Congratulations to Brian Bowman: Winnipeg's New Mayor

Bowman and his wife celebrate the election victory.

With another election under wraps, Brian Bowman managed to thrash Judy Wasylycia-Leis 111,504 to 58,440 votes.  With the victory, Bowman becomes the first indigenous mayor of a large Canadian city.  The voters of Winnipeg also sent a strong message to the NDP, who backed Wasylycia-Leis. With the NDP approval rate hovering around 30%, it is clear Manitobans want change, and only a miracle can keep the NDP from being soundly defeated in the next Provincial Election.

Thomas Steen defeated.

In the City Council race, Jason Schreyor easily knocked off the incumbent, and ex-Winnipeg Jet Thomas Steen, who has been dogged by accusations of assaulting a woman at a Boston Pizza in the spring.  It did not do Steen any favors, when ex-Winnipeg Jet Bobby Hull, who also has a history of domestic violence, publicly endorsed Steen's campaign.  The move ultimately backfired for Steen's campaign, as Schreyor won the riding of Elmwood-East Kildonan.

Grant Nordman defeated

In other upsets, councilor Grant Nordman lost his seat to Shawn Dobson, in the St.Charles riding.  Long time councilor Harvey Smith went down in defeat, losing to Cindy Gilroy, in the Daniel McIntyre riding.  In all other City Council ridings, the incumbants managed to get re-elected.  

I congratulate all candidates who ran for office, and hope Bowman, and the new City Council can help lead Winnipeg into economic prosperity for the next four years.

Thinking of voting for Judy Wasylycia Leis for Mayor of Winnipeg tomorrow?

This video speaks for itself:

Judy is asked a simple question:  "Where will you find the funding to build the second leg of the BRT route?"  She cannot answer the question, and goes around in circles.  It's painful to watch, as she has a legitimate shot of becoming Winnipeg's next mayor.

Judy refusing to answer a simple question about Marijuana legalization.  It should be noted that every other mayoral candidate had no problem answering the question.  

Interviewer:  "Would you support legalizing marijuana?"

Judy:  "That's a federal issue, nothing to do with the Municipal scene"

*Note:  Judy had come out in support of the legalization of Marijuana in 1999.  In 2014, she denies ever saying this, even though it is found in transcripts in the House of Commons, when she was a Member of Parliament for the NDP.

Question: "What have you done for the benefit of Winnipeg for the last 5-10 years?"

While Brian Bowman lists a number of impressive accomplishments, Judy rambles on about leaving Federal politics, and to help current NDP candidate Brian Chief's  Federal campaign.  She also goes on to talk about the Tina Fontaine homicide this summer, which is irrelevant to the question being asked.  In other words, she has done NOTHING.

Judy has absolutely No idea what she is talking about.  Judy is also a big time socialist, and union supporter, two things that Winnipeg does not need at the moment.  She has danced around issues too many times, and has great difficulty giving straight, honest answers.  

Help make Winnipeg a progressive city that it should be.  DO NOT vote for Judy.  Winnipeg deserves better.  

NDP bloggers leave much to be desired.

Sometimes there comes a time when you read an article on a blog that you feel compelled to make a statement on.  Especially if it is a local blog.  With the Manitoba Provincial election coming up in the fall, there have been many local blogs that have been created to influence voters.  A disproportionate number of the new blogs seem to be coming from NDP supporters.

So when I came across a blog that attacks and discredits a Canadian Olympic Gold medalist for virtually no reason, I was at loss for words.  There have been other instances where I have just had to shake my head at some of the statements made by the authors.  

For instance, the Orange Rod blog has made her share of outrageous claims.  The Orange Rod has claimed that Manitobans living outside the Perimeter highway are all "a bunch of rednecks."  Another post tells Manitobans to move out of the province, if they oppose the plans for the Bipole III  Hydro project.  Another post claims the Winnipeg Police Service are against  having women as a mayor.  The reason?  The WPS endorsed Sam Katz for the mayor office.

The scary thing is the Orange Rod is relatively tame compared to some of the more recent NDP-friendly blogs.  The NDP supporters and members have taken dirty politics to a new low.  These blogs are some of the most disgusting, hate-filled, and vile propaganda I have ever witnessed at a Provincial level.  Here are some examples:

http://bigphart.blogspot.com/


http://justdamnstupid.blogspot.com/

http://hughiemcfadyen.blogspot.com/

http://gauchemanitoba.blogspot.com/

Now I am not the biggest fan of Hugh McFadyen.  I still have yet to decide who to vote for.  However, what the NDP bloggers fail to realize is that McFayden, Susan Auch, Sam Katz, Stephen Harper, and many others that they have smeared, attacked, and ridiculed, is that they are all people like you and me.  We all have our faults.  It's fair to be critical of someone if you against their policies or agenda.  

However, the Manitoba NDP have taken mudslinging and smear tactics to a new level.  I will never vote for the New Democratic Party again as long as I live.  You can thank the NDP hate machine for my decision.

Bipole III nearly doubles in price.

It has been reported that the Bipole 3 project, the new Manitoba Hydro line the government plans to construct along the West side of Lake Winnipeg will cost over $4.1 billion, nearly twice as much as the projected $2.2 billion that Manitoba Hydro and the provincial NDP had told the public.  When pressed for answers, Hydro president and CEO Bob Brennan was more concerned about why someone in his company would leak out this document, than to justify the enormous cost of running Bipole 3 on the West side of Lake Winnipeg.

One of the first blogs to question Hydro's decision nearly a year ago, is the much respected author of  "Anyone Want a Peanut".  If you click on the link, he has an excellent write up on why running the Hydro line on the West Side is a horrible idea, and reeks of political maneuvering, rather than common sense.  Apparently,  the west route is technically inferior to the east route, including the need for additional (expensive) converters, lower line capacity, and greater line losses.

Here is a projected map of Bipole 3:

http://www.hydro.mb.ca/projects/bipoleIII/route_map_full.pdf

What's interesting to note is reliable sources have told me that if the line was built on the East side of Lake Winnipeg, it would only have a width of 66 metres, run parallel (for the most part), to an existing gravel road, and would arguably have less of an environmental impact than if it were to be built on the West Side of the lakes. Finally, let's not forget about the open letter that 19 mainly retired senior professional engineers composed for the Winnipeg Free Press back in December 2010. 

Here are some of the main points the engineers brought up in regards to Bipole 3 in the article:

• Of the 10 criteria for designation of the East side of lake Winnipeg as a World Heritage site, nothing precludes carefully positioned roads and transmission lines (many World Heritage sites in Canada, for example in Banff and Jasper, are crossed by transmission lines and main highways)
• Land owners who will be critically affected by the western route  have raised objections to the government's directive the western route must be followed
• The directive was apparently made with little or no public input and no reasoned comparison of costs and benefits
• Environmental studies show a common corridor that includes the road and the Bipole III, is favourable for wildlife. It will also allow access for periodic inspection and maintenance of the line.
• A 66-metre-wide right-of-way will occupy less than 0.03 per cent (three ten-thousandths) of the projected heritage area
• With a length of 1,365 kilometres, the West side route is 480 kilometres longer than the East side route, and this is the primary reason for the increase in costs
• Selection of an east-side route would save a Manitoba family of five around $4,200 compared with the west side
• The longer line will cause electricity worth about $300 million to be lost in transit, the equivalent of all wind energy generated annually in Manitoba, and equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 40,000 cars.
• The two routes traverse the same length of boreal forest (about 400 kilometres). In addition, however, the western route also traverses several hundred kilometres of the best agricultural soils in the most favourable agro-climatic zone in the province
• There are 16 First Nations communities that would be affected by the eastern route and 15 by the western route, essentially the same number (neither route will traverse any aboriginal reserve land)
• There are technical issues that show a route on the east side of the province provides much higher reliability and protection against risk from wind and ice storms
• If Bipoles I and II are damaged, the eastern route for Bipole III is twice as effective as the western route for supplying southern Manitoba and the contracted power to the United States

The engineers go on to say that the current NDP government decided Bipole III must run west of the Manitoba lakes and directed the technical staff of Manitoba Hydro to make it happen.  One wonders if the provincial NDP government thinks money grows on trees.