Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 12, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Photo illustration by Joe Bryksa Winnipeg free pres the generation Gap seems to be growing with an increasingly less tolerant debate As both sides disagree Over perceived special treatment of the other by society. Generation Gap widens Vive me a break seems to be angrier cry by Melanie Verhaeghe staff reporter the Gap Between generations appears to be growing wider and the debate less tolerant. Depending on your age you Likely have a beef about the a a other generation and Why its getting Breaks and you Arentt. Older people Are complaining they Are being pushed aside in the workforce in favour of younger workers. Young people Are complaining that seniors Are Given preferential treatment in society when it comes to things like housing projects or discounts on consumer items. These Arentt just water cooler rants a they Are actual complaints filed with the Manitoba human rights commission. The commission is paying special attention to age discrimination this year after 13 complaints were filed last year by older workers claiming they have been discriminated against and by Young people complaining about seniors getting Breaks on everything from savings accounts to housing. A a it a a very Sticky situation Isnit it a says Irene Massinon 67, president of the main Street senior Centre. On one hand she works with seniors and is an advocate for seniors rights. But on the other hand she retired at age 57. A i think they should leave the working place Early for younger people a she says worrying her comments will get her in hot water with her friends. And unlike Many other advocates she does no to think seniors Are a helpless broke segment of society. A i done to know Many seniors who eat dog food. They re a pretty Well off group a she says. A the ones who have problems drink smoke or go and Massinon thinks seniors complain too much. A i done to like seniors complaining they done to get enough a she says. A we do get a lot for Winnipeg transit offers cheaper fares for seniors Safeway has a to per cent off seniors Day once a month As do Eaton a and the Bay. Movies Are cheaper and Many restaurants also have seniors menus. And a nurse comes in to Massinon a seniors Centre once a month to take seniors blood pressure and provide foot care for free which includes clipping toenails and cutting corns. A people come from All Over. They know about the service a Massinon choices but if you ask Mary Pankiw president of the Manitoba society of seniors about How seniors Are faring these Days she says they re not doing Well at All. A some have had to choose Between groceries and medication a she says. A there Are the Odd few who can take vacations every year and buy a new car but there Are a Good number of them who can to manage month to month and have to go to food Banks to and it will Only get worse As the number of seniors grows she says. Statistics Canada figures show Manitoba has the second largest percentage of seniors in the country 13.7 per cent of the population is 65 or older. By the year 2011, Manitoba a population of seniors will swell to 176,800 and by 2021 the numbers will jump another 30 per cent. Pankiw says people should a be charitable in their hearts and Stop complaining about seniors getting discounts. She does no to think discounts Are a form of discrimination to no seniors. A i done to think so because a lot of these people grew up in the depression and they worked hard and they crimped and saved. They can to get out in the workforce and supplement their income a Pankiw says. That a exactly the same argument students use when asked to explain Why they Are also eligible for some discounts. Katherine Kowalchuk president of the University of Manitoba students Union says discounts Are a Way for students to contribute to society. A we done to have the flexibility to work full time in most she says seniors probably get a bigger break than University students. A obviously seniors have lived a full life and contributed greatly to society and deserve to be rewarded for their accomplishments a Kowalchuk says. A but we Are a specific cohort that requires specific needs and differential treatment from Clarissa lag Artera vice president advocate of the University of Winnipeg students association says Young people and seniors share the same difficulties and disadvantages. Students have an average yearly income of $10,000 and seniors Are at $12,000. A seniors used to be the most disadvantaged segment but at this Point we feel that students Are one of the most disadvantaged. We need to work on these issues and we need to have More she says some students Are forced to file for bankruptcy and they have exhausted student loan options. A if the issues Arentt going to be addressed by the Liberal government then there will be More complaints filed a she says. A we have students coming in All the time asking Why do certain segments get preferential treatment and Why can to we get funding a at least one retailer does no to know Why anyone is complaining about discounts in a wholesale a in Winnipeg when it comes right Down to it everyone gets a discount a says de Nisby owner of Nisby Home renovations. Still his advertisement in the yellow pages boasts Alo per cent seniors discount. A a it san advertising ploy to get seniors to Call because they do have Money. Their Homes Are paid for and they re Good customers a Nisby says know a lot of seniors who Tell me they re doing better now than they were when they were working. I done to know who do you believe a other retailers say they offer discounts to fill up the store on Down Days. Toby Oswald spokesman for Safeway says the to per cent seniors discount has been around for a years and years and she says its not discriminatory because the store discounts other items such As bulk products that seniors might not use. A a it a been our Way of saying thank you to seniors who Are a Large part of our customer base a Oswald says. Sheryl Watt of Sunbelt holidays says students can Fly cheaper than seniors if they re willing to travel on a standby basis. A students have parents and Trust funds and they can work. Seniors have less Money to spend. They re on fixed incomes and pensions and they can to always Watt says she does no to know Why anyone would bother to complain. A i think its silly a she says. A i think its a respect thing. Seniors have worked very hard All their lives for their Money. When in Mon a fixed income and in my 60s, i Hope ill have the same once again Massinon says seniors a do ask for a a i done to think they re that badly treated a she says. A the Only place where seniors get the dirty end of the stick is with Medicine and doctors. Some of them can to be bothered with us any discounts for seniors students a t discounts for seniors and students Are plentiful in Winnipeg. Here Are some examples movies Cine Lex Odeon and famous players theatres regular Price $8.50 seniors Over 65 and children under 14 $4.50 Banks offer discounts to seniors on chequing accounts and safety Deposit boxes. City of Winnipeg indoor swimming pools six month pass seniors a $90 youths a $76 children �?$46 adult �?$129 Assiniboine Park zoo annual pass senior �?$19.26 adult �?$21.40 student �?$19.26 Windsor Park Cross country ski trails seasonal pass adult �?$50 senior a $34 youth �?$32 child �?$35.95 Arenas Public skating 10 visits adult a $24.25 senior �?$15.75 youth �?$13.50 child �?$8.10 Manitoba theatre Centre 20 per cent off for students and seniors monday to thursday Royal Winnipeg Ballet 20 per cent off for seniors and students Myca downtown regular rate for a gym membership $41 per month seniors and students a $31 per month Winnipeg transit regular fare $1.45 children seniors and High school students a $.85 Canada Safeway once a month on tuesday or wednesday depending on the store seniors can get 10 per cent off groceries. Eaton a and the Bay offer a seniors Day up to 15 per cent off merchandise. Air Canada and Canadian airlines offer 10 per cent off to seniors. Nisby Home renovations offers 10 per cent off for seniors. Perkins restaurant offers specials every Day from 3 . To 6 . For seniors. Dinners Cost $5.99. There is also a seniors menu. U of m zoologist will track survival rate of 200 Young fish Sturgeon returning to Assiniboine River by Manfred Jager science reporter the Sturgeon Are coming Back to the Assiniboine River after an absence of nearly a Century. On tuesday afternoon University of Manitoba zoologist Terry Dick will release 200 one year old fish into the Assiniboine at the trans Canada Highway Bridge near Xavier. Sturgeon have roamed the streams and Rivers for about too million years and individual fish can live As Long As 150 years and grow As big and heavy As Harbour seals. Dick is reintroducing the Sturgeon to the Assiniboine a More or less to restore the situation that somehow changed possibly because of the arrival of he blames overfishing by the native population and the settlers for their disappearance around 1900. Habitat degeneration also contributed Dick said. A fall we know is that the Sturgeon has been extirpated from this River and we done to quite know Why. Maybe this project will give us some of the there Are Small populations of Sturgeon in the Winnipeg and Pigeon Rivers and even smaller ones in the Nelson and Hayes Rivers Dick said. A apart from those populations there pretty Well Are no Sturgeon left around a Sturgeon Over too years old weighing More than too pounds caught in the red River North of Lockport in june 1996 probably moved in from the Winnipeg River system Dick said. Since Sturgeon can to be harvested the fish was thrown Back into the water after being weighed and measured. Dick working with fish futures inc., a private non profit environment group decided to bring Back the Stur Geon and conduct research on its Progress in the Assiniboine. Last year the Marine life specialist who refers to himself As committed to the survival and resurgence of the Sturgeon painstakingly collected fertilized Sturgeon eggs from the Winnipeg River area of Eastern Manitoba. In his Laboratory on the fort Garry Campus Dick brought the eggs to Hatch then reared the hatchling through their Small Fry and fingerling stage. The fish now weigh eight to 12 ounces and Are up to 12 centimetres Long. Each Sturgeon will carry a tiny radio tag transmitter stapled into its dorsal Fin. Weighing Only 1.8 Grams each the transmitters will allow Dick and his associates to track the fish during the Winter and beyond to Trace their movement and survival. Jeff de Booy Winnipeg free press Terry Dick holds three year old Sturgeon weighing five kilograms ;