Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 20, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A16 EDITORIALS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2013 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 16 COMMENT EDITOR: Gerald Flood 697- 7269 gerald. flood@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL T HERE is something unseemly about giving $ 10,000 to wealthy people to entice them to buy a condo in the Exchange District. The new policy approved by city council Wednesday, however, highlights the ongoing challenge in converting the old warehouse district into a mixed- used residential neighbourhood. Unlike places such as Toronto and Vancouver, where people pay a hefty premium for the privilege of living downtown, Winnipeg’s downtown is still a bit of a welfare case, at least when it comes to living. Many people want to live downtown, particularly in the historic area, but most of those who can afford a $ 300,000 condominium still prefer more traditional neighbourhoods, with lower crime rates, attached parking, grocery stores and other amenities. Developers have already benefited from a $ 20,000- per- door grant to bridge the significant gap between building in the suburbs and downtown, but even that significant benefit wasn’t enough to close the gap completely. The $ 7.8 million revitalization program approved by the city will be cost- shared with the province, although the NDP government has wisely refused to allow a single dime of its money to be spent on subsidizing the well off. With social housing in short supply, the province had no other choice. Instead, the province’s share of the cash will be spent solely on neighbourhood improvements, such as boosting safety, infrastructure and incentives for certain businesses, such as grocery stores. About $ 2.3 million is to be used to provide incentives for buyers of condos under $ 400,000 in value. The goal is to sell about half the inventory of 460 units. Of these, only 166 have been built, while the rest are in the process of being built or still in the planning stage, awaiting sales. The problem with the incentive program, beyond the really awful optics, is no one knows if it will work, or if it will merely enrich people who were going to buy anyway. The program is being managed by Centre- Venture Development Corp., which says it might “ test” the incentive program for one year to determine its impact. If the promise of a $ 10,000 forgivable loan doesn’t lure buyers, then CentreVenture will consider shifting directions and invest the cash elsewhere. The city needs to be innovative if it wants to achieve its goal of revitalizing Winnipeg’s large downtown, but unless CentreVenture demonstrates fairly quickly its welfare- forthe- rich program is actually making a difference, then it should be cancelled immediately and the money invested in concrete solutions. Living in dreamland Anyone who believes the $ 10,000 subsidy being offered by the city to purchasers of downtown condos will make a significant positive difference in attracting buyers is living in dreamland. It will simply be a tool for the enrichment of developers. If there is a glut of condos on the market the developers should drop their prices. The conditions existing in the downtown that make it an undesirable place to live for many people will still be there. JOHN FAST Winnipeg ¥ There is a better way for the city to support housing than writing a $ 10,000 cheque to select purchasers in one corner of downtown. Right now, condo owners pay the same property tax rate as detached homeowners, even though condos save the city money in the long run. A 50- unit condo building saves the city 49 garbage and recycling pickups each week, compared with servicing 50 houses. With less frontage, the condo building also saves the city thousands on sewer lines, roads, sidewalks and snow removal. Why not pass some of those savings back to condo owners? It is time to return to the model that saw condos pay a lower property tax portion than more costly single detached homes. PAUL HESSE Winnipeg ¥ I cannot believe in my home province of Manitoba I am reading about the appalling conditions for the poor in rooming houses on the same day there is a proposal to subsidize the rich. This is not the kind of country nor the kind of government I want. A subsidy of $ 10,000 would triple the housing allowance currently in place and even perhaps allow for some upgrading of current facilities. Rather than bailing out businesses that build luxury condominiums on speculation, we can actually do something with that money to address a problem that has been festering for years. I do not want my tax dollars helping to pay for middle- class people living in luxury condominiums. I want to spend my tax dollars offering the poverty- stricken among us an opportunity to live in dignity. Until that happens, none of us will be able to walk the streets of Winnipeg in safety. LINDA EPP Winnipeg A costly mistake Re: Native firefighters evicted from hotel ( July 19). How is it the Manitoba Association of Native Firefighters gets away with this dishonest and disrespectful behaviour? Misty Lake Lodge made one mistake. It provided unfailing acceptance and accommodation of people who were evacuated from their homes by a flood. They are still paying for it and they seem to be the only ones who are. In contrast, the MANFF co- ordinators involved are showing themselves to be selfish, childish, irresponsible, unprofessional, abusive of their positions and capable of using and damaging another’s resources with no appreciation or recompense. BARB EASTVELD Winnipeg ¥ I find it odd the owners of Misty Lake Lodge are unable to collect on debts owed them while employees of Indian and Northern Affairs are presumably being accommodated in other facilities, including resorts, throughout the province as they go about their business. I’m hardly surprised at the double standard being applied here. It appears once again those who manage on behalf of the federal government are entitled to five- star treatment, while the owners of facilities contracted out by the same are reduced to bankruptcy because of the dysfunctional capacity to administer programs with transparency, let alone efficiency. DAN DONAHUE Winnipeg A meaningless number There are several gaps in your July 18 story Probing long- term effects of spanking that make it difficult to assess and understand just how valid the research may or may not be. The group of individuals that experienced more punitive backgrounds demonstrated a 1.3 per cent increase in health risks compared to the group that didn’t report physical punishment. Without a brief statistical description, this number appears insignificant, lacks context and is essentially meaningless. The research is based on individuals selfreporting their personal childhood histories. Without an explanation of the research controls put into place to remedy the shortcomings of this style of research, the validity of the findings should be questioned. There is scant mention of many of the intervening variables that may be having an impact on the research question, variables such as poverty, the age and maturity at which point one has become a parent, family and community cohesiveness and the lack of creative problemsolving skills. While I certainly share the researcher’s values about the topic, and can also appreciate how difficult it is to translate academic research into something that is understandable to the newspaper readership, a few statements addressing these issues ( from the researcher or the reporter) would enhance clarity amid the ongoing debate about this critical issue. RANDY KROEKER Faculty of education University of Winnipeg ¥ As one who “ endured” spanking, I can say that it had a very beneficial effect on me and my siblings. Since our mother, a single parent and businesswoman, had to be absent from the home for long periods of time, we were raised by our nanny, an understanding and gentle woman. We were not saints. But we knew her word was the law. And if we misbehaved, we had to face the consequences when our mother returned, which was a spanking. Did it teach us anything? Absolutely. We are responsible for our actions and have to bear the consequences. All of us grew up to be responsible and successful members of society. JERZY BIBIK Winnipeg HAVE YOUR SAY: The Free Press welcomes letters from readers. Include the author’s name, address and telephone number. Letters may be edited. Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, R2X 3B6. Fax 204- 697- 7412. Email letters@ freepress. mb. ca. Letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg Free Press or its staff. ¥ LETTER OF THE DAY It is ironic 85 per cent of your online poll respondents, presumably including many Winnipeg taxpayers, disagree an extremely modest $ 10,000 incentive should be provided to people buying condos downtown ( City council approves $ 10- K rebate for Exchange condo purchase, July 18). The irony is promoting downtown living will lessen the tax burden on all of us. The simple fact is urban sprawl is expensive. Taxpayers must pick up the cost of infrastructure development ( water, sewers, roads, bridges) and many other services ( public transportation, garbage collection, snow removal, fire and police). Without such expansion, funds can be used to maintain existing infrastructure, for example, filling potholes and repairing bridges. Indeed, many cities try to control sprawl and its tremendous costs by differential taxes that favour living in multi- family units and in central areas rather than singlefamily homes scattered out in the suburbs. The ongoing benefit of lower taxes is both fair and effective. Whether a modest one- time $ 10,000 will work is questionable. Moreover, it fails to reward people who have previously chosen to live downtown, already saving city taxpayers much money. The same logic applies, of course, to people living with lower taxes outside the city limits. As the province must provide much of the resulting infrastructure ( e. g., to get to work in Winnipeg), Manitoba taxpayers in Winnipeg end up subsidizing residents of outlying communities. So rather than berate the city for this seeming largesse, we should be criticizing our politicians for failing to provide stronger and fairer incentives to live downtown and save money for all Winnipeg taxpayers. JIM CLARK Winnipeg Condo cash dubious E VERYBODY knows the Selinger government is violating balanced- budget law in order to ram through a PST increase it denounced as “ ridiculous” in order to win the last election. And everybody knows Conservative tactics are tying up the legislature in order to bring attention to the skullduggery. Equally, everybody knows NDP House leader Jennifer Howard is being disingenuous by claiming the province is facing a fiscal cliff because of the Tories’ refusal to either approve the budget or pass an interim supply measure to ensure the province can pay its civil servants when its existing spending authority expires at the end of the month. Ms. Howard’s attempt to cause a panic among the general public is as reliable as was the government’s promise in the last election to never raise the PST. Tory leader Brian Pallister said last week his party will allow an interim spending bill to be passed before the deadline, but he had no intention of making life easier for the NDP. The Conservatives, in other words, are doing their job as the official Opposition, holding the government accountable and ensuring the public’s widespread dissatisfaction with the tax increase receives a thorough hearing. The Tories may be driving the NDP around the bend, but there’s no danger of anyone falling over a fiscal cliff. Around the bend Helping downtown saves money A shopper patronizes the Downtown Winnipeg Farmers’ Market in early July. A_ 16_ Jul- 20- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A16 7/ 19/ 13 6: 30: 55 PM ;