Letters, Jan. 26

Opinion

Reject Islamophobia

Re: Turkish Muslims protest Qur’an-burning in Sweden (Jan. 22)

The burning of the Muslim sacred book, the Qur’an, in Sweden, apparently as a “political protest,” reeks of Islamophobia. This was meant to inflict spiritual trauma on 1.6 billion Muslims — hoping to incite a reaction. My prayer is we remain calm and not let the ignorant provoke us.

It is also a hard conversation to have with our children; how do you explain to them that the book they hold dear to their hearts can be desecrated in public and the action defended as a “democratic right”? However, we must have this conversation, so Islamophobia is not internalized among our youth. They need to know a greater majority of Canadians are not racist or Islamophobic. Let them learn about the colonization of the Indigenous peoples of this land they call home, work with Indigenous youth, and together stand for justice and against hate.

This news comes at a time of grief for Muslims. We are remembering the massacre of six worshippers in a mosque in Quebec in 2017 and many others injured and one left paralyzed. We remember the killing of the family in London, Ont., in 2021, and the ongoing Islamophobic hate incidents, all in the name of preserving democracy, secular values and white supremacy.

The Day of Remembrance on Jan. 29 is also a Day of Action against Islamophobia. What action is Winnipeg taking?

Shahina Siddiqui

Winnipeg

Services and safety

Re: Millennium Library reopens services with increased security measures and City, union eye Transit driver shield extensions (Jan. 23)

I’ve just experienced the new security measures at the Millennium Library. In addition to the body wand, emptying of pockets and the presence two security officers, there were also two city police officers at the entrance. I find the latter excessive and costly.

While I have no issue with the screening process, we must ensure that we afford all city employees (particularly those working alone) in high-risk positions the same security.

Winnipeg Transit drivers have been voicing safety concerns for years now, and the situation for them is escalating. I’m sure we would agree if one had to choose the safer jobsite — Transit driver or Millennium Library worker — one would choose the latter.

If we want to increase Transit ridership, please afford the drivers and passengers the same security as those attending the library.

Such measures need to be implemented until we are able to get the drug crisis and gang situation under control in our city.

Bev McIntyre

Winnipeg

That’s snow biz

Kudos to the city street-cleaning teams for clearing bike lanes downtown so quickly after the recent snowfall. It wasn’t a lot of snow, but the bike lanes are unusable for cycle commuters with even a few centimetres of snow.

Arne MacPherson

Winnipeg

Wow! I am watching snowplows removing snow from the boulevards so people can walk to the street from their cars without climbing a mountain of snow.

I don’t think I have ever seen this before. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Linda Epp

Winnipeg

We are evolving into a society of “me,” where the whole universe revolves around “what I want.” Like a bunch of spoiled kids, that attitude rears its ugly head every winter.

I drive, so I want clean, well-plowed streets the moment a single snowflake wafts thru the air. I believe in active transportation, and demand all bike lanes be cleared down to bare pavement immediately, if not sooner, so I, along with one other person per day that utilizes the bike lane, can enjoy the clear, refreshing Prairie air at -30 C. I walk, and demand sidewalks be cleared to bare pavement so I walk to the nearest Tim’s for a double-double and blueberry muffin. The list of things to whine about goes on.

News flash: Winnipeg receives an average of 118 cm per year, and you cannot please everybody when it comes to snow.

You plow the street, it ends up on the bike lanes and sidewalks; you clean the bike lanes, it ends up on the street and sidewalks; you clear the sidewalks, it ends up on the bike lanes and street; repeat the process. You still cannot please everybody.

Solution: don’t clear any snow, let it accumulate and melt in the spring. Everyone can complain as they now do, so no change; the city will save millions and everyone can be on forced house arrest. Problem solved, no change, nobody happy.

Get over it! It will melt, and be thankful for the service you receive — at least we don’t have to live in fear of being bombed every day.

Kim Trethart

Winnipeg

Clinic conundrum

Re: Manitoba Clinic losing more docs, deal critical (Jan. 24)

Both my wife and I visited the Manitoba Clinic recently to see eye specialists. We both thought the experience was good.

Might I suggest the provincial government take some of the extra cash the federal government has promised for health care and use it to renovate this modern and centrally located facility.

To start, they could install a few new MRI and CT machines, along with a couple of operating rooms for hip and knee replacement. That would go a long way toward shortening wait times for Manitobans.

Of course, finding the doctors, nurses and technicians to run the place might be the bigger issue.

Cal Paul

Winnipeg

I don’t understand why there is a critical need for the clinic to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with the provincial government.

However, if the building is of value to the provincial government, there is a critical need for it to purchase it at the lowest possible price. Why should the two corporations and their shareholders that own the clinic be bailed out? Have any of those corporations’ shareholders guaranteed any loans made to the clinic that a “mutually beneficial agreement with the provincial government” would take over?

What does a mutually beneficial agreement look like? Using public money requires transparency.

Barry Elkin

Winnipeg

So, two corporations made up of private investors own the failing Manitoba Clinic, which is losing doctors, hemorrhaging money since inception and is willing to sell the entire building while under creditor protection.

This looks like the perfect time for our provincial government to purchase this virtually new asset at a bargain-basement price. The investors will recover most of their losses, the public health system will acquire a much-needed asset (with valuable diagnostic equipment) and retain doctors — in other words, “mutually beneficial.”

Vic Mikolayenko

Winnipeg

Corporations hardly benevolent

Re: “Better with business,” Letters (Jan. 21)

Bill Martin’s gushing enthusiasm for corporations is a strange reaction to Mia Robson’s article (“Oil sands execs say a ‘just transition’ isn’t a worry — it’s their next big ‘boom’,” Jan. 19). If one reads the article for themselves, it is clear that the so-called “transition” from fossil fuels is barely definable; in fact, it is resisted among the very politicians trying to implement it.

Also, this so-called “transition” is nothing more than convenient promises set for the future: in other words, the same predictable stunt used by politicians and business leaders alike.

Finally, Martin’s utopian claim that “corporations can be and will be used by humanity to make the world a better place” is completely ridiculous. Simply walk through a Walmart to see the benign influence of multinationals on the community.

Paul Robertson

Beausejour