Traditional news and information outlets claim that summertime is "slow".
That with politicians on vacation, stories can't be pursued.
That people like parents, college students, Joe and Jane Lunchbucket, are too distracted during 'construction season' to care about news.
Could have fooled us.
The Great Canadian Talk Show continued to prove the important role alternative media serves in keeping the public engaged all through July and August. The emails and phone calls poured in. There was no vacation for the elite with their pet projects on our dime, for politicians, or for the untouchables like 'arms-length' agencies and the media gatekeepers, from being held to account.
* While the daily newspapers published without question an "editorial" of Gail Asper that her Museum project was soooo good for all of us, we
- dissected the massive and predicted cost-overruns that were ignored by the mainstream media until it was too late to protect taxpayers;
- revealed the contradictions in public statements by Asper and her cohorts, about who knew what when about the failing finances and inflation;
- evaluated the reasons behind the refusal of the Musuem leaders to take calls on CJOB radio;
- and examined concerns about the too-close ties between Premier Gary Doer and his millionaire panhandler friends.
- We alone got councillors on the record, whether they would vote to give the museum what they have asked for from city hall - YOUR money.
* When the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority released their 'compensation disclosure' right before Canada Day and hoped no one would notice, we noticed -- and questioned why they continually undermine the integrity and value of ER doctors who save lives, while insisting that the "irreplaceable" honchos and creative apologists at head office deserved big pay raises -- lest they be "recruited" to spin misinformation and deflect blame in say, Alberta.
* The rest of the media happily rides along with the bicycle - oops, "Active Transportation" initiative, never once voicing the concerns of the businesses and residents of city streets that are being sacrificed to satisfy the agenda a lobby dominated by car-hating environmental radicals.
WE did. After watching the evasion of questions about cost and demand, and saw the slanted presentations for adding 4 more bike paths along residential streets at the open house, TGCTS stands alone in speaking up and asking what is really going on.
- One listener, an avid cyclist, rode the bike lanes downtown on August 20th, and in a 70 minute audit found 23 users on those streets, 18 on other streets, and 12 on SIDEWALKS. A total of 53 bike users seen in rush hour- and no, it wasn't raining that day.
Even if we double it to account for summer vacations etc., can someone please tell us how it makes sense to hold up "greenhouse gas belching cars" in rush-hour bottlenecks caused by giving 110 bike riders their own lanes?
* TGCTS gave a full airing of the water utility debate, interviewing 4 city councillors, and asking aloud why Mayor Katz and his supporters think that the general public can absorb volumes of complex material within a 10 day limit, right at the beginning of summer (it took River Heights Coun. John Orlikow, who is paid to do things like this, 12 hours to go through it). Not to mention not being given time to figure out the Parker Avenue/Fort Rouge railyards land swap deal, where one major landowner on Taylor hit the jackpot after Transit told the administration, we need to jump the development cue and this deal has to be approved by council NOW.
* And speaking of city hall, why is it that not one newsroom has picked up on our exclusive -- that the city is going to relocate fleet and other services into a 55 acre superyard off Nairn Street, at the same time that Premier Doer's breakfast club pals in South Point Douglas are pulling the levers of power to have the nearby Louise Bridge closed to all traffic - including civic vehicles like snowplows - in the name of "Active Transportation"?
* We have also delved into the problematic practices of the beleagured Winnipeg Parking Authority. According to the Free Press, none of the following issues were worthy of inclusion in the recent multi-day "news" series:
- A downtown businessman who knew the truth was denied his day in court when the city stayed a ticket prosecution, rather than face the embarassment of losing and facing their own ticketgate scenerio; a city lawyer, Markus Buchart, researched our discovery that all tickets issued since November 16 have been issued by officers without legal standing to enforce bylaws and also argued against a WPA ticket on the basis they are illegal. He said he will provide advice to anyone wishing to do the same.
- All four enforcement officers forced out of work by WPA edict to G4S (the contractor that employed them) had signed union cards, which presumabely fell within the Free Press's definition of "performance issues";
- The WPA has imposed pay stations in front of homes and businesses, and changed streets from free to paid parking throughout the inner-city, without a whit of discussion with the people affected;
- It now appears they have been improperly collecting revenue on streets by duping motorists into thinking a $10,000 machine at eye level on the boulevard is the law, and superceeds existing and legally binding "free parking" signage above people's heads;
- To the shock of Counsillor Jeff Browaty, the WPA now rents spaces on obscure South Point Douglas streets for 12 hours at a stretch, competing with private parking lots. (So much for "turnover" of parking as their reason d'etre.)
Not even Premier Doer's departure will close the book on our coverage of Crocus, wait times, hallway medicine, doctor and nursing shortages, brown envelopes, easy probation, absurd sentences, gangs, social work agency debacles...
* We even had time to explain about a false death report that we helped quash before it went viral.
Thanks to all of our listeners and callers this summer. Of course, a large part of the success of the program comes from the participation of people such as the following, who value the role of campus radio and took the time to be interviewed on our show:
Guests:
Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi
Howard Mandshein, CITI-FM musicologist
North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty,
Barret Fraser, Triallo Communication Media
Caroline Barghout, CTV News
James Turner, CBC Radio
Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt
Mike Sutherland, Winnipeg Police Association
Morden Mayor Doug Wilson
Daniel McIntyre Coun. Harvey Smith
Dick Rivers, theroosterrocks.com
Chuck McEwan, Winnipeg Fringe Festival
Scott Taylor, CITI-FM/Winnipeg Goldeyes
Former professional wrestling champions:
Dan Kroffat, Bret 'Hitman" Hart, Mike (Sgt. Steele) Phillips
and Tony Condello
Ron East, Canadian Magen David Adom
Markus Buchart, lawyer on illegality of parking authority tickets
Allen the cyclist, our bike lane 'auditor'
St. Vital Coun. Gord Steeves
Brad Harrison, Curb-Ease.com
Sean Crawford, MacDonald Youth Services
Julie Epp, Edge Gallery
Colin Craig, Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Kelly Harrison, outgoing director, Teen Touch Inc.
plus our regularly featured guests, Kelly Dehn of CTV News, historian Professor Levinski, 92.9's Illegal Curve hockey show host Drew Mindell, Jon Waldman of Slam!Sports, and Frank the Italian Barber.
(A special thanks to senior producer Captain Audio, and board operators Spirited Kenny, Shannah-Lee, Deniz, Kick-FM news director Adam Toy, and the now on-hiatus Wonderboy Taylor)
Today's episode: The downside of the NDP leadership hopefuls - can you say scandal?; Professor Levinski's weekly history lesson; and Jon Waldman, Kenny and I will banter about all things Pacman and Blue Bombers for about 10 minutes starting at 5.20 PM.
The Sunday night replay of 5 episodes are on for 7 PM as usual, and we'll have a rerun on Labour Day but it's a doozy- everything the media didn't tell us about Gary Doer till he was resigning.
Join us as we kick off the new season on Tuesday Sept 8th with Conservative party leader Hugh McFadyen; Mayor Sam Katz comes into the studio on Monday, Sept. 14th; and Councillor Harvey Smith appears on Tuesday, Sept. 29th.
Drive safe and have a nice long weekend.
HAIL AURTARLIA!
