WFP Guest Columnist, Will Tishinski: Will Tishinski is a former vice-president of Manitoba Hydro. In this, his presentation at a recent environmental review hearing of the new transmission line, Tishinski reveals the political bungling of the now $4-billion Bipole III that will hit ratepayers hard. 

My entire 36-year working career was spent with Manitoba Hydro, the last nine years as vice-president. Most of my years were involved in the planning and operating of generating stations and high voltage transmission lines.

It's a travesty that the scope of this Clean Environment Commission hearing has been made so restrictive that no review can be made of reliability, nor of the "Need For and Alternatives To" -- NFAAT -- the Bipole III project....        ...It is claimed by the heritage site proponents that huge ecotourism benefits will flow when this forest receives its designation. No business plan has been prepared to illustrate the claimed benefits. We don't know if all the ecotourist revenue will come from a Banff-style operation or from leaving the forest in a pristine wilderness state.

If tourism revenues are to be derived from an operation such as at Banff, then we must have development of roads, service stations, hotels, night clubs, sewage lagoons, etc. This kind of infrastructure is far more intrusive than any transmission line. On the other hand, if we leave it as a wilderness area, then how is it possible to derive all the ecotourism benefits? A billion-dollar decision was made without backup information.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/bipole-iii-4-billion-political-chicanery-177603671.html

Retailers a few miles east of Winkler might be soon jumping into the Sunday shopping waters but their Winkler counterparts aren’t close to making a similar move.

Altona town council has given all three readings to a bylaw allowing all businesses to open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays but there’s no sign that Winkler will be following suit anytime in the near future.

Mayor Martin Harder said Monday that city council has not received any indication that local retailers are interested in throwing open their doors on Sunday.

“We have received zero requests from our retailers,” Harder said, adding that until that happens, Sunday shopping is not on council’s radar.

http://www.pembinatoday.ca/2012/11/06/zero-requests-for-sunday-shopping-says-winkler-mayor

Tourism Calgary is asking City Hall for more funding, arguing the agency needs a boost to keep the city from falling behind competitors.

The city gives the not-for-profit agency $2.4 million a year, but officials want an additional $400,000 for each of the next two years.

The money will go toward activities such as receptions and gifts for visiting groups, said CEO Randy Williams on Tuesday. Without the extra funding, Calgary won't stand out from other cities competing for tourists, he said.

“We won’t be providing that extra entertainment, a gift for coming, or the extra themes around events. Those other things that other cities do. That’s the differentiation meeting planners are looking for today,” he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/11/06/calgary-tourism-city-hall-more-money.html

VICTORIA - It's basically a spruced up downtown outhouse, but Victoria's so-called Langley Street Loo is now known as Canada's best restroom.

A nationwide contest saw Victoria's outdoor, public restroom top four other — much appreciated — washrooms in Vancouver, Toronto, and Repentigny, Quebec for biffy supremacy.

Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin says he is flushed with pride at the award, sponsored by Cintas Canada, a company that provides restroom supplies, among other services.

Cintas spokesman Rod Farquharson says the Victoria Loo isn't known for being lavish, but the stainless steel, unisex toilet provides an ecofriendly, convenient and free service.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/downtown-victoria-outhouse-voted-canadas-best-restroom-177510381.html

Michigan voters sent a message during Tuesday night's U.S. election: They don't need to weigh in on whether any new bridge should be built between their state and Canada.

Voters defeated Proposal 6, which would have called for a statewide vote on plans for any new international crossing, including a proposed new bridge that would link Windsor, Ont., to Detroit. Slightly more than 60 per cent of voters turned down the proposal, which would have been entrenched in the state's Constitution.

Proposal 6 was one of the final hurdles that needed to be cleared for the building of a new bridge to proceed. It would provide competition for the 83-year-old Ambassador Bridge, Canada's busiest border crossing, owned by billionaire Matty Moroun.

From India, where he is on a trade mission, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised the decision.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2012/11/07/wdr-michigan-proposal-six-bridge-windsor-detroit.html

Cross-country ski trails, a popular recreational activity in several national parks, will no longer be kept up due to budget cuts, officials say.

The affected parks include Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan, and Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba.

"One of the services we've reduced or cut back on or ended for this year is the track setting for the ski trails," Alan Fehr, the park superintendent for Prince Albert National Park, told CBC News Tuesday. "And some of the backcountry camping services, we've cut those as well."

Losing the trails is seen as a blow to enthusiasts of cross-country skiing.

Kevin Robinson, an avid skier and sporting goods store owner, said the trails in the Prince Albert park were exceptional.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/11/06/sk-cross-country-ski-trails-national-parks-121106.html

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The 9-11 memorial reopened to the public Tuesday a week after Superstorm Sandy flooded the World Trade Center site, but another temporary closure was planned Wednesday in anticipation of an expected Nor'easter.

City parks will also be shut down due to potential high winds from the predicted Nor'easter, with park closures scheduled from Wednesday noon through Thursday noon.

The earlier news from the 9-11 site following Sandy, however, was that last week's superstorm — which claimed at least 40 lives in the city — spared the core of the memorial: the reflective fountains ringed by the names of those who died in the terrorist attack.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/world-trade-center-memorial-reopens-to-public-after-superstorms-floodwaters-pumped-out-177501811.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Nov.  '62)

The Rex Grose award, the first trophy to be given annually to Manitoba's "tourist operator of the year”—will be presented at the 11th annual convention of the Manitoba Tourist Association. The convention will be held Thursday and Friday at the Highwayman Motel 1900 Pembina Highway. The award consists of an engraved shield flanked by two bronze buffaloes and is the gift of R. E. Grose, deputy minister of the department of industry and commerce. Eligible to compete for the award, given for merit in tourist accommodation and "visitor relations” are 285 tourist operators in the province Iicensed under the Industry and Commerce Act.  This year's convention will feature addresses by W. E. Organ, director of the travel and publicity branch and R. W. Sutton, director of the Manitoba Museum. Mr. Organ will present the Rex Grose award.