Letters, May 7

Task of great magnitude

Re: Speed up camp removals, city told (May 5)

The magnitude of Winnipeg’s encampment problem, homelessness, and need for housing is grossly underestimated by those offering solutions, such as housing occupants before camps are removed. All plans assume a static number of individuals homeless at a specific point in time. But that number does not take into account turnover and the influx of new people at risk of homelessness.

Statistics Canada reports that almost 23,000 people migrated to Winnipeg from other parts of Manitoba between 2021 and 2024, three quarters of them from very small communities and rural areas. Such newcomers to Winnipeg by definition will have left family homes behind along with homes of relatives and friends who might offer shelter in emergencies. Other social supports will also be lost.

Many newcomers likely choose Winnipeg in search of work lacking in their home communities only to be disappointed by a shortage of jobs, in some cases because people arrive without relevant skills, education or experience. They find themselves in desperate circumstances alone in a strange city completely wanting of financial and other resources.

With an already strained capacity to support its current population, Winnipeg faces an overwhelming job and will struggle to absorb many hundreds of individuals, or more, arriving every year without the means to house themselves. Current proposals do not appreciate the magnitude of the task and are woefully inadequate.

Jim Clark

Winnipeg

Foolish cut

Re: Federal government simply shifting costs (May 5)

I agree entirely with your editorial deploring the imposition of fees for health benefits of refugees. Your arguments on the basis of humanitarian and compassionate reasons for the refugee and financial and capacity reasons for provincial health systems are well-founded.

However, there is another equally important reason: Canadian public health. Any person who cannot access health care and is contagious poses a health risk to us all. Providing free health care to refugees used to be understood to be, not only a humanitarian act, but also an act of “enlightened self-interest.”

In fact, the requirement is embodied in the objectives of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Section 3 (2) (g) of the Act states that, with respect to refugees, the Act is “to protect the health and safety of Canadians and to maintain the security of Canadian society;”

The budget item cutting the health benefits to refugees is misguided, foolish and contrary to the intent of Canada’s immigration legislation.

Robert Vineberg

Winnipeg

Bad timing

Re: Manitoba commits $15 million to revamp the Pantages Playhouse Theatre (May 5)

I am writing to express serious concern regarding the province’s decision to allocate approximately $15 million in public funds toward the redevelopment of a theatre space for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

At a time when many Manitobans, particularly those in northern and remote communities, are facing disproportionately high grocery costs and, in some cases, ongoing lack of access to safe, reliable drinking water, this funding decision appears deeply misaligned with pressing public needs. These are not abstract policy concerns; they are daily realities affecting health, dignity and basic quality of life.

Equally troubling is the condition of the Manitoba Centennial Centre Concert Hall, a provincially owned facility originally designed to house the WSO. This crown asset has been in need of critical upgrades for years, including long-standing issues with its orchestra shell repairs that industry professionals have indicated could be addressed within a similar budget range.

Instead, the current plan effectively diverts public funds toward a private organization’s capital project while a significant public venue across the street continues to deteriorate. From a governance and fiscal responsibility standpoint, this raises difficult questions about asset stewardship, prioritization and long-term value for Manitobans.

Investing in arts and culture is important. However, doing so at the expense of essential infrastructure both social and public undermines public confidence and suggests a troubling imbalance in priorities.

I urge the government to reconsider this allocation and to evaluate whether these funds would be more appropriately directed toward: addressing urgent infrastructure gaps in northern communities, particularly access to clean water; mitigating the rising cost of basic necessities such as food; and restoring and maintaining existing public cultural assets like the Centennial Concert Hall.

Manitobans deserve transparent, equitable and responsible use of public funds, especially in times when so many are struggling with basic needs.

Brian Mann

Winnipeg

The beauty of the watershed

Re: Manitoba puts up $4 million to protect Seal River watershed (April 17)

I am writing today to lend my support to the protection of the beautiful Seal River watershed. This huge 50,000 square-kilometre wilderness area untouched by development, is one of the last intact landscapes on Earth.

It is also a living representative of the ancient cultural and natural history of Manitoba. I am so proud to have an opportunity to join Indigenous leaders, fellow naturalists, and the governments of Manitoba and Canada in advocating for its protection.

The wetlands, forests and rivers it contains help to keep the environment healthy by fixing carbon and replenishing aquifers and rivers with clean water, as well as supporting many species of animals and plants and their habitat. The area contains 300 species at risk including small round-leaved orchid (galearis rotundifolia), fairy-slipper orchid (calypso bulbosa), early coralroot (corallorhiza trifida), northern twayblade (neottia borealis) and white adder’s mouth (malaxis monophyllos). Barren ground caribou, grayling, sturgeon, harbour seals, polar bears, beluga whales and lesser yellowlegs are a few of the other rare species found there.

It is no accident that this huge wilderness still remains intact. It has been protected by Indigenous people since time immemorial and local Manitobans of all kinds, fisherman, trappers, hunters, lodge owners, naturalists and tourists, since pioneer days. It’s just such a source of pride to know that we have retained such an exquisite and priceless part of nature for all to enjoy. Because of this long history I don’t think any of us have to worry about losing access to it or of local people being shut out of consultations as to its management.

Let us take our place in history as people who cared enough to protect this beautiful and rare part of Earth while we still could and simply because it was the right thing to do.

Doris Ames

Winnipeg