National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 15

A15 NATIONAL POST, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7,2000 DoNAl.t) RAHU'K PlIltl.lSMI-KANt) Phi-sidknt (ioiiiMW Fisiikh Assistant Pum isiihi KonCiakk Si.ni hi V.I. San-is Makki-tiinc! Oi.nnisSkui.sky V.P. Sai.ks r. OwinSwAii, V.R()n-;nArioNS& Punning Ml'NUO V.P. PuOMOIlONS Patrick Bkknnan V.P.

MANiiiAtiuniN(i KlNNKHI WllVIH KlIHOII-IN-Clllll' Maktin NiiwiAND Durniv Unium 1Ii Manaunii Knunii Doicias i.v Kxirunvii Knncm Tkhknck Corcoran Financial Post Kiiiidk Alison Uncus National lini roil Marvin Zivny, Di i'DiT Manawni; Kniron i i i 1 w-mMk rwift I' te I' jf Good call To tell the truth Trudeau was in step I am a Canadian who has been "scallywags." As all the opinion polls show, we are in a battle with crime. There has been a lot of ground lost and reform is needed. I suggest we begin with ending the media's use of the criminal vernacular. In your report (Oct 5) the death of Gaetano "Guy" Panepinto is referred to several times as a Mafia "hit" This is a criminal's word. The deed is called "murder" and murder is illegal.

"Hit" or "wack" trivializes the event to the equivalent of fly swatting. It may be colourful but it is propaganda for thugs. Allen Strike, Toronto. In his decision, Judge Kitchen wisely pointed out that hockey was not on trial, only McSorley. "If this is the trial of Canadian hockey, the judge and jury is the Canadian public," he said.

We appreciate that restraint, and we understand that Judge Kitchen was bound by legal precedent: In 1988, Dino Ciccarelli was sentenced to a day in jail and a fine of $1,000 after a similar incident Judge Kitchen convicted McSorley, but he gave him one of the most lenient sentences possible: a conditional discharge, the sort of slap on the wrist typically associated with first-time shoplifters. Mr. McSorley will not serve a day in jail, but he will wear the denunciation of the criminal law of Canada: What he did was not just against the rules of hockey, it was plain wrong. This is the best result It is a reminder to hockey players that some acts of violence are beyond the pale. It is an affirmation of the NHL's primary role in disciplining rule-breakers like McSorley.

And it is a rebuke to officious policemen and prosecutors, who ought to have better things to do with their time and the court's than to hunt downhockey's enforcers. Judge Kitchen showed the right sense of balance necessary to be a good referee and the smarts to know he is not one. On Feb. 21, with TV cameras catching every move, Marty McSorley smashed Donald Brashear in the head with a stick. Mr.

Brashear fell down immediately with a concussion. Had McSorley and Mr. Brashear been two businessmen in a boardroom, this assault would have been a stunning and rare act of violence that would have shocked Canadians. But both men are hockey players in the NHL, and the weapon in question was a hockey stick. And though the assault did cause some clucking, the whole matter was received with typical blase fights have become unfortunately commonplace in professional hockey.

That was not the view taken by Vancouver police, who pressed charges against McSorley. And yesterday, Judge William Kitchen convicted him of assault with a weapon. We do not like the prospect of judges in robes substituting for referees in stripes. Canada's courts lack the expertise to apply the rules of the game, and if their track record in dealing with real criminals is anything to go by, it is not likely that hockey fans would be happy with their calls. Indeed, without judicial prompting, the NHL meted out its largest penalty ever to McSorley, a 23-game suspension.

Stephen Harper and David Frum, whose Trudeau-bashing columns (Oct. 5) attribute to the late prime minister most of Canada's economic ills over the past 30 years, are entitled to their opinions, but they may not sample the facts selectively in order to bolster their arguments. Mr. Trudeau's economic policies, which Mr. Frum terms "statist," should be seen in the context of the U.S.

presidential administrations that coincided with the Trudeau years. Mr. Trudeau was Canada's leader for 16 years during the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan presidencies, and most of the policies Mr. Frum dislikes can be found in one or more of these presidencies. Ronald Reagan left bigger deficits than Pierre Trudeau, mostly by spending without taxing.

His economic thinking was termed "voodoo economics" by none other than George Bush, his own vice-president Richard Nixon used wage-price controls to fight inflation, just like Trudeau. In the deregulation movement, one of the most significant developments in economic policy during the 1970s and '80s, the Trudeau governments followed closely on the steps of U.S. initiatives. The two greatest successes of deregulation, airlines and telecommunications, both started in Canada under Mr. Trudeau.

Airline deregulation, the crowning achievement of the Carter presidency, was certainly emulated by Mr. Trudeau, and deregulation in telecommunications can be traced linearly to the Interconnection decision of the late 1970s, again under Mr. Trudeau. Where is the statism in all these? To summarize: In economics, Mr. Trudeau was neither visionary nor doctrinaire.

His policies, when seen in the proper context, were all in the mainstream of economic thinking of their times. Stylianos Perrakis, Professor of Economics and Finance, Concordia University and The University of Ottawa. living in Israel for the past 10 years. I just received a copy of the editorial entitled Who's David? (Oct. 5) and I want to thank you for having the courage and the honesty to print it I was a visitor to Israel many times before moving here and knew the situation intimately.

It was always with great trepidation that I read media reports of what was happening here knowing that most of them weren't true. During the war in Lebanon in 1982 the CBC showed film footage provided for them by the PLO that had in actual fact taken place in 1976. 1 don't believe that a correction for this error ever appeared. During the summer of 1982 1 had the good fortune to tour south Lebanon and see the damage for myself. Most of it had been caused by the PLO during their take-over and rape of that land.

I too was on the Temple Mount just about a month ago. It's interesting to note that neither Jews nor Christians are allowed to pray there. This is the freedom of religion the Arabs grant us the sign that truly bodes well for the future Rena Cohen, Tsfat, Israel Here's a great idea for the police looking for the hit man involved in the coffin maker's killing. Just wait for these guys to show up at our $400-mil-lion gun registry and grab them then. Bob Musselman, Windsor, Out.

Coyne delivers Andrew Coyne's column Opportunism Knocks (Oct. 6) is his best yet. It provides a sound framework for discussions during the forthcoming election campaign. Better yet, it provides an objective basis for a series of "report card" articles on the Chretien Liberal record. Such a series would clearly demonstrate to Canadians that changes in policy orientation and government are long overdue.

Michel Que. His communist pals Oct. 5. For problem is Mr. Trudeau left control in the helm.

Mr. Mulroney, to manage Charlottetown except for communist Re: He was Great; His Legacy Bad, by David Frum Mr. Frum to imply that Canada's debt and deficit Trudeau's responsibility is just plain wrong. Mr. economic problems, but those spiralled out of eight years when Brian Mulroney was at the he roney, incidentally, was also preoccupied with tryi Quebec's concerns with the Meech Lake and the Accords.

Who can blame him? That leaves nothing concrete in Mr. Frum's colur his bizarre implication that Mr. Trudeau was a clos and that he didn't care for freedom. Huh? Far bet Mr. Trudeau's heaven than to live under Mr.

Frum's Gavin Adamson, London, England. Re: He was Great; His Legacy Bad, by David Frum, Mr. Frum to imply that Canada's debt and deficit Trudeau's responsibility is just plain wrong. Mr. economic problems, but those spiralled out of eight years when Brian Mulroney was at the incidentally, was also preoccupied with trying Quebec's concerns with the Meech Lake and the Accords.

Who can blame him? That leaves nothing concrete in Mr. Frum's column, his bizarre implication that Mr. Trudeau was a closet and that he didn't care for freedom. Huh? Far better Mr. Trudeau's heaven than to live under Mr.

Frum's Gavin Adamson, London, England. to serve in reign in hell. Pll eille DrOteSt This letter is aimed squarely at Your editorial, Who's David? is one of the most balanced and refreshing editorials on the Middle East I have read in years. While I support the peace process, it has become increasingly evident of late that there is only one country that desires peace in the Middle East Israel. Israel has offered too many concessions to the Palestinians, and in return, the Palestinians show their gratitude by mass protest and violence.

No other country in the world would tolerate such a perverse scenario. Joseph Adler, Toronto. For the millions of Canadians who were touched this week by the adoring eulogies to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, it must be gnawing to learn that media outlets from around the world chose to print only the zaniest photograph from Tuesday's state funeral that of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro sharing a laugh with former president Jimmy Carter in front of Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. That is a pity tince the image of the communist button casts a pall over Mr. Trudeau's legacy.

Still, it highlights a seldom discussed nut critically important aspect of Mr. Trudeau: His long-time sympathy for Marxist-leninism. it first it seemed Mr. Thideau's foreign policy was animated by pacifism. In 19p9, Mr.

Trudeau questioned Canada's membership in NATO. His cabinet would eventually halve the size of Canada? garrison in Europe. Gradually, how-ev-, Mr. Trudeau steered the country's foreign policy away from pacifism and toward anti-anti-communism (i.e. anti-Aniericanism).

In 1973, Mr. Trudeau defended Mao Tse-tung's revolution, denouncing those in Parliament unwilling to admit "the magnitude of one of the most significant revolutions in the history of the world and the extension of basic human amenities to hundreds of millions of persons." Mr. Trudeau skated around the conspicuous fact that 80 million Chinese had perished in Mao's prison and labour camps or as a result of the worst man-made famine in history. It is tempting to blame Mr. Trudeau's communist sympathies on a generational fog that afflicted university-educated men and women of a certain age.

The latter explanation, however, would have us believe that Mr. Trudeau was an intellectual follower, a mere lightweight He was many things, but he was certainly not that. In his early essays in the left-ish Partisan Review, Mr. Trudeau routinely praised Jean-Jacques Rousseau's collectivist concept of la vohnte generate general Is that why Mr. Trudeau later embraced Cuba's Castro, even though the communist leader had never shown a scintilla of respect for the basic human rights of his own people? On a trip to Cuba in 1973, Mr.

Trudeau toasted the Generalissimo with the words, "Viva Castro!" In 1976, he let Cuban transport planes refuel in Newfoundland before they stocked up in the Soviet Union and swooped into Angola to fight and pillage on behalf of the Kremlin. That was right around the same time Mr. Trudeau befriended the long-time Soviet ambassador to Canada, Alexander Yakovlev. Mr. Trudeau visited Moscow twice in the early 1970s, signed a "friendship protocol" with the Soviets, and suggested that Canada had much to learn from that country's development of Siberia.

Russian dissidents were aghast; was Mr. Ihideau bent on rounding up millions of Canadians and shipping them off to the Yukon to toil as slave labourers? There was reason enough to be concerned. During this same period, Ottawa was exporting free food supplies to the late Julius Nyerere, the ruthless communist ruler of Tanzania, whom Mr. Trudeau seemed to view as a kindred spirit During his 15 years in office, Mr. Trudeau grew increasingly belligerent toward the one man who would extinguish the scourge of communism: Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Reagan's assertion that the Soviet Union was "an evil empire" alarmed Mr. Trudeau; he was later horrified by Mr. Reagan's decision to make an issue of a Soviet attack on a Korean airliner, in which 269 innocent people lost their lives. In protest, he embarked on a global "peace mission." The mission fizzled; the West won the Cold War thanks to the bravery of those leaders, who, like Mr.

Reagan, regarded communism not only as an evil on a par with Naziism, but as a deliberate fraud on humanity. These days, Mr. Trudeau's past ministrations of communist dictators are in-souciantly described as a "strategic balancing act." That is a historical revisionism. The truth is that Mr. Trudeau was generally on the wrong side of the most important ideological battle of our time.

Trudeau's Canada was incapable of "balancing" or bending the iron will, of aggressive, totalitarian regimes through the use of "soft power." In looking back on Mr. Trudeau's complex legacy, we should remember how that philosophy failed us once and very nearly destroyed mankind. the so-called protester who had the audacity to throw chocolate milk onto the leader of the Opposition of the greatest country in the world. Like the protester who pied the Prime Minister, the only attention that you are drawing to your cause (if there even is one) is negative attention. The idea that you can create political or social change by his little tantrum is an absolute joke! True political change comes from standing your ground and confronting issues head on with research, facts and statistics.

Exercise your power by the pen and the ballot, which is your right as a Canadian citizen. Your pouty little display allows the country to see how childishly you approach issues and how immature and ignorant you are toward the democratic process. Will anyone listen to you now? I doubt it. Well done, you've just set yourself back 10 years. If you expect to garner support for yourself and your "cause," quit sobbing like a little baby, throwing your glass of milk around because your bib is too tight Smarten up.

K. Langer, Edmonton. of Jews. It's just not kosher! Ronald Milkau, Kleinburg, Out. Problems fixed In reference to Steven Edwards' article Nepotism and Excess found Rampant at UNESCO (Oct.

2), I wish to point out that both headline and story may be misconstrued as they suggest that the practices described are taking place at the present. I would like to draw your attention to the following: The Canadian Auditor General's report concerns the years 1998 and 1999, i.e. the period preceding the appointment of Koi'chiro Matsuura to the post of Director-General of UNESCO, November 1999. Since then, UNESCO has engaged a comprehensive reform process, addressing the problems raised in the report, notably issues pertaining to recruitment, field office management and project funding. Recruitment for posts at all levels is now being carried out in strict adherence to rules and procedures.

A comprehensive review of UNESCO's field of fices is underway and proposals concerning this subject will be submitted to UNESCO's Executive Board, one of the organization's two governing bodies, during its current session. Finally, I wish to point out that in his 1998-1999 Audit Report, the Auditor General of Canada praises the prompt and decisive actions currently being taken by the new administration to reform the organization. Helene-Marie Gosselin, Director, Office of Public Information, UNESCO, Paris, France. Call it what it is The North American fascination with things criminal continues to elude me. A criminal intends to damage civilized humanity.

Why then do so many writers, of every variety, glorify and so tacitly approve the growth of crime? When society was mainly law-abiding some amused tolerance of the escapades of colourful and distant scallywags might have been titillating and caused little harm, but those days have gone, along with the word I give kudos to you for your unconventional and refreshing view on the media's warped coverage of what's going on in the Middle East (Oct.5). I am not a Jew, nor have I ever been to Israel, but as a Christian I believe that the destiny of Israel is no secret, and I am tired of reading excuses for the bullying Israel consistently has to deal with. While Israel and the Jews are not perfect nor blameless, they do deserve not only our support, but accurate and truthful reports of the situation in their country. Thank you for doing your part! Brenda Engberts, Osaka, Japan. Not kosher To blame the Palestinians for the killing of Palestinians is like blaming the Jews for the killing National Post welcomes letters to the editor by mail, fax or e-mail.

Please include name, home address and daytime telephone number. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. 300-1450 Don Mills Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3R5, Canada. Telephone: (416) 383-2300; fax: (416) 383-2439; e-mail: lettersnationalpost.com Hardly the keeper of the Trudeau legacy Alberta on top Peter Scowen while sitting on a bearskin rug and sipping Baby Duck in front of a gas fireplace. (There are perhaps Canadians now hoping for a JustinCeline duet.) Had Justin left it at that, had he walked away from the altar to the embrace of his mother and brother, this column might not have been justified.

But that was not the case. The applause his eulogy brought him clearly emboldened him, and by the time he and his family walked out of Notre Dame Basilica, Justin was actually mugging for the camera. He walked, stiffly and uninvited, across 25 feet of empty pavement to hand that startled girl his single red rose. It was not a spontaneous gesture; surely the crowd was not yelling and demanding interaction with a man exiting a church after his father's funeral. And if you pay attention to the videotape of his final departure from the church, youll notice that Justin opens the door to his limousine, then stops and looks around once more for the acknowledgement of the crowd, gets it, waves, and then enters the car.

All this does not remind me of Pierre Trudeau. Mr. Trudeau was a private man not given to seeking attention and uttering bromides at events related to his loved ones. That is what makes it so galling when I read articles and opinion columns stating Justin, thanks to his eulogy, is the inheritor of the Trudeau legacy. That legacy seems more likely to be in the hands of Justin's brother Alexandre (Sacha), who grieved quietly and without overt visible emotion during the funeral, and restricted himself to a sombre and intelligent reading from the Bible.

That display of good taste is what I choose to remember about Pierre Trudeau's funeral. National Post made for a far more interesting eulogy, but that never happens. In any event, it was not the words that weren't convincing; it was Justin's performance. From the moment he uttered the opening line of "Friends, Romans, countrymen a cliche whose origins he clearly did not understand, to when he bent over and kissed his father's casket, Justin Trudeau put to use all the wisdom and experience BY THE TIME HE WALKED OUT OF THE BASILICA, JUSTIN WAS ACTUALLY MUGGING FOR THE CAMERA that has made him what he is today: a junior-high drama teacher. He squinted his eyes for emphasis, he raised and lowered his voice for dramatic effect, he gesticulated like a third-rate modern dancer.

It felt not so much like being in the presence of a new generation of Trudeau greatness as like being on Romper Room listening to a story about a magic bean. The whole performance was far too calculated to be trustworthy, at least for those Canadians who do not break down and weep listening to Celine Dion albums services such as liquor stores and license registries, and outlawed budget deficits. He has banned government subsidies to businesses and passed a law that 75 of any surpluses must go to pay down the debt the rest can go to tax cuts or new spending. B.C., during this same time, has been governed by a sorry parade of NDP premiers, each of whom has responded to sagging polls by retrenching the party to the left. Taxes have never been higher, nor has the debt.

Labour laws are the most anti-business in the country a reputation the government has unsuccessfully tried to shuck by giving massive gifts of tax dollars to its favourite companies. Small wonder that B.C. suffered a net exodus of 31,000 people to other provinces in the past three years, according to Statistics Canada. By comparison, Alberta received a net inflow of 80,000 Canadians from other provinces, dwarfing even Ontario's economic allure. That migration pattern is not likely to change soon.

With Alberta replacing its income tax with a 10.5 flat tax on Jan. 1, and with Premier Klein publicly pondering scrapping it altogether, Alberta will continue to be a haven for overtaxed Canadians who, fortunately, have not resolved to abandon the country Alberta's population is almost exactly three million; British Columbia's is almost exactly four million. So why does Alberta's provincial GDP now exceed B.C.'s, $107-billion to $105-bfflion? How can Alberta ns out-earn and out-produce a province which is one-third bigger? The excuses offered in recent years by B.C's political leaders no longer work. First they blamed their mini-recession on the sagging economies of the Pacific Rim they claimed B.C. caught the "Asian flu." But Asia is roaring back, so that excuse is gone.

B.C. also claimed that Alberta's relative strength was due to strong energy prices. But Alberta's economy was outpacing B.C.'s two years ago, when oil prices were nearing 25-year lows. B.C. has a sizeable energy industry, so that cannot account for the difference.

In so many ways, Alberta and B.C. are similar. They are well-educated provinces, with important immigrant components. They both have strong ties to the booming U.S. economy and both have a pioneering, entrepreneurial spirit.

So why does the average Albertan earn 33 more than the average British Columbian? The only plausible answer is that Alberta is better governed. For seven years as premier, Ralph Klein has deregulated the economy, privatized non-essential Among the many saintly qualities posthumously attributed to Pierre Elliott Trudeau this past week was that he was a man who enjoyed a good argument. Well, here's one more: The eulogy delivered at his funeral by his eldest son, Justin, was a treacly, over-acted embarrassment. Under normal circumstances, family members can blubber incoherent ram-blings, not to mention all-too-coherent bromides, at a funeral without fear of a nasty review. Eulogies are generally considered to be exempt from criticism, but there are two reasons in this case for treading on ice as thin as it gets.

One, I am not alone in this opinion. While many have publicly hailed Justin's eulogy, there are Canadians who are privately surprised that so much butterscotch could have been shoved down a nation's throat without a reflexive gag. And two, some in the media have declared that Justin's performance signals the arrival of a Trudeau dynasty, thereby turning the eulogy into a historically significant moment and making it fair game. When read on the page, Justin's words are a fair tribute to his famous father. A little obvious, maybe, such as when he states that, "more than anything, to me, he was Dad and that "we knew we were the luckiest kids in the world." Whatever.

Any sentiment to the contrary would have ft.