Letters, July 22

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/07/2024 (777 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Free ride coming to end

Re: Kinew urges Ottawa to speed up plans to hike defence spending (July 18)

Thank you to Premier Wab Kinew for reminding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that it is important to honour Canada’s long-standing commitment to NATO to meet a two per cent spending target. Kinew correctly notes that it is key to protecting Canada’s trade relationship with the U.S.

Our commitment to NATO has been ignored for far too long by both the Liberals and the Conservatives. Trudeau’s recent statement that his government “expects” to meet it by 2032 is embarrassing. And it won’t be acceptable to our allies.

But it’s no more embarrassing than Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s 2022 statement that Canada’s ability to assist Ukraine was limited and that “…what we’re good at is convening and making sure diplomacy is happening, and meanwhile convincing other countries to do more.”

Sure. Other countries are going to do more because we ask them, while we do less than we promised.

To be clear, this is not about whether one is a hawk or dove on military spending. It’s about honouring our commitment. And understanding the impact that not doing so will have on our relationship with our most important ally.

Protectionist sentiment is rising in the U.S. and the Republican and Democratic parties are both shifting along with it. The free ride is coming to an end. And it’s coming to an end well before 2032.

Premier Kinew understands the importance of addressing the NATO funding issue. Let’s hope our federal politicians figure it out soon.

Robert Pruden

Winnipeg

Value for money

Re: Manitoba touts hirings in face of lobby group criticism (July 18)

Interesting that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is critical of recent hirings in the public service including correctional officers, sheriffs and social workers. None of the positions listed in the article paid more than $70,000 per year. Pretty hard to argue these positions don’t provide vital services.

A better place to start would be the compensation disclosure lists of positions paying $85,000 or more per year. Start at the top of each list — is the value for money clear based on the job title and performance of the organization? Then, ask some constructive questions rather than labeling any expenditure as wasteful or unaffordable.

I am sure members of CTF pay “a lot of money” to the lobby group’s prairie director and expect value for money too. Most of his comments come across as cheap shots.

Michelle Burdz

Winnipeg

Just wanting to be sure that I understand correctly that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation considers it wasteful that the province has hired people to fill existing positions to do work that taxpayers continually complain is not getting done or not being done well due to understaffing.

They are saying those social workers, environmental officers, sheriffs and correctional officers are not needed. Their absence would result in families remaining unsupported, jail staff burning out, and there would be no one to follow up on environmental concerns. I just want to make sure I understand what this organization is saying, given that its name suggests it is speaking for me, a Canadian taxpayer… However, never in my life is that something I would complain about.

On the other hand if they, said Canadian Taxpayers Federation, would like to complain that the former head of Manitoba provincial health authority received $603,000 in one year, then maybe we agree on something. According to my calculations that one person is the equivalent of 10 social workers or correctional offices. I can only assume that this CEO did the work of 10 people or his brilliance was astounding — otherwise the Taxpayers Federation would have something to say.

Valerie Kellberg

Winnipeg

Strange grace

The righteous at the Republican convention confidently bray that former president Trump has been the ordained recipient of “divine intervention.”

Strangely, such benign appropriation was denied Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and John Kennedy, nor were the two-thirds of a million wantonly slaughtered in the U.S. Civil War so chosen.

Selective are the motions of grace.

Francis Trueman

Winnipeg

Thoughts on cycling

Re: City on right track to expand downtown cycling (July 19)

I appreciated Tom Brodbeck’s piece on expanding the protected bicycle lane initiatives.

Mr. Brodbeck is correct in noting that white lines on the streets do not provide safe bike lanes. In my opinion, one of the main issues relating to vehicle and bicycle traffic in Winnipeg is that there is minimal recognition of the rights of slower modes of transportation to share the roads and sidewalks.

This is a decidedly North American issue, as anyone who has witnessed traffic in Europe can attest to.

I would note that this disregard for others extends to many cyclists riding illegally on sidewalks. As motor vehicles don’t have legal priority on the roads, it is also true that cyclists don’t have legal priority on sidewalks.

The concept of protecting the slower moving mode of transportation is an almost universally accepted concept. I have noted this lack of consideration in some drivers and cyclists. The concept of liability is better defined regarding roadways and motorized traffic than for cycling lanes and sidewalks. I suspect that if a cyclist riding illegally on a sidewalk strikes and injures a pedestrian that some liability could be assigned to the cyclist.

With regards to the white line bike lanes, these tend to be stop-gap measures, and on several downtown streets the location of these lanes are not consistent block to block. They can be confusing to follow. I see this as a reasonable first attempt, as if these had been successful they would have been cheaper and easier to implement.

I have modified my rigid stance of never condoning bicycles on sidewalks for two reasons.

The first of these that some riders have told me that they move to sidewalks when they fear riding on a stretch of road. The second being that, as Winnipeg struggles to expand active transport, there are many places where the transitions at the end bike lanes are confusing and hard to anticipate.

The commonality that I see here is a lack of respect for the others on the roads or sidewalks.

Lastly I would ask bicycle riders to stop wearing black at dusk or night, and to not yell “on your right,” as you pass on my left.

Dick Forbes

Winnipeg

Trump can’t change his spots

Re: Sorry, not sorry — not one bit (Think Tank, July 18)

Thank you Judy Waytiuk for saying what no one else has been brave enough to say: “As ye sow shall ye reap.”

Donald Trump’s lies, calls for violence and pushback against democracy have come full circle with his attempted assassination. The picture of a wounded former president, blood on his face, fist raised in defiance shouting, “Fight” as he is being shielded offstage, speaks volumes.

Depending on where your political affiliations lie, it is either a picture of courage under fire or the ultimate showman realizing in that instant that he has the world stage and an opportunity to display a strength that could propel him to the White House.

There is no doubt that Trump needs only look inward to realize that he is the catalyst for this event. The irony is that a divisive and polarizing former president is being called upon to quell the noise and ratchet down the rhetoric to unite the country.

American political analyst David Frum was asked if Trump was capable of softening his message. He responded by asking if a man who has gone through life with the same mindset for 78 years can suddenly change, even in the face of a traumatic event. His answer was a simple no: a leopard doesn’t change its spots.

As Canadians we can only hope that change can be made before ballots are cast, so the repercussions of a second Trump presidency do not carry over to our country.

Rodger Speimer

Winnipeg