Letters, Oct. 10

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/10/2022 (1334 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lower taxes had high costs

Re: The Leaf’s entry fee has deep roots (Opinion, Sept. 30)

Paul Moist provides a very interesting historical perspective on why it is now necessary to levy entry fees for publicly funded amenities that once were available at no cost to users. Now to be clear, these services were never “free,” but rather supported by the broader tax base rather than user fees.

Moist notes that this shift to user fees occurred during the Susan Thompson era, circa 1997, when many structural changes to the city organization were made pursuant to a report from consultant George Cuff on creating a more efficient civic government. He notes that current mayoral candidate Glen Murray, who was then a city councillor, opposed the Cuff report, which ultimately resulted in reductions to the funding of our parks.

The user fees we now pay for a myriad of civic services and which increase every year all stem from council’s propensity to “freeze” taxes or deliver tax increases that are well below inflation. The need for services never diminishes, and departments have become adept at finding other ways to find revenue.

Putting the parks department in the public works department has had a negative impact on our urban parks because the budget process emphasizes infrastructure over trees, and this has reduced our quality of life.

But for Moist to hint that Murray might save us from all this if elected mayor does not reflect past behaviour. Murray is, after all, the mayor who first implemented tax freezes in Winnipeg, a practise that was continued by Sam Katz, who was elected when Murray resigned mid-term with an unfulfilled mandate.

It is obvious unions have a very important role in the quality of life in our city. I wonder if their support of Murray is well placed, given his history and the most recent revelations that draw questions concerning his judgment, commitment and character. This may well be a case of “be careful what you wish for.”

Tom Pearson

Winnipeg

I couldn’t agree more with Paul Moist’s piece on Assiniboine Park. Through the years, I loved visiting the Palm House on a bitterly cold Winnipeg winter day. It was truly magical. I also appreciated the fact paying to enter was not required.

The new Leaf facility is charging a hefty admission fee, which I find abhorrent, as much of the cost was borne by taxpayers. Should not all city residents, regardless of income status, have equal access to it?

Michael Dowling

Winnipeg

Drug crisis heartbreaking

Re: ‘He was a brother, son and friend’ (Oct. 3)

My heart breaks and I am overcome with profound sadness as I read about Cyril Joseph (CJ) Mowat, who was only 33 when he died “likely due to complications related to an opiate overdose.” CJ and his supportive and loving family “struggled to get access help without identification cards, income assistance or a fixed address.”

I am appalled that receiving the necessary help for addictions is still so difficult in 2022, not just for people experiencing homelessness, but for those in all walks of life. It’s time our health-care departments put serious thought and planning into making access to mental-health care and addictions treatment, which often go hand in hand, an accessible service for all walks of life.

Far too many of our young are unnecessarily succumbing to addictions. Far too many families from all levels in our communities are struggling as a loved one deals with addiction and ultimately grieving the loss of someone close to them.

Karen Zurba

Winnipeg

Parental rights ignored

Re: New children’s advocate named (Sept. 30)

Congratulations to Sherry Gott on her appointment as the province’s advocate for children and youth. It is my hope that she will be able to uphold the rights of children and youth as stated in all articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), that she will be able to give each article the time and attention it requires and deserves, something her predecessor was unable to do.

The UNCRC states that divorced parents and their children are entitled to a close and continuous relationship with one another and that “shared parenting” become the norm in terminology and practice. Shared parenting reduces conflict and mitigates real-world situations in which custody decisions are based on what lawyer you have, how much money you have in the bank or even what judge you get. Such factors can tip the scales and rip a child and a fit parent apart.

The government acknowledged the special place of children in society and resumed responsibility for the fulfilment of children’s rights by ratifying the UNCRC more than 30 years ago, yet the Manitoba advocate for children and youth does not have a mandate within custody and access matters.

This is a travesty and the repercussions of not upholding these rights are devastating, far reaching and long lasting.

Dolores Belot

Winnipeg

Copenhagen comparison refuted

Re: Going green has high cost (Letter, Oct. 3)

In response to letter writer Peter Kaufmann’s badly researched view from Copenhagen on the high cost to consumers of going green, nothing he states has any bearing on Manitoba.

Fuel in Europe has always been more expensive than it is in Canada because they have never had enough to meet their own needs. While world pricing affects us, we produce enough to supply our needs.

Parking in most European cities is expensive, not because of carbon tax, but because these cities are old, their downtown streets lack space for vehicles and there are virtually no surface parking lots, which abound in Winnipeg.

Electricity is expensive in Europe because environmentalists undermined their one sensible electricity source, nuclear. It is well researched in Germany that 50 per cent is about the maximum you can rely on solar and wind owing to storage and reliability problems.

In Manitoba, we have an excess of hydro-electric power and, thanks to the NDP and an independent Hydro utility, will be able to meet future needs while paying for it with future inflated money. Anyone who bought a house for $40,000 when they made $7,000 a year and paid the majority of it years later when they were making $60,000 will understand this concept.

Jim Gosman

Winnipeg

Peter Kaufmann bemoans the cost of living “green” in Copenhagen as being onerous and dangerous to our way of life. Let’s take a look at some similar costs in Dallas, Texas.

Gas is only $1.04 a litre Canadian. To park for a full day in Dallas can cost $88 Canadian. Electricity and heating for an average home in Dallas is $485 monthly Canadian.

However, let’s compare other areas that would be important to anyone deciding whether to live in Copenhagen or Dallas.

Copenhagen in 2021 had three murders. Dallas had 220. Copenhagen has free health care for all citizens. Dallas does not. In Copenhagen, women have control over their bodies for all medical procedures. In Dallas they do not.

Espousing cherry-picked statistics to back your argument is not a good way to proceed. Comparing the cost of living in one place as opposed to another is not all about dollars and cents. It is about dollars and sense.

Campbell Alexander

Winnipeg