Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 23, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2013 B 1 P EOPLE often tend to fall into two categories: Those who rescue, and those who need rescuing. Then, there are pets, who fall into a third category. As I learned last weekend. Mind you, it took a pair of chance meetings with rescue dogs - one in the morning, the other at night - to remind me of that. The first encounter was over breakfast on the deck in front of the French Way, where my wife and I met Dexter, a gentle golden retriever- cross, and his owner, a genial man of about 60. The man found his pal the pooch in a shelter some years ago after Dexter had been rescued from a place of abuse. Dexter's owner showed us the deep, thin, cut in his dog's right ear that looked as if someone had taken a pair of scissors to him as a pup. Yet Dexter was calm and open to affection from people he was meeting for the first time. Our second encounter with a rescue dog was more, shall we say, frantic and dramatic. . . . It was 9: 15 p. m. and we were driving north on Waverley Street to take our own dog Tate for a gelato on Corydon Avenue, when we saw a dog running like a coyote from an A& W parking lot straight across the road toward a corner Tim Hortons. Mercifully, traffic was light and when we looked again it was obvious the pooch was being pursued by a young woman. The dog had no collar and she had no leash. I turned right on Hurst Way, the road that leads directly to the Winnipeg Humane Society. " Is that your dog?" I yelled from our SUV. The young woman, still in full flight, smiled and shook her head no. I pulled into the entrance that leads to Tim Hortons, parked, leashed up Tate, and pulled him out of the back seat. Maybe another pooch could lure the Gingerbread Dog close enough to capture. And that's exactly how it turned out. But it wasn't until two people on bikes arrived moments later with his collar and leash that we managed to get him under control. At which point the young woman ran off without identifying herself. Turns out the man, Benoit Gauthier and his 16- year- old daughter, Anne- Marie, had been fostering the dog for the Winnipeg Humane Society for the last couple of weeks and on Saturday, while Benoit was walking him in their Linden Woods neighbourhood, the long- legged pooch wriggled out of his collar. And the chase was on. Turns out the dog's name is Pauly, he's three years old and, according to Anne- Marie, has spent nearly half his life in shelters. Pauly has been at the humane society for almost a year now. Which, oddly enough, might explain where Pauly seemed to be headed when Tate intercepted him. Straight back to the humane society. Pauly was on the sidewalk that leads to the humane society, sniffing away at Tate, when Anne- Marie finally slipped the collar and leash on him as her friend, Sabrina Rossi, watched. As Anne- Marie said: " It seems that Pauly was going back to the only real home he'd ever had." Anne- Marie wrote that in a follow- up email of gratitude that included a description of how the favourite of the three foster dogs her family has fostered since she was 14 ended his night. " Pauly is lounging comfortably and sleeping off his adventure on the living room couch." . . . As I was saying at the outset, there tends to be two kinds of people: Those who rescue and those who need rescuing. But, as I suggested, our pets represent a third category. I was reminded of that because of something Dexter's owner said earlier in the day about how much the companionship of the abused dog has meant to him. " I thought I was rescuing him," the man said. " But he rescued me." Unfortunately, on Monday, Anne- Marie had to return Pauly to the humane society he was so bent on running back to on Saturday. Pauly, the favourite of all Anne- Marie's foster dogs, is back " home" where he doesn't belong. Waiting for someone to rescue him. So that he might happily return the favour. gordon. sinclair@ freepress. mb. ca GORDON SINCLAIR JR. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Gotta bite? Barry Priestley of Choiceland, Sask., tries his luck with his fishing pole along the bank of the Assiniboine River at The Forks Monday. M ERE days into the summer break at city hall, one- quarter of council is reconsidering a plan to cut $ 10,000 cheques to condo buyers in the northeast section of downtown. On Wednesday, council voted 13- 3 in favour of a $ 7.8- million Exchange- Waterfront Neighbourhood Development Program that includes $ 2.3 million worth of incentives designed to spur condo sales in the Exchange District, Chinatown, the Civic Centre neighbourhood and the western edge of South Point Douglas. At least four of the elected officials who voted in favour of the incentive now want to amend it or cancel it when a bylaw to enact it is expected to come before council - setting the stage for a council fight this fall. Couns. Jeff Browaty ( North Kildonan) and Scott Fielding ( St. James- Brooklands) said their constituents don't like it, Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi said she wasn't aware property taxes from across downtown will be funnelled into one area and Daniel McIntyre Coun. Harvey Smith said he only voted for the plan because housing advocate Gerbasi supported it. All four say council did not properly scrutinize the plan, which was created by CentreVenture and presented to council's downtown, heritage and riverbank committee nine days before a July 17 council vote. " We should have had a council seminar. We should have gone over this more thoroughly, but I'm not pointing fingers because I didn't do my homework, either," Gerbasi said. Her colleagues were equally candid. Property chairman Browaty said he should have exercised " a little more due diligence" because his committee was buried in 40 reports in July. Protection chairman Fielding said council needs to engage in " sober second thought" about the condo- buying incentives. " I think we should put a bullet in it," he said, citing complaints from constituents. " I don't think it's a bad thing when you change your mind." The $ 10,000 cheques would be available to anyone who buys a new, unsold and unoccupied Exchange District or Waterfront Drive condo and lives in it for five years. The incentive is part of a broader neighbourhood- development program that also calls for debtfinanced spending on new patios, more foot patrols and lighting and incentives to bring retailers such a major grocer to the northeast third of downtown. CentreVenture is poised to borrow $ 7.8 million to pay for the development program, with the city guaranteeing the loan. The cash would be recouped from property taxes flowing from new residential developments across downtown - essentially, condo projects stimulated by a previous city- provincial tax- incentive program. Downtown, heritage and riverbank committee chairman Mike Pagtakhan ( Point Douglas) expressed hope the condo- buying incentive could be finetuned during the summer to make it more palatable to council. " We definitely have time," he said, referring to the recent start of council's six- week summer break. " Nothing can happen immediately." For example, Charleswood- Tuxedo Coun. Paula Havixbeck suggested whittling down the pool of condo- buying incentives to $ 500,000 from $ 2.3 million, which would subsidize 50 purchases rather than 230. The unhappy councillors raise the number of incentive opponents to seven, as three members of council voted against the plan last week. River Heights- Fort Garry Coun. John Orlikow said developers should lower prices if stock isn't moving, St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes said suburban residents would resent the subsidy and Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt said the city can't afford to devote future property taxes toward the plan. bartley. kives@ freepress. mb. ca Anne- Marie Gauthier Sometimes, the rescuers need rescuing, too Condo cash on shaky ground By Bartley Kives Four councillors who backed it want a new vote after hearing criticism ' Not pointing fingers' - Jenny Gerbasi ' More due dilligence' - Jeff Browaty ' Sober second thought' - Scott Fielding ' Definitely have time' - Mike Pagtakhan B_ 01_ Jul- 23- 13_ FP_ 01. indd B1 7/ 22/ 13 9: 09: 32 PM ;