Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 17, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a14 the Road to Ikea i increasingly it seems All roads Lead to Southwest Winnipeg particularly the shopping Mecca that straddles both sides of Kenaston Boulevard at Mcgillivray Boulevard. The fact that Ikea the hugely popular maker of Flat pack furniture will open a 350,000 Square foot store in the area Means its a Safe bet that those roads will continue to be among the most heavily travelled in the City. The question then is whether the shopping and retail District has the transportation infrastructure to Cope with the inevitable surge in traffic mayhem. Unfortunately the City really does not know what Impact the new Mega store will have on the area but then the evolution of the entire District has been something of a Surprise for City planners. When City owned land at the Corner of Kenaston and Mcgillivray was sold to a private Developer 10 years ago it set off a frenzy of rapid growth that was never anticipated by even the most optimistic official. As a result the planning process was inadequate. Service roads which would have helped ease traffic into the shopping districts were left out of the plans. Winnipeg transit was also behind the curve and did not develop a blueprint for properly servicing the explosion of retail development. The planning was so bad that the City designated the area where Ikea is to be located As Industrial land in plan Winnipeg the not so sacred document that is supposed to govern development in Winnipeg. It will now have to be amended to make room for Ikea on land that no longer is appropriate for Industrial uses. While the City failed to envision the need it now recognizes that there must be significant improvements to the areas transportation infrastructure. A traffic study for example will be commissioned to determine where Kenaston and Sterling Lyon Parkway should be expanded to accommodate traffic in and out of Ikea but it will also Analyse the transportation needs of the entire Region. Winnipeg transit will also sit at the table when civic officials consider All the changes that should be made to ensure that South Kenaston does not become a traffic Nightmare comparable to the unacceptable situation around Polo Park shopping Centre. I Keats decision to open a store in Winnipeg is a sign of Confidence in the Community. It is a particularly positive signal at a time when the Economy is faltering and fear of failure is everywhere. It is also an endorsement of the absolutely incredible Success of the retail and commercial sector that has risen almost overnight along Kenaston. The City can help ensure the areas continued Success by developing a transit and Road system that will encourage traffic without causing the kind of appalling congestion that raises blood pressure tempers and exhaust fumes. Low expectations 10 years ago account for the shortcomings in the area today but there is still time to plan for a brighter future. Editorials Winnipeg free press wednesday december 17, 2008 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights a 14 comment editor Gerald flood 697 7269 Gerald. Flood free press. My. Ca Winnipeg repress. Com 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. E mail letters free press. My. Ca letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg free press or its staff. Poll vote online at wow. Winnipeg repress. Com Deal with global warming Canada needs to shift its interests off financial woes and Back into reducing its Carbon emissions to save our Way of life for future generations. Co operating with other countries and finding new ways to save our planet is one thing but actually acting on them is another. What we need now is to spend Money on developing new technologies that can substitute for Gas and create jobs through environmental sustainability. The recession could be a great Opportunity to sink much needed Money into the environmental Industry. The Only Way for us to bring about change in our government is to stand United As a country and Force our elected officials into fighting for environmental preservation. Antony Anastasiadis Winnipeg rematch coverage wrong re i failed Here dec. 15. How sad that the free press feels compelled to give Samantha rematch prime coverage to Tell her Story. The appropriate place for that to have happened was at her trial. This was a monstrous act upon an innocent child no matter who gave the final blow both were responsible for the cruel behaviour. All i could see in your article was defensiveness and excuses. Carole Stimpson Brown Winnipeg spinning in their Graves your Story featuring the musings of a murderous Mother is a new Low for your paper. Your anything to sell a paper policy is disgusting. The Sifton and John w. Dafoe must be spinning in their Graves in shame. Frank Austin Winnipeg a proud North Ender re readers warm to family in crime plagued Are dec. 16. Gordon Sinclair is Story of the Young North end girl is heartwarming but it is unfortunate that Sinclair takes the Liberty of disparaging an entire neighbourhood in order to make his Point. His flippant end line i mean Given the neighbourhood made me so mad i actually pounded the table on which i was Reading the paper. How is a neighbourhood expected to revitalize itself when outsiders with influence continue to paint such scary and uninformed pictures As a four year resident of a gang drug and poverty infested neighbourhood and i suspect within walking distance of the House Sinclair visited id like to remind him that the bad people Are greatly outnumbered by the regular and deserving people who live Here. Had Sinclair been at the William Whyte residents association Christmas dinner on dec. 10, he would have been surrounded by a diverse group of about 200 residents committed to the area a Large portion of them new immigrants who Are settling in with the assistance of a settlement worker hired through the associations fundraising efforts. The North end does have another reputation and it is one of Community generosity and caring. Alexa Rosentreter Winnipeg keep Public housing Public re sell Public housing dec. 13. In his column in saturdays free Pressman Klimchuk tries to make a Case for the Manitoba government Selling off 13,100 units of Public housing. This would not solve the problem indeed it would Only make a critical situation much worse. This is certainly not an Experiment we want to try at a time when our Economy is beginning to sputter. Unlike the Public system and non profits committed to housing Low income families the private sector can pick and choose whom they rent units to especially in a tight rental Market such As ours. Quite frankly it is hard to imagine private owners concerned with their profit margins troubling themselves with renting their units to some of the High need families currently living in Public housing. Where will these people go Klimchuk assumes providing rent subsidies directly to Low income families and individuals will give them More options. This assumes that there Are enough available rental apartments. There Are not. The vacancy rate in Winnipeg is at an All time Low. Given this Low vacancy rate and the increase in rents that would result from privatization the reality will be further displacement of our poorest and most vulnerable. The role of the private sector is to build housing that meets a Market need. The government has an important social responsibility to ensure that those unable to pay for Market housing Are provided with Safe and affordable alternatives. History clearly shows that the Market cannot meet this need. The problem Isnit Public housing but rather the years of neglect in maintaining it and building More of it. Clark Brownlee right to housing coordinator Winnipeg vulnerable families at risk congratulations Frontier Centre for Public policy. At a time when the Economy is tanking you propose putting Manitoba ass most vulnerable families at risk of homelessness by Selling off the Only affordable housing option they have Public housing. Nice. Don Sullivan Winnipeg ticket buyer frustrated i have not bought enough tickets online from ticketmaster to realize How difficult this process is. My experience on saturday trying to buy eagles tickets was very frustrating. What really angers me and confuses me is the resale site that is advertised by ticketmaster. I thought that scalping was illegal. No wonder it is so difficult to buy tickets at regular Price. You dont even have to advertise in the paper or stand in front of the its Centre anymore. They ask you right up front if you want to sell the tickets you were Lucky enough to get online. Is ticketmaster or the its Centre profiting from these tickets i cant imagine that they Are allowing people to advertise on their Sites without a charge. Marta Perkins Winnipeg Beach bring the troops Home How proud we As canadians must be every time we pick up the paper or turn on the to and there it is in Black and White or in blaring Colour we have lost More Young men or women to a War that we know we cannot win. More wives without husbands More children without dads More parents without sons or daughters. When Are we going to give our Heads a shake and bring these troops Home two weeks before Christmas what heartbreaking news these families have received. Barbara Friesen the Pas rugrats hanukah re Yule be watching dec. 6. Christmas in the Media is overwhelming. For those who dont celebrate Christmas such As myself the advertising is annoying and unfair. There Are More holidays celebrated in december besides Christmas that Arentt getting recognition. There is no reason Why instead of a puppets Christmas they cant air rugrats hanukah. We dont need to see two pages of Christmas to listings when we can use the to guide. Lindsay Feuer Winnipeg Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 137 no 38 2008 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697 7000 a member of the Manitoba press Council Bob Cox / publisher Margo Goodhand / editor to Days question Are you eager to become an Ikea regular previous question will you use an expanded indoor Walkway system yes 65% no 34% total 1,287 letter of the Day easy Button tasers How Many deaths can a non lethal method of incapacitation cause before its considered lethal in Light of the recent discovery of the excessively High amp tasers it seems its about time we reconsidered this. Even that Only scratches the surface of the main problem. Tasers have become too much of an easy Button creating too much of a shoot first ask questions later mentality thatus damaging the credibility of Law enforcement. Where have the consequences gone for acting with excessive Force Bryant Libbey Winnipeg big shoes to Duck United states president George w. Bush will not officially leave office for another month. He will be replaced by democratic president elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20, but he received a kind of unofficial Farewell from an iraqi journalist this week while he was on a sudden and Semi secretive visit to Iraq and Afghanistan. While or. Bush was taking questions at a press conference in Baghdad on sunday Muqtadir al Heidi a correspondent for an iraqi television station based in Cairo Flung his shoes at the american president screaming in some sort of hysteria that this is a Farewell kiss you dog or. Bush artfully dodged the Flung footwear but it was not a particularly dignified Resolution of what almost certainly will be his last visit to Iraq. He laughed the incident off pointing out that the shoes were size 10s. Size 10s will now go Down in history As instruments of possible assault on a much despised president and certainly As another Means of mocking or. Bush As if a hostile world needed any More of those. Or. Al Heidi works for al Baghdad Aan iraqi satellite Channel that dares not broadcast from Baghdad itself finding Egypt More politically congenial. The throwing of shoes is apparently considered a serious insult among arabs because shoes walk upon the filth of the Earth. So too is calling someone a dog almost As serious an offence it seems As offering ones left hand in a hand shake. The reporters message was Clear however not just to other muslims but to the world and it is echoed by much of it. Or. Bush was in Baghdad to Mark the real reduction of the level of violence in Iraq and also to acknowledge there remains a lot of work for the iraqi government and the International Alliance to do there. The International Community almost universally condemns or. Bush for believing that and arguing it today even As it applauds or. Of amass Promise to walk away from Iraq tomorrow. The flinging of the footwear in fact probably sums up the International opinion of or. Bushes presidency a disaster a disgrace a debacle. History will probably be Kinder to him than that. Much depends on what or. Obama will do after Jan. 20 when All that dreadful responsibility finally Falls upon his shoulders. Once they assume the Mantle of the worlds most powerful Leader american presidents Are never universally popular they Are More often widely disliked. There Are after All plenty of size 10 shoes to fling around. A 14_ dec 17 08. Ind a14 12/ 16/ 08 9 38 26 pm ;