Letters, March 29

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2023 (1266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Get water analyzed

Re: Water companies flooded with calls after report shows asbestos in Winnipeg samples (March 27)

Having worked in the City of Winnipeg construction division in the early ’80s into the ’90s, and replaced old water mains with concrete/asbestos pipe, I have been leery about the effects it could have had on my health.

Cutting and bevelling pieces with quickie saws and breathing in the dust always made me nervous, but I was assured it was OK. I was never convinced. I spent four to five years (if my aging mind serves me) of putting in concrete/asbestos pipe from Westwood Drive to Bedson Street and Portage Avenue to the Assiniboine River and elsewhere in the city.

I am now 70 and we know more about the effects of asbestos, so I still get that odd nervousness about having worked with it. If you are nervous, get your water analyzed, if only for peace of mind.

Kim Trethart

Winnipeg

Systemic disadvantages considered

We write regarding an article, Restorative justice in the balance (March 17), and an editorial, Racism remains a blight on the justice system (March 22), comparing the different sentencing outcomes for two offenders of different races.

Our primary concern is it is an unfair comparison of two sentences to suggest, implicitly or directly, racism on the part of the court or this judge, the consequences of which can serve to undermine our confidence in the administration of the justice system and distract from real solutions to address systemic racism.

Beyond the races of the two accused, there were real and significant differences between the two offences. To say these two accused should have similar sentences because of some similarities in the charges ignores the circumstances of the offences and the danger to the public. Sentencing is fact-dependent.

The judge who presided over these cases did consider the systemic disadvantages of this Indigenous accused and sentenced with the information before her. While some may disagree, a suggestion of racism is unwarranted.

The Provincial Court of Manitoba has shown a continuing commitment to restorative justice and Indigenous traditions. It is cognizant that responsibility means not being blind to race but considering the legacies of colonialism and the manifestation of injuries arising from residential schools, day schools and prolonged government policy against Indigenous people that have led to an overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. Reconciliation is a long-term project. It is consistently striving to do better.

There is no shame in admitting that more work needs to be done on reconciliation, including self-reflection on cultural biases. We all play a role in acknowledging the harms that were and continue to be perpetuated against Indigenous peoples and doing our part to advance reconciliation.

Tanya Keller

President, Manitoba Bar Association

Winnipeg

Outrageous workload

In his letter, Peter Kowalyk states Darlene Jackson is outrageous because she is criticizing the state of Manitoba’s health care (“Where’s the outrage?” March 22). He asks whether Dr. Brent Roussin, Dr. Joss Reimer and Lanette Siragusa are “outrageous.”

The Manitoba Nurses Union isn’t calling these individuals outrageous, they’re referring to a system that requires nurses to work 80-hour weeks back-to-back-to-back, who are told if they don’t they’ll be suspended or even fired. That’s what’s outrageous.

And sadly, this situation has become the norm with no end in sight.

I can guarantee there is no job anywhere in Manitoba that requires individuals to work that many hours with no right to refuse. Maybe an entrepreneur who owns their own business might put in those kind of hours, but definitely not employees.

That’s outrageous, and should be illegal.

Ken McLean

Starbuck

Support duplex project

Thanks to John Longhurst for the great story about Inner City Youth Alive’s plan to build a duplex, and in the process train local youth in basic construction skills (North End construction project seeks safe housing, youth skills, March 27).

However, why did the City of Winnipeg charge them for the lot? Like many city properties, it is vacant, yielding no tax revenue, and of no use to the community.

Our new mayor says he wants to support social housing. Well, here’s a chance: donate the lot and make the project more affordable. That $40,000 will come back in spades in both taxes and social value from the training offered.

Tim Sale

Winnipeg

Stand against intolerance, bigotry

Re: Don’t confuse charter rights with academic freedom and Lecturer raised red flags, dodged vital questions (March 27)

Thank you for publishing these two excellent articles about the University of Winnipeg’s decision to allow an “anti-trans” online lecture to go ahead as planned.

Both articles helped me put into context the anti-LGBTTQ+ rhetoric I have been hearing coming from the far right and evangelical fundamentalists. Recently, for example, we have seen a proliferation of NHL players cite religious reasons to take an anti-pride stance.

The University of Winnipeg has invoked the importance of academic freedom in allowing this lecture to take place. What seems to be more important, though, is whether or not the University of Winnipeg wants to be party to a far-right agenda of intolerance, ignorance and bigotry.

Mac Horsburgh

Winnipeg

Little to offer

I would add to the March 27 letter of Cheryl Moore, who wrote, “this is a province of children.” This is also a province of grinding child poverty intricately intertwined with our profound issues around reconciliation.

The Progressive Conservative government, as an election approaches, is certain it is doing a stellar job of setting our province and its children on a path to a bright future with tax cuts.

It would seem the PCs only know of children residing in Tuxedo, Linden Woods and River Heights, but the children in the North End, West End, Elmwood and in northern Manitoba are also our future, just not the future of the PC party.

Hungry children, together with tax cuts, could only result in a bright future in the minds of a completely spent political party with little new of value to offer.

Herb Neufeld

Winnipeg

This just in

In reading letters to the editor, I often hope that the opinions of others will make me think. And most hopefully, in a positive manner. In reading Steve Teller’s letter of March 27 (“Analysis falls short”), it does make me think, or rather recollect — but not in the manner he probably hopes it would, nor in a way I would hope.

In characterizing the Free Press as a “far-left publication,” I’m reminded of the graphic showing editorial endorsement of political parties during federal elections, and recall that the Free Press has, for most elections, endorsed either the PC or Conservative parties.

When I read the letter as a whole, I’m reminded of a clip from The Simpsons. You know the one I’m talking about — a picture of Abe Simpson in the newspaper with the caption: “Old man yells at cloud.”

Brian Gilchrist

Winnipeg