Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 13, 1974, Winnipeg, Manitoba Selling your Home consult a professional rely on a realtor Ull Tiru Uttilie Silvick Winnipeg free press saturday april 13, 1974 2nd class mall registration number 0284 arrive happier take the train. Vhf 946-2212 easter can be a new world for a Chick taking its first step getting into this big wonderful world can be a Tough proposition particularly for a tiny Chick. Free press photographer Jim Haggarty caught this easter Chick s birth struggle. No sooner had the Chick broken through its Shell than it encountered the first fall of its life it lost its balance and took a nosedive. But once it was completely free the Chick took a few moments to say goodbye to the Home it had outgrown. Look out world Here it comes. Hope for old people seen in never implemented study by 1vally Dennison area bounded by main an free press staff writer Princess streets the up a a 414-year-old, City sponsored c of Pacific Survey which was never pub Ach Aske Lily released May accurately today s housing Condi the study s recommend tons for Low income elderly nations Haven t been simple people in the main Street area Niente or. Steiman noted says the study s coordinator had hey been carried of Manley Steiman. He said there would hav the findings and recommend been less likelihood of an into nations Are relevant and time arable occurrence such As tha by in View of current local Avenue recently wit news reports a mrs sub Stan the old or. Steimla Dard dwellings for the aired was referring to the remove he said in an interview. Of six Mun room a Blouse mar. Steiman was a planner Street project workers de with the City s old housing and scribed As a Pigsty a charge Urban renewal department Lacr denied by the caretaker when he and two interviewers it puzzles me that such a carried out the two month sur situation could exist in this Day vey in 1969. He s now a plan and age when we have soda Ner with the neighbourhood in workers health inspectors pro vement Branch of the City s meter readers and heaven department of environmental knows who else going int planning. Homes. Why Don t they speak interviewed were 130 of a possible 255 people older than the Survey s four recommend 55 years of age in a 10-Block Vatious were that at least of Low rental Public hour ing be built within the 10-bloc area a Day Centre for the Aget be opened an accessible Community health clinic be Provic de and that an attempt b made to Foster citizen participation among the aged. Referring to the Low Renta ii using proposal or. Steimla observed provided t h e r were no rent increases this units would have helped Many if not most in the As for the health clinic recommendation he noted tha mount Carmel clinic at 120 Sel Kirk Avenue East is available but it s not within the 10-bloc area surveyed. Mount Carme and the health sciences Centre Are too far away for Many olt and disabled of the study s findings or Steiman said i suspect Noth ing much has changed. The data May reflect How those of people with Little Money and not in Public housing Are generally living there today Anc perhaps in other inner City areas As the study s summary re Veals that 122 of the Iso people and 30 of them shared them with 13 other people. The inc viewers Felt food areas were inadequate for 31 people and clothing areas for 15 people. Forty eight needed Reading lamps because Light in Many cases came from a naked bulb suspended from the ceiling. On income the study states housing by Brian free press staff writer the reasons for people in Winnipeg living in and being allowed to live in substandard housing Are Many and Complex and the blame does t rest with Joist one segment of society such As slum landlords. From interviews with the directors of two social assistance programs it is Clear that the problem cannot be solved easily. A solution would require does not need much imagination to realize after rent s paid How much is left for food clothing it Cetera. Most live in wretched poverty with Little Prospect of Hope for improvement. In seeking better housing there is almost no Choice for Thorn. Whether Chisling Legal housing standards am adequate or enforceable is another f problem provincial care services program were prompted by the removal two weeks ago of six men from a Talbot Avenue boarding House. T h e main Street project workers who removed the six Nen have described the living conditions in the House at the time of the removal As deplorable although the landlord and the caretaker of the House have denied that what were called Pigsty conditions existed in the House. The main Street workers said there Are diagnostic Check of the. 130 had yearly incomes of or less with most in the 000 Cut spending government regulation of boarding houses a great change in the More places where people Are living in substandard conditions. Range. Several ate Only one meal daily 52 reported eating two meals daily. Almost half pay 26 per cent or More of their Gross income or the summary noted. Most have hazardous dark Steep stairs to climb. Thirty eight had difficulty climbing them. Many never see a Doc or the majority do not have facilities for a cup of Tea. Most share their plumbing with others. There is no Access to Parks or suitable Green areas. The furniture is old. Most rooms Lack adequate clothing or Ood storage space. Many do without refrigeration and o i h e r household appliances. About one half do their own aundry. Most Are reluctant to complain about poor living Condi ions because of the great difficulty in obtaining better a Ommo Dation within their Means. They live in wretched Overly Many being lonely and having nothing to the study reveals that 107 of be 130 people questioned lived n single rooms and 15 others ived in iwo room quarters. Ninety two live on the Sec and floor of older or Dilapi aled buildings housing commercial establish meals on the round floor. Usually one Small room serves As the Liv no Ealing and sleeping area. complained of cramped quarters Lack of Sun get and of fresh air. Some id say thai the worst feature Vas the deteriorating physical Tate of their of the 130, 137 shared a Toi it 128 a Bathtub 103 a Wash Asin and 69 a Kitchen sink Wenty of the people shared Lese fixtures with eight other eople 27 shared them with attitude toward substandard housing and toward the treatment of the poverty stricken and a change in the attitude of some of the poor. The interviews with u. H. C. Hooper director of the welfare department for the cily of Winnipeg and Berl or. Waterer and or Hooper said the decision by a welfare recipient on where he will live rests mainly with the individual himself. This decision is rarely made by welfare officials. Or. Hooper said the vast majority of people on City welfare Are employable or Are e health Stai f substantial House has denied that the conditions were deplorable. Or. Cadham said an inspector checked the House about a week after the men were removed and found it had been cleaned up and there was Little to criticize. He said the inspector tried to Check the House four Days in a Row Tje fore he found someone Home. Or. Cadham said 129 houses were condemned in 1973, which he said was quite a Large number. Of the houses condemned about 80 were demolished be cause the proper repairs weren t made and the others were repaired satisfactorily. He said the controversy Over the Talbot Avenue House has been blown a bit out of proportion because his depart ment does t run into Situa j tons like that too often. He said of the houses condemned j ast year Only about two or three were boarding houses. Or. Cadham said the depart j ment could use another two or Ihrcke men in the housing investigation division. There Are nine men working in the division at present. He said inspectors receive the equivalent of 957 Porta to Nairn 1311 Mcphilips 460 Pitrina 7 667-1595 586-8049 weather morning bulletin for Manitoba and Northwest Ontario skies were overcast Over in the North mostly in the most of Southern Manitoba 20s. Clearing will take and Western Ontario Early p be Southern Manitoba today but the Ontario re this morning with Light Sions will remain Predoti. Rain or Snow in some Loca Vantly Cloudy until tonight lilies associated with a or tomorrow. Highs today weather system Over Lake will be mostly 35 to 40, Superior. Elsewhere skies with lows generally near were Clear except in the 20. Sunday will be sunny in Churchill area where Light most regions with tempera Snow was reported. Tern lures somewhat below nor Pera Tures were near or Mal. Figures on the map slightly below freezing in indicate expected High Tern most Southern regions but Pera Tures services director for the urges mor problems c the problem of people living n substandard housing could e alleviated to some extent by increasing the staff of Winnipeg s civic health depart men the head of the department said this week. Or. Roper g. Cadham Winnipeg s chief medical health said if the department lad a larger staff it could re urn to its old policy of picking a zone of the City and examining every House in the zone. He said this system would be beneficial because it would aise the standards of housing n that area considerably. Or. Cadham said that be Ause of the manpower shortage in the housing inspection Ivision the department can larely keep up Wilh in Vesliga no the 200 to 300 complaints it receives each month let alone return to a system of examining All houses in a zone. Or. Cadham was interviewed i cause of an incident in which in men were removed from a Talbot Avenue House two weeks ago because workers rom the main Street project found what they described of deplorable living conditions in he House. The caretaker of i f r h High Tim 1.1001 i i Low m or cow from in a worm annl of Crft . Temperatures forecast following arc High Tern for Winnipeg red Pera Tures recorded yester River Interlake and Bis Day Low temperatures for sett regions frequent sunny periods today with the 12-hour period which North wind at 13 to 20 ended at 6 . Today and . High today 35 to 40. Precipitation for the 24 a few Clouds tonight with hour period which ended at a Low near 20 mainly 6 today sunny sunday with Little temperature a proposed million downtown land acquisition pro ram has been shelved for iwo non los by Winnipeg s civic pol by committee. In the meantime the cily s Oard of commissioners is to consider the proposed land Assembly program and prepare report on the City s role in downtown development. Last month City Council re erred a recommendation that in City acquire five downtown parcels of land for Public Pur loses Hack to policy committee or further details on the pro ram. Information requested b y Council included specific land Plai sons for the acquisitions the assessment and properly taxes on the land and buildings the names of the owners and types of buildings and the civic capital investment anticipated. Chief commissioner d. I. Macdonald fold policy Commil ice thursday that the information had been compiled but he said it could prejudice the City s position if made Public on the floor of Council. He said the information would to of Little use to Council in reaching decisions on the cily s role in downtown development and which properties should be acquired. Committee accepted the chief commissioner s recommendation that the Board shelved n commissioners prepare a re port containing specific recon j emendations on downtown Dev clop Cut. The report is to be completed in 60 Days. J or. Macdonald told councillors the land acquisition pro i postal is a substantial Depar Ture from the concepts contained in the downtown Devil Oppenl plan. O included in the five parcels t of land recommended for a s qui Sitison Are the Sites of the c Aberdeen hotel and Rostau t rant Eaton s Carlton Street c parking lot two car rental offices a pizza place restaurant p Allan s Auto Glass ltd., the t lord Ellmar apartments and a t number of Small office build h ass. Houses and parking lots h Vancouver Calgary Edmonton Regina Brandon Thompson the Pas Winnipeg Thunder Bay Kenora 35 Zottu f 39 32 .08 so 23 50 18 j m i 6, 37 34 .45 v u .40 30 .03 i 41 33 .05 Toronto Montreal Halifax 51 in i i 42 35 .14 77 1 los Angeles Minneapolis new York 78 57 60 41 .36 Berlin 75 .62 52 .01 Amsterdam 66 70 is Tokyo 61 question. To compel Obser Vance of the Law often results in eviction. One obvious answer is Suffi c i e n t and suitable Public housing competing with the Type of accommodation surveyed. This alone May either Force standards upward or compel landlords not Able to meet such Competition to go out of in the interview or. Stei Man wondered How Many elderly people today Are living in Rooming houses and old apart ment blocks in such inner City areas As around the bus depot and along Ellice Sargent and notre Dame avenues from Arlington Street East to main Street. I wonder if it would he Fea sible for Public and private health and social agencies Deal ing with the aged to organize a joint standardized City wide Survey to determine the living conditions of the elderly omit Ting however such affluent areas As River Heights and Tuxedo would it be feasible for the agencies to Divide the work each assuming responsibility for a certain geographical Section of the Pabie of making life decision themselves and for then w e 1 f a r e is an Alt Nativ source of decidirt0 where to live is one of this life asked if he thought Welfar officials should have the High to Tell welfare recipients when to live or. Hooper said it a a difficult question to answer. On the one hand you a saying that because people a on welfare they have no High to run their lives because i welfare can determine when they can live it can determine other aspects of their lives and therefore we Are arbitrarily causing dependency. Or the other hand we often run into situations where it would be administratively easier to Tell a person his Home is inadequate and order him to move for or. Hooper the question of should welfare have the right to decide a recipient place of residence raised the two years of University train ing to receive a certificate As a health inspector. A source in the health department said that it is difficult to recruit new inspectors because the pay High enough. On Bottom no Choice of housing some people live in sub Stan d a r d housing because they have reached the Bottom of the housing scale and have no place else to live r. H. C. Hooper tiie director of the Winnipeg s civic welfare department. Said. Or. Hooper said in an inter View that these people who have reached the Bottom of the housing scale constitute a problem within the greater problem of people living in substandard accommodations. Or. Hooper said these people Are the kind of people the Community Calls skid Row bums a term he does t like and they have generally worn out their Welcome in All other types of accommodations. He said they have usually been kicked out of a number of places including the salvation army before they drop to the Jot Tom of the scale. Or. Hooper said that the Only solution to the problem of chronic alcoholics is to set up Long term treatment facilities and require the people to accept treatment in the facilities. He said most of the alcohol programs available Are Short term programs and Many of the chronic skid Row alcoholics Lave been through these and Haven t changed their lifestyle. Rhetorical question Are going to have Progress in so qty by creating More and to dependence and have Ever body dependent on the St or should we encourage div dual or. Hooper said because t majority of people on City w fare Are employable his apartment emphasizes rehab Tating people Back to a Job. I wondered if welfare recipient should he placed in a unit position of dependence we receiving assistance when the Are expected to return to to and once again make their o decisions. If we create a High Der of artificial Independence welfare recipients would the Ever be Independent again if you create this system dependency then you to something very precious fro or. W a t e r e r in Essen agreed with the philosophy p Forward by or. Hooper an said i think this philosophy self determination a p p 1 i e equally to most people Recei ing assistance from care be vices. I think it is an inva Sii of privacy to Force them All people receiving City w fare Are younger than 65 Yea while those receiving ass Tance from care services a either older than 65 years Are disabled adults. Both or. Hooper and m Waterer said there Are t ways to Deal with people foun ving in poor accommodation if the House is extremely u sanitary or overcrowded the City health department called in and the House can b condemned and the Peop or cd to move. If the cont ions Don t warrant condemn no the House then All Power of persuasion Are used to co Vince the people to move jut sometimes this in t us Essul. Of the six men remove March 29 from the Talbot a nue House three had Bee asked prior to that Date if the wanted to move. The Man r ceiling City welfare was Aske n december and the two r ceiling t funds from care be vices were asked sever weeks ago and All three r used to Moye. Two of the other men were living on of age pensions and the othe Man was receiving Mone news quiz on Page 14 to refresh your memory of major National and International happenings turn to the news quiz appearing today on Page 14. Each week the quiz offers you a Chance to answer questions on a Vari Ety of news personalities and news events. Taking this current events test regularly can add zest to your news Reading. The quiz is published by the free press As part of its current events pro Gram for area schools. From the Federal department of veterans affairs. Apart from tills philosophy of allowing people to make their own life decisions there Are several other reasons for pc ple living in substandard conditions. One important reason is that there in t enough housing at a better level air. Hooper said. He said it is ironic at present that when welfare workers convince a person to move out of substandard housing the accommodations Are inevitably filled quickly by people living on funds from other programs or by people who earn Low in comes. He said he assumes Tipiere is a shortage of adequate housing because if this is not the Case then a sizable amount of sub Standard places would be Van cant and you can t find Many that the problem of people living in substandard housing is far greater in the inner City where about 82 per cent of the people receiving City welfare live. Or. Hooper said people Liv ing outside the inner City generally live in housing with higher standards. People choose to live in the inner City even when better housing is available outside the area for a number of reasons to be part of an ethnic Community or to be where they fed comfortable and other reasons. There is also a problem with people accepting poor housing standards. Or. Hooper said one tragic Factor is that people move into substandard housing and accept those standards without complaining and seem to prefer the poor housing even when better housing is Avail Able. Or. Roper g. Cadham Winnipeg s chief medical health officer said a major problem is that people Are afraid to report unfavourable or unsanitary conditions in their Homes because they Are afraid the landlord would Force them to move out. He said in the past there was a problem with landlords forc ing people who complained to move but now with the provincial rentals Man this in t something to be feared. But said the onus is on the pub Lic to complain about poor conditions. Or. Cadham said his depart nent is always ready to Check nto complaints of unsanitary conditions. Both or. Hooper and or. Waterer said that a Erson on welfare merely has o Call his social worker about poor conditions and the worker will look into the matter. They said that because most of their clients Don t require a Ireat Deal of supervision they Are visited irregularly by their workers but they can Call whenever they require help or people who require a great Leal of supervision because hey can t make life Deci visits Are frequent As if ten As twice a week in some ases. Or. Hooper said All blame an t rest with landlords. He Aid when unsanitary houses re discovered it is not always the fault of the landlord some tenants create the filthy Condi on themselves ;