Robert Latimer will be released from prison immediately. The right decision.
He should be allowed to return to his farm near Wilkie SK, and required to report to a parole officer weekly. For the rest of the sentence.
Nothing is to be gained by having him establish some sort of life in Ottawa, when his life is at his farm.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Insiders' Perspectives
Last night at a meeting I attended, I sat beside a more avid curling fan than I am. She has been ill, so I asked her if she had seen the Scotties last week. Yes, she had, and immediately went on a bit of a rant about the commentary. Since she had been bed-ridden, or couch-ridden, she had seen pretty well every game. Without slagging Mr Harris anymore, I will just say that she felt that he talked too much and came across as a know-it-all. She didn't want to hear what he thought the skip would do for her next shot either.
Spend a bit of time reading the posted comments on Joan McCuster's blog on the CBC website. I sent in a comment making this point, which has not been posted, so it wasn't me who started this discussion about Mike Harris.
Read "Dennis" who offers up the view that Harris comes across as "Mr Know-it-all."
In spite of comments on this blog from the curling community, it's time to let it go. The point has been made. Let's hope that when the semis and finals of the Strauss Canada Cup are shown on the CBC this weekend, that the commentary is less biased, more sparse, and broader in its perspective.
Spend a bit of time reading the posted comments on Joan McCuster's blog on the CBC website. I sent in a comment making this point, which has not been posted, so it wasn't me who started this discussion about Mike Harris.
Read "Dennis" who offers up the view that Harris comes across as "Mr Know-it-all."
In spite of comments on this blog from the curling community, it's time to let it go. The point has been made. Let's hope that when the semis and finals of the Strauss Canada Cup are shown on the CBC this weekend, that the commentary is less biased, more sparse, and broader in its perspective.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Seems Others Agree Wiith Me!
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/curling/mccusker/
Well, I'm not the only one who thinks that Mike overdoes it. Log on to Joan McCusker's blog at the CBC (above) and read comments after the last 3 or 4 entries.
Like I said, Joan pulled the telecast out of the embers. Constant yakking by the analysts and host, too much negativity, and talking at breakneck speed. Let's hope that Mike reads the recent Globe and Mail article about the speed of talking.
Fear of "dead air" seems to grip them. For the fans, "dead air" isn't bad! It gives us time to watch, consider, and look ahead.
Well, I'm not the only one who thinks that Mike overdoes it. Log on to Joan McCusker's blog at the CBC (above) and read comments after the last 3 or 4 entries.
Like I said, Joan pulled the telecast out of the embers. Constant yakking by the analysts and host, too much negativity, and talking at breakneck speed. Let's hope that Mike reads the recent Globe and Mail article about the speed of talking.
Fear of "dead air" seems to grip them. For the fans, "dead air" isn't bad! It gives us time to watch, consider, and look ahead.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
2008 Scotties and the CBC
As often is the case, the games BEFORE the big game are often the better ones. We've seen that many times in the Grey Cup, the Brier, and in the Scotties. This afternoon's final was a good game, but not one of the best.
Congratulations to Manitoba on their win today! They will do Canada proud at the Worlds in March.
The CBC crew did much better today than yesterday, but there is still a way to go. Joan bailed Mike out a few times, when he said such stupid things as "Jennifer Jones would like to...." while Alberta was still playing its rock. He had no idea what Jennifer Jones would like to do; he had his personal opinion about what HE would do, but that is not what Jennifer Jones might do. Joan was gentle enough to say that there was an alternative to what Harris was saying, and on occasion, he even grudgingly acknowledged it. There's an old saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." Harris would do well to consider this, as an analyst, and maybe even as a skip. Thinking outside the box is a creative way to solve problems.
Analysts who listen to the tape after a game often catch such repetitions as "a huge error," or "a critical mistake," or "a big mistake." Viewers can see these mistakes; if I had to guess, I'd say that anyone watching the Scotties final is someone who knows the game, knows a lot of strategy, and probably has played the game. So they don't have to be told, repeatedly, that something is a "huge mistake." Remember when Harris told us that "this is going to be heavy and wide"? Good grief. Everyoone watching could see that. Telling the viewers the obvious is pretty new-analyst behaviour. Better say nothing, than to report the obvious.
Joan was far more objective in her analysis of the final than was Harris. She deserves a lot of credit for the overall quality of the content.
The telestrater didn't work most of the 2 days of games, so fortunately Harris didn't use it much. The sound in the interviews was out of sync with the talking heads; quite distracting to viewers.
Most viewers would tell the CBC, and TSN, not to talk when the athletes are discussing strategy. That's what we are interested in hearing, not the ideas of the analysist (at least not while the athletes are reviewing their options). And, at the end of any game, trying to talk over the cheering and the tears isn't a good idea. Let the game and the camera, tell the story.
The CBC opted not to give us any shots of the Alberta team. The tears are part of the game. This really is censorship, not just being kind. Perhaps in the moments after the loss, that's fair, but not one shot of the team during the lead up to trophy presentation? The question is where to draw the line. For my money, the CBC drew it way too far away; the reaction of the Alberta team is part of the game, part of the telecast.
It was and is a tremendous loss for Alberta, and no doubt Kleibrink will assume all the load. Yes, she missed her shot, but had others made theirs along the way, it might not have come down to that. Much was riding on this game, for both teams.
In the final analysis, it has been a long week for the last few teams standing. Nixon looked tired today. No doubt that ALL of them are exhausted. Anyone who says that curling isn't a sport, should just spend the week watching this competition. Or the Brier. These weeks require the lighest levels of physical fitness and mental preparation. I hear this in coaching courses I facilitate: "curling and bowling aren't sports because you don't have to be in any kind of shape to do them." Well, the reason people on the street don't do gymnastics or synchro is because they aren't well trained and in good enough shape to do them. And they certainly aren't in the sort of shape that theese athletes are in.
Curling is a great sport, probably the best spectator sport going. It's great to have so much on TV, and to have some of the finest teams in the world in Canada.
We're looking forward to the Brier coming up early next month; let's hope the two TV networks spend some time evaluating their work on the Scotties.
Congratulations to Manitoba on their win today! They will do Canada proud at the Worlds in March.
The CBC crew did much better today than yesterday, but there is still a way to go. Joan bailed Mike out a few times, when he said such stupid things as "Jennifer Jones would like to...." while Alberta was still playing its rock. He had no idea what Jennifer Jones would like to do; he had his personal opinion about what HE would do, but that is not what Jennifer Jones might do. Joan was gentle enough to say that there was an alternative to what Harris was saying, and on occasion, he even grudgingly acknowledged it. There's an old saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." Harris would do well to consider this, as an analyst, and maybe even as a skip. Thinking outside the box is a creative way to solve problems.
Analysts who listen to the tape after a game often catch such repetitions as "a huge error," or "a critical mistake," or "a big mistake." Viewers can see these mistakes; if I had to guess, I'd say that anyone watching the Scotties final is someone who knows the game, knows a lot of strategy, and probably has played the game. So they don't have to be told, repeatedly, that something is a "huge mistake." Remember when Harris told us that "this is going to be heavy and wide"? Good grief. Everyoone watching could see that. Telling the viewers the obvious is pretty new-analyst behaviour. Better say nothing, than to report the obvious.
Joan was far more objective in her analysis of the final than was Harris. She deserves a lot of credit for the overall quality of the content.
The telestrater didn't work most of the 2 days of games, so fortunately Harris didn't use it much. The sound in the interviews was out of sync with the talking heads; quite distracting to viewers.
Most viewers would tell the CBC, and TSN, not to talk when the athletes are discussing strategy. That's what we are interested in hearing, not the ideas of the analysist (at least not while the athletes are reviewing their options). And, at the end of any game, trying to talk over the cheering and the tears isn't a good idea. Let the game and the camera, tell the story.
The CBC opted not to give us any shots of the Alberta team. The tears are part of the game. This really is censorship, not just being kind. Perhaps in the moments after the loss, that's fair, but not one shot of the team during the lead up to trophy presentation? The question is where to draw the line. For my money, the CBC drew it way too far away; the reaction of the Alberta team is part of the game, part of the telecast.
It was and is a tremendous loss for Alberta, and no doubt Kleibrink will assume all the load. Yes, she missed her shot, but had others made theirs along the way, it might not have come down to that. Much was riding on this game, for both teams.
In the final analysis, it has been a long week for the last few teams standing. Nixon looked tired today. No doubt that ALL of them are exhausted. Anyone who says that curling isn't a sport, should just spend the week watching this competition. Or the Brier. These weeks require the lighest levels of physical fitness and mental preparation. I hear this in coaching courses I facilitate: "curling and bowling aren't sports because you don't have to be in any kind of shape to do them." Well, the reason people on the street don't do gymnastics or synchro is because they aren't well trained and in good enough shape to do them. And they certainly aren't in the sort of shape that theese athletes are in.
Curling is a great sport, probably the best spectator sport going. It's great to have so much on TV, and to have some of the finest teams in the world in Canada.
We're looking forward to the Brier coming up early next month; let's hope the two TV networks spend some time evaluating their work on the Scotties.
CBC and the Scotties
Yesterday's production of the semifinal of the Scotties was one of the poorest CBC undertakings I've watched for a long time.
I'm a sports fan. I watch every curling game, football game, amateur sport, university sport and almost every minute of the Olympics. So I've logged a lot of hours!
We all agree that Don Wittman will be difficult to replace, so Bruce Rainie will get a bit of slack. It doesn't sound as if he has watched a lot of curling, at least at this level, but that's not the most annoying part of yesterday's telecast.
The most upsetting aspect was Mike Harris' obvious bias toward Ontario. It wasn't so much beating on Manitoba, but it was giving way more air time to Middaugh, and more positive comments about her and the team.
Most curling fans feel for Sherry. She's a fine curler and frankly, in the last year has developed mentally well beyond where she was before. Having lived in Saskatchewan for many years, I watched her and discussed her team's work with avid curling fans. And I give her more than full marks for her fine development in the mental aspect of the game.
But this is about the telecast.
Not only did Mr Harris demonstrate bias towards Ontario's team, he talked much too much, and he overanalysed the game. It was more than annoying. It was as if he was afraid to let the curlers show their abilities to analyse the game. It is THEIR game. What HE would do or WOULD HAVE DONE is immaterial. He is no greater expert than either of the teams on the ice yesterday.
So, today, can we have some "dead air"? The mics on the athletes have given the game to the TV viewers. Let us listen to the athletes, let US think about what they are doing, and let US decide how good the outcome is.
I'm a sports fan. I watch every curling game, football game, amateur sport, university sport and almost every minute of the Olympics. So I've logged a lot of hours!
We all agree that Don Wittman will be difficult to replace, so Bruce Rainie will get a bit of slack. It doesn't sound as if he has watched a lot of curling, at least at this level, but that's not the most annoying part of yesterday's telecast.
The most upsetting aspect was Mike Harris' obvious bias toward Ontario. It wasn't so much beating on Manitoba, but it was giving way more air time to Middaugh, and more positive comments about her and the team.
Most curling fans feel for Sherry. She's a fine curler and frankly, in the last year has developed mentally well beyond where she was before. Having lived in Saskatchewan for many years, I watched her and discussed her team's work with avid curling fans. And I give her more than full marks for her fine development in the mental aspect of the game.
But this is about the telecast.
Not only did Mr Harris demonstrate bias towards Ontario's team, he talked much too much, and he overanalysed the game. It was more than annoying. It was as if he was afraid to let the curlers show their abilities to analyse the game. It is THEIR game. What HE would do or WOULD HAVE DONE is immaterial. He is no greater expert than either of the teams on the ice yesterday.
So, today, can we have some "dead air"? The mics on the athletes have given the game to the TV viewers. Let us listen to the athletes, let US think about what they are doing, and let US decide how good the outcome is.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
What an Embarassment!
The dreaded LVEC in Kingston appears to be still a work in progress.
Why anyone thought the facility should be open, or even could be ready, for February 22, 2008 is well beyond most people's understanding.
The Fire Department hasn't cleared the building as of 1.15pm today, and the city will make an announcement later this afternoon. What a farce.
This morning, I asked a clerk if she was going to the Frontenac's game on Friday evening. She laughed. Then, she asked me if I thought the building would be ready. She said that she would laugh when they had to have the OHL game in the Memorial Centre. "I wonder if IT will be ready to use?" she asked, laughing.
The process of site selection, management, fund-raising will be a good "case study" for some MBA program. What not to do to get "buy-in" from the community, how not to get community input, tricks to not reaching the fund-raising target, how a council and mayor can sabotage the project, why "design/build" is the wrong way to build your 'showcase' facility....there are so many lessons to be learned here.
Let's hope that other cities study this sad situation, and learn from it.
The next municipal election can't come soon enough for a lot of citizens.
Why anyone thought the facility should be open, or even could be ready, for February 22, 2008 is well beyond most people's understanding.
The Fire Department hasn't cleared the building as of 1.15pm today, and the city will make an announcement later this afternoon. What a farce.
This morning, I asked a clerk if she was going to the Frontenac's game on Friday evening. She laughed. Then, she asked me if I thought the building would be ready. She said that she would laugh when they had to have the OHL game in the Memorial Centre. "I wonder if IT will be ready to use?" she asked, laughing.
The process of site selection, management, fund-raising will be a good "case study" for some MBA program. What not to do to get "buy-in" from the community, how not to get community input, tricks to not reaching the fund-raising target, how a council and mayor can sabotage the project, why "design/build" is the wrong way to build your 'showcase' facility....there are so many lessons to be learned here.
Let's hope that other cities study this sad situation, and learn from it.
The next municipal election can't come soon enough for a lot of citizens.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
LVEC Opening
The mostly secret opening of the LVEC in downtown Kingston will be on February 22, 2008 from 11.30-1pm in the ice surface area of the building. Enter by the Barrack Street entrance, and be seated in the lower seating area by 11.45am.
Don't forget your camera!
Don't forget your camera!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Harassment
Harassment is a serious offence.
Being charged with harassment is a blight on one's reputation that sticks, whether or not a conviction results.
You know who you are, and I know who you are.
Being charged with harassment is a blight on one's reputation that sticks, whether or not a conviction results.
You know who you are, and I know who you are.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Random Thoughts on a Winter Day
* Marion Jones' story is a sad one indeed. Sad for her, for her parent, for her child, spouse, and for USA track and field. Many athletes should be worried however, that when they get found out, they may end up in the klink too. And that is as it should be.
* NFL games are winding down. Yesterday's obsession with Tyrell Owens by FOX was nausiating. You'd think that he was the only one on the field. Since NY decided to double team him, one would think that the cameras should go to the players that had the potential do DO something! Thank goodness that he won't be on the field at the Super Bowl.
* And when will The Globe and Mail stop all this reporting on the Toronto Maple Leafs? The paper is obsessed with them, and few of the rest of us are! Enough! And, the CBC, even the Ontario-wide morning program gave half an hour to the Leafs. Booooring.
* If you missed The Victor Davis Story on CBC last night, you missed a good feature on one of Canada's best athletes. His death in 1989 was awful; there was so much more he could have done. And the media's focus on the chair incident at the Commonwealth Games was just plain unfair.
I had wondered if the identities of the organ recipients had been known, so I was pleased to see that the heart recipient had lived 16 years more after he received Victor's heart. What a fine tribute to Victor. His liver was also donated.
This underlines the importance of signing your donor card, and making yuor wishes known to your family. Organ donation, at any age, is a generous gift to others who need transplants. Tell your family that you wish your organs to be donated. Your permission is necessary.
* Progress is being made on the dreaded LVEC in downtown Kingston. It is expected that the name of the facility will be known after council approves the deal on January 22, 2008. Guessing is rampant! Top of the list is Empire Life, whose head office is in Kingston, and that has a reputation for support of local initiatives. One can hardly imagine that a national business would attach its name to a facility that has engendered such wrath and which has so little support. But Empire Life might have the potential to bring respectability to the rink. It would be a great move for Empire Life.
* NFL games are winding down. Yesterday's obsession with Tyrell Owens by FOX was nausiating. You'd think that he was the only one on the field. Since NY decided to double team him, one would think that the cameras should go to the players that had the potential do DO something! Thank goodness that he won't be on the field at the Super Bowl.
* And when will The Globe and Mail stop all this reporting on the Toronto Maple Leafs? The paper is obsessed with them, and few of the rest of us are! Enough! And, the CBC, even the Ontario-wide morning program gave half an hour to the Leafs. Booooring.
* If you missed The Victor Davis Story on CBC last night, you missed a good feature on one of Canada's best athletes. His death in 1989 was awful; there was so much more he could have done. And the media's focus on the chair incident at the Commonwealth Games was just plain unfair.
I had wondered if the identities of the organ recipients had been known, so I was pleased to see that the heart recipient had lived 16 years more after he received Victor's heart. What a fine tribute to Victor. His liver was also donated.
This underlines the importance of signing your donor card, and making yuor wishes known to your family. Organ donation, at any age, is a generous gift to others who need transplants. Tell your family that you wish your organs to be donated. Your permission is necessary.
* Progress is being made on the dreaded LVEC in downtown Kingston. It is expected that the name of the facility will be known after council approves the deal on January 22, 2008. Guessing is rampant! Top of the list is Empire Life, whose head office is in Kingston, and that has a reputation for support of local initiatives. One can hardly imagine that a national business would attach its name to a facility that has engendered such wrath and which has so little support. But Empire Life might have the potential to bring respectability to the rink. It would be a great move for Empire Life.
Friday, January 11, 2008
MARION JONES: THE JUDGE SENDS A MESSAGE
from CBC.ca, Friday January 11, 2008 at 12.31pm
Former Olympian Marion Jones gets 6-month jail sentence
Marion Jones was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a cheque-fraud scam, despite her plea that she not be separated from her two young children "even for a short period of time."
"I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be," said Jones, who cried on her husband's shoulder after she was sentenced in White Plains, N.Y.
Marion Jones has returned three gold and two bronze medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.(Darron Cummings/Associated Press)
The disgraced former Olympic champion was ordered to surrender March 11 to begin her term.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas said he gave her the maximum under her plea deal to send a message to athletes who have abused drugs and overlooked the values of "hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship."
"Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models," Karas said.
The 31-year-old Jones also was given two years' probation and supervised release, during which she will be required to perform 800 hours of community service.
The judge said this would take advantage of Jones' "eloquence, strength and her ability to work with kids."
It was her children that worried Jones most as she beseeched the judge for a lighter sentence, talking at length about her two boys, including the infant son she's still nursing.
"My passion in life has always been my family," Jones said. "I know the day is quickly approaching when my boys ask me about these current events. I intend to be honest and forthright … and guide them into not making the same mistakes."
Jones' coach to be sentenced in cheque fraud scheme
The sentence completes a stunning fall for the woman who was once the most celebrated female athlete in the world. She won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
After long denying she ever had used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted last October she lied to federal investigators in November 2003, acknowledging she took the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. "The clear" has been linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.
She also admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of Tim Montgomery, the father of her older son Monty, in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged cheques.
Montgomery and several others have been convicted in that scam. They include Jones' former coach, Olympic champion Steve Riddick, who was to be sentenced later Friday.
Tearful confession
After her guilty pleas last October, Jones made an apologetic and teary-eyed statement outside court, saying, "It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust.
"I have been dishonest, and you have the right to be angry with me," she added. "I have let (my family) down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down. … I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Jones returned her Olympic medals — golds in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 1,600-metre relay and bronzes in the long jump and 400-metre relay — even before the International Olympic Committee ordered her to do so and wiped her results from the books.
Jones was among the many athletes who testified in 2003 before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
On the day she pleaded guilty, prosecutors said a 2003 search warrant at BALCO uncovered ledgers, purchases, doping calendars, and various blood-test results connected to Jones and former coach Trevor Graham.
She took EPO, human growth hormone and THG using drops and injections, according to the court documents that show use in 2000 and 2001.
Former Olympian Marion Jones gets 6-month jail sentence
Marion Jones was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a cheque-fraud scam, despite her plea that she not be separated from her two young children "even for a short period of time."
"I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be," said Jones, who cried on her husband's shoulder after she was sentenced in White Plains, N.Y.
Marion Jones has returned three gold and two bronze medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.(Darron Cummings/Associated Press)
The disgraced former Olympic champion was ordered to surrender March 11 to begin her term.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas said he gave her the maximum under her plea deal to send a message to athletes who have abused drugs and overlooked the values of "hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship."
"Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models," Karas said.
The 31-year-old Jones also was given two years' probation and supervised release, during which she will be required to perform 800 hours of community service.
The judge said this would take advantage of Jones' "eloquence, strength and her ability to work with kids."
It was her children that worried Jones most as she beseeched the judge for a lighter sentence, talking at length about her two boys, including the infant son she's still nursing.
"My passion in life has always been my family," Jones said. "I know the day is quickly approaching when my boys ask me about these current events. I intend to be honest and forthright … and guide them into not making the same mistakes."
Jones' coach to be sentenced in cheque fraud scheme
The sentence completes a stunning fall for the woman who was once the most celebrated female athlete in the world. She won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
After long denying she ever had used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted last October she lied to federal investigators in November 2003, acknowledging she took the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. "The clear" has been linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.
She also admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of Tim Montgomery, the father of her older son Monty, in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged cheques.
Montgomery and several others have been convicted in that scam. They include Jones' former coach, Olympic champion Steve Riddick, who was to be sentenced later Friday.
Tearful confession
After her guilty pleas last October, Jones made an apologetic and teary-eyed statement outside court, saying, "It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust.
"I have been dishonest, and you have the right to be angry with me," she added. "I have let (my family) down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down. … I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Jones returned her Olympic medals — golds in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 1,600-metre relay and bronzes in the long jump and 400-metre relay — even before the International Olympic Committee ordered her to do so and wiped her results from the books.
Jones was among the many athletes who testified in 2003 before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
On the day she pleaded guilty, prosecutors said a 2003 search warrant at BALCO uncovered ledgers, purchases, doping calendars, and various blood-test results connected to Jones and former coach Trevor Graham.
She took EPO, human growth hormone and THG using drops and injections, according to the court documents that show use in 2000 and 2001.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
"Finally, Canada's Top Athletes Will Be Rewarded for Their Efforts"
Posted December 14, 2007 in the Kingston Whig Standard
The headline announced "Money for Medals." It finally happened. Terrific!
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has at long last stepped into the real world of athletic achievement, joining many of the world's top sporting nations. France, the United States, Italy, Australia, Spain, Russia and China, to name just a few, reward Olympic medallists with money, apartments, family security and status. These are some of the countries whose athletes Canadian athletes compete against at the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. They are among our toughest competition.
Starting with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Canadian gold medallists will receive $20,000, silver medallists will receive $15,000 and bronze medallists will receive $10,000. An important aspect of the Olympic Committee's Athletic Excellence Fund is that in each of the three years leading up to the Olympic Games or Olympic Winter Games, athletes who place in the top four or five in the world will receive $5,000.
Olympic medallists are the best athletes from the 205 nations that participate in the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. To get to this level, an athlete often trains for 15 years. Olympians start in their community, taking lessons for a few hours a week, and progress to virtually full-time training and competition on the international stage.
Aspiring Olympians are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. They are extraordinarily focused, first on being the best Canadian, and then on being the best in the whole world. To become an Olympic medallist, an athlete perseveres and suffers both euphoric success and unacceptable failure.
Providing a financial incentive for Canadian medallists sends a clear, powerful message, not only to Canadians but also to the world. The pursuit of excellence that results in Olympic medals is a worthy endeavour. Canadian medallists are remarkable examples for each of us. Canadians are formidable opponents. Canada honours its athletes.
The COC is best positioned to offer these financial rewards. Money in its Athlete Excellence Fund comes from sponsorships, licensing and investments, not from taxpayers. Through the Athlete Excellence Fund, all medallists are treated the same; if you win a medal, you will be rewarded. This principle is important, particularly for athletes in less-known or less- popular sports. Biathlon or luge medallists will receive the same reward as a 100-metre sprinter.
As cornerstones of the Olympic Games, swimming and track-and-field organizations attract sponsors, as do some of their athletes. The public profile of water polo or synchro or fencing or judo or nordic combined just isn't the same. And the road to a medal for athletes in these events is just as long, just as hard and just as expensive as it is for the 100-metre sprinter, curler or speed skater. Now, when athletes in these sports win a medal, they will receive the same amount of money as every other medallist.
The Olympic Committee's Athlete Excellence Fund acknowledges the tremendous human and financial cost of elite training and competition. Costs often include specialist coaches, choreographers, nutritionists, sport psychologists, equipment technicians, customized equipment (such as bikes), physiotherapists, national team fees, everyday living expenses and local transportation to and from the training venue. These latter expenses are necessary because in places like Kingston, facilities are often not available and our athletes have to leave the city to train.
Canadian support can be direct or indirect. Federal and provincial governments provide grants to national and provincial sport organizations, as well as direct athlete assistance. Some corporations sponsor athletes or sport organizations. Athletes and their families still need more aid, as evidenced by the existence of the Canadian Athletes Now Fund (CAN Fund) started by Jane Roos in 1997 to help with everyday expenses. More than 500 athletes have received cash from the CAN Fund, including more than 60 this year alone.
In the immediate future, however, three changes are needed. First, paralympians need to get the same reward for medals. Athletes with disabilities are not included in the Athlete Excellence Fund program because the Canadian Paralympic Committee is a different organization from the COC and currently doesn't have the money.
Second, the rewards should be larger. And third, Canada needs to provide facilities and programming for aspiring Olympians to train in their own communities. I want these young people to be seen training by every child and adult in their community, and that includes Kingston.
-30-
- Diana Davis Duerkop has been involved in amateur sport for more than 40 years. She is currently on the boards of the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame and Sport Kingston, and is a past vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Copyright © 2007 The Whig Standard
The headline announced "Money for Medals." It finally happened. Terrific!
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has at long last stepped into the real world of athletic achievement, joining many of the world's top sporting nations. France, the United States, Italy, Australia, Spain, Russia and China, to name just a few, reward Olympic medallists with money, apartments, family security and status. These are some of the countries whose athletes Canadian athletes compete against at the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. They are among our toughest competition.
Starting with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Canadian gold medallists will receive $20,000, silver medallists will receive $15,000 and bronze medallists will receive $10,000. An important aspect of the Olympic Committee's Athletic Excellence Fund is that in each of the three years leading up to the Olympic Games or Olympic Winter Games, athletes who place in the top four or five in the world will receive $5,000.
Olympic medallists are the best athletes from the 205 nations that participate in the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. To get to this level, an athlete often trains for 15 years. Olympians start in their community, taking lessons for a few hours a week, and progress to virtually full-time training and competition on the international stage.
Aspiring Olympians are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. They are extraordinarily focused, first on being the best Canadian, and then on being the best in the whole world. To become an Olympic medallist, an athlete perseveres and suffers both euphoric success and unacceptable failure.
Providing a financial incentive for Canadian medallists sends a clear, powerful message, not only to Canadians but also to the world. The pursuit of excellence that results in Olympic medals is a worthy endeavour. Canadian medallists are remarkable examples for each of us. Canadians are formidable opponents. Canada honours its athletes.
The COC is best positioned to offer these financial rewards. Money in its Athlete Excellence Fund comes from sponsorships, licensing and investments, not from taxpayers. Through the Athlete Excellence Fund, all medallists are treated the same; if you win a medal, you will be rewarded. This principle is important, particularly for athletes in less-known or less- popular sports. Biathlon or luge medallists will receive the same reward as a 100-metre sprinter.
As cornerstones of the Olympic Games, swimming and track-and-field organizations attract sponsors, as do some of their athletes. The public profile of water polo or synchro or fencing or judo or nordic combined just isn't the same. And the road to a medal for athletes in these events is just as long, just as hard and just as expensive as it is for the 100-metre sprinter, curler or speed skater. Now, when athletes in these sports win a medal, they will receive the same amount of money as every other medallist.
The Olympic Committee's Athlete Excellence Fund acknowledges the tremendous human and financial cost of elite training and competition. Costs often include specialist coaches, choreographers, nutritionists, sport psychologists, equipment technicians, customized equipment (such as bikes), physiotherapists, national team fees, everyday living expenses and local transportation to and from the training venue. These latter expenses are necessary because in places like Kingston, facilities are often not available and our athletes have to leave the city to train.
Canadian support can be direct or indirect. Federal and provincial governments provide grants to national and provincial sport organizations, as well as direct athlete assistance. Some corporations sponsor athletes or sport organizations. Athletes and their families still need more aid, as evidenced by the existence of the Canadian Athletes Now Fund (CAN Fund) started by Jane Roos in 1997 to help with everyday expenses. More than 500 athletes have received cash from the CAN Fund, including more than 60 this year alone.
In the immediate future, however, three changes are needed. First, paralympians need to get the same reward for medals. Athletes with disabilities are not included in the Athlete Excellence Fund program because the Canadian Paralympic Committee is a different organization from the COC and currently doesn't have the money.
Second, the rewards should be larger. And third, Canada needs to provide facilities and programming for aspiring Olympians to train in their own communities. I want these young people to be seen training by every child and adult in their community, and that includes Kingston.
-30-
- Diana Davis Duerkop has been involved in amateur sport for more than 40 years. She is currently on the boards of the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame and Sport Kingston, and is a past vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Copyright © 2007 The Whig Standard
Wycliffe and the "Short Course'
You wondered about the piece about Elizabeth Wycliffe?
Well....times on short courses (25m) are different from times on long courses (50m). Times will be faster on a short course due to the turn at 25m...i.e. a swimmer "makes up" time on a turn because she can push off the wall.
We'll be cheering for Elizabeth at the Olympic Trials, which must be held on a long course, i.e. on the same length course/pool that the Olympic Games are held on.
It would be great to have a Kingstonian on the swim team at Beijing, so cheer her on!
Well....times on short courses (25m) are different from times on long courses (50m). Times will be faster on a short course due to the turn at 25m...i.e. a swimmer "makes up" time on a turn because she can push off the wall.
We'll be cheering for Elizabeth at the Olympic Trials, which must be held on a long course, i.e. on the same length course/pool that the Olympic Games are held on.
It would be great to have a Kingstonian on the swim team at Beijing, so cheer her on!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Swimmer breaks records
From the Kingston Whig-Standard
Kingston swimmer Elizabeth Wycliffe had two record-breaking performances at the Bell Grand Prix swim meet that concluded yesterday in Toronto.
Wycliffe, a member of the Ernestown Barracudas, set the Canadian short-course record in the 200-metre backstroke at 2 minutes 7.5 seconds in Friday's preliminaries.
She later won the final in 2:13.50.
The weekend's competition had short course (25-metre) races for morning preliminaries and long course (50-metre) races for finals.
Yesterday, Wycliffe eclipsed the short-course meet record in the 100-metre backstroke, finishing in 59.85 seconds.
That time was just 52 one-hundredths of a second off Marylyn Chiang's national record that has stood since 2000.
In last night's final, Wycliffe clocked 1:02.62 to win the gold medal, 64 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Kelly Stefanyshyn of B.C.
Saturday Wycliffe added a bronze medal in the 200-metre individual medley.
Erica Morningstar of Calgary won gold in 2:15.70.
Wycliffe was third in 2:19.21.
Kingston swimmer Elizabeth Wycliffe had two record-breaking performances at the Bell Grand Prix swim meet that concluded yesterday in Toronto.
Wycliffe, a member of the Ernestown Barracudas, set the Canadian short-course record in the 200-metre backstroke at 2 minutes 7.5 seconds in Friday's preliminaries.
She later won the final in 2:13.50.
The weekend's competition had short course (25-metre) races for morning preliminaries and long course (50-metre) races for finals.
Yesterday, Wycliffe eclipsed the short-course meet record in the 100-metre backstroke, finishing in 59.85 seconds.
That time was just 52 one-hundredths of a second off Marylyn Chiang's national record that has stood since 2000.
In last night's final, Wycliffe clocked 1:02.62 to win the gold medal, 64 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Kelly Stefanyshyn of B.C.
Saturday Wycliffe added a bronze medal in the 200-metre individual medley.
Erica Morningstar of Calgary won gold in 2:15.70.
Wycliffe was third in 2:19.21.
Friday, November 16, 2007
An aquatics road trip; Kingston could do worse than to emulate these communities
We were a gang of 11 on a recent Saturday morning, setting out in the pre-dawn darkness on a mini-bus bound for Montreal. Among us were three city recreation officials, a city councillor, a consultant and representatives of local swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and aquafit interests. Longtime aquatics enthusiasts Alex Palilionis and I, acting on behalf of the Kingston Association for Aquatics, Recreation and Sport (KAARS), were tour organizers and guides.
Our mission, in the wake of city council's decision to proceed with feasibility plans for a new aquatics complex with a 50-metre pool, was to educate ourselves by visiting three such facilities in the Montreal area: in Pointe-Claire, LaSalle and Terrebonne. What an inspiring trip!
The first thing our genial host at Pointe-Claire, senior culture and recreation manager Gary Malcolm, did upon greeting us was to gesture to the "wall of fame." On it were mounted 25 bronze plaques with the names of the 25 athletes from the city's program who have represented Canada at the Olympic Games. Pointe-Claire has a population of 28,000.
The Pointe-Claire complex, composed of the original 50-metre pool built in the 1960s, a warmer 25-yard pool and a small wade-in pool for toddlers, was teeming with kids of all ages. That's to be expected on the weekend, one would suppose. But Malcolm told us the place is equally busy during the week with "the Arthritics," day-care kids (1,000 a week), those participating in "adaptive aquatics" for the mentally and physically disabled, gym and swim classes, adult swimming lessons, "aqua natal" courses for expectant mothers, the 3F club (fun and fitness after 50), weight training, competitive swim and diving club practices after school, "aqua percept" (non-competitive gym and swim), recreational swims, adult diving classes and much more.
Even though Pointe-Claire is surrounded by nearby communities with more modern and arguably better physical facilities, it is Pointe-Claire that is the champion by far in attracting users from within and outside its boundaries.
To what does this modestly sized town owe its outsized aquatic success? According to Malcolm, the secret is that from the very beginning, the community got behind aquatics. Originally, seven neighbourhoods raised the capital to build seven neighbourhood outdoor pools. They formed advisory groups for each pool and placed great emphasis on participation and programming.
Those outdoor pools are still running today and act as a feeder system to the indoor facilities, supplying users as well as kids who graduate to becoming lifeguards and instructors. The indoor aquatics centre also has a volunteer, non-supervisory board that has perpetuated the founding values of participation and outstanding programming.
Because of the success of its programs and resultant capacity constraints, Pointe-Claire is now embarking on plans for its second 50-metre pool. When the proposal was registered for public comment, not one objection was recorded. The city council voted unanimously in favour.
The next stop was another suburban centre, the LaSalle Aquadome. Here we were graciously greeted and given a tour by aquatics manager Raymond Kubiak. I had swum at this facility during my Montreal days and was eager to show off the leisure pool and its horticultural adornments to my companions. Our host, of course, saved that for last as we toured team meeting rooms, equipment lockers, changing rooms and even the bowels of the complex, "below decks."
Eventually, we surfaced to gaze upon a beautifully tiled 50-metre basin, one not as intensely populated as its Pointe-Claire counterpart but impressive in every other way. And then came the piŠce de resistance, just as I had remembered it: a warm-water "leisure pool," effectively an indoor aqua park, with fountains, hydrojets, a corkscrew waterslide, a gentle slope for wading in and out, big windows, deck chairs, a patio and real palm trees.
If you know anything about human nature, you will not be surprised to learn that the place was packed with happy kids, teens and parents. We even ran into a grandmother who had journeyed from Kingston to the aquadome to be at her grandchild's birthday party.
LaSalle has a population of 74,000 and, unlike Pointe-Claire, it contracts out the management of its facility, including the programming, to a private company. The community is not organically involved and, as a result, the aquadome's 50-metre pool is not the beacon of programming innovation and user demand that is the case in Pointe-Claire. LaSalle's great strength and lesson for Kingston is the heavily used leisure pool, as symbolized by the palm trees.
A parenthetical note: Pointe-Claire is exploring the possibility of incorporating aqua park-like features into its original 50-metre pool once the new one is built.
The third stop of a long day was the less-well-known suburb of Terrebonne, a half-hour north of Montreal. It has a population of but 84,000, and words cannot do justice to the scale of this community's recreational ambitions for its citizens. This past September, it opened an aquatics complex with a 50-metre pool 10 lanes wide (25 metres across) and a leisure pool with all the features of the LaSalle Aquadome's, including palm trees (plastic this time, but let's not quibble) and a pirate ship.
The scale of the entire complex, integrated with hockey rinks - the heat produced in cooling the ice is recycled to warm the pools - and a vast Olympic-style gymnasium replete with all the requisite equipment, was well beyond anything any of us had seen. Jaws increasingly fell agape, especially when we learned that indoor and outdoor soccer pitches and a football gridiron are still to come.
Our smiling host, recreation manager Sylvie Lussier, pointed out that while the care and maintenance of the physical plant have been contracted out to private concerns, it is very much the community and the city that are responsible for programming. Judging from the hundreds of cars we saw in the parking lot, and the happy faces everywhere throughout the complex, we'd say it is a formula that is going to work.
On the bus ride back home, we exchanged thoughts on what we had learned from our excursion. There was a clear consensus: if three communities smaller than Kingston can find the community spirit and the funding to invest handsomely in aquatics facilities (and palm trees), and then build successful programming around them, then so can Kingston.
Because aquatics is so universal in appeal and scope, we must not sell ourselves short when we draw up plans for our new pool complex in Kingston. Let's do it right, with a creative mix of leisure, therapeutic and competitive elements that will appeal to all sectors of the community.
As with Pointe-Claire, LaSalle and Terrebonne, it's an investment that will pay priceless dividends down the road.
- Christopher West has been swimming since he was in his mother's womb. He is a member of the Kingston Association for Aquatics Recreation and Sport (KAARS) and a former member of the Whig-Standard's Community Editorial Board. Swimming Canada, Swim Ontario, KAARS and members of the public generously contributed funding for the Montreal trip. If you would like more information on this story as it evolves, or more background, go to: www.ktownaquatic centre.ca.
Pointe-Claire pool facts
Population: 28,000.
Number of indoor municipal pools: 3 (including one of 50-metres).
Number of outdoor municipal pools: 7.
Number of Olympic athletes produced: 25.
Cost of 2nd 50-metre pool: $12 million.
New pool provincial funding share: 50 per cent.
Number of user visits annually: 475,000.
Daily average number of users: 1,300.
User fees: Low by comparison with other facilities.
Pool rental fees for clubs: Nil.
Operating deficit: $1 million.
Justification: "Our aquatics programs are why people want to live here. We want to maximize sport and wellness opportunities in the Pointe-Claire community."
Could the deficit be reduced or eliminated by increasing fees? Yes.
[Reproduced with permission of the author]
Our mission, in the wake of city council's decision to proceed with feasibility plans for a new aquatics complex with a 50-metre pool, was to educate ourselves by visiting three such facilities in the Montreal area: in Pointe-Claire, LaSalle and Terrebonne. What an inspiring trip!
The first thing our genial host at Pointe-Claire, senior culture and recreation manager Gary Malcolm, did upon greeting us was to gesture to the "wall of fame." On it were mounted 25 bronze plaques with the names of the 25 athletes from the city's program who have represented Canada at the Olympic Games. Pointe-Claire has a population of 28,000.
The Pointe-Claire complex, composed of the original 50-metre pool built in the 1960s, a warmer 25-yard pool and a small wade-in pool for toddlers, was teeming with kids of all ages. That's to be expected on the weekend, one would suppose. But Malcolm told us the place is equally busy during the week with "the Arthritics," day-care kids (1,000 a week), those participating in "adaptive aquatics" for the mentally and physically disabled, gym and swim classes, adult swimming lessons, "aqua natal" courses for expectant mothers, the 3F club (fun and fitness after 50), weight training, competitive swim and diving club practices after school, "aqua percept" (non-competitive gym and swim), recreational swims, adult diving classes and much more.
Even though Pointe-Claire is surrounded by nearby communities with more modern and arguably better physical facilities, it is Pointe-Claire that is the champion by far in attracting users from within and outside its boundaries.
To what does this modestly sized town owe its outsized aquatic success? According to Malcolm, the secret is that from the very beginning, the community got behind aquatics. Originally, seven neighbourhoods raised the capital to build seven neighbourhood outdoor pools. They formed advisory groups for each pool and placed great emphasis on participation and programming.
Those outdoor pools are still running today and act as a feeder system to the indoor facilities, supplying users as well as kids who graduate to becoming lifeguards and instructors. The indoor aquatics centre also has a volunteer, non-supervisory board that has perpetuated the founding values of participation and outstanding programming.
Because of the success of its programs and resultant capacity constraints, Pointe-Claire is now embarking on plans for its second 50-metre pool. When the proposal was registered for public comment, not one objection was recorded. The city council voted unanimously in favour.
The next stop was another suburban centre, the LaSalle Aquadome. Here we were graciously greeted and given a tour by aquatics manager Raymond Kubiak. I had swum at this facility during my Montreal days and was eager to show off the leisure pool and its horticultural adornments to my companions. Our host, of course, saved that for last as we toured team meeting rooms, equipment lockers, changing rooms and even the bowels of the complex, "below decks."
Eventually, we surfaced to gaze upon a beautifully tiled 50-metre basin, one not as intensely populated as its Pointe-Claire counterpart but impressive in every other way. And then came the piŠce de resistance, just as I had remembered it: a warm-water "leisure pool," effectively an indoor aqua park, with fountains, hydrojets, a corkscrew waterslide, a gentle slope for wading in and out, big windows, deck chairs, a patio and real palm trees.
If you know anything about human nature, you will not be surprised to learn that the place was packed with happy kids, teens and parents. We even ran into a grandmother who had journeyed from Kingston to the aquadome to be at her grandchild's birthday party.
LaSalle has a population of 74,000 and, unlike Pointe-Claire, it contracts out the management of its facility, including the programming, to a private company. The community is not organically involved and, as a result, the aquadome's 50-metre pool is not the beacon of programming innovation and user demand that is the case in Pointe-Claire. LaSalle's great strength and lesson for Kingston is the heavily used leisure pool, as symbolized by the palm trees.
A parenthetical note: Pointe-Claire is exploring the possibility of incorporating aqua park-like features into its original 50-metre pool once the new one is built.
The third stop of a long day was the less-well-known suburb of Terrebonne, a half-hour north of Montreal. It has a population of but 84,000, and words cannot do justice to the scale of this community's recreational ambitions for its citizens. This past September, it opened an aquatics complex with a 50-metre pool 10 lanes wide (25 metres across) and a leisure pool with all the features of the LaSalle Aquadome's, including palm trees (plastic this time, but let's not quibble) and a pirate ship.
The scale of the entire complex, integrated with hockey rinks - the heat produced in cooling the ice is recycled to warm the pools - and a vast Olympic-style gymnasium replete with all the requisite equipment, was well beyond anything any of us had seen. Jaws increasingly fell agape, especially when we learned that indoor and outdoor soccer pitches and a football gridiron are still to come.
Our smiling host, recreation manager Sylvie Lussier, pointed out that while the care and maintenance of the physical plant have been contracted out to private concerns, it is very much the community and the city that are responsible for programming. Judging from the hundreds of cars we saw in the parking lot, and the happy faces everywhere throughout the complex, we'd say it is a formula that is going to work.
On the bus ride back home, we exchanged thoughts on what we had learned from our excursion. There was a clear consensus: if three communities smaller than Kingston can find the community spirit and the funding to invest handsomely in aquatics facilities (and palm trees), and then build successful programming around them, then so can Kingston.
Because aquatics is so universal in appeal and scope, we must not sell ourselves short when we draw up plans for our new pool complex in Kingston. Let's do it right, with a creative mix of leisure, therapeutic and competitive elements that will appeal to all sectors of the community.
As with Pointe-Claire, LaSalle and Terrebonne, it's an investment that will pay priceless dividends down the road.
- Christopher West has been swimming since he was in his mother's womb. He is a member of the Kingston Association for Aquatics Recreation and Sport (KAARS) and a former member of the Whig-Standard's Community Editorial Board. Swimming Canada, Swim Ontario, KAARS and members of the public generously contributed funding for the Montreal trip. If you would like more information on this story as it evolves, or more background, go to: www.ktownaquatic centre.ca.
Pointe-Claire pool facts
Population: 28,000.
Number of indoor municipal pools: 3 (including one of 50-metres).
Number of outdoor municipal pools: 7.
Number of Olympic athletes produced: 25.
Cost of 2nd 50-metre pool: $12 million.
New pool provincial funding share: 50 per cent.
Number of user visits annually: 475,000.
Daily average number of users: 1,300.
User fees: Low by comparison with other facilities.
Pool rental fees for clubs: Nil.
Operating deficit: $1 million.
Justification: "Our aquatics programs are why people want to live here. We want to maximize sport and wellness opportunities in the Pointe-Claire community."
Could the deficit be reduced or eliminated by increasing fees? Yes.
[Reproduced with permission of the author]
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A CITY CONSULTS ITS CITIZENS
Committee ponders future of 50-metre Harry Bailey pool
Facility fails to meet international requirements
by Jill Smith
The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A city committee will decide this week what to do with the 50-metre pool at the Harry Bailey Aquatic Centre.
The public was asked what to do with the pool, in light of the Shaw Centre's 50-metre pool opening in the spring. The pool at the Shaw Centre will meet the international requirements to host competitions -- something the Harry Bailey pool has been unable to do since 2000 when new facility revisions were made.
"When people got the sense that this pool may close early on, a lot of people stepped forward," said Coun. Bob Pringle, who sits on the committee.
A report headed to the committee states there is "overwhelming support" for keeping the Harry Bailey pool open. In fact, no one who showed up at a public meeting held in March was willing to discuss the idea of converting the pool for land use.
"I totally agree with the public on this one," said Coun. Pat Lorje in an interview. "This is not the time to be closing down public leisure facilities in established areas of the city."
There are three options for the Harry Bailey pool, according to the report.
One option is to close the 50-metre pool and revamp the space to accommodate other land recreational and educational uses. But since no one wished to discuss this, administration found it difficult to decide on specific potential programs.
Another idea is to keep the 50-metre pool open and issue a challenge to the public to increase usage. Swim groups are toying with the idea of developing additional aquatic programs for inner-city kids, and pool administrators are planning creative draws like a pool party and battle of the bands, which they expect will attract about 950 people later this month.
The third option is also to keep the pool open, but to get rid of the bleachers surrounding the pool to make way for other recreational programs.
Many respondents to a phone survey conducted in March liked this idea.
Pringle says that option makes sense to him.
"It makes it more versatile," he said.
Whether it's feasible to keep both pools open remains to be seen -- which is why some people at the meetings suggested doing nothing for a couple of years after the Shaw Centre opens to see what happens to Harry Bailey usership.
Coun. Charlie Clark says the real question for him is, "Is it feasible to shut it down?"
"It's very expensive to replace something like that," he said. "Once it's gone, it's gone."
Several councillors say they expect the population to continue to rise in Saskatoon and they believe there will be a need to have both pools.
They added the Shaw Centre isn't as accessible to many people living in the core area.
"We need to plan for the day, but we also need to plan for the future," said Coun. Darren Hill, whose ward encompasses the Harry Bailey.
He says swim groups already predict scheduling issues if only the new pool is open.
The report states that in May 2006, council intended to close down the Harry Bailey pool "immediately upon opening" the Shaw Centre pool. The idea was to use the reduced operating costs from Harry Bailey to off-set the operating costs of the Shaw pool.
Although Pringle sees the benefit of having both pools, he's concerned about the cost -- especially since the building costs of the Shaw Centre have gone up since it was first approved.
"At what point do we put some of these public projects on hold and say we can't afford it?" asked Pringle, who added that project building costs and operating costs do draw from different areas of the city coffers.
Pringle says the cost of building the Shaw Centre pool has risen from the original estimate of $23 million to $39 million.
"We've been assured that that's the end of it," he said. "I don't believe that."
Pringle says the Shaw Centre pool will be a huge attraction for the city, adding that there's only a handful of pools like it in the world.
"I like that too -- if you can afford it," he said.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
Facility fails to meet international requirements
by Jill Smith
The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A city committee will decide this week what to do with the 50-metre pool at the Harry Bailey Aquatic Centre.
The public was asked what to do with the pool, in light of the Shaw Centre's 50-metre pool opening in the spring. The pool at the Shaw Centre will meet the international requirements to host competitions -- something the Harry Bailey pool has been unable to do since 2000 when new facility revisions were made.
"When people got the sense that this pool may close early on, a lot of people stepped forward," said Coun. Bob Pringle, who sits on the committee.
A report headed to the committee states there is "overwhelming support" for keeping the Harry Bailey pool open. In fact, no one who showed up at a public meeting held in March was willing to discuss the idea of converting the pool for land use.
"I totally agree with the public on this one," said Coun. Pat Lorje in an interview. "This is not the time to be closing down public leisure facilities in established areas of the city."
There are three options for the Harry Bailey pool, according to the report.
One option is to close the 50-metre pool and revamp the space to accommodate other land recreational and educational uses. But since no one wished to discuss this, administration found it difficult to decide on specific potential programs.
Another idea is to keep the 50-metre pool open and issue a challenge to the public to increase usage. Swim groups are toying with the idea of developing additional aquatic programs for inner-city kids, and pool administrators are planning creative draws like a pool party and battle of the bands, which they expect will attract about 950 people later this month.
The third option is also to keep the pool open, but to get rid of the bleachers surrounding the pool to make way for other recreational programs.
Many respondents to a phone survey conducted in March liked this idea.
Pringle says that option makes sense to him.
"It makes it more versatile," he said.
Whether it's feasible to keep both pools open remains to be seen -- which is why some people at the meetings suggested doing nothing for a couple of years after the Shaw Centre opens to see what happens to Harry Bailey usership.
Coun. Charlie Clark says the real question for him is, "Is it feasible to shut it down?"
"It's very expensive to replace something like that," he said. "Once it's gone, it's gone."
Several councillors say they expect the population to continue to rise in Saskatoon and they believe there will be a need to have both pools.
They added the Shaw Centre isn't as accessible to many people living in the core area.
"We need to plan for the day, but we also need to plan for the future," said Coun. Darren Hill, whose ward encompasses the Harry Bailey.
He says swim groups already predict scheduling issues if only the new pool is open.
The report states that in May 2006, council intended to close down the Harry Bailey pool "immediately upon opening" the Shaw Centre pool. The idea was to use the reduced operating costs from Harry Bailey to off-set the operating costs of the Shaw pool.
Although Pringle sees the benefit of having both pools, he's concerned about the cost -- especially since the building costs of the Shaw Centre have gone up since it was first approved.
"At what point do we put some of these public projects on hold and say we can't afford it?" asked Pringle, who added that project building costs and operating costs do draw from different areas of the city coffers.
Pringle says the cost of building the Shaw Centre pool has risen from the original estimate of $23 million to $39 million.
"We've been assured that that's the end of it," he said. "I don't believe that."
Pringle says the Shaw Centre pool will be a huge attraction for the city, adding that there's only a handful of pools like it in the world.
"I like that too -- if you can afford it," he said.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Bullying Won't Stop It
This evening at city council, councillors will once again discuss Queen's Homecoming, and the "party" on Aberdeen Street.
Let's hope that there are no comments like those made at earlier meetings, putting down Queen's students, accusing them collectively of being drunken party-goers, and "laying down the law" to the university.
One is reminded of parenting techniques. When a parent says "this is what you are going to do because I said so" the child immediately gets angry. It only takes a couple of times to say this, and smart parents figure out that this technique doesn't work; in fact, it often backfires.
Homecoming weekend is just a convenient rallying date for students who want to have this event. If alumni weekend were changed to a different, winter date, the Aberdeen event would still take place. It has taken on a life of its own, and will continue, irrespective of a different date for alumni weekend.
So, how should council and Kingstonians deal with it? There is no one, sure way; many small steps, changes in attitude, and less rhetoric will go a long way.
I don't like this party. But it is important to remember, councillors and citizens, that you weren't brought up in this generation. You (and I) don't see things the way a 20 year old does. We probably don't have the same attitudes that this lot of party-goers have.
Let's all, individually, show some leadership here. Councillors and the mayor can demonstrate leadership by doing a bit of reading and thinking about what LEADERSHIP is.
It's time for council and the mayor to offer vision, undertanding, a will to collaborate, a desire to build...in short, leadership. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. Look for other ways to deal with this situation.
Many Kingstonians will be tuned in to Cogeco Cable 13 tonight to watch and evaluate.
Let's hope that there are no comments like those made at earlier meetings, putting down Queen's students, accusing them collectively of being drunken party-goers, and "laying down the law" to the university.
One is reminded of parenting techniques. When a parent says "this is what you are going to do because I said so" the child immediately gets angry. It only takes a couple of times to say this, and smart parents figure out that this technique doesn't work; in fact, it often backfires.
Homecoming weekend is just a convenient rallying date for students who want to have this event. If alumni weekend were changed to a different, winter date, the Aberdeen event would still take place. It has taken on a life of its own, and will continue, irrespective of a different date for alumni weekend.
So, how should council and Kingstonians deal with it? There is no one, sure way; many small steps, changes in attitude, and less rhetoric will go a long way.
I don't like this party. But it is important to remember, councillors and citizens, that you weren't brought up in this generation. You (and I) don't see things the way a 20 year old does. We probably don't have the same attitudes that this lot of party-goers have.
Let's all, individually, show some leadership here. Councillors and the mayor can demonstrate leadership by doing a bit of reading and thinking about what LEADERSHIP is.
It's time for council and the mayor to offer vision, undertanding, a will to collaborate, a desire to build...in short, leadership. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. Look for other ways to deal with this situation.
Many Kingstonians will be tuned in to Cogeco Cable 13 tonight to watch and evaluate.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
There Is A Reason.....
....that newspapers don't publish anonymous letters or alias "letters to the editor."
Anonymous letters and those signed with some supposedly "cool" handle, are written by crackpots, wing-nuts, and cowards who are unwilling to stand by their opinions.
Rants are meaningless.
Those letters go into the garbage because that's what they are.
Anonymous letters and those signed with some supposedly "cool" handle, are written by crackpots, wing-nuts, and cowards who are unwilling to stand by their opinions.
Rants are meaningless.
Those letters go into the garbage because that's what they are.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Didn't Waste Any Time!
Considering that the intersection alternatives were presented to the public less than 48 hours ago, they sure must have had some blueprints in their backpocket! The intersection has mostly been torn up, gravel has been put down on the location that they will place a lane for traffic, and they have staked a second survey marker that they didn't know was there. It will definitely slow down their progress!
With another survey marker discovered, it is likely that a class 4 archeological assessment will have to take place.
And, of course, survey markers cannot be removed.
All this, and it is only 3pm, a day and a half after the public meeting for input.
Sort of confirms an earlier remark that the city just has these things to mollify the locals, and not to ask for any serious or well-considered, or thoughtful, or expert advice.
With another survey marker discovered, it is likely that a class 4 archeological assessment will have to take place.
And, of course, survey markers cannot be removed.
All this, and it is only 3pm, a day and a half after the public meeting for input.
Sort of confirms an earlier remark that the city just has these things to mollify the locals, and not to ask for any serious or well-considered, or thoughtful, or expert advice.
Curious Thinking
More on the October 30, 2007 meeting at City Hall regarding the intersection at Ontario Street and Place d'Armes.......
The most curious, and unbelieveable aspect of all this deliberation, re-deliberation, justification of a previous plan, is that when TSH was invited to "study" the intersection (apparently in the summer), they were not given the go-ahead to consider implications on the surrounding area, of ANY change at the intersection.
When questioned about the consequences of either plan "C" or plan "D" the consultant said that they were asked to limit their study to the intersection, and (this is the kicker) not to look at any other intersections because that would open it all up, and the study would be (and this is my word) gigantic.
Well, well! Imagine that!
It is beyone comprehension that a traffic expert could study only one intersection, then provide any kind of credible recommendation.
The configuration of this intersection has tremendous implications. Should there be a traffic light at King and Place d'Armes? How are employees in the OHIP building going to cross the street into Food Basics parking lot? (well, we know the answer to that. They are going to dash among the cars!) What is the REAL reason for putting a westbound left turn at Ontario and Place d'Armes?
If the intersection was going to be re-designed to "fit" the Downtown Action Plan (2003), why didn't the traffic people, various commissioners, senior staff, etc. tell the mayor and the former council that putting this monstrosity on THAT piece of land, with that orientation, was a stupid idea? The probable answer to THAT question, is: they did tell the elected officials, and the elected fficials went ahead anyway. "We know best." "We won't get the money from the BIA if we put it anywhere else."
Kingstonians should go to that intersection, and evaluate for themselves whether or not plan "D" was even possible. The city has spent much of this past summer on underground services in that area. There is no room to construct the 4 lanes that TSH proposed. Just take a look at the large utility/services box, the light pole, the property lines (DND property). Even a child could see that plan "D" was only on paper, and had no possibility of fitting into the proscribed area.
Of course, that left only plan "C", the one the city had in 2003 in the DAP.
Still, what will happen to traffic in that area of the city is yet to be determined. The consultant wouldn't even hazard a guess (isn't that what consultants are supposed to do?).
Once again, the city has dropped the ball. Not instructing TSH to study all that part of the downtown, consider the traffic problems, and propose realistic solutions is pure negligence on the city's part.
The most ridiculous decision that the city has made, probably ever, has been made; a consultant should have been given carte blanche to study traffic, and make recommendations. And the consultant should have come from out-of-town, and not have been one that has authored other studies for the city.
P.S. We would be glad to post the two plans that received most consideration, but they are not available on the city's website.
The most curious, and unbelieveable aspect of all this deliberation, re-deliberation, justification of a previous plan, is that when TSH was invited to "study" the intersection (apparently in the summer), they were not given the go-ahead to consider implications on the surrounding area, of ANY change at the intersection.
When questioned about the consequences of either plan "C" or plan "D" the consultant said that they were asked to limit their study to the intersection, and (this is the kicker) not to look at any other intersections because that would open it all up, and the study would be (and this is my word) gigantic.
Well, well! Imagine that!
It is beyone comprehension that a traffic expert could study only one intersection, then provide any kind of credible recommendation.
The configuration of this intersection has tremendous implications. Should there be a traffic light at King and Place d'Armes? How are employees in the OHIP building going to cross the street into Food Basics parking lot? (well, we know the answer to that. They are going to dash among the cars!) What is the REAL reason for putting a westbound left turn at Ontario and Place d'Armes?
If the intersection was going to be re-designed to "fit" the Downtown Action Plan (2003), why didn't the traffic people, various commissioners, senior staff, etc. tell the mayor and the former council that putting this monstrosity on THAT piece of land, with that orientation, was a stupid idea? The probable answer to THAT question, is: they did tell the elected officials, and the elected fficials went ahead anyway. "We know best." "We won't get the money from the BIA if we put it anywhere else."
Kingstonians should go to that intersection, and evaluate for themselves whether or not plan "D" was even possible. The city has spent much of this past summer on underground services in that area. There is no room to construct the 4 lanes that TSH proposed. Just take a look at the large utility/services box, the light pole, the property lines (DND property). Even a child could see that plan "D" was only on paper, and had no possibility of fitting into the proscribed area.
Of course, that left only plan "C", the one the city had in 2003 in the DAP.
Still, what will happen to traffic in that area of the city is yet to be determined. The consultant wouldn't even hazard a guess (isn't that what consultants are supposed to do?).
Once again, the city has dropped the ball. Not instructing TSH to study all that part of the downtown, consider the traffic problems, and propose realistic solutions is pure negligence on the city's part.
The most ridiculous decision that the city has made, probably ever, has been made; a consultant should have been given carte blanche to study traffic, and make recommendations. And the consultant should have come from out-of-town, and not have been one that has authored other studies for the city.
P.S. We would be glad to post the two plans that received most consideration, but they are not available on the city's website.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Best Question of the Evening
It came about half way through the almost three hour meeting.
"After hearing comments and concerns from people at this meeting, and after the report of TSH, is anything going to change? Are you going to do what you planned to do anyway?"
Six possibilities were presented. One of those was to do nothing. Two, alternatives C and D, certainly were the preferences of the consultant, Totten Sims Hubicki., and alternative C was their recommendation.
Alternative C is essentially the way the intersection was described in the 2003 Downtown Action Plan.
Now, we wonder: did the city just hire TSH to confirm its choice? It definitely appears that way. Give the several constraints (the city called them "principles") that the city provided to TSH, it's not hard to see how they came up with (surprise!!!) the same plan that the city had all along!!!
At a meeting at the public library several years ago, a senior staff member told me that since the DAP had been passed by council, city staff were free to execute the plan, and council would not be asked to review any of its details or comment upon any of its contents. Essentially a blank cheque. This intersection was the subject of my inquiry, and the staff person indicated that what was in the plan was what the city would get. So there. Tough.
The response to the question? A senior staff person last night said that comments would be taken into consideration. Well, everyone knows what THAT means. We've seen it for years. "Thanks for coming, but we know best, we've made up our minds, and we're going to do what WE think is best."
This attitude is passe. Look at Canadian businesses, at Canadian cities that are progressing, growing, serving their citizens. Look at the not-for-profit sector. This attitude is the downfall of any entity that continues to hold it. Let the mayor, council and city staff be on watch: Kingstonians are not going to stand for this "my way or the highway" attitude. This is our city. It's time to consult us, with honour and integrity, and with the intention of actually listening to us. There are more "experts" in this community than there are on staff at city hall, there are others preparing to take a run for the mayor's chair, there are citizens gearing up to run for council. All are watching.
The message? Consult before you make up your mind.
"After hearing comments and concerns from people at this meeting, and after the report of TSH, is anything going to change? Are you going to do what you planned to do anyway?"
Six possibilities were presented. One of those was to do nothing. Two, alternatives C and D, certainly were the preferences of the consultant, Totten Sims Hubicki., and alternative C was their recommendation.
Alternative C is essentially the way the intersection was described in the 2003 Downtown Action Plan.
Now, we wonder: did the city just hire TSH to confirm its choice? It definitely appears that way. Give the several constraints (the city called them "principles") that the city provided to TSH, it's not hard to see how they came up with (surprise!!!) the same plan that the city had all along!!!
At a meeting at the public library several years ago, a senior staff member told me that since the DAP had been passed by council, city staff were free to execute the plan, and council would not be asked to review any of its details or comment upon any of its contents. Essentially a blank cheque. This intersection was the subject of my inquiry, and the staff person indicated that what was in the plan was what the city would get. So there. Tough.
The response to the question? A senior staff person last night said that comments would be taken into consideration. Well, everyone knows what THAT means. We've seen it for years. "Thanks for coming, but we know best, we've made up our minds, and we're going to do what WE think is best."
This attitude is passe. Look at Canadian businesses, at Canadian cities that are progressing, growing, serving their citizens. Look at the not-for-profit sector. This attitude is the downfall of any entity that continues to hold it. Let the mayor, council and city staff be on watch: Kingstonians are not going to stand for this "my way or the highway" attitude. This is our city. It's time to consult us, with honour and integrity, and with the intention of actually listening to us. There are more "experts" in this community than there are on staff at city hall, there are others preparing to take a run for the mayor's chair, there are citizens gearing up to run for council. All are watching.
The message? Consult before you make up your mind.
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