Exclusive: Our Winnipeg Open House = EMPTY HOUSE

Photo of the second round table on Friday morning: once again, zero attendance.


The city of Winnipeg drove the final nail in the coffin of "public consultation" today, when the inaugural "Round Table" feedback session for the vaunted 25 year development plan Our Winnipeg drew ZERO humans to Red River College on Princess.

When local publisher Bob Axford and I walked into the room today to cover the event, all the attendees were dressed as empty chairs. Not a soul had crossed the threshhold, save for 2 city planners involved with the SpeakUp Winnipeg project.

Neither of them could answer basic questions, such as:

* Who is responsible for scheduling the meeting with less than 24 hours notice to the public?
* Why are the Round Tables all scheduled within the next 6 days, and only during working hours so that people with real jobs can't be heard?
* Why did 311 not have any information about the Round Table or Information Open House session tonight at RRC, beyond that the city had rented the hall?

Today's session was intended to discuss "Creativity", or the role of the Arts, in the future of the city.

Maybe the city could have started by finding some creative way to turn bureaucratese into comprehensible English rather than planner bafflegab and airy-fairy fuzzy feel-good buzzwords.

This should have been the most well-attended round table, given the central location within a 5 minute minute walk of the creative/artists class that populate the adjacent Exchange and South Point Douglas enclaves.

Instead, we have seen the true agenda of the administration laid bare.


They do not want feedback from the taxpaying working class; the phony "consultation" process, perfected with the Disraeli Bridge and Bike Lane shams, is a tool wielded by unaccountable bureaucrats to give cover to councillors and the Mayor, who can say it is not their fault when no one shows up.

In fact, it IS their fault. THEY are responsible for the City holding a series of important meetings about the future of our city at the onset of summer, and expecting residents to choose on short notice (if they even found out about the meetings at all) to drop everything to be able to have their say.

RELATED POSTS:
http://www.chrisd.ca/blog/24459/our-winnipeg-public-consultations-empty-room-photos/

http://progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com/2010/05/our-winnipeg-draught-dripdripsomethings.html

More from Graham Hnatiuk :

“Some of the staff were arrogant, condescending, unknowledgeable, treated people with legitimate questions or concerns with dismay or GUFFAW. Yes, I just made the word GUFFAW into a verb… Our Winnipeg? No. Not yet anyway. It’s Our Winnipeg’s Winnipeg.

Time to burst that bubble you guys are living in. You guys have to be able to answer these questions. They are legit. To deny or refuse to answer questions like the ones I’ve raised is not acceptable. Some of you guys would be awful poker players.”

Next week: Councillor Harvey Smith; all about Scouting; and more Parking Authority bullying of city businesses and parkers.

"Award winning" Winnipeg Parking Authority creates HSC "ghost town"

First, we look to the Downtown Biz website, in a posting entitled
"The Winnipeg Parking Authority Staff Recognized by International Institute/Winnipeg’s Parking Authority has been recognized by the International Parking Institute with several major awards."

Earlier this year, the WPA was identified by Manitoba Business Magazine as one of the Province’s Top 75 Companies. David Hill also received a Mayor’s Business Improvement award for his work with the Downtown BIZ.

"Our Board was unanimous", said Stefano Grande, Executive Director of the Downtown BIZ, "our city parking environment is vastly better than it was years ago, it’s great for business, and we appreciate the the City’s leadership in getting us there"... "It’s good to see these people striving for excellence".

For businesses and residents outside of the Downtown Biz catchment area, they might interpret that definition of "excellence" as meaning :

"it's good as long as the other areas of downtown are the ones getting screwed over and not our members".

Today at 4 PM, we''ll have news of MORE bullying of the Exchange District by the Parking Authority.

In this post, we look westward towards the West Alexander neighborhood, where the civic agenda is set by the perceived needs of the Health Sciences Centre, on run-down and impoverished residential streets where parking costs TWICE the normal rate- $2.00 an hour.
---------------

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter
To: talk@kick.fm

Hi Marty

I went for one of my little strolls through the HSC area on Friday Apr. 9 and Sat. Apr. 10.

I can tell you with no word of a lie that my jaw dropped. I have never ever seen a ghost town around HSC. But that's what it has turned into at this point.

If it is the goal of the Parking Authority to remove on-street parking in that area, then they are well on their way to achieving that goal. Even the residents aren't parking on their streets.

Definitions:
C= cars
P = permits
R = receipt
N = no receipt/Verrus payment
Res = residential permit
H = handicap
T= ticket/tag

April 9 Start 1:25/finish 3:30 April 10 Start 1:07/finish 2:40

Winnipeg Ave - Tecumseh to Arlington:
c: 11 c: 11
p: 10 p: 9
res: 1 n: 2

McDermot - Tecumseh to Arlington
c: 4 c: 5
p: 4 p: 4
n: 1

Bannatyne - Tecumseh to Arlington
c: 14 c: 10
p: 6 p: 3
r: 6 Res: 1
n: 1 n: 5
t: 1 t: 1 (warning)

Tecumseh - William to Bannatyne
c: 5 c: 2
p: 1 p: 1
r: 4 t: 1 (monetary)
no further vehicles on Tecumseh

Tecumseh - Bannatyne to McDermot
c: 4
r: 3
h: 1
no vehicles past this point.

Bannatyne - Dead End to Tecumseh
c: 20 c: 2
r: 13 r: 2
h: 6 - 2 with receipts
t: 1 (warning)

William - Arlington to Tecumseh (south side)
c: 1 c: 1
h: 1 r: 1

William - Tecumseh to Arlington (north side)
c: 2 c: 2
r: 2 r: 1 (expired)
n: 1

William - Tecumseh to Sherbrook (south side)
c: 22 c: 15
r: 19 r: 9
h: 3 - all with receipts n: 3
h: 3 - 2 no receipt

William - Sherbrook to Tecumseh (north side)
c: 19 c: 21
r: 17 r: 18
h: 2 - 1 no receipt (AB permit) n: 1
h: 2 no receipts
t: 1 -no park not in car count

McDermot - Sherbrook to Tecumseh
c: 28 c: 14
r: 20 r: 6
h: 3 no receipts (outside CancerCare) h: 3 - 2 no receipt
n: 3 n: 3
t: 2 t: 1

Olivia - McDermot to Dead End
c: 7 c: 1
r: 7 r: 1

Notre Dame - Pearl to Emily (north side)
c: 3 c: 2
r: 2 r: 2
n: 1 no further vehicles past this point
no further vehicles past this point

Notre Dame - Victor to McGee (south side)
c: 4 c: 3
r: 4 r: 3

Pearl - McDermot to Notre Dame
c: 8 c: 8
r: 7 r: 6
h: 1 with receipt n: 1
t: 1 (warning)
1 tag in loading zone not in car count

McDermot - Sherbrook to Furby
c: 5 c: 3
r: 3 p: 1
h: 2 r: 2

McDermot - Furby to Kate
c: 12 c: 1
r: 6 r: 1
n: 6
Note: 5 of the vehicles were waiting to pick up kids from the school

Kate - Bannatyne to McDermot
c: 4 c: 1
m: 4 special permit m: 1 special permit Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald House House

Kate - William to Bannatyne
0 vehicles c: 1
p: 1

Bannatyne - Kate to Lydia
0 vehicles c: 1
n: 1

Lydia - William to Bannatyne
0 vehicles c: 1
h: 1 no receipt

Bannatyne - Lydia to Furby
c: 8 c: 2
m: 1 r: 2
r: 5
n: 1
h: 1 no receipt

Bannatyne - Furby to Sherbrook
c: 8 c: 8
p: 1 r: 5
r: 5 n: 1
h: 2 - one with receipt t: 2 (one warning, one monetary)

Furby - William to Bannatyne
c: 5 c: 4
p: 1 p: 2
r: 3 r: 1
h: 1 - no receipt n: 1
no further vehicles past Bannatyne

Furby - Bannatyne to McDermot
c: 4
r: 3
h: 1 with receipt

Furby - McDermot to Notre Dame
c: 4
r: 4

A couple of troublesome areas:
* Furby from Bannatyne to McDermot is split by a backlane that leads to Sherbrook. There is no paystation on the North side of that backlane.

* On Tecumseh between Bannatyne and McDermot there is a backlane on the south side of that lane there is no paystation. If you were to speak to Judge Sundstrom he would tell you that a backlane constitutes a natural break in the road which means, the Parking Authority needs a paystation there. However, why throw good money after bad. Those stations are not making any money.

* William, Tecumseh, Winnipeg, Bannatyne, McDermot and McDermot from Sherbrook to Tecumseh used to be filled with cars. Now there is plenty of parking. The mobile crews used to handle most of those streets, would chalk them and would pick up a fair amount if they only did it once every few weeks. But now? Not so much.

* On Friday Apr. 9 I noted 5 no parking violations and 4 no stopping violations.
On Saturday Apr. 10 I noted 3 no parking, one no stop and 1 to close to a crosswalk violations. On neither of those days did I see an enforcement officer. I also saw minimal tickets.

For the Saturday tickets, mobile crews simply don't have time to handle meters. They have a huge area to play with not to mention checking all the parking lots and selective enforcements. No time. And why were some of the meter tickets warnings and others not?

But that's what I found.

PS - subsequent to this survey, Kim sent us this:

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter
Subject: Re: something I found on my morning walk
To: talk@kick.fm
Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 11:09 AM

Good Morning Marty

While I was on my morning walk I noted that

- The paystation by the Women's Pavillion (p/s 3286) has been repaired.
- The paystation on Lydia just north of Notre Dame (beside Frank Motors) HAS BEEN REMOVED.
- Yet, one block further away from HSC, on Kate, the pay to park system continues.

But I also found something interesting. On the North side of Notre Dame by Rebel Waltz Tattoo (873 Notre Dame) there are some signs that don't match. That area is a 1 hour time limited zone from 9-1530 mon-fri with arrows pointing east/west. Above those signs are the rush hour signs morning/afternoon again with arrows going east/west (No stopping 0700-0900 and 1530-1730 mon-fri).

Between 873 and 875 Notre Dame is a driveway that leads to a small parking lot as well as heading onto a backlane, but it's not a natural break in the roadway. The sign next to 875 reads:
No Parking 0700-0900 and 1530-1730 mon-fri with arrows pointing east/west.

Fifty feet to the west, the next sign reads parking 1 hour 0900-1730 mon-fri with arrows pointing east/west. (ed. note- in other words, the sign says it is OK to park until 5.30PM, or during rush hour)

The next sign with an arrow pointing east is another no stopping rush hour zone. The west pointing sign is a regular no stopping sign for the bus stop by 7 eleven.

I think last year when the Parking Authority wanted to put paystations in that area, but Harvey Smith stopped that from happening and the signs were eventually changed public works goofed up when replacing the signage.

Is it enforceable? That's a good question and one I'm not sure I can answer. If I were working the area I would be hesitant about tagging for the rush hour. Most of the officers if they notice it would radio a supervisor who MAY say go ahead and tag and tow for the rush hour zone and let a judge sort it out. The time limit zone is DEFINITELY NOT TAGGABELE as the signs don't match.

If someone did get tagged and towed for rush hour, not sure a judge would uphold the signage. Now public works put up the signs, but the p.a. enforces them. I don't know if they've told public works about the mix-up and I'm not sure how if any have been tagged in that area, it's not often people park there during rush hour, though from time to time it does happen.

Thanks Marty.
*******************

TGCTS GETS RESULTS:

via text May 25:

I've reported the problem to Dave Hill for prompt attention.

Coun. Jeff Browaty

Jets saga, WRHA secrecy, battle against Sherbrook bike lanes, Holiday Blog reading

A hodge-podge of thoughts and comments:

Isn't It Fun watching the mainstream media play catch-up...

For weeks on the Great Canadian Talk Show, Scott Taylor and I have been talking about the three groups or individuals involved in the alleged purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes: Chicago’s Jerry Reinsdorf (who is too smart to buy that dog and leave it in Phoenix), the under-financed dreamers from Ice Edge Holdings (who were looking for a bargain-basement price and nothing else) and the Mark Chipman-David Thomson duo (who really have become the apple of the NHL’s eye).

Now one of the local mainstream outlets determined that yes, indeed, Chipman was the third buyer on the scene.

Wow! Nice scoop, FP. Glad the Globe found a "document" for you. What ever happened to real reporting and the old adage, "get it first and get it right."

At the Great Canadian Talk Show we always seem to get it first and once again, we get it right.

Nice to see the local broadsheet caught up to the 'lesser media'.

*****************

On the other hand, the broadsheet hit paydirt with a Freedom of Information request that forced the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority to fork over the internal documentation about almost 900 "critical care" incidents in 2007 and 2008.

The WRHA tried every trick imaginable once they realized that Fortress Postl was not immune from FIPPA legislation. They tried

- the 30 day delay

- charging a fee in lieu of ruling that releasing the information was a public interest issue.

- stalled for 3 weeks after the $225 fee was paid

- attempted to claim there were problems with processing the request (whatever could THAT mean?) and offered to refund the fee, and refused to explain what was the problem until the Ombudsman was called

- claimed the "information contained in the privileged data application does not contain a complete account of the facts of what actually occurred with respect to the critical incident." (does this mean the WRHA was compiling incomplete accounts?)

- Ten Weeks AFTER "the Ombudsman found that the WRHA did not comply with the requirements for responding under FIPPA.", snottily replied they would do it -- just this once.

The reasons for the desperate attempt to sidestep the application was made obvious by the great work of reporter Jen Skerritt on the file.

She forced the WRHA to admit they had NOT REVIEWED the data and take steps to correct errors or systemic flaws that led to preventable deaths, such as 27 emergency room patients died because of delays in ER treatment, misdiagnosis of a brain bleed (shades of Gail Glesby), and bed shortages in ICU. Another 94 died due to equipment failure, diagnosis and medication errors and post-surgical complications.

The Free Press has asked for the 2009 data and was told that for the one year, the WRHA would charge $16, 905.

How could it only cost $225 for two years worth of data, but now it's almost $17,000 for a single year?

Well now... the blatant disregard for the rights of the applicant, the delays, the stalling, the ignoring requests for clarification, the demand for exorbitant fees, and the willfull violation of the Act?

THAT is the legacy of former Chief Executive Officer and, by coincidence, former Chief Privacy Officer ! -- Dr. Brian Postl.

The same man that is guiding the instruction of the doctors (and doctors who become administrators) of tomorrow at the University of Manitoba.

The same man who told CJOB that Skerritt's reporting into the Brown Envelope program was 'laughable'.

So funny, in fact, that the Provincial Auditor decided to investigate based on her story even though Postl claimed he had called the Auditor asking for a review of the policy - (Now THAT'S comical).

It appears this decision about whether to release information under FIPPA was based on paranoia that the region would be unfairly criticized, and the stability of their political benefactors (ie Health Minister Theresa Oswald who called Postl "courageous" in defence of his Brown Envelope scandal behavior) would suffer as a result.

Perhaps if the Act had teeth-- like criminal charges for obstructing access to public interest documents and reports like, say, how many people were DYING perhaps unnecessarily in hospitals on Postl's watch - the bureaucracies of this province such as the WRHA would show some respect for the people's right to know, instead of contempt.
***************

Here is the Sherbrook Street bike lane update we broadcast this week:

From: Belinda Squance, Ellice Cafe
Subject: Update
To: "'Marty"
Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 3:46 PM

Sigh.

I met with Harvey Smith and Kevin Nixon yesterday. I am slightly more frustrated than before the meeting.

One piece of information I did get out of Kevin was the purpose of this proposed route. Apparently the AT route is being planned for Sherbrook for the sake of HSC staff. The hope is to get them out of cars and on to bikes.

I told him I have not met a single cyclist who supports this plan. The ‘true’ cyclists say bike lanes make cycling more dangerous. Most say they are either fine with Sherbrook as it is or they won’t start riding on Sherbrook if the bike lane is put in place.

Kevin also said he has photos over the course of two weeks showing that not all parking is taken up on the east side of Sherbrook. I said the west side is full by 7 am when I walk to work.

He suggested maybe putting in meters and having two hour paid parking to ease that problem.

When I went around to businesses in the area yesterday they are ALL against this plan. I also have some regular customers who own apartments/rooming houses on Sherbrook between Ellice and Sargent.

One only heard about this plan when I told him yesterday.

I have phoned and left a message with Glen Laubenstein as well. I have yet to hear back from his office about when we can meet.

Harvey is going to try and get us on the agenda to speak at a Public Works meeting May 25. This is our first avenue (according to Kevin) to put a halt to this part of the project.

He said he can not change any of the plan and Sherbrook has to go ahead with the rest of the whole AT plan.

We suggested they use Langside instead as it has controlled crossings at Portage and Ellice already. The City would just have to put in a cross walk at Sargent. He seemed unmoveable on the whole issue. He did not believe removing parking would have any negative impact on the area. He didn’t come into the meeting with a bike helmet. I am guessing he drove. I could be wrong but he does not seem like the guy to be heading this project.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks!
A very tired,

Belinda

******************
* Last week we held another Live Remote from CDI College at 280 Main Street and we were joined by Barrett Fraser of 360Winnipeg.ca for his Tuesday "New Media Perspectives" commentary. The staff and students are always so welcoming when we visit and we are proud to be sponsored by CDI.

With Graduation coming up on June 5th at Know United Church, we'll have Campus Director Tahl East on the show again that week to tell us about the preparations for the ceremony -- which will include an address to the gathering by Mayor Sam Katz.

* This past Thursday night we watched the end of the wrestling career of Priceless Chad Tatum of Brandon, who gave it his all in a challenge to the PCW champion, the World's Own Kenny Omega at Highway to Hell. The crowd at Dylan's on Pembina thrilled at the battle with the international star until a series of german suplexes rendered Tatum hors de combat.

Tatum was part of a crop of rural athletes, including his former partner Rawskillz and the master of the midriff clamp Mike Angels, who broke into the game in 1999 and drove the long miles from Western Manitoba to prove themselves ring-worthy. They were the next generation of beyond-the-perimeter warriors, sweating and straining to learn and hone their craft as had Chi Chi Cruz and Eddie Watts in the 1980's.

Outside of the ring, Chad is a soft-spoken and good-natured man who has a wonderful career in teaching, a beautiful girlfriend and a baby on the way. Best of luck to Chad as he follows Average Joe Dixon into the roll call of past PCW competitors.

* Blogs to read this long weekend include:

1) All about the state of Downtown and the Exchange District with special emphasis on parking issues and some illuminating pictures, http://progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-two-four-weekender-special.html

2) More about downtown with the emphasis on the Downtown Biz' failed spin about their safety poll, and the failure of Portage Place with some neat video : http://slurpeesandmurder.blogspot.com/2010/05/portage-place-coming-alive-but-not.html

3) Why, contrary to what Judge Ray Wyant says, the media is not the cause of public dissatisfaction with the court system, it's his fellow gavel-bangers:
http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2010/05/case-to-elect-judges-exhibit.html

4) And of course, Rick the Boss' favorite photographic archive by the fabulous Bryan Scott
http://www.winnipeglovehate.com/

*****************
VICTORIA DAY MONDAY REPLAY: THE RETURN OF JOHN COLLISON from April 12th
TGCTS is back with live broadcasts Tuesday, May 25 at 4 PM!

Manitoba Day crowd told Friends of Upper Fort Garry seizing Assiniboine Avenue for their pet project

Today, at the site of the taxpayer-subsidized provincial park that will form the new backyard of the Manitoba Club, residents of nearby apartment buildings and other citizens were shocked to learn that the greed of the Friends of Upper Fort Garry (57% controlled by the Club) knows no bounds.

"They're crazy" said Tom, a senior citizen whose apartment overlooks the site. He spoke to TGCTS after attending the Manitoba Day tent display of the plans the entitled class have for the neighbourhood.

"Your flyer is 100% right, they don't care about us, they want everything for themselves. Take away parking?? We already have city employees with those damn parking permits taking up all the street spots. Fort Street is already congested half the time. Now they want to make it worse!"

A model of the site does not even pretend to hide their shameless sense of entitlement.

It showed Assiniboine Avenue completely closed off to east-west traffic, with parking removed, and eastbound vehicles to be forced down Fort Street and to Broadway.

When other attendees left the tent, saw our flyer, and learned that if traffic is forced off Assiniboine and onto Broadway via Main or Fort, the city of Winnipeg's own traffic engineers admit the intersection (currently a 'C') would score an "F"- would FLUNK the traffic flow standard -- they were outraged.

"How can they do this? My son's (downtown) business relies on deliveries being on time", said Evelyn, who also expressed concern that the Manitoba Club has not contributed a dime to the project yet can afford a $7 Million mortgage. "They should be ashamed of themselves for this idea".

Her friend Isabel, who also attended the tent event stated "this smelled like a big sales job, now I know why."

In an exclusive interview with Kim our Traffic Reporter, FUFG vision guy Garry Hilderman, a landscape architect, demonstrated his continuing contempt for the families and taxpaying citizens of this city.

Two years ago, at a fundraising luncheon for Heritage Winnipeg held at Hotel Fort Garry on March 28, 2008, urban blogger Rob Galston reported

"Speaking against the proposed apartment building Mr. Hilderman speculated that not only would the smell of barbeques emit from the balconies, but so would the sounds of tenants yelling at their kids."

Today, Hilderman insulted non-millionaire Winnipeggers even further, dismissing that idea that working people's or city traffic engineers concerns matter in the least, when compared to the need of the Friends to engage in social engineering for their pet project to succeed.

From: Kim The Traffic reporter
To: talk @ kick.fm

"Garry Hilderman, who sits on the board of directors for the FUFG said that "right now there are no plans to close down Assiniboine at Fort". Hildebrand went on to say those plans will be in the future.

Hilderman also said that they want to make the area safe because of all the school kids that will be coming to the park, the kids would have to cross the street back and forth to Bonnycastle Park.

He also said:
-they were in talks with the city - Planning and Property - about closing Assiniboine

-they were also in talks with the Active Transportation people as well

-there will be NO parking along Assiniboine between Fort and Main

-wants to make the area "pedestrian friendly"

-thinks more people should get out of their cars

-the FUFG will be in control of the park but the Forks will take care of the day to day management of the park

Hilderman thinks that Assiniboine should be closed down, saying that at rush hour the only way people can get onto Assiniboine from Main ( meaning from St. Boniface) was to wait for a pedestrian to cross.

He also said that if people at Broadway have to wait an additional 30 seconds so what?

He also indicated that people shouldn't be cutting through Assiniboine they should be using Broadway. "

Hilderman and the Friends -- who have no concept of how long turns at the intersection of Main and Broadway will take if it becomes an "F" and how it will affect businesses, families, transit riders, etc, also do not realize that neither Mayor Katz nor the Downtown Biz knew of, or support, their plan to take over Assiniboine Avenue, which lies outside the legal boundaries of the provincial park gifted to them by former premier Gary Doer.
************

*Related post * http://anybody-want-a-peanut.blogspot.com/2010/05/ufg-unveiling.html

"I overheard the Friend that was manning this post say to a lady that the intersection of Main and Assiniboine is very dangerous, and may be closed off. "So the plan is to close off Assiniboine?" I ask. "No, no that's not in the plan right now" he assures me...."

"What's happening with Assiniboine?" I ask the Friend who's in charge of this display, "It looks like it just kind of disappears." "Yes, it gets closed off and the traffic will be routed up Fort Street" he tells me, "but that won't happen for several years" he says, obviously sensitive to the fact that some people drive cars and may not like seeing a street closed off...

Whichever way you look at it, you ought to keep in mind the cost: the lost vitality and safety that would have come from having more people living downtown, the property taxes that we had to forgo, the direct contributions by the various governments, and the indirect contributions in the form of donations from crown corporations and tax-payer funded organizations.

All of these costs were forced on us by a small handful of privileged people. There was no consultation about doing this. Just a PR campaign to get the government on their side. Two years later: "here you go ... this is what you're getting."

ALSO RELATED: http://drunkenrantsofthemonkey.blogspot.com/2010/05/idiocy-of-city-of-winnipegread-active.html

Not only will closing Assiniboine create a traffic snarl of EPIC proportions, the resulting snarl will make my job nearly impossible to do considering I deliver and pick up at many businesses along Assiniboine AND Fort. I can see one thing happening if this were to come to fruition, many businesses will either go under or move to a completely different area of the city, creating a black hole in the core......I'm sorry, ANOTHER black hole in the core.

Despite North End Poverty, Gangs, Potholes, Governments Choosing to Spending over $2 Million on -- Bicycle Paths

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter
To: talk@kick.fm

I arrived at the North End Bikeway System Workshop taking place at 200 Powers (William Whyte School) at about 4:45pm on Tuesday May 4th.

At that time one of the consultants was placing signs on the front doors of the school regarding the open house, the signs were standard sizes of paper, one of the signs had an arrow pointing north. The entrance to the event was on the side of the building, entering in through the receiving doors. Rounding the corner, I took note of standard size paper with the usual notice of the open house.

(by the way Marty this is for you, Bill Woroby..in jest said he was feeling neglected because you hadn't mentioned his name for a few days..lol..sorry I had to tell you.)

According to the Active Transportation website, the workshop was supposed to follow a schedule. This however was not the case as there were enough consultants on hand to deal with any questions. There were six consultants available along with Bill Woroby and Kevin Nixon from the City. The number of people attending the event was 22.

Most of the people attending were cyclists and many of the comments did seem positive, though the turnout for this event was low, the consultants did say that approximately 50 people turned out for the previous open house which took place April 15/10.

However, there was a mix-up regarding the location for the open house that day which due to the efforts of Marty Gold and the The Great Canadian Talk Show another open house was scheduled.

The plans for the streets which have been targeted for the Active Transportation routes are at this point not finalized. Those attending the open house received an evaluation sheet for these streets, included on these sheets was the option of "no change". Meaning that the residents are able to opt for no changes.

The streets dealt with in this open house are as follows:

Main St.:
Beginning at Main and Sutherland heading Southbound towards downtown AT is looking at a shared sidewalk/multi-use path to Higgins. The consultants did say that the sidewalk was wide enough to support this.

The path then will run from Higgins to Princess.

From Princess to Logan a bike lane is proposed.

King St. from:
Flora to Dufferin - sharrows are planned with no loss of parking, a four way stop with curb extensions are also planned at Flora. Curb extension are planned for the crosswalk at David Livingstone School as well as a four-way stop and curb extensions at King and Dufferin.

Dufferin to Sutherland:
A bike lane is planned with no loss of parking

At the moment Main St. will be the connector for these routes to downtown, however, a future plan may include either a bridge over the CP mainline or an underpass on Maple St.. The consultants for the project did say that the cost for both projects would be "prohibitive" and "a huge cost". Also a problem with a bridge over CP would involve restrictions from Transport Canada.

On Sutherland from King to Main a bike lane is planned with no loss of parking.

An option being provided is Stella Walk from King to Charles. This area is a backlane which is not open to most traffic, though trucks including fire trucks would have access. The area is currently chained off and is already in use.

Charles will be a bike boulevard:
Will see no loss of parking and no diversions although with traffic calming circles one or two parking spots may be affected.

Flora to Selkirk - may see a multi-use path (though at the moment it is "potential")

At Pritchard the options are a raised intersection or a traffic calming circle.

Flora will become a bike boulevard with little (due to traffic circles) to no loss of parking.
@Charles: raised intersection
@Powers: either a raised intersection or traffic circle
@Andrews: a flip stop sign
@McKenzie: either a raised intersection or traffic circle
@Parr: either a: flip stop sign, raised intersection or traffic circle
@Arlington: either a median refuge or forced right turn/median refuge

-a median refuge is a median built into the roadway allowing cyclists to stop in the center of the road, then proceeding when safe to do so.
-a forced right turn median forces traffic to turn right at the median

Pritchard from Main to Keewatin will become a bike boulevard and only affected intersections will be mentioned.
@Aikins: either a flip stop sign or raised intersection
@Salter: either a forced right median refuge or median refuge
@Powers: raised intersection or traffic circle
@Andrews: Flip stop sign

Traffic counts on McGregor at Pritchard are:
Northbound: AM 291 PM 812 AADT (average annual daily total) 5435
Southbound: AM 769 PM 404 AADT 5865
there are no planned measures here

@McKenzie: raised intersection or traffic circle

Traffic counts on Pritchard from McKenzie to Parr:
Westbound: AM 29 PM 43 (no AADT)
Eastbound: AM 24 PM 34 (no AADT)
@Parr: flip stop sign or traffic circle

Traffic counts on Pritchard from Parr to Arlington:
Westbound: AM 18 PM 24 (no AADT)
Eastbound: AM 20 PM 28 (no AADT)

@Arlington: either forced right median refuge or median refuge
Traffic counts on Arlington at Pritchard:
Northbound: AM 457 PM 1148 AADT 8404
Southbound: AM 925 PM 553 AADT 7596

@Battery: either a flip stop sign or curb extensions or traffic circle
@McPhillips: forced right median refuge or median refuge
Traffic counts for McPhillips at Pritchard:
Northbound: AM 1050 PM 2010 AADT 21379
Southbound: AM 1825 PM 1472 AADT 20898

@McNichol: either a raised intersection or curb extensions or traffic circle
@Shaughnessy: stop signs will be converted to a two-way stop

At this point the bike boulevard will move to Sheppard to Railway St and onto Manitoba. At Manitoba and Chudley there could be curb extensions.

Machray from Main to Fife will become a bike boulevard.
@Aikens: raised intersection or traffic circle
@Powers: raised intersection or traffic circle
@Andrews: raised intersection
@McKenzie: raised intersection or traffic circle
@Arlington: median refuge or forced right median refuge
at this point the bike boulevard shifts to Sinclair to Cathedral to Cairnsmore back to Machray.
@Airlies: raised intersection or traffic circle

Traffic counts on Machray from Cairnsmore to Airlies:
Westbound: AM 14 PM 13 No AADT
Eastbound: AM 6 PM 20 No AADT

Traffic counts from Airlies to Robertson (on Machray)
Westbound: AM 11 PM 19 No AADT
Eastbound: AM 9 PM 32 No AADT

Traffic counts from McPhillips to Fife:
Westbound: AM 11 PM 19 No AADT
Eastbound: AM 19 PM 32 No AADT
the bike boulevard will continue onto Fife

Church from Fife to Keewatin will be a bike lane with no loss of parking or diversions.

THE COST?
The Charles/Flora bike paths are listed at $60, 000.00

Machray bike boulevard (Main-Keewatin) listed at $900,000.00

Pritchard bike boulevard (Main-Keewatin) listed at $900,000.00

Grand total listed is at $2,040,000.00.

Note: The project for Powers St. (below) is not part of the Federal Stimulus Fund.
**********************

Powers from Sutherland to Leila will be a bike boulevard
@Jarvis: flip stop sign
@Stella: curb extensions
@Selkirk: a future plan is to add a multi-use pathway connection at the park
@Pritchard: raised intersection or traffic circle
@Burrows: forced right median refuge or median refuge

Traffic counts on Powers from Boyd to College:
Northbound: AM 11 PM 28 AADT 333
Southbound: AM 17 PM 27 AADT 351

Traffic counts on Mountain between Powers and Andrews:
Westbound: AM 417 PM 466 AADT 6028
Eastbound: AM 365 PM 989 AADT 6114

@Mountain: either curb extensions or forced right median refuge or median refuge
@Anderson: either curb extensions or traffic circle or raised intersection
@Church: raised intersection or traffic circle
@Machray: raised intersection or traffic circle

Traffic counts on Powers between Atlantic and Polson:
Northbound: AM 13 PM 32 AADT 304
Southbound: AM 15 PM 29 AADT 255
Powers from Polson to Inkster:
Northbound: AM 28 PM 46 AADT 436
Southbound: AM 7 PM 14 AADT 204

Traffic counts on Inkster from Powers to Andrews:
Westbound: AM 482 PM 448 AADT 5793
Eastbound: AM 383 PM 632 AADT 7657

@Inkster: forced right median refuge or median refuge
@Smithfield: convert from a 4way stop to a 2way stop
@Rupertsland: traffic circle or raised intersection
@Enniskillen: convert 4way stop to a 2way stop
@Hartford: traffic calming measures are considered, unknown what form they will take due to complaints of residents about speeding in the area.

Traffic counts on Powers from Partridge to Leila:
Northbound: AM 17 PM 63 No AADT
Southbound: 13 PM 25 No AADT

Complaints were made regarding speeding at Hartford, but there were also complaints made regarding Powers at Partridge because of obstructed views by vehicles and the bus shelter.

The project for Powers is not part of the Federal Stimulus Fund. The North Winnipeg Commuter Cyclists in 2007 began the project for Powers, offically being designated as an Active Transportation route in 2008.

In 2009 $145,000.00 was set aside for the Powers route, this however came from the Disraeli Project, but with the project delayed, the money for the Powers project has been tied up.

The idea was to alleviate bicycle traffic on Main Street by building the Powers Street bike path.

When asked what the cost would be to build the Powers bike path, Kevin Nixon was unable to provide a figure saying "it's in a design phase" and that there is "no urgency to build". Nixon went on to say that it is easier to do consultations along with the other projects. Money will be spent where Powers intersects with other AT projects in the area.

Kevin Nixon went on to say that they (ATAC) is looking at putting some of the money from other projects (such as the now defunct Omand's Creek Bridge) into Powers St., but can only be the 1/3 provided for in the stimulus package by the City. Nixon said that the Federal and Provinical Governments were clear on what could be done with the portions of money coming from those sectors.

Nixon went on to say that "ATAC sole purpose is to advise the Director of Public Works" and that the individuals on the committee may not advocate for any particular project, though the organizations represented on the committee may do so.

One member of the North Winnipeg Commuter Cyclists, Nona said that their area had the highest number of cyclists which is in part due to the high number of economically disadvantaged people. She went on to say that they "need a safe transportation corridor", further saying the North End needed a safe route to downtown.

Though this event had a low turnout, this project did seem to be one of the least controversial of all the projects planned. In fact, those who attended were pleased, however the one major complaint from most people was the condition of the roads. Potholes at intersections will be repaired, but no other road repairs will be made.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim's thoughts:

One of my concerns for these projects are the forced turns onto streets like McPhillips and Arlington which already see larger amounts of traffic. Particularly McPhillips.

Having to make a right turn and then find a way to pull a U-Turn during rush hour traffic is not something I'd want to do.

Once again I think the majority is being sacrificed for the minority.

Another concern would be safety. This is not a good area of the city. Until the gangs and criminal elements are cleaned up, not sure how safe riding these routes are going to be.

It's a good thing to put in bike paths, cyclists share the road..that's understood. But I would rather see traffic lights utilized more in these plans. I think traffic devices are a safer way to travel even though the cyclists have to stop. But then so does vehicular traffic.

The idea of trying to cross McPhillips even with a median refuge is not one I'd contemplate at all.

I do have to say this about the North Winnipeg Commuter Cyclists, they are passionate about what they want to do. I understand what they want to achieve and agree with it, in this case it's not a matter of trying to ram their ideology down someone's throat (which I've seen from some other cyclists), instead they are looking to teach the kids in their neighbourhoods about safety, about life lessons and so much more which is a good thing to do.

Parking Authority driving out businesses and residents of core area

Here are our latest findings about the WPA and how yet another struggling neighborhood is being gouged and treated with no respect.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter

To: Talk@kick.fm

hello marty;

On April 22/10 I did a little walkabout in the Exchange area, this is what I found:

Start: 12.10 Finish: 2.45pm

Around the Salvation Army I found Main St. was the only area with meters. Maple, Henry, Austin and Henry East of Main St. remained a time limited zone.

The WRHA building is right across the street from the Salvation Army. There are no meters on Higgins.

Looked at Union Gospel Mission on Princess between Higgens and Henry. There are 2 paystations, one on the east, one on the west side. According to Greg Stetski the Executive Director of the Mission there had never been a parking problem. Mr. Stetski said that "most of the people who come here are don't have any money for a car". The area up until late summer or early fall of 2009 had been a time limited area.

The Parking Authority did tell Union Gospel Mission the paystations were put in because of the WRHA building and that they (p.a) didn't know what the parking patterns will be, that the Mission could potentially have vehicles parked in front of their building. Mr. Stetski was told that "the parking authority would re-evaluate to see if the paystations are needed".

Union Gospel Mission does have a small parking lot, the P.A.. provided 10 special permits for on-street parking.

According to Mr. Stetski there has been no change in parking around the Mission, doesn't understand why the paystations were needed and would prefer the paystations not be there. No hint of a potential hike in parking rates was ever mentioned.

At the time I was in the area, no cars were parked. Cost of machines $30 000.00

Siloam Mission is next door to Union Gospel, at the time I was in the area Siloam was serving lunch. I did note that on the East side of Princess there was one paystation, in front of Siloam were time limited loading zones. Cost of machine $15 000.00, one vehicle was parked.
****************

Street by street analysis

Definitions:
c: vehicles
m: permits
p/s: paystations
n: nothing..no reciept, no permits..possible for pay by phone
h: handicap

Henry:
Dead End (near Main St.) to King
c: 2
m: 1 special permit
p/s: 1 (15 000)

Princess to King
c: 0
p/s: 1 (15 000) number 4923 not functioning

Princess to Stanley
c: 0
p/s: 1 (15g)
Businesses complaining about paystations. Couriers and delivery trucks are being ticketed, there is no loading zone available for use. By-law 6547/95 10(d) allows for duly lic. commercial vehicles to load/unload if no lane to serve the property.

Stanley to Lizzie
c: 0
p/s:1 (15g)

Lizzie to Fountain
c: 3
n: 2
m: 1
p/s: 1 (15g)

Past Fountain Henry becomes a limited time zone. One sign on each block, no connecting signs to indicate the start or finish of the zone. Enforcement would be "iffy".

Stanley:
Higgens to Henry
c: 3
n: 2
p/s: 2 (30g)

Henry to Logan
c: 0
p/s: 2 (30g

Fountain:
Logan to Alexander
c: 2
n: 1
h: 1 no receipt
p/s: 2 (30g)
Restaurant (Cheers) was told meters placed because of WRHA building on Main St., complaints to the parking authority were not adequately addressed and or ignored. See below for more notes (Marty this is one place for a good meal. Cleanest restaurant I've seen in a long time..food was really good and the highest praise..good coffee).

Ellen:
Logan to Alexander
c: 1
m: 1
p/s: 1 (15g)
Street appears to be broken by a back lane or alley

Ellen, Alexander to Pacific
c: 0
p/s: 1 (15g)
NO SIGNAGE AT ALL. Meter 4907 is NOT functional. Area is NOT enforceable.

Ellen, Pacific to Ross
c: 1
h: 1 no receipt
p/s: 1 (15g)

Ross to Elgin
c: 4
m: 3
p/s: 1 (15g)

Alexander:
King to Ellen
c: 3
p/s: 4 (60g)
no metered spaces west of Ellen

Logan:
King to Fountain
c: 0
p/s: 8 (120g)

Pacific:
Princess to Paulin
c: 4
n: 2
p/s: 1 (15g's)

Paulin to Ellen
c: 0
p/s: 2 (30g's)
Two signs indicate 2h 9-1730 m-s, one sign closer to Ellen by meter 4942 indicates 1h 9-1730 m-f.

This area is not taggable. Signs are not compatible.

Ross:
Princess to Ellen
c: 3
p/s: 3 (45g)
Signs read 12h m-s. This is a 24 hour a day sign.

Note from MARTY:
THIS STREET IS UNDER A 24 HOUR PAY THE WPA REGIME -- INCLUDING SUNDAYS. That's right, they pay on Sundays.

HOWEVER -- THE CITY BYLAW PROHIBITS CHARGING A FEE FOR PARKING AT THOSE TIMES/DAYS.

I HAVE 2 RECEIPTS, AS SEEN BY COUN. BROWATY, THAT THE RESIDENTS OF 300 BLOCK ROSS AVENUE PAY TO PARK IN FRONT OF THEIR HOMES AFTER 5.30 PM AND UNTIL 9 AM, AND ALL DAY ON SUNDAYS TOO.

THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED IN THE CITY -- AND THE RESIDENTS WERE NEVER CONSULTED.

William:
Princess to Ellen
c: 2
p/s: 5 (75g)

Note residents indicated that paystations on Pacific and Ross were due to the students parking all day from Red River College.

Marty's Note to councillors: the block immediately west of RRC, in front of Foon Hai chinese restaurant, has an inexplicable 2 hour limit, that applies all the way overnight until 7 AM. There is NO logic for this restriction.

KIM's totals:

Total cost of paystations for the streets covered 'LOGAN AREA': $615, 000.00.

Total cost of paystations for streets covered East (report to be filed) and West side of Main:
$1 0005 000.00.

Total number of vehicles counted on streets covered -- West side of main: 30

Kim's NOTES:

* Sun Chemical: Located on Henry between Princess and Stanley

I was told this paystation is inconvenient, hurts business because his delivery vehicles have no place to unload the couriers and their 5 ton truck. They keep getting tickets for unloading. Nobody parks there anymore though the enforcement staff do come around.

Last year it would seem that the bike patrol was in the area.

* Cheers Restaurant, Corner of Logan and Fountain.

Was told that they signed a petition to have the paystations removed. They contacted the parking authority, emailed Dave Hill as well as their councillor Mike Paktighan. The replies were sent through the councillor. According to Peter the son of the owner, the letters were uninformative almost like a form letter.

They did not address the issues but instead spoke of Logan not Fountain.

Peter sent a final email and has had no response. Peter was told the paystations were put in because of the WRHA building which is on Main St.

Fountain is located nearer to Isabel.

The owner told me that residents are now starting to park their cars on her parking lot which is causing a problem for her customers. She told me that some of the businesses on Logan are experiencing some difficulties because people don't come to them anymore, they don't want to pay for the parking. I was also told that 3 people moved off Fountain because they didn't have anywhere to park.

Because the restaurant is seeing vehicles that don't belong they are afraid they could lose business because their customers won't pay for parking and they are having to ask people to move off the lot.

Contact:

Peter Kavadas (son of the owner)

ALSO

From: Captain Audio

Re: comments from Sun chemical and Cheers Restaurant no included in count

To: Talk@kick.fm

Date: Thursday, April 29, 2010, 2:37 PM

I stopped in to Cheers restaurant today. Peter echoed his comments he made to Kim. Some other points he made to me...

•He estimates the restaurant is losing $350 per day

•City/hydro workers etc. that used to come for lunch, now don't because they can't park oversized vehicles in the lot and the street ain't free no more.

•He talked to the PA about neighbourhood people using his lot. PA told him "monitor your lot"

•Peter's Mom spoke of a Senior on Ellen who would get meals delivered to her house. The Mom says the Senior is having trouble getting volunteers to come because of the parking machines.

•Back lanes are now packed with cars trying to avoid paying (what if there's an emergency?)

•I saw a PA guy sitting in his car on Ellen. Seemingly waiting for someone to park on street without paying.

•I saw no cars parked on Fountain between Logan and Alexander. Two Vehicles on same stretch of Ellen. Both seemed to have a pass of some kind. Lots of revenue there, jesus!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thursday at 4 PM:
- Coun. Jeff Browaty responds to these issues AND and he will explain how he saw proof that the WPA's mobile "spy camera" technology is issuing improper overtime parking tickets;
plus
- Barrett Fraser of 360 Winnipeg.ca with "New Media Perspectives" at 4.10 ,and
- 'That Wine Guy', Campbell Alexander, joins us at 5.25.

and for our blog readers, as a special bonus, the first person to email talk@kick.fm in response to this post will win a copy of the beautiful book RETROPEG, the 1970's pictorial essay about Winnipeg, AND a copy of 92.9 Kick-FM's compilation of local music CD, HomeSpun2.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

Mayor Katz issues statement on death of longtime Charleswood Coun. Bill Clement

Original Message -----
From: Salyn, Brad
Sent: Mon May 03 21:43:42 2010
Subject: Statement from Mayor Katz

"It is with great sadness and deep sorrow that I am to inform all Winnipeggers of the passing of Charleswood - Tuxedo City Councillor Bill Clement. Bill ultimately lost a hard fought battle with cancer.

We will miss Bill's passion, dedication, and knowledge who as a councillor always represented the citizens of Charleswood - Tuxedo and Winnipeg with integrity and wisdom.

On behalf of my colleagues on council, we pray for his family during this difficult time. Funeral details will follow."

Listeners emails about Katz vs Judy, city "communications", CMHR stomps on boneyard, NDP soft on criminals, and kudos for Kiniski

From our bag o'email:

Sam vs Judy and Sharon

To: talk@kick.fm

Its a good day for democracy in Winnipeg - Judy is supposed to finally make official her intention to run against Mayor Sam. As much as I like mayor Sam, I don't think its healthy for an incumbent to be unapposed at the polls.

THe really good news for Mayor Sam is that Judy has picked Sharon Carstairs to run her campaign. Sharon comes to the position with a wealth of experience in losing elections. In fact, if the popularity of the NDP under Howard Pawley had not totally imploded, paving the way for a temporary two and a half party system in Manitoba, she would have been yet another "unknown voice" of liberals in the province, rather than the "lone voice" that she became.

One thing really bugs me though: Judy will resign from federal politics to run for office, just like Kevin Lameroux will resign from provincial politics before he runs for Judy's seat. That's fair.

But for the duration of the campaign, will Sharon Carstairs continue to draw her salary as a senator while she concentrates on the full time job of running Judy's campaign? If Sharon continue's to draw a paycheque from the public coffers, does that count as a donation to Judy's campaign? As a senator, can Sharon take an un-paid leave of absence?

As a tax payer - one of several million who actually pay Carstairs salary as an unelected official till she turns 75, I say this: Get your ass back to Ottawa and DO YOUR JOB. If you want to play in politics again, RESIGN YOUR SEAT in the Senate. While you are employed on MY dime, I expect you to work for the nation, not just for one person.

HP
*****************

The quality of civic consultation is gar-bage.

Mr. Gold,
Hey, we got our brand new brochure today about the Disraeli project update.
And once again the City toots its horn about using the special Stakeholder Advisory Committee to justify all the new add-ons like the stand-alone bike bridge, and now a new "art gallery" under the overpass near Higgins Avenue it seems. But unfortunately their Information Open Houses only run 3 hours each and both run right through rush hour. Thank you City Hall for that one.

I dug through my ever-growing Disraeli file and the last time the City held "public" open houses for this project ( April/May 2008) there were 3 such events with much more convenient times:

--Norquay CC 2-8 PM
--MTS Centre 11AM-4PM
--Good Neighbours Senior Centre 11AM-4PM
So in effect they've cut out 10 hours of public input for this project compared to 2008.
Hello City Hall, why is the general public being short-changed on these new open houses?
For $200 Million we deserve better than this crap.
Livid in SPD

and...

Marty,

That's great that the city posts updates on open houses on its' website - but what about folks who live in lower income areas such as the north end,
or areas where there are a lot of seniors and elderly folks who may not have computers or access to computers .....so website updates are completely
useless to those residents. Good thing the flyers are delivered....albeit after the fact.

OL

and...

Hey Marty,

Here's a fun piece of garbage bin information:

Last week I got home from work to my back-alley driveway, and noticed that the automated garbage truck had left the lid of my garbage bin open after depositing it back on the alley-side. I thought, "Gee, that will be a pain when it's raining or snowing." As I went to close the lid, I saw printed clearly on the inside (paraphrased from memory), "FOR YOUR SAFETY, KEEP LID CLOSED AT ALL TIMES."

Thanks for endangering my safety, City of Winnipeg!

Citizen Programmer.

*************
Gail Asper can't handle the truth

Hi Marty,
The previous message was sent quickly as I was trying to send it to you
before you got off the air. I was probably to late. Anyway, I was
driving home today when I noticed that there is a carnival set up on the
old Aboriginal Graveyard at The Forks.

Just when I think I can take abreak on the issue of the graveyard, I see this and it brings back into focus that people need to be aware of its existance. The Forks
Foundation and The Canadian Human Rights Museum would like us to forget
it.

They ignore the bones of the dead and continue to insult the
Aboriginal people.

I believe more than ever that the only way the facts will come to light is when I write a book to show the truth.

Your show seems to be the only light in this darkness. Thank God for
people like you and programs like The Great Canadian Talk Show. At
least with you the truth is something that isn't inconvenient.

David Carriere
*****************
: NDP Immigration policy hurting small rural businesses

The obvious question that needed to be asked and answered when Bill 22 was proposed was:

"Of the some 10,000 immigrants who come to Manitoba on an annual basis what was the average size of the business who employed them? Moreover, what is the capacity or willingness of these businesses to "absorb" the $8,000-$12,000 cost" associated with this Bill?"

Keep in mind these costs are over and above the typical start up costs associated with new hires (ie EI, training, CPP, etc.).

The full impact of Bill 22 will come to light when the immigrants who are grandfathered are processed through and then the business communioty will have to absorb these costs.

Not every company is a Maple Leaf with the capacity to front these costs. Lots are small to medium sized business.

YF
**************
24 breaches not a pattern worthy of calling cops = dead cabbie

Mr G;

I read Tom’s article today and I’m stunned to read what our “Honourable” Justice Minister has to say about breaching probation.

“It’s the best advice of the department that the actual number of breaches is not really indicative of how well the system is working,” Justice Minister Swan said during a recent legislative committee meeting.

“What is far more important is the relationship each probation officer has with the offender and how that individual probation officer is able to encourage that person to comply with their conditions of being out in the community,” Swan said

And to think this joker wanted to be our Premier?? IS he completely out of his mind?

Is probation not a condition of a sentence that someone receives after being put in front of a judge?? I have no idea how this makes sense to anyone. You are told you are on probation for a crime you committed, and there are stipulations to what that probations deters you from doing. You are told if you violate this probation you will go to jail, and our “experienced” probation officers refuse to call the cops when probations are breached????

Then you have a Minister of Justice in a Province that ranks first in Canada amongst car thefts and murder tell the public breaching probations for car theft is not a big deal?????

Is this not like saying we really don’t care how many times prisoners break out of jail, we are really more concerned with how their relationship with their prison guard is, so that we can encourage them to stay in jail.

I think what is really going on here is that the proverbial “ fit has hit the shan” and these clowns do not know how to handle it. They are pulling a Les Nesman from WKRP and yanking out the radio warning for when the Germans are invading so he can tell Cincinnati about the tornado that is about to hit the city.

It’s insane and really it shows that they simply do not care about public safety. Well I for one am done. From now on, I will tell anyone and everyone who wants to listen that I am not voting for the NDP in any shape or form come the next election. When they ask why, it’s as simple as me telling them, they don’t care about keeping us safe anymore.

They aren’t unable to do it, they don’t care if it gets done or not.

This kind of nonchalant attitude about a kid who breached his probation 18 times in 6 weeks which ultimately lead to the death of Tony Lanzolotti is atrocious. The simple fact is that had the probation officer just one time called the cops on this kid, just one single little time, Tony Lanzolotti most likely would be alive today. So basically if the probation officer had done the FRIGGIN job, we wouldn’t have someone DEAD!!!!!

Instead of saying we need to review our policies, not admitting guilt like they never do, just simply saying they had to review their policies, would have most likely got them off the hook for the time being until they could figure it out, but no, Andrew Swan actually suggests that breaching probation is not something that matters to them. What matters more is how well the criminal and the probation officer get along.

How’s this for simple, Andrew Swan should either be told he has to resign or be fired. I really don’t know how we have any room in our government or patience in the public to listen to our JUSTICE MINSTER, they guy who’s ONLY job is to care about the safety of the tax payers of this province, say out loud that he doesn’t think criminals breaching probation is a big deal.

If he has issues with the way probations are handed out, then he’s the Justice Minister and he should have the balls to stand up in the Legislature and propose lightening the restrictions on probation. If he has the guts then face the Legislature, not that he would have any serious opposition to pushing through the changes, since the NDP will put anything through that their party wants to do. They are all sheep.

Instead he tells criminals that they aren’t too concerned if they breach, it’s not a big deal. Just make sure you buy your Proby Officer a card on their birthday and send them a Tim’s card every now and then.

Disgusting, and I hope Tony Lanzolotti’s family sue the crap out of the Government for neglect. Neglect that got him killed.

N

and after we read it on the air...

That email you read is right. If Swan doesn't realize that breach of probation is a serious thing, he must be removed from his position as justice minister.

After all, would anyone have faith in an education minister who said "“It’s the best advice of the department that the actual number of illiterates who graduate is not really indicative of how well the education system is working” ???

What bothers me most is Swan's comment “What is far more important is the relationship each probation officer has with the offender and how that individual probation officer is able to encourage that person to comply with their conditions of being out in the community":

Okay Swan, put your money where your mouth is: Every time a reprobate breaches probation and "fails to comply" with their conditions, FIRE the probation officer. OR put the responsibility back on the offender. Jail them for each and every breach.

This is MY society your playing with, Swan. Your decisions affect the safety of MY wife, MY kids and MY friends. By letting the criminals take over the justice system, by allowing them to abrogate their responsibilities, YOU are creating a dangerous situation. Whenever one of these idiots spills innocent blood on our street because YOUR department failed to keep them reigned in, the blood is on YOUR hands.

Marty: As a lead in to the next provincial election, why don't you task one of the CreaCom students to compile a list of victim names of every person injured or killed by those on probation or on bail in 2010. Then when it comes time to re-elect the NDP on their "law and order" campaign, we can ask the minister what justice each of the victims received?

-L -
********************

Our tribute to Canada's Greatest Athlete

Re: Kiniski Interview

Friday, April 16, 2010 5:11 PM
From: "Jeffery Doyle"
To: talk@kick.fm

I'm so glad you replayed that, I didn't get to listen to it last summer.
He was a Man's Man and a Canadian Pioneer.

*************************
WELCOME TO OUR NEW SPONSORS:

360WINNIPEG.CA
HEAT PLUS
SWEAT SHACK
ELIMINATOR-RC
RANDALL HEATING AND PLUMBING
and
VITAMINS FOR YOU