Bring Co-Op Radio To Winnipeg

I think it is time to bring co-op radio to Winnipeg.

We already have one co-op radio station in Winnipeg at CJNU. There are a number of radio co-ops in B.C.

With the death of The Great Canadian Talk Show, it is obvious the city needs a co-op radio station.

I know nothing about operating a radio station but we have many people in the city who do.

I propose that we form a co-op with the goal of a 24 hour radio station for the city. I would be willing to be a co-op member and help any way I can.

Please leave a message if you might be interested in doing this.

University of Winnipeg Part 3

What does the University of Winnipeg have that the University of Manitoba doesn't? The answer is a bar.

Today the university announced that the old bus depot will house Canad Inn's Garbonzo's Pizza as well as a medical clinic and the university bookstore which is reported to be 6000 square feet. Hopefully, they will have more university apparel for men. Take a look at their website and they don't have anything listed for guys? We don't buy university clothes?

There used to be a few Garbonzo's Pizza restaurants in the city but they have retrenched to their Canad Inn location on Pembina Highway.

I am curious as to why they didn't build a Tavern United at the university. It seems a sports bars set-up might be a better fit. Certainly the beer prices are better at Tavern versus Garbonzo's according to their website.

This restaurant/bar could be a good thing as long as they try to fit into a university setting and keep the price points within the student budget. If Garbonzo's doesn't work out, I'm sure the university will have others lined up for the spot.

Once again, good work to the University of Winnipeg is their ongoing renewal.

It didn't help them in the latest Maclean's ratings though. They dropped from 8th to 10th. However, they rank very well in western Canada.

MACLEAN'S RANKINGS - UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG


SUBJECT
Overall Ranking...10th (Canada)...3rd (Western Canada)
Student Services...3rd (Canada)...1st (Western Canada)
Reputational Survey...5th (Canada)...1st (Western Canada)
Student Awards...7th (Canada)...2nd (Western Canada)
Social Sciences & Humanities Grants...8th (Canada)...1st (Western Canada)
Operating Budget...9th (Canada)...4th (Western Canada)
Library Acquisitions...10th (Canada)...3rd (Western Canada)

The Great Canadian Talk Show's Replacement

Tristan Field-Jones, host of Musings on Politics

The program Musings On Politics has been selected to replace The Great Canadian Talk Show in the 4 pm to 6 pm timeslot. It is hosted by Tristan Field-Jones.

It appears that Rick Baverstock, the producer of Kick-FM is trying to ensure the timeslot remains civic minded.

It is a lot to ask of the program to fill so many hours. Here is their webpage.

In the meantime, Red River College has announced a person as the contact in regards to the station and the decisions made. That person is KICK board member Graham Thomson at 949-8377 or gthomson@rrc.mb.ca . He is the Dean of School of Business and Applied Arts.

Sterling Lyon Parkway - A Rough Patch of Road

The Sterling Lyon Parkway, looking east from Shaftesbury just before it was twinned. By the way, all that woodland beside the road...is gone.

I am not the only one who has noticed it. Here is a brand new stretch of road and it is not concrete but asphalt. It is also rough, uneven in places and looks like a crappy job.

I have phoned the councillor to see if she has driven down the stretch as it has just opened. They probably think it is good enough. It certainly doesn't feel good enough given that traffic is only going to increase as IKEA goes up in several months.

Any inspector see this yet?

Alternative Media On Its Knees

Today, ITV Brandon went off the air. This comes on the heels of The Great Canadian Talk Show going off the air and two prominent bloggers leaving the scene.

The owner of Winnipeg-based Studio Publications Glenn Tinley said that the franchise in Brandon ran into trouble. Similar problems seems to have affected the Winnipeg franchise.

ON CBC Radio at Noon, Tinley said he hoped to see some re-introduction of the media group in Brandon by March.

In the mean time, Brandon is left with one less alternative for news and insight in the Westman area.

It has been a sad few weeks in regards to non-mainstream media.

Ikea Part 3

One Man Committee has done a good job putting together the information on IKEA thus far.

Last week, the remaining woodland on either side of Sterling Lyon Parkway was bulldozed and removed. It is really vacant land now. Some of the roadways are now accessible. You can now travel on the new stretch of road from Shaftesbury to Kenaston. Likewise, there are now three lanes of traffic north under the underpass to Taylor Avenue.

The IKEA site will be the largest shopping complex in Manitoba. However, it doesn't include the Kapyong Barracks, the Manitoba Hydro site across the street from it or the snow disposal site north of Commerce Drive.

In short, the amount of land is massive.



The IKEA site on either side of Sterling Lyon Parkway.

A Kal Tire is almost complete across the street from where IKEA is going. Just south of the site is a one year old Tim Horton's restaurant in the complex housing GoodLife Fitness and the very large Terracon Business Park.

Great Canadian Talk Show Ended... Shock

Marty Gold with Sam Katz when he guest hosted on CJOB

It is with complete shock that I read that The Great Canadian Talk Show has been cancelled.

I am completely bewildered by the announcement.

I'm aware that some people might not like the show or the host but I believed that the program fulfilled its education and civic responsibilities to the college and to the community in general.

Update: It appears Marty Gold will be interviewed on CTV NEWs at 11:30 PM tonight.

Progressive Conservative AGM Aftermath

The Progressive Conservatives are heading home after their annual general meeting. If there was any disagreement about the direction of the party, it was done behind closed doors.

It helps to have a lead in the polls and an indication that there is a hunger for change in the province.

The CBC is reporting this Sunday that there is a turn to the right in a lot of the country, especially in the suburbs. The federal Tories have to tried to link their fortunes to Tim Horton's. God forbid someone is shown having coffee at Starbucks.

The NDP made some inroads in the suburbs in the last election taking advantage of the strength of a popular leader, mistakes of the opposition and a confident economy.

While the Manitoba economy has performed well, the deficit weighs now on the minds of many. The future expenses of things like the stadium and hydro's power lines from north to south are in flux and the desire for change seems stronger now than any time in the last number years.

All of this spells challenges to the NDP.

Hugh McFadyen met with 200 members this past weekend to chart out the next year in terms of an election campaign. In broad strokes, the Tories will make the issue crime, Manitoba Hydro, hog barns and the stadium.

A few of these issues are well treaded ground for the PCs but they might more resonance now with the rising costs for hydro and crime that is worse now than four years ago.

However, none of this will be enough for the PCs to win an election if they don't have a solid platform. Make a silly promise like on bringing back the Winnipeg Jets and they will pay a price. The platform should be sound, it should be bold and it should be confident.

There are 331 days till the election and the PCs are flush, have 10,000 party members and many are seasoned after the civic election this October. If they run a smooth campaign and present themselves as the agents of change with a sound platform, the NDP will hard pressed to counter. After ten years, it is hard to tap into the desire for change.

As mentioned, I expect the NDP plan a campaign of fear. Fear of the PCs getting into power.

NDP's Month Long Negative Campaign

As I mentioned a while back, I expect there to be an increasing amount of ads from the NDP. It will be interesting to see the spike in them in the next months.

For the next month though we are going to see a negative ad attacking Hugh McFadyen and the Progressive Conservatives. Party brass are going to great pains to call the ads contrast ads.

I think the old adage of if it walks like a duck applies. In fact, most definitions of negative ad campaigns says contrast ads are indeed negative ads.

The ads start Monday and attack McFadyen with the typical fear campaign about the failures on the leader on a raft of policies.

Negative ads often work. They work so well that parties run them with greater frequency than positive ads about themselves.

Who are the ads aimed at? They are aimed at independent voter in an attempt to discourage them from voting one way or the other. The net effect though according to studies is to keep independents at home feeling alienated from the process and allow the base of support of each party to win or lose the election.

There can be consequences to negative ad campaigns. Two of the world's best examples happened within Canadian federal politics in 1993 with a Progressive Conservative ad critical of how Jean Chretien looked and a 2006 ad that the Liberals thought of running about military in the streets if the Conservatives were elected.

The last provincial election had an ad campaign by the provincial PCs that went negative on crime. It fell flat. The over the top fear aspect of it was dismissed despite whatever views people had on the issue to begin with. That, and a poorly run campaign and McFadyen's Tories lost even more than they started with.

The most recent polls have the provincial NDP behind the Tories. We have seen an increasing amount of belligerence from the NDP and from their supporters over the last months. I expect to see it reach a boiling point and stay there the longer the campaign runs.

It remains to be seen whether there will be a backlash as we have seen in other elections from time to time. I expect the NDP government will be flooding the airwaves with more ads touting Manitoba and the plan the government is taking. It will be interesting to see the comparison between this year and last. It is worth a freedom of information request if the government isn't interested in disclosing it.

The PCs won't be exempt from going negative but they have been burned once already in Manitoba by going that way. They will have to be more cautious. Their best bet it to continue to propose change and emphasize the things that seem to be their best asset.

The NDP could have campaigned on change when Greg Selinger was elected by they have opted for a continuation of what we have seen before. This might not be enough for a province that routinely kicks out a party after ten years in office.

Here is the ad:

Martha Stewart Gets Too Close To Polar Bear

Martha Stewart being consumed by a polar bear in Churchill, Manitoba



Martha Stewart moments before she inspects the polar bear holding facility

(CP) Canada went into full damage control after Martha Stewart was consumed by a polar bear in Churchill, a northern port city on Hudson Bay in the province of Manitoba.

Martha Stewart, a business woman and style maven from the United States was in Manitoba taking part in a whirl wind expedition to see polar bears and experience life in northern Canada.

Following a tundra buggy ride where Stewart and guests photographed polar bears well outside the reach of the animals, Stewart was given a gift of a seal skin jacket from Premier Greg Selinger in a small ceremony commemorating the visit. This proved to be a fateful decision.

In an error that is being investigated by the RCMP, Stewart was misdirected to the polar bear handling Quonset building in the belief that it was where apple fritters were sold. With her fur-trim hat and seal skin coat, she was indistinguishable from the main prey of the polar bear: the seal.

The four bears in the Quonset hut were upon Stewart in moments and despite a valiant effort in which she knocked out two of the bears, she was held down by one while the other pummeled her with his paws.

At a news conference held outside the town hall, Premier Greg Selinger extended apologies to the family of Stewart and said that game wardens were on the look-out for the four bears that had escaped out on to the ice.

Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said the only identifier on the bears was a stylish scarf around one of the bear's necks. He indicated that this was not likely to be worn by any other bears out in the bay.

Cat Scratch

Assiniboine Avenue two-way traffic

Sam Katz aka H.R. Pufnstuf



Jenny Gerbasi as Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo

It was a fantastical world that was created on Living Island aka known as Winnipeg. H.R. Pufnstuf aka Mayor Sam Katz was hypnotized by Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo into thinking that turning the magical Assiniboine Avenue into a topsy turvy world for little Jimmy (residents and taxpayers) and Freddy the Flute (alternative media) to have fun getting home.

Thankfully, Freddy the Flute shrilly blew his whistle until the black magic ended and order was partly restored to Assiniboine Avenue.

However, Freddy has to keep blowing because Witchiepoo continues to use magic around Living Island. "We must be ever vigilant and reverse the bad magic wherever we see it", says Freddy.

Jim Prentice Blows Up Parliament

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

I guess Jim Prentice couldn't wait till November 5 to blow up Parliament.

The MP and Minister of Environment from Calgary has taken a high paid executive job with CIBC. He was a respected man with his party and in general and was often thought of as a leader in waiting.

However, over the last months, Prentice probably looked at his prospects more deeply in recent months and found the future less palatable.

He saw another election looming and the prospect of sitting in cabinet holding a ministry that his party regards is lowest of priorities doing next to nothing. The possibility of leadership not only seemed far away given Harper's unchallenged hold on it but it also seemed impossible given the chance of putting yet another powerful Calgary resident in the top job.

In other words, to Prentice, this looked as good as it was going to get. And top exec jobs don't grow on trees.

So, quietly, he rolled up the gunpowder to Parliament Hill and blew it up under the government. Unlike Guy Fawkes though, Prentice won't burn. He'll be cooling his heels in the rarefied air of Canada's board rooms.

The one likely doing some burning is Harper. It is doubtful that he found Jim Prentice a threat while he controlled his fate in government. However, outside of government, he can take up a more mythical status as V.

Perhaps this is the speech Prentice as V will make next year after the yoke of Conservative caucus oppression is lifted:

I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

Maybe that message will resonate with the Tories left after his departure.

In the meantime, we will be left with bloviating and further attempts to stamp out any behaviour in the Conservative party that defies the leader.

Not So World Class Stadium

Word now comes that there is a shortfall for the Winnipeg Stadium project at the University of Manitoba.

Here's another thing that would have been nice to know before the election.

So does this mean that someone is going to go cup in hand to the city for more money? Sam Katz promised the stadium would be world class. Ditto Greg Selinger.

It looks like you and I the taxpayers are expected to pay for this facility's shortfall in money.

Byelection: Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette

Inky Mark, former Conservative from Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette

Interesting to note that Inky Mark is not going quietly. His observations on how the Tories looked to fill his seat:

“After spending over 13 years in the riding, not allowing the membership base to have a say in who should replace me is just not right, and not one of [my fellow MPs] … would utter one single response,” he said.

“If you believe in democracy of any kind, it's just not right.”

It looks like some Tories within the riding who thought about running met obstructions.

The control from the leader of the party Stephen Harper to ensure that someone like Inky Mark doesn't get nominated probably played an enormous part in the Conservative candidate being acclaimed with no challenger.

One would think that the riding would have drawn a number of Tory members from the region. This should be a safe seat for the Tories but they are treating their party members with disdain.

In the end, the candidates for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette are:

Robert Sopuck Conservative
Scott Sarna Liberal
Denise Harder NDP
Kate Storey Green Party

I will update further as more information comes in.

Salaries in Winnipeg

It is amazing what one freedom of information request will turn up. It is hard not to think it would have been discussed in the civic election had it been released when it was supposed to by law.

I don't think anyone in Winnipeg will not agree if they have worked elsewhere in Canada that salaries seem to be lower than anywhere else.

The Canadian Taxpayer's Federation believes city employees are overpaid compared to the rest of the province. However, compared to the rest of the country these are the numbers we see:

Average employee salaries in 13 Canadian cities in 2009:

Calgary: $60,520

Edmonton: $54,370

Ottawa: $47,030

Toronto: $46,660

Hamilton: $43,590

Vancouver: $41,440

Regina: $40,710

Victoria: $39,550

Quebec City: $39,260

Saskatoon: $39,210

Montreal: $38,240

Halifax: $38,170

Winnipeg: $38,050

Georges Chartier, City of Winnipeg economist, in a report given in April said that salaries are an impediment to attracting people to the city.

This is a significant issue when trying to retain or attract employees. Until the gap closes, Winnipeg's labour shortages will likely continue.

The Free Press discovery of this opinion of a top official with the city is devastating.

The absence of a larger base of companies paying top wages appears to be the main reason for Winnipeg's low salaries.

Over the years, we have seen one head office after another swallowed up and hundreds of workers downsized and transferred. Young people looking for jobs and opportunities are all too aware of where those are. The numbers they see in Winnipeg can be discouraging.

The Canadian Taxpayer Federation has blamed the situation in Winnipeg on taxes and salaries but how many more years of freezes and how much farther down the salary scale do we have to go before we become a city with great jobs and wages?

It is often said that government money doesn't create jobs. Well, in Winnipeg it looks that private money doesn't do a great job of that either. At least, not the kind of jobs that pay well compared to everywhere else in Canada.

So, who is the blame for the situation? I suppose the city might blame the province and to a certain extent, they are right. The overall economics of the province and how municipalities govern themselves all lie with the province. The city can certainly do better on governance and planning but they operate within parameters the province sets.

The province might blame the federation for the situation in Manitoba, especially Winnipeg. However, that doesn't explain why we perform so much poorer than anywhere else in the country.

After 10 years, the NDP government has not laid out a plan for making the province a "have" instead of a "have not." Shrugging of shoulders and saying something about not having oil is just not cutting it. Greg Selinger has to explain these embarrassing numbers and why companies like Agricore shutter their offices here and shed hundreds of workers leaving a huge hole in well paid workers for the city and province.

It will be up to all parties to present a plan for the future but only one party, the NDP, will have to explain their record.

As for the city, it will have to do its best within the rules the province sets to try and attract and grow city business. It won't be easy but if it doesn't find a way least we lose more head offices and large companies out of the province.

The New Executive Policy Committee

Some new faces and some surprises on Sam Katz's new Executive Policy Committee.

First, the return of some old hands to EPC.

They are:

Gord Steeves (St. Vital)
Justin Swandel (St. Norbert)
Scott Fielding (St. James – Brooklands)

That is two Liberals, one Progressive Conservative. Steeves is a centrist, and Swandel and Fielding are right of center.

Joining the three on EPC are:

Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan)
Dan Vandal (St. Boniface)
Paula Havixbeck (Charleswood – Tuxedo)

That is two Conservatives and a surprise appointment of an NDP affiliated candidate in Vandal. Paula Havixbeck also gets tapped for deputy mayor.

Getting the boot from EPC is Mike Paktagkan (Point Douglas). Could this be because he ran for Winnipeg North's nomination and didn't get it and is now expected to go after Kevin Lamoureux's provincial seat shortly?

Some additional appointments were made to some loyalists on council and one to a councillor who is not. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) was appointed to chair the environmental committee.

My thoughts on the appointment of Danny Vandal is that he did not run particularly negative against Katz in the election. I don't know what their working relationship is like but perhaps Katz believes Vandal will do the job seriously. He might not be so certain of the other rookie councillors.

Not sure why Grant Nordman (St. Charles) wasn't tapped this time around for EPC. He seems a loyal Katz guy and has been there for a while. Could be he was just the odd guy out in a gesture to Vandal.

Update: Grand Nordman was appointed Speaker. I should have remembered that Katz would be looking for a loyalist for the position.

Saw the interview of Paktagkan. He didn't look happy being moved out of EPC. Talked about the importance of an inner city representative and ethnic diversity by having him there.

Spending On City Services

A new report suggests that the Winnipeg spends less than any other major cities on services.

The report was prepared by Georges Chartier. The Free Press had to file a freedom of information request to see it. Hats off to Bartley Kives on spotting it. I'd like to know who in the city thought that releasing after the election fell within the law on requests. By the way, thanks to Kives on providing some data on another issue that I wrote about during the election.

From the report:

Per-capita capital spending in 2009:

Edmonton $1,655

Saskatoon $1,508

Toronto $1,068

Calgary $1,041

Hamilton $823

Ottawa $812

Regina $639

Winnipeg $525

As you can see, the above report is a lot lower for everyone than in 2008.

Per-capita operating spending in 2008:

Edmonton $1,926

Toronto $1,878

Calgary $1,733

Regina $1,636

Ottawa $1,591

Saskatoon $1,548

Hamilton $1,382

Winnipeg $1,323


Colin Craig from the Canadian Taxpayer Federation didn't seem to believe the numbers. However, he only seemed to point to numbers comparing overall spending. Instead, he focused on salaries which doesn't answer the question about where we are compared to other cities overall. He seems focused on additional cuts from his laundry list of waste at City Hall.

I have no doubt that there are some savings that can be made but does Colin Craig think we need to spend less on infrastructure or simply cut elsewhere and direct it to infrastructure? I'm not entirely clear on that.

Sam Katz has said he will try and keep the tax freeze. I think he was elected in part based on that promise. He has pegged his hopes on keeping that freeze on getting a settlement from Manitoba Hydro and on some additional funding arrangement from the province. It is possible that we could see that money but given the record of the past, it is not something we should bank on.

So, a 14 year old tax freeze is likely going to mean more infrastructure spending put off to the future while Katz tries to pay for more cops and firefighters which he promised in the election.

The numbers are quickly indicating that things are not going to add up when it comes to how much is spent on roads and sewers.

The provincial NDP government saw the poll numbers a few years ago about crumbling infrastructure was doing to their popularity and poured money in and saved their bacon. It remains to be seen whether there might be anger in the next year directed at the city or the province when federal stimulus money ends and issues pertaining to infrastructure start really fraying the nerves of Manitobans.

Just off the top of my head, Kenaston and the St. James Bridge are really falling apart. It is a massive job and yet traffic is going to increase even more in the next five years with IKEA.

The new council can certainly look to find some savings but too many of them have promised to increase the civil service. Where will they find the money to fix the roads?

Crappy Coverage on Winnipeg Election...Update

I missed Brad Oswald's column on Saturday, the same day as I gave my thoughts on media coverage.

He also took CBC up on their not showing up on election night. If everyone has gone home for the night and you are interviewing the losing candidate, you are there too late.

Toronto had full TV coverage on both CBC, CTV and everything in between.

The TV news stations better have better provincial election coverage or they should turn in their licences.

Kudos to The Great Canadian Talk Show for taking the TV news to task on this.

Where Have All The Bloggers Gone?

It sounds better when you sing it to "where all the flowers gone?"

Today, Endless Spin Cycle called it a day. Hard not to think that given his job, his book and his studies over the last year that it is a little hard to write a quality blog too.

By my reckoning even the archives are gone.

Waverley West and Project Scottsdale are off. I will write to see if I can get more information on that. I hope it wasn't legal bullying.

Take a look at my blogroll and there are a few blogs not touched in a year.

There have been some great new blogs in the last year and hats off to them to continue.

I will try and have one of the more up to date blogrolls so please keep my informed.

A provincial election is coming up and I would like to see every riding covered.