Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 3, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Need a solution for poor grades All grades a 3 locations evenings amp saturdays arts Harmony and Joy a wealth of Christmas and hanukkah concerts will brighten up the Holiday season / i qty about to lose High tax rep Winnipeg Only major Centre in Canada reducing its levies by Bruce Owen an ongoing assault on City spending and continued reductions in civic property taxes May soon end Winnipeg a reputation for having some of the highest municipal taxes in Canada according to a comparison with other major cities. While Winnipeg a Reliance on homeowners to foot the Bill at City Hall is still High compared to most Canadian centres it has been significantly reduced Over the last three years. Ratepayers will account for 58.9 per cent or $383.6 million of the City a $650.7-million 2001 tax supported operating budget but that figure will fall to 56 per cent by 2002 As property taxes Are reduced a further two per cent budget documents say. In fact Winnipeg is the Only major City reducing property taxes a six per cent Over three years starting last year. Most cities Are increasing taxes next year to keep up with the annual two per cent inflation rate. In contrast mayor Glen Murray announced a second consecutive two per cent property tax decrease in 2001 for Winni Eggers last wednesday. A the trend is in a positive Way for Winnipeg Quot said Georges chartier a tax researcher with the City of Winnipeg. A a in a trying to provide you with the most accurate information i can and i can say it has improved. The Gap is getting smaller Between Winnipeg and the other How much smaller is a matter of interpretation. A a we re going nowhere a Canadian taxpayers federation spokesman Victor Vrsnik said. A this two per cent reduction does no to show up on any radar screen. Its a microscopic tax Cut. Its like the City is just rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. Other cities Are Way continued please see City taxes a2 tax increases a Edmonton Calgary Winnipeg 11999 actual 2000 actual m 2001 projected la 2002 projected 14.0% _ total 11.6/. Tax increases for Edmonton and Calgary in 2002 protected at Chi total 10.8� o 12 0�/, 10 0% o 1 total -6.0% -2 0% 4.0% -6.0% Edmonton Calgary Winnipeg press the weather cd 2 mainly Cloudy skies. 30% Chance of Light Snow. High 0 Low -15 sports hoops Homecoming Winnipeg Cyclone held their Home opener last night at the Winnipeg convention Centre hosting the Saskatchewan Hawks / Aldo you a police officer take this firefighter.? Ken Gigliotti i Winnipeg free Presto the Rescue Well if you need someone to carry you who better than a firefighter Jay Mcisaac gives his new wife Sylvia a City police officer a ride through gusting winds and Over dirty Sandy Snow yesterday on the Way to their wedding reception after taking photos at the via train station. Sage eng Centre did no to do its Job sex worker fumes t Labrador Gas sniffers among its sex patients by Bill Redekop court is no place to discipline doctors experts say by Alexandra Paul the surgeon behind the tragic deaths of 12 babies who had open heart surgery at health sciences Centre is no criminal say experts who argue court Isnit the place to punish doctors. Public outrage Over a Lack of Legal Sanction against the doctors who were part of the now defunct paediatric cardiac surgery surged Forward again with the release this week of a devastating 500-Page inquest report. It called for sweeping systemic inside i Heartbreak at Hsc analysis of baby death inquiry by changes in the administration of hospitals and the judicial bodies that Are supposed to Monitor them. The inquest the longest in Canadian history took nearly three years to conclude hearings under associate provincial court judge Murray Sinclair. Parents of the babies who died in 1994 vented their frustration that none of the doctors including surgeon Jonah Odim has been held accountable in any court. Margaret Feakes grandmother of one of the babies called for an inquiry into the inquest because nobody was publicly blamed. But in Manitoba inquests Are limited they can to Lay blame. And medical procedures Arentt included in the criminal code so frustrated patients frequently feel there is no Avenue outside of a costly malpractice suit. Cases where doctors do stand trial Are rare but notorious. In Winnipeg a family doctor was handed a five year sentence for sexually assaulting five female patients during a 10-year period until his arrest in 1991. He was stripped of his medical licence. At Dalhousie University in Halifax or. Fiona Bergin an ethics expert trained in Medicine and Law said most patients Arentt usually looking to put a doctor in jail. A really what most individuals Are looking for when they go after a physician is either compensation for their harm or to have the physician punished in terms of not wanting him to be Able to practice any More Quot Bergin said. In Manitoba the College of physicians and surgeons is the Only forum that can Stop a doctor from practising Medicine. A the major issues that go to discipline Arentt criminal style issues a registrar or. Bill Pope observed. For example doctors who alter medical charts Are aggressively pursued even though the fuss mystifies the general Public. A changing records professionally it is so utterly ghastly but it even Register a negligence looking for your garbage and recycling Calendar the Calendar along with answers to frequently asked questions about garbage and recycling is in the White pages of your its phone Book at the end of the City of Winnipeg listings. 1 1 water and waste department customer service Centre 986-5858 monday to Friday 8 30 am 4 30 pm As images of children sniffing Gas at Shesha Shiu Labrador Flash across Canadian to screens anger rises in some former employees of the Virginia Fontaine addictions foundation at Sage eng first nation in Manitoba. The kids were theirs. They had them. One treatment worker rattles off their inn names and Spellings then goes quiet with the memory of them. A disgusted a says Cynthia Sigurdson about what she feels when she sees the images from Labrador. She a a psychiatric nurse who recently left the Sage eng treatment Centre. A a lot of Good it did them a she adds bitterly of the kids stays at the Centre. One Shesha Shiu youth was sent to the Sage eng Centre three times and spent More than a year in its care. Sigurdson with eight years of education in social work quit the Centre shortly after last months Caribbean boat cruise for More than 70 people connected with it. Sigurdson was the Only nurse working at the Centre. Three employees quit after the cruise and controversy continues to swirl around the Centre. On Friday health Canada suspended its funding after the Centre refused to let auditors see records prior to july i. The government said patients will be moved As soon As possible to other facilities across the inn youngster openly sniffs Gas in Shesha Shiu Labrador. Martin Tadman lawyer for the Sage eng Centre said he comment until tomorrow. The woman answering the phone at the treatment Centre last night said no management personnel were available for comment until tomorrow. A a in a not surprised at All the Shesha Shiu kids Are sniffing again a said Sigurdson. A of All the kids that came through there in be seen Only one stay successfully clean and continued please see Shesha Shiu a4 ;