Letters, April 8

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/04/2025 (362 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Spare the stomping

Re: Patriotic pride, anger on display (April 7)

I was uplifted when reading about the rally on Sunday to celebrate what it means to be Canadian, but troubled by the disrespectful action of stomping on the American flag. I could hear my Mom’ s voice saying, “two wrongs never make a right.”

I too the feel anger towards our neighbour to the south. But we must not stoop to the level of U.S. President Donald Trump’s put-downs and insults. We’re better than that.

Maureen Graf

Winnipeg

Living amid a trade war

Tough times for Canadians may become an understatement depending on the length and depth of this tariff war. It may take some creativity to weather the financial storm on a personal front, but there are numerous things we can do to ease the financial pain for ourselves and others. One of the best ways is having a realistic, personal or family budget, and consider changes that may lay ahead.

If you struggle to do this yourself, get help with it, and learn to live within it. A point in that is honestly identifying needs over wants, wants can usually wait, needs not so much, and you may require money you had put away for wants, to subsidize your needs. Look at used wants as an alternative, ( careful not to support crime by purchasing possibly stolen goods

Look around your home and identify stuff, many of us have too much of it. It may be stuff that grown kids left behind that you never parted with. Give them a chance to reclaim it, but after that, think about if you could sell it for a few dollars on line or in a garage sale. Some people will be looking for used as opposed to new, at a price they can afford. If you don’t need the money, donate it to a Goodwill, Salvation Army, a church or somewhere you know it will be passed on to, sold for a moderate price, and appreciated.

Bonus, your house will be decluttered. Recycle if it’s not of value. Governments are going to be spending a lot of money supporting workers and businesses, meaning money may be diverted from charities and such, public donations may be required more. to keep programs going. If you’re lucky enough to be able to afford it, consider helping out. Elbows up.

Ian Campbell

Winnipeg

Who stands to gain?

As the economy grapples with the fallout from recent tariffs, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the real victims are small businesses and everyday investors. While large corporations have the resources to absorb these increased costs or shift supply chains, smaller businesses—especially those with tight margins—are forced to raise prices or face potential closure. This burden disproportionately affects working-class folk, who are already struggling with inflation and job insecurity.

Meanwhile, the tariffs are sending shockwaves through the stock market, hitting retail-accessible stocks, small caps, and consumer-facing sectors the hardest. Many individual investors, including retirees, are seeing their portfolios shrink, while the wealthier few—those with the means to weather such storms — are poised to profit by buying up undervalued assets on the cheap.

This raises an uncomfortable question: Are these policy decisions, intentional or not, laying the groundwork for a new round of consolidation? With smaller businesses shuttering and accessible stocks tanking, larger corporations and hedge funds could easily scoop up distressed assets. This would further concentrate wealth and power, widening the gap between the rich and the rest of us.

As we navigate these turbulent times, I think we must ask ourselves whether the economic policies driving these tariffs are truly in the best interest of the people or if they are simply serving to enrich those already at the top.

Ben Duthoit

Winnipeg

Do away with Senate

Re: The modernization of the Senate (Think Tank, April 5)

I normally consider professor Paul Thomas’ political analysis highly informative and well thought out. He is an important contributor to political discourse both here in Manitoba and in Canada.

However, I strongly believe he missed the point in his recent column about the Senate. In my view the only way that Canadians would be better served would be to abolish the Senate entirely. Senators are unelected and are simply patronage appointments. Each senator is paid in excess of $170,000 as a base salary and receives over $240,000 for office expenses.

The total cost of running the Senate is in approximately $130 million per year. Canada in 2025 does nor need nor can afford the Senate.

Irwin Corobow

Winipeg

Collaborate to preserve

Re: A shared path: protecting land for future generations (Think Tank, March 29)

I grew up in the Interlake (on the west side) and know that resource use and conservation measures can bring with them many differing points of view and tensions. So it was not surprising, but nevertheless disappointing, to read about how a lack of communication and information regarding the establishment of Indigenous Protected and Conservation Areas can lead to misinformation and miscommunication and then distrust.

But what to do? Perhaps a way forward has been outlined by David Crate, Chief of the Fisher River Cree Nation, in his recent Think Tank piece. His basic premise seems to be the importance of recognizing that many people love the land and it’s about everyone who depends on these lands. Moreover, he notes the importance of finding a balance between conservation and resource extraction and thereby finding ways to support both economic prosperity and environmental stewardship.

As such, he is reaching out to his neighbours to develop a regionally tailored conservation proposal, a process, it would seem, that will only succeed if informed and shaped by local input. The best way forward, then, is likely one where all interested and concerned parties, especially those who are local, work together to protect and preserve what we all value.

Gerald Farthing

Winnipeg

Limit vehicle speeds

Re: We can do better than ‘Just Slow Down’ (Think Tank, April 5)

I agree entirely with Jeffrey Hodgins that road design in Winnipeg promotes speeding. However, I don’t believe that stretch of road could feel comfortable to anyone driving more than, say, 70 km/h. Anyone reasonable, that is. This is, of course, still far too fast for an urban neighbourhood.

In the recent case, the compounding issue is that there are vehicles on the road capable of driving over 200 km/h! How and why is this legal? There is frankly no need for a vehicle capable of driving faster than 120 or 130 km/h on any road in Canada.

Preventing high speeds is easily accomplished with speed governors, which ought to be installed on every new vehicle sold. Even better would be mandatory intelligent speed assist. This device can be used to actively limit a vehicle’s ability to speed.

We apparently can’t expect everybody to make reasonable decisions behind the wheel; therefore, we need to place limits on vehicles to make them safer for everyone.

Joshua Markham

Winnipeg