Have your say

Unfair situation

Reading your July 12 story (Jail for first-time drunk driver), I hope people realize just how unfair the situation is: unfair that the people listed in the recent examples did not serve jail sentences.

Kudos to Judge Ray Wyant for setting a precedent. Let's all hope that in the future all criminals get the punishment they deserve.

ALEXANDER HOGEVEEN RUTTER

Winnipeg

Bravo to Judge Ray Wyant, even though his analogy of "driving a car while impaired is like holding a loaded gun" isn't very accurate.

Rather, driving a car while impaired is like shooting a loaded gun while impaired. Even driving a car unimpaired is like shooting a gun -- aim poorly and someone may die.

The most accurate analogy for holding a loaded gun would be sitting in a stopped car.

STUART WILLIAMS

Winnipeg

It is a sad reflection on society when headlines are being made for a convicted drunk driver getting jail time. The law is quite straightforward.

If you drive with blood-alcohol reading of .08 or over, you are breaking the law. You are guilty. It says absolutely nothing about driving with a reading over .08 and killing someone.

Jesse Friesen did not have his dream of being a firefighter taken away from him. He chose to drive with a ridiculously high blood-alcohol level, and for that he is being held accountable.

The joint recommendation from the defence and the Crown to only fine him was based on the fact that he had no previous record. My thoughts are that he had no previous record of being caught.

GARY HOOK

Winnipeg

War on the truth

Re: Federal cuts dubbed 'attack on science' (July 10): Canadian scientists are right; Stephen Harper has declared war on truth.

Truth has become not only the first casualty of war, but also its intended victim.

Harper has placed dirty tar sands oil on a pedestal and declared it worthy of veneration, and scientists are being told to either bow down or, like Socrates, be punished for "failure to recognize the same gods that the state recognizes."

Federal scientists are muzzled, laws are being rewritten, and the collection of inconvenient information is being banned as environmental review agencies, federal watchdogs and research facilities are shut down.

No matter that the lesser gods could not prevent Pandora from opening her box, nor the Almighty himself dissuade Eve from sampling the tree of knowledge, Harper seems convinced that he can succeed where others have failed.

Harper once promised Canadians an open and honest government, but his aggressive opening salvo proves that he is determined to try everything else first.

MIKE WARD

Duncan, B.C.

Yet another victim of the Harper government's slashing in the area of science is the recent news report that the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is to be deprived of funding for its travel grants for graduate students and young academics.

For many decades, established scholars and their junior colleagues have gathered annually at a Canadian university to present their latest findings in a wide variety of research. These events enable in-person communication between the generations.

Not only is scientific progress shared by young and old, it serves as an efficient hiring market: research skills and teaching talents can be assessed by potential employers while prospective hires can learn more about the pros and cons of various universities.

The current centralization of this process means a significant reduction in travel costs for all parties.

Conversely, gutting the travel grants program will make efficient and effective interview and hiring procedures more cumbersome, time consuming and expensive.

JESSE VORST

Winnipeg

With increasing public opposition against closing of the ELA, the federal government is under increasing pressure to reverse its decision. More and more Canadians are becoming aware of the potential closure and are not only astonished by the decision, but above all, very disappointed with the government.

As a concerned citizen and volunteer for the Coalition to Save ELA, I have visited 196 houses in the Winnipeg South Centre riding. I informed residents of the issue and asked them to sign a petition requesting that the Conservative government reverse their decision to close the ELA.

Importantly, 97 per cent of residents signed the petition, confirming significant opposition to the government's plan. I believe the same results would have been found in other parts of the city and other provinces. This could reflect a loss of thousands of Conservative votes in the next election.

JAN ORIHEL

Winnipeg

In my opinion, the federal government is not so much anti-science as anti-evidence. Evidence is what informs and influences the voting public and convicts and brings scrutiny to wrongdoers.

Here's a prime example of federal strategy at work. Recent statistics say that one in 88 people in the U.S. is autistic. In Britain, the rate is one in 64, and in South Korea one in 38. Canada has claimed autism rates of one in 150 but without a formal count.

Many countries have vaccine injury compensation programs for serious adverse reactions. Quebec does, but no other Canadian province. We also have no formal registry for adverse vaccine reactions.

Our federal government can pretend innocence of rising autism numbers first by not keeping track of numbers and then by not keeping records of adverse vaccine reactions.

The end result is no evidence. No evidence and therefore no issue. No issue, no need for compensation or any form of action and no guilt found.

RICK HISCO

Winnipeg

Given the Harper government's vision of scientific research mainly as a means to enhance business and industry, it is certain that Canada, despite its brilliant scientific community, could never have discovered the Higgs boson.

The new narrow focus on applied research, however, has led many Canadian scientists to discover the "Harper bozo."

In time, the practical application of that discovery will be the election of any other political party.

VIC TAYLOR

East St. Paul

Dubious excuses

The other day, sitting at a red light, I looked over to see the driver of the vehicle beside me with her head down and texting on her phone.

I watched for a while and then tooted my horn. She looked up with a start. I said, "Get off your phone." She then rolled down the window and said to me, "My father just died so give me a minute." I replied, "Don't give me that."

She then gave me the name of her father and told me to look it up in the paper. The next day I saw the obituary. It stated that the man died on July 7, and this incident happened two days later, on July 9. I was shocked at what excuses some people will come up with to justify texting while driving.

I still see many drivers on their phones while driving. I think cellphone use should be banned totally while driving, hands-free or not.

RON FRIESEN

Winnipeg

Bad luck for eaters

Re: Project projections (July 10). It is appropriate that the Wagon Wheel should close on Friday, July 13, a day of bad luck for all who have enjoyed eating there over many years.

One question. Where else in Winnipeg can one find a clubhouse sandwich as good as the one we lose?

ALF BROOKS

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 13, 2012 A13