Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 14, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE 1 OPINION A10 SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013 Previous polls: BLOG OF THE WEEK: ANYBODY WANT A PEANUT? Are you ready for higher gasoline prices? POLL Vote online at winnipegfreepress. com T HE path is called Shorehill Trail. It was paved and functional about two weeks ago and is currently undergoing some finishing touches. The provincially funded strip of four- metre wide asphalt was budgeted at $ 720,000. At less than 300 metres long this new trail is not cheap, at almost $ 2,500 per metre. A large part of the cost is due to the bridge spanning the storm water ditch that runs along Bishop Grandin. The bridge seems overengineered for a walking/ biking trail to me. Workers have been building that bridge, or whatever you want to call it, for several months, and have constructed it much like a road bridge over a creek. Installing a prefabricated walking bridge likely would have cost a fraction of the half- million dollars or so that this thing cost, but perhaps they want it to be able to support vehicular traffic - an ambulance in emergency situations, for example, or an escape route for Niakwanians trapped by a derailed crude oil train. The primary purpose of this path is to allow kids to safely walk from their homes in Royalwood to schools in Southdale. Previously they would take a shortcut through the ditch or walk along the railway tracks if there was water in the ditch. Somebody who grew up in a small prairie town might say: " What's the big deal? Just don't go on the tracks if a train is coming." But I guess there is a new safety standard these days. Everyone is all like " don't go on the tracks" or " wear your helmet" or " don't play with the guns." Where will it stop? I don't know but I won't complain because this new path personally benefits me. I run. I bike. I Rollerblade. I use the trails in Winnipeg all the time, and I would love to see a network of functional paths connecting the city, allowing people to get around with minimal interaction with traffic, if such a thing is feasible. They need to be functional and well- designed though. ( Note: a two- metrewide path with a red- light camera stuck in the middle of it is neither...) We've made great strides in the past five years, but much like Winnipeg's roads, old trails crumble as new ones are built. One of the photos here shows the approximate location of The Incident last week, whereby my rollerblade wheels jammed in a crack in the path, slinging me down into the concrete, splitting open the end of my finger and gouging out a gruesome wound in my knee that could take months to heal. This nameless path is less than half a kilometre from the spiffy new trail shown earlier. Sometimes older cracked paths are repaired temporarily with tar that gets soft and sticky in the sun and the heat. Sometimes paths - those that are forgotten or deemed less important - are simply left to break apart. Rarely is a path torn up and redone ( although I have seen one example lately). Even trails that were built only a few years ago have large cracks running through them. This is a reminder that, like our roads, we need to be able to maintain and occasionally rebuild the new infrastructure in addition to the existing stuff. As the network grows, this cost will grow too. It's not slowing down either, as new developments like Bridgwater Forest incorporate trail accessibility into their neighbourhood design. All this trail building seems to be paying off. More people are biking to work than ever before, and even more are using the trails for exercise and recreation. It's a good thing. However, trails will never replace roads in a town like Winnipeg. They instead constitute a duplicate network of infrastructure. Your MLA may secure provincial funding to build a new path in your area, and pose for a picture in your local Canstar paper... all of which is fine... but where will the money for the upkeep come from down the road? All things considered, I think Winnipeg Trails is doing a pretty good job. It can't be easy to stay on top of repairs to existing trails as all these new ones get built. However, the challenge for the city will be to ensure these hundreds of kilometres of paths are kept in good shape, and don't end up like the one pictured here. Follow this blog at anybody- want- a- peanut. blogspot. ca Hitting the trails Photo ops are nice, but like our roads, paths need maintaining too By Cherenkov Winnipeg Trails must ensure hundreds of kilometres of trails don't end up like the one above. At right, the bridge over the storm water ditch. V ETERAN Manitoba Crown attorney Sean Brennan was fired after he dropped charges against a Winnipeg company involved in a workplace accident, only to have the company make a substantial financial donation to a charity he oversees. The story generated some interesting comments. It would be inappropriate if Brennan was involved in the solicitation of the donation at anytime after he became involved in the prosecution. The information being released is not sufficient to form an opinion; to keep public confidence in the justice system it is important that justice officials release all the information. Hopefully Bristol will be able to clarify Brennan's involvement in the solicitation of the donation. - 23599042 " The provincial government recently notified Sean Brennan he was being dismissed with cause following an investigation into his handling of a file." Sounds like the government did their homework and connected the dots. They're just not saying yet. One is led to believe its not just a coincidence. Someone had to say, " He told us if we did this, the case would be dropped." Tough to fire a prosecutor. The government would have to show there was a direct or seriously intimated " this for that." That would be an ethical violation. The ducks are likely in a row. I assume the WFP is asking for the report. What's sad is Brennan sounds like a wellmotivated guy as he's not seeking a personal benefit. Sounds like he's done great things for the charity. - bobby b What a careless and foolish thing to do. Abuse of power. - Sameold The NDP doesn't like its people being involved with charities. In the NDP's mind, all " charity" should be coming from the government. Selinger and his crew can't stand the idea that Manitobans would voluntarily give money to organizations that do good in the community, they believe that only the government should be allowed to be " charitable." So this guy's out, he didn't do anything wrong, except cross the ideological path of the pathological provincial NDP. - 23539022 All we have here is some circumstantial evidence that, on the surface, looks bad. But nobody should form any concrete opinions until more information is made available. - Rodney 2 Brennan should clear the air by filing a grievance or suing for wrongful dismissal. The optics aren't good in terms of the timing of the dropped charges and the donation, but the rationale for dropping the charges should stand or fall on its own merit. - EBlair1 If the Crown attorney did something wrong, so did Bristol. Hopefully he is not the only one that has to bear the consequences. - Rockabilly Like other commenters here, I would like to see more facts about this. At this point, we have reports of two events: a stayed charge and a donation to charity. Whether or not one actually led to the other is the question not yet answered ( although certainly implied by the reporter). There are just too many unnamed " sources" being relied upon in this article for me to believe I have an accurate picture of what actually happened. - Maudoug Verdict is in on prosecutor's actions Are you happy with the new players added to the Jets roster so far? They're playoff bound 13% They're marginally better 49% They're actually a bit worse 11% Go Bombers 26% What are your plans for the Winnipeg Folk Festival? I'm camping there 1% I have a full festival pass 2% I'll show up for a day or two 4% I might catch an act or two 2% I'm not going 91% Does Winnipeg need more bike paths? Yes 73% No 27% Have you ever had a Slurpee for breakfast? Regularly 5% Just that one time 12% No 39% Seriously, who does that? 44% Are you feeling any effects from the provincial government's PST increase? Yes 36% No 64% What are the chances of the Bombers winning the East Division? Pretty darn good 9% Oh come on, they won one game 38% 50- 50 21% No chance 31% A_ 10_ Jul- 14- 13_ FP_ 01. indd 1 7/ 13/ 13 9: 17: 08 PM ;