Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 15, 2005, Winnipeg, Manitoba Plans truly surprising u of was plan to expand yet further into activities that do not address University teaching and research u of w tackles renewal april 14, Page b1 is truly surprising. Like most Manitoba universities u of w has Many serious problems related to teaching and research the primary functions of any serious University. U of w has the lowest per student financing of All Canadian universities is the largest University without a serious graduate program has exceptionally Low faculty salaries has a Low percentage of faculty with phys has few books in its Library and is in desperate need of More modern classrooms and laboratories. As a u of w faculty member and As a taxpayer it is difficult to see How the administration and Board of regents can ignore these myriad problems and instead focus on issues that Are not the primary mandate of a University. University teaching and research needs to be put on a much More solid basis before yet More attention and resources Are devoted to recreational facilities Community participation and other social service functions. Perhaps even More surprising the actual plans do not even make a lot of sense on their own merits. Rather than a Park and More recreational and commercial facilities u of w students and faculty need the Little available space for More classrooms and laboratories and perhaps even for More reasonable and accessible parking facilities. And Winnipeg does not need yet another locus for downtown renewal Given the geographically scattered and disconnected history of previous development efforts and the fact a commercial Spence Street would Only compete with the already struggling Portage place. Nor do we need another theatre in the downtown especially Given the millions already wasted by the administration and Board on a recently purchased building for that purpose. What u of w should focus on is getting our 10,000 students and 250 faculty More and better teaching and research facilities. And if they truly want to help downtown renewal find a Way for All these bodies to be More connected to the rest of downtown for example by extending the skywalk system farther East along Portage rather than building competing facilities that waste scarce resources sorely needed to serve u of was teaching and research functions. James m. Clark professor University of Winnipeg Winnipeg Stop complaining As i was Reading the paper and enjoying my morning Coffee i was struck by the complaints regarding petrol prices. I find it absolutely fascinating that people in this City and others around the Globe for that Matte have the audacity to complain about the prices motorists Are paying to feed their minivans sums half tons and so on. Hundreds of people women and children included Are dying daily in the Middle East to ensure that people in North America have enough fuel to run our Over sized vehicles. Everyone Here should be Happy that the Only thing we have to complain about is the Price of Oil. Imagine instead if we were the ones suffering the huge loss of humanity that they Are facing in the Middle East. When one looks at it from this Point of View it becomes difficult to whine and complain about a few extra cents. April Fisher Winnipeg express needs changes regarding the express bus service in Winnipeg the current service tries to be All things to All people and As a result is basically of no value to anyone. For myself the 35 express cuts about five minutes off my travel time compared with the regular 33 not a significant saving. If Winnipeg transit is to increase ridership it must address the concerns of people like myself who use it for commuting and have the option of driving if the bus becomes too inconvenient. Winni Eggers will never use the bus to go shopping and people without cars Are forced to ride the bus no matter How awful the service is. So target the express buses to improve service to this group. Make it a True express service from the suburbs to downtown with no stops in Between. Follow the fastest route to get from Point a to Point a with no intermediate stops this could vary depending on traffic congestion construction Etc. You can never please All people All of the time the Best you can Hope for is to please most people most of the time. Since most commuters live in the suburbs improving this service will provide More net Benefit than will be lost by reducing service to the few who get on the express bus in Between. Another comment regarding the buses transit uses. Recently we had a Low floor bus on the 35 route while the 33 just ahead was a conventional bus. This is pointless i have never seen the easy Access feature actually used on this route. These buses have fewer seats meaning less Chance of having your own seat or a seat at All. They Are also rougher on the potholes and the hard a padded seats Are a throwback to the Days when third class train passengers sat on benches. Keep the conventional buses with soft seats on the express routes. Glenn Lennox Winnipeg Money Well spent in response to the april 12 editorial ill placed Aid i would like to take Issue with the free press editorial on Canadas Aid to Sudan. You suggest that Canadas Aid is Likely to be wasted by the sudanese government. In fact Canada is not providing Aid to the government. Instead our Aid dollars support the work of reputable and trusted partners like the in world food programme red Cross and other International organizations which operate independently of the government. Last autumn i visited Sudan and saw for myself the tremendous humanitarian challenges. Many people Are suffering from Lack of Security and Access to food and health care. This situation is largely a product of various conflicts that have plagued the country for too Long. I was very direct in meetings with senior ministers of the sudanese government that they have an unshakable responsibility to put a halt to the violence. With the recent signing of the comprehensive peace agreement there is a unique Opportunity to encourage peace and development in Sudan. Our Aid can help and i saw for myself that it is reaching those who need it most. Aileen Carroll minister of International co operation Ottawa f Ocus a 15 w Winnipeg f ree p Reissf Vidaya pril 15, 2005 doonesbury by Garry Trudeau letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from readers. They must include the authors name address and Telephone number. Letters May be edited. Letters to the editor 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Fax 697 7412. E mail letters free press. My. Ca
Federal politics a s one reflects on this unfolding and dreary sponsorship scandal there Are few things which offer much Comfort except perhaps the sort of Consolation that lies in knowing the Public anger it has generated. That anger is consoling to the extent that it sends a powerful message that unethical behaviour in politics and government easily shrugged off in earlier eras Are viewed with far less tolerance now. Even this however is not unqualified in that it is not As though we have never been Here before scandals have beset Many Canadian governments from John a. Macdonald through Mackenzie King right up to Brian Mulroney and at the moment one is hard pressed to think of any provincial jurisdiction that has not experienced them As Well though the Walkerton scandal in Ontario which actually resulted in loss of life generated far less anger than some others which involved merely Money. Nor is it in any Way consoling to realize that despite earlier scandals and the severe Legal and political penalties that flowed from them some people testifying before Gomery have apparently Learned nothing. It was arresting for example to hear a witness claim that his firm donated $ 100,000 to the parti Qutb Cois while More or less simultaneously giving a much larger amount to the liberals. To be providing Money in Pursuit of government contracts to a federalist party wanting to keep the country together and to a separatist party wanting to break it up bespeaks a political amorality that goes beyond bribery and kickbacks. If there is some sort of contrition implied Over the payments there was none Over the political promiscuity its Point seemed to be Only that everybody engaged in it. Businessmen such As these give prostitution a bad name. More discouraging has been the reaction of the opposition politicians and much of the Media to the testimony heard thus far. Jean by aults smoking gun allegations made Over the last three weeks Are not alas implausible and May Well be substantiated. The political opposition is not going to wait for that. Last week Stephen Harper was keeping his powder dry and promising to do nothing to precipitate an election until canadians in Coffee shops and elsewhere made it Clear that they wanted him to. This week however he announced that he does not believe its necessary to defer an election until the Gomery inquiry yes report is ready. One will be forgiven for supposing that harpers present View is less driven by considerations of whether canadians want an Early election than by assessments of his chances of winning. It is a political calculation made by a calculating politician. This is a recognizable part of the partisan game but let us recognize that political advantage will not withstand scrutiny when trotted out As High principle. By aults allegation is that amidst other dubious activities he provided kickbacks to the Liberal party out of Money received through contracts awarded his firm by the Federal government. In the context of the sponsorship scandal by aults allegations Are potentially devastating but an allegation made before an inquiry is not exactly a conviction in a court of Law. And when such an allegation is made even under oath by someone facing criminal charges in a court of Law it might be thought a matter of elementary prudence not to Rush to judgment on the basis of that allegation. There Are grounds for supposing that the Public does get this distinction. To be sure All the recent polls show so substantial a drop in Liberal support As to create a dead heat Between them and the conservatives. Such polls usually reflect questions which ask people How they would vote if an election were held now. However in recent Days when voters were actually asked whether they wanted an election now Well Over 80 per cent said they did not. One might infer that apart from those who just dont want another election so soon after the last there Are also voters who however angry recognize that there is More testimony to come that there Are possibilities of earlier allegations being challenged and not least that there will be a final report from judge Gomery. Nonetheless the politicians will precipitate an election if and probably Only if they believe they will Benefit in its outcome. The position of the Media is More curious beyond the obvious fact that scandals draw readers and viewers and the editorial position of the free press is particularly interesting. Last weekend the papers Lead editorial argued Canada needs an election to hold the Federal liberals to account while the inquiry finishes its work. This will give the electorate the Chance they deserve to defeat the liberals. If the liberals Are re elected at least their right to govern now impaired by corruption will be clarified. Some might Jib at the idea of a verdict by election being rendered while evidence by inquiry is still coming in but beyond that there is at least a major difficulty in this argument suppose an election were held in May with the liberals re elected and then if in june further testimony altered the picture would this argue for yet another election and when go Merys final report was released might it provide grounds for yet another on this line of reasoning we might with Luck be Able to squeeze three general elections in before the end of this year. Of course it would not be entirely unprecedented to have a verdict first and a trial afterwards. It happened after All in Alice in wonderland. William Neville is head of the department of political studies at the University of Manitoba. In Wop its. Net William Neville Tom Hanson Canadian press conservative party Leader Stephen Harper talks with the Media after question period on parliament Hill. Election Call should await verdict this week Harper announced that he does not believe its necessary to defer an election until the Gomery inquiry yes report is ready ;