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Show THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Sunday, February 28, 1993 the perfect world view for the 1980s is departing, and Americans may actually have to pay attention to Canada. "This is a very important place to Americans," said Christopher Green, an American economist who has taught at Montreal's University for 23 years. Mulroney, one of the architects of the North American Free Trade Agreement, was no visionary. He wasn't even from the start a free trader. But he understood the challenges facing North America at the end of the 20th century and, as Thomas d'Aquino, the president and chief executive of the Business Council on National Issues, put it, "He helped move the Canadian eco'nomy toward a greater degree of competitiveness. " Though his record is blotched with failures and he himself has become a subject of ridicule, Mulroney pushed Canada to confront the three major issues facing the country: The commercial relationships with the United States and Mexico here in North America, the Canadian budget deficit and the question of the destiny of Quebec and its French speakers in Canada. DU LAC MASSON, Quebec This is a whispery corner of the world, especially in winter. And the other afternoon across from the brick Catholic church and down by the frozen lake, where the town fathers plow a skating trail that goes for miles, the small crunch of people paid no mind to the news on the radio that Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was resigning. Perhaps it was because of the searing cold. The temperature here in Canada's Laurentians, 45 miles northwest of Montreal, has hardly climbed above zero in a week. But even farther south in the United States, which has always been warmer to Mulroney than his native land, the news stirred only a few concerns, and more out of formality than out of sentiment. For nearly a decade Mulroney led America's northern neighbor, its biggest trading partner and its most loyal ally. He was so loyal to his presidential friends, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, that they and the United States came to take them for granted. In that respect he. Now all of those questions was, from the American point of view anyhow, the perfect Canadi- each in its way as important south of the border as it is here in Canada an. his jutted are cause for more uncertainty. So now Mulroney Unresolved as it has been for chin the perfect subject for cartoonists, his business orientation 125 years is the situation here in SAINT-MARGUERIT- - E Mc-Gi- ll Quebec. It threatens the unity of Canada and the stability of North America in ways economic and diplomatic, political and practical. Though Mulroney was able to prevail in national elections in 1984 and 1988, he was unable to fashion a plan to reach a national unity that would satisfy the French nationalists here and Canadians in the nine other provinces, many of whom resist more concessions to Quebec and some of whom are outwardly hostile to the province. Mulroney tried twice and failed twice. And so the political debate here in Quebec is still stuck on issues of whether, for example, immigrant g children from countries should be permitted to enter English schools and whether g youngsters born into families here in Quebec can consider themselves Quebec-er- a historian at Dalhousie University in Halifax, "but re- double their efforts to leave Canada. Pier Forest is a life underwriter for Metropolitan Life in Quebec member of the City and a Parti Quebecois, and his is the voice of Quebec nationalism: "We smell the wind, and it is leading to independence. We are walking toward our objective. It is irreversible. By the year 2000 we Taylor, member that New York State is very dependent on electric power from Quebec and that there is a lot 20-ye- ar of trade and tourism. ... Some Florida communities are dependent on Quebec dollars in the win- ter." Quebec nationalists, such as Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau, assured Quebccers and, during trips to the United States. Boston bankers and Wall Street will be four nations in North America Quebec, Canada, the United States and Mexico. " That would be no minor readjustment for any of the players in North America. "It may seem like a minor matter to Americans," said Graham investors, that Quebec could go peaceably. But a divided Canada wouldn't be without consequences, and many of them could be economic problems for the United States. Besides the breakdown of trade patterns, the value of American investment in Canada could tumble if the Canadian economy deteriorates. "Canadian federalism is in a very difficult shape at the moment," Claude Ryan, long a leading figure in Quebec politics, told The Montreal Gazette the day after Mulroney announced that he would leave the prime minister's office in June. That's a matter for Canadians to ponder seriously and, alas, for Americans to consider seriously. David Shribman is Washington bureau chief of The Boston Globe. once-establish- English-speakin- English-speakin- s. Nor are those questions now confined to Quebec alone. Over in southern Ontario, the provincial government is adding French to about 1 ,000 highway signs at a cost of about $1.4 million. The highway signs are prompting a furor, and already more than 170,000 people have signed a petition calling for the provincial government to pulldown the signs. Reactions like those only prompt Quebec nationalists to re "AM IS THAT Wl W WEMPTED EN&0CR WW OPPOSES mU OURSELVES LEANE ? PRECISELY. DOES MOT UNDERSTAND W VE ARE TMNG TO TO HERE. At some point, even children must be held accountable for their crimes" By KENT KRELL Knight-Ridde- St Newspapers The sentence in the news dispatch from Liverpool, England, that really shook me read, "Although the public was barred from the courtroom, ... reporters admitted for part of the hearing said the boys showed no signs of nervousness or distress." How can that be? I said to myself. These are two charged with barely adolescents kidnapping and murdering a Even at their tender age the horror of it guilty or not all must surely elicit in them some discernible emotion. Yet, we are told, the young suspects, like street-wis- rf r e, grown-u- p thugs, pool datelines automatically catch my attention. An ocean away and decades later, I share in the good times and the bad times, the successes and failures, of fellow Liverpudlians. When four guys named Harrison, Lennon, McCartney and Starr made Beatlemania in the '60s, I became a joyous disciple. When John Lennon was murdered in 1980, 1 grieved. And when Liverpool soccer fans rioted in 1985 at the European Cup final in Brussels, Belgium, leaving 40 people dead and scores of others injured, I registered disbelief and disgust, much as I do at this time. Then, as now, tragic circumstances have brought forth the psychologists, social commentators and others to analyze and explain them to a perplexed and appalled world. The riotous behavior in Brussels was perceived and described by the more hemorrhage-pron- e of bleeding hearts as a virulent street malaise, born of unemployment, poverty, family breakdowns and other vague social disorders defying normal cures. the apostles of law and order have failed to take a grip on the problem, as have football's governing bodies and the courts in the flabbiness of the sentences on convicted fans." Last weekend, the British government said it was considering the introduction of tough new measures to lock up young offenders, including those under 15. In one interview, Prime Minister, John Major called for a "public crusade" against lawlessness. "I feel strongly that society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less," he said. There's more to w hat ails society, surely, than a simplistic prescription that places a premium on condemnation at the expense of understanding. Reflection that addresses the whys and wherefores of aberrant acts must, inevitably, take precedence over passion if society is to come to rational grips with the frailties and excesses of the human condition. Children who commit murder and other heinous crimes must be held accountable. When it is determined that they can distinguish right from wrong, they should be tried and, if convicted, punished. Jamie Bulger's killing defies comprehension. So does the stoic courtroom demeanor of the suspects. Those are reasons enough to do more than shake our heads, shed tears or react in anger. Rather, we must pray for and. more important, unsanity derstanding. Kent Krell is associate editorial-pan- e editor of The State in Colum- spoke only to confirm their ages and identities. Otherwise, they remained impassive and silent. What an incredible scene it must have been, rendered even more bizarre by the terrible events that had gone before: the disappearance of the toddler, James Bulger, from his mother's side at a downtown shopping center, his grainy image on security cameras as he was led away by two boys and, finally, the Psychoanalysts are having a discovery two days later of his batfield day with the current horror tered body beside a railroad emoccurrence itself and terrible the bankment. the disquieting aftermath of angry it with police As a former Liverpudlian, I protesters mixingrocksupand and eggs at showering have special empathy for the increvans carrying the young suspolice dulity and revulsion that now conto their arraignment sume the mood of the place w here I pects was born and lived as a boy before Now. as in 1985, the politicians immigrating to these shores in are taking and dispensing blame. 1946. After the hooliganism in Brussels, Cliche or not, roots run deep. one newspaper editorialized, "Clearly the Thatcher government bia, When reading newspapers. Liver . V"-.- - President WASHINGTON Clinton's decision to put a U.S.Russian summit on a fast track reflects an assessment that Boris Yeltsin urgently needs help to fight anger among his political foes. Clinton had originally planned to meet w ith the Russian president later this year, devoting his first months in office to his campaign pledge of healing the economy. But with increasingly grim reports from Moscow and intelligence assessments that Yeltsin was in danger of losing significant power to conservative rivals. Clinton's foreign policy aides urged him not to delay. The April 4 date was chosen, said several officials, to provide Yeltsin with some crucial support one week before a scheduled Russian referendum on who should Yeltsin or his have more power parliament. Regardless of whether a meeting with Clinton could affect the outcome of Yeltsin's struggle w ith his legislature, "no one wanted to be blamed for Yeltsin losing the fight because we didn't help," said one official who spoke only on condition of anonymity. In the five weeks before the summit, the big question is what Clinton can bring to the table that will provide Yeltsin with a signifishort of the billions of cant txxist dollars Russia would like but Clin -- t : anti-Weste- rn n 'f J can't afford to give. World, when they know the United "There are 301 small ways to States is one of the w orld's biggest show we care" about Yeltsin and arms merchants, he said. Ilya Prizel, director of Russian studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. These range from providing aspirin for bare Russian medicine cabinets to building housing for Russian troops stranded in other former Soviet republics, experts say. Whatever Clinton brings, these experts say, he must keep in mind that plans to help Russia should be formulated in close consultation w ith the Russians. U.S. officials say Russian diplomats have been privately urging the new administration to tone dow n what many Russians regard as the arrogant "big brother" style of the Bush administration. "What we're hearing from the Russians is a constant drumbeat that says 'we have to demonstrate to our people that this is a partnership with the United States, that there is genuine consultation,"' said one official who asked not to further identified. Prizel said many Russians resent being constantly told that the United States is the world's only remaining superpower. Russians particularly dislike being lectured about weapons sales to the Third v r., SC. The U.S. official said Clinton aides are sensitive to these perceptions and intend to adopt a different style in dealing w ith Russia's government. But of more immediate concern to the United States is the strong pressure on Yeltsin from his opponents to assert Russia's independence in foreign affairs rather than toeing the line of the United States. This pressure has become particularly pronounced in recent weeks as the United States has tried to convince Russia to join in harsher international condemnation and sanctions against the'Ser-bia- n government in Yugoslavia for its support of Serbian militias committing atrocities in Bosnia. Yeltsin is torn between his desire to cooperate with the United. States on Yugoslav ia and demands from nationalists to support the Serbs, for whom Russians feel a natural affinity stemming from their common Slav heritage. Sensitive to Yeltsin's need to apnot a "handpear independent maiden" of Washington, in the vernacular of Russian nationalists the White House agreed to hold the summit on a neutral site rather than Washington. According to protocol, the summit should have been held in Washington since the last one between President Bush and Yeltsin last month was in Moscow. :t '. 'v l ton his uphill battle to convert Russia from a communist to a market economy and from an authoritarian to a democratic society, said 1 f a Why a summit? U.S. thinks Yeltsin needs boost By RUTH SINAI Associated Press Writer A17 ittention to Caraa da Mulroneys d enarture revives By DAVID SHRIBMAN Boston Globe Page w - 'v -- J Lrs ' f I ' .. H : l i . s X sighting. dungarees. Stonew ashed for Quick; catch a glimpse of the Triple XXX softness, they come complete with a full, exaggerated leg and a casual, easygoing fit. The attitude youTl give them remains yet to be seen, ibl Relaxed white Triple XXX 10(Tf cotton, 520. Bailiwick: in logo Ogden, Lavton Hills and I'niversity Mall. five-pock- 'Zt et CM I |