O.K Corral in the North End

This is getting ridiculous. The city police have declared the North End a war zone.

There are two dead and one person in the hospital all from apparent random shootings by someone dressed like a ninja and riding a bike. Yes, you heard that right.

There are three crime scenes and police are swarming the area according to the last reports. People are told to stay in their homes, stay out of the area. Your neighbourhood is not just an active crime scene, it is under siege.



No need to tune into AMC's Fear Fest, you are living the horror right now. Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husbands too because no one is unaffected.

My deepest condolences to the families that are dealing with the tragedy now and my complete sympathies to the neighbourhood that is under siege.

People have to be asking what they have to do to be safe.

Sam Katz cannot say things are better since he became mayor. The stats for Winnipeg are pretty dismal. We run from crisis to crisis. Reduce car theft only to see a rise in gang crime. Drugs are rampant in the city with grow up and meth houses everywhere. Vandalism and break-ins strike at the heart of people's security.

And now we have a neighbourhood where the best advice is don't go there. Don't go out. Stay inside. I wonder how people are sleeping there.

The election is in three days. Tell every incumbent candidate that this has to stop. Your past plans are not working and your past record is dismal.

To the North End, keep your head down and your chin up. People all over the city realize that we have to put an end to this and we are going to help.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Candidates Debate Part 2 (continued)

The first question posed to the candidates at the Shaftesbury High School debate. video is here.

The question was: Question - Do you have any experience in the area of city planning policy?

Jarret Hannah said he has experience with city planning policy through his environmental business on the web. He elaborated about his business in recycling and he could bring that knowledge to city planning.

Livio Ciarelli mentioned his involvement in the 2006 election campaign and his support of right of way rail lines being used for rapid transportation and moving the University of Manitoba downtown. He said he participated in forums and blogs and Speak Up Winnipeg. He ran out of time in regards to explaining about the city planning guide that he had read. On the second run at the question, he detailed how Ridgewood to Wilkes Boulevard would be the location of 7000 new homes south of Wilkes Boulevard. And from Wilkes to McGillivary Boulevard would be the location of 25,000 homes. He said he preferred a green buffer zone in that area with lagoons and natural habitats.

Wendy Lenton indicated that her company has been involved in international planning related to traffic. She said she had managed projects beginning to end in planning for large cities. She detailed her experience in strategic development for cities based on her business. She questioned the city's record in planning and said it has cost us.

Paula Havixbeck said she worked as a consultant for Habitat for Humanity. This involved purchasing, zoning and financials. Havixbeck ran out of time to explain more about the process. On the second go around, she said that she believed that there needed to be a better cross section of people consulted on projects. A city planning group dedicated to the ward is something she has thought about. She says that has worked outside the city on planning in particular, Selkirk, Manitoba and their marina. She said relationships need to be built in the capital region.

Steve Szego said he didn't have formal planning experience although he is familiar with the Our Winnipeg plan. He said he would make use of his contacts in the planning department for issues like transportation. When he came back to the question, he indicated that he was interested in responsible spending and planning. He believes in constituents first.

Dashi Zargani said he doesn't have experience in planning but that he is determined to fix or resolve problems as they come up for the ward. He elaborated that he believed that there was poor consulting done when it came to planning.

Timothy Martin, in a repeat of the first forum was almost overlooked twice by the moderator. He said that in his 18 years as a lawyer, the had been involved in planning and zoning variance issues had gone before council committees. He mentioned his thoughts on subjects such sustainability of communities so that you can work, live and play in the area as well as green areas and local heritage. He also went on about the Kapyong Barracks and Lafarge Lands but ran out of time to delve further. He expanded on the idea of interpreting the plan Winnipeg the way we need to. By that, he meant in preserving the small town unique feel of Charleswood. He said he is against commercial sprawl.

***

My thoughts on this section is that the question asks something of candidates that seems to focused on their experience with a vary narrow professional skill which is city planning. People go to school for that.

The question may have drawn a better response if the candidates were asked about their thoughts on how the city plans and how it affects the ward and beyond. As such, the answers of Steve Szego, Dashi Zargani and Wendy Lenton might have drawn more specific thoughts on the city.

Paula Havixbeck indicated she had skills in specific plans for Winnipeg but didn't have much details for the ward itself.

Timothy Martin had some thoughts on the ward itself but was not too specific other than preserving the character and limiting sprawl.

Livio Ciarelli had a specific idea for ward planning about a green buffer zone but I was left with the thought about how it would affect sprawl.

We have seen resistance to any densification on Parker Avenue and now south of Wilkes.

The city will expand ever outward past green buffer zones and it will still affect the ward. It will also cost the ward to spread service beyond where they are now. It is better to have well considered development plans for new homes and ensure good transit corridors so that the ward is not a racetrack to city limits.

Tom Vanderbilt, Traffic Expert

I forwarded the information about Winnipeg's traffic circles to best selling author Tom Vanderbilt. It is featured on his website under Roundaboutgate in Winnipeg.

Initially, he took the position that Winnipeggers needed to learn how to use the traffic circles. He revised his position later on and said he didn't know the city and what the differences were compared to Seattle.

I did a piece this morning on what those differences are.

I encourage people from Winnipeg to contribute or follow Vanderbilt's blog. tell him what you think of Winnipeg's roundabouts (traffic circles).

River Heights-Active Transportation Part 9 Tickets?

The publisher of the Free Press has weighed in on the traffic calming circles in the city, specifically River Heights. Bob Cox acknowledges that the circles have almost made the search for a new publisher necessary three times since he almost has had an accident there on that many occasions. In his article, he suggests:

But on Grosvenor, motorists are used to cruising straight down the street with few interruptions for stop signs.

Many still act the same way, driving through traffic circles as if they have the right of way to go straight down Grosvenor, ignoring traffic coming from side streets running north-south.

They should be yielding if a vehicle coming from their right or left is already at the traffic circle before they arrive. But they're not even looking left or right.

In all three of my near collisions, I had driven into a traffic circle only to see another vehicle bearing down on me along Grosvenor, screeching to a halt and cursing at me as if I were in the wrong.

I'll concur with that observation.

Cox's suggestion is that more police tickets would remedy that behaviour.

So here's a thought for Winnipeg's traffic brain trust:

-- If you want traffic circles to stay, how about getting out and actively telling motorists how to use them -- not by sending out flyers, but by standing on the street to stop rule breakers.

-- Put traffic cops out and they'll write 100 tickets a day just standing at the corner of Grosvenor and Waverley.

-- Better yet, give errant motorists warning notices for a few weeks until they know the rules.

-- Whatever you do, please don't depend on signs to change the way people drive.

I think the idea of tickets could apply to a whole lot of areas of the city including speeding through construction sites.

But do the police even want to do this? My impression is that while we have a traffic component to our police service, it isn't something cops seems to like to do. The police chief not too long ago had to remind the police to issue traffic tickets since there had been such a huge decline in traffic enforcement and revenue derived from the tickets themselves.

While there may have been an increase in tickets issued, it is hard to say whether it has changed the behaviour of Winnipeg drivers. Winnipeg drivers continue to speed, tailgate, change lanes without turn signals and act out aggressively as if driving is a win-lose sport.

The Free Press took a note from news blogger ChrisD and filmed a traffic circle. For amusement, watch the pedestrian with the dog berate the news crews for the chaos in the circles. Watch the bike at about 55:30 that is almost smushed for some unique navigation of the circle.

Many of the police in the traffic unit do work related to hit and run and fatal collisions incidents. Important work but after the fact and not preventative.

The traffic enforcement unit has been robbed of resources.

The work that Bob Cox wants to have done can't be done consistently because it has not been a priority for the police, the mayor or anyone else, it seems. Winnipeg drivers pretty much know that barring a collision or photo radar incident, they can act out on the roads with little consequence.

In any event, this talk of traffic tickets is a bit of a diversion. While it is an important consideration in overall driver behaviour, it doesn't get at the heart of whether the mini-driver circles are safe.

The answer according to British studies is not so much for cyclists or pedestrians.

The Free Press reported on Thursday:

Brad Sacher, the city's public works director, said he doesn't believe there's anything wrong with the traffic circles because they copied the ones used in Seattle, Wash., which have seen a 94 per cent decrease in collisions.

If they had copied Seattle, they probably should have noted:

Potential traffic circle locations are identified through community requests or investigation of high accident intersections. Each request is investigated and an initial assessment is performed to determine if a traffic circle is feasible. Residents' requests are responded to with a letter, which explains the process for installing a circle and the likelihood of the location competing successfully for full city funding. In order to ensure that the City's traffic safety funding is allocated to intersections with the greatest need, a priority point system is used to rank the intersection where traffic circles are requested. Ranking criteria include: the number of accidents that have occurred at the intersection in the last three years; traffic speed (85th percentile); and traffic volume. Residents are required to submit a petition, with signatures representing 60% of the households within a one block radius of the proposed traffic circle, in order to compete for funding. Funding is allocated starting with the intersection with the worst combination of problems and proceeds as far down the list as the funding allows. The cost to construct each circle ranges from $3,000 to $6,000.

Moreover, look at this:

Each traffic circle is individually designed to fit the intersection without having to modify the street width or corner radii. Most of Seattle's local streets are 25 feet wide or less and traffic circles are usually 12 to 16 feet in diameter. A single unit truck having a 45 foot turning radius is used as a design vehicle to ensure that fire trucks can pass by the circle without running over the curbs. All intersections where circles are to be constructed are reviewed by the Fire Department and field tests are conducted where they have a specific concern. While traffic circles are designed to allow fire trucks to pass by them, they are constructed with a two foot wide mountable curb that allows fire trucks or larger vehicles, such as moving vans, to run over the curb without damaging the vehicle or the circle.

While the circles in Winnipeg are about the same size of 14 feet, the streets along Grosevenor also include bike paths and bump outs at the curb.

Notice anything about this Seattle traffic circle?



No bump outs and no bike path marked.



The above picture is standing in the middle of the traffic circle. See bike path and bump out.

Not so much like Seattle.

So is traffic enforcement going to help if the design is flawed and the consultation process is no where like what Seattle has?

River Heights-Active Transportation- The Crash Part 8

I just said on Tuesday that I don't believe the traffic circles on Grosvenor Avenue are safe and on Wednesday morning someone was hurt at one of them and had to go the hospital.

The driver of the other vehicle didn't blame the other driver. He had this to say:

A child could look at that and say there is something wrong. It’s probably one step away from criminal.

Sam Katz says people just have to learn how to use them.

Sam Katz, you are wrong. They are not safe. They are not proper roundabouts. Someone is going to end up badly hurt and could die as a result of these things.

It is not safe for drivers, not safe for cyclists, not safe for pedestrians and not safe for homeowners nearby these mini-traffic circles.

Winnippeggers want safe roads. A traffic circle ought to be wide, have no possibility of turning the wrong way on it and have clearly marked yield signs to traffic and people with the right of way.

Sam Katz, tear down these structures.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Candidates Debate Part 2

I was not able to attend the second debate as it was earlier than the Charleswood United Church gathering a week prior.

The good news is that the events was taped by the organizers. I am watching it now and offering commentary. The video can be found here. Kudos to the people who went to the trouble to do this.

It was fantastic to have all seven candidates in attendance. The meeting was moderated by CJOB host Geoff Currier which explained the earlier debate time as he had to work at the station at 9. There were fewer people than at the earlier debate but the video should help increase that number who will see it.

Each candidate got to do an intro before questioning. Timothy Martin told the audience about being a lifetime member of the community, his job as a lawyer, his family and his interest in running which he said included improving traffic flow on Kenaston Boulevard.

Jarret Hannah told the audience he was a small business owner specializing in marketing. He also said he had a young family and was involved in community and charity work and believed it was useful experience to have to city council.

Livio Ciarelli said he was the senior candidate and the only one to challenge Bill Clement in the last election. He said he wasn't going to put up signs or use other people's money in the election. He indicated he was going to go to every door in ward and that he got candidates to commit to funding the Harte Trail. He believes Charleswood is shortchanged in the city. He ran out of time to finish that thought.

Wendy Lenton said he was running as an independent and that she was business woman specializing in traffic systems at an international level. She said she is a longtime resident. The key issues she are crime, roads and infrastructure and community development. She said she would be a full time candidate.

Paula Haxixbeck said the top priorities are public safety, community centres and lastly infrastructure. She said she has support from two unions and has their endorsements, the police and firefighters. She is a business consultant and lectures at the University of Manitoba and Canadian Mennonite University. She is president of Tuxedo Community Centre and has a young family. She said he is running because she is passionate about her community.

Steve Szego said that he have lived in the community for 40 years and has a young family. He believes in transparency and accountability. Planning and budgeting will be important, he says and he wants to be able to be able to help guide the ward as its representative.

Dashi Zargani said he has heard from the community and that they have said they want roads and sewers and drainage improved. He also mentioned that people want green spaces protected. He believes that the high level of taxation is not reflected in the ward and it could do better. He ran out of time to elaborate.

Continued later on...

CBC's National and Active Transportation

Traffic issues have been front and center in a lot of the country. They have become election sore points in several civic campaigns.

In Winnipeg, CBC's National News correspondent Reg Sherren features a story on active transportation. Calgary and Toronto are also reported on.

Marty Gold was interviewed for the story. In the four years that The Great Canadian Talk Show has been on the air, it has pushed civic issues into the forefront of discussion. And now the National News is paying attention.

Jackie Avent from Bike to the Future was also featured. She is convinced people are going to love it.

I still don't think what has been set up is safe and watching what happens on Grosvenor Avenue scares the heck out of me and a lot of people.

By the way, I won't be able to make it to the debate at Shaftesbury High School. I would really appreciate some reporting of what people's impressions might be. Unfortunately, I have to work so I can't make it. The early start time to the debate just makes it impossible.

Also...I was interviewed by CBC again about the poll that CBC/Free Press is releasing on October 21. I was told that 56% of Winnipeggers support a tax increase at the rate of inflation at the very least. I agreed that I would support an increase to keep us at the same level. The tax freeze has gone on long enough that we are seeing a deficit in simply keeping the city infrastructure and programs going.

The promises of some candidates to get money from the provincial government are not something that can be guaranteed. The more likely answer from the province is no. We can't wait another five or ten years wishing for more.

The anger people feel now is only going to grow as people get bottlenecked in traffic, see community clubs close and an overall decline in city services occurs.

The Danger of Construction Sites

Brittany Murray, 21, killed at a construction site by reckless driver.

It is surprising it doesn't happen more often. Drivers in Manitoba do not slow down for construction sites.

We see the dangers in Winnipeg along Taylor Avenue and along Sterling Lyon and Route 90. In fact, there isn't a road or highway in the province that doesn't see angry, frustrated and completely reckless driving on the part of drivers.

And now we see a young woman killed.

Some are blaming the age of the driver. While that might have been a factor, it doesn't explain why people of various ages drive too fast and too reckless for the road conditions when construction workers are present.

Police and authorities seem reluctant to crack the whip on enforcement.

While additional policing seems necessary, construction companies should be required to use better signage and lighting to show the danger on the road. It seems Winnipeg has fewer and fewer construction lights. Try driving down Route 90/Kenaston and not be a bit nervous about taking out a barrel.

My sympathies to the family of the girl who was killed. Perhaps the city and the province will try and make things safer for those doing road work.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Election and Starlight Tours

The Free Press is reporting today that the University of Manitoba did an investigation into "starlight tours" starting in 2006 when police chief Jack Ewatski said he believed they were urban lore.

After 76 people came to relate their stories, the sociologist at the university had to stop as it was just too much to process.

In the candidate's debate at Charleswood United Church, candidate Livio Ciarelli said something about driving criminals 20 miles out of town.

When I mentioned that such a comment reminded me of starlight tours, his reply was:

"...if it were legal, I'd drop them outside the City a good distance outside."

It would appear that Winnipeg does seem to have a problem with picking people up as suspects and dropping them out of town, sometimes without coat or shoes.

Further, Ciarelli said we can respond as such:

"Or we can have the Hells Angels move into Charleswood, its your choice. For me, i have zero use for them and if i can disrupt this way, all the better."

I don't think I was the only one at the Charleswood United Church debate that thought about the consequences of dropping people out of town.

Shaftesbury High School, site of Charlewood-Tuxedo's final candidate's debate



I wrote in error the time of the next Charleswood-Tuxedo debate. It takes place between 6 and 8 at Shaftesbury High School at 2255 Grant Avenue.

My understanding is all eight candidates will be present.

The debate will moderated by Geoff Currier from CJOB.

I hope to make it but it will be tight with work.

City Election and Charleswood Part 6

Paula Havixbeck, candidate for Charleswood-Tuxedo



Paula Havixbeck is one of seven candidates running in the Charleswood-Tuxedo ward. By profession she is a lecturer at the University of Manitoba and a business consultant. She has worked for the City of Winnipeg in the Fire Paramedic Service Department and also as a manager at the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba.

She has indicated that she has five priorities.

1. Keeping our communities safe
2. Keeping citizens safe through Fire Services and Emergency Medical Services
3. Engaging our community through Recreation Facilities and Community Centres
4. Pushing for new roads, better drainage, new communities, and a stimulus for business all in a sustainable plan
5. Encouraging sustainable taxes

She has been endorsed by the police and firefighter unions and mentions this fact often. She is endorsed by the Progressive Conservative MLAs locally and Conservative MPs federally. It appear she has the big blue machine organization at her disposal.

She supports maintaining the tax freeze but isn't clear on how she will pay for some of her infrastructure spending as well as police and firefighter pay increases. At the moment, it looks like she will do this by supporting development in housing and other business growth.

On her website she seems caught between supporting new business but then saying businesses like IKEA cause businesses to move out.

When it comes to business, many people have told me they think Charleswood is falling behind – that vacancies are up, and few if any new businesses want to come to Charleswood.

Adding to that concern is the fact that IKEA and surrounding business developments will move more business out of Charleswood.

Still trying to decide if that is a withdrawal of support for IKEA coming.

I am still waiting to hear from Paula in regards to the questionnaire I sent out in July.

In the debate at Charleswood United Church, she took the toughest stand on crime of any but didn't indicate how she would pay for her plan since she supported no tax increase.

She was among the slickest of the candidates in the debates but she appeared to be the one most beholden to the promises she has made to interest groups with no real clarity has to how her platform would be paid for.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Pembina Trails Ward 1

Map of Ward 1 of Pembina Trails School Division

I won't go into the whole school division. I am in Ward 1 of the Pembina Trails School Division.

The Free Press did a profile of the four candidates for the three elected positions of school trustee.

Three of the four trustees running are incumbents.

They are:

Gail Watson
Dianne Zuk
Gerry Melnyk

New to the race is:

Jim Komenda

I cannot really tell you the merits of any of the candidates as I never read, hear or see anything about them ever.

Pembina Trails School Division was created in July 2002, from the amalgamation of two Winnipeg, Manitoba school divisions – Assiniboine South and Fort Garry.

Since that time, the division has managed its affairs better than some divisions. One school, Chapman Elementary on Roblin, was slated for closure until the province put a moratorium on it.

Personally, I'm of a mind that the low profile of trustees and poor voter turn-out indicates to me that a better system is needed. The fact that the trustees have equal taxing authorities to a city councillor without the same level of scrutiny is appalling.

In Pembina Trails, the trustees meet twice a month with a few other meetings tossed in here and there. Usually no media is present. The only ones in attendance would appear to be those with an issue in that particular meeting.

Education should be removed from property tax and funded through general revenues of the province.

I don't know how I vote in terms of trustees. I have received some stuff in the mail. Only one candidate has a website. At least all four have answered the Free Press survey.

It will probably be even harder for other people. Some will not have to vote for trustee as the incumbents were acclaimed. Some candidates just seem to put their names up and won't answer any questions at all.

This is democracy?

Sam Katz As A Young Man

This is back in Sam Katz's hunting days.

Click here.

Type in "Drinks With" in the blank.

Judy Wasylycia-Leis As A Child

Cute Girl Has A Catchy Dance

City Election and River Heights Part 1

It is getting pretty ugly in River Heights. Accusations and counter accusations are flying.

Some are looking at the connection of Sandy Shindleman, Sam Katz and Michael Kowalson.

The dispute about active transportation has given Kowalson an opportunity to hold John Orlikow accountable. The problem is that his people have tried to make it look like the protest organized on Wednesday was a spontaneous thing from concerned citizens rather than an event arranged by his office. The Winnipeg Sun named him jerk of the day.

John Orlikow has filed a complaint about the flyer that went out in support of the protest at Waverley Street and Grosvenor Avenue.

Meanwhile, anonymous posters are trying to enlist bloggers to investigate Orlikow for some sort of fraud.

River Heights is no stranger to dirty fights but I can't recall so many attempts by one side or the other to suggest outright corruption.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Candidates Debate Aftermath

Just back from the candidates debate moderated by Ernie Nairn, Executive Director for the Assiniboia Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Charleswood Ministerial Committee (five churches in the Charleswood area) and the Canadian Mennonite University.

Six of the seven candidates were in attendance and around 350 people were in the audience. There appeared to be some media in the crowd, most noticeably CJOB, CBC and CTV.

Each candidate was allowed an opening and closing response. Five questions posed to the candidates by the moderator and they were made aware of the questions in advance. Those questions were decided upon by a variety of organizations, most of which appeared to come from social organizations with a left orientation. Around 45 minutes of questions were posed by members of the audience.

I am still left undecided when it comes to voting. There is one more candidate debate at Shaftesbury High School on October 20 at 8 pm. I will wait till that time to make my final decision.

The candidates were posed questions on poverty, housing, environmental (including transportation and urban sprawl), crime and taxes.

All of the candidates agreed the city needs a strategy on poverty and on housing. There were few policies offered and most said nothing could be done without the province. No one answered the question on whether condo conversions should be regulated by the city. Livio Ciaralli said that the city should consult with developers rather than dictate to them. No one really had a solution for people who rent.

In terms of the environment, most of the candidates talked about working with the province and better planning. Jarret Hannah said that he had a business dealing with the environment the last couple of years. Wendy Lenton said that she had done traffic consulting as her main business and understood planning.

On crime, Paula Havixbeck stated a few times that she had the police and firefighter unions supporting her and that she supported a new police station for Charleswood. Jarret Hannah said that the police station was already in the works and that he was looking at better community programs and watches. Wendy Lenton also talked about community watches and additional police. Livio Ciaralli said most of the crime in the area was petty crime but said he would give the police and firefighters anything they wanted. He also said he would drive criminals 20 miles out of town to laughter and a little confusion about whether he was serious.Steve Szego talked about better efficiency for the police and getting some of the paperwork streamlined so they weren't buried in it. Timothy Martin talked of neighbourhood watches and a balanced approach to policing and efficiencies.

On taxes, Steve Szego would look at all avenues before ending the freeze. Paula Havixbeck stuck to a freeze. Livio Ciaralli said that he would fight to get a fair 1% share of sales tax from the province. He said he was not in favour of property tax increase. The only candidate to say they favoured a modest increase was Wendy Lenton.

When it came to questions from the public:

Asked about who they would support as mayor:

All said they would work with either of the two main contenders. Timothy Martin, Jarret Hannah and Livio Ciaralli indicated they favoured Sam Katz and some of his policies. Paula Havixbeck said Katz was a "man of integrity".

On rapid transit:

Jarret Hannah said finish BRT. Steve Szego talked about better planning but that we needed public transit. Livio Ciaralli was dubious about rapid transit and said we had pretty good transit already. Timothy Martin supported rapid transit along with Wendy Lenton.

On infrastructure:

All candidates supported better support for infrastructure. Wendy Lenton said the roads were deplorable and Paula Havixbeck said Kenaston was an embarrassment.

On extending William R. Clement Parkway:

All candidates supported extending it but many said that the dog park should find a new home.

On term limits:

All candidates supported it in principle. None would agree to a referendum on it.

On paramedics having enough numbers:

Paula Havixbeck thinks they have enough. Jarret Hannah and Timothy Martin ambulances are tied up at hospitals. Wendy Lenton says the numbers indicate that Winnipeg does not have enough ambulances. Livio Ciarelli says he would given them what they wanted in support.

On education being removed on property tax:

All candidates support its removal.

On what the main issue is for the Charleswood-Tuxedo ward:

All candidates except Paula Havixbeck said that infrastructure and traffic were the main issues in the ward. She thought crime was the main issue. It should be mentioned that Wendy Lenton received the only spontaneous mass applause from the crowd by stating she wanted to keep Charleswood rural in its look and feel.

***

My view of the debate was that it was very polite. The only time I saw a jab was when Steve Szego said he would be non-partisan and have no political affiliation. Paula Havixbeck smiled at the remark as it seemed directed at her.

I was disappointed that Dashi Zargani was not present. He will have a hard time winning a lot of people over if he is not present at the next candidate debate.

Livio Ciarelli needs to be more concise in the timeframe of the question and answer. His focus on the 1% sales tax is an important one but it was too narrow. His answer on crime was probably not what most of the audience wanted to hear.

Paula Havixbeck appeared to have the big blue Progressive Conservative machine present. She was polished and hardest line on crime of anyone but the constant reminder of the support she was getting from firefighter and police unions was a bit overbearing. I kept thinking of what exactly was promised for that support.

Timothy Martin was too vague in a lot of his answers and seemed to drift a bit in his responses.

Wendy Lenton was fairly articulate on some of her answers but was not giving enough indications of how she was more outstanding in terms of ideas.

Steve Szego was too scripted. He also needed to find a way to break free from the pack.

Jarret Hannah was the most genial of the candidates, gave answers that were understandable and focused.

I have not decided who to vote for yet. I will attend the next candidates debate but what I will be looking for is a little more animated responses, less drift in the answers, a little more clarity in policy ideas and perhaps one or two outstanding initiatives that bring some excitement to the ward.

What might be some of those break from the crowd ideas?

How about lowering the voting age to 16 for municipal elections?
How about raising the closing date for bars to 4 or 5 am?
How about getting a Winnipeg exemption for Sunday shopping hours?

I will leave it to the candidates to think outside the box from here.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Candidate Candidates Debate

I will be attending the Charleswood-Tuxedo candidates debate tonight at the Charleswood United Church between 7 and 9 tonight. The address is 4820 Robin Boulevard.

Hope to see people come out.

I will be doing a full report later on.

The only candidate who won't be present is Dashi Zargani who had scheduled a fund-raising dinner sometime before the debate was announced.

Sesame Street: Smell Like A Monster

Harper Blames Ignatieff For Foreign Policy Failures

Stephen Harper has laid the blame for Canada's first ever defeat in the United Nations at winning a Security Council seat at Michael Ignatieff's feet.

Yeesh, what next? Will they blame Ignatieff for Canada being kicked out of the United Arab Emirates with the expulsion of all Canadian military from Camp Mirage?

This week has seen some of the biggest foreign policy failures in recent Canadian history and somehow this is all Michael Ignatieff's fault.

It really defies logic.

The policies that Harper has followed over the last number of years is what foreign governments are most likely to pay attention to. Harper is looking for a scapegoat for not winning a seat. I think even the most faithful supporters are going to have a hard time believing that the opposition leader is responsible for a first ballot loss on the Security Council.

River Heights-Active Transportation Part 7

John Orlikow



Michael Kowalson

Things are getting nasty in the River Heights ward.

While anger is natural when it comes to active transportation and some of what has happened, there is no excuse for anonymous flyers.

If someone is opposed to something in the ward, put your name forward.

It is really low politics.