TWIN
LAKES BEACH FLOOD ACTION COMMITTEE
Dennis Turek
Chairman……dturek@mymts.net
July 11, 2011
Dear Mr. Layton:
First off, I would like to congratulate you on the results you and your party obtained in the recent Federal Election. I am sure from the comments you gave after the election that even you were pleasantly surprised by the Canadian voter’s
mandate given to you in such over-whelming show of support and confidence in giving you the position of power as the country’s official Opposition Party. The task now is to keep that support and confidence and to build on it for a possible overall victory for
Leadership in the next 4 years.
The fact that Manitoba is a provincial NDP stronghold should not be taken lightly or for granted. We saw what happened federally to those ridings that were thought of as a sure thing by incumbent candidates.
I am sure you are aware that the residents along the shores of Lake Manitoba have been devastated by the deliberate
flooding of Lake Manitoba. We realize it was a decision that had to be made to protect the City of Winnipeg and
properties downstream of Portage la Prairie. The problem we are experiencing is the NDP’s response to the victims of the
man-made flood. Our calculations conclude that parts of the city would look like Minot, North Dakota looks now
if the diverting of the Assiniboine into Lake Manitoba did not occur. The price tag would be over a Billion Dollars
worth of Destruction. Yet when it comes to treating the people, who took it on the neck to save the city fairly, the
NDP government (Selinger and Water Stewardship) are trying to divide and conquer the flood victims, by contacting them individually with offers of settlement in hopes of avoiding being held accountable and responsible for one
of the worst disasters this province has seen. This was partly caused by Mother Nature, no doubt, but the lack of adherence
to warnings issued to them in the past decade and water stewardship’s mismanagement and flood forecasting failures magnified and contributed to this flood event.
The Conservatives, have been extremely helpful to our cause. They understand that this is an opportunity for them to score points in the up-coming Provincial Election. We understand, as you do, that when that when you are the Opposition Critics it is easy to make overtures and demands because at the end of the day, you are vocal but you
don’t have to deliver.
However, I think it would be prudent for you to contact Mr. Selinger and inform him that all your hard work for party
support and respect in Manitoba is being compromised by his stubborn attitude and insistence to negotiate through the media for political gains. He knows that Lake Manitoba residents are organized in a Stakeholders Group called ALMS (Association of Lake Manitoba Stakeholders) because we introduced ourselves to him during a Rally at the Manitoba Legislature. However, in their
strategic planning they will contact individuals, many of them seniors and try to get them to settle on a low ball offer.
I think that is disgusting and underhanded and does not bode well for your party’s reputation in this province.
I have no doubt that if the Conservatives were in power in this province, we would have called for a Provincial State of
Emergency. The conservations hounded Mr. Selinger in the Legislature during Question Period for days to do so, but he just kept repeating the same rhetoric over and over. So instead of having flood mitigation efforts expedited there are delays because of studies that need to be done,approvals, etc. etc.
The water is not going to go down until next year. All the properties that are still standing will be ruined by then because of fall storms, winter freeze up and ice-damage in the spring. This area will be a total loss and the town of St. Laurent will
not survive because over 70% of their operating budget comes directly through taxation of Shoreline residents in the RM.
With them gone and relocated now in hotels in Winnipeg the future of this town is grim and in jeopardy.
During your campaign, to me, you seemed the most genuine and sincere of all the leaders. I suppose I am putting that opinion to the ultimate test now. Will you have a sit-down with Premier Greg Selinger and demand that he treat all the residents fairly and openly, and negotiate face to face rather than through media releases of programs that are not even fully developed and in most part extremely fluid (criteria changing weekly) and complex? We are organized and we are available..Talk to us!!
- Why should we have to attempt to understand three or four different program intricacies to try access
help? - Why is the province off loading responsibility to the over-whelmed small RM’s to carry the load in
this disaster when it was the Province that created this event? - Why are seniors left to sandbag on their own for weeks on end to ever changing flood level predictions
when the Military was here but sent home after Hoop and Holler, Portage and Brandon were secured? - Why has Mr. Selinger refused to call a Provincial State of Emergency. Prime Minister Harper visited
here and told Mr. Selinger all he needed to do was ask for Federal Support and he would get it.
Getting these answers would go a long way to entrenching you and your party’s credibility.
Sincerely,
Dennis Turek (dturek@mymts.net)
Chair: Twin Lakes Beach Flood Action Committee
Representative to Association of Lake
Manitoba Stakeholders
Property Owner, Twin Lakes Beach
