Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 24, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Editor John 6977044 focus Winnipeg free press a 7 May dont forget merchant Marine i was in the Royal Canadian Navy in the second world War on Mer chant i sailed with lived with them and saw what a great Effort they put into seeing that the cargo and supplies got to where they were needed at great hardship and at a great loss of it was Only a Short time ago that the merchant marines were recognized As part of the on May was at Selkirk to watch a plaque being presented to the merchant the presenta Tion and speakers paid tribute to the role played by the merchant marines in the second world i am upset about the fact that i have never seen or heard any word of recognition on in the newspaper or on the radio that the Mer chant marines Ever i think this is a terrible oversight by the people in the god bless the merchant marines who Are and lets show that we will never forget the Many who lost their lives to help All Many Edward Dirr Winnipeg Stop using american spelling this time your paper really has gone too Ive sat Back and Only privately bristled when Reading in the free press such americanisms As and but now your penchant for foreign Spellings has actually created a fac Tual on May 6 you named the opposition party in Britain the labor it is the labour that is its official you cant just change names and Spellings Willy Nilly to suit your Lazy use of Ameri shape and while youre at it Why dont you get a Little Pride in being a Canadian newspaper and Start using the Canadian spelling in All cases your paper is Embarrass the first thing i suggest is get Ting rid of whatever Southof the Border spellcheck system youre using in your Holmes Winnipeg shocked and disturbed i was shocked and disturbed to read the May 13 free press advertisement which refers to veday and dares to compare the sacrifice of thousands of Young canadians in the second world War with the loss of a professional sports those responsible for this and chose not to be this has to be a new Low in attempts to save the to comment fur ther on this particular and would be to Dishonour the memory of those men and women who gave the ultimate Ted Gates Winnipeg barrage of tactics of All the barrage of tactics with which the free press has relent Lessly assailed us in its bloated Campaign to boost the the most offensive has got to be that Little habit of trotting out Cal sports to bestow his magisterial statement on Why building an Arena is the most crucial component of mental health next to and Public Sanita Tion psychologist downplays Dis May lest frenzied boosterism should Wear you import this expert to lend the authoritative veneer of the definitive insight to the Botte ruts exploitation of psychological constructs to dignify and legitimize a blatantly parti san article is Botterill attempts to downplay the Hij inks of the brutes who made death threats against Rick Boychuk and thin ice members by portraying these As somehow innocuous and fans will be and if the devout Are obstructed in their quest for spiritual dont be surprised at the i just cant find it in me to smile indulgently at such displays of High spirited i tend to the infamous Brit ish soccer fans who murder each other outside Call it what it Caj mob a focus for ajl sorts of Nasty energies and a context in which it is publicly nay to express them a phenomenon on has shown itself to be More a disturbing eruption of ugliness than a cause for it is reprehensible that any psychologist should abuse the prestige of his profession to condone or encourage such to the editor the free press welcomes letters from letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed address and Telephone names will be published but not All letters May be edited for style and Short letters Are less Likely to be please address letters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg letters can be sent to our fax number letter maybe submitted through the internet at . Letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone that combined million that the three Levels of government Are supposed to Shell out would sure look Nice on the budget of Home or suicide prevention pro or recreation programs so that youths who could never afford jets tickets can play Community hockey instead of robbing and shoot ing delivery the same people who Are howling now to save their jets will be howl ing later on when they have to wait months for physiotherapy at the local or when they discover that a University education has be come an inaccessible luxury or when their basements fill up with vile fluids after the next big rainfall All because the fiscal cupboard is Reen Kreindler Winnipeg the end of democracy newspaper through their have a direct effect on the general and must there fore present facts without distorting them with their own views or without knowing anything about the subject they write a classic example of both is Frances russells May 13 comments on the Federal gun control Bill presently being debated in she is particularly vicious to Manitoba Justice minister Rosemary Vodrey for exposing faults in the Russell supports her own position with irrelevant examples of Ameri can gun and Canadian Statis twisted to support her As an she says that canadians die from guns every but no provisions in Bill c68 will reduce these she does not say that of those Are a further 200 Are through accidents and another 50 Are by police or canadians killed outside of the that makes out of the stated deaths which Are not prevent people simply dont worry whether or not the gun they commit suicide with or have an Accident with is that Only leaves 50 which Are committed by and which Are also not be cause criminals will not Register their and crimes of passion Are not affected by to spend close to billion in these hard economic times on implementation of this dubious Bill is Sim ply i also dont under stand the relentless preoccupation of women groups and misguided reporters like Frances Russell to link gun but particularly gun with crime there is simply no particularly since Only five per cent of violent crimes in Canada involve what about the heinous provisions or effects of the Bill which she does not speak such As search and Sei Zure provisions without a warrant presumption of guilt until proven in Nocent the possibility of firearms registration lists falling into the wrong hands the morality of confiscation of legally owned property without compensation guilt by association and the end of democracy in Canada Lis Martynec Winnipeg Good Samaritans i read Andrews letter Looft out for each other with certainly Winni Eggers safety is just As important As that of i am with the authors need to prioritize groups of people in regard to concern regard ing their a Good Samaritan attitude toward everyone in our tourist or would go a Long Way toward making Winnipeg a truly Safe place where people look out for each mar Green Winnipeg Ijlal cats Isis to citizens opened their hearts and wallets to raise Money for a new Arena at the shown Here in an artists Conception Arena demons raise consciousness when Hladkyj family members gathered around the Kitchen table last week to count up the Small change in a bid to help save the Winnipeg they probably didst realize they were on the verge of entering the realm of the and what about automobile dealer Jim who joined All other City car dealers to raise More than million for the cause do you think they knew they were helping make Winnipeg the child poverty capital of Canada forever the Penn rollers and the car dealers probably thought they were doing something much More obvious and a lot less they probably thought they were taking some personal responsibility for trying to make their Community a better place to listening to youd never think the tens of thousands who rallied in an unprecedented show of support for the jets were involved in something novel and remarkably judging by their youd think they were doing something roughly equivalent to Adams Deci Sion to bite the forbidden and they didst Stop critics also cast the Media in the role of accusing reporters and Edi tors of orchestrating and manipulating the entire yikes we All know Public policy debate is often filled with shrill exaggerated claims and predictions of utter doom on All and there int anything wrong with after theres nothing like a spirited debate to get the blood flowing and focus the a bit much but suggesting a Community is on the verge of the realm of the As Arena opponent Carl Ridd of thin ice did last would appear to be a bit one need Only read newspaper accounts of events in the former Yugoslavia or parts of Africa to understand in any there comes a time when issues and arguments must be put into without any further Here is a modest attempt to answer some of the More common questions about the question How can we afford to spend million on a new Arena when we Are the child poverty Cap ital of Canada answer building the Arena is not an just because you Are in favor of build ing an Arena does not mean you Are opposed to eliminating child Pov in if child education or other social Brian Cole problems could be wiped out with a onetime expenditure of Mil Gary Lloyd Axworthy and Susan Thompson would have written the Cheque a Long time proportion the Bottom line governments annually spend billions More on so Cial problems than they do on things like sports and they always the Issue Here is one of proper the Cost of a new Arena represents roughly two per cent of the total provincial budget for one in the province could build two Arenas with Revenue from lotteries for a single the tories stashed about million in a secret account during the last few years Only to spend it this year in a bid to solidify their balance budget election they could have spent it on an Arena and the Impact on the debt and the provincial tax Struc Ture would have been question Why should the tax payer bail out millionaire hockey players answer taxpayers Arent bail ing out millionaire hockey the Best information to Date suggests Money raised from the Pri vate sector and the grassroots Campaign will be used to acquire shares in the team and fund ongo ing this Effort is designed to save the team for the Benefit of Manito not the they wont lose their jobs if the team Are footing the Bill for a new whether the City needs one without the jets is open for but most Community leaders believe Winnipeg needs a new Arena to keep Pace with most major cities on the Conti even if the jets do the real question is should it be built at the Forks site or across from the Winnipeg convention Centre question int keeping the jets Here a Gamble answer but two previous studies say the jets can be viable in Winnipeg under the right Condi including construction of a new Arena with significant govern ment More Community involvement in team a salary Cap for hockey All conditions except for the Sal Ary Cap appear to be a new Arena is expected to pro vide the team with million in Revenue from ticket sales and Lux Ury boxes roughly double the amount taken in today which should help the team remain via while there is no salary changes made to the collective agreement Between the players and league should help limit in As observers believe the economics of hockey will shake out Over the next few years and that by the year the nil will have a major television contract and a Revenue sharing plan that would keep All Small Market teams one would be naive to think the jets Are Home the big question is what happens if the jets continue to lose Money the leaders of the save the jets Campaign is to create a privately financed endowment to cover All losses associated with the operation of the one thing is certain it is Politi Cally and economically essential that government not cover team Bottom line if the endowment fund works and All else Falls into the risk is Worth if we should have a better sense if this is possible this question but Why should we take any risk at All How can we afford to keep up with cities like Chi new York and los Angeles answer this gets at the heart of the Winnipeg cant compete with the largest cities on the Conti nor should it it keep abreast of Edmon Vancouver and some other smaller if hockey is viable in those it should be viable in Winni it is important not to lose sight of one thing without a new the viability of the jets is Winnipeg with a new Winnipeg re Mains competitive with other Cit and once the Small cities Are the headache shifts from individual cities to the the Bottom line there Are no guarantees in and no one can say with certainty that the jets will always remain in but supporters of the Campaign to build an Arena and save the team also know there is a larger Gamble in letting the team go without a fight Only to find out five years from now it could have been via question int the team a Drain on the taxpayer answer economic Impact stud ies have shown the jets Are Worth about million to the local econ that number is disputed by economists who argue fans will spend Money on other things if the jets but virtually everyone agrees the jets generate at least million to million in provincial income and payroll taxes the team directly provides jobs for about 900 Winni Eggers and in directly for about question int it True the Media whipped up support for the jets answer there is no doubt Media coverage of the Issue moved some people to but does anyone really think a handful of journalists convinced people from All walks of life to donate million in less than a week unless those individuals wanted to question but was your coverage of events last week fair answer its pretty hard to ignore or downplay an event that is unprecedented in its nature and the fundraising Effort and the rally grabbed most of the big head but views of opponents to the Campaign were featured on the front Page and the inside local As Well As the editorial free press columnist Mike Ward even invited opponents to Start their own rally at Portage and first to report it should also be remembered that the free press was the first to report the potential Cost of saving the even before thin ice was the free press published a series of stories in september 1993 that highlighted the fact that a res Cue plan to save the jets could Cost taxpayers As much As question Doest All this Effort to save a hockey team say some thing about our values As a Community answer it confirms every Good thing we think about our City and province mainly that we Are a Community with a tremendous amount of Confidence in our future and a sense of where we belong in the grand scheme of the critics would have you of Lieve that somehow Many Manito bans didst have their priorities straight last nothing could be further from the individually and Manitoban spend billions every year on the important matters in life health social culture and Job Cre statistics Canada consistently ranks Manitoban at or near the top in terms of their willingness to contribute to Char every year thousands of Manito bans from All walks of life come to Gether to raise millions of dollars for the United Way and other Char and who do you think contrib utes to these charities the same people who helped save the that Brian Cole is City editor of the free lie becomes editor of the editorial Page on doonesbury by Garry Trudeau 7hbycoulpmt Krpoun atthe you Post traumatic in Lay Freih of tact ;