Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper Archives Jun 25 2015, Page 20

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 25, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B3 winnipegfreepress. com CITY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015 B 3 Birchwood Toyota is pleased to announce the return of Mr. Bruce Burns to our sales department. Bruce has been with the Birchwood Automotive Group Since 1979 and during his 36 year career has received numerous awards and accolades recognizing sales achievements and customer satisfaction. Bruce prides himself on taking care of the people he interacts with each and every day. The fact that many of his co- workers and customers have become his close friends is a true testament that proves Bruce’s approach when dealing with people works! Bruce invites all his past and current customers to come visit, catch up and enjoy a cup of coffee. He promises to give you the same level of service that previously earned your business and welcomes the opportunity to use his experience to help you with any of your automotive needs. 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Offer Duration 03 March 2015 - 04 August 2015. 0% APR for 60 months ¹ * PLUS get $ 600 off ³ * with the purchase of 2 or more John Deere or Frontier implements on New John Deere 2, 3 ( excluding 3E series) & 4 Family Compact Utility Tractors. Offers valid from 1 May 2015 until 4 August 2015. * For complete details regarding this offer, please select the corresponding link above. Offer Duration 01 May 2015 - 04 August 2015 1023E WITH D120 LOADER STARTING AT $ 14,495 Visit us at EnnsBrothers. com ARBORG • BRANDON • MORRIS NEEPAWA • OAK BLUFF PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE • STEINBACH 42” LAWN SWEEPER REGULAR $ 549 ON SALE $ 449 SZ435 ZERO TURN MOWER REGULAR $ 5,877 ON SALE $ 5,249 S240 LAWN TRACTOR REGULAR $ 3,275 ON SALE $ 2,849 EP ER SAVE $ 100 SAVE $ 628 SAVE $ 426 Fee break requested SPORT Manitoba wants city hall to waive all development fees related to the construction of its $ 26- million field house in the Exchange District. Jeff Hnatiuk, president and CEO of Sport Manitoba, asked executive policy committee Wednesday for city hall to waive all fees it would normally be expected to pay for the construction of its four- storey addition on Pacific Avenue — for development and building permits, inspections, street- closure costs and lost street- meter parking revenue. Hnatiuk said not having to make those payments will help offset any losses the organization occurs in its pitch to have the field house become the home of the national women’s volleyball team. “ We’ll be giving considerable concessions to that ( national women’s volleyball) team by way of office space, lease, concessions and floor- time training sessions,” Hnatiuk told Mayor Brian Bowman and the councillors on the committee. Waiving the fees, Hnatiuk said, will help Sport Manitoba cover the financial concessions it’s making to lure the national women’s volleyball team. The national women’s team is now based at the University of Manitoba, but the contract expires in 2017, and other communities are bidding to secure the team for a four- year period. Hnatiuk said he needs a decision soon. The request was put on hold for two weeks while the administration determines the cost of the request. “ There’s a number of time considerations at play,” Bowman said following the meeting. “ We are trying to speed things up to best support a very important development in our downtown in the Exchange and also to support an initiative to attempt to maintain the national volleyball team here.” Ward’s name to change ANOTHER city ward will be getting a name change. Members of executive policy committee Wednesday endorsed amending the name of the St. Norbert ward to become St. Norbert- South Winnipeg. St. Norbert Coun. Janice Lukes said she made the request to reflect the ward encompasses a far larger area than the St. Norbert neighbourhood — including Fort Richmond, Fairfield West, Waverley Heights, Waverley West and River Park South. Similar name changes were recently made for two other wards: adding Whyte Ridge to Charleswood- Tuxedo; and adding Weston to St. James- Brooklands. The name change for St. Norbert becomes official after council passes an enabling bylaw to that effect. Bowman addresses flap MAYOR Brian Bowman said he didn’t hear the naughty talk by the crew of the Winnipeg Police Air1 copter Monday night, but he’s glad the service made a public apology. Bowman said while he followed the discussion on social media, no one called his office to complain about the police officers’ actions. “ I’m pleased the Winnipeg police have issued an apology, and I’m pleased they’re looking into it.” Bowman said the incident should not detract from the good work police officers do every day. “ I just want to take this opportunity to thank the men and women of our police service for their ongoing work.” Bowman said while the incident may have focused attention on the merits of the copter, he said a value- for- money audit on Air1 is coming to city hall. City hall purchased the helicopter in 2010 for $ 3.5 million, and the province covers its annual operating costs — a little more than $ 1 million. “ I’m expecting that we will hear that there is excellent value for the money spent,” with Air1, Bowman said. “ We’ll wait and see what the audit comes back with.” — Aldo Santin CITY HALL Roundup C OMPLY with our values or don’t bother asking if you can teach religion in our schools, the Winnipeg School Division has told religious organizations. Education Minister James Allum has the division’s back on its tough stand, even though he’s refused to accede to a WSD demand he change one word in the Public Schools Act — “ shall” to “ may” — that would have given school trustees control over who teaches religion in public schools. WSD says any religious organization brought into schools by a requisite number of parents this fall to conduct Bible studies or religious instruction in private with their children must post its curriculum in the school office. And if that curriculum violates WSD values — such as on sexual orientation or evolution, or by advocating proselytizing on school property — the division will not allow the religious group to conduct its sessions. “ Any group that operates within a school is required to meet a number of standards, including respecting the school division’s human- diversity and equity policies as required by our anti- bullying legislation,” Allum said. “ A filed curriculum could be a useful tool to help parents decide if that is a program they want in their school. The Public Schools Act mandates a clear and consistent process for parents, and we believe the new process, including the filing of the curriculum, meets that standard.” The act says school divisions “ shall” provide access to religious studies if parents meet criteria for minimum numbers signing petitions to authorize their kids taking part, in private settings before school and over the lunch hour. In practical terms, that refers to the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Manitoba, an international evangelical group that holds private preschool religious instruction and lunchtime Bible studies for children whose parents have signed a petition and consent form. “ The current legislation that is in place provides an appropriate balance, and we have no plans to reopen it at this time,” Allum said in an emailed statement. Allum said: “ We believe that schools should be safe and inclusive places for all children to learn. We also believe that parents have an important role in their children’s education, and we support their right to choose activities that they feel are best for their children. It is our expectation that Winnipeg School Division’s new framework will ensure parents have a clear path to follow, and school administrators can fulfil their duty to ensure safe and inclusive learning environments for all students.” Board chairman Mark Wasyliw said trustees want to work with religious groups to avoid problems. “ We would want to work with the organization in order to ensure that their programming complies with the WSD policies. By setting out our guidelines, it is our expectation that only those organizations that are willing to comply with our policies would even apply to be in our schools. Should that not be the case, we would have to deal with that situation on an individual basis,” Wasyliw said. Trustee Lisa Naylor, who headed the campaign to try to win divisional control over religious access to public schools, also sounded conciliatory but firm. “ Religious organizations will need to provide a curriculum to be kept in a central location only in schools where they are delivering instruction,” Naylor said. “ This will be available to parents who may wish to review the content or may wish to ensure that it is the same information their children are sharing at home about these classes. nick. martin@ freepress. mb. ca Tough stand on religious lessons MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ILLUSTRATION FILES ‘ Religious organizations will need to provide a curriculum to be kept in a central location only in schools where they are delivering instruction’ — WSD trustee Lisa Naylor Must reflect values, WSD tells groups By Nick Martin B_ 03_ Jun- 25- 15_ FP_ 01. indd B3 6/ 24/ 15 9: 31: 24 PM