Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 27, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Readers forum Winnipeg free press a 7 May it taxpayers pay big in Aren team Deal s socialism for the free Enterprise for the poor is no ideological relic from a bygone it permeates the Winnipeg jets Rena As the taxpayers dollars the unanswered questions pile up and the business government secrecy the Price tag for the provincial and municipal Public treasuries is already close to Mil lion and this figure does not include the inevitable Cost overruns on construction and the millions More in lost Revenue due to the sweetheart Bonus being granted the hockey the Arena is to Cost the three lev Els of government million although Ottawa share is million Short at the to on top is anywhere from million to million in site Infra Structure to be paid by the million the Israel Asper Frances Russell Manitoba entertainment Complex Mec group will pay to Purchase the outstanding team shares is a 100 per cent tax deductible Busi Ness expense and As will Cost the Public million in foregone Revenue that will have to come out of someone else if Revenue Canada agrees that the proposed million endow ment fund for jets losses is a Char mainly will be Able to deduct another million from their income costing Ottawa million and Manitoba once Money the governments will have to find else with no tax payers from the three Levels of government will be Chipping in up to million to float the Aren team Tim newly elected nip la for Crescent Wood and his Par Tys critic for Trade and says its a huge Assumption to expect a project of this magnitude to come in on not one Arena has been built in North America in recent years that Hast Cost at least million Sale that translates into Well Over million in Cana Dian he questions Premier Gary film on assurances the new Arenas Cost is on the pre Mier said the abortive Mec plan included a fixed Price for the Arena that has been guaranteed by a major construction the government could be on very shaky ground proceeding with a construction arrangement negotiated by a private entity which will no longer it could be on even shakier ground constructing a major Public building without a Public tender when was the last time any government gave a contractor a major Job with no Public no Public scrutiny Sale on top of the Public sub Sidy that could run As High As million without comes additional indirect charges be cause of the Bonus the franchise will the Premier confirmed again tuesday the Arena will be leased to the private consortium owning the team for one Dollar a year for 20 this Means the jets will get All the Money from the food and drink and other concessions at the All the parking Revenue and All the Money generated by the other events that will rent the Sale says its impossible to estimate the total but it would be in the order of millions of dollars an Filmon himself conceded tues Day that the Onedell Prayear Deal meant the three governments were waiving their imputed interest on the which he pegged at eight per or a he claimed other Arenas operate the same Sale counters by pointing out that True Only where the team itself owns the this the City councils executive policy committee tried to revive the convention Centre finance minister Eric Stefanson said its too late to move the Arena from the late last the free press re ported that the Richardson family owns much of the land near the Forks the land would sharply increase in value once a major pub Lic building is erected close to Hartley Richardson is a key Mem Ber of Frank a former Winni now an entertainment columnist with the Toronto wrote a column last saturday ask ing what happened to the Winni Peg i love in Ordinary people have been suckered into believing that keeping the jets is a Little Guy in just As it is in is run by the Rich for the you wont see Many Little Guys cheering the Leafs at the because fat perpetuating the Macho male mind Bent that cripples North american have awarded them selves All the Good seats As com Pany he could have Cour Tesy of a Blank Cheque signed by High ideals wrong Freedom of speech lost in debate on att a rail pm nah the cup nor Muhoro it in n Donald Bailey and the Manitoba association for rights and liberties offer some very High minded ideals in their article reject the but respect messenger free May everyone should have the right to and universities should be the first place to Accord this Privi lege seems to be Baileys i Al ways thought universities were sup posed to be places of higher learn since they have now become the bastion of total and Complete free i find myself in a mor ally awkward i have a degree from the univer sity of the one that is sup posed to be most hospitable to radio evangelist Bob i thought my in the was to broaden my mind and make me a better person in a fair and equal society struggling against the great evils Humankind is capable of pro Bailey now Points out that my degree and the institution that ascribed it to me Are All part of a greater and higher moral the University should rent premises to All let Larson but let him speak where it is appropriate a Beer Hall for not a University paid for at the taxpayers Bailey appears wholly unfamiliar with larsons if he had been monitoring As i have for the past few he would pos Sibly wonder How Freedom of speech could Ever be afforded to a person who so readily would deny millions of people of As i walked out of Job after con fronting Larson on a Man handed me a flyer with the words death penalty for homosexuals on this was after i listened to Lar son Call a sexual per Vert Larson does not even know who i am and characterize me As an enemy of the while Bailey protects these peo Ples right to rally and build their army of hate which will eventually come and get me to end my As they did to my same sex ancestors during the second world will Bailey and his group come to stand outside my House As i sleep inside with a baseball Bat Wake up your High mind Edness is being paid for at my sex Winnipeg article not tolerant re reject the message but respect free May this is a skilfully written and worded article that sounds very Tol it is it is merely an at tempt to Whitewash the intolerant actions of people who constantly Tell us they Are that what they spew and do is the views Donald Bailey says Are reprehensible and in contradiction to All the Best principles of democratic Are not in they simply contradict Baileys views and those of like Baileys opinion of Bob larsons viewpoint clearly shows an intolerance of an opposing viewpoint no matter How skilfully his intolerance is the rights viewpoint is con stantly being put Forward As the tolerant the velvet chide Given to the Radical faction of the rights viewpoint who trashed the meeting Larson was going to con duct indicates something other tolerance in anyone there int a major City in Canada that Hast had its major and minor newspapers filled with whining from the so called rights groups about the reprehensible View of the so called the appearance of one Man whose View is strict for real reasons causes such a larsons work is aimed at helping those who have tried the anything goes philosophy and found it to come up very Short of the utopian goals it a simple Check with a handful of those Young lives that have been re claimed will dispel doubts As to the value of the work Larson does along with others by Baileys written Are As to whether larsons View counters that of biblical Christian again read the if anyone View is in opposition to the moral values declared to be and effective for society no matter what their race or it is not Walt Cross Winnipeg Gay adoptions wrong 1 strongly disagree with the editorial same sex Justice free May the article applauded the Ontario court ruling Al lowing same sex couples to adopt and encouraged the Mani Toba government to Amend this provinces legislation to allow for the the Ontario court ruling allowing for same sex couples to adopt Chil Dren was a dangerous misinterpretation of How a democratic society should be i have always believed that in a democratic society it is the through their elected who should make the not the appointed judges of Pur the editorial mentioned the fed eral human rights commissioner has criticized the Federal government for not acting quicker on its prom ised amendment to the Canadian human rights code to protect to this again strengthens my belief that human rights com missions in this country Are out of touch with the people and Cater Pri Marily to minority interest homosexuality is morally wrong and should be this does not mean i hate All Homo sex but i strongly disagree with their chosen sinful by giving homosexuality social acceptance and we Only make it easier for insecure individuals who May have developed a same sex tendency to Experiment with it and Settle into a lifestyle that produces and heartache for both homosexuals and their the Best setting for raising Chil Dren is the traditional family with a Mother and it is sometimes difficult to define what a traditional family but i believe it can Gener ally be defined As a Man and woman bound by a Loving living together with their children by blood or same sex couples cannot provide the same love and nurturing that every child needs and deserves As a traditional family the Christian response should be Loving compassion and Aid for with vigorous opposition to any pol icy that will spread Joh Loewen Plu Coulee with the recent news that the jets will be remaining for at least another there is reason for those of us who truly enjoy the game to be pleased that professional hockey is still part of Winnipeg however the activities of the last two weeks and what has happened to retain the team Are the subject of this throughout the tearful farewells at the end of the last game and again a few Days later in the Winnipeg Many fans remained aware with the possible exception of the few about to every one of those players would be on the first bus out of town for a better Dollar Down the the very reason for their leaving was that the insatiable greed of hockey players for bigger Sala Ries along with the grab for in creased profits by the Rich owners in larger drove ticket prices Well beyond the affordability of most hockey with the loss of the jets hockey franchise imminent and with the Prospect of lost business and lost came the inevitable Call for government after witnessing City and Provin Cial governments cutting jobs and declaring the urgent need for Cut backs to reduce costs and bring Down the and after three polls indicating two thirds of the silent majority did not approve of pub Lic Money being spent in that Man Many were shocked to hear the Premier and the mayor confirm that More Money would be this time to help build a Complex to a pay for my team citizens i dont have any but ill buy and own the Winnipeg if youll pay for Winnipeg commodare the it then became obvious it was whose jobs were not How Many jobs were that produced Public having just paid my income tax at one of the highest provincial rates in and with my unpaid prop erty tax Bill on my Kitchen i was one of the 66 per cent opposed to government Money being used to make multimillionaire out of hockey then came operation was impressed with the de Gree of Public response and with the amount of Money actually but like Many others was truly Dis Turbed by the manner in which it was As radio station Job had the most to lose from the loss of the with hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost Revenue from commercials during their hockey Broad they spearheaded the with the religious Zeal of television evangelists they effectively created a hysteria which led people to believe that by donating Money to save the jets they would be per forming a truly commendable com unit minded probably the most frightening component of this and the principal reason for this was the inexcusable assault on the free Dom of talk show with several hours per week to pro Mote their causes and push their by both directly and indirectly endeavoured to silence those opposed to Public financing of pro by frequently naming members of thin ice and councillors opposed to Public involvement and by provid ing addresses and Telephone num Bers of those the talk show hosts sought to crush the opposition this atrocious behaviour by Media people who have daily Access to the Homes of the Public and upon whom the Public relies for All sides of an is is Winnipeg 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 letters May be submitted through the internet at . Letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone doonesbury you cant waiting next Ken Gigl free press silent majority says no to escalating Public Arena speak up Over Arena Cost Winnipeg silent majority wants to speak citizens Are very concerned about the secrecy and Esca lating Public funding surrounding the new the 175 people who met at por Tage and main on thursday to save our Pride have started a fund to pro vide for a Mailin Coupon to be published in the free press to give a voice to the Many people who could not attend the any further financial support in this regard to finance the publishing of the Coupon would be very much the Issue is simple do you want to spend million minimum to keep a hockey franchise in the City Janice Minsky Winnipeg health care linked to economics fighting poverty is the key the ebola virus crisis should give us All we Are surrounded by viruses and Many of them Are in our bodies and on our if we Are and not overloaded with physical or mental we normally fight them our immune system does that Job for when our immune system is compromised for any the microbes take Swift advantage of people living in poverty in underdeveloped countries have weakened immune they Are not they typically do not have Access to Clear water or proper even their healthcare Hygiene standards May be very a previous outbreak of ebola virus in Africa was made worse because Hospital workers were using dirty Needles to inject poor people in underdeveloped countries could serve As a Reservoir for these catastrophic viral and bacterial we can eradicate poverty around the world All we need is the political if we cannot do it on humanitarian then perhaps our own self interest can serve As our on spaceship we Are All one we can no longer ignore with impunity the millions who do not have enough clean water and Basic health and primary to do so imperils us Goodman Winnipeg by Garry Trudeau i Small sick Asp in alway Smth a Ruthie ;