Have your say

Religious obligation

Samuel Segev's May 1 column, Elections to resolve issues in Israel, reminds me of a family discussion I had in the mid-1950s. My older sister was about to move to Israel, and the issue of serving in the military was raised.

My father, an orthodox rabbi, took the position that the Talmudic rule "the law of the king is the law" should apply in a Jewish state, no more or no less than it does in the diaspora outside Israel. Moreover, carrying out one's obligations (and there are a lot in Judaism) is just as important as studying them.

So my older sister served in whatever capacity she was deemed suitable, as did my other siblings when recruited. They were accommodated in their religious practices without being exempted from appropriate civic or military duties.

JESSE VORST

Winnipeg

Solemnity versus leisure

Re: A foolish idea (Letters, May 2). While I don't really care if a water park is built or not, what difference would it make if it were built across from the human rights museum? There is already a ballpark and a skateboard park in close vicinity to the museum, and the parking lot in question was recently home to a travelling midway. No one seems to have a problem with these other leisure venues in the area.

I don't recall anyone saying that there had to be an exclusion zone around the museum within which only serious and solemn activities could take place. If that is to be the case, then perhaps the only thing that should be allowed to be built on Parcel 4 is a funeral home.

ROD GRAY

Winnipeg

ñü

Thanks to Allen Mills for his sound comment in his May 2 letter, A foolish idea. City council could now think about some appropriate uses of the parcel of Forks property -- something reflective and high-minded; a memorial or series of memorials or displays; a "soap box" for speeches, debates, arguments and protests.

Most important, though, is that the plan not be hurried.

LES WEST

Winnipeg

ñü

The people of Canada have been told that the Canadian Museum for Human Rights building will soon take its place among the world's significant architectural achievements. The work continues and hopefully it will become a clarion call sending out freedom's message to all people.

However, I despair. An enormous sign asking for money has been hammered onto the highest point on the north wall of the building. This oversized begging letter has turned the building even in its infancy into a very expensive billboard.

If this structure is ever to take its place in the world of iconic architecture and if it is going to achieve its high moral purpose, the local promoters need to cease being carnival barkers. No water parks or similar attractions and certainly no graffiti all over the building.

Innovative style and grace are the hallmarks of this structure. Respect and reverence for the work that will be accomplished inside is essential. Are the pyramids papered with "visit Egypt" signs?

JIM BRENNAN

Matlock

ñü

Why can't Winnipeg see this water park as a good thing? Being near the museum should not be an issue. The museum respects the past and the water park embraces our hopes for the future in the children laughing and playing nearby.

It's that simple. Unfortunately, some people over-think things.

SUZIE McLEAN

Pilot Mound

ñü

Thank you to Dan Lett for his informative article on the proposed water park on Parcel 4 at The Forks and its murky origins as the city's "preferred site" designation (No rush to answer raft of questions, April 26). This article just strengthens the call for transparency and fairness with regard to city council business dealings. Keep asking for answers, Mr. Lett. Taxpayers are owed an explanation.

WENDY JOSEPHSON

Winnipeg

A natural occurrence

Re: Life in a toxic town (Letters, May 2). What Lawrence Sutherland fails to acknowledge, through omission or ignorance, is that the oilsands are a natural phenomenon. Oil has been seeping to the surface for millions of years, and in the case of the oilsands around Fort McMurray, a lot has been soaked up in the surface layers and continues to leak out.

Early explorers noted how oil seeped from the soil into the rivers and streams; there is nothing new about this massive oil spill on the landscape. If nothing were to be done, it would continue to pollute the local area for millennia.

Now, however, man is performing a cleanup on this largest of oil spills. Within perhaps 100 years, it will no longer be leaking oil into the soil and waterways and a clean environment will be left in its place.

The fact that the operation is massive is testament to the size of this naturally occurring eco-disaster, and so of course the cleanup area will be equally massive. And the taxpayer isn't on the hook -- it's being performed by those private corporations Sutherland derides.

The social ills that Fort McMurray is experiencing are related to human behaviour, not to the oilsands in particular. As well, Sutherland's swipe at Harper was gratuitous in an effort, I'm sure, to associate his name with the gambling, prostitution and drug problems.

TOM McAULEY

Winnipeg

ñü

Lawrence Sutherland's May 2 letter, Life in a toxic town, is most informative regarding the downside of life in Fort McMurray, Alta., which is involved in the greatest onslaught against Canada's natural environment.

Other tarsands concerns not mentioned by Sutherland, which range far beyond the Fort McMurray site, are revealed in David Lavallee's award-winning documentary film White Water, Black Gold.

They include the possible demise of the salmon industry and a significant increase in cancer rates being reported by aboriginal people who fish the Athabasca River downstream from the tarsands.

In addition, the film identifies what is known as "the triangle of concern." This suggests that the entire water system from Hudson Bay to the West Coast and north to the MacKenzie and the Arctic could become badly affected by tarsands activity over the next 50 years, leaving very little water safe for human consumption.

BRIAN MacKINNON

Winnipeg

Obfuscating logic

Re: An illegal smile (Letters, April 30). Regarding Tom Sherbrook's attack on my April 26 letter, A peaceable assembly, nothing obfuscates logic like the presumption of the existence of a god.

Sherbrook also makes the huge leap that I'm a pothead when, in fact, I don't smoke marijuana. My defence of the demonstration was based on observation and historical fact.

DAVE FERGUSON

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 4, 2012 A13