Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 3, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba B2 City / District Winnipeg free press saturday july 3, 2004 Sinclair continued from Page b1 while he loved working with his surgical team she said that it was a Lack of support from the Warha that frustrated him. He had ideas for change in the car Diac program. The Warha had other ideas. When you Don to get the support from your administrators its very hard. So Why would you stay when you can go somewhere where people want you he can to put up with it anymore Katz continued from Page b1 its also possible Katz will promote some backbench councillors such As Peter de Smedt or Mark Lubosch. Under Murray pc operated much like the Federal Cabinet holding most discussions in secret and deciding when certain policy matter would come before the remaining nine Back Bench councillors. Backbench councillors have Long complained that the real decisions Are made behind closed doors during informal pc meetings in the mayors office. That leaves them out of the Loop and often produced Only perfunctory debate on the floor of Council. Katz would not say How but he pledged to address those complaints and treat All councillors equally. There will be genuine debate he said. As Long As i a Here there wont be a situation where you Are a Council Lor and you have no information no briefing and All of a sudden ? Boom ? lets make a decision right now. That a not fair and that a not the Way it should though Many councillors praised Katz a open mindedness and his cautious approach some also noted that Katz a first meeting with pc last wednesday was an informal one held behind closed doors. During that meeting Katz impressed some pc councillors for running a tight meeting listening carefully and being Well versed on the issues. I was watching closely and it seems like he a done his Homework said coun. Gord Steeves. By the end of next week Katz said he Hopes to have his office staff in place including a communications offi cer and a Deputy chief of staff. He has already hired a chief of staff ? Ryan Craig formerly with the Ontario conservative government. Katz also has his Eye on pc secretariat the office of three or four policy wonks who advise pc. There Are already a couple of vacancies to be filled in the pc secretariat and manager Gord Vidal has promised to stay in the Job Only until the Transi Tion is Complete. That allows Katz to hire his own top advisers. Amidst these political manoeuvring some major policy issues will Likely remain in limbo this summer. The rapid transit corridor one of Murray a Favourite projects is on unstable ground since Katz said he wants to revisit it. He plans to meet next week with transit staff to review the project. I a getting Calls and letters from our citizens on a regular basis and you a be very surprised with some of the views said Katz. A lot of people Don to think its the right thing to abandoning rapid transit Means altering plan Winnipeg ? the City a she added. And that a Why he a of course it was of so different in the Winter of 2000 when the Werhas head of surgery or. Louis Oppen Heimer was trying to recruit peach Ell and the couple was wined and dined at the venerable Dubrovnik restaurant. They made it seem like they wanted to do what they could to make this a Good program she said. Three years ago it seemed like a perfect fit when peach Ell accepted the offer and took up his practice in Winnipeg. He a from Here. His parents even live Here. Long term blueprint ? and breaking a $162-million infrastructure Deal signed last March that is to fund the first leg of rapid transit As Well As the Kenas ton underpass and sewage treatment projects. Premier Gary doer has said he is willing to reopen the Deal though the Federal government is said to be keen on rapid transit. About $1.7 million in City Money has already been spent so far on Engineer More Likely it has to do with a Young surgeons need to operate often to keep his Scalpel Sharp. Anyway the suggestion is the Warha Bosses did to need an exit interview with peach Ell because they already knew the answers. Which must be Why Brock Wright assumed John peach Ell was leaving for . Because Melanie peach Ell was working there. In any event i have Good news. Wright also said there a a draft Docu ment in the works that will eventually be used to ask departing doctors for feedback on Why they re leaving. That Sall very progressive. Ers and overhaul the City a recreation programs. The reports release was delayed two months until after the mayoral elec Tion and pc decided recently not to release it until september. Katz hinted yesterday that puts could be released this month. Its not going to sit much longer said Katz. I think sooner is better than later.?. number roughly 3,000. The portuguese clubs on Sargent Are opening to members and non members for the game. Any outbursts of Joy will spill out onto the streets from there spokesmen said. About 2,000 portuguese Are gathering at a portuguese Campground on the East Ern Shore of Lake Manitoba near St. Lau rent for a giant Bash. Zita Lopes executive director of the portuguese association of Manitoba said a giant screen will be erected at the Campground for sundays game. The party is an annual event but it has taken on greater significance because of the soccer game that will be played in Lisbon capital of Portugal said Lopes. A lot More people Are going this year to watch the game she said. The focus but Given the importance of health care ? and the difficulty in retaining skilled physicians in Manitoba ? i would suggest that exit interviews should have been a routine and mandatory part of the system years ago. Mind you that could pose problems. I mean what if the people who were responsible for the interviews ended up being accused of being responsible for the exit that might mean that eventually the Bosses might be asked to exit. Without an interview. tax Appeal continued from Page b1 Shapiro said the decision does to make any sense to him. Why make the taxpayer go to the additional expense of filing a new Appeal when its going to end up in the same place the Appeal court anyway Shapiro wondered adding that he has already spent More than $10,000 in Legal fees. Shapiro says he does to know if hell file a new Appeal. He said the Cost of going to court could discourage other homeowners As Well even though a recent court ruling indicates they have a Strong Case. In april the court of Appeal ruled that the City was wrong to Bill David Asper retroactively for improvements he made to his Wellington Crescent Home. Shapiro says his situation is similar. In 1997, his Home was damaged by floodwater forcing him to move out. After making repairs he moved Back in 1998. You can tas a result of the damage the assessed close you value of his Home for eyes and 1998 through 2001 was $13,700. Pretend that however in 2001, the flood the City a assessment did to occur department became aware of the repairs ? Jim Shapiro and retroactively increased the assessed value of Shapiro a property to $97,700 and ultimately $112,300. Shapiro did to initially take Issue with whether the backdated Bill was valid because his Case predated the Asper decision and a lower court ruling had already sided with the City. As for the merits of his original Appeal which focused on the amount of the retroactive tax Bill the Appeal court Dis missed his claim. Shapiro argued that the City assessor failed to take into account the provinces decision not to flood proof the area Caus ing his Homes value to plummet. The Appeal court acknowledged that the governments decision not to build a ring Dike substantially diminished the value of his property. However it said such factors Are Only to be taken into consideration every four years when a general assessment of properties is done even though such a scheme can result in what it called rough these considerations Are not part of the process of making retroactive adjustments in the years Between Gen eral assessments. Were it otherwise every years adjustments would become another general assessment year the court said. Shapiro called the ruling you can to close your eyes and pretend that the flood did to occur said Shapiro. He said that with no ring Dike to protect his property his Home is virtually worthless yet the assessed value has increased. has shifted to the the greek Community is meeting in the basement of St. Demetrios greek orthodox Church to watch the game said father Dimitros Gianniou. About 200 people Are expected Gian Niou said. Peter Ginakes whose family runs the Pony Corral restaurant Chain said All four of his restaurant lounges will be showing the game. A giant party will be held at the Down town Pony Corral starting at 1 p.m., he said. Ginakes whose parents came to Canada from Greece More than 40 years ago said hell be flying both flags but cheer ing for just one team. honour Roll on saturday july 10 publish a photo and congratulations to your graduate and save Over 30%offregular rates Call 697-7100 class of 2004 the Winnipeg free press will publish its annual graduation but eventually politics took its toll. So Why would you stay when you can go somewhere where people want you Wright denies that he and Oppen Heimer did to listen to Peachella con Cerns. He said Oppenheimer and he both met often with peach Ell. So often apparently that Wright said he knew what Peachella concerns were. One being that the Warha might bring in another cardiac surgeon and that would Cut Down on the number of surgeries he was doing. If that sounds greedy its probably not. Ing design and research and most of the land needed to built the corridor has been assembled. Katz has also poo posed the idea of a restaurant on the Esplanade Riel which May be an Issue Council ponders once a tenant is found to run the restau rant later this summer. And councillors Are waiting for the release of puts the 600-Page pub Lic use facilities study that could close some Community clubs renovate oth soccer continued from Page b1 its the first time that either Greece or Portugal has made it into the finals of the euro tournament held every four years providing a huge boost to their National egos. Soccer is the King of sports in Europe a game most youngsters learn to play much like hockey is in Canada. Traffic on Sargent came to a halt when Portugal beat Holland in the Semi finals last wednesday and a Small group of greeks paraded spontaneously Down Corydon Avenue when Greece beat the czech Republic on thursday. About 25,000 people of portuguese descent live in Winnipeg while greeks ;