Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 2009, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a10 main Street Behemoth b Light May be too Strong a word but As it stands incomplete yet structurally almost there the new office and clinic building of the Winnipeg regional health authority does Little for the Street scape on main Street at Logan Avenue. The area will get a boost with the influx of the or has 200 plus administrative and health staff but the building itself is uninspired and disappointing. The development was unveiled at a Public press conference last March As an artists rendering with Street setbacks to the South and tucked next to commercial storefronts on the North. What has appeared though has strayed conspicuously from that design the airy setback along Logan is gone and the four Storey building shoulders hard up to the sidewalks an imposing Parade of almost equal height has emerged prominently on the North Side. The City says it cannot say much about Why the changes occurred but that they were approved by an outside advisory committee made in accordance with City bylaws. The Logan Avenue setback was a concern from a Public safety perspective a City official says. The Parade initially planned to be on top of and behind commercial space at the North Side was altered to accommodate the ramps required according to Centre venture the downtown development Agency that promoted the main Street location to the Warha. Ross Mcgowan says people will be More impressed with the Parade is facade when it is Complete finished with cladding Glass and awning. Understandably hundreds of office workers will need sufficient parking nearby particularly As some who work in the buildings Community health clinic will be working late. Yet other cities like Calgary have shown How parades can fulfil that function while appearing to be a natural part of the Street scape. It involves expense but it would be the reasonable Trade off for the demolition of the quaint but dilapidated heritage buildings that nonetheless spoke of the streets storied history. A Parade too Large for a site pushes the human element out of the Way. For All its travails main Street has never stopped being a place where people live As Well As work and the appearance of a Behemoth Parade treats that As an afterthought. Many Winni Eggers including commercial and residential Neighbours Are dismayed by the project that was once extolled As a catalyst in the stretches slow rebirth. Others Are convinced it will be All Good that the Mere presence of hundreds More people will naturally attract other businesses to set up shop. That the or has new digs Are not being uniformly welcomed Speaks to the prevailing expectations for a Street this City sorely wants to see returned to bygone glory. Development must proceed carefully with Good Public notice. Good design blends function and form in an elegant fit that appeals to its tenants and its Neighbours. The Warha building design was presented As one thing and finished As another a poor Way to make those who live on near and with main Street feel As if they can belong to its future. Editorials Winnipeg free press thursday january 8, 2009 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights a 10 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 first class Snow removal kudos to whomever is running this years Snow removal operations for the City. As the owner of a residential Snow removal company servicing Over 500 Homes in Winnipeg this is the first time in the 17 years Ive been in the business that i can say the City is doing an excellent Job of both sticking to policy and doing a great Job when they do go out. Until the last two snowfalls just after Christmas and on new years Day residential streets were in decent shape. While i paid my Crew time and a half to work on the Holiday with no Snow in the forecast the City made the right Choice to save your tax dollars. In previous years there have been Many times when Back lanes and sidewalks have been done More often than required by policy sometimes even needlessly but i cant recall any articles praising the City for going out too often. I dont believe that most people realize How difficult or expensive Snow Clearing really is. There is one person out there who must make a multimillion Dollar decision and be 100 per cent accountable for it. If it were up to some people out there the City would be millions Over budget already. Its incredibly rare that we Arentt Able to get around in this City thanks to our Snow Clearing Crews. This is Winnipeg people. If you re going to whine move to Toronto where you can Call the army. Tim Muys Winnipeg a never ending Cycle re wage hike applauded dec. 30. Stephen Berg writes that the increase in minimum wage seems to help the poor. It does nothing but increase taxes. As a Small business operator when the wages go up i have no option but to increase the prices of my products just to break even. When prices Are raised naturally the Post and the get go up accordingly. So what people see As an increase in wages is actually another tax grab on behalf of your nip government. This is a never ending Circle that can Only be stopped by the natural economic practice of paying people what they Are actually Worth higher or lower instead of legislation that benefits Only the government. Mark Lawrence Oakville frenzy what frenzy re panicked Churchill shoppers Hoard food Jan. 3. I read the article about the supposed frenzy taking place in Churchill. I no longer live in Churchill but was there during Christmas week and i noticed no frenzy going on. Yes people were concerned about the trains not coming in As they were expected. Yes there was concern about the shortage of certain grocery items but As far As i know and As far As anyone else i know up there can Tell there was no frenzy or hoarding going on. I have heard several times from some of my friends and family in Churchill How the Northern store does not appear to make plans to ensure that the store is stocked up on necessities such As milk eggs and bread. It also does not help when certain businesses go in and buy All the milk eggs and bread with no regard for members of the Community. I did not see any Bare shelves except for those three aforementioned items. Once again another article on Churchill has sparked More than a few laughs among former residents and current residents of Churchill. It has also sparked just a Little bit of resentment towards the towns Only store that should try to absorb More responsibility when it comes to circumstances like this. Walter Sinclair Winnipeg hold the High fives the Jan. 3 article panicked Churchill shoppers Hoard food was a hot topic in our Community. There was not a single person i spoke to who thought it was an accurate picture of what we Are going through Here in Churchill regarding the concept of Supply and demand with our Only local grocery store the Northern store. I think the article was trying to shed Light on our dependency on the rail line to transport goods and people at a less expensive rate than the airlines but to be honest it really came across As Michael Mcmullen executive vice president of the North West company giving himself a corporate High five for staying Calm and collected despite the pandemonium at the store As crazed townspeople battled it out with pitchforks and leg wrestled to get the last Jug of milk. Really the people of Churchill have Only one grocery store. The shelves that held the bread milk and eggs went Bare because there was not enough Stock ordered. This is not new. Most of us keep a Jug of milk in our freezers for just such an occasion because we have had the frustrating experience of not being Able to Access milk for Days at a time. The thought of milk being bootlegged is laughable. What next someone Selling eggs from their secret prize laying Hen for $ 5 each in the Back Alley behind the legion it is Normal for us to shop according to what is available and not yet expired even on dry goods instead of by a planned grocery list. We Are flexible. For the record the local restaurant was also letting its patrons know it was out of lettuce French Fries Mayonnaise Etc. Throughout the holidays so its not like it was responsible for bulk purchases. During my near daily trips to the store i never once saw a sign announcing regular shipments will be arriving no need to panic. Great idea though. It does not sound condescending at All. Echo Finlay Churchill Airport financing explained re keep costs in place Jan. 5. In his letter David Woelk presented a Case for leaving the current Airport rent Structure in place. His remarks reflect a misguided understanding of Canadas Airport financing and May Lead readers to false assumptions. First it is critical to understand that taxpayers Are no longer directly involved in the funding of Airport infrastructure. The Federal government ceased tax funding of National Airport infrastructure in the mid 1990s and Winnipeg airports authority specifically on Jan. 1, 1997. Barry prentices insightful comments regarding rent being taken out of our Community reflect a True understanding of the competitive nature of the North american Airport Industry and the need to provide economic stimulus to tourism and transportation infrastructure during this difficult time for our nation Flaherty should consider stimulating Winnipeg Gas Airport dec. 28. In respect of local taxation and contrary to his suggestion the Winnipeg airports authority while providing for the majority of our own services police fire Etc continues to pay business and property taxes to the City. Second we should be Clear that As a no share capital corporation we have and will continue to balance our costs and revenues. As with most Canadian airports there Are no shareholders to derive personal financial gain from our operations. All excesses of Revenue Over expenses go to improving our Community or to reducing the costs of our services. Third any reduction in the rent collected by the Federal government should directly Benefit the carriers tenants and passengers using the Airport. They Are paying the Bills today. Barry Rempel president and ceo Winnipeg airports authority inc. Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 137 no 58 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 was the City right to cancel parking tickets issued sunday from the overnight ban previous question do you think the province should Cap lending rates for payday Loans yes 90% no 9% total 1,941 letter of the Day pet Page perfection i am writing with regard to the pet Page move to tuesdays arts & life Section. I just wanted to say How much i enjoy Reading the pet Page Section of your paper. Not Only is it entertaining and informative but your weekly postings of animals that Are up for adoption and need Loving Homes is a most appreciated Public service. Printing the pet Page Section on tuesdays is also a great move. It tended to get lost on the Back pages of the Detour Section on saturdays. Now it gets the attention it deserves and is a wonderful mid week read Donna Penner lottery Crapshoot Winnipeg government run lotteries Are often described As a hurtful even punitive tax on the poor. In truth they Are no such thing. Sales taxes and levies on Low level incomes Are punitive taxes on the poor because the poor cannot avoid them they Are As inevitable As death and As relentless As government. Lotteries however Are an entirely voluntary thing. Unlike taxes no one who does not want to buy a ticket has to pay for one. Thatus not to say lotteries dont take their toll from the poor. The government is in the business of Selling a Distant dream and canadians living at the poverty level May be More enticed by that dream than Richer ones who feel less urgent needs to win. But Rich or poor it is still a Distant dream the Odds against winning the 6/ 49 lottery for example Are about 14 million to one the super 7 an extraordinary 62 million to one. Talk about casting your bread upon the Waters. The Ontario lottery and gaming corporation Olg this week put a whole new spin on the notion of throwing Money away when it announced that As Many As 1,100 scratch and win lottery tickets had been misprinted and so were invalid even if they were winners. As Many As 150 of those tickets were sold before the others were recalled. At least one buyer of those tickets found himself on the truly losing end of this lottery the tickets he bought in Good Faith from a licensed lottery dealer had a face value of $ 135,000. And face value is All it had apparently according to the lottery corporation which initially refused to pay him the Money he thought he had won. Instead of $ 135,000, they offered him replacement tickets for another lottery. On wednesday the unlucky Winner Thomas Noftall met with the Olg and its lawyers and they offered him something More than the $ 3 Price of the tickets that he bought. How much More lottery players across the country will never know because Mutual silence is part of the Deal. Lottery corporations across the country make a big Deal about openness in their dealings with the Public because people need to know the Odds of winning As astronomical As they might be Are not artificially inflated by government chicanery. That is Why the names of winners Are published except when the government decides they should not be. That is Why buyers of break open tickets in Manitoba believe they have a Chance of winning even when All the winning tickets have been sold and the government says nothing. That is Why lottery tickets purchased in Good Faith pay out their face value except when the government decides they will not. This is not a tax this not even a game it is just pure robbery. A 10_ Jan 08 09. 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