Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 19, 1998, Winnipeg, Manitoba A18 saturday free press. Wirin Peg. September 19, 1998 editor Brian Cole / 697-7044 editorials Freedom t f Trade l. Ibert if of religion fugal by of it d right Awin nip free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 a Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy Redekop / publisher email Ca Nicholas Hirst / editor Brian Cole / editorial Page editor directors Harry Brown / circulation sales and marketing Laurie Finley advertising Perry Nixdorf / technology Glenn Williams / finance and administration d 1998 Winnipeg free press a div i Isidoni of . Newspapers division of Thomson Canada limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 a member o f the Manitoba press Council vol 126 no 272hydrosecrecy it is easy to see Why the future of Winnipeg Hydro is emerging As one of the More interesting issues of the 1998 Civi c election Campaign. Few matters have As much potential to affect the City a finances or to generate emotional debate As the Choice Between Selling the Utility or upgrading its Winnipeg River facilities. That also explains Why civic officials Are going to great lengths to withhold a report commissioned Over a year ago that would help voters understand some of the issues involved in the question. Officially Bob Gannon the City a chief financial officer says the report is not ready for Public consumption. While the preliminary report by outside consultants has been completed or. Gannon says it still must undergo an administrative review which unfortunately wont be completed until after the october election. This position May be understandable under certain circumstances. It is easy to see Why civic officials w Ould w ant to make sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed before releasing a report of such importance. Under the current circumstances however this position is not Only unacceptable it is downright offensive. The fact is the City is in the Middle of an election Campaign in which the future of Winnipeg Hydro is front and Centre. Earlier this week mayoral candidate Glen Murray Laid out a plan to have the Utility borrow $235 million to upgrade the Pointe Dubois Power dam and double its output. Or. Murray believes the additional Power would generate enough new Revenue to pay off the loan in four years and add an additional $20 million to the City a Bottom line. Mayoral candidate Peter Kaufmann has countered that it might be in the City a Best interest to sell Hydro and pay Down some of the City a debt. Both candidates have wisely called in vain for the City a report on Winnipeg Hydro to be released to the Public. The difficulty Here is that although the two top candidates have staked out territory on an Issue of tremendous importance voters Are left with More questions than answers. Whether All of those questions can be answered by the report sitting in Bob Gannony a desk wont be known until the information is available to the Public. What is known however is that a patronizing attitude on the part of civic officials is depriving voters of an important source of information concerning one of the More important issues in the civic election. Its time mayor Susan Thompson and the members of the executive policy committee recognized that elections Are occasions for debating the issues not hiding from them. They should release the report actuary canadians know that the Canada pension plan is adequately financed when the actuary in charge tells them so. Now that finance minister Paul Martin has fired the actuary canadians cannot have Confidence in the soundness of the plan. Parliament in 1997 increased Canada pension plan contributions because the former rate 5.85 per cent of earnings was too Low to cover the benefits that Are promised. The contributions will Rise in Steps and reach 9.9 per cent of earnings in the year 2003. That figure was reached in negotiation with provinces. It is not easy to estimate what amount should be paid now to satisfy claims that will arise Many years later. Politicians who Are eager to keep today a taxes Down and who will not be in office when the claims come in have a natural Bias toward keeping the contributions Low and the promised benefits generous. This leaves future governments and their taxpayers to solve the problem. The actuary is a mathematician who know s How to estimate the revenues and costs of such a plan. Politicians advice on such a subject is inherently suspect. The Public relies on the professional actuary to calculate the premiums that Are needed now to pay promised benefits in the future. The Public counts on the actuary in the same Way it relies on the auditor general to certify the governments financial reports. News that the government in August without offering a Public explanation fired Bernard Dussault from his position As actuary in charge of the cup must raise doubt about the financing of the plan. New actuaries will be found but they Are already under notice that they May be dismissed if they come up w Ith an answer the minister of finance did not want to hear. How can the Public Trust actuarial advice Given in such circumstances parliament should ensure that the actuary enjoys the same Independence As the auditor general and is not exposed to ministerial pressure. Wrong Way to revitalize fio r the past couple of months a task Force set up by Winnipeg 2000, with the agreement of the Winnipeg City Council has been examining ways of improving the redevelopment of our dilapidated downtown. Sitting on the committee Are representatives of the Portage Avenue working group which is responsible for driving the redevelopment of our main thoroughfare the Developer of the old free Ess building on Carlton and various other influential and powerful business types. The task Force should by now be moving towards Concrete recommendations that would add to the w Ork already done Dov Tow n and secure a system for development in the future. In fact i am very afraid that despite the Best intentions of the Many Good minds that have been considering what to do the task Force is heading in the wrong direction. The latest second draft report Calls for a reorganization of the Forks North Portage partnership so that body w hich is supported by the province the Federal government and the City w Ould sell off its a developed lands and be transformed into a development authority for the City called downtown Winnipeg inc. The Money raised by the Sale of the assets at the Forks and in North Portage w Ould be used As a fund for downtown redevelopment. Nicholas Hirst exactly How this w Ould be done and who the sales would be made to is not Clear. The attraction is that it keeps All three Levels of government involved in the new downtown n authority. It provides a source of funds and builds on expertise w hich has already been put to Good use. But it is not w hat is needed. As currently suggested the new authority w ill be encumbered w Ith the Sale of assets when it should be concentrating on development. It creates horrendous transition problems and potentially it assigns an organization w hich has been seen As a competitor to the Dow Ntow to be the primary Agency for Down Touti development. Worst of All it overlooks the Goose. Redevelopment of the downtown n is now very successful. The Portage Avenue working group and its key offshoot the Portage Avenue property association papa have pushed the City and the province to revamp the sidewalks lights and general appearance of the thoroughfare and in turn a relatively Small amount of Public Money around $600,000 so far is leveraging Many times that amount of private spending by tenants and owners. New tenants Are moving into buildings. More workers Are going to m0ve downtown. The project is w Ell on its Way to Success. Papa started with private Effort. The North main project started with a push by the mayor and it too is w Ell on its Way. There Are other successful inner City projects. The key to Success is the involvement of private sector businesses with a stake in the outcome. The problems that All revitalization projects face Are bureaucracy Money and planning hurdles. Winnipeg 2000 plans appear to add to the bureaucratic hurdles w without significantly at least immediately solving the other two. That is not to say that nothing needs to be done. It does. The present mechanism for Dow Ntow n rebuilding has created a talking shop Calle d Centre plan without True Powers to act As the primary driving Force and the Forks North Portage partnership w hich has Powers but looks like the Tail wagging the dog. The solution is to create an Agency w hich is Small and nimble and Grant it some delegated authority. Such an Agency would comprise an office w Ith a director and a couple of support people with a budget of not More than $350,000 a year. The Agency w Ould have Access to annual infrastructure funds voted by the three Levels of government would w Ith the private sector choose projects Market the downtown encourage tenancies and we Ork on a a fast track system of planning to get projects under w a and completed. It w Ould also hire a planner to draw up flexible neighbourhood plans in and around the downtown w hich w Ould provide a framework for future development. The Portage Avenue working group could easily move from its current project to Deal with the broken Dow n streets leading to Ellice and Graham. That is the obvious next step for downtown with Portage East thereafter. What it needs is an Agency w hich can streamline that kind of Effort. What Winnipeg needs is a flexible Overall plan and a Small body with Powers to fast track through the bureaucracy. What w e do not need is to be caught up in the politics of restructuring the Forks North Portage partnership. It will take too Long and May not provide the answer even w Hen Complete. The Forks May need a different ownership Structure but that is a separate problem. A Small Agency please. Nicholas Hirst is editor of the free press. His column appears on saturdays. Candidates open to new ideas w la Knock me Over with a Feather after years of mocking mayor Susan Thompsons attempts to freeze property taxes coun. Glen Murray has finally seen the Light. Not Only does he want to contain taxes he actually wants to reduce them by 10 per cent. Moreover the Man w to would be mayor says he can achieve the property tax reduction while trimming business taxes. This May strike so me As a Little much considering the Public perception of or. Murray As an agent of the City a unions. Even Peter Kaufmann w As moved to remark on a Glen Murray a magical transformation into a right Wing candidate. I done to believe it and i done to think voters Are going to buy it but no one especially or. Kaufmann should be surprised. That a because one of the More interesting developments of the 1998 civic election Campaign is the Way in which the top to o candidates for mayor Are playing against stereotype. After All when the so called right Wing candidate accuses the so called left Wing candidate of campaigning from the right instead of the left you know something is happening. As or. Kaufmann Points out with some Validity or. Murray has never been known As a councillor who advocated for tax reduction during his years As the unofficial Leader of the opposition at 510 main Street. Now he wants to Cut taxes by 10 per cent or $50 million in his first term in office. He even uses the kind of phrases that used to be so readily identifiable with right Wing business types. He w ants to do a rationalize facilities a a consolidate Utility Billing and administration and a expand the alternative service delivery ,m�?z.�?� and if that Isnit enough or. Murray has also stressed the need to implement a a partnership with civic employees and private sector service providers to achieve Cost reduction targets within specific time frames. To st must be rebuilt and greater flexibility to create change in service provision is critical to savings in labour translation even Glen Murray recognizes that civic unions Are going to have to become More flexible. Of course saying is not the same As doing. A Quick look at or. Murray a proposals for tax reduction for example leaves one less than convinced the plan is doable in the time Frame he has set out. Whether or. Murray a numbers can be trusted is of course an important consideration for voters. Yet it is also Worth considering what his platform represents a genuine Effort to state in policy Terras a direction for the City one that runs counter to the impression or. Murray has left with Many City voters Over the years. Of course or. Murray is not the Only candidate trying to recast himself. He is just the most obvious about it. Or. Kaufmann is also trying to broaden his Appeal. Although or. Kaufmann likes to be portrayed As a no nonsense businessman he is also sensitive to suggestions that his so called simple solutions reflect a simplistic approach. In casual conversation or. Kaufmann talks about the need Glen Murray says he wants to Cut property taxes. I \ to control City spending and reduce taxes. But he also talks about much More including the need for the City to make strategic investments in a variety of areas ranging from Street repairs and Road construction to the arts. He also understands the importance of ensuring other Levels of government Are properly funding key areas w within their jurisdiction such As education and health programs which Are crucial to the Success of any Canadian City. Inherent m All this is a sense that while both men come at issues from different directions they Are essentially trying to achieve the same thing an efficiently run City that is Safe for families fun for Young people and economically attractive for business. But perhaps More importantly they also convey a sense of openness to new ideas no matter w Here they come from. The debate Over Winnipeg Hydro May be the Best example of this. Both men have staked out positions on the Issue a or. Murray wants to keep it while or. Kaufmann w ants to sell. Yet both men have also been careful to say that no final decision should be made until after All the facts Are known and the numbers Are tallied. With More than five w weeks to go before Winni Eggers cast their ballots in the oct. 28 civic election it still is much too Early to say who has put Forward the better platform. But. At this Point at least it seems either candidate w Ould make a decent mayor a provided they live up to their w ords. I Jim jan code is editorial Page editor of the free press. His column appears on Satur jays ;