Letters, Oct. 13

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/10/2023 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Poor choice

I have many journalist friends who tell me that the most important stories and photos are those placed “above the fold” on the front page of a newspaper.

Keeping that in mind, I am beyond astonished and dismayed that the very first story published by the Winnipeg Free Press on the terrorist attacks on Israel, three days after the Hamas terrorists swarmed into Israel, focused on a huge photo of rubble, with the tagline “An airstrike at the Rafah refugee camp Monday in the Gaza Strip killed dozens of people.”

Really? Nothing, not a word or a photograph, on the inciting incidents — the killing fields, massacres, and hostage-taking in Israel?

At Tuesday’s solidarity rally in Winnipeg, elected politicians at all levels — federal, provincial and municipal, and across the political spectrum — made the same point again and again: Hamas is a terrorist organization not recognized in the world community because of its stated goal of extermination of Israel and of the Jewish people, and they unequivocally supported Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism.

Your poor editorial choices on Tuesday’s front page unfortunately play into a too-well-known trope that everything is Israel’s fault.

I have been a lifelong subscriber and I hope for better going forward.

Rabbi Allan Finkel

On behalf of the Winnipeg Council of Rabbis (Rabbi Yosef Benarroch, Rabbi Kliel Rose, Rabbi Anibal Mass)

Winnipeg

More nuanced

In Oct. 11 Think Tank piece The solution is more housing, Lorie English gets it partly right.

Her main points are that Winnipeg’s existing services follow a “housing first” model; they do coordinate with each other; and what is needed is more decent, affordable housing. All true.

However, the article implies that all that is needed from government is funding so that these agencies can get on with their work.

In the “Houston model”, it seems that governments also play another key role in addressing housing needs. They bring the influence to (a) fully engage the broader community and (b) broaden the partnership directly engaging in solutions. And they do so while balancing many priorities and being held accountable at the ballot box.

If they cannot continuously convince their electorate and partners about the value of a particular direction, their influence wanes and eventually the funding dries up.

In recent years, Manitobans have seen two glaring examples of government failing to work collaboratively with others. In housing (and other social issues such as addictions and crime), our provincial government was not engaged enough in working toward collective solutions. And the problems got worse. In health care, our provincial government took too large a directive role, imposing its own solutions without engaging many key partners. And the problems got worse.

I suspect that English and her coalition colleagues actually welcome the tone from our incoming government. They should not imply that all they need from government is money.

In fact, they need more – the real commitment from government to understand the housing issue and use its influence to maintain community support. They need collaboration with government and I think that is what is being offered.

John VanWalleghem

Winnipeg

Pride showing

Shirley Muir’s Think Tank article of Oct. 11 is thoughtful and succinct and should make us all proud of being Manitoban.

It certainly made me feel that way.

Debbie Ammeter Sipley

Cartier

Moving forwards

A letter writer opines in the Oct. 11 Letters page that he was less than impressed with the new voting machines utilized in the provincial election, and he suggests we should probably go back to the old-fashioned (and slow) hand-counted ballots in use in the days of yore.

I couldn’t disagree more.

I say kudos to Elections Manitoba for finally getting themselves into the 21st century with the use of modern voting technology.

Yes, there were some glitches here and there in some areas due, in large part, to circumstances beyond anyones control at the time (weather-related power failures) but on the whole, the vote tabulating machines worked exactly as they were meant to work! Results were reported and recorded quickly and accurately. The technology works!

It would be well to remember that the City of Winnipeg has been using vote tabulating machines in municipal elections for over 25 years with great success. No one has ever suggested that the city revert back to the old-fashioned balloting system.

The next provincial election is scheduled for October of 2027. Elections Manitoba now has ample time to review what went right and what went wrong from this recent election, and then better prepare themselves with the use of modern voting technology for 2027.

Jae Eadie

Winnipeg

Constructive dialogue

Re: A valuable tool to combat hate, Oct. 7.

Resurrecting an archaic and arbitrary Manitoba law long-superceded by a better federal law against hate speech and actions is hardly the way to change people’s beliefs, presumably the outcome desired to combat hate.

Penalizing superficial manifestations of hate prevents the very discussions so essential to resolving or at least understanding our differences.

Consider ongoing tensions between religious communities in Canada, Jews and Muslims today, and Sikhs and Hindus a few weeks ago. Or the heated debate about discussions of sex in our schools.

No matter how irreconcilable these differences appear, surely open and frank discussion holds more promise than suppressing expression of conflicting beliefs.

Why arbitrary? Because it will depend on a subjective judgment about what constitutes “hatred, contempt or ridicule.”

Such judgments will vary dramatically across potential “victims” and persons hearing cases, rendering judgments controversial no matter what the outcome. Moreover, it means Manitobans would be convicted of crimes that are not criminal in other jurisdictions.

Rather than evading discussion, let’s focus on constructive dialogue between groups that holds at least some potential for easing and even resolving our differences.

Jim Clark

Winnipeg

Positive force

Letter-writer Brad Reimer spoke for all of us who regret the loss of Brandon Burley as mayor of Morden.

He gave several years of dedicated professional service to Morden. He had the vision to help Morden grow during his tenure as mayor. It is regrettable that he and his family had to endure hostile rude treatment from a small group during the COVID pandemic. He carried on admirably with optimism and hard work.

That being said, we were thrilled to read that Mr. Burley is part of Wab Kinew’s transition team to a new NDP government! He deserves that honour and he will be a positive force for Manitobans in his new role.

Congratulations Mr. Burley!

Randy and Pat Neuman

Morden

Well put

Well said, letter-writer Ernie Wiens!

I’m also tired of war. Our world should be above that by now. From what I view on the news, war creates more problems than are solved, and there seems to be no avenue of resolution. Once war begins, it continues.

In funding these wars, we are prolonging these wars.

We carry on, undisturbed with our lives, while the money we send buys more ammunition to kill and wound, to destroy infrastructure and displace people.

We need to promote and support dialogue, mediation, and peaceful conflict resolution in so many political issues. Fighting is not the answer.

Marilyn Bird

Winnipeg