Letters, April 21

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/04/2023 (1258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Public service workers want fair shake

We go to the grocery store, just like everyone. We need to feed our families, and our paycheque just doesn’t stretch the way it used to. After two years without a contract, we find ourselves on a picket line instead of providing services that Canadians depend on.

We want to get back to work, and a fair, negotiated agreement is what we need to do that. Show your support, honk your horn, write to your MP!

Minnie Kaisuutta

Winnipeg

School layoff possibility surprising

Re: Seven Oaks not ruling out school social worker layoffs (April 20)

I was taken aback by the news of the Seven Oaks School Division’s considering layoffs of school social workers. The superintendent’s suggestion that in-school support staff can “offer similar services” to those provided by school social workers ignores two important factors.

First, I know from decades of experience working within school support teams that social workers are specialists who do draw upon a skill set typically not available to school based supports.

Secondly, the “clinical” perspective, (i.e., one from “outside” the school community) can be invaluable in its capacity to understand a student’s needs more broadly and objectively. It’s no different than an organization commissioning an outside consultant to assist with issues or a physician’s family members receiving medical services from another physician.

In these times of social and economic crises affecting not only children but their families, the services of school social workers are needed more than ever.

Edwin Buettner, Ph.D. (Retired Reading Clinician)

Winnipeg

Gambling advertising concerning

I am concerned with the volume and type of gambling ads during sports broadcasts especially during actual broadcast shows presented by the hosts.

It is difficult to understand the logic behind allowing gambling ads in Canada when the European Union has eliminated such ads in all countries in Europe that do not want such ads during sporting events or to involve sports stars in the ads.

Gambling is starting to be viewed as a normal everyday activity by many, especially younger Canadian viewers of sporting events. The volume of ads during sport broadcasts is not only concerning but excessive!

Let’s treat gambling ads much like smoking ads… bad for your health. I find the ads truly inappropriate during sports broadcast given the number of underage Canadians who are clearly affected by this viewing experience.

We need our government to enact laws against gambling ads — my preferred solution is no gambling ads at all! If you agree with me send a letter or email to your MP demanding an end to gambling ads during sporting broadcasts and the involvement of sports stars in such ads.

Doug Edmond

Winnipeg

Time to make decisions on health

Re: ‘I am the minister of the art of the possible’: Gordon on Grace doctors’ plea for help (April 19)

She said “she looks forward to a decision being made”? She’s the health minister. Isn’t she responsible for making the decision? Who is she waiting for to come through her door and meet with her? Herself?

When did health care in Manitoba turn into some vapid existentialistic episode of the Twilight Zone?

We don’t need a minister of the ‘art of the possible.’ We need a minister of the health of the people. We need a minister of the making of the decisions.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

For the record Minister Gordon, you are not the minister of the art of the possible. Nor are you the minister of comedy.

But you are the minister of suffering.

Barry Elkin

Winnipeg

Reassess purpose of CBC

Re: CBC gets federal cash — but so do its MP critics (Editorial, April 19)

Would this be a good time to review what our expectations are for the CBC, or at the very least what role we expect it to play in this day and age?

For some reason or another, I don’t think the government ought to be in the soap opera and cooking show business.

Michel Trahan

Maria, Que.

Information abounds, quality lacks

Re: “Plenty of information without CBC” (Letters, April 20)

While I agree there is “plenty of information without CBC”, I believe there are significant problems with the quality of the information available. I shook my head when I read “an intelligent person can sift out the propaganda.”

We have seen countless examples of the price of unethical news in the past decade, including Jan. 6 in the U.S.

I find CBC, PBS, and BBC provide news and analysis with minimum bias, although they all allow for different perspectives. Contrast this with CNN (left) and Fox (right) which have both resorted to “outrage entertainment.”

Is the writer suggesting Canada leave objective news reporting to other governments (and taxpayers) around the world? Just leave it to the likes of BBC, PBS, and NPR? Even worse, leave it to wealthy media tycoons like Rupert Murdoch or Elon Musk? That’s a steep price.

Michelle Burdz

Winnipeg

Touched by memories of father

Re: The CBC? It’s personal (Think Tank, April 20)

I was really touched by Charles Adler’s column. I married into a Jewish Hungarian family who were Holocaust survivors. In addition, my older brother was a CBC producer who worked on Morningside and other CBC shows throughout his career.

So I too have a soft spot for the CBC, which has provided many years of entertainment and information to all of us.

Miral Gabor

Winnipeg

Broadcaster funding not personal

The situation with the CBC is not personal.

I have always appreciated Charles Alder’s opinion. But I am going to disagree this time. Charles pines for the old CBC, in this case Barbara Frum. Many of us who were born between 1955 and 1965 enjoyed the CBC of an early generation.

I grew up listening to Lloyd Robertson, Knowlton Nash, and Barbara Frum. Yes, and As it Happens and other news shows like This Hour has Seven Days.

My father was an immigrant and found the CBC to be informative and relevant. As kids we hated the CBC shows like Don Messer’s Jubilee, The Beachcombers, and many other Canadian content. But my siblings and I somehow were drawn to news shows that debated the issues of the day.

I appreciated the fact the CBC covered all angles of an issue. Now it is only the progressive angle, the wedge issue, how it effects Toronto. Garth Dolly and Arvel Gray were pretty boring, but they covered the news from all angles.

Unfortunately, CBC has now moved so far in one direction, they only garner a tiny fraction of the news hour crowd. That is why they need $1.2 billion to prop up the never-ending progressive drivel. I won’t start name calling and use the “W” word, but old CBC had balance, not now.

So if balance is restored, people will come. Until then, I am OK with a little defunding the CBC. Maybe it will be a wake up call.

Colin Hodgson

Oakbank