Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper Archives Jun 22 2015, Page 6

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 22, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 A 6 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2015 WINNIPEG winnipegfreepress. com Craig and Marc Kielburger Craig and Marc Kielburger co- founded Free The Children and are authors of the new book, Living Me to We: The Guide for Socially Conscious Canadians. metowe. com/ living The science of the intergenerational poverty trap by: Craig and Marc Kielburger The story begins with two babies. Alike in potential, a lifetime of possibilities lie ahead. It ends with two adults: a man sporting a tux and sipping champagne, and a woman in a waitress uniform, serving him oysters. In May, a brilliant online graphic comic strip by New Zealand artist Toby Morris went viral. Entitled On a Plate: A short story about privilege, it follows the fictional lives of Richard and Paula— the first born into wealth, the other not so much. We see their lives unfold side by side, showing us the advantages that economic status gives a child. Richard’s childhood house, for example, is clean and big, and his parents have lots of time for him. Paula’s home is cramped and her parents must each work two jobs. Richard attends a well- funded school where classes are small and teachers happy and supportive. Paula’s school is clearly underfunded, overcrowded and run by overworked teachers. By the end of the story, it’s easy to see why Richard ends up a successful business executive while Paula waits tables, although each worked just as hard as the other. It’s a compelling case that shows economic inequality is an inherited asset, or deficit, handed down from one generation to the next. Meanwhile, in the real world, new scientific research proves the effects of being born into poverty, or wealth, affect everything in our lives – right down to the development of our brains. The effects of extreme poverty in the developing world have long since been proven. We know beyond a doubt, for example, that severe malnutrition leads to stunted growth and delayed development in children. However, research published in March in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience shows even minor poverty, such as you’d find in “ poor” areas of any Canadian city, can have significant effects on human development. Researchers from nine American universities and hospitals cooperated on a study of more than 1,000 individuals, ages three to 20, from different socio- economic backgrounds. In addition to administering IQ and skill tests, the researchers conducted DNA tests and MRI brain scans. What they found was stunning. Children or adolescents from low- income families whose parents had lower levels of education were at higher risk of having less well- developed brains than the individuals from middle- or high- income families with better- educated parents. Interestingly, there was little difference between the brains of high- versus average- income individuals. So the proverbial silver spoon doesn’t give you a brain advantage, but being born entirely spoonless definitely puts you at risk for a disadvantage. We were fascinated to explore the difference. A 2014 paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child at Harvard University found that stresses related to poverty—“ overcrowding, noise, substandard housing, separation from parent( s), exposure to violence”— can generate neurotoxins that damage a child’s developing brain. These studies are especially compelling in light of the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. I doubt we can ever fully calculate how much Canada shackled generations of young aboriginal people through residential schools and centuries of enforced poverty. They are Canada’s Paula to our non- aboriginal Richard. The two- thirds of Canadians who believe aboriginal peoples are responsible for their own plight might now want to reconsider. Child poverty is pervasive across Canada. More than 1.3 million Canadian children live below the poverty line— a number that has grown, not shrunk, since 1989 when our federal government pledged to eliminate child poverty by 2000. The number of Canadian children who rely on food banks would fill 6,200 school buses. Now that’s a compelling visual image. The chances are high that without intervention, they will not be able to escape the shackles they inherited simply by being born into poverty. Addressing child poverty can have a lasting benefit in helping generations to come escape the poverty trap that costs us all dearly. We have met countless hard- working Paulas around the world who, with just the slightest change in their childhood circumstances, could easily be successful executives too. Brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger founded a platform for social change that includes the international charity, Free The Children, the social enterprise, Me to We, and the youth empowerment movement, We Day. The Manitoba Metis Federation has recently concluded an agreement with Manitoba Hydro which provides compensation for the negative impacts of the Grand Rapids Hydro Generating Station on the commercial trapping activities of Trappers in the Summerberry Marsh. If you trapped in the Summerberry Marsh for at least one season between 1940 and 1964 or, are the wife, common- law partner or child of a deceased Trapper, and have not previously received compensation from Manitoba Hydro for impacts on commercial trapping rights in the Summerberry Marsh, you may be eligible to receive compensation from this settlement. Where Can I View The Lists Of Eligible Trappers? There are two lists you can review. The first list contain names of Trappers who were from The Pas and Cormorant and is referred to as the First Preference list. The second list contains names of Trapper invited from other communities who trapped the Summerberry Marsh and is referred to as the Second Preference list. Both lists are located online on the Manitoba Metis Federation website at www. mmf. mb. ca/ summerberry. php. Important Meeting Notice for First and Second Preference Trappers - Winnipeg The Manitoba Metis Federation will be holding an important information meeting in Winnipeg for those trappers who are found on either the First or Second Preference lists. All persons who intend to make a claim for trappers found on these lists should attend this important meeting. Attending the meeting will ensure the processing of your claim is not delayed. June 23 - Winnipeg, MB Location: Manitoba Metis Federation Home Office - 150 Henry Avenue Time: 5: 30 pm - 6 pm: Supper 6 pm - 9 pm: Information Meeting June 24 - Winnipeg, MB Location: Manitoba Metis Federation Home Office - 150 Henry Avenue Time: 9 am - 10 pm: Paperwork and release of compensation June 25 - Winnipeg, MB Location: Manitoba Metis Federation Home Office - 150 Henry Avenue Time: 9 am - 10 pm: Paperwork and release of compensation You must book an appointment to complete necessary paperwork before compensation is released. Drop- in appointments are not available. First Preference Trappers please call ( 204) 623- 5701 for appointment. Second Preference Trappers please call ( 204) 638- 9485 for appointment. NOTICE OF SUMMERBERRY COMMERCIAL TRAPPER SETTLEMENT G APS in the city’s cycling infrastructure present one of the biggest hindrances for cyclists. And there is likely no greater example than the trek from Assiniboine Avenue into St. Vital. What begins as a leisurely ride through Assiniboine Avenue, where cyclists enjoy relative safety in a barricaded bike path, quickly dissipates and is replaced with confusion as they reach Main Street. It is here cyclists are thrust towards a busy corridor, with no connecting path and high- volume traffic. As they head south on Main towards Fermor Avenue, they cross two bridges. The level of cycling infrastructure on this route ranges from excellent, such as the barricaded bike path on the Norwood Bridge, to nonexistent, such as the bus rapid transit turn at Stradbrook Avenue and Main. Anders Swanson, the co- ordinator for the Winnipeg Trails Association, explained cyclists must weave back and forth across Main to reach opposing routes suitable for a cyclist. “ The east side ( heading south) is a bit better than the west side as you pass the first bridge, and only some of sections of sidewalk are built as multi- use; it is a lot of start- stop, it is a lot of types of infrastructure leading to each other,” he said. “ Getting onto the Norwood Bridge is a couple 90- degree turns, whether you are on the sidewalk or the road, the sightlines are pretty bad, and then you got bus rapid transit turning around you.” The city’s 20- year cycling and pedestrian strategy points to improving gaps in cycling infrastructure as one of its top priorities; that report will head to the public works committee Tuesday for the second time as it slowly creeps toward adoption. When Free Press readers were asked to point to the troublesome spots they encounter when cycling, the gaps along this trek came up repeatedly. As cyclists travel in the westbound lane and head south, there is a narrow, paved lane big enough to fit a bicycle. Often, cyclists find themselves forced onto the sidewalk, as the high- volume traffic on Main can be daunting for them; this is against the rules and can garner a $ 113 fine. A protected bike path exists on the Norwood Bridge, but as the city’s cycling strategy points out, “ the separated bicycle facility lacks a safe and smooth transition to the on- street shared use roadway.” When the Free Press asked A. Bass Bagayogo, a St. Boniface University professor and avid winter cyclist, to show the path he would take using a GoPro camera, he was forced to spend most of the trek to Fermor Avenue on the sidewalk. While he is comfortable travelling in all temperatures on a state- of- the- art winter bike, a straight trek down Main/ St. Mary’s road is too dangerous for him. One example is the bus rapid transit turn lane onto Stradbrook. As one reader pointed out: “ This is the biggest issue: The bus lane continues on in the second lane from the right while a weaving lane opens up for those turning on Stradbrook Avenue. Cyclists continuing on down Main have to contend with motor vehicles cutting across two or three lanes to get into the weaving lane. End- of- day southbound rush- hour traffic is scary.” The video of Bagayogo’s convoluted journey is on the Free Press website. Swanson said he would be shocked if city planners actually believe activetransportation routes that do not connect make sense for the city. “ The main issue is funding and the will to fix it, and there is easy solutions for that,” he said, adding a cycling crosswalk signal across Main would be Step 1. “ That is the kind of lack of appropriate design that people on bicycles face; that is why they end up doing whatever they need to do to survive, because nothing makes sense.” kristin. annable@ freepress. mb. ca CITY officials have endorsed the public consultation process that was used to develop the proposed pedestrian and cycling strategies. Staff from the newly created office of public engagement say public consultation for the proposed 20- year plan has been adequate and complies with industry best practices. The 20- year plan, which proposes a series of cycling and pedestrian routes to be established across Winnipeg over a 20- year period at a cost of $ 330 million, was set to be presented to council this month for approval. But the plan was held up at executive policy committee in mid- May after a complaint from Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt and Mayor Brian Bowman, who said large segments of the business community had privately told them they hadn’t been consulted and were concerned their businesses would be negatively impacted. Despite widespread support from a variety of organizations and no formal objections from the business community, the office of public engagement was asked to review its public consultation process. In a report to the public works committee, the office of public engagement, established by Bowman, concluded more than 3,000 Winnipeg residents had been consulted during the plan’s development in an acceptable manner. The report will be presented to the public works committee Tuesday. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee overseeing the pedestrian and cycling strategy, said she was pleased no fault has been found with the consultation process. Lukes ( St. Norbert) said the office of public engagement also recommends that before sections of the plan are implemented, further public consultations be conducted within the affected neighbourhoods according to methods prescribed by the International Association for Public Participation ( IAP2). “ I think that’s an excellent approach, and that’s what I promised would happen,” Lukes said. “ The city already has 30 employees who are IAP2 certified.” Lukes said while the 20- year pedestrian and cycling strategy is a comprehensive outlook of how Winnipeg will be transformed with new pathways, she said the plan was always for council to annually approve which segments were to be implemented and for thorough community consultations to take place before the work is carried out. The 356- page document recommends a dense network of protected bicycle lanes be focused within the downtown core. This year, if approved by council, the city will allot $ 205,000 for the development of a functional design for the first phase of a downtown protected bike- lane network at Fort Street and/ or Garry Street. Wyatt said the strategy had detailed routes for pedestrian and cycling paths, adding he’s not convinced they will be changed through a consultation process. “ People haven’t a clue about where these paths are going, and we will be spending public money to build them,” Wyatt said. “ That’s not transparency and openness.” Wyatt said the $ 330 million proposed to build a new pathway network would be better spent repairing city streets. aldo. santin@ freepress. mb. ca Wheel good info COME across a bike path that goes nowhere? A busy underpass with no space for cyclists? Perhaps a bridge with poor bike path markings? Take a photo and send us a description, so we can add it to our interactive map of cycling problem spots in Winnipeg at wfp. to/ cycling. The cycling outside is frightful Assiniboine Avenue to St. Vital dangerous By Kristin Annable Public adequately consulted on foot, cycling strategy: officials By Aldo Santin JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A cyclist navigates the bike lane on Main Street Sunday. A_ 06_ Jun- 22- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A6 6/ 21/ 15 9: 11: 57 PM