Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 18, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B2 B 2 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I CITY & DISTRICT MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS HAULIN’ OATS Elm Creek farmer Colin Penner loads a truck with oats to haul to the grain elevator on Thursday after an overnight frost and the lack of a drying wind prevented him from harvesting soybeans earlier in the day. Penner is one of three farm families the Free Press is profiling this year. For previous stories, please go to: wfp.to/familyfarms. USUALLY, at this time of year, United Way Winnipeg begins its annual fund- raising campaign — with as many as 80 teams of 20 participants, straining hard as they use a thick rope to pull a passenger jet a few metres in front of hundreds of cheering people. Such an event is not possible in the time of COVID-19; this year, Winnipeg- gers will have a united way to help the longtime social services organization get the fundraising ball rolling. This year’s kickoff is called “Walk This Way.” Set for today, organiz- ers are asking people to sign up at unitedwaywinnipeg.ca/walk-this-way before going for a walk, jog or bike ride sometime during the day and logging the distance they go in an app. Dave Angus, United Way 2020 vol- unteer campaign chairman and presi- dent of Johnston Group Inc., said if the final total is 5,000 kilometres or more, campaign sponsors (Payworks, Rogers, Skip The Dishes, TD and Wawanesa Insurance) will donate $100,000 to this year’s fundraising drive. “We’ve had to change and adapt like everybody, and I think we’ve done it in a great way,” Angus said about corona- virus pandemic restrictions cancelling the annual plane pull. “The Walk This Way event allows the whole community to take part. There’s no cost to enter, and it is a way to get the whole community involved. I commend them for coming up with it.” The local United Way set, and met, a 2019 campaign goal of $21.6 million. It uses the money raised to help fund more than 100 community agencies. Angus said this year, it may not just be the plane pull that is sidelined: the numbers the campaign may focus on might not be a fundraising financial goal, but others — like the thousands of times Winnipeggers are helped each year by the United Way. “A lot of people are struggling and need the United Way now,” he said. “There were significant needs before COVID and in many ways, those needs are exponentially growing. “This is a really important campaign in an important time for the commun- ity. If we don’t have the resources in place to provide to those who need it, it will be very challenging,” Angus said, highlighting areas of mental health, job instability, and addictions. Some of the people and businesses struggling this year are ones who in the past have donated to United Way, he said. “We want to be respectful because we know there will be people who won’t be able to donate this year,” he said. “How many new donors? How many lives are we able to impact? There’s other ways to show the success of the campaign.” kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca United Way taking first steps of 2020 fundraising campaign THE renaming of a street in Libau can be a learning opportunity about coloni- alism, community leaders say. The RM of St. Clements and Broken- head Ojibway Nation collaborated on the process of renaming Colonization Road after a band member expressed concern about it, Brokenhead Chief Deborah Smith said. She contacted St. Clements Mayor Debbie Fiebelkorn. The two leaders met last week and agreed Brokenhead would put in a formal request to change the name of the road. St. Clements will hold a public hearing on the issue. “What it does, I think, is we become more aware of Canada’s colonial his- tory, as a country, as a province, as communities, as people,” Smith said Thursday. Fiebelkorn said the process is “in the spirit of reconciliation.” “It is important we understand the im- pact these symbols have and recognize the negative impact of colonialism,” she said. “We would like to establish a process of collaborative leadership and seek consultation to have meaning- ful dialogue on a difficult topic such as this.” Smith said she has asked that Broken- head have fair representation during the hearings on the name change. The process, she hopes, will encourage other areas in the province with names and symbols that normalize coloniza- tion to take action. “I am aware that there’s other com- munities that have Colonization Road as a road name within their municipal- ities… so I think maybe Brokenhead and St. Clements can be an example of two communities coming together to tackle an issue like this,” she said. When the road is ready to be formally renamed, Smith wants to hold a rededi- cation ceremony. “We need to recognize that colonial- ism is very much alive and well in this country because it’s embedded in Can- ada’s legal system, Canada’s political system and even its economic systems,” she said. “So it’s another opportunity to have a conversation, but also to evoke change, change that would see First Nations and Indigenous people part of those conversations and a part of that change.” In Winnipeg, the city has struck an eight-member citizens committee to help it make decisions on requests to create new, remove or rename historic- al markers and place names. The goal is to tackle the absence of Indigenous per- spectives and contributions to the city. malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: malakabas_ Communities collaborate on Colonization Road renaming MALAK ABAS W INNIPEG city council’s public works chairman wants to pri-oritize pedestrian access on sections of more than a dozen streets. Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface) is lobbying colleagues to permanently add seasonal active transportation routes on 15 streets, which would run seven days a week between the May long and Thanksgiving weekends each year. The routes would include 10 sections of “open streets” the city tested out this year, continuing to limit vehicle traffic on them to one block from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The routes were created to provide extra space for pedestrians and cyclists to stay active, while offer- ing room for them to also keep least two metres apart from others during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In my opinion, and I think the opin- ion of many across the city, (the routes) were a tremendous success. They were very low cost and opened up very large recreational opportunities for Winni- peggers… I don’t think COVID-19 is ne- cessarily going away, so Winnipeggers will potentially need those recreational opportunities again next year,” said Al- lard. The councillor raised a successful motion to support the change at a pub- lic works committee meeting Wednes- day. If council approves it, the motion will have Winnipeg’s public service study the 10 routes and consider add- ing others on five additional streets. A report on implementing those chan- ges would return for a second round of council votes, perhaps in November. Allard hopes a final decision will be made in time for the routes to reopen by May 2021. Some of the 10 temporary trial routes closed for the season Sept. 7. Others will be offered until Oct. 12, but only on Sundays and holidays. The closures triggered plenty of pub- lic pressure to extend the active trans- portation access, especially through online petitions and social media. How- ever, not all Winnipeggers support the seven-day-per-week routes. “Why would you close a road seven days a week when there’s nobody using it for walking and cycling during the daylight hours because they’re at work or school? That’s nonsense,” said River- view resident Tom Pearson. Pearson said he’s concerned the Churchill Drive route in his neighbour- hood also diverts drivers to streets that actually have more pedestrians than it does, creating a new safety risk while also interrupting commutes along Churchill. The city must consult the broader public before considering permanent changes, Pearson said. He fears pol- iticians may otherwise base decisions solely on input from those who support the change, which he argues could be a “vocal minority.” Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, said he’s convinced there is ample demand to warrant the number of open streets the motion rec- ommends. “Looking at the numbers we saw biking down those roads this year, there’s a huge amount of demand to have that kind of access,” said Cohoe. “I think it’s (also) something that moves the city forward towards its goals on climate change, towards its goals on sustainability.” He expects the city’s approval pro- cess will offer time and flexibility to as- sess feedback on each individual route and make adjustments to address some residents’ concerns. For example, Cohoe said he agrees the Churchill Drive route warrants ex- tra consideration, suggesting it may be better suited to offer a protected bike lane than an open street section. Allard said public feedback will be incorporated in the November report. If the changes are implemented, seasonal open streets would resume every year on sections of Wellington Crescent, Lyndale Drive, Scotia Street, Egerton Road, Kildonan Drive, Kil- kenny Drive, Rover Avenue, Vialoux Drive, Wolseley Avenue and Churchill Drive. New routes would also be added for parts of Glenwood Crescent, You- ville Street, Rosseau Avenue and Ellen Street, as well as two sections of Alex- ander Avenue. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga City considers more open streets next year Councillor pushes for 15 active transportation routes JOYANNE PURSAGA KEVIN ROLLASON RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS United Way campaign chairman Dave Angus says everyone can take part in this year’s kickoff. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ‘Why would you close a road seven days a week when there’s nobody using it for walking and cycling during the daylight hours because they’re at work or school? That’s nonsense’ — Riverview resident Tom Pearson (left) B_02_Sep-18-20_FP_01.indd B2 2020-09-17 10:32 PM ;