Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 31, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 Underpass announced Instead of an underpass that makes a commute slightly better, how about roads to Manitoba communities that don't have them? @ RodSalm " Thank goodness there'll finally be a Waverley underpass! It's about time!" - Guy waiting 15 minutes at a drivethru for coffee. @ Colin_ Lougheed Oh for crying out loud. Put the money into actually getting more people working on Plessis! Wasteful. @ toole_ tara Understand there are like 1,000 people who are slightly inconvenienced from Waverley trains, but you chose to live there. The money could do better things. @ Peggars Very happy to see federal investment in getting the Waverley underpass built. Thanks @ JoyceBatemanMP for being such an advocate for it. @ BRinYWG I'll never use an underpass at Waverley and Taylor, so can my tax dollars opt out of paying for it? @ drewwpg OUR VIEW �o YOUR SAY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 31, 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 258 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 Long campaigns anti- democratic A long campaign is cruel and anti- democratic ( PM may call election Sunday , July 30). Most electoral districts only have one, two or, if we're lucky, three candidates who have a legitimate shot at winning. That leaves two, three, or more candidates who know their chances aren't good, but run because they believe in their party policies. As a candidate who was an " also- ran" in the 2005- 06 campaign that lasted seven weeks, I can attest to the fact that campaigns are gruelling for candidates. Adding six weeks to the normal campaign period will be an extreme hardship for many candidates who have to make personal and professional sacrifices to run for politics. The cruelty of a longer campaign is unappealing to potential candidates, and anything that discourages participation is ultimately anti- democratic. GARY GERVAIS Winnipeg Mom's bylaw reaction disappointing Re: Mom felt ' excluded and unwanted' ( July 30). Victoria Beach Reeve Brian Hodgson has a bylaw in effect to uphold - there are no vehicles allowed into the community. All residents must carry their children, groceries and necessary supplies to their homes - winter or summer. They choose or have agreed to live by that bylaw to preserve their community. I'm disappointed by Janis Ollson's " too little, too late" attitude. She presented a unique situation to Victoria Beach; council met and voted in favour to grant a vehicle permit two days later. This delay was a show of good faith by the community to accommodate Ollson and her children. Hodgson indicated the community " doesn't have a policy when it comes to accommodating persons with disabilities, but it will work to have one in place by next summer." Ollson has personally inspired change with her unique situation, a great accomplishment; she has opened the eyes of the community to the needs of many in our society. I applaud Ollson in her efforts to educate our society in the many unique needs of our disabled community members. I am somewhat disappointed, however, in how she and the Free Press have portrayed the situation. KAREN ZURBA Winnipeg PM to blame for everything I was amused to read Mary Agnes Welch's article where she suggests a Harper- government political chill discourages artists from producing edgy or political plays ( Has fringe been politically neutered? , July 29). Previous to this, a letter to the editor noted that the Winnipeg Folk Festival didn't have any protest singers or songs anymore because of fear of the Harper government ( Musicians mum on political issues , Letters, July 16). Further, organic gardener Patricia Dawn Robinson blames the Harper government for poor weather for her produce ( Erratic weather, erratic harvest , July 20). It seems to me that anyone with a pulse likes to take shots at the Harper government, without hesitation. Stephen Harper could save a drowning family from a burning lake and would be criticized for it. So in the future, if you stub your toe, or your car won't start in the morning, blame Stephen Harper. It's his fault. ROB MACDONALD Winnipeg Senate intentions unconstitutional Re: No reforms, no new senators ( July 25). The Constitution Act, 1982 states in Section 32 that " When a vacancy happens in the senate by resignation, death, or otherwise, the Governor General shall by summons to a fit and qualified person fill the vacancy." Stephen Harper's announced intention that he will not appoint any more senators is against the law - unless he has secretly amended the Constitution and forgot to tell anybody. ROBERT HAMM Steinbach Grits' slide reflects voter apathy Royce Koop's unbalanced commentary omits mention of social advances made under previous Liberal governance ( Hopes for a Liberal revival are fading , July 29). I disagree with his opinion that the Liberal party exists to obtain power and distribute patronage. While the declines in average vote share for the federal Liberal party in recent elections appear to support Koop's cynical prediction, the reasons for these declines are not as simple or as irreversible as he asserts. Population heterogeneity has increased in Canada, along with public distaste for political involvement, as indicated by decreased voter turnout. Many voters don't have time for more than a party slogan as a rationale for their vote. Career politicians obsessed with electoral victory exploit the simplistic repetition of feel- good promises and gossipy attack ads. JEAN PATERSON Winnipeg Waverley underpass Re: $ 175M for Waverley underpass as pre- election cash flows from feds ( July 29). I hope this project is better- planned and managed than that mess at Plessis Road. - LuckyBucky �� Best news all week - we've needed that underpass for 30 years already. - ve4mm �� Wouldn't it be nice if all these announcements weren't related to an election campaign? - OBSERVER6 �� @ OBSERVER6: I think we're lucky the feds kept pushing the city to get their act together and submit the appropriate documents in time so we could get some of the infrastructure money. My concern is the ballpark costing of this project by the city. The odds are it will cost more, and there's no guarantee the province or the feds will cover their share of those increased costs. - TheBigChill �� Maybe they can syphon off a few bucks for a pedestrian- and- bike path. - 46444601 �� What's missing is Russ Wyatt's outrage. Oh wait, this is a car announcement. - beekpl Reach the beach Re: Cancer survivor with mobility issues denied access to Victoria Beach ( July 29). I'm sure Ollson knew about the restrictions a long time ago. Like everything in government, things take time. I'm sure she knows this and should have made arrangements ahead of time. There are plenty of elderly people in Victoria Beach that have mobility issues. They plan ahead and make arrangements. Of course council should be more flexible, but she also should plan ahead. - JustMyOpinion2 �� @ JustMyOpinion2: I'm sure she has a handicap tag on her vehicle. These tags should be universal and recognized everywhere in the province. Victoria Beach should have had a provision long ago to accept all handicap tags. It's unbelievably backwards in this day and age - the community should be ashamed. - 22598964 �� Shame on you, Victoria Beach. Sometimes rules are made to be broken. The decision should have been made on the spot to let her into the restricted area. Who would it have hurt? Trucks go in all the time to the grocery store and to the bakery. It's disgusting in this day and age that people are so short- sighted. - # 1jetsfan I T'S not a reason for abolishing the Senate, but the fact three suspended senators will be back on the payroll once the federal election is called is just the latest in a series of outrages that cry out for action to fix the dishonoured institution. Mike Duffy, Patrick Brazeau and Pamela Wallin lost their salaries, office resources and other perks when they were suspended from the Senate nearly two years ago for alleged abuses of their travel and/ or living expenses. Mr. Duffy and Mr. Brazeau are charged with criminal offences, while Ms. Wallin is still under investigation by the RCMP. Those suspensions, however, were only valid for the duration of the parliamentary session, a fact that may have been well understood by parliamentarians, but not by the general public. The Senate could renew the suspensions when Parliament resumes, but in the meantime the suspended senators would be collecting their full salaries. Senators earn roughly $ 142,000 a year. Parliament changed the law governing pensions of suspended members that says length of service halts on the date of the suspension and cannot be restarted without a majority vote. It means the disgraced senators will not accrue more time in favour of their pensions. So why wasn't the same rule applied to salaries? Was it an oversight, or just more bumbling in the management of Senate affairs? Either way, the fact two former senators facing criminal charges and a third under investigation will be back on the payroll when the writ is dropped is offensive. In no other workplace where an employee is caught with his hand in the cookie jar would such a situation be tolerated. Of course, Parliament is special with its own unique rules and customs, but that's been the problem from the beginning. Senators and members of Parliament have frequently behaved like the normal rules of the workplace don't apply to them. They have been particularly resistant to the idea they should be more accountable and transparent with their expense accounts, as if public service should somehow be beyond public scrutiny. None of this outrage, however, is an argument for abolishing the Senate. There may be good reasons for deleting the upper house, but spending scandals aren't one of them. If every democratic institution was abolished because a few people misbehaved, there wouldn't be much left. The Senate - and its Conservative leadership - was sloppy in the way it handled the spending scandals. And in the way it failed to examine the rules to ensure three suspended senators wouldn't be back on the payroll when an election was called and Parliament dissolved. To be fair, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has offered alternatives for Senate reform, including holding elections and introducing term limits. Those ideas, however, in addition to a proposal for abolition, require the approval of either all of the provinces ( for abolition) or seven out of 10 provinces representing 50 per cent of the population for changes to the way it operates. Mr. Harper has since decided to leave the future of the Senate in the hands of the provinces, which means no one should expect any real reforms in the short term, if ever. That's not really good enough. The Senate is an integral part of the Parliament of Canada and required by the Constitution. It is not a government program that can be discarded in the next budget. As such, it is the duty of Parliament led by the prime minister to at least fix its reputation so it is no longer, fairly or not, the most discredited and disreputable institution in the land. Another setback for Senate's reputation Mike Duffy: back on payroll A_ 08_ Jul- 31- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A8 7/ 30/ 15 5: 53: 04 PM ;