Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 06, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A11 B RANDON - The coming weekend was supposed to be the moment Manitoba's New Democrats would shed the past year's mishaps and chart a course toward re- election. Instead, the party's annual general meeting will be marked by anxiety, finger- pointing and desperate damage control. The NDP hopes the convention will unify the troops for battle, with the first shot being a series of attack ads designed to weaken growing support for Brian Pallister's Progressive Conservatives. Instead, much of the attention will be directed toward the Christine Melnick crisis and a series of recent events that have shaken a nervous caucus. Though Premier Greg Selinger no doubt hoped Tuesday's press conference would put the Melnick matter to rest, it has had the opposite effect. She is now regarded by many people, including a number of New Democrats, as having been punished for telling the truth. Now that the Riel MLA has been exiled to the opposition benches, she is free - and motivated - to expose other embarrassing facts that have piled up over the past 15 years of NDP government. While the threat posed by Melnick is largely hypothetical, a year's worth of opinion polls, combined with the results of two recent byelections, represent the more pressing problem. A Probe Research poll in December found the Tories have the support of 48 per cent of voters province- wide compared with just 26 per cent for the NDP, 20 per cent for the Liberals and six per cent for other parties. In Winnipeg, the NDP, at 29 per cent support, trails the PCs at 41 per cent, with the Liberals at 23 and other groups at six. The numbers were even worse for the NDP in the Jan. 28 byelections, as the party's candidate in the Morris riding received just 12.9 per cent of votes cast. It was even worse in Arthur- Virden, where the NDP candidate finished in third place with just 10.4 per cent of the vote. On the heels of those drubbings, another Probe poll, released this past weekend in the Brandon Sun , revealed the NDP is far behind the Tories throughout western Manitoba and are on track to lose the Brandon East and Dauphin ridings by hefty margins. That sends shock waves through the NDP caucus. Dauphin has been held by the NDP since 1981, while Brandon East has been NDP property since the riding was created in 1969. If the NDP is sinking in those long- held ridings, many other NDP MLAs must be wondering, and worrying, how safe their own seats are. The NDP is hinging its comeback hopes on new messaging linking the PST hike to infrastructure and the attack ads that will be launched next week, but the strategy's success is far from certain. In response to Tory accusations that the monies derived from the PST increase will be used to feed the government's free- spending habits, Team Selinger claims the money will be used for " hard" infrastructure that will be over and above current infrastructure spending. The second- quarter financial report released by Manitoba Finance contradicts that assertion, however. It reveals the government has actually reduced infrastructure spending by $ 300 million this fiscal year, to $ 1.5 billion from $ 1.8 billion. Far from backing up Selinger's claims, the government's own data are fresh fuel for the opposition's attacks. The NDP attack ads will claim Pallister can't be trusted, that he's lying when he promises he won't sell Manitoba Hydro and won't lay off teachers and nurses. The same strategy worked against the Tories in 2011, but they are waiting with a devastating response this time: Greg Selinger lied when he said he wouldn't raise the PST, and now Melnick disputes his version of her file. The NDP was hoping this weekend would signal a return to the good old days, but the party's problems cannot be fixed by slick spin and cynical advertising. What worked in the past will not work now, because today's NDP has a credibility problem that Gary Doer's NDP never had. UntilTeam Selingercomestogripswiththatreality, theyshouldnotexpecttheirownrealitytochange. Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon. deverynrossletters@ gmail. com Show young people respect Ken Osborne raises fundamental questions about the role of education in society ( More to schools than jobs , Feb. 4). But Osborne may be ignoring or blurring an important distinction. He concludes by saying " it might well be that what we used to think of as a liberal education... is the best preparation for citizenship after all." Yet for most of the article he could be interpreted as arguing for renewal of citizenship education, with some of the old liberal- arts elements mixed in. Osborne acknowledges the coercion and repression that historically have been committed under the banner of citizenship. The problem with the concept is that it means we presume to know how to manipulate young people to fit our idea of the " good citizen." This dooms us to make the same mistake over and over again. Far from being in decline, citizenship education is front and centre when educators go on endlessly about teaching mutual respect, motivating kids for social justice and civic participation, encouraging them to take sides on the trivial controversies of the day, and so on. There is nothing wrong with mutual respect, but to teach it by preaching and moralizing for 12 years is heavy- handed. Teach respect by showing respect to young people, who by their nature want to learn. GORDON MARCE Winnipeg Melnick, Selinger split Premier Greg Selinger's contention that Christine Melnick acted alone is simply absurd ( NDP bids goodbye to Melnick , Feb. 5). To get that many people to show up on a weekday afternoon would require a mammoth effort requiring significant political direction. That's why it caught the attention of the media who were there that day - they knew something was amiss. There were the images of Andrew Swan, with speech prepared and talking to the throngs, with microphones and lights all ready to go. Did they know there would be such a sizable crowd? Selinger's splitting of hairs - saying his staff were involved in the planning of the event, but not in the direction of civil servants - suggests he is doing advance damage control. While Melnick's initial answers were wrong and did indeed mislead the legislature, what benefit was there for her to make her recent statements? Already banished to the backbench, there was almost no chance she would have another shot at cabinet. Perhaps she chose to go out as she did because the party she supported for three generations no longer exists, or because she was the sacrificial lamb to save Greg Selinger from political embarrassment. KEITH POULSON Winnipeg �� Yet again Christine Melnick does the work, this time communicating about issues senior leadership should have taken on but did not ( Selinger's capacity to lead now the issue , Feb. 4). Melnick took on the toughest and most neglected heritage issue in Winnipeg - the resurrection of Barber House in Point Douglas - in an area that holds the lowest voter turnout in the city, along with traditionally low incomes and neglected service delivery. The highly significant heritage structure was little more than a burnt- out shell until it finally opened as a beautifully restored architectural gem in 2011 with a seniors drop- in centre, adjoining modern daycare and multiuse creative space. Residents say this wouldn't have happened without her help - the " political will" that heritage advocates say is fundamentally important to built heritage issues. Her being dropped from the NDP caucus was needless. SHIRLEY KOWALCHUK Winnipeg The morality of the hunt Jeff McMaster appears to think that when a hunter goes out and selectively harvests an animal, that animal is wasted ( Buck hunt not a harvest , Letters, Feb. 4). McMaster calls trophy hunting " morally unacceptable." If he finds it more morally acceptable to buy meat from a grocery store shelf after someone else has harvested it, so be it. RON PENNER Winnipeg Tough talk about mayor After I finished reading James Turner's article on our mayor suing a university student newspaper ( Katz suing over Uniter article , Feb. 4), I continued down the page to read Bartley Kives' article on surface parking lots ( Develop surface parking lots - or face penalty , Feb. 4). Kives states it " would take a tough mayor" to rein in the owners of these lots and put some money into developing downtown. How ironic. JAMES HANNAH Winnipeg Problem with pension numbers Gwyn Morgan, a self- described " retired Canadian business leader who has been a director of five global corporations," has penned a column that is both pernicious and alarmist ( Public pension liabilities top $ 300 billion , Feb. 4). He quotes the Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimate that public- sector unfunded pension liabilities are " likely" in the range of $ 300 billion, working out to $ 9,000 for every Canadian. The liabilities in question, however, were accumulated over the full careers of all civil servants and do not come due all at once, but over the course of a retirement period. Morgan also neglects to mention that the pensions he calls " gold- plated" are typically at least halffunded by employee contributions. Morgan wraps himself in the banner of democracy, " the best of all governance systems," while attacking the democratic right of free association and collective bargaining: " Governments must be prepared to defy union resistance by all available means." That goes by a name quite different than democracy. SIG LASER Winnipeg Weary of windrows I sympathize with anyone dealing with the city's windrows in back lanes ( City to mull over back- lane windrows , Feb. 5). I live near a school, and parents doing pickups persistently drive down nearby back lanes. With only one way in and out, there's no room for anyone to pass, making it hard for residents trying to get home. On several occasions I have had to back up onto a busy street, holding up the school bus. Parents picking up children from schools should stick to the main streets and stay off residents' back lanes - at least until the snow is gone. DONNA MCLACHLAN 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 Vancouver Canucks head coach John Tortorella ( and his temerity) appear to have weathered his 15- day NHL suspension mostly intact ( Contrite Torts back on bench , Feb. 4). Not so for his larger- than- life MTS arena " Coach's Cutout." Just like Montreal's Maurice " Rocket" Richard, who infamously got " Two minutes for lookin' so good" in vintage hair- care ads, the irreverently funny foamcore Torts gets an additional suspension of two minutes for lookin' so much like " The Fonz." DON WARKENTIN Winnipeg Winnipeg Free Press Thursday, February 6, 2014 A 11 POLL �� TODAY'S QUESTION Would a junk- food tax deter you from buying unhealthy treats? �� Vote online at winnipegfreepress. com �� PREVIOUS QUESTION What should the Winnipeg Blue Bombers do now that Henry Burris has signed with the Ottawa RedBlacks? TOTAL RESPONSES 3,670 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 VOL 142 NO 87 2014 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204- 697- 7000 BOB COX / Publisher PAUL SAMYN / Editor WFP JULIE CARL / Deputy Editor SCAN TO VOTE ON TODAY'S QUESTION DEVERYN ROSS Happy days for Canucks coach JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets fans taunt the Vancouver Canucks with a cardboard cutout of suspended coach John Tortorella. M UCH has been said about a recently released civic report titled Proposed Truck Route Re- Designation of Provencher Boulevard. The report was requested by Coun. Dan Vandal in September 2013 and was authored by a city staffer holding the designation of P. T. O. E., ( professional traffic operations engineer). It was commissioned to determine what the effects of delisting Provencher Boulevard as a truck route would be to city industry and residents. It clearly states that truck traffic should not be reduced on Provencher. Regarding this proposal, in November 2013 Vandal was quoted by Winnipeg media as saying city staff were looking at alternatives and consulting. He was also quoted as saying the report he requested was " on the right track." When the report was released this week, Vandal is quoted as saying it was " a heavily one- sided, misleading, worst- case scenario that concluded chaos would ensue if trucks were banned from Provencher." The reality is that nothing has changed between November 2013 and February 2014. Unfortunately for greater Winnipeg, this is a problem for two parties: the handful of citizens who believe their wants are more important than the needs of the rest of the city's residents and a city councillor who is apparently desperate to gain their favour. I'd like to suggest what I believe most Winnipeggers would find a reasonable solution: Address said constituents, advise them the study you've requested on their behalf shows what they want is clearly damaging to the needs of their neighbours and move on to the host of other items city council should be focusing its attention on. Vandal's solution was different. He requested another report. That's correct - if Mom says you can't have any ice cream, better go and ask Dad. What happens when a second report comes back with the same conclusions? Request a third? Why should taxpayers pay for multiple reports? Why is personal political gain being prioritized over effective city planning and decision- making? Why are the wants of a few citizens being given priority over the needs of everyone else? There have also been false allegations made by certain residents' associations that they haven't been given a say on this item. The report itself states " the decision to displace the majority of truck traffic on Provencher Boulevard to Marion Street and Goulet Street has received consideration and feedback from residents and businesses on Provencher Boulevard." The report also contains a written submission from the complaining group. What the report also states is that no citizens living in the area of the expected traffic increase, Marion and Goulet, have been consulted. Residents and businesses on Provencher have contributed to the report and they know their neighbours haven't. This means certain Provencher residents are trying to force their unwanted traffic onto their neighbours' street, knowing said neighbours haven't been given the same opportunity to contribute to the report. And yet Provencher residents have complaints about lack of consultation? The most important conclusion can be summed up thus: The report very clearly outlines that limiting truck access to Provencher would have negative traffic safety considerations, especially for residents on Marion and Goulet. How anyone, residents' association or city councillor, can continue pushing for this change knowing this will be the outcome is outrageous. But don't take my word for it. Access the report and make your own decision: http:// winnipeg. ca/ clkdmis/ ViewDoc. asp? DocId= 13317& SectionId=& InitUrl= Terry Shaw is general manager of the Manitoba Trucking Association. TERRY SHAW Vandal playing politics with Provencher truck route issue Glory days fading for NDP Bring back Kevin Glenn 26% Sign Drew Willy 24% Stick with Max Hall 10% Scout NFL cuts 40% A_ 13_ Feb- 06- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A11 2/ 5/ 14 9: 01: 04 PM ;