Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 8, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winnipeg free press thursday july 8, 2004 Freedom of Trade comment editor Terence Moore 697-7044 Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights editorials Katz builds barriers m mayor Sam Katz seems determined in his first weeks in office to dispel expectations that he is a Man of vision at least of the Posi Tive kind. In Short order he has ordered a review of the need for rapid transit questioned the Wisdom of a restau rant on the Esplanade Louis Riel and now has thrown up his hands and declared that Winnipeg is stuck with the barriers at Portage and main until the year 2019. There can be Little doubt that or. Katz wants to be seen As his own Man that he did not seek office Sim ply to carry out the Agenda that former mayor Glen Murray had put in place before he resigned and provided or. Katz with an Opportunity to overnight cobble together an alter Nate Agenda. But simply turning up ones nose at what has gone before is not particularly useful certainly the unrelentingly negative signals Are uninspiring. Which is not to say that or. Katz is wrong to seek a review of the $51-million first phase of a rapid Tran sit network in Winnipeg. The project is one of the largest facing the City. As became Clear during the mayoral Campaign or. Katz has not paid close attention to matters civic. A review should bring him up to Speed. What is disappointing is that or. Katz has doubts about rapid transit but no alternate vision for addressing traffic congestion in Winnipeg. Would he seek to build freeways where a Basic reality of Winnipeg is that the freeway option was Long ago rejected so that the costs of trying to impose freeways today through built up areas is prohibitive. Would he restrict growth in South Winnipeg so that congestion at least becomes no worse might he seek to move As has been foolishly suggested by others the University of Manitoba Cam pus downtown so As to reduce traffic in the South or. Katz was unaware of the restaurant Issue at the beginning of the Campaign. That he was not aware of an Issue on a Bridge within foul Ball Range of his Ball Park raised eyebrows everywhere. But that he now sees the Issue As having been poorly conceived is Only useful if he has some better con caption. At the very least what Winnipeg should be Able to expect from the mayor is a determination to make the idea work rather than indications that Money spent is Money wasted. And now just two months after an International design Competition produced a plan for the revitalization of Winnipeg a most famous intersection or. Katz says the Competition should never have been held because the City Long ago signed an agreement to maintain pedestrian barriers at the intersection until 2019. Or. Murray was As aware of that agreement As or. Katz is today. But or. Murray a response was not to throw up his hands in defeat rather it was to vow to work with All parties to achieve something better not Only for owners of buildings at the inter Section but for the City Overall. After two weeks in office it is too soon to say that or. Can do Katz is really or. Can to do. But that certainly is the impression being created. Battle lines drawn the election process in the United states seems to a Canadian Eye to be the never ending Story. No sooner has a president been elected than Campaign ing begins for the next election that inexorably Falls precisely four years later. It is food for thought for those who argue the merits of fixed elections. This years presidential election race is now com ing into the stretch. On tuesday Massachusetts senator John Kerry who will be the democrats presidential nominee chose As his vice presidential running mate North Carolina senator John Edwards. The Battle lines Are drawn. The american voter will be asked to choose Between the team of president George Bush and vice president Dick Cheney and the two Johns As they have already been dubbed sen. Kerry and sen. Edwards. Or. Bush and or. Cheney have a record by which americans can judge them. It is a controversial one and is Likely to be made to seem even More controversial As november a voting draws near but it is a Clear record there for every american to see. The same cannot be said for the Kerry Edwards team. Sen. Kerry has a Long record in the Senate but As the republicans take great Delight in Point ing out during his tenure he has taken just about every position possible on just about every Issue. It is difficult to predict where his presidency would Lead America and through America the world. Sen. Edwards is a lesser known element. He is a relative Novice in american politics. The positions that he has staked out have frequently been in conflict with the positions that sen. Kerry has some times taken. In the democratic primaries for example sen. Edwards in his losing Campaign railed against the children of privilege the America of wealth that the victorious sen. Kerry represents and claimed to speak for the underprivileged Amer ican underclass from which he sprung. Only in America could a Multi millionaire such As sen. Edwards declare class warfare and be taken seriously. America being what it is its presidential election affects the entire world and no nation More than Canada. One Issue on which the two democrats Dis agree is free Trade ? sen. Kerry softly supports Naftal sen. Edwards would seriously undo it. If sen. Edwards can bring in the votes needed for a democratic Victory canadians might find that a democratic Donkey can be even More uncomfortable a bed mate than a Republican elephant. Dreams can come True Hammad Salih is a modern Day immigrant Suc he remembers his interview with the Canadian Cess Story. Modern Only for the Means by which he immigration official from Nairobi. I said can built his Empire ? a visa card and the Liberal you take me to any warm place in Canada and he lending policies of loan institutions. And by Suc just laughed. He said there is no warm place in Cess i mean that this sudanese refugee has in ? he says Tongue in Cheek the Man chose seven years earned a University degree his third Winnipeg to make a Point. Found full time employment bought three houses one of which a four bedroom Bungalow in St. Vital is his family Home sold one and last month opened his grocery store the Bright Star super Market on St. Annes Road. In some ways it is the classic immigrant Story a newcomer who arrives with nearly nothing Par laying Hope and dogged determination into a really Good life. Or. Salih invited me to come see his Little store yesterday because he needs publicity to make his Busi Ness a go. But he also wants people especially Immi Grants and refugees such As he to see that Canada can be a promised land a place where big dreams come True. A couple of months ago i was Given or. Salih a name As a Man who could Hook me up with some of the hundreds of new sudanese refugees with whom i wanted to talk As part of a look at Mani Tobas immigration policy. The province which has for Many years suffered from net out Migra Tion wants to grow the population through Immi Gration increasing the number of newcomers from 6,000 annually to 10,000. It is Well on its Way. It is a laudable and workable proposition but it is not without its potential problems. Statistics Canada has found that in the last couple of decades immigrants the great bulk of whom Settle in Canada a largest cities remain in Low income Levels for years taking much longer than earlier Immi Grants to climb to average income Levels. Indeed some immigrants have expressed to me concern that Many within their Community seem to get mired in the welfare system. Others newly arrived have asked me Despo Dently what it takes to get a Job in Winnipeg watching others move on to Calgary or to Brooks Alberta where a pack ing Plant hires them in droves. Manitoba does not track How Well immigrants integrate nor How Long they stay on social assistance. Or. Salih says none of this ? the despair the welfare trap nor the migrating out of Winnipeg ? is necessary. To be fair or. Salih 46, is not typical of some refugees. He did not live for years sometimes a decade or longer in a refugee Camp. The native of Western Sudan made his Way to Canada through Libya where he worked As an accountant first he earned a Commerce degree in Sudan and then a theology degree in Libya and then Uganda. There he became a refugee when the military Junta Rul ing Sudan pulled strings to get his working visa cancelled. At the time he was a vocal member of the sudanese opposition called the National democratic Alliance. He was its representative in East Africa advocating and educating about human rights among the sudanese displaced per sons and refugees. Before he left Sudan he ran a successful Cook ing Oil factory and import Export to be sure his a sum was impressive and Many come without a a sum. I have spoken to some who had not finished Grade school before fleeing to the relative safety of a refugee Camp. Many come highly educated and skilled though. Or. Salih says everything teeters on attitude and determination. He arrived with his family in 1997 and was supported by the Federal immigration department for a year. They relied on social assistance until 2000, and found full time work at minimum wage with a Security firm on watch at various places including the free press. It is Bor ing work but he says his employer was Good advising workers to bring their books a Bonus for students. Some come and cannot reconcile the fact their professional certification or work experience Means zilch he says. Those who wont return to school or work at minimum wage jobs will get mired. It is hard but if you can pass that Shock then you can go or. Salih returned to school taking conflict Resolution at the University of Winnipeg. Federal immigration permitted him to take courses. Social assistance which supported or supplemented the family income for More than two years made him quit when they found out he pinched pennies to pay for courses. But then he says he borrowed from friends and relatives and continued his courses on off work hours. Upon graduation in 2000, he landed contract work with Winnipeg child and family services As a mediation specialist. Work hours Are flexible so he took a real estate course bought one House on landside with a Down payment of $600 ? five per cent of the houses Price ? using a visa Cash Advance to secure a Bank mortgage. For the second House he did the same and made a Good profit upon its resale. Last year the Salish bought their Home. Some Money came to him from the Sale of the family farm in Sudan. And now not far from his House he has opened a grocery store across from the skateboard Park where sweaty kids will break to buy a Plushie or a bag of chips. The store is run by a daughter a son and or. Salih a brother. I studied this area he says. It is very diverse filling with immigrants who have moved up bought a House. His store caters to the african asian and Mediterranean diet and Sells phone cards such As the african voice. He is perplexed that others Don to operate the Way he does recognizing the financial capital available to them and exploiting the abundant Opportunity. The Bank mortgaged his store and the Federal business development Bank fronted a loan for inventory. Some of the Money to buy the building came from a savings Box ? 10 acquaintances put $200 each into the Box for a period of 10 months and each month the Money goes to one of the contributors. Its a Pool of ready interest free capital a forced savings account of sorts that runs entirely upon Trust in the group. Business though has been slow in its first three weeks. So Hammad Salih picked up the phone and called a free press writer who owed him one. Liberals Are at it again the Woodstock Sentinel review said in an editorial yesterday remember the Fluffy Campaign com Mercial that featured Dalton Mcguinty his sleeves rolled up extolling earnestly we wont lower your taxes but we wont raise them either.?? Well so much for that. And now the gang that could to govern straight is having trouble Fol lowing through on the few things they be tried attempting to make the pain in the pocketbook a Little easier for ontarian. After freezing Auto insurance rates the Day they were sworn in and promis ing rates would go Down 10 per cent by april 15, the liberals recently announced that the new lower rates wont be approved until july 15. A spokesperson in the ministry of finance blamed the delay on the paperwork being More complicated than perhaps the liberals did to realize insurance was complicated ? obviously they be never tried to file a claim and get some Money Back. For those 670,000 people in Ontario on welfare and disability assistance patience is also a virtue. After waiting 11 years for an increase the expected three per cent hike has been delayed because the computer that administers the system can to calculate the increase. The system was built by accounting giant accenture on a contract from the old conservative government so its pos sible the inability to increase benefits was by design ? they figured they a never need it. Finally get ready for some Good of labour unrest from Ontario a Public Sec Tor unions. The government has Frozen the salary and bonuses of the provinces top 200 civil servants. The bonuses for another 1,400 managers will be sharply reduced and their pay will also be Frozen. Union officials say they see it As a Mes Sage that the province will be looking to freeze wages for Union workers and professionals like doctors nurses and teach ers. Finance minister Greg Sorbara has said he will have to be Tough in negotiations with the Public sector As the province copes with a hefty deficit left by the previous conservative govern ment for the average citizen that Means the Prospect of disrupted services from closed schools to longer waiting lists for surgery ? hardly the picture of peace and Prosperity pitched by these same liberals during the election Campaign less than a year ago. Of and by the Way the new health care tax ? the one the liberals promised they would to introduce ? started com ing off your pay Cheque july 1 ? Happy Canada Day. The Liberal government has broken Promise after Promise and bungled the commitments they be managed to keep. Not Only does it Hurt the current crop of elected no Goodniss but it furthers the burgeoning cynicism regarding politicians and the political process. The electorate simply does to believe their elected officials or the promises they make any More. Its a sad state of affairs and if the current Ontario government continues its current trend it will Only get worse. Already they Are mocked As the liberals both provincial and fed eral have the Opportunity to right the ship ? or at least Stop it from taking on More water. Fulfilling commitments in education funding help for Farmers and a boost for the Auto sector would be a Start in restoring some Confidence that politicians can be trusted to do the things they say they Are going to. But Don to hold your breath. ? 2004 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 Rudy Redekop president up Canadian newspapers limited partnership Murdoch Davis / publisher Nicholas Hirst / editor ;