Murdering Bambi

On Wednesday, June 27, the Winnipeg Sun ran a story about the brutal and senseless killing of a baby deer by an officious Manitoba government employee.

It seems this deer was illegally kidnapped and subsequently nursed back to health by the Stanbra family in Komarno, Manitoba. Rather than allow this family to raise this animal Manitoba Conservation officers felt killing it was more humane. Unbelievable!

Apparantly it would be too expensive to raise this animal. The cost did not seem to bother the Stanbra's. Why not allow them to continue raising the animal? And then let nature take its course.

I can't express strongly enough how completely idiotic this stance is. What could these complete and utter morons have been thinking?

An Open Letter to Jack Dubois,
Director, Conservation Department,
Wildlife & Ecosystem Protection Branch

The handling of the baby deer incident was deplorable and reprehensible. The behaviour of you and your staff was outrageous. Your personal attitude towards the killing of this animal "because of cost" and claim of "illegally kidnapped" is completely asinine.

I demand you apologize to the Stanbra family. I further demand you change your "rules" immediately. There is NEVER a time when killing an innocent otherwise healthy animal is okay.

How, in the name of god, is killing an animal better than allowing it to be raised on a farm? Even if the animal ran away and was otherwise killed it would be more humane than your actions.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

###

If you want to reach Dubois, give him a call @ 204 945-7761. Let him know how you feel.

cheers

Blogging Winnipeg

This sport called blogging is quite an interesting pastime. I look for Winnipeg-related posts in other blogs to see what is being said and spread around the cyber-world. It's interesting to say the least.

Several of the more interesting dynamics include rambling, going off topic, flawed logic, personal attacks, thin-skinned sensitive over-reaction and, frankly, extreme stupidity.

On the other hand there are those that can partake in this activity who provide solid reasoned commentary, who understand subtle nuances and innuendo. Who don't take valid rebuttal as a personal attack.

It pleases me that there are many Winnipeggers who are just as passionate about this city as I am. It is also interesting to hear from folks foreign to Winnipeg and their views, pro or con, on the daily happenings in my fair city.

In my search for "the rules of blogging" I found no hard and fast rules. Apropos to be sure. Rules don't really apply in blogging. There's an exception to everything and everything else is excepted. Having said that, and with zero credit to anyone, enjoy.

You're going to piss somebody off sometime. Different strokes for different folks. Others are going to get upset over the content of your posts and comments. So what? C'est la vie.

Don't get worried if somebody gets angry at you. It's not the end of the world and it's not the end of your blog. As long as you're writing and visiting/commenting/tracking honestly the vast majority of people out there are perfectly happy with you. Don't concern yourself about the ones with gentle sensibilities who can't overlook a mistake or simple lack of experience.

Keep on point. Nothing irritates more than a poster comparing apples to oranges when making a point on a topic. If'n you can't sustain your argument while staying on topic, move on.

Many bloggists and posters have little info-nuggets bouncing around in their noggins. Many post these nuggets as facts. I'm guilty of that little trap. When challenged just acknowledge the error of your ways and move on. To avoid that embarrassing problem, do a little research.

Remember. You can agree with me or you can be wrong.

cheers

Technorati Profile

The Arrogance of John Hoevin

The Devils Lake Diversion

Over the years Canada and the US have been great friends and neighbors. This is not likely to change much despite the actions of a few misguided individuals.

One such individual is the Governor of North Dakota John Hoeven and his minions. It seems Hoeven cares little about Manitoba, and even less for the ecosystems of rivers and lakes in North Dakota and Manitoba.

A little background. Devils Lake, a lake in northern North Dakota is causing significant problems to that state, including flooding and subsequent land lost. To combat the problem North Dakota built a diversion that lowers the water level of Devils Lake.

The problem arises due to this diversion of water, c/w its foreign species, ultimately ending up in Lake Winnipeg. The risk is those species cause havoc to one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world.

It is said a simple $10 million filter would minimize the problem. Therein lies the rub.

The problem is exacerbated by the sheer arrogance displayed by Hoeven in his response to complaints by Canadian and Manitoban officials. You see, he refuses to build the filter despite an agreement between Washington and Ottawa.

"We don't object to the (advanced) filter with two provisions -- that North Dakota doesn't incur an expense and, second, that it doesn't impede the operation of the outlet," said Don Canton, spokesman for Hoeven.

The incredible stupidity of this position is awe-inspiring.

I'm sure there will be tit-for-tat rebuttals. Manitoba's Premier, Gary Doer, is already threatening such action. That likely won't help much, but we need to get Hoeven's attention.

For Hoeven's benefit I looked up some statistics on Canada - North Dakota trade. I believe these numbers will impress him. Stats circa 2004.

North Dakota Tourism

Visits by Canadians	340,300
$ spent	$48 million
Visits to Canada	72,800
$ spent	$25 million

North Dakota Trade

Exports to Canada	$462 million
Imports from Canada	$1.3 billion
Bilateral trade	$1.7 billion
Largest export market	Canada

North Dakota trades more with Canada than over 25 of its next top export markets combined.

So, Mr. Hoeven. Do you even care?

With files from the Winnipeg Free Press and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

Winnipeg, Winnipeg, How I Love Thee Winnipeg

I have only recently begun to participate in this thing called "blogging". It's interesting and addictive.

Whilst I read other blogs I have discovered there are those that have something negative to say about Winnipeg and tend to say it. Incredibly, it's all too often fellow Winnipeggers that niggle at this fine burgh. Or those that have moved away, to discover utopia.

One of my passions is my home town. I'm not sure why. I do know there are many, many other Winnipeggers that share my passion. I also know there are a few that have little use for my city.

During that voyage of discovery I've found myself defending Winnipeg often. I even wrote a letter to the editor of a Winnipeg paper complaining about the propensity of negative stories featuring Winnipeg. Got published!

Remember, this is a blog about Winnipeg. My intent was to post stories that were meaningful to me about... Winnipeg. Since no city is perfect, including Winnipeg, I expect to write posts that are both pro and con.

I'd like some help. But I'll start. What I love about Winnipeg.

• Really nice warm people.
• Great small-BIG city; big enough to have all the amenities; small enough it takes no time to get "there".
• Salisbury House and Gondola Pizza. You just have to grow up with them to know what I mean.
• Great people. Mostly.
• Smog free.
• No traffic jams. Well, only a few. Not worth mentioning really.
• The Winnipeg Jets. This is the most popular non-existent sports franchises known to man.
• The Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Canada's team. Note to world: they will win the 2007 Grey Cup.
• Best Spring-Summer-Fall in the whole world. The winter is "challenging".
• Great arts community. I'm not big on Ballet, Symphonies, Choral stuff. But others are. And we gots some of the very best.
• A gud edumacation sistem. Real afordabble-like too.
• Excellent people. Real easy to meet. Unpretentious.
• Very affordable real estate. It has taken off a bit in the last 3 or 4 years, but still a good bargain can be found.
• Excellent neighborhoods.
• Oh, I should add that the people of Winnipeg are terrific.
  

There's ton's more. I'm hoping to add to this from readers of Winnipeg Dash Blog. If any.

cheers

A Disturbing Awareness

I've been reading, with alarming regularity, about the deterioration of City of Winnipeg services.

The most curious to be sure concerns the offloading of contracting city services to the average citizen. It seems a homeowner had a rather unfortunate sewer incident. Reportedly his sewer line and the city main trunk parted ways, roughly in the middle of the street in front of his house.

Even the most cynical will not believe what happened next. You see, even though the failure was on city property, and was no doubt the city's responsibility, the city did not view it that way.

Here is what happened. Keep in mind, this is city property.

• Homeowner obtains independent proof the failure is city responsibility.
• Homeowner convinces city bureaucrat that the failure is city responsibility while forced through hoops by bureaucrat.
• Note, zero sense of urgency on city behalf. Homeowner without use of water and toilets in own home for several DAYS.
  
• Homeowner obtains quotes from MULTIPLE City of Winnipeg approved sewer contractors to repair failure under the street.
• Homeowner selects contractor and PAYS for work to be done.
• After two weeks and seriously out of pocket, sewer is repaired.

Now you're probably thinking I'm making this up. Nope. Wish I were.

We hear all the time how the feds dump responsibilities on the provinces. And the provinces on municipalities.

Now it appears municipalities are downloading city services on rate-paying citizens. I can't imagine how city officials can possibly justify this. It seems incredulous.

Even under the most fortuitous circumstances citizens acting as purchasing agents, project managers and/or general contractors is a disaster waiting to happen.

The city is expected to hire people with the experience and the education to handle such things. They know what to look for. The tricks of the trade if you will. They should be capable of acting quickly, correctly identify the problem. Choose a qualified contractor. Pay for the services. FIX THE PROBLEM.

Remember City of Winnipeg bureaucrats, you get what you pay for.

Get your act together.

Shades of Gray

There is serious and ongoing debate about too few Winnipeg Police feet on the street. They don't have time to respond to take a vehicle theft report. There are too few to man community police centres. Or chase down parole violators.

But they can raid private clubs and lay charges against illegal gaming? I wonder who establishes priorities for the Winnipeg Police?

Don't get me wrong. The Winnipeg Police do a great job. I'm not a police basher. I'm also not a gambler. Not even casually. Thus establishing myself as fully unbiased in this matter...

The issue I have stems from how the police prioritize matters. The private gaming industry is full of ostensibly sane adults participating in something they enjoy, that hurts no one. And before our social conscience goes off on me no less an authority then the government runs and licenses "legal" gaming parlours all over Manitoba. So it MUST be harmless, right?

I read in the Winnipeg Free Press that SIXTY police officers participated in the raids. Wow, imagine how many car thefts might have been investigated. Or how many hours could the community police stations been manned?

I say to all Manitoba justice officials, to the Winnipeg Police, and our Provincial and Municipal politicians, 'tis time to seriously reevaluate your priorities. To assign such significant resources to prosecute an area of law bathed in shades of gray is asinine.

When choosing between going after scofflaws participating in activities that GOVERNMENT agencies sanction versus chasing car thief's and parole violators, I say go after the real criminals every time.

For gawd's sake people, give your heads a shake...