Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 27, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a13 Fri is 2000 no wonder people Are protesting in Prague by Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith Bottom the unwelcome mat is being rolled out in the czech capital of Prague for the honchos of the global czech officials Are doing their Best to Host the govern ment officials and corporate executives who Are gathering for the annual world Bank and International Mone tary fund if thousands of protesters from around the world have come to Prague to voice their they Are bringing with them a wide Range of some Are protest ing the effects of genetically modified others decry cuts in social still others demand More respect for human rights from these lending like the protests in Seattle last november Over the world Trade organization to or the one in washing in april against the if and the world the one in Prague is taking aim at globalization from this is a car Monu Model of economic ror Many growth that favours around the world investors and the i ii in opposition globalize to protesters Are Joii has calling for globalization from peo become a pie at the grassroots race to the around the world Are linking up to make sure their own the needs of the glob Al poor and of the global environment Are taken into consideration in the process of beyond just saying they Are developing an alternative vision of the advocates of globalization from above told communities and countries that the benefits of globalization would bless them if they accepted the free Market policies promulgated by the world Bank and the for Many around the globalization has become a race to the As corporations move their operations around the they pit communities and entire coun tries against each other to see who will provide the lowest wages and least environmental according to the 1999 in human development 89 countries Are worse off than they were 10 years a recent article in the Atlantic monthly Magazine states that Africa per capita which grew by per cent from 1960 to has fallen by about 20 per cent from 1980 to 1997 the Era of global poverty is getting some billion people now live in extreme according to James president of the world at the same the worlds 200 richest people doubled their wealth from 1994 to according to the human development along with an increase in global globalization policies such As the deregulation of currency markets have brought one crisis after another in Russia and latin Joseph former chief economist at the world says that Cap ital Market liberalization has not Only not brought people the Prosperity they were but it also had brought these with wages falling 20 per cent or 30 per and unemployment going up by a Factor of four or no wonder people Are globalization from below provides a More appealing that vision includes raising the level of social and human rights not downward democratizing institutions at every level from the local to the global reducing the disparities in global wealth and Power insisting on Environ mental sustain Busty and creating Prosperity by meeting human and environmental the demonstrators in Prague Are not isolationists trying to withdraw from the challenges of the wider they Are True world demand ing an end to global poverty and global warming and standing up for International human it is the advocates of globalization from above who Are hiding their Heads in the Sand by refusing to acknowledge the real problems their Model has created and until they do they will continue to receive an unfriendly Welcome wherever and whenever they Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith have written a Book titled globalization from below the Power of Solidarity South end press that will be published in distributed by Knight rid information t bad worse planning province must Stop shirking its responsibility by Christopher Leo bad water has been big news this but an important aspect of the Story has been in according to Media 48 per cent of 997 private Wells that were randomly tested contained either col forms or Able Levels of students at 11 schools have been told not to drink from their water fountains and residents of seven communities been advised to boil their among the possible causes of contamination cited have been improperly maintained septic Ani Mal fertilizer and overused to some such problems Are inevitable byproducts of intensive farms pro Duce waste and their families and Resi dents of Rural communities require fresh water and sewage a another aspect of the has been ignored the indiscriminate mixing of agricultural and residential which increases the number of septic tanks and and hence the danger of while undermining the viability of both provincial and local governments have been actively encouraging such contradictory especially in the municipalities surrounding a series of Manitoba municipal Board hearings that i attended last May in the municipality of an agricultural area and bedroom Community immediately East of offered some insight into the source of these the Manitoba municipal Board is a provincially appointed Appeal and dispute settlement body that deals with a variety of matters related to land use taxation and municipal in the an mob panel was reviewing Spring Fields proposed official land use the municipality proposed plan outlines the physical features of the sets goals for the development of the establishes zoning Gories and outlines where various types of anticipated development will be the plans development which Are the result of a Public consultation emphasize the preservation of agricultural viability and Nat ural and the prevention of proliferation of residential there is a variety of ways that residential development in farming areas damages the viability of agriculture complaints from residents about odours heavy machinery on roads and other perceived nuisances resulting from agriculture residential activities that interfere with farming operations such As commuter traffic harassment of farm animals by pets and escalation of land prices that inflate the Cost of a further source of potential conflict Between residential areas and adjacent As Manitoban have Learned this is the multiplication of Wells prone to pollution from septic manure and As Well As the danger to aquifers from improperly maintained septic tanks and Springfields official plan displays an awareness of these problems when it states that the growth potential of livestock husbandry has already been limited by past residential up to a the plan seems to be doing what such a plan should when we turn to the part of the plan in indiscriminate mix of residential and agricultural development raises risk of which proposed zoning categories Are set it appears that we Are Reading a different most of the residential development is in the larger of the two prime agricultural areas and in the area where the major resource of ground water is local All the residential development on top of the prime water resource relies on septic tanks for sewage which invariably poses a greater risk to groundwater than a town sewage there is also a Cluster of residential development planned in the Community of located in the Low potential agricultural area and would therefore seem to be the natural area for Urban development if harm to agriculture were to be that Community can Only accommodate a limited amount of development because it has not been provided with the water and sewer age services needed for higher concentrations of nor Are there any plans for providing Anola with even though the plan states that there is a demand for residential development mean two Urban communities in the Middle of the prime agricultural Oak Bank and have been provided with the services required for higher concentrations of Urban one of them in it seems that everything possible is done to encourage Urban development in those areas that the plan claims a determination to and almost nothing is done to encourage development in the area that the plan designates As unsuitable for other it is difficult to decide whether this scenario is More reminiscent of catch22 or key Stone anyone in attendance at two hearings of the municipal Board panel last May was Given insights that explain the causes of this exercise in appearing to plan without actually doing from a variety of statements that were it became Clear that some Farmers had been Able to improve their for tunes by subdividing Farmland in the in order to sell it for residential and that oth ers wished to do so when witnesses at the hear ing called attention to the Gap in the plan Between objectives and proposed the argument was repeatedly made since some had been allowed to subdivide their it was not fair to restrict others from doing in the municipality was meeting its Legal obligations by providing something that resembled a but political pressures from constituents in a Community Small enough to allow almost anyone to have a personal relationship with her or his representative on Council prevented the municipality from adhering to the principles stated in the in a Community As Small As the absence of Clear provincial planning guidelines guarantees that pressures on Council too immediate and too personal to permit genuine the practical result is that in and elsewhere in the Winnipeg the Basic Deci Sions about development Are being not by citizens of the Region As a but by those who have found a Way of making Money from develop the Only government that is in a position to put intelligent and the interests of the Region As a whole at the top of the is the provincial it is time our servants on Broadway stopped shirking their Respo Sibili Christopher Leo is a professor of political science at the University of and a a camb research letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email no Means no to heading Ley Casino the residents of heading Ley who voted with an 85 per cent majority landslide against a Casino in their Community rightfully expect Reeve Taillieu and councillors to honour their Public office mandate by pass ing a conclusive Resolution against the heading Ley councils Deci Sion to not act through a wait and see combined with its subsequent questioning of our vote undermines our Community demo crr tic rights and has provided a platform for the Casino promoters to flog and stage rounds of on sided promotional propaganda and promises with no end in our Community is Able to vote intellectually and morally on matters the first if then perhaps we can have a second vote on the Selec Tion of our municipal Tail lieu and Council chose to have the vote and its timing now honour and respect our Community majority vote by passing a conclusive Resolution against the Walger spokesperson heading Ley residents against the Casino Hrkac heading Ley St vital voters will choose on own surely the people of vital Are Capa ble of deciding who they want As their those who do not wish to support Al support whoever they and Stop trying to Tell the rest How to go Al go Jim Wall Winnipeg Metal detecting worthwhile Hobby i am really ticked off about an article written by Gordon Sinclair on Metal his attitude is very unfair to those of us who pursue this it is a Favourite pastime for people of All i am 77 with both Knees rebuilt a few years this sport gives me a Chance to get out and enjoy the fresh also to take some exercise to help me keep Ive been a club member since Ive made a lot of As club Mem we Are shown the Correct Way to Hunt and leave the ground in Good our members Range in age from 13 to 70 we have helped a lot of people find their lost keys As to Hunting in playgrounds in the you would be surprised at the amount of junk we pick like Rusty in sure we have pre vented some injuries to As for the pull we find plenty of we pass them on to collectors for their wheelchair kids Are always curious and want to know what we Are doing and when we explain it to they get excited when we find this can also Lead to Coin which can be very we Are not scan As Gordon Sinclair we do some Fabas Winnipeg where to find your lost keys on a set of keys was found on Pembina Highway near North fortunately for the owner of the there was a War amps key tag i immediately contacted the War amps key tag ser vice at the Tollfree number printed on the tag in an Effort to return the keys to the owner As quickly As Possi i was informed that a courier would pick up the keys and deliver them directly to the but that the courier would not pick up until monday or when i asked if the owner would be i was told on when the courier had not i contacted the War amps i was told the courier would be contacted immediately and the keys should be picked up no later than i requested that the owner be contacted and again the request was Here it is and the keys Are still on my so i give if you lost your Ford keys on Pembina Highway and would like them please Contact Karen at 9820007 Karen Lauze Winnipeg new to Magazine awkward if its not dont fix it Why did you change the format of the to scene it was a Nice and the printing was now it is the printing too Small and very awkward to Chivers Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau after John Mccain Sanam Ellgan spent ;