FP Letters and Comments

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/04/2016 (3807 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Protect wetlands

Re: Flooding or Drought? Probably (April 1)

Bartley Kives does a great job describing the social and economic consequences of past floods as well as our ever-increasing vulnerability to future flood events. Kives’s article reminds me that each of the 2011 and 2014 events resulted in over one-million acres of agricultural land going unseeded or flooded, negatively impacting our economy in excess of $1 billion each time. Given that recent research from the University of Saskatchewan confirms that wetland drainage increased the 2011 flood peak by 32 per cent, Manitobans should be particularly disappointed that Bill 5 — the Surface Water Management Act — died on the order paper at the hands of our legislature during the last session.

The federal parliamentary budget office should also be disappointed given it recently noted the lack of provincial policies contributes to prairie flooding and costs the federal government too much in disaster assistance. If Kives is suggesting our next provincial government implement adaptation strategies, such as wetland protection policies as a more sustainable approach to tackling future flooding than the much costlier mitigation announcements, I think taxpayers would support that wholeheartedly.

Scott Stephens

Ducks Unlimited Canada

 

 

Children’s lives at stake

Rana Bohkari must give fine details on how her campaign promise to reduce the number of children in care by 50 per cent. This province is still reeling from the Phoenix Sinclair atrocity and the 100-day inquiry that followed. Bokhari must ensure changes to the system come with safeguards to guarantee children’s overall safety, full governmental responsibility and criminal liability for any failures in the system. Her radical suggestion could see some children dropping through deep cracks in the system.

How many Phoenix Sinclair incidents are waiting over the horizon if the Bokhari Liberals are given the opportunity to form government and radically change the CFS system without any safety nets in place? Indigenous candidates are not credible authorities on CFS systems.

Gerald McIvor

Winnipeg

 

Who knows best?

Robert Galston hits the nail on the head in his piece explaining to us why the area south of Corydon Avenue requires rezoning and why opponents are not only misguided, but dangerous. Galston’s logic is unassailable. He rightly points out that “theoretical benefits” should not take a back seat to “practical concerns,” particularly the concerns of the area residents “sent to the barricades” by the proposal. The idea that residents could understand these benefits and should have a say in what happens in their neighbourhood is patently absurd. I mean how could a young family or someone who has been a resident in the area for 30 or 40 years know what’s best for the neighbourhood? These are probably the same people who join together and band the trees on their block, a quaint neighbourly activity that may have been popular in pioneer days but has no place in today’s modern world. What’s next, block parties?

Surely developers, politicians, planners and absentee landlords know what’s right; after all, they’ve never been wrong before.

Fred Vatnsdal

Winnipeg

 

 

Jones misses the point

Re: The thin veneer of reconciliation (March 29).

Eslytt Jones took it upon herself to rise to the righteous defence of Wab Kinew. At what point in his comments did Gordon Sinclair ever attribute Kinew’s behaviour to his ethnicity? I find no evidence in his article of Jones’ statement that Sinclair paints Kinew as “simply one layer of white civilization… from brawling brutality.” The comment, in my opinion, seems to make her a little overly impressed with white civilization.

I think the readers might have been better served if, instead of jumping on the politically correct bandwagon, Jones had put Sinclair’s comments to a rather simple acid test. Would Sinclair have written the same things about someone who is not aboriginal? Would Sinclair have reported receiving the same level of hostility from a Manitoban of any other background? We cannot attest to the accuracy of Sinclair’s assessment of Kinew, but I am fairly certain of the reporting we would have received. Personally, I applaud Kinew and all of his efforts to move forward with his life, as I am sure many do, but I still find his commentary tweeting from the back of his limo (#haha) deplorable.

Jones’ “thin veneer” seems to want to paint Kinew more and more the token Sinclair went out of his way to state that Kinew is not. Further, as far as being entitled to “righteous rage” is concerned, Jones might want to pay attention to those survivors of residential school who have taught all of us that their survival and ultimate success have been based far more on enduring patience and the willingness to heal and share the healing process.

Stuart Alcorn

Southport

 

 

Lawyers play the game

I could not be more in agreement with the editorial Time to reform Canada’s legal system (March 26). My personal experience with the legal system has been with family law.

Early in my nightmarish experience, I was informed by a member of the legal profession that when it comes to family law, lawyers have “a game plan, just like a football game.” This appears to be in complete contradiction to family conciliation, which states that one parent has no more right to the child than the other, and decisions are made in the best interest of the child.

For many years, our family-law system has been described as being in “a state of crisis.” In 1998, a parliamentary report called For the Sake of the Children: Report of the Special Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access was put forth. Yet 18 years later, not one of its 48 recommendations has been made into law.

Dolores Belot

Winnipeg

 

Horrible way to die

Re: Woman died of brain aneurysm after spending hours curled up on ER floor (April 4).

What a shame, no one needs to die like that. Hospitals have to do better.

— steve jackson

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This problem is rampant not only in Manitoba, but in other provinces as well. If they cannot hire more doctors, they should hire more nurses and allow them greater responsibility.

There are so often such obvious issues in the ER, such as someone having a potential break, someone who is in with a cut wondering if they need stitches, etc. If the nurses could clear these patients out or get them rolling with X-rays, look to determine if stitches are needed etc., this would move things along so much more quickly. How often are we now seeing patients come in and get registered without vitals being taken right away? Two to three hours later finally being called in only to have vitals checked and sent back to the waiting room finally triaged. All this to buy them time.

Another thought would be requiring every practising doctor to put in a week every year working in the ER. This would ensure coverage and move things along. These beds they say they are short of are so often just because the patient is sitting for several hours just waiting to be discharged.

The provinces need to get their acts together, cut salaries at the top and invest the money where it is needed.

—208604

 

Welcome to Canada

Re: Gay student avoids deportation to Muslim home country (April 4).

Congrats to this brave man for staying true to who he is, and being able to move on from an intolerant culture to a tolerant one.

— The Likeable Atheist

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Welcome to freedom and safety, Hazim. In Canada, you are at little risk of being persecuted or suffering physical harm due to your orientation.

But being subjected to the ignorance and intolerance of some, that’s another story. Example? Read the comments of some of the trolls we have to tolerate and accept in Canada.

Such is the true price of freedom. We must bear the nauseatingly unbearable.

— Wasn’t me