Letters, Dec. 28

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2023 (827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Stop rebate, cover transit

Re: Getting back on board (Dec. 27)

Reading the article by Eva Wasney, I was pleasantly surprised to see confirmation that Winnipeg Transit generally “gets an undeservedly bad rap.”

The No. 1 negative about Winnipeg Transit rests with the Peggo card and its use. I would add that the cost of taking the bus is too high on an individual fare basis. Especially if you consider that Transit can be a major solution to carbon emissions.

You can quickly solve the Peggo problem and the high cost of taking a bus by providing free transit to all that may want to switch from cars to public transit, but more so for those that have no choice but to take a bus, as they cannot afford owning a car. And before everyone can say “we cannot afford that,” let me explain how we can easily do it.

Right now there is a carbon tax on fuel, supposedly to help reduce emissions, promptly followed by a rebate to pretty well everyone (whether they buy gas or not). Why not stop the rebate and use that money to provide free transit to all, along with more buses (electric of course) as the demand rises. Consider that currently Transit’s yearly revenue from fares is only about $70 million, while the rebate to Manitobans is well over $360 million.

That would not only cover the fare revenue, but it would leave another $290 for more buses, road repairs, or whatever else is needed. Direct help to those that cannot afford cars, better traffic flow and less road wear and tear as more people get onboard a bus. At no additional cost to taxpayers. What’s not to like?

Giovanni Versace

Winnipeg

Reasons to drive

Re: Bus? Pass! (Dec. 27)

I like driving. I take the bus to work on a daily basis, driving only on weekends, when the schedules are inconvenient. Recently I have been unable to drive, and use public transit even for shopping.

If only 12 per cent of residents use transit, then it is sadly underfunded, because the buses are full to overflowing when I take it during off hours.

Usage would improve if service were more dependable and frequent. I did not appreciate missing a bus by seconds, and then waiting 45 minutes for the next, when it was scheduled for 30 minutes.

Norman Howe

Winnipeg

Accessibility problems

I was rather taken back after receiving my renewal online for my handicap parking pass. After filling out the form to receive my renewal I was informed that I would no longer receive it in the mail but would have to pick it up between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on certain days.

I find this to be a strange choice to impose on people with accessibility challenges. If it is becoming too costly to mail then add a few dollars to the fee and mail them. I would appreciate an explanation of this decision as I am sure that this will affect many folks in a detrimental way.

A solution must be found to reverse this decision.

Betty Clark

Winnipeg

EV plan needs work

It’s one thing to encourage changes in behaviour, but to force a change many do not want is authoritarianism. The problems with the federal plan are multitude;

1. Canada doesn’t have the green generating capacity. No coal, gas or even nuclear can be counted towards capacity. Manitoba Hydro is already complaining about a drought.

2. We lack the grid infrastructure, particularly the last mile. Many Canadians don’t live in single-family homes with access to dedicated charging, nor do we want them to (we already face a pubic infrastructure crisis). Building out the grid and public charging to a vast country is monumentally expensive.

3. Cost. The cheapest used gas car with a safety is a tiny fraction of the cheapest pure EV. This will literally force people out of cars as they will no longer be able to afford them and onto public transit, that itself will need a massive upgrade. Starting to look pretty Orwellian.

4. Range, particularly in cold weather. The best EVs manage just over 300 miles in real-world conditions. Now make it -30 and try to drive to Thompson. You’re not getting there. And recharging half way will take 90 minutes, IF there’s a rapid charger there. Otherwise, you’ll need to stop for much longer. So this discrimination against rural citizens invites serious concerns.

Ultimately, what’s the net result? An even more massively indebted country in a world growing increasingly warm as massive polluters like China stay the course. Better we invest in figuring out how to undo the damage already done since without complete global cooperation these forced changes will have zero impact, apart from turning Canada into a third-world country.

Keith Gordon

Winnipeg

Examining rhetoric

Re: Facts lessen tension, instead of inflaming (Think Tank, Dec. 22)

As a professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba one would expect an informed and educated position regarding the current (as well as past) conflict in Israel/Palestine.

Mr. Koop asserts that the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a call for the destruction of the state of Israel. He apparently has not heard the calls from the Israeli leadership for the annihilation of the Palestinian people. Benjamin Netanyahu as well as a number of his ministers have called for the destruction of the “Amalekites” (Palestinians).

Mr. Koop cites Ron Hassner, a political scientist, to support his claim. Who is Ron Hassner? He is associated with the Helen Diller Institute, a pro-Israel lobby at Berkeley University. Is it possible that his investigations could be driven by a pro-Israel bias?

The territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is populated by roughly five million Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, whose human and civil rights have been denied and another two million Palestinians within the recognized borders of Israel that live as second-class Israeli citizens. Could one not argue that the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a call for justice and equality for all who inhabit this territory?

Rubin Kantorovich

Winnipeg

Province on right track

Re: Province to open 250 rentals in four cities for homeless (Dec. 15); Turn derelict buildings into social housing: Kinew (Dec. 23)

The strategy, as reported above, to tackle homelessness seems to be the right one in that it appears to be based on a ‘housing first’ approach as opposed to a ‘treatment first’ approach.

A housing-first approach means providing homeless people with permanent accommodation while simultaneously providing treatment for the factors that led to homelessness in the first place, such as addiction. A treatment first approach means addressing such factors before providing permanent housing, meaning the person must first be ‘housing ready.”

Three places – Finland; Medicine Hat, Alberta; and Houston, Texas – among others, have had significant success addressing homelessness through a housing first approach.

In 2019, the Guardian reported that Finland was the only European country that had managed to reduce its homeless population in recent years. In 2021, Medicine Hat announced that it had become the first city in the country to “functionally end” chronic homelessness. In 2022, the New York Times reported that the number of people deemed homeless in the Houston region had been cut by 63 per cent since 2011.

In any case, let’s encourage the provincial government (and its partners) to do what needs to be done, and spend what needs to be spent, to successfully tackle this blight in our midst.

Gerald Farthing

Winnipeg