The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Good and Not So Good The annual Flin Flon reunion Christmas luncheon will be held this year at Winnipeg's Viscount Gort Hotel (at least I hope, as it has been undergoing renovations) this Friday, December 4 at noon. Once again it is expected to include a great number of former Flin Flonners, and even some still living there who will come to Winnipeg for the event, or who happen to be visiting the big city and want to see some of their former friends and acquaintances. It is truly amazing how many people show up, and there are always some new faces. Sometimes Flin Flon authors stop by in hopes of selling some books. There are probably more writers per-capita in our small city than any other similar place in the world. Just visit the public library sometime and see for yourself! The reunion luncheon committee is chaired by former North Avenue resident, teacher and artist David Negrych. He has an excellent committee, including a phoning committee that brings out the troops each month when the luncheons are held. The gala event of the year, however, is the Christmas one. It features a choir with such songbirds as Richard Lyons and Dorothy Liss, Christmas carols for everyone and sometimes even skits. There is usually a poem reading by the chairman as well. There are also draws for prizes so generously donated by Flin Flon businesses and individuals, plus many Winnipeg organizations and individuals. Last year there were over 100 people in attendance and everyone received a prize. Hey Reminder readers, if you are in Winnipeg on December 4, why not plan on attending the luncheon? Just call me at (204) 832-6557 or Dave Negrych at (203) 334-0323 and we will find a spot for you! The reunion promises a good time, but what about all those things out there that are not so good? What is obviously not good is the federal Liberal Party and leader Michael Ignatieff, who at this writing are in free fall in the polls. Why has this happened? It really is the fault of the leader, who had reversed his support of the government in these tough economic times. Suddenly, for little/no explainable reason, Ignatieff announced in late August that he would attempt to defeat the government and force an election that absolutely nobody wanted. "After four years of drift, four years of denial, four years of division and four years of discord, Mr. Harper, your time is up," he was quoted as saying. Even politically unstable NDP leader Jack Layton reversed his long-standing desire to defeat the Tories, passing himself off as statesmanlike. But really, Layton was reacting to his party's lack of popularity and the likelihood they would have lost seats in an election. Ignatieff has allowed the Conservatives to define him as merely a visitor to the country who will leave if he is defeated or raise your taxes if elected. Now Ignatieff says he has a lot of work to do. Does he ever! It has been said that when things go wrong, they get worse. A good example is the Liberal-dominated Senate committee that tried to amend a bill that would take away the so-called "two-for-one" sentencing provision. This informal provision, which has angered many Canadians, sees judges grant criminals two days' credit toward their sentence for every one day they spend in pre-trial custody. All parties in the House voted for this "get tough" bill from the Tories, and the Senate Liberals, for no good reason, were trying to change it Ð to the consternation of provincial governments of all political stripes. Fortunately, as The Windsor Star recently reported, the Liberal Senators withdrew their opposition to the bill, meaning that the practice of two-for-one sentencing will cease to exist. However, the Star noted that judges can still, under extreme circumstances, give 1.5 days of credit for every day in custody, but they would have to justify their decision and explain how they define "extreme." After all of this, more people are feeling that the Senate is totally out of touch and needs to be reformed or scrapped. Why did Ignatieff not just tell his Liberal senators what to do from the very beginning? Just asking. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
