Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 31, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A12 EDITORIALS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 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 T HE Hudson's Bay Co. - the venerable HBC - this week moved deeper into the luxury end of the retail market by agreeing to buy Saks Inc., the high- end retailer famous for its Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York. The move might help strengthen the HBC brand and differentiate it more sharply from discount chains Target and Walmart, which are expanding in Canadian cities. It should also help assure variety and choice for Canadian consumers. It still leaves Winnipeg wondering what use should be made of the magnificent old Hudson's Bay department store on Portage Avenue. HBC bought the up- market U. S. chain Lord & Taylor, completing the acquisition in January 2012, and shed most of its Zellers discount stores during the last couple of years to focus its efforts more and more on the luxury consumer. Saks, in the same way, sold most of its discount outlets in recent years and launched its OFF 5TH chain and its OFF- 5TH. com website to serve the discount shopper without obscuring its luxury- brand identity. Both firms aim to be omni- channel luxury retailers. This means they intend to address the high- price consumer through all available means - television, radio, print advertising, Internet, social media and store visits. They aim to tie those different forms of contact so closely together that the consumer enjoys a seamless shopping experience. This is easier said than done. It can break down, for example, when the consumer likes something on the company website, goes to the store to try it on and finds they don't actually have it. HBC operates 25 million square feet of Hudson's Bay, Home Outfitters and Lord & Taylor stores. Saks, by comparison, operates just seven million square feet of store space. Yet while HBC reported $ 884 million of retail sales from all that square footage in the first quarter of this year, Saks reported turnover of $ 793 million - nearly equal sales from about one- quarter of the space. The comparison suggests HBC could move a great deal more merchandise through those stores or else could close some stores and still maintain the current level of sales. The purchase of Saks suggests HBC means to narrow its focus to the high- price shopper, move business online and rely less on the physical presence of the customer in the store. It's tough to see where the Winnipeg landmark store at Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard fits into that strategy. Opening the bottleneck Benjamin Gillies' July 29 column, Speed not only factor in making transit rapid , makes for compelling reading. His argument that the frequency of buses can be improved simply by addressing the loading process has applications in the management of vehicular traffic as well. To that end, have city traffic engineers considered that, for controlled intersections, the bottleneck is the closing of the intersection during the red- light portion, and the frequency of the signal cycle is inversely proportional to the number of vehicles the intersection can handle in a given time period? As proof of this concept, consider the congestion that occurs when a signal light malfunctions and begins flashing red in all directions. Traffic piles up and congestion ensues, despite there being nothing wrong with the roadway. What has occurred, however, is that the malfunctioning traffic signals have greatly increased the cycle frequency. That is to say, for a similar period of time, the combined increased frequencies amount to a great overall length of time the roadway is closed, and therefore there is a reduction in the number of vehicles that may pass. The lesson clearly is the longer the green portion in a signal cycle, the less frequently the intersection is closed, and the greater the number of vehicles that pass. This simple solution will back up traffic a little further each cycle, but the trade- off is the cumulative wait times for all the vehicles passing through would be reduced. Sometimes, you'd have to come to a complete stop for longer, but mostly there would be an increase in the frequency you would have to only slow and not have to stop at all. And because this can be done at virtually no cost, it is a much cheaper and available solution than adding lanes at intersections such as has been done at Kenaston and Sterling Lyon. STEVE NIEUWENBURG Winnipeg An absence of pride Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, and the new governor of the Bank of England, has announced that author Jane Austen will be the new face on England's 10- pound note ( Pride and prejudice... and pounds, July 25). It is rather disconcerting to note that the present Conservative government, with the former governor, chose to remove the Famous Five - Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise Crummy McKinney and Nellie McClung - from our $ 50 currency. Only one obscure woman, with no name, remains - other than the monarch - on any piece of Canadian currency. This action demonstrates that there is " no pride" shown by the present government in the achievements of Canadian women, much " prejudice" as no Canadian woman has garnered recognition at all, and absolutely no " sense and sensibility" of the message that women truly do not have any contributions to make to our society. Jane Austen would not condone this 21stcentury action, which really represents 19thcentury thinking. WILMA SOTAS Winnipeg Justifying Centreport The issue with Centreport is not assessment of land in Rossmere but why Centreport ( Expropriation a bumpy road, July 29). The federal government thinks Centreport is a good idea since it will encourage more trade with the United States. I am not sure how much linkage we need with the U. S. before Canada becomes of greater interest to them. Perhaps global warming is the long- range plan. When Texas becomes too hot, Manitoba may look more hospitable. Fortunately, Centreport will have paved the way for the linkage of Canada with the U. S., perhaps as the 51st state. Manitoba has been left with such minor matters as appropriating the land needed for this north- south corridor. The federal government will fund the widening of Inkster Boulevard and the building of warehouses to encourage trade. While Manitoba may benefit in dollars from some of this federal funding, I fear sovereignty will diminish. Hopefully, democracy will not be lost in our quest for short- range increased income. BARRY HAMMOND Winnipeg �� In his July 29 story Expropriation a bumpy road , Bartley Kives quotes me as saying: " The owners didn't come to us with an offer to sell, so they ought to receive every vehicle they're entitled to." I suspect I actually said "... so they ought to receive every nickel they're entitled to." Maybe I even said " every dollar." Manitoba compensates former landowners in monetary units, not by the Ford, Hyundai or Chevy. KEN DZOGAN Brandon Serving up tennis coverage I am heartened to see coverage of the finals of the first CIBC Wood Gundy Challenger women's professional tennis tournament, a Tennis Canada event and part of the International Tennis Federation tour ( Top seed aces women's pro tennis final, July 29). Prior to this, however, there had not been one iota of news coverage of the week- long event. As an avid tennis fan and formerly ranked junior player, I went out on the weekend to watch the semi- final and final and was delighted by the high- calibre of tennis produced by these professional women. I've had enough reading about football, baseball and hockey. Why can't the Free Press begin covering this fast- paced and exciting sport with the resources you devote to other professional sports? ANDREA GROZLI Winnipeg Policy of expedience Readers of history will recognize yet another example of traditional Canadian political expediency in Stuart Murray's helpful clarification of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' approach to this country's treatment of its aboriginal peoples: not necessarily genocide, but genocide if necessary ( ' Genocide' will have its place , Letters, July 27). Somewhere Mackenzie King (" not necessarily conscription but conscription if necessary") is again considering legal action for copyright infringement. MARK S. RASH 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 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 Re: The purpose of roads ( Letters, July 29). I love to imagine life before and without cars - quiet and lovely. The slower pace, the clean air, the normal climate, the healthy people. I'm wishing for, but not really expecting, a day when all motorists obey all the laws of the road and all show courtesy and respect for all other forms of life and travel. But I wonder if it's normal to despise others who make wiser choices because they make us feel guilty. Pedestrians ( damn them for crossing my path so slowly or even jaywalking) are not using machines, nor are they likely to cause any harm. So they infuriate me as I zoom along on my old road bike, probably running over and killing the odd bug or worm. I understand why motorists hate me as I commute on my super- efficient two- wheeler, getting my exercise and feeling like a kid, while they get fat, lazy and stupid. I just wish they would remember bicycles were invented before cars and the roads were paved for cyclists. Filled with self- righteous cheek, I pedal along at 10 kilometres per hour, singing the slow song of the Earth. TIM BRANDT Winnipeg Bicycles came before cars A cyclist navigates the Esplanade Riel in 2011. I T is a measure of how far the institution must go on the issue of sexual orientation that the words of Pope Francis on forgiving gay clergymen and forgetting their sins - " who am I to judge?" - is seen as a major step forward for the Roman Catholic Church. As one observer noted, if it means fewer priests and bishops will be preaching about the sins of homosexuality, then the Pope's plain talk will have had definable benefit. The Pope is not changing Catholic doctrine on homosexuality, which is that the sinner is to be loved, but not the sin; that a gay or lesbian person is accepted but to live one's love is forbidden. His predecessor signed a document in 2005 reasserting that gay men should not enter the priesthood. The Catholic Church has an odd way of talking in terms of " tendencies" which itself defies the understanding of human sexuality. Few people tend to be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. Pope Francis is, however, challenging fellow Catholics to temper their attitudes. His words, seen as a relief, a shift in tone from hardened past positions on gays and gay priests, are a welcome ray of tolerance that might have noticeable impact in some communities where the Roman Catholic Church is powerfully influential. Indeed, intolerant religious evangelicals of varied churches should reflect upon the introspective Pope's words and similarly resist the temptation to publicly judge harshly and hurtfully those whose sexuality they suspect they understand too well. See also Pope Frances is rewriting rules at wfp. to/ comment. Pope's challenge HBC steps up from the discounters A_ 12_ Jul- 31- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A12 7/ 30/ 13 6: 27: 00 PM ;