Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 10, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 OPINION A8 SUNDAY, JUNE 10, 2012 POLL Do you think the new recycling carts being introduced will encourage Winnipeggers to recycle more? Yes 46% No 54% Previous polls: Should Dean Del Mastro step down for allegedly breaching the spending limit for his 2008 election campaign? Yes 59% No 25% Too early to say 16% A national poll suggests Winnipeggers are unhappy with the services this city provides, compared to residents of other Canadian cities. What do you think? That makes sense. Yesterday a pothole swallowed my neighbour's minivan and I didn't even hear it hit the bottom. 52% That makes no sense. We have enough police on the streets in Peg City to stop the violence in Syria. 20% I think all polls are stupid. Including this one. 28% Should the sale of tobacco products be banned? Yes. 60% No. 40% Will you be watching the transit of Venus Tuesday evening? I'll be watching an observatory's webcast. 15% I'm on the way to Hawaii right now. 5% Is this a rapid- transit thing? 18% I'm headed to one of the universities or Assiniboine Park to watch with their viewing apparatus. 11% Meh, I'll catch the next one in 2117. 51% N EWS that downtown's Fortune Block, which houses the Times Change( d) High & Lonesome Club, is about to be sold and perhaps demolished, reminded readers that times do indeed change - but we don't have to like it. Why would we consider demolishing a whole block of buildings when there are surfaceparking lots galore downtown that could be developed? Surface- parking lots need to be taxed at a higher rate that reflects their potential for development ( see " land value tax"). Otherwise, demolition of heritage buildings is always going to be more attractive than developing surface lots in downtown Winnipeg. - Harry Kuootir You only need to look across the street to the east side of Main to see what happens when buildings get knocked down. Big, often- empty parking lots. Not a vision for a safe and prosperous downtown. - PortageMain Nothing is forever; times do change. However; the block isn't sold yet, and it's not being demolished yet. This article posits that " if" this happens, and " if' that happens, another thing " might" happen. The owner might not think he can recreate what he has there - " if' he has to go - but nothing is stopping him from starting fresh in another location. The scene exists independent of a space. If it doesn't, there's no scene. - tommyg It is a tough position to be in. On one hand I want to see downtown Winnipeg succeed and grow. On the other, I would love to see all my favourite hole- in- the- wall places to be around forever. - sputnik Let's hope that the new owner has some vision and realizes what a jewel he or she owns. Those buildings are really wonderful. Kudos, by the way, to whoever repaired the other heritage building on Main just the other side of the Humphry Inn. It looks so much better than it did before the work. - ProudofWinnipeg I went to this place once and my initial impression was not good. Terrible odour at the entrance and very cramped and dark inside. Have the health inspectors been there lately? I was hungry but didn't want to order food from there that night. Had a bottle of beer and got out of there. Tear it down and replace it with more condos. - # 1 Dad Sometimes we seem to have so little vision when we find it so easy to part with places that have really worked for Winnipeggers. As well as the artists that played there, the list of people who stopped in after performing at some of the city's better concerts, or while doing some moviemaking, is quite impressive. It never needed people like # 1 Dad. He does belong in Earls. He doesn't get it and people at Times Change( d) aren't any more likely to get Earls. - K Ross This is good for downtown. Unfortunately, this is what happens when slum owners own old buildings. Too bad the Winnipeg Hotel isn't being sold as well. To all my bluegrass, folk and country friends - don't worry, music will live on. You have to admit that place was a dive. I certainly will not miss the smell inside of Times Change( d). - Red River Man Heritage buildings that have not been maintained are often not worth saving unless they are truly significant in some way. Otherwise it becomes, " This area is very run- down but it used to be very vibrant. However, we can't develop it, to make it vibrant again, because we'd have to tear down these reminders of how vibrant it used to be." - John9 Don't go changing, readers plead These students want to feel love, not make love W HAT'S in a name? A gay by any other name would still be gay. Days before Pride Winnipeg celebrations commenced, Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten proposed changes to Bill 13, or the Accepting Schools Act, after being approached by students who want the freedom to include the word " gay" in the names of their anti- homophobia after- school clubs. Gay- Straight Alliances would be one possibility, but the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association called the word gay " a distraction" and said anti- bullying legislation should have a broader focus than to stop bullying based on sexual orientation. They said they wouldn't want to abide by such a law if passed, a move that could cause them to lose $ 8 billion a year in public funding. Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association president Marino Gazzola told the media he didn't want the word to be the main focus of the argument, but instead talked about the nature of the clubs. " We want to focus on the content and what the groups are all about. These are externally developed groups that do not necessarily reflect the unique values of our students," said Gazzola. But the original traditions and values of the Catholic Church say homosexuality is not the sin. It's the act of gay sex - or any type of sexual activity that doesn't have the possibility of procreation between a married man and woman - that the church forbids. In the early 11th century, homosexuality was notably open. St. Anselm of Canterbury demanded that the punishment for homosexuality be moderate because many had " plunged into it without realizing its gravity." By the end of the 20th century, the Catholic Church made a distinction between homosexuality and " homosexual genital activity." Catholic beliefs are such that being gay is a phase in life - a " temptation" to sin. But if they allow the word " temptation" in their teachings, why not allow the word " gay?" By not accepting the desires of their students to include the word " gay" in the name of clubs intended to protect them from harm while they're working out their " temptations" - without having sex, of course - the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association is destroying the foundations of the very traditions they teach, which is all about love. Students want to include the word " gay" in the names of these clubs so they can feel heard and they can feel loved, not so they can make love. It's not that kind of gay club. - Kirah Sapong is a Creative Communications student at Red River College Using gay in name just another form of discrimination I TOTALLY agree with the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association that efforts to stop bullying should have a broader focus than sexual orientation. Outspoken members of the gay community seem to forget they are not the only people suffering discrimination. Other groups who are the targets of bullying, such as our aboriginal people and members of ethnic minorities, deserve every bit as much protection from discrimination as the gay community, which is one reason the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association may have opposed the changes of Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act. Allowing anti- bullying after- school clubs to include the word " gay" in their name to the exclusion of other victims is in itself discrimination. A second reason may have been what the president of the association said: " These are externally developed groups that do not necessarily reflect the unique values of our students." Any religious group should have the right to deflect from their institutions any references, real or implied, that contradict their values, and one of those " unique values" of the Catholic church ( although one shared by other belief systems as well) is the viewpoint that homosexuality is a temptation but physically indulging in that lifestyle is a sin. One is not the same as the other. To be tempted to tell a lie is not the same as becoming an habitual liar, for example. Every human being comes face to face with moral struggles, some of which are only temptations, others to which we succumb. Practising Christians accept the Bible's teaching when it says the incarnate Christ was the only one who was ever " tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin," ( Hebrews 4: 15), hence the belief that temptation in and of itself is not moral transgression. It remains to be seen whether the Ontario Catholic School Trustees will stick to their resolution not to include the word " gay" in their after- school anti- bullying groups, thereby forfeiting millions of dollars per year in public funding for not abiding by the Accepting Schools Act. If so, they are to be respected for standing up for what they believe, unlike so many religious institutions whose courage of their convictions mysteriously vanished over the years when it came to monetary considerations. In the end, what is best for all victims of bullying should be taken into consideration, not just those of the gay community. - Alma Barkman is a Winnipeg freelance writer, photographer and homemaker. YOUTH VS. EXPERIENCE A regular feature that asks a senior student and a senior citizen to debate an issue of the day. This week, Kirah Sapong took the first swing. A_ 10_ Jun- 10- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A8 6/ 9/ 12 9: 34: 36 PM ;