Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 28, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 OUR VIEW �o YOUR SAY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 8 PERSPECTIVES AND POLITICS EDITOR: Shannon Sampert 204- 697- 7269 shannon. sampert@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL LETTERS FP COMMENTS TWITTER VOL 143 NO 78 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2015 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 Publisher / BOB COX Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Engagement / JULIE CARL Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor Production / STEVE PONA Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Night Editor / STACEY THIDRICKSON Director Photo and Multimedia / MICHAEL APORIUS W What's your take? The Free Press wants to hear from you. Email: letters@ freepress. mb. ca Post: Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, R2X 3B6 Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Follow us on Twitter @ WFPEditorials For a how- to video on writing letters, visit winnipegfreepress. com SCAN PAGE TO LEARN HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY . Feds deserve scrutiny on race The national scrutiny of Winnipeg's overwhelmingly evident racism quagmire is necessary and long overdue ( Recognizing complexity of racism , Letters, Jan. 27). The Maclean's article, however, does not illustrate the federal government's disregard for its own people, or its responsibility to fulfil obligations both to its people and to the international community. Not once in the 17- page spread was Stephen Harper's name or the federal government mentioned. This is incredibly surprising, given that their history of systemic inaction has largely contributed to the circumstances that allow the shocking statistics laced throughout this article to remain a harsh reality. These statistics were not properly contextualized to provide a proper understanding of why they persist, which can lead them to be interpreted in ways that perpetuate, rather than fight against, racism. Winnipeg is a local example of a problem that exists on a local, provincial and national level, and thus is a result of local-, provincial- and federal- government decisions. With this recent spotlight and the forthcoming election season, now is the time to hold the federal government accountable and demand the equal realization of rights for all Canadians. CHRISTIE MCLEOD Winnipeg Religion, respect and blasphemy Karen Busby's argument in The limits of blasphemy ( Jan. 26) regrettably falls into the " I deplore the Charlie Hebdo murders, but..." category. How else should we interpret her statement that " The road to peaceful coexistence must first be paved with ( the) understanding" that representing " certain religious figures" in any way is offensive? She goes further, suggesting some Canadians " may think the time is ripe" to resuscitate the arcane blasphemy libel law. Religion does not have a privileged status in the world of ideas. If we ban the satire of religious beliefs for the sake of " peaceful coexistence," we will be making a deal with the devil. MARK DUNCAN Winnipeg �� The Free Press 's decision to publish the work of Andre Serrano raises an important issue - aside from the legal questions explored by Karen Busby. Responsible journalism requires a certain sensitivity and respect for what the cited judge expressed as " the feelings and deepest religious convictions" of a publication's readership. In my view, a " respect check" by the editorial staff was in order. EDWIN BUETTNER Winnipeg Carbon tax won't help economy Whenever somebody with little or no imagination believes they have the solution to Canada's struggling economy, they propose either raising taxes or lobbying to impose a new one ( Carbon tax could stimulate economy , Letters, Jan. 24). It has become chic to order the new blue- plate special, a carbon tax, for an already overtaxed population, believing it will somehow " stimulate Canada's suddenly weakening economy." This is all based on the notion that government, not the private sector, knows what is best for Canadians and is therefore the better option for job creation. Raising taxes does not create jobs or stimulate the economy - it only drives business elsewhere and reduces consumer buying power. KIM TRETHART Winnipeg �� Letter writer Dan Cecchini is too optimistic in claiming a carbon tax will stimulate the economy. It didn't succeed in Australia, which revoked such a levy last year, while the European Union has found these taxes stimulated only a limited amount of low- emissions technologies. In addition, carbon taxes are regressive, since they hit the poor the hardest unless some of the revenue is used to reduce payroll taxes or to provide direct rebates to lowincome earners. Finally, when and if carbon emissions decline, the tax should follow suit; but would the government be willing to forego such a revenue source so readily? EDWARD KATZ Winnipeg Boycott Target blowout Canadian companies are owed $ 3.4 billion by Target Canada, some of which are taxpayer- funded government entities ( Target Canada owes $ 3.4 billion to companies as it pulls up stakes , Jan. 24). Target gave CEO Gregg Steinhafel a US$ 61- million payout last May after he missed the target with Canada, so to speak, and he was in power during the credit- data breach in 2013. Given that 17,600 Canadian employees are now out of work as a result of Target's most incompetent employee, Canadians should not support Target's exit from Canada and boycott their liquidation sales completely. SHARON DELISE Winnipeg True North deal on ice Re: True North deal has to wait ( Jan. 27). If you were considering bidding on the Carlton Inn site, how would you feel about the favouritism that has been shown? The fact that the new mayor was backed by Mark Chipman can't help. It looks like the operatives favour the True North development, and we are now going to go through a charade of an open bidding process that will change nothing. It is likely the whole thing is too tainted for other developers to come forward at this point with serious proposals. Perhaps, in the end, all that Centre- Venture and millions in taxpayer money will have accomplished is to eliminate True North's competition. - Spence Furby �� I'm glad to see the mayor and council standing up for Winnipeggers. I think we all know there is no real offer forthcoming from other developers. I would like to see the entire CentreVenture group disbanded. They've proven themselves untrustworthy. Unfortunately, this is not looking good for True North either. Years of playing loose and fast with the rules will be a challenge to overcome. - anonymity_ personified �� I don't understand how city officials can see documents, but councillors and the mayor can't. What is with that? - 43894271 �� Another True North sweetheart deal. How much was it in tax concessions, etc. again that the city and province gave them to build the arena? - beetle Finding a CAO for city Re: Let's stop the revolving door that is the CAO's office ( Jan. 27). I think the fact that a smart, experienced and well- respected person like Annitta Stenning could not work in that environment is very telling. The culture at city hall is changing. That bodes well for finding a qualified CAO. - PeterCanWin �� @ PeterCanWin: Sounds like she may have not been willing to do Katz's dirty work. - beekpr1 �� Let's stop the revolving door when the office can be filled with someone who has no hidden agenda and is trained to run a public system. We tried to run the city government like a private corporation, and the results turned out poor for the real owners - the citizens of Winnipeg. - MinerMetal �� We are better off with no one in the chair than we were with the previous two. - drbdc Auschwitz, 70 years later Jan. 27 is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau. Be thankful for freedom. # Auschwitz70 @ ambrmc86 Visiting Auschwitz- Birkenau a year ago, history became more than books. The coldest, bleakest, saddest place; I'll never forget. # Auschwitz70 @ BerniceBernoir Such sad, powerful and moving stories of Auschwitz. The atrocities that took place there can never be forgotten. @ 1979_ Rom_ Never again. Never forget. Never abandon the persecuted. No impunity for perpetrators. # Auschwitz70 @ bsundhu Roman Kent, Auschwitz survivor: " You should never, never be a bystander." @ matthew_ bzura " How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank @ gracehoy Don't let our past become our children's future. # Auschwitz70 @ Laspagats T HERE is a risk Mayor Brian Bowman's obsession with appearing to do the right thing will result in council doing the wrong thing today with regard to a landmark development proposal by True North Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Winnipeg Jets and the MTS Centre. The mayor's desire to open the process to other potential suitors for land near the RBC Convention Centre is unlikely to produce a better deal. It will certainly delay the plan that is on the table and potentially even scuttle it, while opening new legal challenges. The delay will cost the city tax revenue, as well as hurt the convention centre. Here are the facts: Stuart Olson Dominion Construction, the company expanding the RBC Convention Centre, went to former mayor Sam Katz and senior civic officials last April saying it wanted out of its legal obligation to build a hotel near the convention centre because it couldn't find a potential hotel owner. It was on the hook for $ 16 million, but offered the city a $ 3.75- million settlement. Mayor Katz then asked CentreVenture, the city's downtown development agency, if it could develop a Plan B and find a hotel. The agency began working on the file and eventually convinced True North to do a more ambitious development involving the hotel site and an adjacent surface- parking lot. True North at that time was only planning on developing the surface- parking lot, but it invested in new architectural drawings and plans. A legal agreement was signed with True North last September. It involved not only a top hotel, which was not guaranteed in the original deal with Stuart Olson, and a mixed- use residential/ commercial building, with a large public square near the MTS Centre. It would all be connected by skywalks to the convention centre. Mayor Bowman now wants to break that legal agreement and force CentreVenture to issue expressions of interest for the site of the former Carlton Inn, which the city paid $ 6.6 million to acquire. True North is unlikely to take legal action against the city, but the potential is there. Mayor Bowman only discovered these facts a couple of weeks ago, around the time he suspended Deepak Joshi, the city's acting chief administrative officer. The rookie mayor seems to think that because he didn't know about the previous agreements and negotiations, they are somehow invalid, null and void. Of course this is preposterous. Any newly elected leader will find dozens of important files he knows nothing about. That doesn't mean they are all somehow tainted. Then- mayor Katz and some members of his inner circle had wanted the Stuart Olson matter placed on last September's council agenda, but it never happened, probably because of the poisonous atmosphere at the time where every initiative was regarded with suspicion. Then an election was held, and the settlement and hotel issue was pushed back until now. Mayor Bowman promised to clean up city hall, but the crusader role is interfering with his judgment. There is no scandal here, only a good deal for taxpayers and for downtown redevelopment. If there is a perception of wrongdoing, it was created entirely by Mayor Bowman. CentreVenture did what it was asked to do by the city and did it very well. The image of the agency today, however, is it is out of control, suffering from mission creep and obsessively secretive. It is probably due for a review of its mandate, but it did not deserve to be treated as some rogue organization that needs to be cut down to size. Mayor Bowman's commitment to transparency is admirable, but even a good thing can be carried too far. Captain Bowman needs to get a grip Mayor Brian Bowman A_ 08_ Jan- 28- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A8 1/ 27/ 15 6: 01: 20 PM ;