Letters, July 22

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/07/2022 (1464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Senator still stirring the pot

Re: Tory senator picks side in leadership battle (July 18)

Conservative Sen. Don Plett has decided to use his position to stir the pot in the CPC leadership race. He just couldn’t leave it alone.

Plett couldn’t help telling us we are a “woke” society (whatever that means) and that we need to get back to the “good old days” of Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney. So in he went with two feet.

This is the same Don Plett who, in 2020, recommended another four years of Donald Trump, saying it would be good for Canada and the world. He obviously wishes that kind of divisive politics on Canada, something most Canadians — the quiet ones who get on with things, and don’t claim entitlement — do not want.

So where does that leave us? Like it or not, we need a right-of-centre party that is strong, but has a heart and cares about all Canadians. One that holds the government to account or, when elected, governs for us all.

Sadly, that party doesn’t exist anymore.

John Dillon

Winnipeg

It was indeed refreshing to hear that Conservative Sen. Don Plett came out of the woodwork to to endorse Pierre Poilievre to lead the CPC into the upcoming election. We need to send Prime Minister Justin Trudeau packing, and only Poilievre can be the one to do just that.

Art Rempel

Steinbach

Re: War on empathy (Letters, July 20)

I applaud Robbie Scott’s excellent analysis of the comment made by Sen. Don Plett regarding his support of Pierre Poilievre.

With half of the Conservative MPs also choosing to support Poilievre, it is clear this party has an agenda that does not have the best interests of all Canadians at heart, but only a select few. And those select few would like to see the rest of us at their mercy.

Judith Doctoroff

Winnipeg

I am pleased to see the majority of Manitoba’s Conservative MPs are supporting bilingual party leadership candidates. It goes without saying that in order to form government the leader of the party, who would be prime minister, must be fluent in both French and English.

Ted Falk, a social conservative supporting Leslyn Lewis, also a social conservative, is wasting his ballot. Although Lewis, a sitting MP and well-educated lawyer with a PhD in international law, is duly qualified, her fluency in French is dismal.

Terry Meindl

Teulon

Mixing meds, plants can be dangerous

I enjoyed reading the article Practising a healthy harvest (July 18). Many of our modern drugs found their origins in native remedies.

My only concern with the article was that a caution was not included to consult your physician or pharmacist before trying native medicinal plants, as in some cases, they would be contraindicated if a person was taking certain prescribed medicines.

Michael Dowling

Winnipeg

Buses essential for low-income citizens

Re: Transit plan must address riders’ immediate concerns (July 9)

This editorial does a fantastic job of addressing the concerns of the wealthy and upper-middle class, while completely ignoring the population that relies on its services most. The article cites real and serious problems within the city and the transit system regarding rising violence and high transit-worker turnover. However, it chooses to blame low-income and homeless individuals by antagonizing occupants of bus shelters.

While Winnipeggers might be cold or bothered by the heat while waiting for a bus without a shelter, those same Winnipeggers may return to comfortable homes, while shelters are some individuals’ most comfortable “housing.” The editorial team refers to our transit system as a “last resort” for transportation, but for the growing number in the city, it is their only resort.

The safety concerns bus riders have are legitimate, but the addition of security and enforcement of pay will not stop people from occupying public spaces, and will not stop violence from occurring. We spend time and money debating bus shelter occupation, funding the police and hiring security services, while housing, safe substance-use sites and mental-health supports are overlooked. These supports are often the key to reducing the amount of people in need of shelter, which bus shelters provide. As for the violence and crime, the funding of mental-health supports and addictions services is crucial in reducing it.

The attitude of those who are not experiencing poverty is to hide poverty, but it doesn’t go away. Poverty manifests in more extreme ways, as we are beginning to see with the occupation of bus shelters. Anti-homeless infrastructure doesn’t eliminate homelessness; the same will be true of buses, as public attention turns to reducing them from buses as well. Financially and socially, addressing issues of homelessness and poverty is the only way to truly reduce many of the concerns detailed in the editorial.

The Winnipeg Transit Master Plan details plans to focus energy on the WINNpass for lower-income individuals, while simultaneously alienating them by promising the reduction of physical bus fare and cash. Digitizing bus fare is not only detrimental to low-income folks without access to technology, but also many members of the aging population. If low-income individuals cannot travel to access services they need, they will have to function without them, which is a tragedy and perpetuates the issues in the transit system.

Seeing the problems occurring on transit purely as an issue of a deterrent for potential upper-middle class riders is inherently classist, and lacks any regard for lower-income folks in our city.

Roan Regan

Winnipeg

Bully for boulevards

I’m sure we’ve all noticed city workers on riding mowers on various boulevards. They get to the site either by driving the mower, or unloading it from a truck (which then blocks traffic). Usually, the boulevard growth only looks shorter — but not better — once they’ve finished.

Lately, I’ve noticed some boulevards are being left to grow, with just a lawnmower-sized strip beside the road. They look lovely — less maintenance and time, less fossil-fuel use, more natural, more diversity.

I recommend implementing that policy on most boulevards, with the surface of the narrow ones (less than three metres wide) being replaced with wood chips from all the trees that are taken down by construction or breakage, or as a result of infestation.

Jean Altemeyer

Winnipeg

Fossil-fuelling debate

Re: High gas prices are what Trudeau wants (July 20)

This piece is oil propaganda disguised as “opinion.” It’s not just Justin Trudeau who wants high gas prices; it’s everyone who cares about climate change.

The short-term inflation we’re dealing with now is not an excuse to cut the carbon tax seeing as we’re going to burning ourselves out of a livelihood in a matter of decades. The future is not oil; it’s in renewable energy and sustainable business development.

Instead of calling for the removal of the carbon tax, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation should be asking for redirecting of any funding of oil projects to green initiatives that help people make the switch.

When will the Free Press and others realize the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is just another head-in-the-sand organization without any new ideas worth bringing to the public’s attention? Stop giving them a platform.

Mitchell Braun

Winnipeg