Letters, July 10

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/07/2023 (1061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CPC needs stronger plans

Re: Federal Conservatives can learn from the past (Think Tank, July 7)

One thing sorely missing from this op-ed is how the CPC plans to increase its support from urban Canadian voters.

Supporting the freedom convoy, fighting against global climate initiatives, is popular on the Prairies but polls very negatively with the majorities in Ontario and Quebec.

Harper may have led, with a steel hand, suppressing dissent from party members, but failed to create a legacy, and much like Pallister in Manitoba, he went away in defeat.

Until such time as the CPC comes up with a solid environmental plan and a more humane social benefit solution, they will play second or third fiddle in our parliamentary orchestra.

Thomas Tierney

Winnipeg

Re: Tax dollars fuel well-crafted propaganda (July 7)

Tom Brodbeck’s column explains clearly the two-year plan of the Stefanson government to subvert the rules and fairness in the Election Financing Act.

The changes the Tories made to the rules now allow them to use taxpayer money in two ways that were not allowed before their changes. They have created an entirely unfair advantage for themselves. Rather than working for the good of all Manitobans and repairing the damage that their policies of austerity have done, it seems their focus has been on working for their own good and that of their supporters. They don’t have to raise money to pay for their campaign.

Instead, taxpayers are paying for the Tory propaganda and will continue to pay right up to the time of the election.

Grants of a few million to many different organizations gives opportunities for photo ops. MLAs are thus getting face recognition. The advertisements in all mediums then trumpet the news and it is all done with taxpayer money.

With astonishing hypocrisy and wrong thinking Candice Bergen decried the brainwashing of young people by public education and universities, yet it is the Tories who are systematically attempting to brain wash all Manitobans in a cynical self-serving way.

I feel cheated out of some of my tax dollars, but more importantly, out of my sense that I live in a good wholesome province.

Brenda Trevenen

Winnipeg

Can’t fight change

From what I understand, the tech companies are providing a link to a news story on a news agency’s website. Upon accessing the link, the user is directed to the story, gets a brief blurb and then can choose to subscribe to the agency and continue reading, or pay per article.

I would think that any business would love to have this kind of exposure to their goods and services. If enough customers are not subscribing, paying per article or buying ads, then the news agency should provide a better product to encourage them to do so.

I realize that this is simplifying the matter, but it is really what it comes down to. The model is going through radical changes and the answer is not to continue trying to do it the same way but to adapt to the new reality. Are we also going to require other industries to negotiate fees to distribute their earnings to smaller companies — Uber to local taxi companies, McDonald’s to local restaurants, Costco to local grocers?

It is no different than Gutenberg — the scribes and stone chisellers were probably all clamouring for support back then as well.

Sincerely,

Mike Reid

Winnipeg

Acts of gratitude

Last week, a friend spoke to a young couple she had seen walking their dog each evening. As they walked they carried a “cleanup stick” and bag into which they placed litter found along their walk.

My friend thanked them, to which they responded that it was their way of expressing gratitude to the city for welcoming them from the Ukraine. They had been helped to settle, setting up a home, finding a job, making friends.

I felt their kindness should be a lesson for all. Each of us could show our gratitude for all we are fortunate to have by doing ‘something.’

Their act of gratitude is an easy one for walkers!

Lucille Bisignano

Winnipeg

Underground solutions

Re: The latest: Portage and Main (Editorial, July 6)

I worked in many buildings at Portage and Main. I had customers in all the other buildings around there. I was in the concourse daily and appreciated its convenience, shelter, and comfort. Never once did I have to wait for a traffic light to change as I walked underground.

The September 2017 Dillon Consulting traffic study report cited that pedestrian traffic times would not improve while vehicle delays would increase by up to 421 per cent at peak times. The total delays would jump up to 518 hours daily from 340 hours. That’s time that vehicles are idling, spewing carbon and causing climate change.

The city council minutes from July 21, 1991 stated that vehicle-vehicle collisions at P&M decreased by 43 per cent after the concourse was opened. Vehicle-pedestrian collisions were down 82 per cent.

A recent Globe & Mail article weighed in on Portage and Main and said Winnipeg should get with it. Boston removed its overhead freeway system to make downtown more accessible. That is true. The writer failed to mention Boston built a US$21-billion tunnel (today’s value) to replace that freeway. Imagine what Winnipeg could do with $21 billion (in the right hands).

Maybe, just maybe, changes could be made to allow crossing Portage Avenue East but this topic is not a top priority for downtown at this time.

Kelly Ryback

Winnipeg

Looking for end to health system woe

Re: More staff losses limit forensic nurse examiner program (July 3); Time to slay five-headed health-care hydra (May 2)

The forensic staff nurse loss article was particularly poignant in light of Tom Brodbeck’s superb piece about health administration’s Five Headed Hydra.

Under Audrey Gordon’s leadership, the actual delivery of health services is dropping like a stone while its management is bloating. Soon, one imagines, there will only be sufficient funds for the battalions of administrators to ignore health delivery and simply administer each other.

Is there no end to this lunacy?

Max Johnson

Winnipeg

CFL a land of redemption

Re: From knucklehead to leader (July 6)

I’d like to serve notice to the NFLPA that anytime they decide to release a player of Willie Jefferson’s calibre for committing what amounts to little more than a youthful indiscretion, there is a home for them in Canada.

They’ll be able to try out for what is arguably the best league in the world; the CFL, home of 3-down football and the 110-yard field. And if successful, they’ll join the thousands of other Americans who have made their way north of the border for personal and professional redemption.

Randy Clinch

Winnipeg