Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 25, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A12 EDITORIALS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 12 COMMENT EDITOR: Gerald Flood 204- 697- 7269 gerald. flood@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL L AST week, the City of Detroit and the governor of Michigan asked the U. S. Bankruptcy Court to shelter the city from its creditors and its labour unions and start a process of negotiation that would lighten its burdens and bring it back to solvency. The request for bankruptcy protection marked a sad milestone in the long decline of a great and wealthy city. The greatness and the wealth are still nearby, but they have slipped away to the far suburbs, outside Detroit city limits. The swelling debts and shrinking revenues of the city have to be brought into proper balance, but that is only one aspect of Detroit's problem. Bankruptcy court is probably not the right forum for writing the grand plan that will put Detroit back in business. Bankruptcy itself is not necessarily the end of the line; it can be a step toward a solution. General Motors and Chrysler, which were major pillars of the Detroit regional economy, were bankrupt in 2008 and 2009. After emerging from bankruptcy smaller but stronger, they are doing fine today - under new ownership in Chysler's case. Ford, the other Detroitcentred industrial giant, avoided bankruptcy but went through a similar restructuring and is now consistently profitable. For those firms, bankruptcy was not a solution in itself but rather provided the impetus and the opportunity for a fresh start. Years of decline in Detroit have produced a spiral of deterioration wherein cuts in civic services produced poor living conditions and unsafe streets so that people who had the chance to move elsewhere did so and the tax base declined further. The worse things got, the worse things got. The city borrowed to meet its operating costs, and gratified its employees with unrealistic pension promises. Each successive mayor and council left it for some future mayor and council to finance the debts and the pension promises. The state- appointed financial trustee of the city has been warning for months that the creditors and the unions must either scale back their claims or take their chances with a bankruptcy process. Gov. Rick Snyder concluded last week that amicable negotiation was getting nowhere. He endorsed the trustee's bankruptcy petition. The Detroit commuter shed is a rich market. The Detroit Red Wings, serving an ex- urban fan base, are financially one of the strongest franchises in the National Hockey League. The Detroit Tigers, selling baseball entertainment in the same wide market, are in excellent financial shape. Detroit and the State of Michigan have to find a way to sell the city's services in that same wide market and draw revenue from the region of which Detroit is the ailing heart. One common device is a regional government such as the old Winnipeg Metropolitan Corporation. Another is annexation of suburbs. Another is tax- sharing through state agencies. But the ex- urbanites will not consent to annexation, regional government or tax- sharing unless they see that the process will benefit them. If they are asked to shovel money into the bottomless pit of an urban disaster area, they will more likely hold on to their money and let Detroit rot away. Therefore an early step should be a regeneration plan involving plausible steps that bring people to live and pay taxes in well- served, well- protected Detroit residential neighbourhoods. This will take a long time, because the city has a terrible reputation - already among the people who left and now among all those who read the newspapers. But without some such steps, the downward spiral is likely to continue. The worse things get, the worse things get. The sad case of Detroit can be a warning to other cities that imagine operating costs can be financed by borrowing. It is a warning that chickens do eventually come home to roost. Elected officials can hope that roosting time comes after their terms of office are over. Those outside city hall have no such opportunity for evasion. Excellent civic strategy It is now becoming clear as to how the downtown development strategy fits together with the other city programs. . Build 3.5 kilometres of rapid transit - so people can't get too far away from the city centre. . Give condo developers a subsidy to build something when the marketplace has limited demand. . When the marketplace does not rise to the occasion, subsidize it rather than the have builders reduce the prices. . Allow streets to become pothole obstacle courses to discourage people from venturing too far away from the city centre. . Allow recreation centres, hockey rinks and swimming pools to deteriorate to the point of being condemned, thus encouraging people to venture downtown for activities. This is an excellent, well- thought- out strategy. I would, however, like to suggest one small addition. When the new owners take possession, maybe Mayor Sam Katz could take them out to dinner at a restaurant where he has an interest, give them some baseball tickets and then charge it to his hospitality budget. While they are having dinner they can all talk about what legal mechanism will be used to recover money if someone does not stay five years and what happens if someone passes away within that time. DOUG MAZUR Winnipeg �� Re: Condo cash on shaky ground ( July 23). Ideally, Winnipeg city councillors would be able to utilize their research staff to help them make sound decisions without reconsidering them when the heat gets turned up. I implore our councillors to vote according to their own ideals, rather then simply following the herd on a variety of issues. It is the reason, after all, that we continue to return them to office. ZACH FLEISHER Winnipeg �� I have been out of touch with things lately, but I just heard something at a coffee shop which seems ludicrous. The City of Winnipeg is about to give $ 10,000 to people who buy condoms? They are totally in league with big pharma. The rhythm method or abstinence advertising would be much more cost- effective. DAVID HAGBORG Carman �� On July 23, I was driving down Provencher Boulevard, where the lanes are not distinguishable. We are well into summer and no painted lines yet. Notre Dame Avenue in St. Boniface is no better. However, as long as city councillors have their ward allowances increased by $ 40,000 a year and try to push through a $ 10,000 grant to people who can afford condos in the waterfront area of downtown, I guess all is well in Winnipeg. RICK STATION Winnipeg A stinging rebuttal In reference to the nearly 1,000 people who have requested mosquito- spraying buffer zones around their properties ( ' Peggers not scared of catching West Nile , July 15), I would hope that each and every one of them becomes infected by the West Nile virus. I have said for the past 38 years that I would never wish upon anyone what I and 11 other Winnipeggers in 1975 endured when we were infected with mosquito- borne western equine encephalitis. But I have since decided it would be best for all Winnipeggers if every one of these misinformed people endured what we have. If they spent more time getting educated, and less time protesting, maybe a few of them would realize the greater good that is attained through our spraying program than in having to deal with the permanent after- effects of being infected. RON PREVOST Winnipeg Confounding gun control In his July 22 letter, Gun culture is the problem, Eric Durham makes reference to the Newtown, Aurora and Columbine mass shootings in denouncing U. S. gun culture as being responsible for " the rocky road it's chosen to go" regarding firearms control. But what about the equally deadly shootings in Britain, Germany and Norway during the same period? Were they also due to poor resolve in controlling guns, or were they further proof that determined killers will get their way regardless of whether they have access to licenced or illegal weapons? And while he was at it, he should have mentioned that South Africa, with far stricter gun laws than the U. S. or Canada, has a homicide rate more than four times greater than America largely because, as in almost all countries, no one can stop the flow of smuggled firearms. EDWARD KATZ Winnipeg Revealing a mindset Re: G20 unveils plan to close tax loopholes ( July 20). The idea that letting you keep your own money is somehow a " loophole" reveals the mindset in which the Keynesian redistributionists are mired. The implication is our money belongs to those who form governments rather than to those who earned it. So far as advocating for the poor, where does former UN secretary general Kofi Annan think corporations get the money to pay taxes with? It is the poor citizens who pay when they act as consumers. During the 18th century, poverty was reduced from 95 per cent of the population to 15 per cent in a capitalist America that had hard money and no income tax. Since the Keynesians gained influence with New Deal fiat currency and horrendous taxes, poverty has not been reduced one iota. Creating more " loopholes" that allow the wealth creators to keep their own money is the economic answer to reducing poverty. It is the entrepreneur who drives the engine of poverty reduction, not the charismatic politician who manages to get himself elected, telling the even more ignorant he knows best how to spend other people's money. CHRIS BUORS 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 Avenue, Winnipeg, R2X 3B6. Fax 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 I would like to dispute some of the information in Alexandra Paul's July 23 report, Story of historic Bell of Batoche's seizure disputed ( July 23). I went to Batoche with the Union Nationale M�tisse St. Joseph du Manitoba, the oldest M�tis organization in Western Canada, last weekend. I attended the ceremony in which BillyJo Delaronde returned the bell to the Bishop of Prince Albert. The bishop played an important role in arranging the repatriation of this important M�tis symbol, and people I talked to gave him a lot of credit for making the bell public since its disappearance in 1991. Delaronde did not say in his speech that they sprinkled tobacco on the floor and then went and took the bell. What he was describing was a trip with four friends who were in Ontario at M�tis meetings about the constitution. They knew a woman who was a Second World War veteran and a member of that legion. Otherwise, they probably would have had difficulty getting in to see the bell. The sign outside Millbrook said: " No Dogans allowed." Dogan is a derogatory term for Roman Catholic. They went to see the bell and had their picture taken with it. It was not removed at that time. It was taken at another time. Delaronde did not describe the actual break- in, and it was not suggested who was involved in breaking into the legion. It has been rumoured for some time, however, that he was keeping it safe, and in the program, he was described as the " keeper of the bell." I also object to Paul's use of the word " heist," since the bell was stolen in the first place from the church and taken as war booty. RUTH SWAN Winnipeg BillyJo Delaronde speaks in Batoche, Sask., on Saturday. Clarifying the bell story Borrower's chickens will roost A_ 12_ Jul- 25- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A12 7/ 24/ 13 7: 09: 48 PM ;