Have Your Say:

Re: Not now (Dec. 30). Your editorial about the province holding the line on a minimum wage hike is right on the money. Increasing Manitoba's minimum wage -- again -- squeezes small business owners and entirely misses the point of reducing poverty. The province's 2,200 food-service establishments have also been struggling during the economic storm, and will feel this hit.

Directly employing more than 38,000 people, the restaurant industry is one of the top five private-sector employers in Manitoba. The average restaurant's pre-tax profit margin is just 5.7 per cent of revenues, leaving little to no room to absorb a third minimum wage hike in less than two years.

Last year's two minimum wage increases cost food-service operators an additional $15 million. If the wage is hiked again, owners will be forced to cut hours to control their costs and employees will end up earning less. This is especially true for those employees who earn far more in gratuity income than wage income. For them, losing hours translates not only into a loss of wage income, but more significantly, a loss of tipped income.

The province could and should find ways to put more money in the pockets of low income earners through income tax reductions that benefit all workers in Manitoba. Minimum-wage increases allow the government to take away more money in taxes -- at the expense of small business owners and lowest wage workers.

Premier Greg Selinger has said on many occasions that "flat is the new up." The food-service industry couldn't agree more. Maintaining the current minimum wage is the right thing to do to protect jobs and small businesses in Manitoba.

Courtney Hirota

Vice-president, Manitoba-Saskatchewan

Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association

Nelson hurts his cause

Re: Protesters plan to greet Olympic torch (Dec. 31).

Much as I tried to resist the temptation to leave Chief Terry Nelson alone and not add to his latest attempt at headline grabbing, I couldn't do it. He cloaks himself in self-righteousness, but the emperor has no clothes.

Let me say that the issue of his protest is real and the importance of action by the collective "us" is imperative. Violence against women is abhorrent. The fact that a disproportionate number of women disappeared or murdered who are working in the sex trade and are aboriginal demands a united effort from our leaders.

At best, Nelson needs to learn to walk the talk. Rather than rolling up his sleeves and going to work, he chooses to dust off his sign while inciting racial tension. How sad that a supposed leader opts to stand on the sideline denigrating the spirit of unity embodied in the Olympic flame.

Jack King

St. Laurent

Nick deserves attention

I wanted to thank you for your news coverage of Nick Ternette. He is our gadfly and is a champion for the many just causes that need a local voice. His continuous struggle for these vital issues deserves the recognition of his tireless social activism. In a world that seems indifferent to the struggle for better social conditions, Nick has stepped up to wage our battle for a better world. I know that we will still hear from Nick in his columns and letters to inspire us to struggle for a better world. He is one who thinks globally and acts locally.

Wayne Choma

Winnipeg

Religion hurts Christmas?

Re: Make them work (Jan. 2). Rose Small's suggestion that non-Christians should not receive Christmas as a statutory holiday puzzles me. As best as I can tell, she just seems a little bitter that people of other faiths are benefiting from something that is Christian, which ironically does not strike me as a very Christian way of thinking. It must be very difficult to spread the universal love of Christ with such an exclusionary attitude.

I may not be Christian, but I am still a big fan of Christmas. It is an excellent way for people to come together as a community in the spirit of giving and togetherness and collectively raise our spirits in the chill of mid-winter. It's just a shame that so many people deem it necessary to overshadow this unity with such a divisive topic as religion.

Alex Passey

Oakbank

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Rose Small wishes that non-Christians who are granted time off for their religious occasions should be forced to work on Christian holidays.

Statutory holidays are legislated by the provincial or federal governments and apply to all Canadians. What employers and employees agree to with respect to granting time off for other reasons is between the employer and the employee.

Bob Russell

Winnipeg

A Volt for change

Re: Hot air from business (Jan. 2). One can speculate endlessly about why GM killed its EV-1 electric car project, but the Volt electric car, due out in late 2010, may vindicate it in the end.

The Volt promises to be a game-changer, as it delivers all-electric propulsion for the first 40 kilometres and uses a small on-board engine to extend its range indefinitely. On commutes less than 40 kilometres, motorists would use no gasoline at all.

Michael Dowling

Winnipeg

Prorogation meaningless

The media have been full of comment surrounding the prorogation of Parliament this week. To date, a debate has not begun, largely because it is difficult to conceive two sides of the question. Prorogation is an accepted procedure, not rare nor particularly special. Manipulation of parliamentary privilege and, or power, is a daily occurrence, used by all parties. I, for one, would be concerned about the process if it were to interfere with a pressing issue in my constituency. In that it has been years since my representative has done anything that directly affects my life as a resident of Winnipeg South Centre, I am much more concerned over the lack of effort to directly affect and support citizens, than the wholly lawful procedure of prorogation.

Hart Mallin

Winnipeg

Blimps a great idea

The idea of using a blimp instead of a helicopter should be seriously considered. There has already been talk of using blimps to transport people and goods to northern communities in a safe and efficient manner. A blimp could be supported as a federal, provincial and civic asset. It could be used for policing, advertising, medical transportation and many other uses. I'm saying to Mayor Sam Katz: not just one blimp, but many.

Don Iwann

Winnipeg

When war was war

War is war. It is not a hockey game or a football game. I am tired of hearing about the treatment of the Afghan prisoner. I was a sniper and dropped into Germany March 24,1945, along with 27 other snipers in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. We had been told by our officers that if we were captured we would be shot on the spot. Our commanding officer, Jeff Nicklin, of Winnipeg Blue Bomber fame, never made it out of his parachute harness. Cpl. Fred Topham, one of our medics, although slightly wounded, spent all day helping the wounded and removing the dead from the drop zone. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts.

In my day, war was war.

Ross Mitchell

Brandon

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 6, 2010 A9