Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 17

The Edmonton Journal, Wednesday, April 22, 1998 A17 Letters EDITOR: John Brown, 429-5220; fax 498-5677 Familiar scenario for crippling of our health-care system First, establish a credible 'smoke screen' to hide the real intention. This was easily accomplished by focusing attention on the public debt, the budget balancing act, and the "affordability" of higher taxes. Note: Revenue from gambling, the "most vicious form of taxation," apparently doesn't count. Take control away from the "grassroots" people by appointing boards to administer "restructured" health regions. Note: Appointed boards are responsible to the minister of health and can be controlled by the minister.

Then take away from the boards all power to levy taxes for the operation of hospitals and health services. Make them totally dependent on grants from the government. (We are told this will make them more efficient and accountable!) Impose fiscal cutbacks. This puts the system under stress, especially when expensive equipment needs replacing. The boards are under pressure to close hospital wards, operating rooms, even some hospitals.

Staffing has to be reduced, quality care began to suffer. Roll back of doctor's fees with no regard for inflation of costs, work load, reduction of lab facilities, population growth, etc. Ignore the fact that morale has fallen to an all-time low. We are losing good doctors and nurses, frustrated and desperate enough to respond to the promises made by recruiting agents from the US. push the system to the breaking point.

Allow the delays for elective, surgery to grow beyond all reason Ignore repeated warnings, from both-involved professionals and the public, that our health care is in a crisis. Now the stage is set. Enter the pri- vate institutions to rescue us from a broken-down system. Art Wigmore Blackfalds- Was the collapse of our health-care system planned? We sincerely hope not, but it is not difficult to imagine there is a plan being followed, now nearing its objective. The objective? Cripple public health care and prepare the province for smart investors to establish private health clinics and hospitals for profit! There can be no doubt that our health-care plan has been badly wounded.

Does the following scenario seem too unlikely? Sale of animals to univeirsity was a breach of trusts Rules on sale of weaponry are just meant to be broken the community pound; however, betrayed that trust even though, as we-; understand the situation, you and-your family own the Doghouse Kennel Supply group of companies and over the years have made a profit by selling primarily dog food to all with the right hand while the left hand. callously destroyed the lives of per- fectly healthy dogs. Did you utilize a scanner of the dog's neck in order to ascertain ownership of the pets that people found and deliv-, ered to you? We would suggest not The question must be asked whether or not the University of Alberta Research -Lab performed a scan on each and every dog that would easily determine pet ownership We are all aware that dogs are stolen from yards and sold for research. Does the of A do anything to assist in pre- venting the heartache that children and other pet owners must under these circumstances? Mr. Belter, you not only deceived the-, community at large and the County Leduc but as well the university.

You" should be very ashamed indeed. Don and Barbara Bo wen Vancouver, B.C.' David Belter (Aarondare Boarding Kennels) "provided" perfectly healthy young dogs to the of A for research purposes. from pound won't be used in research of Community (Leduc) unaware of earlier practice," The Journal, March 14). He offered the excuse that because he had had a kidney transplant his actions were justified and therefore he has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. We beg to differ.

At the time that the article appeared in The Journal we were visiting relatives in the County of Leduc and we can assure Belter that they and their neighbours were outraged at your actions. You very obviously missed the point entirely, either intentionally or unintentionally Belter was placed in a position of trust by a combination of the community and the county. The community expected of him, and he owed it to the community, to receive pound funding and in return find lost dog owners or alternatively loving homes for animals delivered into your care. This was his first obligation. Mr.

Belter, you accepted the community's trust when you agreed to become Taft ignores revenues Kevin Taft writes spending cuts a phoney war," The Journal, April 16) that Ralph Klein's election on a platform of cutting spending was accomplished by tricking the electorate into believing that spending was out of control. Taft insists that, since per capita spending on all programs began to decline in 1983, there was no fiscal crisis. The whole thing was a "trick." But why did Taft pick 1983 as his benchmark? Why not 1975? Taft's own graphs show a steep ascendancy in per capita spending from 1975 to 1983. This of course was the period when spending really did skyrocket, in response to the increase in oil revenues forced by the OPEC cartel. 1983 saw the beginning of a prolonged recession.

The spending levels seen in 1983 are not some naturally occurring benchmark to which all spending levels must now be compared. It is typical of anti-Klein analysts like Taft to insist that Klein's spending cuts were a goal in themselves. But this is false. Klein didn't throw civil servants out of work for fun, or to satisfy an ideological compulsion. He did it to reduce and eventually eliminate annual deficits.

It is bizarre that Taft would write of spending and completely ignore the corresponding issue of revenues. To do this is to obliterate any understandable context of Klein's achievement. Ian Coleman Edmonton Rugby champions set an example On Easter weekend we heard that an agreement had been reached to arrive at a resolution of the "Troubles" in Ireland. What most Canadians would be unaware of was that on Easter Saturday the Irish Junior (under 19) Rugby team won the world championship in France. What is more surprising is that the Irish Juniors are from all of Ireland (North and South).

Rugby is the only sport at all age levels where the national team comes from all regions regardless of sectarian division. Hopefully, the Irish world champion juniors' pulling together are ambassadors for the island's future without the embittered hangups of their fathers and forefathers. Ieuan Evans Edmonton Let taxpayers decide priorities Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade looks at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade report entitled Export of Military Goods From Canada for 1996. Canada exported military goods to 99 countries that year and a remarkable 54 of those nations are identified by Amnesty International as human rights violators. Some of our preferred customers included China, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco and Pakistan.

I suppose that if Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy doesn't have any qualms about personally signing the export permits to countries such as these, why should Art Eggleton be concerned? It's just another example of rules that are there to be broken and inconsistency of yet another government Patricia Hartnagel Edmonton not sufficient would rather work than raise their young kids." While that may be true, most of us know tons and tons of fathers who would rather work than stay at home with their young children. Those of us who were awake during the last 25 years see the responsibility of child care as one that both parents share equally We also know that most men benefit from having the mother stay at home and, therefore, often blame the mother for the state of child care today Martha Dobbin Edmonton Has the moment arrived when all taxing bodies ask us, the taxpayers, to priorize where our dollars are being spent? Could a list of general budget categories be attached to tax notices asking for our top 10 choices and our least wanted 10? Could democracy rule? Or must we continue to be considered too radical, biased, uninformed and whatever other convenient excuse the people we have elected choose to give? So Defence Minister Art Eggleton is peddling military hardware to Kuwait he's there anyway so why not? Never mind that the Canadian government has guidelines in place that prohibit the export of military goods to "countries under imminent threat of hostilities" or whose governments have "a persistent record of serious violations of the human rights of their citizens." Governments, be they Tory or Liberal, haven't paid any attention to their own guidelines in the past so why set any ethical precedents now? It would, however, be refreshing if Eggleton were more honest about what he is doing and why. To cloak his sales pitch in the guise of Canadian friendship toward Kuwait is really a bit much. Why not be forthright about it and admit that there is a buck to be made, Kuwait has the cash, and we are going to go for it! A recent report published by the Single income Mr. Ashby excuse for strangers to raise children," The Journal, April 7) must be a modern Rip Van Winkle who just woke up from a 25-year sleep.

He needs to be brought up to date on two very basic observations about life in the modern world. The first is that due to the loss of full-time jobs, ever-increasing fees and the rise in part-time over full-time jobs, many couples have no choice but for both to work outside the home. This is necessary for the basics of life. The second is in response to his secret, that from first-hand experience he knows "a fair number of mothers life and with the whole issue of gay rights being so prominent in today's society. How "politically by today's standards were her actions of 25 years ago.

Yet, as she writes, I can see how her decisions of the time were made and justified. I sincerely hope that her other sons read it, and that some discussion ensues. Perhaps her sister and friend who encouraged her to write this column could make sure they all receive copies of it. How unfair for her to have borne this burden, pain and guilt alone for so many years. Dorothy Forbes St.

Albert Goyette lets the truth shine through Column took courage to write Young offenders need hope Who can better provide direction on their choices? -z Besides, pointing to a list of 10 items, a large percentage of people believe to be overfunded is one heck of a way to justify ignoring pesky special interest groups. And things like large raises toj the poverty-stricken deputy ministers, judges and elected officials could be in. our top 10. D.M. Wyman -j Edmonton 1 This was a three-day forum and very, very important to Albertans and, indeed, to Canadians.

We need people like gutsy Linda Goyette she makes the truth shine-, through, or as much as she is allowed. Edmonton for a pardon? are worthy of a clean record in the same way an adult convicted criminal can apply for a pardon after five years -j (full-time employment no repeat offences, etc.) with no convictions. I believe that if these youths are given something like freedom from a "black mark" to work towards, it.j would do a lot more towards accom- plishing what the Young Offenders Act intended to do, which is allow kids who make mistakes but still have a hope ofi being honest, productive members oU society to go ahead and do so, whilej keeping reins on those who one day may commit even worse crimes. Leif GregersenH Edmonton No one cared then. No one seems to be interested now.

As Lewin has observed, even Yad V'Shem, dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the.j Holocaust, "seems to have difficulty in recognizing the man's compassion and assistance extended to the Jewish com- munity in his diocese at the time of its martyrdom and destruction." To this day Sheptytsky is not honoured in Israel. Of late there has been much debate about whether the Catholic Church did enough to save Jews during the Nazi terror There can be no doubt that i Sheptytsky did. i This year marks the 50th anniver- sary of the State of Israel, which on April 22 will honour those who risked everything to save Jews. I shall pray that this will be the year in which Israel recognizes Metropolitan Andrei as a Righteous Gentile. Perhaps if Tel Aviv so honours Sheptytsky, then one day soon, Rome will also confirm that Metropolitan Andrei was a saint, a Moses Lewin and I can share.

Father Bohdan Lukie is pastor of Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic. -Church in Toronto. I wish to commend Linda Goyette for her article "Little Albertan with a big heart for tolerance." It must depend on the day of the week as to what gets printed, or not, in The Journal. Not a word about the Ralph Nader forum. I know, there was a "before." use this experience to think about why beatings, murders and robberies occur so frequently in our city.

I thought to my own youth and how I was often faced with the choice of showing off or weighing the results of my actions, and concluded that I stayed "criminal-free," a requirement for my present job, because of boyhood hopes of becoming a lawyer. The majority of youths, or perhaps the minority but still many, want to be mechanics or labourers and have much less reason to "toe the line." So why is it that when young offenders turn 18, they are not asked to give any accounting or evidence that they have matured, mended their ways and He wrote to Pope Pius XII, alerting the Holy Father to the "almost diabolical" nature of the German regime. intervention. Later he drew up a list of over 240 Ukrainian Catholic priests who saved Jews. This good rabbi noted that his list was not exhaustive.

Thousands of Jewish Ukrainian lives were saved at the Metropolitan's command. And all remember how, in November 1942, Sheptytsky issued what was to become his best-known pastoral letter, Thou Shalt Not Kill His message on the sanctity of human life was a clear condemnation of genocide. Attempts to have the Metropolitan proclaimed a saint have foundered on the protests of some Poles, on the propaganda of the Soviets and on the indifference or hostility of certain groups within the Jewish diaspora. In 1994, in his book A Journey Through Illusions, Lewin wrote about how he had tried to interest the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith in "this extraordinary sage of assistance." That was in 1951! bishop saved thousands of doomed Jews Thank you, Edna Weber. Reading this today trying to make sense of a gay son's death," Journal Letters, April 20) made me wonder how I would react if my teenage son told me that he was gay I hope that many other parents read this column as well, and are as touched.by it as I am.

It is without a doubt that I want my son in my life for as long as possible. I love him for what he is. If he discovered that he was gay, that would still be what he is and (hopefully) would not change my love for him. It must have taken an incredible amount of courage for Weber to write this now, at this stage of her Ukrainian Yet, Israel fails to recognize his rescue mission BOHDAN LUKIE Toronto I remember when Kurt Lewin came to Roblin, Man. And when he told me about a modern-day Moses.

Ours, and his! The year was 1959. The place was St. Vladimir's College, a minor seminary, run by the Redemptorist Fathers. I was in Grade 11. With 49 other students I listened to this Jewish Ukrainian speak.

He praised one of the greatest European prelates of this century, Met-ropolitan (bishop) Andrei Sheptytsky, who headed the Ukrainian Catholic Church for nearly a half-century until his death Nov. 1, 1944. I had never heard of Sheptytsky before. I was just a farm kid from Grandview, Man. And yet here was Lewin, a Holocaust survivor, a Haganah commander during the siege I have heard much talk as of late as to the state and effectiveness of the Young Offenders Act.

Working for five years as a security officer, the problem of youth crime is quite close to me. Though I am male, quite large and fit I have to admit experiencing fear at the sight of a gang of youths with nothing to lose. One time, walking home just two blocks to my apartment, I was confronted by a teenager who was carrying open liquor, and was challenged to a fight. Having no desire to prove myself to a young person who would not remember or perhaps even care the next day, an altercation was avoided but I was left with a desire to that if it were not for his age, he would have been shot for meddling in matters which should not concern him. The Metropolitan saw things differently.

He persisted with works of Christian charity and mobilized a Christian opposition to Nazi rule in western Ukraine. In late August 1942 he wrote to Pope Pius XII, alerting the Holy Father to the "almost diabolical" nature of the German regime. A few days later he repeated that condemnation in a letter to Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, Prefect of the Congregation of Eastern Churches. Working with his brother, Klymen-tii, leader of Lviv's Studite monks, the Metropolitan gathered a small army of nuns and priests who would risk their lives in clandestine rescue and sanctuary operations. False baptismal certificates were arranged for no less than 200 Jewish children, who were then smuggled to monasteries, orphanages and convent schools in and around Lviv.

All cf these children's lives were saved, 15 in the Metropolitan's own residence. This at a time when sheltering Jews was a criminal offence punishable by death. Rabbi Dr. David Kahana also survived, thanks to the Metropolitan's of Jerusalem, an Israeli Army officer, the great-grandson of Isacc Schmelkes a rabbi of Lviv still revered by orthodox Jewry as a spiritual and intellectual giant telling me about his Ukrainian saviour! Lewin had come at the invitation of Father Michael Hrynchyshyn, the pos-tulator in the cause of the beatification of Metropolitan Andrei. Lewin was passionately committed to that purpose.

He told us that we, as future priests of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, should know what our Metropolitan had done for the Jews of Ukrainian Galacia under Nazi occupation. He spoke about how his own life was saved when the Metropolitan gave him shelter in Lviv's St. George's Cathedral. How the Metropolitan, who stood resolutely in favour of Ukraine's independence and shared in the general euphoria of liberation from the Soviets, nevertheless kept a critical vigilance toward German rule. In February 1942, he even dared to lodge a protest, with Heinrich Himm-ler himself, against the destruction of the Galician Jewish community.

The Nazi who delivered Himmler's response bluntly told the Metropolitan.