SOL WAY Was I ever wrongl A few weeks ago I wrote that Brian Mulroney was going to be his own man, that Washington had better flot expeet a Canadian version of Ronald Reagan; that Mulroney did ýnot believe as Washington did in heavy commit- ment to the milltary; or that the economie woes of a country could be treated by cutting back social programs. My face is very red. I still think we are a long way from making judgementson the still new Tory government. I am not going to make politîcal hay over the issue ' f universality. The Liberals and the N.D.P. are already feasting on that one. The issue has more to do with the politics of em- barrassment than with the reality of social programs. The rubbish about a $500,000 a year bank president getting Family Allowance cheques or the rich man "getting away" without *Paying tax through shelters, is just a red herring. The amount- of money the rich "get away" with would har-. dly mnake a dent in our Holy Deficits, it's just good political copy. Family Allowances have always been an albatross that made sense to MacKenzie King for his own peculiar and often distorted political motives, it has made precious littie sense to me. Meanwhile two issues dominate. One of them is of scant interest (to my great- sadness) to most Canadians; the other, is just too remote and far away to make a difference. But both have a profound impact on al 0f us - on our national character, our pride, and even our prosperity. The first is- the disproportionate' reduc- tion in funding for "The Arts". Who cares? Who will stop reading this colunin here and now? This is really boring stuff. Here goes Solway again blowing the horn for "Culture". Right you are. I am. First of aIl, as I have said many times from the stage 0f Thea athletes and, teain owners will fatten their fortunes. Why? Because we have a public tha t is indifferent to "The Ar- ts") and enthusiastic about basebaîl. The politicians know it. They seldom try anything un- popular. Meanwhile the Culture Barons are also making hay deploring reductions in gover- nment funding, when they should have been looking for new ways to keep financially fit. The CBC (about which flot nearly enough people care) takes it on the chin. I would like to do a whole column about that august organization. On the one hand it should not be sacrificed, but on the other hand, does it really, truly spend its money well, or work its people as hard as they should? CBC reaction is to reduce programming and retain bureaucracy. They are trying to em- barrass the government by 44showing" the Canadian people what big bad Ottawa has made them do. There is some blame on both sides. But as long as Marcel Masse is the enemy (which he may be) and Piere Juneau at CBC and everyone at Canada Council are the guys with the pure white hats, the issue will flot be negotiated. The other item is the new approach, to hands- across-the-border. I view America as our great ally, our best friend, - and our most important trading parL. tner. I do flot view it as the Iast word in foreign policy or diplomacy. I find the new Ottawa- Washington Axis both uncomfortable and inappropriate. Our new Minister of -Defense went to Winnipeg a few weeks ago to proclairn his truth. "Canada's peace movement -is in very bad shape"l, he said. "Nova Scotia knows how to handie peace demonstrations", he said. (16 of themn went to 'jail.) "Give Canadians U.S. defense contracts,"1 he says. "A strong defense guarantees peace,"l he says. What Mr. Coates seems prepared to do is CONT'D ON~ PC. 6 WHITBY FREE PRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1984, PAGE 5 - ' ~ £dB*~, 1 1 - -- - - -, - - - - -- t. lý - - - - - . 11-t lý --- -- -- - - - -- -1 ' - 1 10 qE