Have your say

Another bloc in the wall

PQ vows to toughen language laws (Aug. 13). Is Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois' intent to slowly build a wall "bloc by bloc" in Quebec? Has nothing changed in Quebec since 1939, when many believed that Quebec would only reach the millennium as a pure race, with a pure language, larger families and no more connection with the English and no interference from foreigners?

In other words, everything seems to be reduced to race, religion and politics.

DIANE R. UNGER

Dugald

Freedom to work and study in one's chosen language has been the bete noire of modern Quebec politics, and the putative reason for the province's fetishistic insularity since the early 1970s. In stronger terms, it has been argued that ethnic nationalism in pursuit of political power is the real driving force behind the separatist movement.

In either case, if the PQ were to win the current provincial election and make good on its pledge to limit freedom of expression as guaranteed by Canada's charter, swift legal action must be taken -- this time not by a private civil association but by the federal government -- in order to protect the rights of all Quebec's citizens, irrespective of culture or country of origin.

Of local importance, a full, frank and open discussion of threatened Canadian civic freedoms such as those proposed by the PQ is precisely the kind of rights issue that Winnipeg's new Canadian Museum for Human Rights has the mandated responsibility to explore.

MARK S. RASH

Winnipeg

Conventionally educated

In his review of the book The Curiosity of School by Zander Sherman (Awkward style, random pieces of information... C-minus, Aug. 11), Ron Kirbyson notes that the author touts the virtues of home-schooling, and in his list of luminaries who were so schooled, Sherman includes Albert Einstein.

Not so: Einstein went through the conventional German educational system from Grade 1 until the age of 16, when he dropped out.

DAVID TOPPER

Winnipeg

Insidious slant

In your coverage of the jail term for Gordon Scully ('Potential killer' gets jail term, Aug. 11), you seem to have grasped that any accident with severe injury is tragic and that driving after drinking as many as a dozen beers is abhorrent.

But you provide only a vague assessment of the judge's determination and then go on to promote fear, oversimplify a complex situation and provide an insidious slant to the story.

Any one of us who drives a car is a "potential killer." Any one of us who has ever gone over the speed limit is at even greater risk of being a potential killer. The same goes for anyone who has driven while overtired, had a few drinks or is on medication. By using the Crown's words, potential killer, without question, you ensure that each of us can separate and differentiate ourselves from Scully.

I also note that the picture of Alyssa Lambert is uncredited. It is clear she is a photogenic women, and this is a professional-quality picture taken for, perhaps, the promotion of a modelling career. By saying nothing, you let the picture speak for itself.

She is a young, attractive, Caucasian woman, and, therefore, you present her as someone with whom many of your readers would like to identify. Again, you perpetuate the subtle splitting of humanity, in this case, into the category of those who count and those who don't.

GLENN MORISON

Winnipeg

Late by 10 years

Your Aug. 11 story Weapon in war on superbugs is essentially about a product with the name Akwaton, which you mistakenly identify as South African in origin. It is, in fact, a Polish disinfection product.

Our company was approached 10 years ago by the Canadian promoters of this product, who apparently went on to contact microbiologist Mathias Oulé, prominently featured in your article. At that time, we offered assistance in the Canadian certification process, which was rejected by the manufacturer, and according to your article, now, 10 years later, the product is still not certified by Health Canada.

The stumbling block 10 years ago was that the Polish inventors refuse to declare ingredients. Fortunately, we live in a country where secret compositions are not allowed in the health marketplace.

Our testing showed at that time that the product falls into a category generically known as "quats," or quaternary ammonium salts. The disinfection power of quats has been known for at least 70 years.

Given these facts, what is the news value of this lengthy article on page A3?

PETER HOMBACH

The Osorno Group

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 16, 2012 A10