Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 20, 2007, Winnipeg, Manitoba Manitoba Winnipeg free press thursday december 202007 a5 Winnipeg repress. Com we need your help to serve hot meals or provide other essential services to hungry homeless hurting people in Winnipeg Gas inner City this Christmas season. For just $ 2.58, you can provide a hot meal or the Safe shelter and spiritual help that can be the Start of a new life. Please help us feed and care for hungry homeless hurting people by mailing your gift today.  $ 12.90 helps 5 people  $ 98.04 helps 38 people  $ 23.22 helps 9 people  $ 196.08 helps 76 people  to help As Many people As possible please charge my    please clip and Send with your gift today costs Are average and include the expense of preparing and providing meals. A receipt for income tax purposes will be sent to you. Siloam Mission is a registered Canadian Charity # 11915 0043 rr0001. Celebrating 20 years of service in Winnipeg Gas inner City card no. Signature donate online at wow. Siloam. Ca or Call 204 956 4344 or toll free at 1 866 648 Hope 4673. Name address City pc phone e mail Apt. @ expiry Date Complete Christmas dinner 2.58 please make your Cheque payable to Siloam Mission Street dept. 00000 wow. Siloam. Ca 300 Princess Street dept. 69590 Winnipeg my r3b 1m3 Siloam. Ca by Mary Agnes Welch it could soon be illegal to Yak on a cellphone while driving Premier Gary doer said wednesday. Doer says hers considering new restrictions on cellphone use among motorists. He wont say whether that Means an outright ban but he said legislation if it comes will be on his Agenda in 2008. I am personally concerned about cellphones and now also the text messaging thatus going on said doer. Safety is the Paramount Issue. Doer has tried to take his own advice pulling Over to do a radio interview while driving Back from Gimli recently. One trigger was a june crash in upstate new York where police believe the teenage Driver was text messaging just seconds before the Accident that killed her and her four passengers. Bans Are in place All Over the world from Australia to Sweden and in Many u. S. States. But Newfoundland is the Only Canadian province with such restrictions although Quebec moved to ban using cellphones behind the wheel in legislation tabled in that province in november. Under que Becks proposed ban Drivers caught talking on cells would earn three Demerit Points on their driving licences. The eyed also risk fines of up to $ 100. That ban restricts cellphones you hold. Hands free devices would still be Legal. American insurance companies Are outspoken critics of Drivers talking on cellphones behind the wheel according to findings posted on a website sponsored by the insurance information Institute. Not that opposing it makes a difference insurance companies concede. One canvass of 1,200 american Drivers found that 73 per cent talk on cellphones while driving according to findings of a dangerous driving practices Survey in january 2007 by the nationwide Mutual insurance company. And in Australia a 2005 study of Drivers found people who talk on cells behind the wheel Are four times As Likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. That study also concluded Banning hand held cellphones in favour of hand free devices is irrelevant. The rate of accidents stayed the same. The theory that hands free sets Are safer has been challenged in recent studies. One from the University of Utah in 2006 concluded talking on a cell while driving is As dangerous As driving drunk. Maryagnes. Welch free press. My. Ca by Bartley Kives w Winnipeg is considering a plastic bag ban that could place this City in the same progressive company As Leaf rapids and san Francisco. On wednesday at the final City Council meeting of 2007, St. Norbert coun. Justin Swan Del squeezed in a motion to ask City waste experts to come up with a plan to eliminate the use of plastic grocery bags which cannot be recycled and either end up littering streets or taking up space in landfills. Tiny Leaf rapids and trend setting san Francisco have already made similar moves earning Praise from environmental groups who View the bags As a waste of petrochemical resources and a threat to wildlife. But Swan Del says his main motivation is eliminating the visual blight that occurs when plastic bags blow away from parking lots and off the Mountain of waste at the Brady Road Landfill. I have this stretch of Waverley Street in my Ward that was recognized last year As being one of the most littered stretches of Roadway in this City. A lot of that litter is plastic shopping bags Swan Del said. His motion automatically moves to councils Public works committee which will in turn direct City staff to draw up a report. That Means legislation on plastic bags could be in place some time in 2008. I cant see anybody objecting to cleaning up this problem Swan Del said. There seems to be a great Deal of consumer Uptake As people Are using their own cloth bags and theress a trend for businesses to be seen to be More eco Friendly. This would be the time to get some discussions going to see what we could do. Swan dells motion follows an october move by Manitoba Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard to prohibit plastic bags at retail checkouts across the province which was followed by a Promise from conservation minister Stan Struthers to devise a plan to reduce their use. The Manitoba liquor control commission is already phasing out plastic bags while retailers across Canada Are considering paper or biodegradable alternatives. But environmental groups and retailers alike believe Public education about reusable bags of All kinds May be just As effective As an outright ban on the plastic variety. We dont take the position that plastic bags Are inherently evil. There Are some situations where plastic bags Are the material of Choice said Randall Mcquaker executive director of non governmental organization resource conservation Manitoba noting meat is just one product that most people would prefer to transport in plastic instead of cloth. An absolute ban on plastic bags May not be necessary if cloth bags become More accessible or if the province enacts a plastic bag surtax he said. A ban May also Force Consumers who currently use grocery bags to dispense of household waste to buy heavier duty garbage bags which would actually increase the amount of petrochemical waste heading into landfills argues Lanny Mcinnes government relations director for the retail Council of Canadas Manitoba office. The retail Industry is already switching to smaller plastic bags and firmly opposes an outright ban Mcinnes said. The worst fear a retailer can have is for a customer to drop something on the Way from a store to their car he said. Winnipeg is not alone in pondering some form of legislation As Vancouver is considering a similar move. Bartley. Kives free press. My. Ca feedback should Winnipeg ban plastic grocery bags please explain the reasons for your opinion to feedback @ free press. My. Ca City councillor seeks ban on plastic bags but environmental retail groups not sold on idea restrictions for motorists doer considers cellphone curbs big decisions decisions made wednesday at the final City Council meeting of 2007. Plastic bags St. Norbert coun. Justin Swan Del made a motion to explore ways to eliminate plastic shopping bags. This automatically goes to the Public works committee in january. Police advisory Board eleven nominees to sit on Winnipeg Gas new police oversight body were approved unanimously. King building Council unanimously approved a plan to provide $ 1.5 million in Grants and apply $ 800,000 in future tax credits to a $ 7.3 million Parade and retail Complex that will preserve the red Brick facades of one of Winnipeg Gas oldest heritage structures. Landfill user fees coun. Swan Del also moved a motion to explore the possibility of raising tipping fees at landfills to encourage businesses to reduce waste volumes and provide income to offset pending business tax cuts. The proposal was referred to the 2008 operating budget process. Suburban Snow Clearing Swan Del also proposed More Snow Clearing on suburban streets with no sidewalks or Back lanes in recognition that those stretches of Asphalt effectively serve As streets sidewalks and Back lanes. This too will head to operating budget discussions. Handout photo Stop at the Side of the Road before using your cellphone. Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg free press a time for family women Exchange embraces wednesday As More than 2,000 muslims packed into the Winnipeg convention Centre to celebrate eid Al aha the festival of sacrifice ;