Letters, Jan. 20

Working on a safe, inclusive West Broadway

Most people in Winnipeg don’t realize the role that business improvement zones and their members play in shaping their day-to-day lives, even though the work is all around them. As we prepare to launch another major street improvement project, I want to share the story of a key supporter in the development of the West Broadway community.

At the West Broadway BIZ, of which I am executive director, we work in collaboration with business representatives, community partners, and the City of Winnipeg, to help support our community’s growth as a great neighbourhood to work and live. Our membership is made up of incredible businesses and organizations that are passionate about building community in this city. One of these members is Canada Life, which has been part of our West Broadway community since building its company headquarters here in 1957.

All the BIZ’s work is funded through a levy paid by local businesses. Their support provides infrastructure like bike racks and benches, extra lighting for safety, summer flowers, litter cleanup, and the public events that bring people together. When you enjoy a bright street or a community celebration, our local businesses, including Canada Life, helped make it happen.

Apart from being the largest employer in West Broadway, Canada Life has consistently supported our goal to create an inclusive, thriving community. Their growth over the years has and continues to shape our community today.

Commitment is measured in action, and their investments tell the story — like Building Blocks on Balmoral, a 100-space child-care centre that saved the historic Milner House and turned it into a modern, environmentally sustainable facility operated by YMCA-YWCA.

They’ve also championed inclusion, investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in Rainbow Resource Centre’s Place of Pride, Canada’s first dedicated LGBTTQ+ campus — located right here in West Broadway. Canada Life also makes its parking lot available for major events like the Manitoba Marathon, Santa Claus Parade, and Winnipeg Pride — and consistently offers free evening and weekend parking to support access to West Broadway’s businesses and restaurants.

If we want communities where families find care close to work, where LGBTTQ+ neighbours belong, and where businesses thrive, we must keep working together. Without investments from our member businesses, none of the work we do to improve our neighbourhood for residents, patrons, and visitors would be possible.

Real solutions emerge when we work together, and Canada Life is a great partner to have.

Eric Napier, Winnipeg

So much for ‘full’ service

Re: Flying the unfriendly, uncomfortable skies (Editorial, Jan. 19)

WestJet reducing legroom is not to allow lower fares it is to increase profitability for the airline. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the international governing body for the industry, used to decree that economy-class seat pitch was at 34 inches.

This was a long-accepted industry standard. The arrival of low-cost and ultra-low-cost carriers in Europe, who were not IATA members, created reduced legroom which people accepted to access lower fares. WestJet is not a low-cost or ultra-low-cost airline. It is a full-service carrier charging “regular” fares with already reduced services. No meals, a cup of tea or coffee and a cookie. I don’t know how Transport Canada can justify their decision to allow a 28-inch seat pitch for a full service carrier.

They are not governing as they should to protect passengers from the predatory actions of this industry in Canada. We already pay some of the world’s highest airfares and services are constantly being reduced.

It is a very sad situation.

Gerry Ward, Winnipeg

Ford’s selfishness

Re: Ford, Unifor sound alarm over China EV deal (Jan. 16)

Ontario Premier Doug Ford needs to chill out and realize the country doesn’t revolve around Ontario.

First he blows the trade negotiations with his TV ad, then throws Manitoba under the bus by removing Crown Royal from Ontario shelves over losing 168 jobs when they moved the bottling plant to the U.S. Now he throws a fit over the trade deal with China that only restores the EV imports that existed before Trudeau imposed the tariffs to be in solidarity with the U.S. in return for tariff relief for canola farmers and lobster fishermen. All the EVs made in Ontario right now are taxpayer-subsidized hybrids and commercial vehicles that are sold at prices many Canadians can’t afford.

Maybe not so bad to get some affordable EVs and force the big automakers to compete. It’s bad enough that Ontario and Quebec most of the big taxpayer subsidized companies and projects but now Ford seems to want it all and to hell with the rest of Canada.

Jason Sudyn, Winnipeg

Fighting for a better climate

Re: A visit to Manitoba’s dystopian future (Think Tank, Jan. 16)

Scott Forbes paints a pretty bleak future, I suppose it is also a not-so-oblique criticism of the current government. Forbes is an ecologist with what appears to be a very depressing view of the future. I am a retired engineer and where Forbes sees problems, I see solutions.

These include diversifying our energy sources, energy efficiency, designing structures that don’t degrade permafrost or rely on it for structural support, and using our water and wastewater resources to their highest and best use, to name a few.

As Forbes alludes, there are many practices that are contributing to global warming and not all of them are within our control. However there is much that can be done to mitigate warming and its consequences. It just takes time and money, and the time for governments to start taking the time and committing the resources is now.

Tom Pearson, Winnipeg

Making streets safer

Re: It’s time for a Ness Avenue redesign (Think Tank, Jan. 16)

This is a fantastic article, and raises many valid points about the street design that are true not just for Ness Ave, but for many streets across Winnipeg. For far too long, the city has been designing long, straight, and wide streets that encourage speeding and dangerous behaviour. It results in far, far too many traffic deaths each year in the city.

It’s high time that the city changes how it looks at streets to make them a better place to be for cyclists, pedestrians, and transit users, so that everyone can enjoy the city and make good use of everything it has too offer. Tyler offers a great starting point for how the city should approach this.

Kele Schreckenbach, Winnipeg

Future advantages

Re: Quebec civility rules won’t be adopted in Manitoba schools (Jan. 18)

Lately, the media and official sources have bemoaned the 15-to-24-year-olds’ bleak job prospects. So, let’s consider a scenario wherein equally qualified members of that unfortunate cohort interview for a job.

Some of those interviewees instinctively and/or automatically address prospective employers by honorifics and surnames. Others address those self-same prospective employers by their given names.

My best guess is that the honorifics and surnames candidates might have given themselves an advantage in the recruitment process.

So, what’s my point? It would be (just saying, of course) that there’s a point at which schools and teachers need to consider attuning their policies to the world that their students will face on leaving school, rather than to an idealized world.

Edward Bricknell, Toronto, Ont.