Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 19, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: PAUL SAMYN 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012 B 1 If you had to choose a musician to remove the tarnish from Winnipeg's key to the city, there are few better candidates than soft- spoken working- class hero Tom Cochrane. A year ago this week, when Mayor Sam Katz's office chose to hand the key to the city to Kiss frontman and prolific womanizer Gene Simmons, the reaction ranged from bemusement to mild embarrassment. The widely criticized move - made while the mayor was out of town, at the behest of promoter Jerry Shore - led to calls for council oversight of future recipients of ceremonial honours. No new procedures were ever put in place, but the mayor's office got the message. On Monday, there was only applause and approving nods outside city hall as Katz handed the key to the city to Lynn Lake- born singer- songwriter Cochrane, whose previous accolades include being named an officer of the Order of Canada, receiving an honorary doctorate from Brandon University and getting inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. " It's always like coming home when I come to Winnipeg," said Cochrane, who was here to perform at the Red River Exhibition. His afternoon award coincided with a ceremonial flag- raising to mark a month of awareness of the degenerative neurological disease ALS. Cochrane's wife, Kathleen, a former St. Vital resident, has organized a series of concerts to raise funds for research and treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Cochrane has performed at several of the events. He lost his father to a different degenerative neurological condition, Parkinson's disease. One of the privileges of having a successful career in music is being able to shine a spotlight on causes, Cochrane told a small crowd gathered outside city hall. " ALS is particularly vicious and violent, the way it attacks the body and it basically constricts your body. It's hard to imagine going through it," said Cochrane, flanked by Katz and ALS Society of Manitoba director Diana Rasmussen. " We have to try to spend money and effort on solving some of these problems." Cochrane has won seven Juno Awards during a four- decade career as the lead singer of Red Rider and as a solo performer. He has also supported African famine relief, war- affected children, Asian tsunami relief and Amnesty International, among other causes. The announcement he would receive an honour from the mayor's office was a source of relief for some city councillors. Last year, council Speaker Grant Nordman ( St. Charles) led the criticism of the Gene Simmons award. " When I saw the subject line ( on the email from the mayor's office) this morning, I thought, ' It better not be Rob Lowe,' " joked North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty, referring to the American actor. Lowe, who's shooting a movie in Winnipeg, infamously tweeted last week he was " trapped in a hellhole" while trying to watch an NBA game at an unnamed sports bar. Katz, meanwhile, laughed off the notion Cochrane's award puts the whole Gene Simmons debacle to bed, so to speak. " The whole what?" the mayor asked. bartley. kives@ freepress. mb. ca T HE Red River Exhibition will beef up security after a bearspray attack injured fairgoers. Police announced they arrested a 13- year- old boy after spray was set off Sunday at about 3: 15 p. m. at the Ex's fairgrounds. Garth Rogerson, CEO of the Red River Exhibition Association, said the spray was discharged near a medical trailer where paramedics are based. Police said the attack happened after a fight broke out between two groups. A 13- year- old boy allegedly discharged the spray, hurting bystanders. The boy was arrested and allegedly found with a loaded pellet gun. By Monday, police announced the boy had been charged with seven counts of assault with a weapon. He was also charged with possession of a weapon for a deadly purpose and two court breaches. " It does cause an incredible amount of discomfort - the burning, redness and even it can cause some concerns with regards to breathing, causing some breathing difficulties," said Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen. " And if someone is not prepared or has ever been subjected to something like this before, it can be pretty scary." Police said an 11- month- old baby was one of those injured. No one was sent to hospital. Police said the boy was charged for seven victims who were hurt, but Rogerson said he had reports there were more people with minor injuries. Ex fairgoers must open their bags to enter the Ex grounds and security staff search larger bags, he said. They also do pat- downs on adults and teenagers on a random basis, but Rogerson said they're looking at doing them on younger children. " I don't think we ( have) been as stringent on young children as maybe we need to be now," he said. " Unfortunately, we have to be suspicious of everybody and we want to be certain that the facility is safe for families and people to enjoy, so we're going to take as much action as necessary, and I hope the public understands... that we have to do this for their safety." He said the Red River Ex will increase the number of security officers on- site; there are usually 50 present when the park is open. He also wants to make sure people affected by the spray can return. " We'll give them a free day at the Ex," he said. " It's very unfortunate, and you never like these things to happen, but maybe we can give them that day they missed out on." Sheri St. Laurent was at the fair with her husband and three daughters - ages 4, 7 and 10 - when they walked into the spray. She said what transpired after the spraying was " chaotic," and she's concerned about how well bags are being searched. " Hopefully, this never happens again," she said. Meanwhile, an internal memo was sent to Winnipeg police Monday, warning them of possible gang violence at the Red River Ex, a source said. Michalyshen didn't confirm a memo existed and said he didn't have information suggesting the spray attack was gang- related. gabrielle. giroday@ freepress. mb. ca ' U PSET." Four hours after what happened, Eric Sawyer was still so " upset" he typed the word into the subject line of the email he sent me. He did that late on the week a certain high- profile American visitor suggested to the world our city is a " hellhole," when if he said " pothole," no one would have been offended. But that's not what my boyhood football teammate was upset about. It was what happened when he chanced to spot four American anglers looking lost in the mall Thursday. He knew they were American by their accents and he knew they were sports fishermen by the way they were dressed and the ball cap one of them was wearing that read " master angler." Eric, being a gold medallist master angler himself, approached them and asked if he could help. Turned out what they were looking for was a place to have lunch, so Eric directed them to the food court. " Where do you eat?" one of the Americans asked. " Famous Wok," Eric said. That was good enough for the four fishermen, although, as it turned out, the visiting Americans - or at least what they had in their wallets - weren't good enough for the folks who operate Famous Wok. That's what the fishermen quickly learned when one of them asked if he could pay with American dollars. " No American," the clerk adamantly replied. Again, Eric felt the need to help. " I intervened and explained to the clerk - he was one of four behind the counter - that U. S. dollars were worth more than Canadian dollars and he wouldn't lose money on the transaction." " No American," the clerks repeated. As he would again when the fishermen tried to pay with an American bank- issued Visa credit card. " No American." At which point the clerk asked Eric, the regular customer, what he wanted to order. " I declined to order," Eric said, " and offered my apologies to the tourists." Eric said the Americans were uniformly gracious. " I was embarrassed." Eric said he might have been able to walk away without contacting me, but for how " blatantly rude" the man at Famous Wok was. " That was the tipping point." Eric went on to say he couldn't help but think about how we Canadians must be seen by these tourists. " I'd like to think that our merchants would welcome tourists' dollars and treat the customer politely." The last time he saw the Americans, they had wandered off in the food court, looking for someone who would feed them and take their money. Later the same afternoon, I did the same thing. I went from kiosk to kiosk in the Polo Park food court, asking them if they took American dollars. The survey score was 11 yes, five no. Among those that don't accept U. S. currency were the franchised outlets KFC, Orange Julius and Arby's. Then there was Famous Wok. I asked the pleasant woman behind the counter at Famous Wok why they don't take American money. " We don't have an account in the bank," she said, smiling sweetly. But even among the majority who did accept U. S. dollars, the exchange rate fluctuated, from kiosks keeping 10 cents on every U. S. dollar to one that took it at par. I contacted Chantel Sturk- Nadeau of Tourism Winnipeg and told her the story. Her initial reaction was there are kiosks in the food court at the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks that don't take Canadian dollars. That's not the point, I told her. We have to be better than that. And while no one can tell any Manitoba business it has to accept American currency, tourist organizations can explain why it's important to our collective image - plus their own bottom line - and help them find a way to do it. After all, American tourism is already trending down across Canada. In Manitoba, U. S. visitors spent $ 126.6 million two years ago, or about 10 per cent of the province's $ 1.2- billion total tourism take. That was down from $ 140 million in 2009. But what happened Thursday at Polo Park's food court isn't just about dollars and cents. It's about being hospitable and friendly. After all, while we may not have the " supernatural" beauty of tourist meccas like the West Coast, we have what a lot of other places don't. Supernatural people, like Eric. Meanwhile, we can only hope the four American fishermen remember Winnipeg most for how he treated them. And that even if some smallbusiness people don't care about their American dollar, they know the rest of us care about what matters more. Showing our American cousins they're truly welcome. gordon. sinclair@ freepress. mb. ca No regrets as singer honoured By Bartley Kives GORDON SINCLAIR JR. If we want their business, we must take their dollars Ex vows security crackdown More pat- downs possible after spray attack By Gabrielle Giroday Tom Cochrane given key to city SUBMITTED PHOTO A teen uses bear spray on another boy at the Red River Exhibition on Sunday. Police have arrested a 13- year- old boy in connection with the spraying. COLE BREILAND / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Diana Rasmussen of the ALS society, Tom Cochrane ( centre) and Mayor Sam Katz. B_ 01_ Jun- 19- 12_ FP_ 01. indd B1 6/ 18/ 12 9: 43: 47 PM ;