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Where Lies Our Future?

   It's that time again. Yes, we've been gazing into our crystal ball to determine the future of AutoClubs.Ca. As most of our viewers know, we've been funding the majority of the costs out of our own pocket, with support from our sponsors and donors. The reality is that even with our sponsors and donors, the bulk of the financial costs we bear alone. Labor is entirely ours, with assistance from Don Yewish, who most of you will agree does a phenomenal job.

  You see, we're up against a couple of different issues here. The biggest one being the work involved in keeping the site alive. With the two of us both dealing with health issues, it's becoming more and more difficult. The second part is the financial aspect of it. We simply aren't prepared to carry the burden of cost on our own any more.

  What does this mean to our visitors? Well, probably the end of AutoClubs.Ca. We will continue to keep the site alive until after the end of this cruising season. From there, we will be looking at our options over winter. Until the final decision on what is going to happen is made, we are entertaining all possible options. Including the sale of the site to someone who can invest the time and finances to carry on. Of course, the amount we see in sponsorship and donations through this season is going to have a direct impact on how long the site stays up, etc.

  So for now, it's business as usual, and we'll try our best to continue to keep the community informed and connected.

VIU Inspections Return

  As most of our local enthusiasts are aware, the Winnipeg Police Services VIU will be out on 2 Sunday nights doing scheduled roadside inspections. That's right, folks. Sunday night. One has already taken place.

  As has been accurately pointed out, this is not the "prime time" to catch unsafe vehicles. Those vehicles are going to be found Monday through Friday at rush hour. Not to mention that according to MPI's own statistics. .1% of all motor vehicle accidents in Manitoba have equipment failure as a contributing factor. You read that right, it's "point 1 percent".

  This is clearly nothing other than an opportunity to collect revenue. With proof that the public isn't in danger from these "unsafe" vehicles being on the road, why the investment in resources and wages?

  First, we need to point out that it appears that MPI is actually covering the overtime cost that WPS incurs for these inspections. That's right, folks. Your increasing insurance rates go to provide not better policies, but your chance to get inspected at the side of the road Sunday night.

  Interestingly enough, this is an insurance company that is reported to be hiring the police. Yes, this is a government owned insurance company, but it's still an insurance company. We're unaware of any other company that can hire the police to do their bidding.

  Are we against vehicle inspections? No. What we oppose is the way that these inspections are being done. Not only are there 2 scheduled VIU inspections, we've received word that WPS will be again conducting inspections roadside from patrol cars, as they have in past years. As we saw last year, those individual roadside inspections resulted in a mess of confusion about interpretations of the HTA and, in a number of cases, incorrect citations.

  And here we prepare for this once again. Why? It's simple. The car community in Manitoba is not prepared to take the only route that will truly preserve and promote our hobby. That's political

  Once again, we journeyed down to St. Paul, MN, to check out Back To The 50's Weekend hosted by the Minnesota Street Rod Association. And once again, we were not to be disappointed. With over 11,000 vehicles registered, there was something there for everyone.

  With only three days to take in this phenomenal event, we're sure we didn't see everything there. All three days sport the car show, with Saturday playing host to an auction (we didn't make that) and Sunday the swap meet (that we did check out). Other events such as live bands, etc also take place over the three days.

  This year we took a little more time to talk to participants than we ever have before. We wanted to determine how Minnesota enthusiasts were able to license and insure vehicles that were very obviously not street legal in Manitoba.

  Our finding echoed exactly what we had expected, based on what we saw transpiring in Manitoba. What allows them to have some of the vehicles they do is the result of knowing how to go about fighting for their interests. They have done it through political channels. Here in Manitoba, we have followed bad advice and avoided getting political.

  The reality is that politicians make the laws. The police enforce them. The mayor here may have input in city by-laws, but cannot have effective sway in what we as hobbyists need. Nor can MPI. While MPI does put some regulations and enforcements in place they do not as of yet make the laws.

  What we need is a chance to our laws. That can ONLY happen once we, as a group, smarten up and recognize that we have been spinning our wheels and going nowhere for well over a decade now.

  While it's true that we have M.A.A.C. (Manitoba Association of Auto Clubs), the reality is that for more than a decade, they have been completely ineffective in incrementing any changes to benefit the hobby.

  We have supported MAAC since it's inception, and our photographer's car club is part of MAAC. But the reality is that MAAC simply seems to be stuck in a rut, with no positive changes made for the hobby in this province.

  No, we're not just saying that. Despite being promised a list of changes that have come about through the work of MAAC, by MAAC's own chairman, we've seen no such list delivered to our hands. Doing our own digging about, it appears that the biggest change since the establishment of MAAC is the allowance of shaved door handles. And it's our understanding that that came about as a result of emergency response services more than MAAC. The 60/40 law that many believe had been scrapped still exists, last documents we reviewed.

  With MAAC not being able or willing to provide a list of changes benefiting the hobby in the last decade, and not being able to uncover anything else, we can only reach the conclusion that nothing beneficial has come about.

  This isn't intended to bash MAAC in the least. MAAC does a phenomenal job in publishing a list of club shows and providing affordable event insurance for it's members. But in conjunction with these things, we need either to have MAAC pursue political representation of our interests, or another organization that will. While maintaining communication with MPI, WPS, and the mayor's office is all great PR for our hobby, the time has come to get serious about addressing some of the real concerns we face.

  It's not an impossible dream to believe that we in Manitoba could enjoy the same privileges that our counterparts in Saskatchewan, Minnesota, and many other locations, benefit from.

  If we wait any longer to start protecting our interests, we may simply wake up one day to the fact that we've lost too much ground to regain.

  As you view the thousands of images from St. Paul, take the time to notice things like open wheels, and no bumpers. With the right representation, we could enjoy that here.