Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 30, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Brian Cole 6977044 focus Winnipeg free press a 7 july taking aim at gun control in writing in response to Wildes letter gun control threatens rights free july 18 and Kohms letter gun fan scares readers free july perhaps 1 can educate Kohm on a few facts so he is not so i owned my first gun when i was was on a shooting team when i was and i have continued to collect target shoot and Hunt for the past 21 my father was a fur competitive and gun collector As was his father before first of guns do not As a doctor i can assure you guns Are inanimate people kill peo it is unfortunate that most canadians supported Bill c68 but also polls done by the National firearm association showed that most canadians did not have any under standing of Canadas present gun nor the contents of Bill Cecil Ash Winnipeg Childs rights overlooked although i am genuinely pleased that the Saskatchewan court of Appeal ruled in favor of Robert latimers murder conviction for killing his severely disabled Daugh i am disappointed that the Var ious individuals involved in the matter have failed to recognize Tracy latimers rights As a latimers method of dealing with his own incapacity to Cope with his Childs handicaps far exceeded humane treatment of the in latimers execution of Tracy could be likened to methods advocated by the nazi regime of Adolf the thought that latimers actions were those related to mercy killing is bizarre and incongruent with the Childs abilities of Tracy had no say in this plan and clearly no one was available to assist her in examining her options and to advocate for another alter native other than whatever tracks i capacities she still had the right to participate in the decision making that was being done for Winnipeg pet ownership is a privilege in response to the recent article neuter study backed free july 16 i would like to address another Issue responsible pet in the one owner was quoted As we own a cat and wed like to get it but As it is now we cant afford can this owner feed and provide his cat with proper medical Atten Tion i do not want my taxes paying for people who cannot afford to do the Basic necessities that go along with owning a i work very hard to ensure that my own pets Are spayed and fed a Quality diet and Are Given medical attention when owning a pet is a privilege not a and perhaps if a person considers All the medical costs As Well As the Cost to feed and Supply then he or she would not automatically make society responsible for their personal Holly mourant Winnipeg Bird kill symptom of greed it is alarming that As a we systematically allow individual and multinational conglomerates alike to rape our natural do canadians have so Little National Pride that we continue to stand idly by and watch As precious resources Are depleted in the name of greed of we rant and rave when yet another example of horrific wrongdoing but what do we do about it the recent outrage committed on defenceless bears in grand and equally defenceless pelicans and cormorants on Gull Island should bring each and every Canadian to their Knees in these recent attacks Are indicative of a National problem with illegal poaching which includes the under ground stores in British Columbia catering to individuals who Deal in the Sale for enormous profit of Bear Gall it also includes a Case in Manitoba where garages Are filled with Deer and Moose Antlers obtained under question Able Lorraine Neal Belair 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 tetters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg r2x 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 Ukraine provides example nations which do not have peace keepers in giving feeble lip service and no other commitment to Stop the carnage in should reexamine the reasons to support their dubious Neutral Posi what no committed nations should look at is the presence of ukrainians in the simple truth underlines the fact that a nation such As which has survived the Heel of political is prepared to sacrifice the limited financial resources of a newly emerging nation to help protect nations enjoying political free often won for them by would do Well to Mirror the Ukrain Ian Dufrost let the Rich Rescue the jets Over the past couple of years there has been a big fuss Over the business of saving the Winnipeg jets and building a new a number of people from All walks of life have written and spoken in opposition to All of this cur rent nonsense about saving the we Are after about a professional hockey team and not about food for impoverished Chil or education for Young peo or medical care equipment and facility for the sick and if the people and the corporations with a whole lot of Money want to throw a lot of it in the direction of the we live in a democratic society and it is their prerogative to spend their Money As they As for the rest of we do not want to be led Down any Arena Gar Den Glen Winnipeg we can save the Ballet the Royal Winnipeg Ballet recently announced to season ticket holders the cancellation of Ballet in the what a disappoint after moving from Assini Boine Park to Kildonan Park and August to september performance dates along with a bigger product live orchestra and admission the Trade off now seems to be no Ballet in the Park this the Rob states that in order to balance the budget they would need to return to taped music and keep the admission i come to see our dancers perform and am willing to pay the admission surely if we can keep the jets alive we have the Community spirit to keep Ballet in the Park Marlen Treichel Winnipeg proposed Arena too Small for City i waited to see what the weather would be like for the outdoor con another Roadside so i waste my plus taxes and fortunately the show was scheduled in the summer of or i and about of my friends would not have been Able to attend had it been in the proposed new entertainment the proposed Arena have been Able to handle the huge stage nor seat More than it looks like we will just be get Ting a replacement hockey and ill just have to be Lucky the shows i want to see come during july or Winnipeg Rick the cites top prefers a Tea based management style to a dictatorial City commissioner new Breed of administrator when by Allah Levine special to the free press Rick Frost Doest mince words when it comes to singling out the most important Challenge facing the City of nor does he shy away from suggesting How City Council should go about meeting that the cites chief commissioner believes Winnipeg reputation for High property taxes is not Only driving residents out of the it is also starting to affect its ability to attract economic Reliance and he strongly believes that if Winnipeg is to remain competitive with such Canadian Urban centres As Calgary and Winnipeg City councils heavy Reliance of property taxes has to whereas 40 to 45 per cent of the two Alberta cities Revenue is derived from property in Winnipeg the figure is closer to 55 per for a Homeowner with a tax Bill of almost half of which is school a reduction of 15 per cent would mean a saving of about of the difference would have to made says in higher user fees on municipal services admittedly a contentious Issue and not politically when Frost first arrived in Winnipeg Sian half years ago from his Job in As the chief administrative offi cer for the regional municipality of he tried to Institute a Payas Yugo but at the time that meant higher property taxes than mayor Bill Norrie and the coun cil were prepared to Frost still holds the Payas Yugo approach in High regard and maintains that the cites Revenue Structure has to be Over a period of 20 we have made the Deci Sion to have the lowest electricity taxes in the the lowest bus rates in the the lowest recreation fees weve made All those Deci Sions and As a we have also made the decision to have High property he if we want to reverse that we have to go through a whole Bunch of decisions to reverse but it wont be we can redress that balance if we think we have gone too which i think we what exactly the Impact of higher user fees will be on the average Winnipeg Ger is not As Frost it is a the reins is arise question of paying one Large Bill or a lot of different smaller this is also an Issue of giving citizens More control Over their share of their civic if households were allotted a certain number of garbage bags per week and charged for extra for recycling might become even More there might be a similar link Between higher water rates and Lawn the Structure of civic Rev Enue is Only one of the subjects that the chief River Heights resident and father of three grown children gets passionate about at 48 years of Frost May Well be one of the most powerful civic administrators in in he is the executive policy committee pc and answerable to coun but because City Hall is not organized around political Par ties other than win which is More a coalition than a party and Cabinet much of the leadership for running the City often Falls on frosts in the View of City ombudsman Virginia the administration never gives Council More information than they need to this puts the administration in a position of adds Paul the presi Dent of the Canadian Union of Public local Frost has a lot of authority placed in his Council tosses off problems to him and Ive seen him caught in a Cross fire Between he has shown a lot of in Frost draws positive reviews from Winnipeg elected he ushered in a new Era for says councillor and mayoral candidate Terry he represents a new Breed of he is extremely professional with a Strong vision of Public relationship both Frost and mayor Susan Thompson concede that relationship has not been smooth or free of Power Strug yet Thompson adds that Frost is Bright and a master politician with incredible patience who understands gov she says that now they Are working Well together on Bud get Reform and the reorganization of the civic confident and adept at his Frost rarely backs Down from a several years the pc gave him the Power to set Severance packages for t senior employees taking Early retirement including the controversial buyout of former police chief Herb critics charged that the chief commissioner was Empire but that didst faze Frost then or now someone has to have the Power in an organization to make that organization he says with respect to the Severance it could be the but in my View it should be if you want me to run this then your going to have to give me the authority to make it at the same frosts style is hardly domineering or influenced by the renowned american statistician and total Quality management expert Edwards Deming who died in 1993 at the age of Frost has tried to live up to one of dem Ings key Points that the Job of management is not supervision but i he Deming which is the basis for win Nipges continuous improvement initiative and a series of workshops attended by City stresses sys tems thinking in which the focus is on the whole Organiza Tion As Well As its component and a team rather than individual approach to problem in Demings successful organizations operate through personal interrelationships and open not outdated hierarchical Power sounding very much like a student of Frost argues that you can have influence or Power based on your knowledge of whats going on in the system based on your relationship with others and based on your i think that you should use your authority As Little As possible and you should use your knowledge and your relationship with others As much As possible so that people will have a sense of whats Hap he adds i have tried very hard to rely on my relationship with other senior mangers and with councillors so that i dont think i have used my authority in a dictatorial fashion where in arbitrarily driving to i think most people would see me and i certainly see myself As fairly interested in building some consensus and interested in having some con he proudly Points to the fruit Ful discussions with Council about civic Reform and the implementation of new direct the reorganization of the cites administrative the City has reduced the num ber of its departments from 26 to 18 were doing Frost without a visible Impact on the he Speaks highly about his negotiations during the past few years with the we negotiated a four per cent Rollback for All City staff right across All nine unions and everybody continued to in the provincial sector people took these Filmon but because of our philosophical commitment to service and because of the sophistication of our unions we didst have to close police stations or Root of work this commitment is at the Root of frosts work and dedication to improving the lives of All he emphasizes four key objectives strengthening the cites financial improving customer building a stronger staff and improving we will be trying to do this for the next ten because you can never get it he he also feels strongly that the City cannot be run like a Busi we Are a government entity and there Are Public resources that have to be every person in our organization who has worked for the City will recognize that we Are constantly making choices we Are trying to figure out what is going to work in the Public we Only have got so much people have this View somehow that Council or City Hall can find this one rational solution and make All our problems magically go that is not going to that what weve got is so much resources and we have to divvy it and there will be a healthy debate As to How we shall divvy it Frost believes that the Public which is often criticized by the Public and the is nevertheless a critical part of the pointing to the building of Canadian rail the and other Public initiatives As he says that the idea that the private sector can somehow do it All on their own is a denial of Canad an its just not the Way our country we have to understand the role they play and the role we play and bring them Allan Levine is a Winnipeg historian and ;