Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 29, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A11 winnipegfreepress. com MANITOBA FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2012 A 11 F R I DAY, J U N E 2 9 T O M O N DAY, J U LY 2 CANADA DAY SALE T H E B A Y . C O M twitter. com/ thehudsonsbayco facebook. com/ hudsonsbaycompany ? Hudson's Bay Co., HBC, The Bay and their associated designs are trademarks of Hudson's Bay Company, used under licence. Credit is extended by Capital One. � Capital One is a registered trademark. MasterCard and the MasterCard Brand Mark are registered trademarks of MasterCard International Incorporated. All trademarks used herein are owned by the respective entities. All rights reserved. Save $ 1100 $ 598 SEALY Sussex tight top queen mattress set Reg. $ 1698. Twin to king sizes available at sale prices. Women's shoes & sandals Off our original prices. When you take an extra 30% off clearance- priced women's footwear Off our last ticketed prices. Accessories Fashion jewellery, sterling silver jewellery, watches, handbags and women's wallets Prices as ticketed. Fashion for men, women and kids 50 % on Save up to 65 % on Save up to Summer Clearance ALL STORES ARE OPEN CANADA DAY, SUNDAY, JULY 1 We are closed on Monday, July 2. SHOW YOUR COLOURS With the Official Canadian Olympic Team Replica Merchandise Available in store and online. 28 DAYS TO GO! The games begin Friday, July 27, 2012 THIS LONG WEEKEND Take an extra 15% off almost anything in store, including clearance when you use your HBC ? MasterCard � or your HBC Credit Card Some exclusions apply. See in store for details. 15 % OFF HBC CREDIT CARD BONUS TA KE AN EXTRA T HE days are dwindling down to a precious few for Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen. McFadyen said Thursday he'll resign July 30 as the Tory leader and as MLA for Fort Whyte. The following week, he'll start a new job with Toronto public affairs company Drysdale Forstner Hamilton Public Affairs Ltd., in its new Calgary office. McFadyen said he will work in an advisory role to the firm's clients on regulatory, acquisition, political and communications issues. The 45- year- old husband and father of two also said he's looking forward to starting the next chapter of his life. " I'm really excited about the opportunity," McFadyen said. " It's nice to be in a forward- looking mode." McFadyen said for the time being he'll be based in Winnipeg, but will be in Calgary when required. The job will also give McFadyen a chance to work as a lawyer again. " A lot of the work that we do is work that I can do long distance from Winnipeg," he said. " My expectation is the time spent there will be less than what an average MP would spend in Ottawa. " We're going to try this commute for the next year or so and then we'll evaluate it at that point whether it's working or not." McFadyen's departure from politics started Oct. 4 when he told his supporters he would step down as leader following the party's disappointing performance in the fall election. Despite high hopes of forming the next provincial government, the PCs didn't pick up a single new seat. Instead they finished with 19 seats, the same number they had before the campaign began. Before formally outlining his departure date, McFadyen met privately with his few staff members, some whom had tears in their eyes. " I keep joking with my staff that the long goodbye is going to have to come to an end eventually," he said. McFadyen's departure - his official resignation must be submitted to Speaker Daryl Reid - opens the door for Premier Greg Selinger to call a byelection in Fort Whyte. No decision on a date has been made, but by law a vote has to be held one year within a seat being vacated. To date, only former Conservative MP Brian Pallister has declared he wants to run for the Conservative leadership. If no one else declares, Pallister will likely be acclaimed as leader July 27 and could become the PC candidate in the Fort Whyte byelection. Ian Hamilton, spokesman for DFH, said McFadyen's experience will help the company, which also has an office in Ottawa. Hamilton said McFadyen is wellknown in business and government circles, a valuable asset as the company expands to Western Canada. bruce. owen@ freepress. mb. ca WINNIPEG officials want to pull the plug on flashy electronic signs that could distract drivers. On Thursday, the city released a longawaited report with rules that govern where electronic signs can be placed outside of the downtown, limiting their size, height and brightness. City officials recommend Winnipeg not allow digital billboards that use electronic screens, televisions, or other technology that displays moving images. Other digital reader boards that display images for a fixed period of time must wait 60 seconds before changing messages when located in certain neighbourhoods. City council's property chairman Coun. Jeff Browaty ( North Kildonan) said electronic signs are a great way to promote businesses, but the city also needs to consider neighbourhood esthetics and driver safety. He said bigger signs attract more attention and restricting the size of electronic billboards will level the playing field for all companies. " Too much flashing, too much motion and animation does draw attention away from the road and it's dangerous," Browaty said. The city reviewed the issue of billboards and digital signs last year after officials noticed an increase in requests to convert ordinary billboards into electronic billboards. The signs have become a source of conflict between outdoor- advertising companies and people living near them. Before 2010, almost all digital signs the city approved were smaller than 100 square feet, an administrative report said. In 2010 and 2011, several were larger than 200 square feet, and some were bigger than 600 square feet. The city's board of adjustment approved eight out of 10 signs larger than 200 square feet, and all except one was permitted to display third- party advertising. The report said digital signs are designed to attract driver attention, and the billboards should not distract motorists at critical decision- making points, including pedestrian corridors and crosswalks, traffic signals and railway crossings. City officials recommend poster and digital billboards be restricted to a maximum size of 200 square feet, and that free- standing signs be no more than 30 feet tall. The proposed regulations recommend billboards not be allowed to face residential properties, unless they are not visible. Manitoba Sign Association president Richard Grigaitis said the proposed rules are too restrictive. He said the proposed guidelines around intersections would effectively reduce the amount of digital signage by half. Grigaitis said signs are key to generating business for many companies and the industry disagrees with putting all of these stipulations in a bylaw. " Essentially, a very limited number of companies will be allowed to advertise on electronic signs," he said. A subsequent report on rules governing digital billboards in the downtown is expected within six months. The property committee will review the proposed rules Tuesday. The recommendations still need to be approved by council. If approved, the administration would draft a bylaw and public hearings would be held in the fall. jen. skerritt@ freepress. mb. ca Electronic billboards to be unplugged City to revise rules on neighbourhood use By Jen Skerritt ' Too much flashing. does draw attention away from the road' From politics to PR: McFadyen says goodbye Tory leader to leave legislature July 30 By Bruce Owen KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Hugh McFadyen: begins next phase A_ 13_ Jun- 29- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A11 6/ 28/ 12 6: 19: 22 PM ;