Letters, Nov. 22

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/11/2022 (1393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Blowing a chance at history

The Blue Bombers chose to do nothing about their biggest and most-obvious liability, and now the year is over.

The chance at a historic dynasty has been blown, and why? Kicker Marc Liegghio has not just cost us another game, but a chance at history.

Last week he cost the Bombers four points by missing two converts, one of which was historic because it was the first time in CFL history that a missed conversion was returned for two points.

Unfortunately, my biggest fear came true, yet again. Liegghio missed a crucial extra point, giving the Argos the opening for a comeback. Then his last-minute field-goal attempt was blocked, its distance not even coming close to the possibility of a single point.

We, Bomber Nation, deserved better. We saw this coming as early as our defeat against the Alouettes. But team management chose not to address this obvious deficiency, and things continued to fester.

And on Sunday the chance to be a team of glory, of history, and of time immemorial, was sadly and inevitably kicked aside.

Dave Rondeau
Winnipeg

Coincidence or karma? In 1960, the Blue Bombers completed their best season to date that year, 14-2. They had won the previous two Grey Cups, both against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. However, they did not win the 1960 Grey Cup.

Fast forward 62 years. This year, at 15-3, the Bombers bested their best season. They had again won the two previous Grey Cups against the Ticats.

But you know the rest.

Allan Webster
Winnipeg

 

Treatment for overdoses

Re: Stop people from dying today (Nov. 18)

Reporter Danielle Da Silva should be commended for shining a light on the tragedy unfolding from drug-poisoning deaths in our province and the important advocacy work done by the Harm Reduction Network.

An important intervention to reduce drug-poisoning deaths for people with opioid addiction not mentioned is opioid agonist therapy (OAT). With the medications suboxone or methadone, OAT has been proven to reduce drug-poisoning deaths.

Unlike detox, it is an effective treatment for those addicted to fentanyl and other opioids. People who detox from opioids lose tolerance quickly and frequently relapse, leading to an increased risk of overdose. This is why detox is not recommended for opioid addiction.

Opioid agonist therapy with suboxone is the first-line treatment for opioid addiction. This is an important tool to combat drug-poisoning deaths, along with safe consumption sites, naloxone kits and other harm reduction measures, in addition to addiction treatment centres.

People on OAT often change their lives, completing education and doing work they care about as a result of the stability it offers. It helps reunite families and allows folks to focus on other important areas of their health.

Dr. Anne Durcan
Winnipeg

 

Lots of supervised drug sites

The subhead of this story in your print edition reads: “Groups call on province to fund supervised drug-consumption sites.”

For the record, there are drug-consumption sites throughout Manitoba. You can find them on street corners, school grounds, in parks, playgrounds, alleys and other public places. And at those sites, youngsters can probably find someone with experience to supervise them as they consume drugs.

This is Manitoba’s supervised drug-consumption site policy. Statistics confirm its success. To quote your story: “At least 215 Manitobans died of drug poisonings in the first six months of this year; the province is on track to surpass the record 407 overdose deaths set in 2021.”

Barry Elkin
Winnipeg

 

A ridiculous condemnation

Re: Kirkfield Park vote kicks off with controversy (Nov. 19)

I cannot believe the Winnipeg Free Press printed Liberal leader Dugald Lamont’s condemnation of Kevin Klein on page 3 of the Saturday newspaper.

To condemn a person who worked for Nygard for four months is absolutely ridiculous. I know many people (including my daughter) who worked for Nygard at some point in their lives.

When they realized how stressful the job was, they quit. Should their honour and reputation be sullied for life?

Linda Friesen
Winnipeg

The Liberals now want to ban anyone who has worked for someone charged with a crime from working for the rest of their lives?

In a small province like Manitoba, with a labour shortage, that could be quite devastating, particularly if the person charged is one of the largest employers in the province.

Jim Roberts
Winnipeg

 

Lack of trust goes way back

Re: Trust was one of the pandemic’s casualties (Nov. 19)

Though trust in government has undoubtedly eroded during the pandemic, the issue has been prevalent for years prior. The underlying cause is tied to widespread ignorance of political institutions in general.

The vast majority of the public is either hopelessly confused or completely ignorant of the history and functioning of political institutions, both domestically and globally. This remains the major challenge governments face.

Furthermore, one could successfully argue that modern politics is itself responsible for destroying its own foundations. Attack ads, failure to answer questions, and unrealistic policies are just some of the obvious examples. Politics requires dishonesty and exaggeration; it’s part of the job.

Paul Robertson
Beausejour

Columnist Paul Thomas says trust has been described as the “social glue” that contributes to cohesion within society. Put simply, trust refers to positive assumptions about the motivations and competence of individuals and institutions to deliver on promises and tasks.

For years, our family law system has been described as being in a state of crisis: children ripped from the life of a fit parent, the dissipation of family assets, the trauma and devastation of an adversarial court system.

Billions of dollars are poured into the divorce industry each year. It is one of the fastest growing and most profitable areas of law, but it has been described as a system that takes advantage of people, with little or no regard for doing what is right.

For those families whose lives have been devastated by our family law system, there are no positive assumptions, and the individuals and institutions have certainly not delivered. Children and families are the casualties.

Dolores Belot
Winnipeg

 

Blame the whole team

Re: Malfunction at the junction (Nov. 20)

Sportswriter Mike McIntyre blames the goalie for the 3-0 loss to the Crosby crew Saturday night.

What scapegoating that is. The whole team needs to be blamed. Not a single goal was scored by our best players.

We can’t use the excuse of having three forwards out with injuries, either. Kyle Connor, who scored a hat trick the previous game, and his cohorts were missing in action against the Penguins.

John Wesley Oldham
Winnipeg

 

If the Jets’ new coach, Rick Bowness, wants to improve the team, he should start with our allegedly wonderful goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck.

Again, as he did all last season, he not only handled the puck when there was absolutely no need to do so, but, more important, he made a completely idiotic play. He shot the puck past his own teammate to the opposition.

If this were an unusual happening there would only be need for pointing it out to him. But this happens almost every game.

This has got to be the most obvious need for coaching.

Paul Maurice was afraid of the players. Is Bowness, too?

Shane Nestruck
Winnipeg