Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 28, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba A11 Winnipeg free press comment editor monday August 28, 2006 Gerald flood 697-7269 and beyond before slamming Winnipeg Check out other cities w Winnipeg a big problem is that a lot of its citizens think it has big problems. They re the negative Bunch who whine about Winnipeg a Winters mosquitoes and potholes. They re the ones who met me when i returned to Winnipeg after More than 30 years away with an incredulous Why would you Ever come Back Here they re the target of such embarrassing but necessary campaigns As think Pride and spirited Energy. I thought about these negative people the other Day when i was visiting Ottawa where i lived for Many years. Many of the negative nags would love Ottawa after All it is so much better than Winnipeg. But is it at first glance Ottawa seems to have everything ? and Federal government largesse. The Federal government show ers Ottawa directly and indirectly through the National capital commis Sion with Money for Parks parkways and special events. As Well the feds continue to hire people nothing like a conservative government to Cut Back on Public service employment. On top of this Ottawa a tech sector is booming again. The capital Region now has 1,841 tech companies 30 More than six months ago. Its workforce has 78,147 employees 10 per cent More than a year ago. As a result Ottawa and nearby Gatineau que., had the strongest eco nomic momentum among the nations metropolitan areas in the first Quarter. This growth encouraged Ottawa City Council this month to approve $850 Mil lion for a Light rail line that will run from the downtown University of Ottawa to the suburbs. But All is not Well. Tyler Brul a writer living in London who knows Ottawa wrote in the Finan Cial times that what he saw on his first visit to the capital in a decade was Shock ing. Ottawa he says lacks a cohesive Forward looking Brand vision that makes the visitor and resident feel like they re in a capital that fits with the Winni Eggers complain about Portage Avenue but Ottawa does to even have a downtown main Street Only a remnant Rideau Street which the areas Council Lor Georges a Dard says is plagued with vagrants constantly roaring buses drug dealers operating in Plain View Dur ing the Day and hordes of Drunken peo ple roaming the streets at night. Young vagabonds sleep under a nearby Bridge. All of this takes place Steps away from the nations memorial to those who died in wars to give canadians a better life. We have this thing about mosquitoes but Ottawa gets 24-hour smog alerts a problem that is much More difficult to solve. What about crime according to a statistics Canada report Ottawa and Lon Don ont., were the Only major Canadian cities to see an increase in the Overall number of crimes last year. This at a time when crime rates nationally dropped an average of five per cent. The Ottawa Carleton District school Board with a $21 million deficit is so hard up it can to even make Small repairs to school Yards. Social services As for social services Pierre Drouin of Orl ans near Ottawa says in a letter to the Ottawa citizen it is strange the present Council has seen fit to commit close to $1 billion for a Light rail system ? but has yet to devote a single meeting to defining the social priorities of this Kate Heartfield a citizen editorial writer adds our City barely makes an Effort to help addicts recover ? is this the face of a City that does to want peo ple on the streets buying drugs and drinking mouthwash the Winnipeg naysayers however May argue that cities other than Ottawa Are better off than our own. But they All have problems. Calgary this month got its one Millionth citizen ? a nine Pound 10-ounce baby boy. But its main arteries called trails to fit in with the City a Cowboy image Are clogged with traffic. In Vancouver writes Brian Hutchin son in the National Post aggressive panhandling is reportedly out of control. Its ruining the City a image As a prime tourist destination and threatening its status As one of the worlds Best cities in which to none of these reports makes me Happy. I particularly want Ottawa to be a capital of which we can All be proud. I Only mention the problems of other cities to make this Point All cities have problems. What a important is what their citizens do about them. Tom Ford is managing editor of the issues network. The end of obesity people everywhere Are getting fatter but global warming could change All that role As Well. In much of Africa for example fat l Ondon ? being fat is the new Normal Ness in women was traditionally seen As Testi but it wont last. The global surge in Mony to the wealth and generosity of their overweight people is concentrated husbands and recent research in South Africa among lower income City dwellers and has revealed a new additional Factor the fear some May choose to slim Down As they climb that being slim will make people think you have further up the income scale. You can never be aids. Too Rich or too slim but the real guarantee of half of All women in South Africa Are Over a Slimmer world unfortunately is climate weight compared to Only a third of South change. African men and the problem is particularly obesity is the Norm acute among Black women one third of who globally and under nutria Are clinically obese. Tion while still important regretfully says Tessa Van Der Merwe of in a few countries and in the International association for the study of certain groups in Many obesity there is a perception that if a Black others is no longer the woman is thin she might have his aids or that dominant disease said her husband can to afford to feed her or. Barry Popkin of the so South africans with far lower average University of North car incomes than americans Are Only 20 per Cantolina recently at a Confer less overweight than people in the unite Dence in Queensland states generally conceded to be the worlds fat Australia. Popkin studies test country. Nutrition transition the but the shift in dietary patterns and the con changes that accompany the shift from a Trade sequent Rise in obesity among the Urban Popula tonal Rural diet to a modern Urban diet and he Tion affect the great majority of lower and has concluded that thanks to High Speed Urban Middle income countries in Asia the Middle nation the fat now outnumber the starving. East Africa and latin America. Moreover this we have grown accustomed to americans is happening at a much earlier Point in the eco who look almost perfectly spherical and we Are nomic and social development of these coun seeing More and More europeans who seem to tries than was the Case in the old Rich aspire to the same goal. Popkins Point is that countries. This is not due to some moral failure in the the typical pattern in 19th-Century Europe american and european populations but to the was that the High income groups put on weigh changes that come with urbanization higher first. Think of the stereotypical cartoon Pluto Michelin men and women ? but the alternative Tor of Trade integrated research for action rat ? he a always fat Only much later when incomes mass marketing of processed foods is worse a world of very hungry people. And and development new Delhi based Ngo did cheap fats and sweeteners became generally and work patterns involving much less physical the alternative alas is far More Likely by the a detailed study for the world Bank about the available to the working class did the Urban labour. His proof is that the rates of obesity in end of this Century. Probable effects on Indian agriculture of a two poor Start to bulk up As the Rich slimmed Down. Developing countries undergoing rapid Urban cheap and plentiful food for the Urban masses degree celsius Rise in average this pattern is now kicking in at a Point ionization Are rapidly catching up with the Levels in of a multimillion population world is an astonish the Impact was different for different countries development where malnutrition is the Rich countries. Ing achievement but it is probably in its last regions of the country of course but she con still widespread. Mexicans of All Ages and both sexes Are now few decades. Most of the worlds great fisheries clouded that Overall Indian food production in Urban Brazil for example the poor Are on average As fat As americans. In Kuwait Are nearing collapse due to overfishing and pol would be about one Quarter less than at present. Now on average significantly fatter than the Thailand and Tunisia 25 to 50 per cent of the Lution and a couple have already died like the the world is probably going to get consider Rich even though the same slum households population is suffering not Only developed grand Banks off Newfoundland. More worry ably hotter than that and most of the other May also still contain some malnourished peo world Levels of obesity but also similar plagues some still is the Likely Impact of global warming great bread baskets of the world will be similar ple. Urban adults in China and Indonesia Are of non communicable obesity related diseases on the great agricultural regions that feed mostly affected. Obesity is not our Long term prob twice As Likely to be obese As Rural adults. In the like diabetes and heart failure. South african of those billions of people like the chinese River Lem. Congo City dwellers Are six times likelier to be and egyptian women Are As fat As american valleys the american Midwest and the North fat. Women although their men lag behind their Indian Plain. Gwynne Dyer is a London based Independent it a not a pretty picture ? a world full of american counterparts. A couple of years ago or. Jyoti Parikh direct journalist. In some places specific local factors play a fatal shooting could Lead to better future d Udley Georges legacy should not go unnoticed. George 38, was one of several Stoney Point natives holding a peaceful occupation of Ontario a Ippe Wash provincial Park Back in september 1995. It seems the Park was originally a native burial site. One night an Ontario Provin Cial police riot squad was called out to the protest after an unconfirmed Call said there was a disturbance going on. Confusion and panic erupted and George was shot and killed by a police sniper. Now after More than two years of Tes Timony from More than 100 witnesses ? including former Ontario Premier Mike Harris who was Cross examined Exten sively about his alleged involvement ? and More than 1,000 exhibits the upper Wash inquiry into Georges death has wrapped up. Although the final report wont be released for several months there a already a wealth of information available to learn from. The inquiry was made up of two parts ? one the inquest into Georges death the other an in depth look at the primary reasons that led to the Ippe Wash protest in the first place. Much of this research could have a positive effect on current native land claims and occupations As Well As those that May happen in the future. One background paper prepared for the inquiry is entitled for the nonce policing and aboriginal occupations and protests by Jim Potts and Michael Coyle. It should be Standard Reading for those involved in the current aboriginal occupation in Caledonia ont. Much of the information just made common sense such As police remain ing As Neutral As possible. I know when i was at the Caledonia protest i Felt much safer with the Opp there. They were the were Yelling at us across the barriers. The paper took a look at the history of aboriginal protests what affected the outcome of the occupation negatively and ways in which police dealt with occupations that brought about positive outcomes. They also took into consideration whether or not the situation resulted in a breakdown in the relationship with the aboriginal Community. Deep frustrations Over Long standing land claims As Well As decades of being oppressed often Lead to aboriginal protests. The report quotes Many sources including an unpublished paper by Opp officer Glenn Trivett. Trivett says aboriginal protests have increased since the late 1980s and Hap pen when aboriginal rights issues reach a standstill after negotiations break Down. Sadly in Many ways it has been the most effective Way to bring change in government policy. Lives have been lost in the Effort on occasion says Trivett. At the same time the court processes have been expanded and the supreme aboriginal rights and one Case that a made it into the upper Wash research happened close to Home. Its cited As an example where police handled a situation correctly. When Den Nis St. Paul 30, was shot in january 2005 in Norway House Cree nation it caused considerable unrest in the Community about whether the investigation would be handled properly. The Way the ramp handled this situation is a Model for others. Ramp contacted St. Paul a family and offered condolences As Well As included the family a representatives in the investigation. When the officer was cleared of any wrongdoing the St. Paul family and his Community generally accepted those findings. So lets Hope the results of this inquiry Don to just sit and gather dust. Ippe Wash transcripts research papers and teaching resources Are online at . ;