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.
One thing about politics is that there are almost always new controversies. This is not always good in a parliament or legislature, especially when there is a minority government with all parties jostling for attention. Even in a relatively calm province like Manitoba, something like photo radars catching speeders in construction zones when there are no construction workers, gets a lot of ink. Should this really be a controversy? If the sign says 60 km/h, why not drive at that speed? In any case, with the dreadful state of Winnipeg's roads, why should you drive fast? On some roads, 20 km/h is too fast. The Brian Mulroney inquiry is mercifully over, at least until Judge Jeff Oliphant writes his report. It droned on with Mulroney trying to convince the public that his acceptance of $225,000 from a person like Karlheinz Schreiber was a simple private business deal, like Jean Chretien's private deals when he was out of office. From a former Prime Minister, this is difficult to accept, especially when he paid the taxes on the money much later (and then only on half of it). Obviously he had a slick lawyer, and you and I would have had to pay taxes on the whole amount plus a penalty for being late. * * * The long and violent history of the Tamil Tigers trying to wrestle control of part of Sri Lanka appears to finally be over after 30 years of terror by the group who really invented suicide bombings, using this weapon against their own people. The Canadian Tamils who have been demonstrating and tying up traffic in places like Toronto, just don't get it, as the public and the government have little/no sympathy for a group designated a terrorist organization by countries like Canada and India, the latter of which had their Prime Minister assassinated by the group. Sri-Lankans danced in the streets at news of the defeat and death of Tiger leaders. Now the Tamil Canadian leaders are asking the Government of Canada to let Tamils with relatives in Canada swiftly enter our country. The question many Canadians are asking is, how did we get 240,000 of them in Ontario? The group obviously has no respect for the Canadian system and values. No government, except a fantasy one headed by Jack Layton, would pay any attention to their demands. * * * Native controversies continue to appear in Canadian society. Recently, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, together with the South Beach Casino, donated $1 million to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which is to open in Winnipeg. Many are questioning the wiseness of donating money that could be used to address concerns of health and education facilities on reserves, and of course the poverty. One can see why the chiefs would like to be included with those whose rights have been violated, but a million dollars? Another reported issue was the Saskatchewan couple who wanted to donate $500,000 to establish a a scholarship at the University of Saskatchewan. It would have gone to needy, non-aboriginal students, but was turned down because the university saw it as discriminatory. Apart from it being amazing that a university would turn down donations, several objectors have pointed out that there are many scholarships available only for deserving native students, and the federal government provides many dollars for these students and nothing for others. At a PC Party policy meeting while Mulroney was PM, the government proposed to limit the time that native university students could take to finish. I intervened with the minister and later Prime Minister Kim Campbell, arguing that no restriction on time should be allowed as higher education was sorely needed by deserving native students, and time limits made no sense. Campbell agreed and the idea was dropped. I was quite impressed with her and supported her for leader in 1993. A critical editorial in the Winnipeg Free Press castigated the proposed scholarship donors on the argument that while the federal government gives money for scholarships, some chiefs use the cash for other reserve needs and there is little left to send students to college. If this is true, why does the government allow it and not insist the money be used for its designated purpose? Just asking! Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
