Letters, March 23

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/03/2021 (1838 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Power to the parents

Re: Expertise should guide schools plan (Opinion, March 20)

The parent-oriented column by Carl DeGurse was informative. Should parents be given more power in relation to educators? As a person affiliated with education for many years and a taxpayer, I believe this change is necessary.

The proposed overhaul of Manitoba’s educational system empowers families. The proposed community councils will make parents more involved, give them more input into their children’s education and let them assess the effectiveness of school programming. This team perspective is very important for the wellbeing of students.

It’s vital to shift resources from boardroom to classroom, focus on special-needs students and improve student outcomes through an emphasis on curriculum development.

I strongly support the plan to increase the role of parents in decision-making within the school community setting. It is time for a change.

Peter J. Manastyrsky, Winnipeg

 

As an educator, it is my job to provide my students with the best possible education I can give them. My knowledge of how to deliver this doesn’t come from being a parent, it comes from my extensive studies in education, my three university degrees and, most importantly, my hands-on experience planning, delivering and adapting my lessons to fit the needs of my ever-changing classroom and students.

Carl DeGurse states “parents should be involved and supportive, but it’s teachers who know what to teach and how to teach it.” This is a concept that seems to have escaped our current government. Simply put, they need to go back to the drawing board.

Randi Paton, West St. Paul

 

I also have a great deal of skepticism about how the community council representation will work. Parental input is important, but the majority of parents are not experts on educational theory, budgeting and human-resource management.

I have concerns that a mainly appointed board will be subject to influences that are largely politically and ideologically driven, and will have the ultimate and centralized power over all educational decisions.

Judy Parker, Winnipeg

 

Does anyone really believe that this government overseeing education will really listen to parent advisory groups? I agree that education needs reform, but this bill does not meet the educational needs of our young, our educators and the general public. It is far too restrictive.

Joy Lussier, Winnipeg

 

Toronto Star welcomed

Re: Free Press teams up with Toronto Star (March 20)

Having moved to Winnipeg from Toronto a couple of years ago, The Star was my daily newspaper while I resided there. So I was happy to read about the content-sharing agreement between the Free Press and the Star. It is a very good newspaper and, however much I enjoy reading the Free Press, I do miss the Star. And, yes, Toronto desperately needs news items from Winnipeg and elsewhere in the West.

I hope you share each other’s columnists as well as news stories. I would like to see Rosie DiManno’s column in your fine newspaper. With all due respect to your writers, she is, in my opinion, one of the best columnists I have ever read, if not the best.

Gilles Roch, Winnipeg

 

China criticism hypocritical

Re: PM decries China’s secrecy after Canadian’s trial (March 20)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has the audacity to denounce China’s “lack of transparency,” yet he didn’t hesitate to prorogue Parliament to shut down probes by the finance and ethics committees investigating shady government contracts with the WE Charity and other untendered contracts given to Liberal insiders. And here’s a government that hasn’t tabled a budget in two years. Canadians are in the dark as to how deep in debt we really are.

When it comes to lacking transparency, this Liberal government could give the Chinese a good run for their money any day.

Bill Parkes, Winnipeg

 

For more than two years, Canadians have been hearing about Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig being detained on trumped-up charges in China and now having to appear in court without any transparency.

I believe our Canadian government should place Meng Wanzhou in a jail cell until the Michaels are returned to Canada, never mind house arrest in a million-dollar home in Vancouver. As far as Huawei products, either phones or 5G network, ban them in Canada.

Claude Ruest, Winnipeg

 

Hike standards for city jobs

Re: Diversity lacking at City of Winnipeg (March 20)

A report from the city’s human rights committee cites women, persons living with disabilities, Indigenous and racialized persons as underrepresented in employment at the city.

I’m not against that, but what I’m not seeing in reaction to this report is a focus on qualified employees. How good are these people at their jobs? I think many folks would prefer we hire the right people rather than the right-looking people for city staffing.

Let’s start with making public-sector jobs a higher standard to apply for: better education requirements, more related work experience, less promotion from within if more qualified candidates present themselves, and ideally an ombudsperson to oversee this process and review it yearly. To make determinations on job performance, I’m sure there will be more than enough public feedback to draw from in complaints to 311, city email boxes and in the media.

Will Jones, Winnipeg

 

Roussin before teachers

Re: Photograph of Dr. Brent Roussin getting his vaccine shot (March 20)

I think it’s nice that Dr. Roussin received his vaccine but, unfortunately, our teachers continue to wait. The variant is now making its way into our school system and yet there is no word on when our teachers will get their first shot. Teachers have been on the front line since day one and have risked much to make sure their students receive the education they deserve.

Leah Durham, Winnipeg

 

Hydro jobs enviable

Re: Hydro offer reprehensible (Letter, March 20)

Letter writer Tom Pearson expresses support for striking Hydro workers and notes, “They worked extraordinary hours in difficult conditions to get the lights back on after the last ice storm” and says he wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t do it again.

Let’s hope they would do it again. They are well paid with a defined-benefit pension plan, which is now virtually unheard of in the private sector, to do that exact job. If they choose not to do it, there would be a lineup a mile long of well-qualified people to apply for the jobs. If they are without a contract, that is the union’s fault, not Premier Brian Pallister’s.

James Roberts, Winnipeg

 

Porcine egalitarianism

Re: Living like pigs (Letter, March 18)

Responding to letter writer Dan Herzog, who noted people who litter are acting like pigs, let’s not forget what Winston Churchill said about pigs: “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”

Ed McKenna, Winnipeg