Letters, May 1

Make the most of the daytime

I read with interest Wab Kinew’s deliberations on moving away from seasonal time changes. I would hope he takes into consideration that we emerge from six months of cold and darkness in the winter and the thought of losing another hour during the few nice months of the year in spring and summer that we have here is extremely depressing and short-sighted.

Save our one extra hour to enjoy, as we have few little things to celebrate in this day and age. While appreciating all the “experts” that weigh in on advocating for standard time, we need to be cognizant of the seasons and the reduction in outdoor time this would produce in the very few summer months we have and maximize it where possible.

David Tardi

Winnipeg

Isn’t it ironic

It seems the federal Liberal government has discarded the longtime Canadian governance motto, “peace, order and good government,” in favour of “government by irony.”

This government demonstrates its fiscal responsibility by ignoring an opportunity to address the budget deficit and debt by increasing spending. This government pledges to reduce the size of the civil service by creating new departments with bloated budgets, which will deliver services that will no longer be required by the time they are delivered by the extant bloated bureaucracy.

The government prioritizes permanent housing to address a temporary housing shortage (ironically created by government) in a country with a stagnant, soon to be declining population. By the time the housing proposed by this government is built, it will no longer be needed. In the meantime, homelessness is ignored.

The government prioritizes oil and gas pipelines in a country without a national electricity grid, in a world that is fast decarbonizing.

The prime minister focuses on creating international trade agreements in a country where interprovincial free trade does not exist; to which only lip service is paid; where a solution requires decisive federal leadership.

The government doubles and then triples defence spending — to protect us from a country that was once our closest ally, but who is now the biggest threat to our sovereignty — by spending billions on airplanes build by our former ally, which can be disabled by our new enemy with the push of a Pentagon button.

This is in a world where $25,000 drones and shoulder-fired missiles have rendered the technically marvellous airplanes redundant. The government lavishes spending on a defence department which took decades to replace a few helicopters, which spent billions on used submarines that have spent three times as much of their service lives on dry land versus the ocean.

This is a government that has amassed significant political equity, in a country where the will for meaningful change is strong. Our ironic government addresses the human, economic and ethical need for health-care reform; seizes the opportunity for economic benefits of tax reform and simplification of the tax code; fulfils the country’s moral, economic and legal obligation to abolish the anachronistic Indian Act; exploits the obvious benefits to economic security of a national energy grid; reduces the burden on the taxpayer of expenditures like OAS benefits for the well off, tax breaks for special interests and corporate subsidies — by maintaining the status quo, by doing nothing.

The greatest irony is that the more the federal Liberals practice government by irony, the more popular the government and the prime minister become, and the more the opposition from right and left weaken. Ironic.

Robert Sproule

Winnipeg

Inaccurate numbers

Re: Day of Mourning held for workers (April 29)

The death and injury data given in this article paints a tragic picture in that they are preventable, but at the same time the data given is over-optimistic.

Traditionally, our knowledge of workplace injury and occupational disease is based on injuries as defined by the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) legislation. These occupational diseases are illnesses about which the WCB was notified and that were accepted by the WCB.

The common rule of thumb for many years was that while such data is a fair estimate of workplace injuries, it misses 70 to 90 per cent of illnesses. The World Health Organization calls these unrecognized deaths and illnesses work-related illnesses. These are workers who die in hospitals or at home after a long illness. They do not die in the workplace that gave them the illness.

This measurement error can result in a misunderstanding of workplace safety and health, leading to misplaced resources and misdirected activity that can have adverse effects on workers, industry, and society as a whole.

Work-related disease covers a broader range of diseases than occupational disease, it encompasses all diseases where work is a contributory cause. In some cases, a work-related factor may be the only cause of the disease, but it is much more common for work-related aspects to increase the risk of disease together with other factors.

In addition, work-related factors often aggravate an already existing disease. The work-related factors may not be the sole or even the main cause of illness or death, but they are contributory and affect the well-being of workers.

There are many more deaths due to occupational disease than there are to acute hazards such a slips, trips, or falls.

However, the number of deaths recognized as occupational disease (seven reported in the article in Manitoba) is much less than the more accurate number of fatal work-related diseases estimated to be over 400 in Manitoba. Over 200 of these are estimated to be preventable cancer deaths.

It is important to have a clear understanding of work-related diseases if we are to protect Manitoba workers. The use of occupational disease data based on accepted insurance claims is optimistic and limits any attempt to improve working conditions.

John Elias

Winnipeg

What’s the point of the season?

The CFL is changing their playoff format so that eight of the nine teams in the league make the playoffs.

Who is making these decisions? Probably the same one who is trying his best to Americanize our unique football league.

My question would be why even have a regular season if eight out of nine teams make the playoffs? Just have all the teams make the playoffs and start them on the first game of the season. Have a 21-game playoff and while you’re at it switch to four downs to complete the destruction.

Ken McLean

Starbuck