We have just received confirmation that Tommy Springman, a legendary figure in Winnipeg's taxi history, has passed away after a lengthy illness at age 76.
According to sources, Springman was released from St. Boniface Hospital after a 10 day stay yesterday. He returned to his home, but had a heart attack at 1.30 AM today, and emergency treatment at Seven Oaks Hospital failed.
Springman was a third-generation resident of the small prairie community of Edenbridge, Saskatchewan, established on the Carrot River by Jewish emigree's in 1908. At a 100th anniversary reunion just last month, the Canadian Jewish News reported Springman "recalled families working hard under harsh conditions. “It was a time and a place where honesty and integrity were important,” he said. Springman left Edenbridge in 1953 and moved to Winnipeg to pursue a teaching career."
Springman was a respected school principal at Andrew Mynarski School in the Seven Oaks School Division for many years, who came to own 8 cabs, a moonlighting and investment practice common among educators, railway employees and the like in the 50's and 60's. He was at the centre of a controversial termination of a teacher for extending a Christmas trip to India and missing 10 days of school in 1985-86, a decision upheld by the Arbitration Board.
Wielding more influence within Duffy's Taxi and semi-retired from the school system, he bought the 9 cab Star Taxi outfit from Sam Levi around 1989. When Duffy's wanted to charge him $20,000 per car to allow him to transfer them into Duffy's brand cabs, he opted to go on his own.
Changing the name to Spring Taxi while retaining the star logo, and maintaining the garage at 880 Logan Ave., he built a fleet of 18 licences with 22 additional cab owners eventually signing on to use his dispatch system, making his service the third largest in the local industry. He sold the company to Tejal "Paul" Atwal for a reported $2 million late last year.
"He was the last of the old-time taxi owners", said former taxicab owner Phil Walding. "He owned about 30 plates at one point and was known for his shrewd business acumen."
Springman was outspoken at Manitoba Taxicab Board hearings, particularly when the Board fielded applications in 1992 for more plates to resolve "complaints" of slow service.
Launching into spellbinding oratories about the complexities of dispatch issues such as a shortage of cars in the immediate area of callers and the spike in demand during winter storms and holidays, he derided such applications as being based on "the myth of instant service", and maintained that 15 minutes was a reasonable wait time in Winnipeg when compared to other major centres.
"Tommy was a leader in demanding the issuance of licences for accessible vans for the disabled, and many of the customers prefered us over anybody because Tommy emphasized service", said Trevor Dion, a veteran dispatcher and driver.
"He was not only a leader in the business community but he emphasized driver safety issues, such as adding security cameras to bolster the use of taxi shields. Tommy was a father figure to so many of us".
Funeral services are Tuesday, 10.30 AM, at the Eitz Chaim Synagogue, 123 Matheson Avenue (east of Main St.)
(My personal condolences to his family who are longtime friends and sports teammates, going back to elementary school and from my years in the taxicab industry. - Marty)
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
City health inspectors tracing tainted pork
Press Release
For immediate release
City health inspectors on the trail of spoiled pork
The City of Winnipeg Health Department have begun tracing the source of 1500 pounds of minced pork, which was delivered to striking Winnipeg Free Press employees in October.
Health officials will be seeking security camera video to try and identify the mysterious truck driver who handed out the meat, which had obviously been improperly stored. One of the reporters on strike wrote that strikers had to toss away some of the pork because it was spoiled, but planned to refreeze the rest and hand it out to Winnipeg's poor in Christmas hampers.
"I did speak to the inspectors and they were genuinely concerned... there's no doubt in their mind whatsoever that if it's thawed and refrozen, ya there's a health risk.", Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz said Thursday during an interview with The Great Canadian Talk Show on Kick-FM.
City health officials and the federal Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have both warned of the possible food safety problem that could be caused by bacteria growing in meat that has thawed.
For further information contact:
talk@kick.fm
For immediate release
City health inspectors on the trail of spoiled pork
The City of Winnipeg Health Department have begun tracing the source of 1500 pounds of minced pork, which was delivered to striking Winnipeg Free Press employees in October.
Health officials will be seeking security camera video to try and identify the mysterious truck driver who handed out the meat, which had obviously been improperly stored. One of the reporters on strike wrote that strikers had to toss away some of the pork because it was spoiled, but planned to refreeze the rest and hand it out to Winnipeg's poor in Christmas hampers.
"I did speak to the inspectors and they were genuinely concerned... there's no doubt in their mind whatsoever that if it's thawed and refrozen, ya there's a health risk.", Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz said Thursday during an interview with The Great Canadian Talk Show on Kick-FM.
City health officials and the federal Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have both warned of the possible food safety problem that could be caused by bacteria growing in meat that has thawed.
For further information contact:
talk@kick.fm
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Press release: Feds warn Porkgate poses "possible food safety problem"
Press release
For immediate release
Feds warn Porkgate poses "possible food safety problem"
Canada's federal food inspection agency has become the second public health service to alert Manitobans of the potential health hazard of 1500 pounds of frozen pork that was delivered to striking Winnipeg Free Press employees.
Free Press reporters have claimed that the taxpayer-subsidized pork came off the back of an unidentified truck courtesy of an anonymous supporter of the strikers. Some of the meat was obviously spoiled and had to be thrown out. Most of the rest was taken to strike headquarters and distributed to picketers, who refroze it with the stated intention of giving the meat to the poor and needy in Christmas hampers.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reviewed the situation at the request of The Great Canadian Talk Show and warned:
"if the product thawed or was held for any length of time at temperatures that would permit microbial growth, it then becomes a possible food safety problem."
The CFIA is the second government agency to express alarm over the distribution of possibly tainted meat. Last month City of Winnipeg health officials cautioned that:
* meat that is not, or has not been, properly stored can certainly pose a risk if consumed;
* it is not recommended practice to refreeze meat;
* consumers should be cautious if they do not know how food has been handled and stored prior to receiving it.
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2008/10/city-health-department-issues-caution.html
Winnipeg Harvest co-ordinator David Northcott said the pork was top-grade and properly frozen in Harvest freezers before being distributed to one of the city's food banks. He has been unable to identify which food bank the pork came from, and he cannot say under what conditions it was stored once it left Harvest's control.
What's apparent from the accounts of Free Press strikers, is that the pork had become tainted by improper storage at some point.
Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk said on October 28th she was "very concerned with what happened in regards to the incident" and this week announced a new provincial food traceability system emphasizing "the importance of access to timely information, when needed, at any point along the supply chain, for safety and quality assurance reasons."
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, after consulting the Medical Officer of Health, referred inquiries about the possible safety issues of thawed pork to the CFIA.
The Minister of Health, Theresa Oswald has not responded to a subsequent inquiry asking if she is now investigating the source of the pork and how it was handled, or if she will issue a food safety warning about the possibility that tainted Winnipeg Harvest-labeled pork may be distributed in hampers to the poor this Christmas.
For more information contact
talk@kick.fm
*****************
Today from 4-5 PM, our guest will be Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.
For immediate release
Feds warn Porkgate poses "possible food safety problem"
Canada's federal food inspection agency has become the second public health service to alert Manitobans of the potential health hazard of 1500 pounds of frozen pork that was delivered to striking Winnipeg Free Press employees.
Free Press reporters have claimed that the taxpayer-subsidized pork came off the back of an unidentified truck courtesy of an anonymous supporter of the strikers. Some of the meat was obviously spoiled and had to be thrown out. Most of the rest was taken to strike headquarters and distributed to picketers, who refroze it with the stated intention of giving the meat to the poor and needy in Christmas hampers.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reviewed the situation at the request of The Great Canadian Talk Show and warned:
"if the product thawed or was held for any length of time at temperatures that would permit microbial growth, it then becomes a possible food safety problem."
The CFIA is the second government agency to express alarm over the distribution of possibly tainted meat. Last month City of Winnipeg health officials cautioned that:
* meat that is not, or has not been, properly stored can certainly pose a risk if consumed;
* it is not recommended practice to refreeze meat;
* consumers should be cautious if they do not know how food has been handled and stored prior to receiving it.
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2008/10/city-health-department-issues-caution.html
Winnipeg Harvest co-ordinator David Northcott said the pork was top-grade and properly frozen in Harvest freezers before being distributed to one of the city's food banks. He has been unable to identify which food bank the pork came from, and he cannot say under what conditions it was stored once it left Harvest's control.
What's apparent from the accounts of Free Press strikers, is that the pork had become tainted by improper storage at some point.
Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk said on October 28th she was "very concerned with what happened in regards to the incident" and this week announced a new provincial food traceability system emphasizing "the importance of access to timely information, when needed, at any point along the supply chain, for safety and quality assurance reasons."
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, after consulting the Medical Officer of Health, referred inquiries about the possible safety issues of thawed pork to the CFIA.
The Minister of Health, Theresa Oswald has not responded to a subsequent inquiry asking if she is now investigating the source of the pork and how it was handled, or if she will issue a food safety warning about the possibility that tainted Winnipeg Harvest-labeled pork may be distributed in hampers to the poor this Christmas.
For more information contact
talk@kick.fm
*****************
Today from 4-5 PM, our guest will be Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Surprise leak of $12 Million plan for BRT line expropriation will lead off Monday
Monday will start off with a question: after years of Bus Rapid Transit discussion and debate, when was the first time you heard about the city wanting to spend MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to swipe land from private owners, whose properties stand in the way of the proposed BRT corridor?
For everyone I have asked so far, the answer was "today", in a Free Press expose of a leaked report, that is going to Planning Property and Development Committee on Tuesday.
All we ever heard was the phrase "rail line right of way", and never a syllable about "plus an extra $12.7 million for 11 properties we don't own".
Which by the time the lawyers and courts get involved, will be closer to $20 million. Of your money.
And today was also the first time anyone heard that city bureaucrats
insist BRT's co-funder, the provincial NDP government, must take away the right of property owners to appeal any expropriation -- because TRANSIT IS IN A HURRY to stay on schedule. For once.
We'll look at the story of one of the affected property owners, and whether this process, where the rest of us have rules to follow but Transit thinks they should stand above the law, is going to be supported by city councillors and provincial politicians who clammor about transparency and accountability and needing a positive business climate.
Also Monday; the post-Grey Cup review with Atlantic Pizza's TJ Bratt, Adam Knight, Kick-FM's Dave Shorr, and Frank the Italian Barber.
Tuesday -- Ron Schuler, PC member for Springfield, will join us for an interview;
Wednesday -- CTV's Kelly Dehn
Thursday -- The first hour will see us host Mayor Sam Katz live in studio.
Friday -- A preview of Ultimate Cage Wars event later that night at the Convention Centre, which will feature the man many Winnipeg music fans love to hate and hate to love, former Ballroom Zombie frontman turned MMA fighter Robin Black.
Congratulations to our prize draw winner Brent, who voted for "Cheez Whiz" for story of the year; it was named co-winner along with our scrutiny of the unreported multi-layered connections between the well-heeled Friends of Upper Fort Garry, the adjacent Manitoba Club, the unquestioning mainstream media, elected politicians, and millionaires with pet projects.
For everyone I have asked so far, the answer was "today", in a Free Press expose of a leaked report, that is going to Planning Property and Development Committee on Tuesday.
All we ever heard was the phrase "rail line right of way", and never a syllable about "plus an extra $12.7 million for 11 properties we don't own".
Which by the time the lawyers and courts get involved, will be closer to $20 million. Of your money.
And today was also the first time anyone heard that city bureaucrats
insist BRT's co-funder, the provincial NDP government, must take away the right of property owners to appeal any expropriation -- because TRANSIT IS IN A HURRY to stay on schedule. For once.
We'll look at the story of one of the affected property owners, and whether this process, where the rest of us have rules to follow but Transit thinks they should stand above the law, is going to be supported by city councillors and provincial politicians who clammor about transparency and accountability and needing a positive business climate.
Also Monday; the post-Grey Cup review with Atlantic Pizza's TJ Bratt, Adam Knight, Kick-FM's Dave Shorr, and Frank the Italian Barber.
Tuesday -- Ron Schuler, PC member for Springfield, will join us for an interview;
Wednesday -- CTV's Kelly Dehn
Thursday -- The first hour will see us host Mayor Sam Katz live in studio.
Friday -- A preview of Ultimate Cage Wars event later that night at the Convention Centre, which will feature the man many Winnipeg music fans love to hate and hate to love, former Ballroom Zombie frontman turned MMA fighter Robin Black.
Congratulations to our prize draw winner Brent, who voted for "Cheez Whiz" for story of the year; it was named co-winner along with our scrutiny of the unreported multi-layered connections between the well-heeled Friends of Upper Fort Garry, the adjacent Manitoba Club, the unquestioning mainstream media, elected politicians, and millionaires with pet projects.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thank you for two great years of TGCTS on 92.9 Kick-FM !
I wanted to post a short note, thanking all the listeners of Kick-FM, as well as station manager Rick 'fearless leader' Baverstock, Red River College and the Cre-comm students who have manned the control room, our volunteers like Spirited Kenny and Wonderboy Taylor, our advertisers, and the many many guests and callers from all over the continent, for their support and participation.
The drive-home talk show, which I had first thought of over 20 years ago, has filled a gap left by the formats of Winnipeg commercial radio.
It has helped get the presence of the alternative media and blogosphere into the public arena.
It has given voice and context to our understanding of neighborhoods and victims and heroes and government transparency, to real news and critical viewpoints filtered out by the bias of the mainstream media.
I am very fortunate to be in this place at this time of my life - and I deeply appreciate the many words of support and encouragement to stay true to the Monday manifesto, to hold elected officials and the gatekeepers in the mainstream media accountable.
It is not only news and current affairs that we pay attention to. The challenges of parenting in the age of Grand Theft Auto and internet overload, rising stars in sports and music, pop culture in general, round out our 90 minute episodes.
I want to say a special thanks to, on the professional side, Shannah-Lee who is now senior producer and has been there come rain or sleet or dead of car battery; and on the personal side to my family for putting up with what is often a 2o hour per day occupation.
Thank to our guests this special week- MMA expert Loretta Hunt, Unicity Taxi manager Joan Wilson, Canada's rising wrestling star in Mexico's Lucha Libre 'The Amazing Mentallo', Manitoba Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen, Winnipeg Indoor Alliance soccer GM and coach Chic Devenney, Scott Taylor of the National Post, and Frank the Italian Barber, Slurpee Girl, Adam Knight, Dave Shorr, Young Josh and Spirited Kenny.
Today at 4 PM, Liberal leader Dr. Jon Gerrard responds to the NDP government's Throne Speech, we'll analyze news of the day, take your calls, and we will select story of the year. You can still vote by emailing us at talk@kick.fm.
Thank you to all.
marty
The drive-home talk show, which I had first thought of over 20 years ago, has filled a gap left by the formats of Winnipeg commercial radio.
It has helped get the presence of the alternative media and blogosphere into the public arena.
It has given voice and context to our understanding of neighborhoods and victims and heroes and government transparency, to real news and critical viewpoints filtered out by the bias of the mainstream media.
I am very fortunate to be in this place at this time of my life - and I deeply appreciate the many words of support and encouragement to stay true to the Monday manifesto, to hold elected officials and the gatekeepers in the mainstream media accountable.
It is not only news and current affairs that we pay attention to. The challenges of parenting in the age of Grand Theft Auto and internet overload, rising stars in sports and music, pop culture in general, round out our 90 minute episodes.
I want to say a special thanks to, on the professional side, Shannah-Lee who is now senior producer and has been there come rain or sleet or dead of car battery; and on the personal side to my family for putting up with what is often a 2o hour per day occupation.
Thank to our guests this special week- MMA expert Loretta Hunt, Unicity Taxi manager Joan Wilson, Canada's rising wrestling star in Mexico's Lucha Libre 'The Amazing Mentallo', Manitoba Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen, Winnipeg Indoor Alliance soccer GM and coach Chic Devenney, Scott Taylor of the National Post, and Frank the Italian Barber, Slurpee Girl, Adam Knight, Dave Shorr, Young Josh and Spirited Kenny.
Today at 4 PM, Liberal leader Dr. Jon Gerrard responds to the NDP government's Throne Speech, we'll analyze news of the day, take your calls, and we will select story of the year. You can still vote by emailing us at talk@kick.fm.
Thank you to all.
marty
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Timeline Tells the Tale: Behind the Gordon Sinclair "apology" to readers
In Saturday's Free Press, columnist Gordon Sinclair was forced to deal with the expose in the alternative media of his columns about the Chantel Henderson 'eviction'.
After 3 stories we can now piece together how the story unfolded.
Good journalists know, the timeline tells the tale.
1) Thursday Nov. 6, 6 AM- Gordon Sinclair Jr. column, "It's a libel to label entitled generation" published in FP delivered to Winnipeg homes.
Sinclair wrote "Chantel explained she expected to be evicted Friday" and quoted her as saying "I'm on the brink of being homeless with my daughter."
2) Sinclair's neighbour Cliff King was first to contribute, cutting a cheque to pay the rent. ("Winnipeggers swoop in to help single mom" Nov. 8th.)
3) Later Thursday, Chantel's 10 co-workers passed the hat and gave her $600. ("Winnipeggers swoop in to help single mom" Nov. 8th.)
4) Thursday night, Sinclair drove to her house to deliver the cheque to cover the rent. He noted sled tracks leading to the door. Chantel said she and her daughter had been out delivering flyers. ("There's more to needy young mother's story", Nov. 15th).
5) The story began to twist when about the same time, blogger Jim Cotton posts that he recognizes Henderson from a speech she made at the Manitoba legislature on Bill 38.
6) Friday morning, Chantel's co-worker took to her to pay the back rent. Later that day, Sinclair sent another envelope to her, with $1,100 in cash and cheques. ("There's more to needy young mother's story", Nov. 15th).
Henderson now had $1700 and her rent paid.
7) Friday afternoon in her bulletin to readers, FP editor Margo Goodhand promotes the follow-up story as "Heartwarming news--
Generous Winnipeggers have stepped up to help a young single mom who was facing eviction from her west end home. Gordon Sinclair Jr. has the story."
8) Wanting credit for an act of humanitarianism, the FP takes a picture of Henderson with the envelope for the next days' column.
9) Friday night/ Sat AM - At one of downtown's few late-night hangouts, Cotton crosses paths with Henderson and sarcastically blogs about seeing her drinking, thinking her rent had not been paid.
10) Saturday 6 AM, Sinclair's follow-up column "Winnipeggers swoop in to help single mom" is published, with the picture of Henderson and the $1100 envelope. He claims " I didn't have to ask anyone to help, and I didn't."
11) Saturday noon - Cotton, after reading the column and realizing why she was out drinking the night before, walks through Polo Park mall. He sees Henderson again, this time with her daughter, their "hands full of shopping bags from high-end stores".
13) Sunday or Monday - Henderson's cousin emails Sinclair, complaining Chantel was out partying that weekend with the money from donors. At this point, Sinclair knew he had a problem.
14) His problem got worse the next day, Monday, November 10th - The Great Canadian Talk Show posts a blog about how listeners had raised hard questions about Sinclair's two stories. Had she actually gotten an eviction notice? Had she appealed the eviction to Tenancies Branch? Had she applied for welfare?
15) The next day (Tuesday Nov. 11th), the heat on Sinclair was turned up even more when another blogger who has had enough of Sinclair's games spoke out.
On progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com Graham Hnatiuk asked "Is it crossing the line to call for the impeachment of this "award winning" "journalist?"
16) Hours after the call for his dismissal was posted, on Tuesday night Sinclair phoned Henderson ( "There's more to needy young mother's story", Nov. 15th).
After 3 stories we can now piece together how the story unfolded.
Good journalists know, the timeline tells the tale.
1) Thursday Nov. 6, 6 AM- Gordon Sinclair Jr. column, "It's a libel to label entitled generation" published in FP delivered to Winnipeg homes.
Sinclair wrote "Chantel explained she expected to be evicted Friday" and quoted her as saying "I'm on the brink of being homeless with my daughter."
2) Sinclair's neighbour Cliff King was first to contribute, cutting a cheque to pay the rent. ("Winnipeggers swoop in to help single mom" Nov. 8th.)
3) Later Thursday, Chantel's 10 co-workers passed the hat and gave her $600. ("Winnipeggers swoop in to help single mom" Nov. 8th.)
4) Thursday night, Sinclair drove to her house to deliver the cheque to cover the rent. He noted sled tracks leading to the door. Chantel said she and her daughter had been out delivering flyers. ("There's more to needy young mother's story", Nov. 15th).
5) The story began to twist when about the same time, blogger Jim Cotton posts that he recognizes Henderson from a speech she made at the Manitoba legislature on Bill 38.
6) Friday morning, Chantel's co-worker took to her to pay the back rent. Later that day, Sinclair sent another envelope to her, with $1,100 in cash and cheques. ("There's more to needy young mother's story", Nov. 15th).
Henderson now had $1700 and her rent paid.
7) Friday afternoon in her bulletin to readers, FP editor Margo Goodhand promotes the follow-up story as "Heartwarming news--
Generous Winnipeggers have stepped up to help a young single mom who was facing eviction from her west end home. Gordon Sinclair Jr. has the story."
8) Wanting credit for an act of humanitarianism, the FP takes a picture of Henderson with the envelope for the next days' column.
9) Friday night/ Sat AM - At one of downtown's few late-night hangouts, Cotton crosses paths with Henderson and sarcastically blogs about seeing her drinking, thinking her rent had not been paid.
10) Saturday 6 AM, Sinclair's follow-up column "Winnipeggers swoop in to help single mom" is published, with the picture of Henderson and the $1100 envelope. He claims " I didn't have to ask anyone to help, and I didn't."
11) Saturday noon - Cotton, after reading the column and realizing why she was out drinking the night before, walks through Polo Park mall. He sees Henderson again, this time with her daughter, their "hands full of shopping bags from high-end stores".
13) Sunday or Monday - Henderson's cousin emails Sinclair, complaining Chantel was out partying that weekend with the money from donors. At this point, Sinclair knew he had a problem.
14) His problem got worse the next day, Monday, November 10th - The Great Canadian Talk Show posts a blog about how listeners had raised hard questions about Sinclair's two stories. Had she actually gotten an eviction notice? Had she appealed the eviction to Tenancies Branch? Had she applied for welfare?
15) The next day (Tuesday Nov. 11th), the heat on Sinclair was turned up even more when another blogger who has had enough of Sinclair's games spoke out.
On progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com Graham Hnatiuk asked "Is it crossing the line to call for the impeachment of this "award winning" "journalist?"
16) Hours after the call for his dismissal was posted, on Tuesday night Sinclair phoned Henderson ( "There's more to needy young mother's story", Nov. 15th).
17) The heat went past the boiling point on Wednesday Nov. 12th. TGCTS reported about a Hill Times analysis attacking the credibility of stories in the Winnipeg Free Press.
The article showed how the newspaper had manufactured concerns about a politician's personal life, then used their own stories as proof of him being controversial. No actual "concerned" voters were ever quoted.
18) Gordon Sinclair and the Free Press knew they had to address a real controversy and not one of their inventions.
In Sinclair's Saturday Nov. 15th column "There's more to needy young mother's story", Sinclair scrambled to assemble a defence.
* Henderson admitted to a shopping spree -- but claimed it was at Wal-Mart;
* She claimed that (after paying the back rent) "she had spent $1,500, most of it paying off debts, including money she borrowed from her mother";
* She admitted she was drinking - Saturday night at her mother's house.
* She admitted that she had left her 12 year old daughter at home alone.
And Sinclair took a cheap shot at Henderson's cousin who had emailed him, trying to portray her first hand account as coming from an envious publicity-seeking relative.
He also said he had another $3750 to give Henderson.
21) Sinclair conceded he had misled readers into believing Henderson was going to be left on the street with her daughter within 24 hours and admitted the blogosphere had shamed him into telling more of the truth.
But his "apology" does nothing to restore the credibility of the Free Press, so aptly shredded by the Hill Times, Winnipeg bloggers, and talk radio listeners.22) The one loose end that he has not addressed, is whether Henderson had been delivering flyers for the FP owned subsidiary.
Was she short for her rent because of the Free Press strike? The employees union interrupted flyer deliveries to pressure management to settle.
In other words, was striking employee Gordon Sinclair responsible for Henderson's rent arrears in the first place?
Friday, November 14, 2008
Vote for Best Story of Year 2 and win...something.
As part of our 2nd anniversary show next Thursday, we are asking listeners to vote for story of the year.
And a prize package- ok 2 books and maybe a keychain- will be awarded one voter (drawn at random) from the responses we get. Please email talk@kick.fm with your vote before Noon on November 20th.
Here are some suggested nominees, if there is a story or issue we covered you would like added to the list we will do so (* denotes story broken by TGCTS):
Young Joshs' look into The Derelict Buildings bylaw, * flaws and all
* Spirited Kenny's work on The 10 year delay in the CanAlert/511 initiative plus the follow-ups by the province and the feds
The Winnipeg Police Advisory Board creation, and
* their appointees involvement in race-baiting tactics at the Dumas inquest
* NDP Elmwood MLA Jim Maloway's misadventures with constituency expense money
* Nick Hirst, former editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, provided at least one (unpublished) letter from readers critical of the Crocus Fund, directly to Crocus CEO Sherman Kreiner
* Free Press story reports truth about CJOB's Asper/Richardson fundraising stunt for the Friends of Upper Fort Garry, replaces it with propaganda/
and * FP silent on background of the week of a million dollars worth of donations and * the deep connections of the Friends to the Manitoba Club, which stands adjacent to the disputed land
* Personal attack on Mayor Katz by anti-Semitic protester
* The locations of crime cameras for city neighborhoods and
*Young Josh's documentary
* The death of Harold Buchwald
* North End activist Selina Driskell speaks out after threat by armed home invaders
* Wellington MLA Flor Marcelino vowing to stand up to Health Sciences Centre blockbusting of the neighbourhood as part of Women's Hospital move to Weston Bakery site
The convoluted attempt by David Asper to convince the CRTC to allow him to take over Flava 107.9 and
* the CRTC's unprecedented decision to kill the station
* Poor MSM reporting at Taman inquiry points to anti-cop bias
* The death of right to life case subject, Sam Golubchuk
* Native leaders threaten race riots in wake of police shooting on Simcoe
* Captain Audio's discovery of unreported intimidation against witnesses in First Nations CFS probes such as the Gage Guimond death and how almost no money was spent on foster parent training or criminal background checks
* Live on-scene interviews from Keenleyside when police clashed with a freelance photographer and his memory card went 'missing'
* Flor Marcelino endorsing Cheez Whiz as a substitute for affordable fresh milk for Northern Manitoba families
* Ousted federal Liberal candidate Lesley Hughes claiming Jewish leaders' stress was behind their critical view of her 9-11 rantings
* "Porkgate": City health officials warning against accepting potentially tainted pork from Free Press employees as the Minister of Agriculute expressed deep concern about them having taken pork labeled for Winnipeg Harvest clients
* Gordon Sinclair's manipulating facts to generate donations for a poor single mother "facing eviction"; she was seen by a blogger last weekend out on the town after she got over $1700 in cash and pledges
* Premier Doer's stepping off a plane to learn his offer of tax breaks to save Air Canada jobs was leaked
or finally,
* Premier Doer never responding to our personally-delivered invitation to appear on TGCTS.
* and as contributed by a listener:
I realize in terms of importance this is probably last on the long list of important stories but as a pro wrestling fan of thirty years now I want to throw your excellent coverage of Kenny Omega's rise in the wrestling world to the hat.
Thanx in advance,
Q
***********
Today at 4 PM we are joined by the best automotive columnist in the country Paul Williamson of the Free Press, and at 5.10 by Jon Waldman of Slam!Sports to preview the CFL East and West Conference finals.
Our weekend replays start at 7 Pm Sunday night, and we're live again on Monday at 4 Pm with MMA journalist Loretta Hunt reporting on the Brock Lesnar- Randy Couture battle at UFC 91 !
And a prize package- ok 2 books and maybe a keychain- will be awarded one voter (drawn at random) from the responses we get. Please email talk@kick.fm with your vote before Noon on November 20th.
Here are some suggested nominees, if there is a story or issue we covered you would like added to the list we will do so (* denotes story broken by TGCTS):
Young Joshs' look into The Derelict Buildings bylaw, * flaws and all
* Spirited Kenny's work on The 10 year delay in the CanAlert/511 initiative plus the follow-ups by the province and the feds
The Winnipeg Police Advisory Board creation, and
* their appointees involvement in race-baiting tactics at the Dumas inquest
* NDP Elmwood MLA Jim Maloway's misadventures with constituency expense money
* Nick Hirst, former editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, provided at least one (unpublished) letter from readers critical of the Crocus Fund, directly to Crocus CEO Sherman Kreiner
* Free Press story reports truth about CJOB's Asper/Richardson fundraising stunt for the Friends of Upper Fort Garry, replaces it with propaganda/
and * FP silent on background of the week of a million dollars worth of donations and * the deep connections of the Friends to the Manitoba Club, which stands adjacent to the disputed land
* Personal attack on Mayor Katz by anti-Semitic protester
* The locations of crime cameras for city neighborhoods and
*Young Josh's documentary
* The death of Harold Buchwald
* North End activist Selina Driskell speaks out after threat by armed home invaders
* Wellington MLA Flor Marcelino vowing to stand up to Health Sciences Centre blockbusting of the neighbourhood as part of Women's Hospital move to Weston Bakery site
The convoluted attempt by David Asper to convince the CRTC to allow him to take over Flava 107.9 and
* the CRTC's unprecedented decision to kill the station
* Poor MSM reporting at Taman inquiry points to anti-cop bias
* The death of right to life case subject, Sam Golubchuk
* Native leaders threaten race riots in wake of police shooting on Simcoe
* Captain Audio's discovery of unreported intimidation against witnesses in First Nations CFS probes such as the Gage Guimond death and how almost no money was spent on foster parent training or criminal background checks
* Live on-scene interviews from Keenleyside when police clashed with a freelance photographer and his memory card went 'missing'
* Flor Marcelino endorsing Cheez Whiz as a substitute for affordable fresh milk for Northern Manitoba families
* Ousted federal Liberal candidate Lesley Hughes claiming Jewish leaders' stress was behind their critical view of her 9-11 rantings
* "Porkgate": City health officials warning against accepting potentially tainted pork from Free Press employees as the Minister of Agriculute expressed deep concern about them having taken pork labeled for Winnipeg Harvest clients
* Gordon Sinclair's manipulating facts to generate donations for a poor single mother "facing eviction"; she was seen by a blogger last weekend out on the town after she got over $1700 in cash and pledges
* Premier Doer's stepping off a plane to learn his offer of tax breaks to save Air Canada jobs was leaked
or finally,
* Premier Doer never responding to our personally-delivered invitation to appear on TGCTS.
* and as contributed by a listener:
I realize in terms of importance this is probably last on the long list of important stories but as a pro wrestling fan of thirty years now I want to throw your excellent coverage of Kenny Omega's rise in the wrestling world to the hat.
Thanx in advance,
Q
***********
Today at 4 PM we are joined by the best automotive columnist in the country Paul Williamson of the Free Press, and at 5.10 by Jon Waldman of Slam!Sports to preview the CFL East and West Conference finals.
Our weekend replays start at 7 Pm Sunday night, and we're live again on Monday at 4 Pm with MMA journalist Loretta Hunt reporting on the Brock Lesnar- Randy Couture battle at UFC 91 !
Monday, November 10, 2008
The people of Winnipeg gave the Winnipeg Free Press a lesson in the new journalism
This past week, Winnipeggers proved that our ongoing "Lessons in Journalism" have had an empowering effect.
The Winnipeg Free Press finds itself facing a crisis of public trust because of the lessons on how-the-mainstream-media-manipulates-news, learned by listeners of the Great Canadian Talk Show.
On Thursday we took note of a column by Gordon Sinclair Jr. about a woman who could not pay her rent. The tale-of-woe wound through the typical Sinclairian path - a brave 26 year old aboriginal single mother born of poverty, struggling to raise a child almost half her age in subsidized housing, felled by the delay between paycheques of term jobs, reduced to using food banks and pawning possessions, expecting to be evicted Friday, "on the brink of homelessness."
But this time something was different. This time, instead of reaching for their hankies, our listeners joined in asking sharp questions about the obvious holes in the story. The Winnipeg Free Press was about to feel the power of citizen journalism -- Rule 1: everybody knows something.
* How can a woman going from a federal government job in September to a job at the city of Winnipeg in mid-October, not have saved or borrowed for her October rent, when it was ONLY $195.00 ?
* If her "Employment Insurance didn't kick in for a month", why did she not go to Social Assistance, to get temporary help?
* If all she owed her landlord was $390.00, why didn't Sinclair, a $90k per-year unionized typist, who had just walked the picket line to win a $2000/year raise, not lend her the money on the spot and wait for her EI to kick in to get his money back? How did this debt warrant a column?
Most of all, people smelled a set-up. Watch, they said, for Sinclair's traditional 1950's style "so-and-so saves the day" follow-up piece, that would surely run on Saturday and (as Spirited Kenny suggested) be nominated for another "journalism" award.
Sure enough, on Friday, the emailed "Free Press Editor's Bulletin" that previews the next day's contents, breathlessly trumpeted:
Heartwarming news
Generous Winnipeggers have stepped up to help a young single mom who was facing eviction from her west end home. Gordon Sinclair Jr. has the story."
One of our callers, though, raised even more serious doubts about the column.
For this woman to be evicted, she would have had to be served a formal notice. Where was it? Had Gordo seen it?
And she can't be tossed out on the spot the way Sinclair's column implied, the caller went on, because there is a right to a Residential Tenancies Branch appeal hearing, and these things take time. Had RTB already held the appeal, decided the matter and taken the landlords side?
And lastly, "perhaps Gordon Sinclair has to go back to journalism school", she said.
But TGCTS was not alone in thinking there was more here than met the eye. Citizen journalists emailed us with new twists they uncovered to the story.
Then, a blogger recognized the single mother.
This spring she had preceded him in making a speech to the Manitoba legislature http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/2nd-39th/la_04/la_04.html
about Bill 38, the NDP's repeal of balanced budget legislation.
Among the gems in her lecture to Gary Doer:
"why doesn't a woman go into office and clear up this budget because a woman can budget every single day for everything?"
By sheer coincidence, that very Friday night the blogger spotted her at a downtown pool hall enjoying some liquid libation.
"Guess that's more important than paying rent", he wrote late that night, not realizing what was to happen less than 24 hours later.
In his column, Sinclair lamely claimed "I didn't have to ask anyone to help, and I didn't. But offers of help began plugging my e-mail and voice mail anyway."
Regarding the thousands of dollars of charity given to this woman -- $600 cash by her co-workers who took her to pay the rent; plus a cheque for the full rent from Gordo's suburban neighbour ("Watch Gord Sinclair's follow up in the Saturday paper how some rich south ender came to the rescue" was predicted by the blogger); and even more pledged by others -- the blogger made the obvious connection:
"... I guess the money she got would explain my blog post in the wee hours of last night as well...The people that gave money were willing victims, and it was their choice to fall for it ...And today, Gordy made the story sound even more depressing. Her "new job" is only a term position and ends just before Christmas."
Well, the blogosphere discovered that Christmas came early.
Right after reading about the woman's windfall...
"I am walking thru the mall when guess who I see coming out of the Gap with her daughter and another friend ?
YOU GUESSED IT.
Their hands were FULL of shopping bags, from high end stores."
This Woman is the biggest con job I have ever seen in my life."
And everyone, including the blogger, spotted the slight but significant change in the story of rent arrears.
The impression left by Sinclair's first column was that they were getting turfed onto the street the very next day.
Sinclair counted on readers to jump to that conclusion, because otherwise, there's no story, no public outpouring, and no follow-up for Saturday's paper.
But as it turns out, "If Chantel didn't have the $390 by Friday, she was afraid she and Caley would be evicted", wrote Sinclair.
We'll leave aside the questions of why this woman takes term government jobs, instead of looking for steady employment. It appears that she is padding her resume with jobs suited to pursuing her goal of studying aboriginal governance at the U of W, as reported by Sinclair.
Maybe some working journalist will report on the full-time job openings for graduates of that fluff course, as compared for the demand in real occupations like nursing, engineering, and trades, that other single mothers and role models are pursuing at Red River College and elsewhere.
For now, the focus is on the crisis in credibility enveloping the Winnipeg Free Press.
In just the past two months, whose reporters got scooped by the alternative media on the Lesley Hughes election campaign scandal? What reporters changed their story five times about where the frozen minced pork FP picketers took home came from? Who is ignoring the warnings from city health officials about giving that pork to the poor in Christmas hampers as planned ?
Imagine how bitter it must be for Free Press editor Margo Goodhand to realize that the public knows that her newsroom employees, celebrating raises on their $70 - $90,000 a year salaries, contributed not one dime to this cause, even after reading how this poor mother had to rely on food banks---just as the poor underpaid Free Press employees had to only weeks ago.
How sour the taste that from now on, good-hearted readers have reason to question every single sob story and column that is published on her watch.
Who can blame editor Goodhand for being bitter that the general public is on to the fact that the level of editorial oversight and commitment to news at her newspaper is so alarmingly low, with self-promotion and promoting personal agendas at an all-time high.
Who? Everybody who expects a quality newspaper.
Another lesson in journalism.
The Winnipeg Free Press finds itself facing a crisis of public trust because of the lessons on how-the-mainstream-media-manipulates-news, learned by listeners of the Great Canadian Talk Show.
On Thursday we took note of a column by Gordon Sinclair Jr. about a woman who could not pay her rent. The tale-of-woe wound through the typical Sinclairian path - a brave 26 year old aboriginal single mother born of poverty, struggling to raise a child almost half her age in subsidized housing, felled by the delay between paycheques of term jobs, reduced to using food banks and pawning possessions, expecting to be evicted Friday, "on the brink of homelessness."
But this time something was different. This time, instead of reaching for their hankies, our listeners joined in asking sharp questions about the obvious holes in the story. The Winnipeg Free Press was about to feel the power of citizen journalism -- Rule 1: everybody knows something.
* How can a woman going from a federal government job in September to a job at the city of Winnipeg in mid-October, not have saved or borrowed for her October rent, when it was ONLY $195.00 ?
* If her "Employment Insurance didn't kick in for a month", why did she not go to Social Assistance, to get temporary help?
* If all she owed her landlord was $390.00, why didn't Sinclair, a $90k per-year unionized typist, who had just walked the picket line to win a $2000/year raise, not lend her the money on the spot and wait for her EI to kick in to get his money back? How did this debt warrant a column?
Most of all, people smelled a set-up. Watch, they said, for Sinclair's traditional 1950's style "so-and-so saves the day" follow-up piece, that would surely run on Saturday and (as Spirited Kenny suggested) be nominated for another "journalism" award.
Sure enough, on Friday, the emailed "Free Press Editor's Bulletin" that previews the next day's contents, breathlessly trumpeted:
Heartwarming news
Generous Winnipeggers have stepped up to help a young single mom who was facing eviction from her west end home. Gordon Sinclair Jr. has the story."
One of our callers, though, raised even more serious doubts about the column.
For this woman to be evicted, she would have had to be served a formal notice. Where was it? Had Gordo seen it?
And she can't be tossed out on the spot the way Sinclair's column implied, the caller went on, because there is a right to a Residential Tenancies Branch appeal hearing, and these things take time. Had RTB already held the appeal, decided the matter and taken the landlords side?
And lastly, "perhaps Gordon Sinclair has to go back to journalism school", she said.
But TGCTS was not alone in thinking there was more here than met the eye. Citizen journalists emailed us with new twists they uncovered to the story.
Then, a blogger recognized the single mother.
This spring she had preceded him in making a speech to the Manitoba legislature http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/2nd-39th/la_04/la_04.html
about Bill 38, the NDP's repeal of balanced budget legislation.
Among the gems in her lecture to Gary Doer:
"why doesn't a woman go into office and clear up this budget because a woman can budget every single day for everything?"
By sheer coincidence, that very Friday night the blogger spotted her at a downtown pool hall enjoying some liquid libation.
"Guess that's more important than paying rent", he wrote late that night, not realizing what was to happen less than 24 hours later.
In his column, Sinclair lamely claimed "I didn't have to ask anyone to help, and I didn't. But offers of help began plugging my e-mail and voice mail anyway."
Regarding the thousands of dollars of charity given to this woman -- $600 cash by her co-workers who took her to pay the rent; plus a cheque for the full rent from Gordo's suburban neighbour ("Watch Gord Sinclair's follow up in the Saturday paper how some rich south ender came to the rescue" was predicted by the blogger); and even more pledged by others -- the blogger made the obvious connection:
"... I guess the money she got would explain my blog post in the wee hours of last night as well...The people that gave money were willing victims, and it was their choice to fall for it ...And today, Gordy made the story sound even more depressing. Her "new job" is only a term position and ends just before Christmas."
Well, the blogosphere discovered that Christmas came early.
Right after reading about the woman's windfall...
"I am walking thru the mall when guess who I see coming out of the Gap with her daughter and another friend ?
YOU GUESSED IT.
Their hands were FULL of shopping bags, from high end stores."
This Woman is the biggest con job I have ever seen in my life."
And everyone, including the blogger, spotted the slight but significant change in the story of rent arrears.
The impression left by Sinclair's first column was that they were getting turfed onto the street the very next day.
Sinclair counted on readers to jump to that conclusion, because otherwise, there's no story, no public outpouring, and no follow-up for Saturday's paper.
But as it turns out, "If Chantel didn't have the $390 by Friday, she was afraid she and Caley would be evicted", wrote Sinclair.
We'll leave aside the questions of why this woman takes term government jobs, instead of looking for steady employment. It appears that she is padding her resume with jobs suited to pursuing her goal of studying aboriginal governance at the U of W, as reported by Sinclair.
Maybe some working journalist will report on the full-time job openings for graduates of that fluff course, as compared for the demand in real occupations like nursing, engineering, and trades, that other single mothers and role models are pursuing at Red River College and elsewhere.
For now, the focus is on the crisis in credibility enveloping the Winnipeg Free Press.
In just the past two months, whose reporters got scooped by the alternative media on the Lesley Hughes election campaign scandal? What reporters changed their story five times about where the frozen minced pork FP picketers took home came from? Who is ignoring the warnings from city health officials about giving that pork to the poor in Christmas hampers as planned ?
Imagine how bitter it must be for Free Press editor Margo Goodhand to realize that the public knows that her newsroom employees, celebrating raises on their $70 - $90,000 a year salaries, contributed not one dime to this cause, even after reading how this poor mother had to rely on food banks---just as the poor underpaid Free Press employees had to only weeks ago.
How sour the taste that from now on, good-hearted readers have reason to question every single sob story and column that is published on her watch.
Who can blame editor Goodhand for being bitter that the general public is on to the fact that the level of editorial oversight and commitment to news at her newspaper is so alarmingly low, with self-promotion and promoting personal agendas at an all-time high.
Who? Everybody who expects a quality newspaper.
Another lesson in journalism.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Start Living campaign timed for Doer's triumphant return from China?
Information about the results of the Premier's trade mission to China arrived during the show Friday, and we simply did not have time to review it.
Now we know why 'Son of Spirited Energy', Start Living, was launched all of a sudden this week.
The talking points so far for both initiatives are all identical. It's as if Robert Ziegler was in China evaesdropping, instead of on CJOB with Richard Cloutier Thursday morning.
As we roundtabled on Friday's show, callers joined Spirited Kenny and Young Josh, agreeing with their observations that the guiding hands of this rebranding exercise ( now sitting at over $4 million dollars with an executive director yet to come ) have not succeeded at convincing young adults- 28 to 40, those starting families and businesses ( let alone people outside the province ), that living and investing here is a viable option. How the failed infrastructure and fear of crime isn't something normal people will turn a blind eye to. That the Province and City of Winnipeg seem to be doing nothing, spending nothing, to RETAIN our own people who leave for Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, and for all we know, have-province Newfoundland.
And to top it off, upon examining the promotional website, Kenny described it as "fluff".
However the government memo is very useful.
It contains lots of positive news about
* Winnipeg colleges and their education initiatives with China,
* deals related to CentrePort, and
* identifies other Manitoba leaders who attended and lobbyied.
The official press release is reprinted below.
Best of episode replays :
Monday = Oct. 30th interview with Mayor Sam Katz
Tuesday = (compilation) Our analysis of the NDP's endorsement of a non-whole food substitute for Milk as a source of calcium in Manitoba's North aka Let Them Eat Cheez Whiz
Wed. - live show with CTV's Crimewatch reporter Kelly Dehn, and more of your calls and emails.
offer many competitive advantages. It is great to be here with
Manitoba business leaders who share our vision for building
CentrePort Canada."
The premier and Manitoba business leaders held a special session
in Beijing with Chinese investors and companies whose business
interests are in the areas of logistics, transportation and
manufacturing.
Several leaders who helped create CentrePort Canada participated
in the session including Jim Carr of the Manitoba Business
Council, Graham Starmer of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce,
Dave Angus of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and Chris Lorenc of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association. Don Streuber of Bison Transport, Erla Glesby of Westco and Michael Rodyniuk of Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA) also took part in the presentation.
"We have a tremendous story to tell," said Rodyniuk, chief
operating officer and senior vice-president of WAA. "Flying
through Winnipeg is much more cost effective than flying deep
into the United States. We can cycle aircraft faster and have the
best established dedicated cargo capacity in the country. This,
connected to Manitoba's incredible road and rail infrastructure,
means major U.S. and Canadian cities are easily accessed from
here. We are a true multi-modal international gateway to North
America."
The Manitoba delegation also promoted the inland port to officials from the Province of Henan and signed several agreements aimed at increasing economic development and co-operation between Manitoba and Henan.
Doer and Henan Gov. Guo Gengmao signed the Henan/Manitoba
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Enhanced Co-operation and
Economic Development. The agreement will support the development
of CentrePort Canada and includes provisions to increase
strategic co-operation and sister airport relations between WAA
and Zhengzhou Airport.
In addition, the Manitoba and Winnipeg chambers of commerce, and
the Henan Provincial Bureau of Commerce signed an agreement for
enhanced co-operation on business, trade and entrepreneur
development.
"It is extremely important that we take a hands-on approach to
promoting Manitoba as a great place to invest and do business,"
said Starmer, president and CEO of the Manitoba chambers. "The
mission has introduced local businesses to new opportunities in
China, which continues to have one of the world's fastest growing
economies."
While in Beijing, Canadian premiers also met with Chinese Foreign
Affairs Minister Yang Jiechi, held a round table with Chinese
governors including representatives of the provinces of Shangdong, Hebei, Henan and Hunan, and met with Cheng Siwei, retired vice-chair of the National People's Congress. They also attended the China Leaders Business Forum held by the Canada China Business Council.
In Chongqing, the premiers met with Chongqing party secretary Bo
Xilai and toured the inland port. In Shanghai, premiers met with
Shanghai party secretary Yu Zhensheng.
Manitoba's colleges and universities also joined Doer to announce
the signing of five agreements aimed at increasing international
education connections between the province and China, which sends
more students to Manitoba than any other country.
International education is an important part of Manitoba's economy and education system, with students from China and Hong Kong comprising nearly 32 per cent of Manitoba's international student body in 2006-07, up from six per cent in 2001-02. They contributed $23.5 million to Manitoba's economy through academic and related spending.
Highlights of the post-secondary education agreements signed in
China include:
- expanding the partnership between Red River College and
Shenyang Institute of Engineering to include two new combined
diploma programs in power-plant engineering and tourism in
addition to electrical engineering,
- renewing an agreement between the University of
Manitoba and Beijing's China Women's University to continue
providing a social-work intervention program for rural women in
China,
- reaching a new agreement between the University of
Winnipeg and Concord College on a scholarship program for Chinese students attending the U of W,
- signing a transfer agreement between the University of
Winnipeg and TAIE International Institute to allow graduates
admittance to the U of W, and
- signing an agreement between the University of Winnipeg
and Jiangsu Province International Education to co-operate in
areas such as research, faculty and staff exchange, and
short-term academic programs.
At the start of the mission, Doer presented Dr. Stan Cheung with
the Order of the Buffalo Hunt in recognition of his outstanding
contributions to the province of Manitoba.
Cheung is a prominent businessman, philanthropist and Manitoba's
long-time honorary consul in Hong Kong, regularly advising
Manitobans on industry and education matters both in Hong Kong
and mainland China. He is also a distinguished graduate of the
University of Manitoba.
In recognition of Cheung's generous contributions to the U of M
over many years, the university named its animal science research
unit the T.K. Cheung Centre for Animal Science Research at a
ceremony in 2006. Cheung helped build the facility and provided
bursary and graduate student assistance, library support,
equipment funding as well as donations to other initiatives.
- 30 -
Now we know why 'Son of Spirited Energy', Start Living, was launched all of a sudden this week.
The talking points so far for both initiatives are all identical. It's as if Robert Ziegler was in China evaesdropping, instead of on CJOB with Richard Cloutier Thursday morning.
As we roundtabled on Friday's show, callers joined Spirited Kenny and Young Josh, agreeing with their observations that the guiding hands of this rebranding exercise ( now sitting at over $4 million dollars with an executive director yet to come ) have not succeeded at convincing young adults- 28 to 40, those starting families and businesses ( let alone people outside the province ), that living and investing here is a viable option. How the failed infrastructure and fear of crime isn't something normal people will turn a blind eye to. That the Province and City of Winnipeg seem to be doing nothing, spending nothing, to RETAIN our own people who leave for Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, and for all we know, have-province Newfoundland.
And to top it off, upon examining the promotional website, Kenny described it as "fluff".
However the government memo is very useful.
It contains lots of positive news about
* Winnipeg colleges and their education initiatives with China,
* deals related to CentrePort, and
* identifies other Manitoba leaders who attended and lobbyied.
The official press release is reprinted below.
Best of episode replays :
Monday = Oct. 30th interview with Mayor Sam Katz
Tuesday = (compilation) Our analysis of the NDP's endorsement of a non-whole food substitute for Milk as a source of calcium in Manitoba's North aka Let Them Eat Cheez Whiz
Wed. - live show with CTV's Crimewatch reporter Kelly Dehn, and more of your calls and emails.
GO BOMBERS!
********************
November 7, 2008
PREMIER'S ECONOMIC MISSION TO CHINA WRAPS UP
- - -
Manitoba's New Inland Port, Business, Education Agreements Among
Highlights
Two Manitoba companies joined Premier Gary Doer in Shanghai
yesterday to announce business deals with Chinese companies
including one for energy-efficient windows and doors for new
homes.
Loewen Windows of Steinbach will be providing windows and doors
for a high-end housing project in the Shanghai region. Parker
Hannifin, which recently acquired Vansco, will be supplying
Lonking Holdings' construction machinery with electronic controls
that are manufactured at the company's Winnipeg facility.
"Manitoba businesses are known for producing high-quality
products and China is in need of such products in order to meet
the challenges and demands of its continued economic growth,"
Doer said. "I want to congratulate both companies on their
success in breaking into significant new markets."
The Canadian Leaders' Mission: China 2008 included Premier Dalton
McGuinty of Ontario, Premier Shawn Graham of New Brunswick,
Premier Robert Ghiz of Prince Edward Island as well as former
premier Pierre Marc Johnson of Quebec. Doer left the mission
early to travel back to Manitoba for the funeral of long-time
friend, colleague and cabinet minister Oscar Lathlin.
The mission also included more than 110 representatives from
industry, education and other Canadian organizations including 30
from Manitoba.
Expanding trade into new markets such as Asia and Europe was one
of the outcomes of the Oct. 20 premiers' meeting on the
economy. Manitoba's trade with China has risen more than five
times in the past five years. Manitoba's exports have jumped 586
per cent, rising to $545.9 million in 2007 from $79.5 million in
2002.
Promoting Manitoba's new inland port, CentrePort Canada, to
Chinese companies and investors was a key focus of the Manitoba
delegation's business mission to China.
"CentrePort Canada is open for business and has much to offer
Chinese companies that are looking for new, more affordable and
efficient ways to distribute their products," Doer said.
offer many competitive advantages. It is great to be here with
Manitoba business leaders who share our vision for building
CentrePort Canada."
The premier and Manitoba business leaders held a special session
in Beijing with Chinese investors and companies whose business
interests are in the areas of logistics, transportation and
manufacturing.
Several leaders who helped create CentrePort Canada participated
in the session including Jim Carr of the Manitoba Business
Council, Graham Starmer of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce,
Dave Angus of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and Chris Lorenc of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association. Don Streuber of Bison Transport, Erla Glesby of Westco and Michael Rodyniuk of Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA) also took part in the presentation.
"We have a tremendous story to tell," said Rodyniuk, chief
operating officer and senior vice-president of WAA. "Flying
through Winnipeg is much more cost effective than flying deep
into the United States. We can cycle aircraft faster and have the
best established dedicated cargo capacity in the country. This,
connected to Manitoba's incredible road and rail infrastructure,
means major U.S. and Canadian cities are easily accessed from
here. We are a true multi-modal international gateway to North
America."
The Manitoba delegation also promoted the inland port to officials from the Province of Henan and signed several agreements aimed at increasing economic development and co-operation between Manitoba and Henan.
Doer and Henan Gov. Guo Gengmao signed the Henan/Manitoba
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Enhanced Co-operation and
Economic Development. The agreement will support the development
of CentrePort Canada and includes provisions to increase
strategic co-operation and sister airport relations between WAA
and Zhengzhou Airport.
In addition, the Manitoba and Winnipeg chambers of commerce, and
the Henan Provincial Bureau of Commerce signed an agreement for
enhanced co-operation on business, trade and entrepreneur
development.
"It is extremely important that we take a hands-on approach to
promoting Manitoba as a great place to invest and do business,"
said Starmer, president and CEO of the Manitoba chambers. "The
mission has introduced local businesses to new opportunities in
China, which continues to have one of the world's fastest growing
economies."
While in Beijing, Canadian premiers also met with Chinese Foreign
Affairs Minister Yang Jiechi, held a round table with Chinese
governors including representatives of the provinces of Shangdong, Hebei, Henan and Hunan, and met with Cheng Siwei, retired vice-chair of the National People's Congress. They also attended the China Leaders Business Forum held by the Canada China Business Council.
In Chongqing, the premiers met with Chongqing party secretary Bo
Xilai and toured the inland port. In Shanghai, premiers met with
Shanghai party secretary Yu Zhensheng.
Manitoba's colleges and universities also joined Doer to announce
the signing of five agreements aimed at increasing international
education connections between the province and China, which sends
more students to Manitoba than any other country.
International education is an important part of Manitoba's economy and education system, with students from China and Hong Kong comprising nearly 32 per cent of Manitoba's international student body in 2006-07, up from six per cent in 2001-02. They contributed $23.5 million to Manitoba's economy through academic and related spending.
Highlights of the post-secondary education agreements signed in
China include:
- expanding the partnership between Red River College and
Shenyang Institute of Engineering to include two new combined
diploma programs in power-plant engineering and tourism in
addition to electrical engineering,
- renewing an agreement between the University of
Manitoba and Beijing's China Women's University to continue
providing a social-work intervention program for rural women in
China,
- reaching a new agreement between the University of
Winnipeg and Concord College on a scholarship program for Chinese students attending the U of W,
- signing a transfer agreement between the University of
Winnipeg and TAIE International Institute to allow graduates
admittance to the U of W, and
- signing an agreement between the University of Winnipeg
and Jiangsu Province International Education to co-operate in
areas such as research, faculty and staff exchange, and
short-term academic programs.
At the start of the mission, Doer presented Dr. Stan Cheung with
the Order of the Buffalo Hunt in recognition of his outstanding
contributions to the province of Manitoba.
Cheung is a prominent businessman, philanthropist and Manitoba's
long-time honorary consul in Hong Kong, regularly advising
Manitobans on industry and education matters both in Hong Kong
and mainland China. He is also a distinguished graduate of the
University of Manitoba.
In recognition of Cheung's generous contributions to the U of M
over many years, the university named its animal science research
unit the T.K. Cheung Centre for Animal Science Research at a
ceremony in 2006. Cheung helped build the facility and provided
bursary and graduate student assistance, library support,
equipment funding as well as donations to other initiatives.
- 30 -
Monday, November 3, 2008
Vacant and Derelict Buildings, One Year Later, By the Numbers
Young Josh here, and by audience request, I've got the numbers on the Vacant and Derelict Buildings Bylaw from before and after The Great Canadian Talk Show's special reports in late 2007. Here you go!
When Justin Swandel made his declarations in October 2007…
Waiting List of Derelict Properties: 880
Number of Inspectors: 2
Number of Properties Available For Taking Title: 12
Length of Time Until City Seizes Property: 450 Days (roughly 15 months)
One Year Later, After TGCTS Releases Its Five-Point Plan…
Waiting List of Derelict Properties: 700
Number of Inspectors: 5
Number of Properties The City Took Title To: 11
Length of Time Until City Seizes Property: 360 Days (just under a year)
- - -
In the year since we covered this story on The Great Canadian Talk Show, the increases we've seen have been greater than in all three years prior to our coverage.
That being said, there's still a great deal that Justin Swandel and the other councilors at City Hall can do to improve their performance on this bylaw.
- They can hire more inspectors— perhaps students at trade colleges around the city would be willing to do the work during on-the-field placements?
- They can cut down the series of checkpoints and waiting periods even further— somehow, I doubt the existing set of three to five waiting periods are strictly necessary.
- Of course, the city is waiting for the provincial government to respond to a request to amend the City Charter (City of Winnipeg Act) to streamline the allowed seizure time down to 30 days, as the province now mandates 90, giving slum lords lots of time to play the system.
The final verdict? The wheels at City Hall are turning and grinding, but not fast enough.
I'm Young Josh, I'm on this story, and so are you.
Keep listening! Cheers.
When Justin Swandel made his declarations in October 2007…
Waiting List of Derelict Properties: 880
Number of Inspectors: 2
Number of Properties Available For Taking Title: 12
Length of Time Until City Seizes Property: 450 Days (roughly 15 months)
One Year Later, After TGCTS Releases Its Five-Point Plan…
Waiting List of Derelict Properties: 700
Number of Inspectors: 5
Number of Properties The City Took Title To: 11
Length of Time Until City Seizes Property: 360 Days (just under a year)
- - -
In the year since we covered this story on The Great Canadian Talk Show, the increases we've seen have been greater than in all three years prior to our coverage.
That being said, there's still a great deal that Justin Swandel and the other councilors at City Hall can do to improve their performance on this bylaw.
- They can hire more inspectors— perhaps students at trade colleges around the city would be willing to do the work during on-the-field placements?
- They can cut down the series of checkpoints and waiting periods even further— somehow, I doubt the existing set of three to five waiting periods are strictly necessary.
- Of course, the city is waiting for the provincial government to respond to a request to amend the City Charter (City of Winnipeg Act) to streamline the allowed seizure time down to 30 days, as the province now mandates 90, giving slum lords lots of time to play the system.
The final verdict? The wheels at City Hall are turning and grinding, but not fast enough.
I'm Young Josh, I'm on this story, and so are you.
Keep listening! Cheers.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
City Health Department issues a caution: Free Press employees may have tainted pork
Press Release
For immediate release
Pork given to Free Press employees may not be safe to eat
The City of Winnipeg Health Department has cautioned anyone who received pork on the Free Press picket line of potential health risks.
A Free Press reporter claimed in an internet post that some of the minced pork delivered to strikers was already spoiled, and the rest was "already thawing". Most was taken home by picketers. The reporter went on to suggest the pork was being refrozen by many of the union members, with the intention of being handed out in Christmas hampers.
Peter Parys, Manager of the City’s Community By-law Enforcement Services, provided the following information for our listeners.
* meat that is not, or has not been, properly stored can certainly pose a risk if consumed;
* it is not recommended practice to refreeze meat;
* consumers should be cautious if they do not know how food has been handled and stored prior to receiving it.
Food storage information is also available on the City’s website at http://www.winnipeg.ca/cms/ehs/food/temporary.stm#foodhandling
While this information was directed to the listeners of The Great Canadian Talk Show, we believe that it deserves a broader distribution, as there is no way of knowing who may end up eating the possibly tainted meat. According to media reports, the one pound packages carry "Winnipeg Harvest " labels.
The Honourable Rosann Wowchuk, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, informed TGCTS on October 28th "we are very concerned with what has happened in regards to the incident in question with Winnipeg Harvest."
In an interview on today's show, Mayor Sam Katz expressed alarm at the idea of anyone refreezing meat, and promised to ensure the Health Department would pursue the matter further with those responsible for handing out the pork.
For immediate release
Pork given to Free Press employees may not be safe to eat
The City of Winnipeg Health Department has cautioned anyone who received pork on the Free Press picket line of potential health risks.
A Free Press reporter claimed in an internet post that some of the minced pork delivered to strikers was already spoiled, and the rest was "already thawing". Most was taken home by picketers. The reporter went on to suggest the pork was being refrozen by many of the union members, with the intention of being handed out in Christmas hampers.
Peter Parys, Manager of the City’s Community By-law Enforcement Services, provided the following information for our listeners.
* meat that is not, or has not been, properly stored can certainly pose a risk if consumed;
* it is not recommended practice to refreeze meat;
* consumers should be cautious if they do not know how food has been handled and stored prior to receiving it.
Food storage information is also available on the City’s website at http://www.winnipeg.ca/cms/ehs/food/temporary.stm#foodhandling
While this information was directed to the listeners of The Great Canadian Talk Show, we believe that it deserves a broader distribution, as there is no way of knowing who may end up eating the possibly tainted meat. According to media reports, the one pound packages carry "Winnipeg Harvest " labels.
The Honourable Rosann Wowchuk, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, informed TGCTS on October 28th "we are very concerned with what has happened in regards to the incident in question with Winnipeg Harvest."
In an interview on today's show, Mayor Sam Katz expressed alarm at the idea of anyone refreezing meat, and promised to ensure the Health Department would pursue the matter further with those responsible for handing out the pork.
Exclusive: Premier Doer, flying to Vancouver, gets broadsided by Nova Scotia leak
A leisurely Air Canada flight to Vancouver en route to China for a trade mission had a rough beginning and an even rougher ending today, for Manitoba Premier Gary Doer.
A listener reported that after enjoying the advantage of pre-boarding for executive class, Doer quietly assumed his seat in 2A. "If one of the women hadn't said "Gary" I wouldn't have realized it was the Premier," said our listener.
However, one of his 2 female companions caused a ruckus when her ginormous carry-on bag, which she insisted could not be flown as checked luggage, did not fit into the overhead bins. The diva-like histrionics held up the great unwashed class of passengers for 5 minutes until the bag was finally wedged out of sight.
Then, something happened during the flight that caused another great hue and cry upon landing. Something about "moved on the wires", "Federation of Labour", the name "Rick Clark ", and the premier muttering "it wasn't right it was leaked."
Our listener suggested we could find our what the problem was for the Premier, and as we often say, google is your friend. Here is the story:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1087531.html
"Peter MacKay has some explaining to do after he was the only Nova Scotia MP who did not sign a pledge form to help stop the closure of the Air Canada base in Halifax," federation president Rick Clarke said Wednesday.
- snip -
Air Canada announced several months ago that it planned to close its Halifax flight attendant base on Nov. 1 and lay off 187 employees. The airline is also shutting down its Winnipeg base, with the loss of 144 flight attendants, and laying off up to 225 in Vancouver.
- snip -
The provincial labour leader has also called on Premier Rodney MacDonald to follow up on a promise he made a few weeks ago to "hop on a plane" to meet with Air Canada officials in Montreal.
Mr. Clarke said the premier should follow the lead of his Manitoba counterpart, Gary Doer, who has taken a number of steps to try to stop the closure of the Winnipeg base, including offering a provincial discount on fuel tax that would save Air Canada about $2 million a year.
Although we stand to be corrected, it would appear that this is the first anyone has reported about Doer's generous offer to reduce feul tax for the airline.
Perhaps the taxpayers of Manitoba could be next.
Within minutes after we got the scoop about the scoop, the province emailed a press release, no doubt to divert attention from Clark's unfortunate loose-lippedness:
Province Requests Declaration To Save Winnipeg's Flight Attendant Base
The Manitoba government has filed a notice of application in the Court of Queen's Bench seeking a declaration that Air Canada's decision to close the Winnipeg flight attendant base is in breach of the federal Air Canada Public Participation Act, which requires the corporation to maintain operational and overhaul centres in the city of Winnipeg, Competitiveness, Training, and Trade Minster Andrew Swan announced today.
"We are asking the court to clarify the legal authority under which Winnipeg's flight attendant base is being closed," said Swan. "When the federal government privatized Air Canada in 1988, Manitobans were assured jobs, including those of flight attendants, would be maintained in Winnipeg. We are relying on the wording of the legislation to keep that commitment."
Swan pointed specifically to section 6(1)(d) of the Air Canada Public Participation Act, which requires "the Corporation to maintain operational and overhaul centres in the City of Winnipeg, the Montreal Urban Community and the City of
Mississauga." He also noted further assurances to this effect were provided by parliamentarians at the time this legislation was debated in the House of Commons.
"Air Canada's decision to close the flight attendant base seems inconsistent with what was contemplated in the federal legislation and we want the court to provide clarification on this point," said Swan.
- 30 -
A listener reported that after enjoying the advantage of pre-boarding for executive class, Doer quietly assumed his seat in 2A. "If one of the women hadn't said "Gary" I wouldn't have realized it was the Premier," said our listener.
However, one of his 2 female companions caused a ruckus when her ginormous carry-on bag, which she insisted could not be flown as checked luggage, did not fit into the overhead bins. The diva-like histrionics held up the great unwashed class of passengers for 5 minutes until the bag was finally wedged out of sight.
Then, something happened during the flight that caused another great hue and cry upon landing. Something about "moved on the wires", "Federation of Labour", the name "Rick Clark ", and the premier muttering "it wasn't right it was leaked."
Our listener suggested we could find our what the problem was for the Premier, and as we often say, google is your friend. Here is the story:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1087531.html
"Peter MacKay has some explaining to do after he was the only Nova Scotia MP who did not sign a pledge form to help stop the closure of the Air Canada base in Halifax," federation president Rick Clarke said Wednesday.
- snip -
Air Canada announced several months ago that it planned to close its Halifax flight attendant base on Nov. 1 and lay off 187 employees. The airline is also shutting down its Winnipeg base, with the loss of 144 flight attendants, and laying off up to 225 in Vancouver.
- snip -
The provincial labour leader has also called on Premier Rodney MacDonald to follow up on a promise he made a few weeks ago to "hop on a plane" to meet with Air Canada officials in Montreal.
Mr. Clarke said the premier should follow the lead of his Manitoba counterpart, Gary Doer, who has taken a number of steps to try to stop the closure of the Winnipeg base, including offering a provincial discount on fuel tax that would save Air Canada about $2 million a year.
Although we stand to be corrected, it would appear that this is the first anyone has reported about Doer's generous offer to reduce feul tax for the airline.
Perhaps the taxpayers of Manitoba could be next.
Within minutes after we got the scoop about the scoop, the province emailed a press release, no doubt to divert attention from Clark's unfortunate loose-lippedness:
Province Requests Declaration To Save Winnipeg's Flight Attendant Base
The Manitoba government has filed a notice of application in the Court of Queen's Bench seeking a declaration that Air Canada's decision to close the Winnipeg flight attendant base is in breach of the federal Air Canada Public Participation Act, which requires the corporation to maintain operational and overhaul centres in the city of Winnipeg, Competitiveness, Training, and Trade Minster Andrew Swan announced today.
"We are asking the court to clarify the legal authority under which Winnipeg's flight attendant base is being closed," said Swan. "When the federal government privatized Air Canada in 1988, Manitobans were assured jobs, including those of flight attendants, would be maintained in Winnipeg. We are relying on the wording of the legislation to keep that commitment."
Swan pointed specifically to section 6(1)(d) of the Air Canada Public Participation Act, which requires "the Corporation to maintain operational and overhaul centres in the City of Winnipeg, the Montreal Urban Community and the City of
Mississauga." He also noted further assurances to this effect were provided by parliamentarians at the time this legislation was debated in the House of Commons.
"Air Canada's decision to close the flight attendant base seems inconsistent with what was contemplated in the federal legislation and we want the court to provide clarification on this point," said Swan.
- 30 -
This story, more exclusive news on Porkgate, Mayor Sam Katz live in studio at 4.30, and a special interview with wrestling star Kenny Omega at 5.10 Pm, all on todays' show.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Free Press strike ends as Pork Scandal grows; Ag Minister "very concerned"
By resounding margins, all 3 bargaining units - carriers, pressmen, and inside workers - accepted the 'final offer' put forward by the owners of the Winnipeg Free Press, and will return to work Wednesday, with the paper to hit the streets the next day.
But as listeners of The Great Canadian Talk Show heard, the controversy over the delivery of frozen pork to striking workers intensified even as the ratification vote took place, with the provincial government now voicing concern.
The first strikers story about the pork, which can be found here, claimed "A man who delivers donations for the Winnipeg Harvest food bank" miraculously appeared at 11 AM on October 17th at the picket line, after he was "asked to get rid of it", and that the meat had been declared "surplus":
"The province’s biggest food bank appealed for donations last week when supplies ran low. The appeal drew hundreds of donations, including the frozen meat."
We have now discovered, that story was quickly re-written, excising the reference to the meat having been part of the public response to the emergency appeal and deleting the time of the delivery, but the strikers added the detail: "The meat was piled into trucks and most of it was to be driven back to union headquarters and distributed."
The strikers ran a second story on October 20th after the Porkgate controversy erupted on CJOB and in the blogosphere, titled "Harvest boss happy pork got to Free Press staff".
However after a couple of hours, even that story got a revision, and someone added the following sentences to the very end:
"On Oct. 16, a truck came by the Free Press line last week after trying to deliver frozen pork to Winnipeg Harvest. The driver was told Harvest had no room in its freezers for the pork. The truck then came by the picket line and donated it to the strikers, saying Harvest couldn’t handle the donation."
When our listeners emailed questions about the pork to the strikers website, freepressonline.com, they were told:
"The issue of the free pork was addressed on freepressonstrike.com. Please see the story "Harvest boss happy pork got to Free Press staff"."
This advice, directing our listeners to look at their revised second version of events, occured DAYS AFTER the absolute and categorical denial of the "facts" contained in both stories -- by Harvest honcho David Northcott, in an appearance on Richard Cloutier Reports on CJOB.
He told the AM audience
- that the delivery had never been turned away by Harvest,
- that it was actually meat Harvest had donated to other organizations for distribution to the needy, and
- that he could not get help from anyone, to identify the driver or the organization the pork came from.
When one of our listeners asked the strikers who the driver was, their spokewoman emailed back:
"I don't know the delivery persons name, you would probably have to contact Harvest for that information." -- sending our listener to the same David Northcott who had already declared on CJOB the week before, he did not have the answer and had given up looking for it.
Meanwhile, on October 23rd, TGCTS sent a series of questions to provincial Agriculture Minister Rosanne Wowchuk, and today her office responded:
"... we are very concerned with what has happened in regards to the incident in question with Winnipeg Harvest."
As we continued to pursue the mystery of the meat delivery, and what the Union really did with the taxpayer-paid pork, we received an email at the end of today's program.
We went into overtime to read it on-air.
This contains shocking details of the reason why the strikers' pork stories had no by-line, what really happened with the delivery, and confirmed the discord within the union that had forced a clamp-down on the comments section of their news website. While we cannot yet confirm this email came from a union member, it is the best account available of the delivery or of the mood of the strikers. Here it is:
I work at the FP in editorial. I had friends mention to me that you were asking some tough questions about the strike and content on the freepressonstrike.com website. I thought I'd add some additional information to you.
I was on the picket line the day the pork showed up. I can tell you that I didn't see anyone touch the food. We were horrified and disgusted that anyone from the union would have accepted such a donation, for the obvious reasons you have highlighted. I guess the cold and the depression stunted our normally inquisitive minds, and the folks I was walking with never did ask for an explanation.
I was quite concerned when I heard you on Monday explain that David Northcott had disowned a story on the fponstrike website. I read that story, and considered your analysis. I think you need to know this is part of a much, much bigger story.
The story on the website is not really indicative of the quality of the work of the striking journalists. I know that is your normal rant, but I think you should consider that this is not about shoddy journalism, this is about a union that is lying to its own members.
I did some asking around and the version of the story on the website was directly from the top brass at the union. That is why it did not have a byline. Normally, a member of a union could expect to get the straight goods from their own union reps, but not this union, and certainly not these union reps.
The union has consistently misled the membership about the negotiations and the issues involved. We were asked to support strike action based on one set of issues, and then once out we found out it was a whole other set of issues that were the cause of the conflict.
Our biggest issue, and the root cause of all this dishonesty, is a union that foolishly unionized its carriers. These people make $12-15K a year for working two hours a day. They get a full vote on all union decisions, even though none of them picket. Why? Because they have other, full-time jobs to go to. The union claims these are disadvantaged, underprivileged minimum wage earners. WHat a crock.
We have been screwed twice by this union, which has taken us out on the street primarily to get stuff for the carriers, who control 55 per cent of the membership by their sheer numbers.
So, you'll forgive me if I see that story behind the story of the frozen pork as yet more evidence of how dishonest this union is. They believe they can tell us anything, lie to us, all in the name of some greater good. In fact, all they are doing is trying to satisfy a disinterested and unaccountable part of the membership.
This union decided to somehow score some free food from Harvest, without considering how utterly appalling it is for the strikign workers to take food out of the mouth of truly disadvantaged people. Then they lied about it to cover it up. They will no doubt continue lying to cover up the earlier lies.
I know you love to hammer some of my colleagues on a regular basis... but this isn't about shoddy journalism. It's a much bigger story about liars and cheaters who do their dirty work in the name of a greater good. You can see from the letter crapping on picketing workers that they no longer care what anyone thinks other than the small band of thugs who control the union. They are out of control.
Fighting for the rights of workers at the FP? What a load of shit.
For what it's worth, there you have it.
Wednesday at 4PM, we'll have more on the strike vote, our investigation into Porkgate, your emails and calls -- and of course CTV's Kelly Dehn with Crimewatch at 4.10 PM -- as we are joined by our special guest co-host, Scott Taylor of the National Post.
But as listeners of The Great Canadian Talk Show heard, the controversy over the delivery of frozen pork to striking workers intensified even as the ratification vote took place, with the provincial government now voicing concern.
The first strikers story about the pork, which can be found here, claimed "A man who delivers donations for the Winnipeg Harvest food bank" miraculously appeared at 11 AM on October 17th at the picket line, after he was "asked to get rid of it", and that the meat had been declared "surplus":
"The province’s biggest food bank appealed for donations last week when supplies ran low. The appeal drew hundreds of donations, including the frozen meat."
We have now discovered, that story was quickly re-written, excising the reference to the meat having been part of the public response to the emergency appeal and deleting the time of the delivery, but the strikers added the detail: "The meat was piled into trucks and most of it was to be driven back to union headquarters and distributed."
The strikers ran a second story on October 20th after the Porkgate controversy erupted on CJOB and in the blogosphere, titled "Harvest boss happy pork got to Free Press staff".
However after a couple of hours, even that story got a revision, and someone added the following sentences to the very end:
"On Oct. 16, a truck came by the Free Press line last week after trying to deliver frozen pork to Winnipeg Harvest. The driver was told Harvest had no room in its freezers for the pork. The truck then came by the picket line and donated it to the strikers, saying Harvest couldn’t handle the donation."
When our listeners emailed questions about the pork to the strikers website, freepressonline.com, they were told:
"The issue of the free pork was addressed on freepressonstrike.com. Please see the story "Harvest boss happy pork got to Free Press staff"."
This advice, directing our listeners to look at their revised second version of events, occured DAYS AFTER the absolute and categorical denial of the "facts" contained in both stories -- by Harvest honcho David Northcott, in an appearance on Richard Cloutier Reports on CJOB.
He told the AM audience
- that the delivery had never been turned away by Harvest,
- that it was actually meat Harvest had donated to other organizations for distribution to the needy, and
- that he could not get help from anyone, to identify the driver or the organization the pork came from.
When one of our listeners asked the strikers who the driver was, their spokewoman emailed back:
"I don't know the delivery persons name, you would probably have to contact Harvest for that information." -- sending our listener to the same David Northcott who had already declared on CJOB the week before, he did not have the answer and had given up looking for it.
Meanwhile, on October 23rd, TGCTS sent a series of questions to provincial Agriculture Minister Rosanne Wowchuk, and today her office responded:
"... we are very concerned with what has happened in regards to the incident in question with Winnipeg Harvest."
As we continued to pursue the mystery of the meat delivery, and what the Union really did with the taxpayer-paid pork, we received an email at the end of today's program.
We went into overtime to read it on-air.
This contains shocking details of the reason why the strikers' pork stories had no by-line, what really happened with the delivery, and confirmed the discord within the union that had forced a clamp-down on the comments section of their news website. While we cannot yet confirm this email came from a union member, it is the best account available of the delivery or of the mood of the strikers. Here it is:
I work at the FP in editorial. I had friends mention to me that you were asking some tough questions about the strike and content on the freepressonstrike.com website. I thought I'd add some additional information to you.
I was on the picket line the day the pork showed up. I can tell you that I didn't see anyone touch the food. We were horrified and disgusted that anyone from the union would have accepted such a donation, for the obvious reasons you have highlighted. I guess the cold and the depression stunted our normally inquisitive minds, and the folks I was walking with never did ask for an explanation.
I was quite concerned when I heard you on Monday explain that David Northcott had disowned a story on the fponstrike website. I read that story, and considered your analysis. I think you need to know this is part of a much, much bigger story.
The story on the website is not really indicative of the quality of the work of the striking journalists. I know that is your normal rant, but I think you should consider that this is not about shoddy journalism, this is about a union that is lying to its own members.
I did some asking around and the version of the story on the website was directly from the top brass at the union. That is why it did not have a byline. Normally, a member of a union could expect to get the straight goods from their own union reps, but not this union, and certainly not these union reps.
The union has consistently misled the membership about the negotiations and the issues involved. We were asked to support strike action based on one set of issues, and then once out we found out it was a whole other set of issues that were the cause of the conflict.
Our biggest issue, and the root cause of all this dishonesty, is a union that foolishly unionized its carriers. These people make $12-15K a year for working two hours a day. They get a full vote on all union decisions, even though none of them picket. Why? Because they have other, full-time jobs to go to. The union claims these are disadvantaged, underprivileged minimum wage earners. WHat a crock.
We have been screwed twice by this union, which has taken us out on the street primarily to get stuff for the carriers, who control 55 per cent of the membership by their sheer numbers.
So, you'll forgive me if I see that story behind the story of the frozen pork as yet more evidence of how dishonest this union is. They believe they can tell us anything, lie to us, all in the name of some greater good. In fact, all they are doing is trying to satisfy a disinterested and unaccountable part of the membership.
This union decided to somehow score some free food from Harvest, without considering how utterly appalling it is for the strikign workers to take food out of the mouth of truly disadvantaged people. Then they lied about it to cover it up. They will no doubt continue lying to cover up the earlier lies.
I know you love to hammer some of my colleagues on a regular basis... but this isn't about shoddy journalism. It's a much bigger story about liars and cheaters who do their dirty work in the name of a greater good. You can see from the letter crapping on picketing workers that they no longer care what anyone thinks other than the small band of thugs who control the union. They are out of control.
Fighting for the rights of workers at the FP? What a load of shit.
For what it's worth, there you have it.
Wednesday at 4PM, we'll have more on the strike vote, our investigation into Porkgate, your emails and calls -- and of course CTV's Kelly Dehn with Crimewatch at 4.10 PM -- as we are joined by our special guest co-host, Scott Taylor of the National Post.
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