Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 12, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba From the West and beyond a 11 Winnipeg free press sunday october 12, 2008 Winnipeg repress. Com Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights t o say that thanksgiving is a conflicted time of year for me is an epic understatement. I have a Job a Home a family and friends. Over the past four years however Ive spent a lot of time with people who dont. Its been enlightening. When i joined the Board of agape table i had a limited understanding of who we served and the myriad circumstances that can cripple Peoples lives causing them to Drift into poverty and homelessness. The fact is poverty has As Many faces As agape table has guests. But Why is it important to understand who the people living in poverty really Are Why should we care it is important and we should care because dealing with the issues requires a better understanding of what it is to be poor. For Many people this understanding is confined to stereotypes which is germane to the fight against poverty because our understanding impacts our action and in turn our ability to effectively confront the problem. Real poverty reduction begins with understanding How diverse the people Are How different their circumstances Are and How the issues of poverty compound creating barriers to change. Lets be honest some poor people Are scary. They Wear the evidence of poverty on their faces. These Are dirty bloated intoxicated unpredictable individuals that people sympathize with but Cross the Street to avoid. But heres the thing acknowledging a stereotype is of. Limiting ourselves to it is not. People who struggle with addictions and alcoholism May be part of the stereotype but they re just one part of the picture. They Are the people we see but what about the ones we dont the ones who slip through the holes in our stereotype theress a Young Man rendered unemployable and isolated by mental illness. Theress a dad who eats with us so his kids can have school supplies. Theress a woman working three jobs to pay rent on a decent apartment in a Safe neighbourhood. There Are grandparents caring for Little ones and solitary pensioners who cant get by on their monthly income. And yes there Are the addicted and the homeless. Each Day More than 200 people come to our soup Kitchen program for a hot nutritious meal and 30 preschool children receive three highly nutritious meals As Well. Each is unique with their own Story to Tell mostly about things that for various reasons Over time have come and gone. They re the things i have like family friends a Job and a Home. For some the stories Are All thatus left. Those lives seem surreal now sealed off from the present by wounds too deep to mention and too powerful to overcome. According to the 2007 report card on child and family poverty in canada41 per cent of All Low income children in 2005 lived in families where at least one income earner had a full time Job All year but the family still lived in poverty. The situation is made worse by Tough economic times like a recession. For people living this reality the Impact is Felt As jobs disappear along with Money for Day care and educational programs that might provide a better future. Rapidly rising fuel and food prices compound the situation making it even tougher for Low income parents to feed their children healthy food and harder for soup kitchens to stretch their budgets. We might seem Defeated but were not. It is vital that we remind ourselves of our collective and individual Power. Agape table meets one need while someone else works to meet another. Private citizens and corporations cant be forgotten either As they Are the Lifeblood of our organizations making donations that keep our doors open and Hope alive. In Winnipeg today thousands of people will struggle to make a life of meaning and purpose and truthfully some never will. But there is Hope in our streets. There is growing understanding and commitment and a belief that together we can pave the Way for real Progress on the issues. Change is possible. This Holiday weekend be aware of All that we have but there is also a need to reflect on what is Given. The Community yes ongoing support is essential to our work and that of organizations like ours. And despite the economic challenges we face it does make a difference. Never doubt it. Yours is the face of Hope and when i sit Down to dinner this weekend you can bet ill give thanks for it. Suzi Bonk is the chairwoman of agape table inc. The poor can be scary but scarier is being poor Suzi Bonk i n Early 2007, Csc radio 2 launched two new programs Canada live and the signal. This was the first step toward a More drastic change which occurred in september of this year with the launch of several new programs. The Csc claimed that this new radio 2 would be a More accurate reflection of the diversity and breadth of music in Canada and give a voice to a lot of our music thatus not being heard anywhere else on the air. While those of us who have been working in Folk roots and world music welcomed this shift in programming with open arms there was an outcry among the classical Community. For anyone who pays attention to Csc it has been Tough not to notice it Over the past several months. Rarely a week goes by without another blogger or newspaper columnist claiming that the Csc has abandoned classical music or gone mainstream. A Facebook group dedicated to restoring the old radio 2 has Over 16,000 members. There Are two inherent problems with the outcry. First the fact that classical music is still very much present on radio 2, and second the fact that what has replaced some of the programming is not mainstream by any stretch of the imagination. It is True that the amount of classical music programming has been reduced. Unfortunately there Are Only 24 hours in a Day when something new is added to the schedule something else must be removed to make room. Instead of having classical music most of the Day every Day it now occupies select spots such As the Brief five hour Slot Between 10 a. And 3 p. M., monday to Friday. There Are As Well sporadic times in the mornings evenings nights and on weekends. Of and a new 24/ 7 classical internet station. As for what fills the rest of the airtime a variety of Folk world and jazz that gets Little or no airplay on mainstream radio is what the opponents of change Call the dumping Down of the Csc which is As close to truth As saying that classical music is All about dead White europeans. I Challenge anyone to show me a commercial station that plays the no classical artists i hear on radio 2 these Days like Hawksley Workman the mighty Popo or Winnipeg Gas own Christine Fellows. If the artists on the new radio 2 Are so awful Why Are classical organizations across the country leaping at the Chance to work with them Why was Sarah Slean at last years new music festival Why does Toronto is Art of time ensemble ask Roberto Occhipinti to arrange a Sarah Harmer song who went to see symphony Nova Scotia is performance with rapper Buck 65 aka Rich Terfry Host of the new roots world program radio 2 drive ? Here at Home groups such As the so and the Manitoba chamber orchestra Are working on new initiatives that involve artists from Many different traditions. Obviously some people think classical music like any other form is not a Static Art. The people in charge of Canadas classical music institutions appear to be excited about exploring other genres but Many do not share this enthusiasm and instead spend their Days lambasting the Csc in the comments Section of its website. Is there any irony in the fact that people use the internet to complain about Csc putting More classical music online As i stated to the standing committee on Canadian heritage at its hearings about the radio 2 changes in Ottawa last june its unfortunate that we lost some great programs like disc drive. We also lost global Village and Brave new Waves in the revamp. The new programs might not be perfect but they will find their stride. Don messers Jubilee and the Tommy Hunter show Are gone but somehow Canadian culture survived. Twice now i have heard the analogy of new Coke used to describe the Battle once on a blog last May and once in this newspaper earlier this week. The anti changers say that if they keep up the pressure As the old Coke fans did in 1985, they can make the Csc change radio 2 Back to the Way it was. What they Are missing is that classical music unlike original Coke has not been discontinued. When Coke classic triumphantly reemerged it appeared on the shelves alongside new Coke. These Days its just called Coke once again. Youll find it at your local convenience store sharing the shelf space with diet Coke Cherry Coke Vanilla Coke and Coke Zero. Kind of like All the different music that shares the airwaves on radio 2. Dominic Lloyd is the artistic director of the West end cultural Centre. Radio 2 critics Are simply not listening Dominic Lloyd f first of a kind provincial legislation was passed in Manitoba earlier this month creating an Inland port Cen report Canada and opening the playing Field for a new economic vision for our province. Based on the enthusiasm of local leaders Centre port Canada is an Early hit with Winnipeg chamber of Commerce president Dave Angus calling it the Best economic Opportunity for the province. Cen report Canada our new Inland port is a 20,000 acre area anchored by the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. The goal is to build it into a Centre of Export oriented transportation manufacturing and warehousing. The area has plenty of undeveloped land but is no Ordinary Field of dreams. It is an extraordinary Opportunity to attract new investment and jobs to Manitoba. Central to Cen report Canadas vision is new infrastructure that connects and integrates our inter modal transportation system planes trains trucks and ships that today reaches All Corners of North America and spans the Globe. It will also be Home to companies that create assemble and distribute new products to Market. This exciting new initiative is a carefully planned partnership of the private and Public sector one that builds on our considerable transportation assets and one thing we have always had in our favour location location location. Located in the heart of North America Manitoba has a Well established transportation network. As the Northern stretch of the mid continent Trade and transportation corridor our province offers affordable convenient Access to major consumer markets in the United states and Mexico. And we have Strong links to Western and Eastern Canada. Manitoba is also ideally situated for overseas trading. Our province has direct Access to asian markets via the Asia Pacific Gateway to the West while International shipping opportunities Are increasing through Thunder Bay to the East. Our unique Access to Polar Trade routes both by air plane and via ship through the port of Churchill provides convenient Northern entry into european markets. Some observers argue that Saskatchewan and Alberta Are competing with Manitoba to develop an Inland port. However our business Case clearly demonstrates that Manitoba offers the most Complete package of transportation assets. Consider these facts air travel Winnipeg Gas Airport is one of the most reliable in the world averaging less than two hours of downtime per year. It is one of Only a handful of 24 hour unrestricted International airports in Canada and has the largest number of dedicated cargo handlers in the country. Rail travel Winnipeg is the Only City in Western Canada served by three major Continental railways in up and Burlington Northern Santa be. We also have the Only location Between the West coast and Central Ontario where the key lines of in and up intersect with both railways maintaining extensive inter modal Yards Here. Marine travel Manitoba ass port of Churchill is the Only Ocean port in the Middle of Canada and the closest in Western Canada to Europe. It has rail links to North american markets and is a More Cost effective route than the great lakes and st. Lawrence Seaway which have higher navigation handling and other shipping costs. Highway travel in addition to our prime location in the Centre of several International transportation corridors the Emerson Borde crossing into the United states is the busiest in Western Canada ringing up $ 14.7 billion in Trade each year. We co chaired the Inland port leaders group for five months and we want to acknowledge the hard work of business labour and Community leaders. Government leadership the Manitoba government City of Winnipeg pm of Rosser was also key to our Success to Date. And we Hope for renewed Federal government interest following the election. Cen report Canada inc., established in recently approved provincial legislation is a private sector led corporation that will co ordinate development attract investment and Market the Inland port. The corporations Board is expected to be in place this fall with government continuing to play an important supporting role. We Are already seeing Progress. Standard Aero greyhound Canada and Canada Post have announced new investment and expansion plans in the area. Winnipeg Gas Airport is undergoing further expansion while the provincial and Federal governments Are investing More than $ 200 million in recent upgrades to roads and other infrastructure supporting the Inland port. The Winnipeg chamber of Commerce has started the business Call program to tap into local business leaders ideas and contacts for building the port. Together we Are speaking with one voice and moving Forward with one purpose to make Cen report Canada a Success. In this time of global economic uncertainty Competition and change Cen report Canada will give Manitoba the winning Edge. Bob Silver and Robert Ziegler Are co chairs of the premieres economic advisory Council. No Ordinary Field of dreams Inland port now exists in Law lets make it exist in fact Bob Silver Robert Ziegler Mike Aporius / Winnipeg free press archives Cen report Canada the new Inland port is a 20,000 acre area anchored by the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. A 11_ oct 12 08_ Grey. 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