Summary: When the national crime statistics showed Winnipeg as leading the nation in murders, robbery and violent crime, Mayor Sam Katz tried to reassure the citizenry: "I have no problem going downtown, I have no problem going to the North End, regardless of the day of the week, regardless of what time it is," Katz said. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Manitobas-homicide-rate-highest-in-Canada-163567836.html But with the details reported by James Turner about an alcohol-and-grief induced driving rampage that endangered residents of the North End and made police dive for safety, it is clear that the Mayor is living in a fantasy world. Because if gangs control who can go to a funeral, they control who can go anywhere in this city. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/08/09/heartbroken-ex-gangster-went-on-drunk-flight-from-cops Listen to this podcast to hear our analysis that this story undermines all the government justice and social work programs encouraging gang-bangers to go straight as Edward Erhart had. And the reality of the atmosphere at the funeral, which the drunk driver did not attend for fear of retaliation, torpedoes the PR campaign by the family of John Felix that sought to minimize the depth of his involvement with gangs and drugs that led to his being shot in April. “That funeral was essentially a gang funeral,” (Erhart's lawyer Lori) Van Dongen said." The seriousness of being surrounded by gang members, criminals and the drug scene has, as The Black Rod blog has pointed out, been diminished by so-called leaders and the 'holistic approach' crowd as just a normal part of life for aboriginal youth in Winnipeg. But to the majority of parents in this city, their child wearing a gang shirt and going downstairs at 5 AM to pick up drugs, or getting into a car with a member of the Manitoba Warriors, a permanently disqualified driver no less, who races away from police and slams into a cab injuring half a dozen more, is NOT normal. (For that matter, neither is getting drunk and racing away from cops down Andrews Street towards Leila Avenue.) John Felix in 2012, similar to Tannis Bird in 2007 - young adults described as bright lights by their community - both made choices, conscious decisions, to be involved with criminals, and those decisions led to their deaths. And as long as their families, friends and community leaders make excuses - like "they weren't involved with gangs or criminals" when by any measure they were - the public will continue to ask why personal responsibility is not the expectation, the norm, among the First Nations as it is in the general community. And as long as street gangs, and not those families, determine who can safely go to the funerals of their children, Sam Katz cannot credibly tell any resident of Winnipeg that they should have no problem walking the streets of the city. ******************** Also in this podcast: More on the Museum's empire building and faked "visitor" projections; Margo Goodhand's departure from the Free Press elicits sharp criticism of her "journalism' and MSM non-coverage of the scandal behind the collapse of Kick-FM; Public Works department review already under fire; Jack Layton bio-pic gets cult-like adoration from mainstream media in Winnipeg- and our tweet got reaction: "Left wing media canonization of Jack Layton is ridiculous. Robert Stanfield came within 1 seat of being Prime Minister. No movie about him." ************** Added to our City Circus archive, http://tgcts.com/city-circus Episode 11- Film of how City Council hears the truth about the Winnipeg Parking Authority bully tactics and ignoring the community, and voted for their "business" plan anyways; and Episode 12 - the facts behind the "loans" from the federal and Manitoba governments - that will NEVER be repaid - to prop up the bloated and obscene budget of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Next episode to debut Tuesday,
