Pubdate: Sat, 01 Oct 2005
Source: Brandon Sun (CN MB)
Section: View From The End Of The Hall
Copyright: 2005, Brandon Sun
Contact:  http://www.brandonsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2437
Author: Ewan Pow

HIGH MARKS FOR METH FORUM

All too often in society, we are reactive instead or proactive. So I was 
pleased to see 402 people crowded into the cafeteria Wednesday evening at 
Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School to hear about crystal meth taking a 
proactive approach to a dangerous drug.

Kudos to the Brandon School Division for co-ordinating the public forum and 
to the Community Drug and Alcohol Education Coalition, which has been in 
existence since May 2004, who sponsored it.

In addition to the school division, partners in the coalition include the 
police service, Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, the Brandon Regional 
Health Authority, Child and Family Services, the Brandon Ministerial 
Association, Manitoba Justice and the City of Brandon.

The school division spearheaded the coalition as it has witnessed drug and 
alcohol abuse in its schools.

BSD superintendent Donna Michaels told the crowd while crystal meth is rare 
in our community today, it has the potential to spread quickly. Brandon 
Police Service inspector Ian Grant concurred, adding crystal meth has the 
potential to spread through the city quickly because it so easy to produce. 
Unfortunately, recipes for this brain-damaging drug are available on the 
Internet.

The fact so many people showed up to learn about how crystal meth is made, 
how prevalent it is and what can be done to stop its spread is very 
encouraging. This was a positive first step in preventing an unbridled 
proliferation of crystal meth in our community.

***

When Belinda Stronach bolted from the Conservatives to join the Liberals, 
one of the most complimentary things said was that she was an opportunist.

John Loewen jilted the provincial Conservatives just over a week ago when 
he resigned his Fort Whyte seat to run federally for the Liberals in 
Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia. He too was branded an opportunist.

My guess is Peter MacKay will flee the federal Tories and head home to Nova 
Scotia, where he will make a run at the provincial Conservative leadership 
and the premier's chair. Will he too be branded an opportunist?

In recent interviews, he said he has work to do in Ottawa, but he didn't 
close the door on heading for Halifax.

Mr. MacKay is a political animal with prime ministerial aspirations and his 
instincts should tell him to distance himself from the federal party.

Peter MacKay's career path over the next several years might look something 
like this. Go back to Nova Scotia and serve a term as premier, return to 
federal politics as Conservative leader once even strident Tory faithful 
realize Stephen Harper has to go, and lead the party to a victory over a 
tired and corrupt pack of Liberals.

Only time will tell.

***

This and that from a week that was

The Canadian Automobile Association is actively lobbying the federal 
government over unsafe highways. Missing from the list of most dangerous 
roads was the Trans-Canada Highway at 18th Street on Brandon's North Hill. 
The high volume of traffic moving at high speed through that intersection 
is a recipe for disaster   Laura Rance, who cut her teeth as a reporter 
here at the Sun, won a couple of Canadian Farm Writers' and Broadcasters' 
awards recently. Ms. Rance is the associate editor of the Farmers' 
Independent Weekly and her column appears in our Sunday edition each week

The Brandon Regional Health Authority will cover the $808 ambulance bill 
for Vicki Rockley. Ms. Rockley's plight was trotted out in the Sun's news 
columns a couple of weeks ago. I say covering the ambulance bill looks good 
on the RHA, but why does Manitoba continue to put the health authority in 
such embarrassing spots? Health Minister Tim Sale has said provincial 
policy needs tweaking but can't say when it will be addressed. For the good 
of Westman you'd think Mr. Sale would make it a priority

In his opinion column in last Thursday's Brandon Sun, Fred McGuinness 
presented topics and his opinion and invited readers to agree or disagree. 
I agreed with his opinion on most topics and disagreed with a couple of 
them. One that I heartily agree with could be coined Civics 101 -- the need 
for citizens to engage themselves in affairs of state whether it be 
municipal, provincial or federal. Mr. McGuinness urges you to share your 
opinions through a letter to the editor. Be a Canadian Citizen, First 
Class   our Comment page columns are waiting for your letter.

Ewan Pow is the Brandon Sun's publisher and his office is at the end of the 
hall. He can be reached at  ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D