Letters, Aug. 15

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2024 (469 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not just politicians

Re: The protection of politicians in Canada, Think Tank, Aug. 10

Is it any surprise that politicians are targetted with harrassment, racial slurs, threats of harm and even “pelted with gravel”?

There have been 530 files on threats in 2023 (with 338 members in Parliament).

The Free Press should do a survey on the threats faced by just common law-abiding citizens just walking down the street, shopping, taking the bus, at work, etc.

Such incidents would go “through the roof” and some have even resulted in actual physical assaults and even fatalities. How many common citizens have endured not one but several such incidents over the course of one year?

At least politicians have the luxury of “protective buffer zones, CCTV cameras, panic buttons, electronic entry systems”, security staff, etc. Yes, “It is unfortunate that such precautions are needed.”

But the disrespect, threats and violence speaks to a failing justice system and the substance abuse and mental health issues prevalent all over Canada that simply are not addressed nor have been addressed for decades.

Kirsti Kuuskivi

Winnipeg

 

Rethinking Portage

I have always believed Portage Avenue’s problem is its width. It supposedly was created that wide so ox carts could turn around on the muck and gumbo that clogged the street in wet weather.

That’s not such a major problem anymore.

When cars and paved roads took over, I guess it seemed easiest to just pave it all from side-to-side, and we got used to it. It has been suggested in the past that the number of traffic lanes could be reduced, and that idea was always shot down, as it was claimed vehicular traffic would come to a standstill.

Maybe we should rethink that.

How many of you recall the construction of the downtown arena, Canada Life Place? That reduced traffic for a few blocks to two lanes on the south side for a couple of years. We survived!

A few years later, construction of Manitoba Hydro Place reduced available lanes to two once again for another couple of years, and you know what? We survived again.

So traffic, and Winnipeg, can survive a narrowed Portage Avenue. We have proven it.

Maybe we should make that permanent. Two traffic lanes each way, with some parking and bike lanes à la Sherbrook Street, and wider, tree-lined sidewalks. Or a Broadway Avenue type treescaped centre median.

Anything that could make for a slower, more comfortable, more inviting environment for people should make the re-commercialization of Portage Avenue much more feasible.

Bob Martin

Winnipeg

 

Machetes and violence

Thank you for the editorial on the increased use of machetes in violent crime in Manitoba (Action needed to stop machete attacks, Aug. 14). It’s totally out of hand.

Why do we even sell these weapons? For clearing brush?

Everyone uses a power tool for this purpose as far as I know.

Australia has made a law restricting them, the same as handguns, so why can’t we do the same?

In my opinion, anyone using these knives to attack another person should be charged with attempted murder.

Norman Beltrame

Winnipeg

 

More to the story

Jerry Storie states in his August 14 Think Tank piece in the Free Press that: “We cannot wait another generation to finalize our plans to stop burning fossil fuels.”

Approval and construction of significant new nuclear energy in Canada would likely take more than a generation.

Storie claims that the clean sources of solar and wind are not dependable. Solar and wind are extremely dependable, much cheaper, and can be installed quickly but provide intermittent power. The intermittency problem can be mitigated by energy storage and widely-dispersed grid interconnection.

Storie claims that the reprocessing of the nuclear waste, as is done in France, would eliminate the angst of waste disposal from Canadian reactors. Reprocessing removes only a small fraction of fissile material from nuclear waste and presents a nuclear weapons proliferation risk.

The acid liquid waste from reprocessing can be vitrified in glass for disposal. Disposal of vitrified reprocessed nuclear waste has never been assessed in Canada and likely carries a greater risk than disposal of the original solid spent fuel.

Long-lived volatile radionuclides such as iodine 129, carbon14 and technetium 99 are trapped on filters in the off-gas stream during vitrification. These and other radionuclides are also trapped on filters during reactor operations in Canada and worldwide.

The probabilistic risk assessment for Canada’s nuclear high level waste, submitted to the Seaborn Panel Assessment of 1998, identified these volatile radionuclides as major contributors to potential dose consequence. The high consequence radionuclides accumulated on filters would require a separate as yet quantified and assessed disposal method.

Wind and solar power are far more reliable, cost effective and shovel ready than nuclear and do not entail the huge liability and risk of reactor waste disposal and decommissioning.

Dennis LeNeveu

Selkirk

 

Closures an insult

Winnipeg City Council’s decision to shutter swimming and wading pools isn’t just lousy politics and optics, it’s a substantial insult to many a Winnipeg family, the same people who pay the taxes which will end up subsidizing new recreation centres in some of the most affluent parts of our city.

Perhaps our council has overlooked the fact that we are both a city and province of rivers and lakes where swimming skills are inclined to come in handy, and one doesn’t learn these skills cavorting on a splash pad.

Knowing we are well on our way to at times insufferable summer heat, logic also tells me we require more pools, not fewer of them, and they ought to be accessible to suit the needs and schedules of those most requiring them.

I’d sooner a child in a pool than an emergency ward fighting off heat stroke.

The truth is, teaching kids to swim and maintaining their health during the summer heat would probably be a net positive investment.

It would be wonderful if every kid had the privilege of spending summers at a family cottage or at a camp up on Lake of the Woods, but alas, such is not the reality for many families .

When one considers the sums of money we as taxpayers have been required to contribute towards past administrations’ ineptness and, in some cases, corruption, it’s hard not to think that once again, those who stand to benefit most from a bit of generousity are those who ultimately are required to endure the seemingly indifferent attitudes, as demonstrated by those elected to supposedly represent their best interests.

Dan Donahue

Winnipeg