Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 22, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 Paying the price for Ladd If Chevy fails to re- sign at least one of Buff or Ladd, then it doesn't bode well for # NHLJets' chances of attracting/ retaining players in the future. @ msilvawpg If the Winnipeg Jets are unable to sign Andrew Ladd to an extension, who should be the captain of the Jets? @ TroyWestwood @ garylawless @ WinnipegNews Ladd is solid, but at 30 he isn't worth more than $ 5.5 million per season. @ spencer_ wpg Honestly don't see the Jets going light on Ladd. Not sure of cap implications, but pay both him and Buff and retain salary if that works down the road. @ wpgfeasey Jets fans who expect the team to spend to the cap maximum are cute. It's like they've totally ignored the thrifty history of all Winnipeg teams. @ GregP26 @ NHLJets how about some Buff and Ladd signings? @ PaulPoirier3 OUR VIEW �o YOUR SAY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 6 PERSPECTIVES AND POLITICS EDITOR: Shannon Sampert 204- 697- 7269 shannon. sampert@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL LETTERS FP COMMENTS TWITTER VOL 143 NO 249 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 Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor Operations and Engagements / SARAH LILLEYMAN Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Night Editor / STACEY THIDRICKSON Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE 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 Hydro needs succession plan Manitoba Hydro has placed advertisements in national newspapers for a president and chief executive officer to replace Scott Thompson ( Hydro's man with the power stepping down , June 26). In the last 35 years, all three appointments made by Hydro from outside the corporation have turned out to be short- term. What about promoting from within? When Bob Brennan retired in 2011 after 22 years as CEO, there was deemed to be no suitable internal candidate. Why? There had been no succession planning. A company with 6,000 employees should have someone competent enough to take the reins of being CEO. If a succession plan was in place, we could have expected stability in the position instead of a resum�- building exercise by outsiders. WILL TISHINSKI Winnipeg Benefit a vote- buying scheme Just how stupid and ignorant does Stephen Harper and the Conservatives think all Canadians who will be voting in this year's election cycle are ( Christmas in July just more Tory PR , July 21)? The purely political universal child- care benefit expansion doesn't pass the smell test; it's buying votes from the electorate months before the election. This is taxpayer money being returned - and to add insult to injury, these so- called credits are also taxable. It's essentially taxing tax revenue. Most families would be better off with their " credit" at the end of the year on their tax forms instead of this obvious pandering right before an election. NATALIA COGGINS Winnipeg �� If Prime Minister Harper is so intent on buying my vote, I could really use a new barbecue. TERRY PARSONAGE Winnipeg City dysfunction a bumper crop Re: Seeds of city dysfunction sown ( July 20). Seeds sown? Dysfunction? Surely most at the Free Press are aware the operations of this city have been dysfunctional for decades. We are now harvesting the results of both politically poisonous seeds and an obsequious, inattentive media; and Mayor Brian Bowman, despite any hopes we may have had for him to be different, is a product of the dysfunctional politics this city has endured for so long. SHANE NESTRUCK Winnipeg Bombers need brains to win It isn't character the Bombers are lacking - it's brains ( Next test of character awaits Blue Bombers , July 19). After every loss the Bombers say they will learn from it and move on; with all their losses in recent years, they should be geniuses by now. The first job of a kick returner is to secure the ball - knowing which direction to run is the second. Managing the clock is another recurring problem - they don't seem to learn. Then their coach stubbornly sticks with what doesn't work, such as playing the backup quarterback or kicking for a touchdown conversion. Running with character won't win games if they run in the wrong direction. JIM KIEZIK Winnipeg Licence money doesn't fix roads Letter- writer Paul Najda seems confused by more than road barriers ( Wheel talk on transportation , Letters, July 21). Licensing doesn't fund construction. If bikes were licensed it would have no impact on any infrastructure - neither do my driver's licence or car insurance. The taxes I pay, however, do fund construction. IAN TOAL Winnipeg The language of business Olga Lovick is missing the pragmatic point that the language of North American economic transactions is English, unless the population numbers warrant the use of an additional tongue, such as French in Canada and Spanish in the United States ( Aboriginal languages should be official , July 20). Groups can comfort themselves with the " official" status of their languages and create various immersion programs to their heart's delight, but if they want to buy or sell something, they'll need to be able to communicate in the vernacular of business. TOM SHERBROOK Gimli ' Christmas in July' Re: Christmas in July just more Tory PR ( July 20). This certainly does have all the hallmarks of attempted vote- buying, but that isn't anything new in politics. All governments will use their control of the treasury to further their cause around election time. The truly shocking and distasteful part of all this is how blatantly crass and partisan they are being about it. The federal government is supposed to spend our tax money for the benefit of citizens, and they could properly claim to be doing just that. However, the use of the " Christmas in July" tagline suggests they see this as benevolence rather than simply doing their job with the money we all hand over to them in trust. Putting the Conservative party logo front and centre is another example. The Conservative party is not giving presents to Canadians, the government of Canada is spending Canadians' money - nothing more. - Maudoug �� Maybe it's time to rethink the entire tax system, simplify it and eliminate the various programs, rebates, credits and payments. They could go with guaranteed annual income and either a flat or progressive tax system and be done with these programs and the bureaucratic costs involved in their development and administration. - 9X9 �� @ 9X9: Totally agree. Flat rate, progressive, no deductions - especially political deductions. - groot �� @ groot: Totally agree, especially on the political deductions. Those to me are like deciding on how to use my portion of my taxes to support somebody I do not care for. If you want to contribute to supporting a political party, you should do it on your own - no deductions. - Deliese �� The bias of the Free Press couldn't be more obvious. Had the Liberals done the same thing, the opinionists would have been gushing. - the last remaining voice of reason Jets captain contemplated Re: Signing Andrew Ladd ( or not) is first piece in Jets' complicated puzzle ( July 20). So after making $ 4.4 million per year, he needs " financial security ( for) his family?" Pity the poor fans who make less than a six- figure amount per year. I'm not saying Ladd shouldn't squeeze every last dollar out of True North, but I can't believe the reason is " financial security." - greyish owl �� Andrew Ladd is a great fit for the Jets; he brings heart and leadership. - JetsRus �� Gotta feel for them... how do they survive on such salaries? - Deliese T HERE is no better evidence of the change in attitudes about marijuana than the forbearance demonstrated by the Winnipeg Police Service in connection with a man who is openly selling pot from a storefront operation. The police service issued a news release Monday saying it would not tolerate the lawless conduct of Glenn Price, who has been selling what he calls medical marijuana even though he is not licensed by Health Canada and his product has not been acquired from authorized government dispensers. That's some 22 days after Mr. Price announced to the world he was selling pot to customers with a prescription from a doctor. The police response back then was he should stop selling drugs. There was no threat of enforcement against the entrepreneur, who has a civic occupancy permit and permission to carry out his illegal business from the landlord. The provincial companies branch was also aware what he was up to. In pure legal terms, he's a drug trafficker ( a term police would not have hesitated to use a decade ago) - but times have changed. Instead of raiding Mr. Price's Main Street establishment, Your Medical Cannabis Headquarters, when he started selling to customers on July 1, police simply ignored the problem. On Monday, however, police threatened to " respond appropriately" if Mr. Price continued to flaunt the law. The only thing missing from the news release was a line saying, " We really mean it this time." The lackadaisical response was a tacit acknowledgment that even law enforcement no longer considers pot to be a dangerous drug that will produce insanity or mayhem in all who use it. The Harper government, however, is stuck in a time warp, resisting the tide of history that is leading to decriminalization or legalization. The Conservatives have pressured police in other cities where similar pot dispensaries are operating, but they haven't had the success they would like. In Vancouver, for example, police have refused a federal request to crack down on the owner of 11 stores that dispense marijuana in the same way as Mr. Price. They said they have more important work to do. Meanwhile, the smell of marijuana wafted inside and out of Mr. Price's business Tuesday, where protesters had gathered to protect the business if police showed up. The cops didn't come - they don't like unnecessary confrontations in front of the media - but they are likely to show up sometime in the near future with a warrant. The big question is whether they will merely seize his product and charge him with a minor offence or throw the book at him with a charge of possession of marijuana for the purpose or trafficking. Either way, Mr. Price says he intends to continue pursuing what he considers a mission of mercy. People who want marijuana because of a medical condition claim it takes too long to get it through official channels and the product is inferior and often ineffective. Lawyers like to say weak cases make bad laws. With that in mind, the Crown may want to be careful about how it proceeds against Mr. Price. The Supreme Court of Canada has already shown some sympathy for medical marijuana users, ruling recently they could use the drug as an oil, tea or other edible product. The problem is Health Canada still won't make it available in those forms. Like the failed abortion prosecutions of the early 1980s, police and the Crown may find juries and judges are loathe to jail citizens who are dispensing marijuana to people with a doctor's prescription, particularly when the evidence would show Ottawa is incompetent and obstructionist in carrying out the task. It's time to change the law and end this persecution of pot users. Conservatives losing the war on drugs Pot for sale at a store in Portland, Ore. A_ 06_ Jul- 22- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A6 7/ 21/ 15 7: 59: 38 PM ;