Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 15, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade tuesday August 15, 2006 Liberty of religion comment editor Equality of civil rights Gerald flood 697-7269 editorials Rainy Day roadways p remier Gary doer can read a poll at least As Well As and probably better than most people in Manitoba. Or. Doer knows that Manitoban Are tired of bumping along really bad roads ? see ing one major route after the other crumble this Spring to the Point when a number of prime High ways sported warning signs for Drivers to slow Down so As to avoid blow outs. The Premier says the state of disrepair has reached a crisis warranting the use of the Rainy Day fund to Patch Over potholes. Or. Doer should leave the emergency funds for real emergencies. Short of a real crisis ? a catastrophic Nat ural event that blows away a Large piece of a major Highway or a Bridge for example ? the fiscal stabilization fund should be left untouched. Highway maintenance and construction Are the Rou Tine business for which governments have a mandate to tax to their needs for the Benefit of All. None of what Drivers Are putting up with and have for years is extraordinary or unpredictable. If a government neglects its roads particularly those such As Highway one Highway 75 or the perimeter that get High rates of traffic the pave ment will erode potholes will form and hubcaps will litter the ditches. The infrastructure problem has been predicted defined and calculated for years. There is $4 billion to $5 billion Worth of work needed on provincial highways and some $2 billion Worth required in the City of Winnipeg. The nip administration has been aware of this and was presented with ? and promptly rejected ? a plan by former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray to begin Patching up the City streets through new municipal taxing Powers. The roads have continued to decay. This despite the fact or. Doer now has about $2 billion More each year to spend than when he was elected As Premier in 1999. A gasoline tax Transfer from the Federal govern ment was Welcome but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the need. Or. Doer passed legislation three years ago dedicating All gasoline taxes to highways but defined highways spending As All transportation costs. Not much difference has been made and Manitoban can see and feel it. Manitoban Are wondering justifiably Why this is so in a province that gets Richer every year from increasing Federal transfers. The Only crisis or. Doer is facing is that Manitoban Are on to the neglect and see As an election Call approaches an alternative to the nip. A poll this Spring put the conservatives ahead in popular support for the first time since 1999. Draining Down a savings account for routine maintenance is the Mark of bad management. Or. Doer needs a Quick political fix but that would jeopardize Manitoba a ability to Deal with emergencies when they arise. The government should instead present a thoughtful Long term plan for rebuilding the provinces crumbling roads one that fits in to a balance of forecaster revenues and expenditures not the political agendas of desperate politicians. Absent on aids when the International aids conference opened in Toronto on the weekend prime minister Stephen Harper was nowhere to be seen. Where he was seen was in Nunavut staking out Canadas sovereignty Over the Arctic. He did not actually Stop by Hans Island which is claimed by Denmark and is for the moment the most hotly disputed Barren bit of Rock in the Arctic to Plant a Maple Leaf Flag As former defence minister Bill Graham did last year. If he had he might have a better excuse for bowing out of his duty to open the aids conference. Or. Harpers office says that it was a scheduling problem. But the aids conference was on the books Long before he became prime minister. His prime ministerial visit to Nunavut was not. It would be hazardous to guess what is the real reason for this abdication but it brings Canada into further disrepute As a fighter in the War against aids. Aids is perhaps the most serious and deadly pan Demic that world has Ever known although ? proportionally ? the Black death that swept through the world in the Middle Ages is a competitor. But this is not a Competition. It is a Challenge a Chal Lenge which the world has so far failed to meet. That failure has resulted in the devastation of whole nations in Africa and Asia. Since the his virus that causes aids was identified in the Early 1980s, More than 25 million people have died from the disease. More than 40 million people have been infected with it. That is a tragedy but the greater tragedy is that this is a disease that is almost entirely preventable through education that was never offered to vulnerable africans and asians. Although a diagnosis of his was once the equivalent of a death warrant new medications some of them being revealed at the Toronto conference offer victims a longer lease on life. Canadians can afford them usually. Usually africans and asians cannot. Ottawa introduced under the liberals a program to produce generic medicines that would be donated to third world countries. So far according to aids experts not a single Pill has moved. Before the aids conference ends later this week it would be useful to see or. Harper attend and explain not just Why he want there to open it but Why Canada has failed to step up to this Challenge. Have your say 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. Email lets lighten up a bit this is in response to Rob Elgar a letter and lacks imagination free press aug. 12. I think it s time people Stop becoming offended at everything they read see or hear. The and promoting the bomber game against the . Lions is far from comparable to the violence in the Middle East and the murders of ramp officers. Also the . Lions Are not an endangered animal that a just the nickname of the team. I think it trivializes the horrible events listed above when we Start taking a Cal advertisement just As seriously. Maybe we All need to lighten up a bit. Eric Lindquist Winnipeg a Basic distinction Peter Blacks article Quebec and the jews free press aug. 11 seems based on the fal Lacy that All those who oppose the israeli government a actions in the recent Mideast crisis Are guilty of anti semitism. Although Black Points to a Streak of anti semitism that runs through Quebec a past and perhaps also its present it is unfair to equate opposition to Israel a actions to a widespread hatred of jews themselves. This ignores a Basic distinction Between people and government and that these two entities Are anything but one and the same. Also Blacks article seems to accuse Andre Boisclair of the parti sub Cois and the blocs Gilles Dueppe of anti semitism for participating in a March opposing the actions of the israeli government. This is an accusation he can hardly Back up by anything More than Mere suggestion. Alin Charriere Winnipeg thanks or. Harper i own a Small business and i work on aver age 55 hours a week. My five employees and i All make less than $30,000 annually. When i did my payroll calculations for the first time in july i was surprised to find that although All of our staff fall in the lower income bracket we were All paying about $120 More per year in Federal income taxes due to the new conservative budget. At first i thought this must be a mistake after All this country is economically speak ing falling apart at the seams. What with a National unemployment rate of a whopping 6.4 per cent the Federal surplus falling As Low As $1.6 billion in the 2004-05 fiscal year and the consumer Price Index skyrocketing up to 2.5 per cent dark financial Days Are clearly just around the Corner. Why then would the Federal government raise income taxes for the lowest income bracket by such a paltry amount upon further reflection however prime minister Stephen harpers personal income tax changes make perfect sense. He is clearly trying to inspire economic slackers like us to Stop leaching off the Federal purse buckle Down and work to improve the dire Federal fiscal situation by dangling the Carrot of regressive taxation in front of our noses. I shudder to think of the financial Depths to which the country would plummet if the letter of the Day authority Worth Little the editorial Lawless Rule free press aug. 9 betrays the Winnipeg free press a ignorance of the history surrounding the reclamation happening outside Caledonia ont. Members of six nations Are camped on land that was granted their ancestors in the 18th Century As thanks for their sup port during the american revolution. Since then the land has been reduced to five per cent of its former area through questionable deals and outright theft. The editorial appeals to the Canadian Constitution to Call for the Ontario government to intervene. Consider however that this suburban development was Given the Green Light by the government. Where was the Constitution then not protecting the rights of first nations. Such situations exist All across this land typically called Canada. First nations Are encouraged to pursue land claims through Legal channels. Years pass hearings drag on and development is permitted to con nip or heaven forbid some bleeding heart Liberal like that budgetary mount Bank Paul Martin Ever got control of the Federal balance Sheet. Thanks Stephen Clinton Skibitzki Winnipeg monsters still there no one can explain the need for Canadian troops in Afghanistan More eloquently than the boots who Are or have been on the ground in Afghanistan. People like master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh who was beginning his second deployment to Afghanistan at the time of his death and had to try to explain to his Young children where he was going and Why. Or Cpl. Ryan Elrick who lost his legs but not his courage in Afghanistan and still believes in the importance of the Mission. As recent events demonstrate the threat remains ? the monsters Are still out there ? and we need to show support for our troops on the front lines in the War against terrorism. As has previously been mentioned one Way is through the use of yellow ribbons. Another approach Many others Are choosing is to Wear something red every Friday until the troops come Home. Thirdly and perhaps most importantly we can include them in our prayers. Catherine Medernach Winnipeg decision Short sighted it would seem a Little Short sighted on the part of the leadership at City Hall to summarily abandon its responsibility to find a com Mon sense solution to ensure that the National aquatic Hall of Fame and museum is permanently maintained at the pan am Pool. While its hard to put a Dollar value on the museums contribution to Winnipeg its Safe to say that the cultural and educational value Winnipeg free press. Today a question previous question do you think Pluto should lose its status should prime minister Stephen Harper have attended the As a planet opening of the International aids conference in Toronto yes 51% / no 6% / not sure 43% / total 530 poll vote online at ? 2006 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian Andrew s. Ritchie / publisher newspapers limited partnership Bob Cox / editor published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Patrick Flynn / Deputy editor Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 Tine. When the courts finally Rule in favour of the first nations the land is already compromised and Money is offered instead. The authority of the Ontario and Canad an governments is Worth Little at six nations. The treaties were signed on a nation to nation basis but the Federal government has declined to come to the table. Ken Gerrard Winnipeg is beyond measure. The impending loss of this museum leads me to think that those at City Hall who have the Power to determine the Fate of this National treasure ought to take a moment to seriously reflect upon and reconsider their Hasty decision. I wonder ? if the leadership at City Hall can cast aside this National museum so quickly and callously Are other museums funded in part by the City such As the St. James historical museum and Grants old Mill at risk of the same cold callous Fate in the future As Well Rene Lewis candidate for councillor St. Charles Ward Lovely idea in to new w. Archie Speers presents a Lovely idea for bringing peace to the israeli palestinian conflict by suggesting israelis and palestinians grow crops for peace joint crops for peace free press aug. 10. It is indeed a Lovely idea but not a new one. Gaza had Many Large greenhouses built and operated by israelis which were a major source of employment for palestinians. When Israel pulled out of Gaza an Anonymous philanthropist purchased the Green houses and donated them to the palestinian people. Unfortunately on the Day the last jewish Soldier left Gaza Many of the palestinians chose to swarm the greenhouses and vent their rage on the greenhouses As symbols of the hated zionist imperialist occupation. What want looted was reduced to useless rubble while the palestinian police stood by helplessly. Until the palestinians As a society have achieved Rule of Law by disarming the Vari Ous militant factions and criminal gangs and they turn away from hatred and terrorism there is no Hope for any kind of venture of peace joint with the israelis or by palestini ans themselves. Natalie Gordon Winnipeg ;