Letters, Oct. 30

A shameful legacy

Re: Stefanson’s legacy tarnished in absence of apology (Oct. 29)

Bravo to Tom Brodbeck for his strongly expressed column regarding former premier Heather Stefanson’s legacy of lack of integrity.

She has not admitted she (and others) broke the political law of the “caretaker convention,” after she lost the election. Nor has she offered an apology for trying to push through a license for a mining project after she became a lame-duck leader. A mere $18,000 fine was but a slap on the wrist in light of her family income and investments. Shame!

But there is another matter of lack of ethics that I remember from her election campaign. Her refusal to search the landfill for the bodies of two Indigenous woman was both a racial statement and unwise. I remember bold advertisements in opposition to the search that she and the current Progressive Conservative leader endorsed. Hurrah for Premier Wab Kinew who went ahead with the search at much less expense than expected to help family members in their grieving.

I write as a former United Church minister of 30 years and a person who has been enriched by Indigenous Spirituality. Chi miigwech.

John Wesley Oldham

Winnipeg

Heather Stefanson no longer cares about her political reputation; she has moved on.

Her current gigs include directorships at Canada Packers, WestJet and Forthlane Partners. Canada Packers indicated that their mind was unchanged by the findings of the Manitoba ethics investigation.

Many Manitobans are, and will continue to be, extremely disappointed in the face of Stefanson’s epic ethical lapses. Apparently Stefanson, and many in the business world, need to catch up.

Concepts such as ethics, moral authority and integrity may be irrelevant to our former premier, but they are fundamental to most of us. Ultimately, karma will catch up with Stefanson.

Lynn Silver

Winnipeg

Rights matter

Re: “Poor judgment” (Letters, Oct. 29)

I write in defence of Judge Dale Harvey’s comments on bail. I find it appalling that a social media algorithm can have citizens up in arms about an issue that really isn’t an issue on the grand scale of things. Would you throw a barrel of apples out if a couple were rotten?

We have citizens demanding that other citizens have their Charter rights revoked. I say to those who are making these demands, you should put your money where your mouth is and voluntarily give up your Charter rights first. Perhaps then once you’ve prevented yourselves from voting (Charter right No. 3) we could elect progressive governments for the first time at all three levels.

Jamie Bonner

Winnipeg

Problematic clause

Re: Time to limit the notwithstanding clause (Editorial, Oct. 29)

The notwithstanding clause does not just need limits, it needs to be undone.

Canadians should be outraged that any of our provincial governments would seek to pass laws that knowingly violate our Charter rights, and seek to eliminate court challenges to further define and protect said rights.

Furthermore, it is merely convention that prevents our federal government from using it to trample the rights of all Canadians; as we have seen in America under Trump, convention is no guardrail against those that view rights as an impediment to their power and ambition.

Kelsey Enns

Winnipeg

The editorial asks: “So just how cheap are your human rights if you happen to live in Alberta?”

About as cheap as if you live in Quebec, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. And if the notwithstanding clause can be used in those provinces, it can happen here in Manitoba too.

While Premier Wab Kinew is absolutely way ahead of the other premiers in taking a principled approach to protecting out Charter rights, Bill 50 doesn’t do enough.

Requiring a government to refer any legislation using the notwithstanding clause to the Court of Appeal within 90 days so that it can seek an opinion on whether the legislation violates the Charter, and if the legislation is justified under Section 1 of our Charter, only allows for the electorate to be better informed. It doesn’t do anything to remedy how easy it is to use the notwithstanding clause to remove our rights.

We also need the guardrail of requiring a two-thirds majority vote to invoke the notwithstanding clause.

Bill 50 will also suffer from the weakness of any provincial legislation, in that a future government can just vote Bill 50 out of existence.

Bill 50 needs to include a constitutional amendment under section 43 of the 1982 Constitution Act so that it would then take both Parliament and the provincial legislature to repeal the bill.

Our Charter rights are only going to be as good as the people willing to uphold those rights. These limits might be strong enough to protect our Charter until we have leaders willing to protect our rights instead of putting their agendas ahead of our rights.

Chris Barsanti

Grosse Isle

Pandemic in our parks

While few have noticed, an alien is taking over our city parks. Take a walk in Assiniboine Park this month to see the evidence. Buckthorn (rhamnus cathartica) is the lush green shrub growth under the trees.

While most native species are dropping their leaves and showing fall colours, buckthorn remains green because it is adapted to its place of origin. Forested areas and many shrub beds contain European buckthorn in the form of tall shrubs and legions of seedlings. This plant is green, so does it really matter?

Yes, it does. Buckthorn replaces our native species (dogwood, chokecherry, arrowood, highbush cranberry, etc.) so necessary to birds and other wildlife, as well as bird watchers. At the same time it takes over the forest, buckthorn changes the soil it grows on so that it will be inhospitable to the native plants, should they be replaced, and to the seedlings of native species. How will young trees replace the aging ones?

Birds distribute European buckthorn by eating the berries and “delivering” them wherever they perch. The shrub itself is not eaten by deer who browse enthusiastically on native species. It is safe to say that the eating habits of our huge deer population accelerates the takeover by buckthorn. While it is not the only invasive species to threaten natural areas in Winnipeg, buckthorn presents, perhaps, the most difficult issues for management. Wikipedia describes the issues in detail.

The survival of Winnipeg’s urban forests and the wildlife they support is threatened by European buckthorn. Toronto employs goats as an eco-friendly management tool, as do some jurisdictions in the U.S. Midwest to reduce the impact of this plant. Winnipeg, and especially Assiniboine Park, could benefit from the experience of those jurisdictions.

Cynthia Cohlmeyer

Winnipeg

Punish Trump on trade

The solution to U.S. President Donald Trump’s childish tantrums and antics is quite simple.

Don’t buy anything from the U.S., and don’t sell anything to the U.S. Turn off his lights. Cancel his orders for oil and other raw materials. Let him grovel in the dirt like a punished child. We can establish new markets for our products.

We can buy anything and everything we will need from other sources.

Bernard Struch

Winnipeg