Have your say

Sensitive to usage

Re: Too many chiefs (Letters, July 18). I appreciate that some are sensitive to the use (or misuse) of the title "chief." I can tell of another, similar problem.

I have a friend in Germany who has risen to the top of his firm. When he told me of this some years ago he announced he was the "fuhrer."

I replied that the title, for me and many others, has a rather negative connotation.

ALF BROOKS

Winnipeg

Blondie amazingly fresh

I've noticed in the last three or four Saturday colour comics in the Free Press that Blondie has been relegated to a side vertical panel, which makes it tougher to read.

Blondie started about 80 years ago but is still amazingly fresh and funny. The Born Loser is clever enough but it didn't deserve to take over Blondie's spot in the Saturday lineup.

DONALD TAYLOR

Minnedosa

Everything in context

In your July 19 editorial, Diversified grain era dawning, you note Trudeau's response to western Canadian farmers, "Why should I sell your wheat."

This was a perfectly legitimate response given the context, which is that we farmers had the wheat board to do that job, an agency independent of the government.

All too often the context of discussion is missing. This can give a false sense of representation of what a debate may be about.

WAYNE JAMES

Beausejour

Opting against pain

Re: Compassionate care (Letters, July 14). Valerie Wadephul argues against my right to choose assisted suicide rather than prolonged pain and suffering. If it is my decision in a living will to choose this option, then why should her beliefs override mine?

Our country is facing a major health crisis with an aging boomer population, and sooner or later some tough decisions will have to be made. We are not talking about slaughtering the sick and dying here but giving them the right to die with dignity.

BILL PARKES

Winnipeg

Think of other waste

I support Jan Orihel's July 13 letter regarding opposition to the federal government's plan to close the Experimental Lakes Area. The ELA is unique in its ability to provide scientists the means for invaluable research.

What a laugh for the government to say the cost of maintenance is the reason to close the facility. Think of the waste of our tax dollars by some elected representatives because of their sense of personal entitlement. If this money were saved, it would keep the ELA going quite some time.

SANDRA MADDER

Winnipeg

System benefits many

In response to Andrew Coyne's June 26 column, Hall Findlay challenges orthodoxy, dairy farmers want Canadian consumers to know the supply management system benefits consumers, government and farmers.

Through supply management, Canadian consumers are assured a wide variety of high quality, local products at consistently stable prices. The Martha Hall Findlay report inaccurately quotes an average Canadian retail price of $9.60 for four litres of milk, which is $3 to $5 more than what most Canadians pay.

Coyne mentions Australia and New Zealand as models to which we should aspire. Their consumers actually pay higher retail prices for their milk, even though these countries deregulated their dairy industry. People living in the EU and U.S. pay twice for their milk -- once in the store and a second time through subsidies to their farmers.

Governments recognize the benefits of supply management because it works for Canada. The stability of supply management can be counted on to provide more than 215,000 jobs across the country. Indeed, the Canadian dairy sector is first or second in importance in agriculture in seven provinces out of 10, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reports. Canadian supply-managed farmers receive no government bailouts because they do not have to experience the wild roller-coaster prices other farmers in the world face. Instead, dairy farmers make a living from the marketplace in Canada. Supply management has the political support of all federal parties because of its economic and social benefits in rural and urban areas.

DAVID WIENS

Dairy Farmers of Manitoba

Winnipeg

Exploitive species

In his July 19 letter, Peter Fyne states, "Imagine a species or life form that could exploit us for its own entertainment purposes."

I want to inform him that this has already happened. Look no further than the federal government and Bev Oda's $16 orange juice and $1,000 limo rides, Peter MacKay's emergency helicopters to go on fishing trips, Jim Flaherty's $56,000 trip to Winnipeg to abolish the penny and the whole kit and kaboodle of them getting golden pensions after a measly six years of service, while raising the retirement age of the species they are abusing.

PAUL JANSSEN

Traverse Bay

Avoiding water risks

Walking along the shore at Grand Beach recently, I saw a young woman and three small children were playing in the water. One youngster was on a flimsy air mattress as the woman was watching her and trying to control two pre-schoolers.

The flag was yellow so the wind was strong and the waves were high. How could she possibly save one of those young children if they ever went under the water?

My daughter-in-law has a rule when her 4- and 6-year-olds are in my backyard. (We have an in-ground pool.) She immediately puts on their life-jackets or belts. When we go to the beach, she immediately puts on their life jackets.

Do you know how long it takes for a youngster's lungs to fill up with water?

This is a common sight at Grand Beach: toddlers who can hardly keep their balance playing at the edge of the water.

If my letter saves a life, it will be worth the time it took me to write it.

SHARON G. ARNOTT

Winnipeg

Devastated by flood

As frequent visitors to many sites along Lake Manitoba -- St. Ambroise Provincial Park, Delta Beach, Twin Beaches, Lynch's Point, etc. -- my husband and I were devastated when all these sites were flooded in 2011.

The July 11 article concerning the possible demise of the store in the village of St. Ambroise, Ghost town in the making?, made us wonder how many more towns, villages, reserves, homes, farms, fishermen, businesses and cottages have been affected by the decision to divert flood water into Lake Manitoba.

We wouldn't be surprised to learn hundreds of thousands of people suffered from this devastation.

PAULINE CHUDZIK

Portage la Prairie

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 23, 2012 A11