HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-04-30, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1986.
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'Fair' games
At the recent Member of Parliament Dinner sponsored by the
Huron County Federation of Agriculture, Huron -Bruce M.P.
Murray Cardiff echoed other members of the federal
government when he said trade negotiations with the United
States were not so much about free trade but fair trade. Who can
argue against fair trade?
The problem is that fairness is not an absolute. What one
country considers fair may be an outrage to another. Fairness
itself becomes negotiable and the strongest party usually gets
to determine what is fair and what is not. The weaker party may
grumble for years that what was "fair" wasn't fair but it
doesn't much matter once the battle had been won.
The attitude of the U.S. Senate's finance committee last
week shows that Americans, other than President Ronald
Reagan himself, are not in love with the idea of free trade with
Canada. The senators vowed to look at all aspects of the trade
agreement with a magnifying glass. They gave the indication
they would love to kill the bill unless it is totally favourable to the
U.S.
On the other hand we have Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
who has staked his reputation on getting free trade with the
Americans. If it comes down to an ultimatum from the
Americans that Canada give up regulations to protect Canadian
culture or give up marketing boards or give up social security
programs Americans feel are "subsidies" or they will walk
away from the table, will the Canadian government have the
courage to wave goodbye?
To date Canada has already given in to American pressure to
give up many of the policies that irritated them and the
negotiations haven't even started. When the pressure really
gets tough, what more will the Americans want us to give up.
And what happens in the meantime? American wheat
salesmen are undercutting Canadians in many of our
traditional wheat markets around the world, yet the huge
subsidies of the American Farm Bill will mean American
farmers will be making far more than Canadian farmers get. It's
the kind of action a Canadian government should be fighting to
stop. The Americans certainly would be if the situation was
reversed. Yet our government, anxious to keep the Americans
happy and talking, is saying hardly a word about it.
And what happens to the Canadian economy in the
meantime? If you own a furniture or textile factory, would you
be interested in investing more money in your business given
what could happen when free trade comes? Would you be
interested in paying for milk or egg quota given the uncertainty
free trade talks bring in those areas of Canadian Agriculture?
The thing that concerns many Canadians is not "fair" trade,
or even free trade but that the Americans seem to be setting the
rules on just what is fair and free. We need to be shown that our
own government has the kind of determination that won't let us
be taken advantage of. So far we've seen little evidence it has.
What to print
One of the moral dilemmas often confronting reporters and
editors of just what is fit to print comes to the fore again with the
current fear of terrorist attack.
Recently a Quebec reporter proved just how lax airport
security was in Montreal when he got through the security
check with a fake bomb and a starter's pistol on his person. The
subsequent uproar hit the floorofthe House of Commons where
the minister in charge promised tougher security checks at
airports. The story will also hit the courts where the reporter in
question will be tried on mischief charges.
There will be those who will agree with the officials who
pressed charges saying that by showing the weakness in
security, the reporter was showing potential terrorists that they
could get away with murder. Journalists will argue that they
were doing a public service by showing the leaks in the system
so it could be patched before someone did exploit the
weakness.
Similarly on CBC Morningside recently, Peter Gzwoski was
talking to some Nova Scotian journalists who said someone had
brought up the vulnerability of the ferry system from the U.S. to
terrorist attack. They almost hated to talk about the subject, the
reporters said, because by doing so they might give terrorists
ideas they might never have thought about on their own. On
the other hand, maybe some terrorist had already thought of it
and by talking about it, the journalists draw attention to the
problem, and maybe save lives.
Decisions like this are being made around the world by
thousands of reporters and editors every day. Unfortunately
there is no "right answer" . However authorities who prosecute
reporters for showing weaknesses in the job the authorities
themselves are doing, seem to be abusing their powers.
DOES DADD ►SEH L L Y APPRECIATE- A1?T ?1
NO, DEAR, i-1E'S BEAN STARII4 AT THAT ANTI N F
AN HooR t3ECAOSE HE cANT nULAZE I T- OUT I
U
rthe world view
) from Mabel's Grill
There are people who will tell
you that the important decisions in
town are made down at the town
hall. People in the know, however
know that the real debates, the real
wisdom reside down at Mabel's
Grill where the greatest minds in
the town (if not in the country)
gather for morning coffee break,
otherwise known as the Round
Table Debating and Filibustering
Society. Sincenotjusteveryone
can partake of these deliberations
we will report the activities from
time to time.
MONDAY: Hank Stokes said he sat
in on the hearing down in Clinton
on that new power corridor Ontario
Hydro wants to build for a couple of
days last week. He said it wasn't
likely to replace the soap operasas
the favourite entertainment on a
weekday afternoon.
Billie Bean was saying that if
they keep building power lines
through the county the way they
are there won't be room for
farming or even buildings. Hank
said if they keep pushing farmers
off the land in his neck of the woods
and keep tearing down the houses
and barns, there should be room
for wall-to-wall hydro towers.
TUESDAY: With the weather
changing again for the worse Julia
Flint said she's getting whiplash
going back and forth between
summer clothes, spring clothes
and winter clothes. "No matter
what I wear in the morning, I know
that by noon it will be the wrong
clothes. I'm either too hot or too
cold.
"Sometimes I think I should go to
the layered look," she said. "I
should wear my bikini under a
short -sleeved blouse under a
heavy sweater."
"You do that," Tim O'Grady
said, "then we'll all pray fora heat
wave just about the time coffee
break rolls around."
WEDNESDAY: Ward Black was
talking about having been over at a
meeting where Larry Grossman
talked about how the Liberals are
ruining the medical system in
Ontario. They're getting the doc-
tors all upset and it's not going to
solve a thing.
"Well," says Hank Stokes, "I
keep hearing people talking about
the way the whole OHIP system is
falling apart but you know, I drove
by the hospital the other day and
the darned thing was still standing.
Looked like it might last a couple
more years too. What's more they
had this big sign up about the new
addition they're planning. Then I
drove by the doctors' parking lot
and it was full of BMW's and
Caddies and iddy-biddy sports
cars.
"Geeze," he said, "I wish the
farming business was in such bad
shape."
THURSDAY: Billie Bean was all
excited about "his" Maple Leafs
saying they just might go all the
way to the Stanley Cup. Nobody
reminded him that three weeks ago
he was saying the whole team
should be taken out and buried
because they stunk so much.
Tim O'Grady said he stopped
letting his kids watch hockey on
television. It wasn't the violence
that bothered him, he said. He just
couldn't see how he could convince
them that there was such a thing as
a justice system when the NHL
seems out to disprove it by
changing all the rules and letting
people get away with everything
just short of murder just because
it's "playoff hockey".
FRIDAY: Ward Black was pretty
happy this morning because the
Americans had agreed to go ahead
with free trade talks. That, of
course, got a good round of
discussion going. Hank Stokes said
that he wasn't too sure he wanted
some guy negotiating his future for
him who probably didn't know a
boar from a sow.
"I don't know," Billie Bean
said. "Mulroney seemed to know a
bit about pigs. Remember that
time he said the Liberals were
guilty of patronage but if his party
had been the government his
people would probably have their
snouts in the trough too? He's sure
proved he knows how tofeed the
pigs."
Letters to the editor
Funding cutbacks
endanger programme
THE EDITOR,
Your readers may be interested
in knowing about a health promo-
tion project designed to promote
the establishment of self help
groups that is being placed in
jeopardy by federal government
cutbacks. Remember when the
federal budget came out a couple of
months ago? The conservative
government talked about getting
tough! They talked on cutting back
on civil service jobs and putting
Continued on page 5
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