country into an Industrial Backwater. Under or. Dion the liberals have been largely ineffective in opposition and their election platform reflects that consisting As it does of a Promise to hold next month the kind of meetings with economic experts that the government is conducting now to raise taxes through a punitive new Carbon tax and to increase spending on social programs. Under the shrill cacophony of the oppositions cries for action or. Harpers conservatives have remained Calm. Look at the last two years the prime minister says correctly claiming that he has offered generally competent government. In the face of this crisis he promises More of the same. On thursday two major International financial institutions the International monetary fund and the world economic forum agreed with him saying that Canada was on the right course to weather the storm. Or. Harpers economic policy is Clear and practical and Worth supporting on tuesday. To turn the old saying on its head this time hard times should be tory times. As the economist said thursday if canadians reject the conservatives it would set a dispiriting precedent that panic plays better politically than prudence. There is another reason political rather than economic to vote conservative on tuesday. As it exists the Canadian political system is either too monolithic two thirds of the country places itself on the Centre left but divisions on the left prevent it from having a voice proportional to its size or not fragmented enough the Centre right is occupied Only by the conservatives. Canadians need More than that either a two party system or a True Multi party system that enables a variety of coalitions. As this election has shown the liberals and the nip will not come together willingly even to defeat the conservatives. A conservative Victory next week however would almost certainly mean the departure of or. Dion forcing the Liberal party to intensely examine itself and the probable departure of or. Layton giving the nip the Opportunity to drag itself into the 21st Century. More importantly it would underline the need for a coalition of the left and a realignment of the Centre offering canadians a Clear Choice in future elections. A vote for the conservatives in a sense counts in two important ways for canadians today and tomorrow. Editorials Winnipeg free press saturday october 11, 2008 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights a 18 comment editor Gerald flood 697 7269 Gerald. Flood free press. My. Ca Winnipeg repress. Com 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. E mail letters free press. My. Ca letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg free press or its staff. Poll vote online at wow. Winnipeg repress. Com tax hikes foolish i find it interesting that some of the Federal parties preach the Protection of the working person and those who Are retired. They feel that taxing the big evil corporations is a Way of protecting working persons and retirees. The problem is that Many working persons and retirees have Mutual funds that Are More than Likely invested in these big terrible corporations. Overtaking these corporations not Only makes them less competitive within the world Economy it directly affects the resp holdings of the very workers and retirees these parties Are trying to protect. With a huge proportion of our population reaching retirement age you better make sure these evil corporations Are staying in Canada and maintaining tax paying jobs in Canada. Otherwise your Little nest egg will be gobbled up very quickly in health care and other social services through higher taxation. John Chmelik Winnipeg attack shows desperation re third place was last place oct. 2. Mike Haslam of the International dragon boat federation Idof asserts his organization is the official dragon boat organization in the world perhaps in his own mind and the mind of his Board but not in reality. The team Canada dragon boat that competed in Poland recently was invited and partially funded by the recognized paddling organization in Canada Canoe kayak Canada. Canoe kayak Canada is the Only paddling sport organization in Canada officially recognized by the International Canoe federation if the if is the Only paddling federation officially recognized by the International olympic committee. The Idof has for some years demanded recognition and funding from sport Canada and inclusion in the olympic family. It has been turned away on numerous occasions. A slams attempt to minimize the excellence of team Canada and to denigrate the in Fps dragon boat world championships shows his desperation to be recognized by the official groups in charge of paddling in the world. Keith s. James manager team Canada dragon boat 2008 Winnipeg i prefer truth to fudging Nicholas Hir Stys column Harper has a tin ear for nuances of winning oct. 9 indicates to me he would rather have the prime minister of Canada fudge the truth in favour of winning popular support. I would like to see an authentic open minded individual at the Helm of this country who is consistent in doing what he she has said he she will do both before and after an election rather than saying what the Public wants to hear before the election and then doing something quite different after the election. Hir Stys reference to the arts Gaffe and the economic Gaffe Are not gaffes at All to Many of the voting Public. A Leader moving steadily Forward with his current Lon term economic plans May not feel a need to change direction Midway through the implementation of these Long term plans to upstage Stephane Dion or anyone else. Hir Stys All or nothing interpretation of harpers Art funding Cut which he acknowledges As being a Small portion of the total amount spent on the arts and harpers comment about Ordinary people not seeing a need to increase taxpayer subsidies to make grand galas grander does not at All equate to Harper being out of touch with the Public he serves or belittling everyone who has Ever been to a concert attended the theatre or an Art gallery. Bette Turkalo Winnipeg toughen punishment re school division throws Book at students oct. 9. High school is hard. All the after school specials have taught us this. Kids will expect a certain amount of razing from the experienced seniors when they go to their first Day. But in these Days when students Are told there is a Zero tolerance policy for bullying and that physical or verbal abuse will have dire consequences it is ridiculous that the six students who humiliated three Grade 10 students Are chastised with just six months out of school. This is barely a punishment. I cant imagine How it will feel to the three students who were attacked during this hazing when their abusers come Back in february. Perhaps the Hanover school division trustees should consider expulsion if its True that hazing and physical assault is not acceptable and the Hanover school division will seek to ensure that such an event will not repeat itself. Aside from the disappointment of losing the privilege of graduating with their classmates what will these six bullies have Learned Sarah e. Lund Winnipeg Flats or heels Tough Call your websites daily poll on thursday asked readers if the economic crisis affects who they will vote for in the Federal election. How can the average Canadian with Little or no understanding of economics and the financial world possibly know enough to make an informed decision dont encourage people to act like experts when All they really have is opinions. Asking canadians to choose which Leader will be a better Steward of the Economy would be like asking my father whether i should Wear Flats or heels he has no idea but that wont Stop him from giving me his opinion. Kirsten Goldstone Winnipeg in defence of Pat Martin re Pat Martin grandstanding oct. 8. In response to Matt Marc ass letter i would like to clarify an Assumption he made about Pat Martin just trying to get his name in the papers. After the free press published my oped piece from the perspective of a Gordon Bell alumnus articulating the need for a Green Field Pat immediately contacted me pledging to help. The Only politician to thus far do so it was i who informed reporter Joe Paraskevas of Martins Pivotal support. It will take a Small Miracle to find Canada Post a suitable place to relocate before it builds on the lot adjacent to Gordon Bell providing it would be open to this before it begins building next Yea but Long shot miracles can and do happen. Everyone from All political stripes can make a difference if they let the school Board and the Gordon Bell administration know the time is Long overdue for the nearly 1,000 students of Gordon Bell to have a Green sports Field. With Canada posts gracious understanding this could actually be something that together we could make happen. Nancy Chippendale Winnipeg Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 136 no 330 2008 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697 7000 a member of the Manitoba press Council Bob Cox / publisher Margo Goodhand / editor to Days question was the West end Biz right to take Down a Wall mural for political reasons previous question has the current economic crisis changed your opinion on who you will support in the Federal election yes 53% no 47% total 5,312 letter of the Day proud military history re casualties of War oct. 9. Honour our fallen just dont forget our soldiers currently fighting. The Canadian Soldier in history although respected and even feared by his enemy has until recently been largely absent from mainstream culture. We have been wrongfully painted As peacekeepers for decades when in reality the Canadian peacekeeping Force has been minimal. What Paul grosses pass Hendele does for canadians hopefully is help us realize that we Are and have always have been a nation steeped in military history. As canadians it is important to know that we have a tradition of Brave Young men who risked their lives to help others Halfway around the world often risking life and limb for others who did not even know. These Young men fought and died for this country so we or others less fortunate could enjoy a better life. They should never under no circumstances be forgotten. Equally important is that we canadians listen to our soldiers when they return Home like the men and women returning from Afghanistan. Only through their stories can we As canadians truly understand the concept of self sacrifice for a greater Canada and a greater world. Jerrad st. Germain Winnipeg Chris Large / Toronto International film festival Paul Gross stars in pass Hendele a 18_ oct 11 08. Ind a18 10/ 10/ 08 8 58 09 pm ;