Letters, Oct. 29

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2022 (1134 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Snow problem

Re: Improved snow clearing requires combined effort (Oct. 20) and City should follow Edmonton, Regina (Letters, Oct. 25)

Neither the editorial nor the letter writer takes into account those who happen to live on residential corner lots. Those people pay much more in frontage fees and property taxes than others who are not on corner lots, but get nothing more for this money.

They have much longer public property boulevards to care for and, in shovelling sidewalks, much longer routes, including intersections through two boulevards to two streets. They also have to chop through the ice windrows from street snow removal.

Perhaps these realities could be taken into consideration before condemning residents who think the city should take care of public property.

Susan Hearst

Winnipeg

Reckless driver beware

Re: City streets marked by deadly series of collisions (Oct. 24)

I don’t know how people need to be in such a hurry that it’s worth hitting someone with their car. I am at a greater loss for how responding to a text becomes a life-or-death situation, but apparently that is the case, because so many people do it: take their eyes off the road, and put their car into another human being in the process.

I would hope guilt would be a thing for these drivers — something inside that becomes so heavy the only way they can get out from under it is to take responsibility for their actions.

I would also hope family and friends who notice damage to a car that fits a description also let the guilt seep in, of not asking the owner about it or reporting it to the police. You are now responsible for the victim and/or their family not getting answers. Remember, this happened because someone you know was in a hurry or too busy, not focusing on the thousands of pounds of metal and plastic and glass they are behind the wheel of, and don’t want to take responsibility for their actions. Why should you have to carry that guilt for them when they clearly don’t feel any themselves?

I would hope people who endure the horrors of hitting a pedestrian with their car and stay on the scene are at least treated better by the courts than someone who is void of the conscience, morality and basic human decency needed to stay on scene and call 911 themselves.

But for those of you who crushed another person with your car and ran away: we live in an age of cameras everywhere. If not at the scene of an accident, just down the road from it. Security cameras, doorbell cameras, dashboard cameras, etc… how long do you think you have before someone lines up the witness reports or time of the accident with a vehicle on one of those cameras?

And for those who don’t stay or do the right thing, I hope every time your phone rings or there is a knock at the door you feel as much fear as the person you hit with your car did as they lay on the pavement wondering how much time they had left or when help might arrive.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

Pedestrian problems

I keep reading about pedestrians getting hit by vehicles in Winnipeg. These are all horrible events, but are almost always preventable. In all cases, the pedestrian was on the street trying to navigate with vehicles weighing thousands of pounds. On rare occasions, vehicles strike people on the sidewalk, but it is very unusual to hear about a pedestrian being hit anywhere but on the street.

There are bad drivers, I admit that; but there are bad pedestrians as well — lots of them. I often see people walking across the street who don’t even look at oncoming traffic. They seem to think their right of way keeps them safe. Pedestrians being distracted by phones are a big problem, but pedestrians not paying attention to traffic, for whatever the reason, are the main problem.

As kids, we were told to look both ways before crossing the street. I am not sure whether they have stopped teaching this in school, or if people just forget, but it is literally life-saving advice.

Keep your eyes on the traffic at all times and don’t look away until you are safely across. Don’t let some inattentive or drunk driver ruin your life and theirs just because you did not take the time to keep yourself safe.

David Peter

Winnipeg

Archives deserve a home

Earlier this month, it was my privilege to attend the memorial service for James (Jim) Blanchard, former Dafoe Librarian and president of the Manitoba Historical Society. Mention was made of Jim’s support for and work toward finding or building a new home for the City of Winnipeg Archives, a safe and secure location that wouldn’t be a shameful embarrassment to those of us who still claim this city as home.

We are familiar with the scriptural dictum, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” In the context of the civic election and mayoralty race, I have been unable to find any reference to the sad state of Winnipeg’s City Archives; if I’ve missed it, please share! The corollary of a vision for the future would be an understanding of our collective past, and of our rootedness in this place we call home. A secure and accessible city archive would seem to be an essential part of intelligent and competent governance.

As a notice and plea to the incoming crop of civic politicians, remember Santayana’s caution: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” and perhaps add Jacques Derrida’s: “There is no political power without power over the archive.”

Sig Laser

Winnipeg

Promote Prince

Re: Stamp honours Indigenous war veteran Prince (Oct. 17)

My grandfather Arthur fought in the Second World War and was at D-Day, and is buried next to the great Sgt. Tommy Prince in my beautiful birth city of Winnipeg. So, as one can imagine, our family is quite thrilled about Prince being on a stamp.

Our feeling is that His Majesty’s Canadian Armed Forces should promote Sgt. Prince posthumously to the rank of First Lieutenant, a rank of respect denied him tacitly because he was Indigenous. This would go a long way in healing relations between DND soldiers and vets, and our nation’s military and civilian leaders.

We should all respect these great people!

Wade Izzard

Edmonton

Car-friendly remedy

If you want people to come downtown, wander, and spend money, then provide free parking.

One city in southwestern Florida built two free parking garages in its downtown. In season, summer here, there was free entertainment in the downtown areas. Main streets were closed for art shows. Before and after, people wandered, stopped for a drink and/or dinner and shopped. During the week they came just to wander, have a meal, or shop.

Why would anyone spend $5 to $10 on parking to wander and spend money when you can do it for free at a mall?

The two-hour free parking on the weekend is not enough time to go for a meal, entertainment or shop.

Rochelle Litvack

Winnipeg

Farewell to Truss

The forced departure of Liz Truss as British prime minister is a tragedy. This was a woman of depth and courage. The new Thatcher.

Britain is nearly terminal. The savage implementation of supply-side economics was essential after a generation of absurdly low interest rates decreed by neo-Keynesian fanatics to finance a world gone woke. The solution is tough medicine in the short run. Mortgage rates and bankruptcies will explode.

But not to do this will make things infinitely worse in the bubble economy. The financial system will collapse and the pound will be destroyed.

Francis Trueman

Winnipeg