Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 5, 2009, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page 7 Winnipeg free press monday january 5, 2009 View from the West and beyond comment editor Gerald flood 697 7269 Gerald. Flood free press. M. Ca Winnipeg repress. Com a 7 o Ottawa the most joyous part of this Cit yes downtown is not some contemporary architecture but a Market District More than 100 years old. In this respect Ottawa is no different from most of the cities i visited in 2008 in All of Canadas regions. Canadians like to have fun and shop in some of their oldest districts not their newest. They seem to have pretty much rejected the Bleak architecture and town planning being taught in our universities and colleges. In Ottawa citizens and tourists flock to the boutiques and vibrant restaurants in the byward Market area just a few Steps Down from parliament Hill. This area came alive in the 1800s when loggers stormed into it in the Spring after a Winter of living rough and cutting Down Trees in the Ottawa Valley. They were desperate for a shave a Bath booze and sex All specialities of the Market which had nearly 70 saloons and innumerable brothels. One of them a handsome Stone building was owned by a mayor and had Many More ground level doors than the respectable houses in the neighbourhood. Later the Market was taken Over by Blue Collar French Canadian and jewish workers. Their Small houses were clustered around a boisterous Market Selling fresh meat and vegetables. The Market is still there but there Are fewer vegetable Sellers and some of the vegetables come from Mexico. The vegetable stands Are surrounded by a swirl of trendy clothing and shoe stores bars and exotic restaurants Many of them owned by chains. The byward markets problem is that it has become almost too popular. Big developers Are moving in threatening to kill what people most like about the District. Last month a $ 90 million Tower the Cit yes most expensive Condo got its first tenant. The towers four two Storey penthouses each Cost $ 2.5 million and have 3,300 Square feet including a room for a Pool table. The Tower also casts a big Shadow on parts of the Market and will add to the areas Messy traffic problems. Many of the popular older areas in Western Canadas cities Are similar to the byward Market people have been coming to them for a Long time. Old Strathcona in Edmonton Only amalgamated with Edmonton in 1912. Before that it was livelier than Edmonton because it was the terminus of the Calgary and Edmonton railway the areas first railway. The railways owners did not want to build a Bridge across the wide North Saskatchewan River Valley. Old Strathcona has some heritage buildings including the Princess theatre and old Strathcona hotel dating Back to 1891, the year the railway arrived. It also has eight theatre companies antique stores a repertory Cinema boutique hotels and Eclectic restaurants. Its promoted As Funky and historic. A popular area in Calgary the eau Claire Market with its food and Craft markets buskers and restaurants offers Relief from the Cit yes dense downtown. Nearby is Kensington a cafe District with All those attractions loved by the Corduroy set Healing crystals bookshops food wholesalers trinket shops and yoga lessons. Vancouver res Gas town one of Canadas first downtown renewal developments is full of Hustle and bling aimed at plucking As much Money As possible from the pockets of visitors. In that sense it a snot changed much since the Days of its founder Gassy Jack Leighton who along with his wife and old yeller Dawg set up a bar in the neighbourhood in 1867 to fleece workers at nearby lumber Mills. Regina has a commercial older area the Cathedral Village which has the usual boutiques Coffee shops Craft stores and restaurants. Saska Toons Broadway District is much larger mainly because it was the first commercial area in Saskatoon and was located on a popular route to communities North of the City. Today you can see a renovated theatre that presents Quality films shops and restaurants. Between 1986 and 1994, 19 renovations took place on Broadway three heritage awards were presented and two historical plaques were erected. Winnipeg Gas Exchange District is the wests most striking older commercial District Canadas largest and most impressive collection of turn of the 20th Century office buildings and warehouses. But because few persons lived or shopped there in the old Days it is also one of the most difficult to redevelop. Recently however major renewal efforts Are beginning to pay off and the Exchange has developed a reputation As a place Worth seeing. Tom Ford is managing editor of the issues network. Downtown markets increasingly the Choice of canadians looking for food fun whats old is new Tom Ford i tvs an Urban myth that the relationship Between academics and police officers is Rocky. Sure there will always be the ranting scholars who attack cops with a loaded Agenda and extraordinary allegations often without extraordinary evidence. But for the most part when the work of academics and police intersects cooperation reigns in a joint Effort to make our communities better safer places. To be effective the police must be current and informed and for years they have sought the guidance of those regarded As the Best in their Fields on everything from sudden death investigation to developments in child psychology often outpacing their political masters. Such an example was buried Between the lines of a recent free press column written by University of Winnipeg professor Tosh Tachino. The thrust of the article was that there is an overflow of valuable information and research that goes unused or that suffers an unacceptable lag time in its implementation and recognition. As part of his argument Tachino pointed to a 2001 provincial investigation of the 1981 Thomas soph now Case a multimillion Dollar wrongful prosecution inquiry that zeroed in on the process of identifying suspects through a photo array. Academics from the late 70s and 80s produced research that offered sobering evidence As to the unreliability of eyewitnesses and the ease with which false identifications not to mention flawed convictions could be made with photo lineups. Experts devised methods to minimize those very consequential hazards. The Law and order depiction of television detectives showing witnesses a half dozen photos affixed to a single piece of paper was out. A stack of 10 photos with suspects bearing similar characteristics shown individually was proved the better tool. Among other things the research also suggested recording the exact comments made by a witness and reducing the risk of prejudice by using an impartial officer out of the investigative Loop to show the pack. If that was not possible witnesses were never to be coaxed or told if they identified any suspect. The work was compelling. Still there was no recognition of it vis a vis government policy at least not until 2001, after the soph now inquiry had heard from witness or. Elizabeth Loftus a memory expert and professor of Law from the University of Washington who came armed with witness research some of it a generation old. Her appearance and studies led to an inquiry recommendation outlining a strict photo lineup procedure. The 20 year wait for the research to be officially acknowledged by government was frustrating for Tachino. The police response though had been More immediate. One of the world renowned researchers of suspect identification is or. Gary Wells distinguished professor of psychology from the University of Iowa. He was on the academic ground floor of the Early work relating to eyewitnesses memory and false identifications through photos. He has written two books More than 170 articles and is often referenced in scholarly articles along with Loftus. He appears internationally and has shared his knowledge and work hundreds of times. One of Well sis Early stops was in Winnipeg in the late 80s when working detectives from the robbery homicide division hosted a National robbery conference. Detectives were aware of his work and wanted to learn More. They proactively secured him As a keynote speaker to share the contemporary thought regarding eyewitnesses and the safest Way to obtain suspect identifications. Detectives from across the country provided rave reviews for his work and passion. When the soph now report was issued it properly credited the research and people like Loftus. Not Only were the reports recommendations adopted by provincial officials they were later endorsed in a 2005 position paper by the Heads of Federal provincial and territorial prosecutors. Lesser known though is that the recommendation regarding photo procedure was congruent with the police practice that had been in place preventing who knows How Many false identifications Ever since Wells appeared in Winnipeg Many years earlier. Its Clear that great strides can be made even ahead of official policy when police and academics work together. As we move further into the 21st Century we can expect that relationship to become Ever stronger As the police look for expert counsel on ways to combat increasingly Complex crime As other policing issues. Police and academics not getting along time to Shelve that Urban myth. Rm112800@ hot mail. Com Robert Marshall police profs get along Jean Levac / can West news service in Ottawa citizens and tourists flock to the boutiques and vibrant restaurants in the byward Market area just a few Steps Down from parliament Hill. F or a topic thatus supposedly no longer open for debate in our country abortion sure attracts a lot of attention. The latest surge of publicity comes Courtesy of Winnipeg Gas own Rod Bruinooge. The conservative my for the Riding of Winnipeg South wrote an opinion piece titled Why i am pro life that was published in the National Post last week and managed to stir up a Short lived yet nonetheless nationwide Media frenzy. Bruino Ogess main argument which he attempted to bolster by comparing third trimester abortions to the act of Selling ones kidneys on Ebay was that unborn children have no Legal Worth in our society because Canada has had no abortion legislation on the books since the supreme court of Canada repealed the existing Law 20 years ago. It a snot so much what Bruinooge wrote that caused people to sit up and take notice most subsequent news reports i read did not even mention the National Post piece although the inane kidney quote got a fair bit of traction. Rather it was the notion that Canada could face yet another debate about abortion combined with the unexpected revelation that Bruinooge was recently elected chairman of the parliamentary pro life caucus a Multi party group composed of an unknown number of Federal maps that apparently has been around for years. Ism one of those people who try hard to stay up to Date on the political issues that directly affect a omens lives and i had no idea such a thing existed. Of course now that ism in the Loop ism not at All surprised Bruinooge was chosen to chair it. He has always been transparent about his stance on abortion. And while i completely disagree with him particularly his insinuation that women who Are nine months pregnant Are lining up for abortions and receiving them i appreciate and encourage his Candour. In fact i think All elected officials should be As upfront As it would make voting that much easier. Some argue that this Isnit real news and i suppose theress some truth to the suggestion that Many Canadian Media outlets faced with attracting an audience during a slow news week latched onto the one subject guaranteed to generate controversy. Certainly Bruinooge and his caucus dont have a snowballs Chance in hell of moving their Agenda Forward especially now at a time when the conservative party needs the support of its opponents to stay in Power. Needless to say the prime ministers office went into full damage control Mode almost immediately after the Story broke with a spokesperson stating in no Uncertain terms that the government will not introduce or support any legislation on abortion. But be that As it May opting to simply ignore Bruino Ogess comments and the slew of unbalanced inflammatory statements that have been made by others in response to them is in my opinion a wasted Opportunity. I prefer to confront them head on if Only to Point out their Bias and provide some balance to the Issue. Take for example the recent editorial printed by the Calgary Herald which in a stunning display of hypocrisy advocated in depth careful and reasoned debate on abortion a Mere six sentences after proclaiming our country is Lack of legislation Means that theoretically it is open season on unborn babies in Canada. Open season on unborn babies is that what passes for in depth careful and reasoned debate in Alberta these Days Rod Bruinooge is not the Only one with an opinion and the ability to write an oped piece. As a pro Choice Canadian i feel obliged to speak out against those who would like to limit my right to control my body and i will continue do so every time the Issue arises. Its Worth fighting for. Marlo Campbell writes for Uptown Magazine. Marlo Campbell gotta appreciate Bruino Ogess Candour on abortion a 07_ Jan 05 09. Ind a7 1/ 4/ 09 4 42 01 pm ;