Manipulating Public Opinion

West Broadway Development Corporation held a community consultation on the future of the Sherbrook Street Community Garden last weekend. While community
consultation is desireable, it does matter why and how it is carried out. In West Broadway, a constituency that is increasingly pessimestic about the fate of the urban environment is coming to agree with anlaysts of the nuclear debate in Sweden:

"Mechanisms for public involvement may increase direct public influence on the formation of policy, or may merely inform policy makers about public concerns. More often they are a means to manipulate public opinion, to win acceptance of decisions already made, and to facilitate the implementation of these decisions'

WBDC does not intend to consult further with those parts of the community which it realizes are unlikely to change its position on the value of the community garden.
Initial inclusion will be for the sake of distinguishing 'opposition' likely to thwart a desired outcome ('effect') from that which is likely to be ineffective even if it is discomforting ('noise'). The reason for doing this is that the WBDC wants to manage and control the debate.
It is believed that failure to agree with the plans of WBDC is based on ignorance and the failure of the community to recognize what is in their own best interests. The ignorance can be overcome if the appropriate information is supplied. WBDC will supply their version of the information and everyone should be reassured. When they control the agenda they set the tone of the discussion and delimit the topics.

Those who would not delimit topics are catetorized and dismissed as either, ignorant, having vested interests or being not concerned with the public interest.

'All environmentalists welcome moves towards more public participation in decision-making. However we must be able to distinguish between genuine attempts to involve the public in determining policies and attempts to use public consultation as a means to gain acceptance for proposals that have already been decided upon.' If the latter is the case WBDC is simply orchestrating a public relations exercise.

Land is just a four letter word

The bottom line of planning in Winnipeg, and anywhere else is land. In Winnipeg, Land is just a four letter word. When land is destroyed in Winnipeg, theoretically there is a price to be paid. Usually and by legislative authority, this price is 10% of the cost of the development. Or 10% of the land which is being developed. This became law in 1973. But City Hall has worked for 35 years to meld this to its ways, and now, the spirit of the legislation as well as it's substance has almost disappeared. Here is what the people who put the trust in 'public trust' (the city auditors) had to say about our Land Dedication Reserve 6 years ago.
http://winnipeg.ca/audit/pdfs/reports/LDRF2002.pdf

The Trust for Public Land, a non-profit from the states has audited 12 cities in the U.S. Here is how they audited them and what they found.
http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/ccpe_who_is_going_to_pay.pdf

In March of this year the New Policy for the use of the Land Dedication Reserve will be unveiled at EPC. Hopefully the new draft will bring the use of this Reserve back in line with the legislation. But it doesn't look good. Why? Because the Recreation Reserve is bankrupt and all eyes look at the Land Dediction Reserve. Need a new roof on your aging Community or Neighbourhood Centre, need a parking lot paved? All councillors know that the Land Dediction Reserve is a sitting duck. Forget land. Land in Winnipeg is just a four letter word. At City Hall they would be surprised to learn that land is a non-renewable resource and quick to say that anyone who thought that must just be a troublemaker, a difficult person, an anacharist, communitst and just not a nice person. Because they know, that land is just a four letter word.

Re: Chris Leo Likes Kissing Frogs

Once upon a time a lovely princess was walking near a boggy pond. A frog came up to her, he was covered in warts and cold blooded. The frog said to the Princess,' kiss me and I will turn into a handsome Prince and you will bear my children and cook my meals and wash and iron and hang my clothes up and be eternally grateful for the opportunity to do so.'
' We'll see about that said the Princess. That night the princess cooked a frog leg stew for supper. It had a cream sauce of white wine with onions in it. It tasted like chicken.