Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 8, 1982, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free december 1982 7 the Winnipeg free press welcomes letters from readers writers must give their name and address the author s name will be used and letters Are subject to editing readers forum Council could reject entire Core initiative on october the executive policy committee pc had the Opportunity for virtually the first time in 18 consider several alternatives with respect to the Core area initiative the of was the proposed Logan Indus trial pc was in this unique position because of a very particular set of the original Industrial Park proposal provided for the Elimina Tion of All residential areas within the confines of the designated How following the election of a new provincial government late in the province appointed a commission of the Shapiro which ultimately recommended the inclusion of a residential where that component should be and How big it should be was the subject of further review out of that review six alternatives were Iden these plus the original non residential option were All before pc at the end of in that by a vote of five to pc endorsed the nonresidential by november the night of the next meeting of it was Clear that a number of councillors were prepared to support option 1 the most limited residential development and a number of others to support option 2c the option preferred by the province and most North Logan Resi opinions differ about the num Ber of councillors supporting each of these thought it seems quite Clear that the two groups Between them had enough strength at least to carry option 1 As a Compromise and maybe option 2c As that proposition was not How mayor Bill Norrie made his now famous allusion to some recent development that might result in a new proposal and asked for and received a Layover of the Issue for four Many councillors believed that the mayor was going off to try and negotiate a perhaps involving or coming near one of the other alter natives that had been before it be quite misleading to As the editorial the new Deal for free december 3 did that the subsequent Deal recognized an irreconcilable difference among the font Here to have been irreconcilable differences there would have to have been a Clear expression of a Winnipeg hearings needed plan Winnipeg has finally emerged from the executive policy committee As an interim policy to guide the City until the plan becomes a Many changes have been incorporated into the revised but unfortunately these have not yet been made Public in a form that can be easily the document that actually went to City Council contained Handwritten corrections and and did not contain the introduction that in approved by the the plan has improved during the Public hearing school authorities will be actively consulted on issues relating to neighbor Hood planning priority will be Given in capital expenditures to Public transit and an Overall introduction will be clearly stating the priority of revitalization of the inner the background studies for the plan have been cited As the context for the final thereby allowing for their formal use in examining the degree to the City complies with the intent of the plan in the next five three major issues remain untre the Urban limit line is still drawn for the year one drawn for with necessary Revi Sions every five years would be much More appropriate Given the slow growth of our there still appears to be an aversion to District or action area in the Light of the Core area is puzzling say the How can we Hope to renew the older parts of the City if we do not plan rationally for land use and improve ments in these parts there remains the question of the car rail businessmen and homeowners in the area surrounding the Yards cannot be expected to make decisions about the capital investment and Home purchases that Are implied by the intent of Urban renewal unless they know the future land use and transportation facilities of the All three of issues were raised by minister of Urban affairs Eugene Kostyra in his letter to the in they were raised with the City nearly six months according to some City staff and elected their substance could not have come As a Surprise to perhaps a Short round of Public hearings on these issues would serve to finally Clear the air and let us finish the Job that All parties have our City can ill afford to be development plan much our current serious financial difficulties surely make that k Bruce Tefft chairman social policy committee social planning Council of Winnipeg Winnipeg Council opinion different from that held by the but there was no expression of Council Clear or and there was none because the mayor asked Council to hold off while he Only those who were privy to the negotiations will know for sure what transpired but one can infer from the subsequent Deal that a majority of Council was perceived or represented As being implacably opposed to any residential component in the Logan and that accordingly province was invited to buy the City certainly that is the net effect it May be the mayor got a Good a Basic is this did he sell something that was his to sell it May reasonably be suggested that he did As noted Council had not taken a firm or fixed position on the Nei ther in discussion nor by Resolution was the mayor empowered to propose major surgery on the Logan program most if the area in question was initially identified As one of the most important and critical in the whole Core How could the City readily and thoughtlessly agree to Transfer it to provincial jurisdiction and outside and beyond the Purview of the Core initiative this last Point has far reaching if each government were simply to spend million each in Winnipeg some remarkable things might but planning and coordination would not necessarily be amongst the second major problem the new Deal creates has to do with what now remains of the original Logan Industrial some of us were sceptical about the Parks assumptions at the but at least one could draw reassurance from the thought that it represented a coherent package if its proponents were right about Market demand would ultimately be reduced and is it now either viable or coherent the answer is neither Clear nor self Evi but is no guar Antee that we will not go on spending Money on it if this new Deal is a we left with the matter of the reallocation of the Money to be saved if the province assumes responsibility for the area North of Logan and East of on this the free press editorial comments the councillors Are certainly entitled to hear the such As they May for the Way the Money saved in Logan is being but they cannot seriously expect to alter the terms of the Deal now that the three members of the policy committee have put their names to the Council is As with an accomplished the difference this time is that there has been Public discussion of some of the issues involved before the mayor came Down from the Moun Tain would that it were but it is Council has not had any discussion of the issues involved in the reallocation of the most that can be said is that we have now had some discussion of the issues in the program from which moneys might now become available reassigning them will be quite another the mayor and the May be right in insisting that Council cannot alter the terms of the Deal but it can and if that it can reject the Deal and for the first time since the Core area initiative was that now looms As a real pos Sibil William Neville councillor Tuxedo Heights Winnipeg lost opportunities downtown the following is an appropriate Addi Tion to the statement by Terence Moore in his article our downtown is income free november big cities Are attractive in their downtown areas if there Are Safe places to shop arts move around in pleasant Toronto Yorkville is an example and is Only 200 Yards away from the Magnet of Bloor Street with its High density shopping and Winnipeg Hast a smaller equivalent of this because we Are too spread out and downtown is More space than and space Means cars while buildings mean a 20storey office building fully occupied is a great source of noon before work and afterword local this ing supports the the the the Book stores and the specially shops that make the Centre of a City pleasant and residents needed in Core in the period from november 27 to december 15 articles have been published pertaining to the problems facing our dilapidated these articles elude to problems of traffic insufficient social business failure and voids in Industrial and commercial the solutions offered for these problems Are to create a downtown Industrial site in the Logan Avenue area and to encourage development of the downtown Core Sim Ilar to Minneapolis and Minneapolis and Paul have com pact have three decades of downtown restrictive suburban commercial expressways skirting the downtown arts a metro population of two Winnipeg has a sprawled almost no suburban commercial development restrict insufficient Portage and main alternative a severely blighted downtown area and a metro population of just Over on half the Core area initiative program would raze the Logan area neighbor Hood and create a Indus trial Park requiring a higher educated labor Force from the How does this help the inner City population for that Given our present tight economic what Are our chances of attracting any new Indus tries to Winnipeg i am in favor of eliminating slum but considering Winnipeg Low rental vacancy these areas would Best be replaced with mixed status housing and the of suburban commercial adventures lies in their accessibility to a Large captive consumer increasing Winnipeg inner City population would create captive Consumers for the commercial development of Down once downtown begins to in Winnipeg May find that even More people would be attracted Back to the Henry Sikora Winnipeg Winnipeg has had a Host of opportunities to enhance the Aura and Quality of downtown using new buildings As the an example is the Royal Canadian it should be in the downtown surrounded by a or set off with a Pool or Revenue Canada has a huge building at the Cross roads shopping half Way to should be Manitoba Hydro conducts its Multi billion Dollar Power development plans from Taylor Well out in the the relatively new Manitoba Telephone system building sits on the Edge of Polo Park shopping while that mall is at times packed with Portage Avenue on the North Side is mostly for there Are other such As the ramp building West of Sherburn on Portage the old building was historically important and could have been left in place As a museum or something if we Ever did put our major build Ings where they would do the most Good for the most people we could certainly justify a rapid transit in one of the coldest big cities in the world there May not need to be More if More people Are not attracted to downtown and Eaton and the Bay see their profit margins shrink in their downtown they might Well close their Portage Avenue if this the commercial retail future of downtown Winnipeg is my Section of neurology University of Manitoba Winnipeg plan for area Northeast of Salter and Logan is source of Contention in Core a defence of Osborne Village the article doubts raised on Core free november 29 included the stated opinions of several City All of the councillors quoted in the article were present at Council committee meetings and full Council session when rive Bornes proposal was submitted for City River borne representatives fully answered All questions As to project intent and these same councillors seemed quite Content with the responses Given them in that the proposal passed Council it appears that there is still some confusion on the part of our City representatives in reference to River borne development group and Osborne rather than let their misinformation pass on to the the following facts should be made River Bome is not and never has been nor Ever will a Village the River borne Complex will be indirectly of Benefit to Osborne the time and Effort devoted to this project by a couple of Village business people far outweigh any commercial advantage that May ultimately accrue from under the p10 program Street in of Street parking of the Core area Village stores could have applied for funding to improve their Plant fix Village efforts were put behind a plan initiated by Ian Macdonald of Augustine this plan provided for a com unit oriented project which would eventually be create continuing provide a neighbor Hood focus and be diverse enough to meet Many local needs and Bra nucleus for future we Are very determined that the funding received by River borne will not be but As originally intended by the fund ing be a seed for economic development and Community Osborne Village is a very easy target for the Media and the politicians seek ing partly because it is in minister of immigration Lloyd a worthy partly because it dares to be different from the commonplace mall marketing and partly because it arose Sontan outside of any input from the cites planning accusations of political Over priced trendy Are constantly being hurled at ten years we were accused of being ant establishment hip pies now we Are supposed to be fat profiteering from political Pat quite a step up in just a few everyone seems to in real economic that the shops and restaurants of Osborne Village have created Over 300 Fulland Par time jobs which would not exist if we did not put our finances and our futures on the line every working i am tired of the self justification that is constantly required of us by virtue of either the ignorance or malice of the and the ignorance or incompetence of certain of our coun our own Harold Macdonald Why must we be set up in an artificial adversary position to make others into so called heroes of the peo ple in preparation for next years elections if it is the intent of City Council to scuttle the entire Core area initiative Why does it not have the guts to say so Sandra Altner coordinator Osborne Village business association Winnipeg emerges Winner in he we beat the government in the 1982 session and we can do it again so boasted an article in the pc the tory newspaper circulated by All Las to their constituents just prior to the opening of the Legisla but the initial clashes of the new important for their Psychol Gial Impact on the indicate the verdict May be different this the first question period featured a Toet Otoe slugging match Between pre Mier Howard Pawley and opposition Leader Sterling Lyon in which Pawley came off the Clear and the Al important throne speech reply monday by Lyon fell decidedly Flat despite the former premiers acknowledged oratorical who was so repeatedly out by Lyon last session that question periods became a ritualized leading of the Lamb to the seems finally to have mastered the right Lyons parliamentary skill is based upon a nimble wit and an ability to destabilize his opponent by baiting last Pawley was an easy once he became flustered and Ripe for Lyons easy political on Pawley neither got angry nor he turned aside Lyons forays with smiles and requests to his Frances Russell adversary to Calm the wind visibly went out of Lyons the first joust involved the Rise in unemployment and Lyons belief that a Large part of it can be attributed to the payroll its very easy for the opposition to question Why we imposed that tax without indicating any alternative measures for raising Paw Ley you say Cut then identify for us the and by that i dont mean peanuts Here and but substantial unlike members this government Doest intend to kick the crutches out from under the Lyon then demanded that this Fum bling government set aside regular business and bring in a new set of expenditure estimates so the Legisla Ture can debate the unemployment situation and what can be done about Pawley replied that his government would Welcome any we can be proud of the fact unlike the party we have not heaped misery upon misery by cutting spend we cannot do it other govern ments must do their fair Lyon then quoted Winston Churchill who described free Enterprise Asun equal sharing of blessings and social ism As equal sharing of shot Back Pawley the equal Shar ing of misery that is occurring in the world today is not As a result of social democratic governments but a result of policies of governments like the party opposite which favor tight Money and High interest Lyon then shifted his focus to the governments decision not to renew Manitoba Hydro president Lawrie Blachford he demanded an immediate calling of the Public utilities committee and berated the govern ment for putting political Hacks on the Manitoba Hydro Pawley inquired whether Lyon would count As political Hacks the two Hydro Board members appointed by the tories who Are still and he pointed out that the new Hydro presi John is a career employee with the Crown this is an unfortunate reflection on Community minded people who serve on government the Premier we choose not to participate in a Witch Hunt and dont intend to Call the committee to permit the opposition to engage in a apolitical Witch Pawley referred several times to the latest conference Board report to de fend his economic the report said Manitoba turned in the Best performance of any province in conference speak is hardly composed of bolsheviks and Pawley taunted the other major opposition gambit of the first question period was tory finance critic Brian ransoms motion of privilege berating the government for withholding the second quarterly report on the provinces the government bobbled this pass badly until the tories came to its Rescue with an and somewhat they needed the report so that Lyon would have some thing new for mondays health minister Larry Desjardins advised Lyon to delay his speech if the report was so vital to but another Opportunity to decry the size of the provincial deficit would not have helped the former he has run out of new ways to lambaste his to a minimum of government Lyon charged through his timeworn list of criticisms the loss of the the invidious nature of the payroll the nip friends and relations in the civil the East of Moscow the assertions about the size of the tory popular vote and the certainty of the Dps defeat in three at the resources minister Al Mackling suggested that the former Premier get himself a new list of what the tories Are discovering is merely a time honoured fact of political oppositions Shine brightly the first session after their defeat because of their nearness to the As time distances them from Power and the intimate knowledge it scor ing political Points becomes More diff especially if the opposition in ques Tion remains Frozen in Amber in its perception of the issues and what should be done about pop Newbury lers i take it von51his iv5 50 mho w office you Pont Murray think in an actor Busy but he found 1 i ;