Letters, Sept. 26

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This article was published 26/09/2022 (1346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Voters await party at centre

Re: Behold the transformation of Poilievre (Opinion, Sept. 23)

Tom Brodbeck’s column is an excellent discussion of the dynamics of the Conservative Party.

It is no secret the policy positions needed to win the party leadership are different from those required to win a general election. The fate of Peter MacKay and Jean Charest highlights what becomes of a candidate who supports progressive conservatism in this hard-edged world of right-wing populism.

Yet the transformation noted by Brodbeck is not peculiar to the Conservative Party. A candidate for the NDP leadership must adopt a stringent left-wing stance to win the position, then must peddle toward the centre to have any hope of winning a respectable number of seats.

The only party which escapes this transformation is the Liberal Party. This is because the Liberals have no ideological positions to betray. They simply adopt policies which are currently popular and then drop those policies immediately once they are perceived as unpopular.

The Liberal Party of Canada is the ideal ruling party for this disposable society.

Kurt Clyde

Winnipeg

Thank you, Tom Brodbeck, for pointing out that Pierre Poilievre is much like that former president south of us, who changes his mind with the frequency of diapers.

Barry Craig

Winnipeg

ArriveCAN appreciated

Re: United in disdain for outdated ArriveCAN app (Editorial, Sept. 22)

One can usually rely on the Free Press editorial to provide a well-informed window on a compelling topic of the day. Not so on Friday.

The purpose of the ArriveCAN app was to reinforce caution about the transmission of COVID-19 by restricting the travel of unvaccinated. After the many months of editor Paul Samyn preaching prudence in his nightly newsletter, it seems like an odd choice to vilify an initiative that did just that.

Should government have cancelled the vaccine mandate six months ago, two months ago, last week?

The mandate and the app that facilitated it have served their purpose. This is something to be celebrated as the success of public-heath prudence in the face of commercial interests.

Jeffrey M. Frank

Winnipeg

‘Affordable housing’ myth

Re: Mayoral candidates make infrastructure, rail yard study, derelict property pitches (Sept. 21)

It’s time to stop the rhetoric that says the problem of homelessness can be solved by affordable housing. There is no such beast.

Please say it like it is, call it as it will become: free housing for which taxpayers will be on the hook to the tune of millions of dollars. This includes initial direct costs, and then indirectly through social assistance and other government programs to pay rent and maintenance.

Taxpayers simply cannot afford to look after those who will not help themselves. The few who choose not to be homeless but are due to the pitfalls of life will find a way out with the help of existing social agencies. Jobs exist for those capable of work.

Affordable housing will become free housing. Any money earmarked for this free housing could be better spent on addiction and mental-health facilities for those who seek help.

Kim Trethart

Winnipeg

Vote for Assiniboine Forest

Re: Climate change absent on campaign trail (Opinion, Sept. 14)

As preserving the carbon stored in ecosystems can help slow the accelerator pedal on climate change, a sterling opportunity for mayoral candidates lies with Winnipeg’s beloved Assiniboine Forest.

Our cherished forest is one of the largest urban natural spaces in North America, yet it is at risk from development. A simple two-third vote of city council is all it would take to pave over this paradise.

We’ve seen what happens to city parks that lack permanent protection. Just 16 kilometres from Ottawa’s Parliament Building, the once pristine Gatineau Park has been carved up by housing developments, shopping centres and the creation of new roads.

The city of Winnipeg and the government of Canada have an agreement to explore establishing an Urban National Park. I can think of no better candidate to safeguard than this treasured sanctuary.

Winnipeg trails the nation in public greenspace: just six per cent of our city, compared to a national average of nine per cent. We could greatly up our game if the Urban National Park connected Assiniboine Forest to the FortWhyte Alive grounds by including the undeveloped lands between them.

As the executive director of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, I encourage all civic-election candidates to seize this chance to forge a huge win for future generations of people and wildlife.

Ron Thiessen

Winnipeg

Future of health care bleak

Re: Emergency departments need urgent care (Opinion, Sept. 17)

Dr. Merril Paul’s assertion that “We need to think outside the box, to relieve some of the current pressures on our emergency departments” has been said over and over. One just has to look at past editions of the Free Press to find articles and letters pointing out the problems plaguing our health-care system.

Unfortunately, our current and past governments have deliberately starved the system of needed resources. By doing this, they have clearly told us that they no longer support a universal public-care system.

We are quietly being led to a U.S. health-care model. But for many families, that model comes with the nasty side effect of bankruptcy. Or, as the smiling retirees in a television commercial say: “We took out a reverse mortgage to pay off medical bills.”

If you don’t want to take out a reverse mortgage to pay for medical treatment outside of Manitoba, think very carefully before you cast your ballot in the next provincial election. If you want health care, remember that a politician wants your vote.

Remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr.: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” We get what we vote for!

Barry Elkin

Winnipeg

Patient deserves better

Re: Sent to hotel amid surgery holdup (Sept. 15)

Tiffany Kematch from Swan River waited 11 days in pain after shattering her knee — she deserved better than the helplessness she experienced as she was shoved from one place to another, not knowing when the isolation from her family would end.

When will the great minds who run our health-care system realize that we need to think outside the box, and remember that each innocent soul that is being tortured unnecessarily by the heartless, thoughtless people that fail to do better will come back to haunt them.

Cathy Moser

Winnipeg

Overdose advice: don’t start

Re: Drug crisis demands action (Letters, Sept. 12)

Concerned citizen Tamara Taillieu is incensed by what she feels is a lack of response by authorities in regard to overdoses, and she supports access to a safe, regulated supply of drugs, supervised consumption sites and decriminalization for personal possession.

It’s striking how citizens look to government for everything and expect quick action. Do you know how much time they will need to spend on me? None, because I don’t inject or imbibe dangerous substances.

Supporting safe injection of safe drugs isn’t a solution. Never starting is.

Tamara speaks of unnecessary and preventable deaths and harm reduction, but not a word about personal responsibility, which is why this issue is rampant.

Rick Hisco

Winnipeg