Hands off events tickets, in more ways than one

No, I don’t think cabinet ministers should be accepting free sports tickets from crown corporations, or any corporation for that matter. And yes, I find it a little amusing/maddening that the government didn’t see fit to address the issue until today. Listening to Finance Minister Stan Struthers on CJOB this morning, it was clear that any “new policy” the province has on this issue is very, very new. As in 8 am today new.

I aso think valid questions are being asked about why crown corporations need to advertise in the first place. Given that they don’t have any significant competition — MLLC competes with private wine stores and out-of-province casinos to a limited extent, MPI competes with private insurers on some product lines, Hydro competes with, uh, the wind? — it would be legitimate for the government, as the sole shareholder, to question advertising policies and budgets. I’m not saying ads should be eliminated, but what is their strategic purpose (brand building, employee recruitment, competing in non-monopoly areas)?

However, as someone who believes these organizations should be run less like “crowns” and more like real “corporations” (otherwise let’s just make them government departments), I don’t think the government should be micro-managing them to the extent of dictating where they must or must not advertise, or how they use any perks associated with advertising or sponsorship contracts.

This notion that Jets tickets were “paid for by the public” or that cabinet ministers “scored these tickets on the backs of taxpayers” is false. The tickets were paid for by the customers of the corporations.

Is that “the public?” Sure, but by that measure “the public” also paid for the Winnipeg Sun’s luxury box, among others (to the charge that “no one is forced to buy a newspaper,” I’d respond that no one is forced to drink booze). And since the government has no set policy on taking dividends from crown corporations, then equating these purchases to using “tax dollars” isn’t quite right.

It’s appropriate for the government to voice its opinion about advertising and sponsorship policies. But having cabinet ministers sign off on specific promotional opportunities would be as misguided and irresponsible as having them set prices for crown corporation products. Oh, wait…

Drowning in questions

For every member of City Council, and especially Councillor Devi Sharma:

• You don’t know what this water park going to look like, and whether it will be compatible with the national museum across the street.
• You don’t know how much it’s going to cost anyone to to use it.
• You don’t know how many free passes you’re going to receive.
• You don’t know how you’re going to distribute those passes.
• You don’t know if Community Services will have to hire additional staff to administer the pass program.
• You don’t know how Community Services will prevent people from simply reselling the free passes for a profit.
• You don’t know how much it’s going to generate in tax revenue.
• You don’t know if there’s a more lucrative (and compatible) use for that parcel of land at The Forks.
• You don’t know if another (100% privately funded) water park is going to be built at the Ikea site.
• You don’t even know who you’re giving this money to, since the roster of local investors has been kept secret.

In good conscience, how can you make a decision without knowing at least some of those answers? You’re City Councillors. Not only do your DESERVE to know this information, you have a DUTY to learn what it is you’re actually voting on.

Delaying a decision on this back-of-the-napkin deal by 60 days so you can find out the answers is not only reasonable, it’s responsible. And if CanAlta is at all serious about building this project, such a small delay surely isn’t going to scare them away.

Juxtaposed views of Winnipeg’s future

A new national museum is being built on Waterfront Drive at The Forks. Designed by a renowned international architect, the structure has drawn comparisons to iconic architecture in cities like Bilbao, Spain and Sydney, Australia.

Right across the street, the City wants a budget-hotellier from Alberta to build a moderate-sized water park, so we can compete with destinations like Grand Forks, Steinbach and Portage La Prairie.

Very different visions of Winnipeg’s pursuit of “world-class.” Same crappy roads to get to either of them though.

Blue North strong and free?

Yesterday on the Twitter, Paul LaPolice made what has to be the worst decision by a Bomber coach since Reinebold started TJ Rubley, when he suggested the following:

I was fired up at the start of @nhljets games, we can keep the true north anthem tradition going at bomber games so it doesn’t get rusty.

That the coach of the community-owned Blue Bombers wants his fans to yell out the name of the corporate owner of the Jets during national anthems defies all logic. True North (Sports & Entertainment) has nothing to do with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and sacrificing some of your own game experience to something that’s so closely linked with the hockey team is a poor branding decision.

That said, I have no doubt this will likely happen anyway. Heck, you can’t even go to a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce meeting without some bozo pumping up the volume on the “true north” part of the anthem. At the last Chamber meeting, that bozo was the Mayor.

So, as a slightly less cringe-inducing alternative, could I suggest that instead of yelling “true north,” we all yell “blue north” or “true blue” instead? It still gives everyone the chance to yell and feel cool, still makes an impression on national TV audiences, still maintains a connection to the Jets chant, but does so in a way that’s more linked to the identity of the football team. Plus it’s got a little more of a ring to it than “Winnipeg Football Club strong and free!.”

I’ve seen comments from a few fans claiming some variation of this is already done at Bomber games, but with all due respect to those who’ve been trying to start a tradition, it hasn’t been audible to anyone else in the stadium. After the overwhelming popularity of this stunt at Jet games, I expect a lot more football fan are going to want to get their anthem on this summer. The Bomber marketing staff might want to get ahead of this (and ahead of the coach) before the season begins.

EDIT: I’m told a few fans yell “True North strong and BLUE.” So, we have options. Discuss amongst yourselves.

The servicing continues

I received another speeding ticket last month, this time from a real, live po-lice. Wanting to save the government some stamp money, I attempted to pay for the ticket this week rather than wait for the series of reminder notices.

So I pull up the province’s new online payment system, enter my ticket details, press the button and…nothing. The system can’t find my ticket. But it helpfully suggests that I check back “between the Respond Dates noted on the ticket,” which are (roughly, from memory) April 26 to May 8.

So I get a ticket in mid-February, but I have to make a calendar entry to remind myself to pay for it in late-April?

The Province will say this delay is required to allow “time for the agency that issued it (the ticket) to send it to the court so it can be entered on to the court system.” That takes two-and-a-half months? And yet if I mailed in a payment or showed up at a court office, I could pay for the ticket immediately. How does this make any sense?

Furthermore, there’s still no mention of the online payment option on the tickets themselves. Instead, you’re directed to pay in-person, via mail or over the phone (which comes with extortion level service charges).

Governments and public sector unions spend so much time and money telling us what a great job they’re doing and how hard they’re working for citizens. But those efforts get completely submarined by the daily experience of interacting with the bureaucracy. No matter what you want to do — pay a traffic ticket, register for swimming lessons, challenge a zoning application, access details of government contracts, get a building permit, ask questions about policies — it’s almost always a pain in the ass.

You want to improve the public’s perception of government? It’s not going to be done through a news release or a radio campaign. It won’t even be done by cutting taxes or snipping ribbons on new buildings. It will only be done when you improve customer service to the point that people view government as a resource rather than an obstacle.

With friends like these…

The Friends of Upper Fort Garry want the city’s permission to turn their stalled heritage park into a surface parking lot for a few years to make some bucks. [Apparently Louis Riel and company used to park their Red River carts and canoes there all the time, so it's totally in keeping with the character of the site.]

Hey Friends, you know what else might have generated revenue? The three buildings you knocked over to make room for a vacant gravel lot. Or even better, the high-rise apartment building that was originally planned for the site until you got in the way.

Blue and gold haze

Blue Bomber CFO Jim Bell was on the CJOB Sports Show the other night talking about the team’s “unexpected” return to Canad Inns Stadium for its pre-season game. Bell said he wanted to come on the air so the team could be “completely open and transparent” with fans about what was going on with the stadium development. That sounds great, but can you honestly say you’re being open, transparent or honest when…

• Just one month ago, your new CEO said: ”We will not play a game in the old stadium. We have a plan and we’re sticking to it. We plan to play a pre-season game at Investors Group Field and we’ll work with the challenges that result with not having some of the aesthetics done. There’s no chance of us returning to the old stadium.”
• Your response to fan complaints about seat allocation process for the new stadium is to not respond at all.
• When asked what the cost will be to re-open Canad Inns Stadium, you refuse to answer and say that information will be released in 2013.

Seriously Jim, this is what you call transparency? No one is asking for a copy of the playbook here, we (fans and taxpayers) would just like a little better sense of what’s going on. The more games you play, the more I think I should be scoping out parking spaces at Polo Park for the home opener.

[And kudos to the Freep's Adam Wazny for his reporting on all this nonsense.]

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On the subject of that pre-season game, Bell indicated to the Freep that one of the costs the club faces is reconnecting/rehabbing plumbing services for the various concession stands. If the old stadium will truly only be used for one game, why bother with this expense? Why not simply invite food vendors — hot dog carts, the taco truck, the spring roll truck, Lovey’s — in to provide service instead? The food would be better, and if the team charged each vendor a small fee it could minimize its financial loss for this game.