Letters, July 11

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/07/2023 (1157 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pension question

Re: Court slams former CAO, dismisses appeal in bribery case (July 8)

It was relieving to read the Manitoba Court of Appeal ruled that Phil Sheegl will finally be forced to pay the originally mandated judgment, along with court costs. Aside from the still-dire need for a public inquiry (I’m not holding my breath), the only outstanding matter is Sheegl’s City of Winnipeg pension.

Because I am skeptical that he will actually put pen to paper and write a valid cheque for the monies he owes, the only recourse will be to now garnishee that pension. Ongoing interest on the outstanding judgment will, of course, apply.

Joan Stephens

Winnipeg

Support local

Re: Free Press — not Facebook — will always be your trusted news source (July 7)

Good for Paul Samyn and the Free Press. And shame on our provincial government.

Real journalism matters, newspapers matter. Thinking Canadians know this and so should our provincial government. Newspapers across North America have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Although it may not prevent further shuttering of newspaper offices, the federal government’s Bill C-38, which will require social media giants to pay for journalistic content, is a good start. But it is only a start.

Our connection to each other, through our local newspapers, has been undermined dramatically by social media. Although we could argue about whether that was intentional, the results have been catastrophic for print media dedicated to exploring issues in depth.

For companies like Google and Meta to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the undermining of investigative journalism or informing the public is unforgivable. No one should believe that the information that is shared on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook is anything but curated fluff catering to our personal confirmation biases.

The best response to this global corporate bullying is to buy a subscription to your local paper and abandon social media for the joys of actually reading about your neighbours and the issues that are important to all of us.

Jerry Storie

Winnipeg

Trust issues

Re: “Water plan needs another look” (Letters, July 8)

Tensions have flared for nearly six years between Springfield residents and the former oil executives behind junior mining company Sio Silica as the company ramps up efforts to establish a mining and processing operation just outside of Winnipeg.

Manitoba’s environmental approvals branch has fielded nearly 300 project proposals since the Progressive Conservatives took power in 2016, according to departmental reports. Not one has been refused.

Even as Manitoba promises to strike another technical advisory committee to review the commission’s report, critics have expressed a “crisis of trust” with this government’s handling of Sio Silica’s proposal. Not only does Sio Silica employ several people connected to Manitoba’s Conservative party (including David Filmon, son of former premier Gary Filmon) but behind the scenes, the province’s actions appear to favour the company.

John Fefchak

Virden

Questionable priorities

Ironic that Canada’s federal government, immediately, without hesitation or consideration of cost, threw resources at the search for the rich adventurers going for a joyride to the bottom of the ocean to see the Titanic; meanwhile no resources are available to search a landfill for what could be, multiple remains of murder victims.

Not nearly enough is being done to solve these crimes. On a national scale, these brutal crimes are rarely solved. Homicides that happened over 40 years ago are being solved with DNA testing, while the file of missing and murdered Indigenous women grows.

Society sacrifices these vulnerable women. Harsh living conditions and poverty make them prey for violent sex crimes.

We need to care more about solving these crimes, and protecting these women.

Marilyn Bird

Winnipeg

Confront financial realities

Re: “Costly precedent” (Letters, July 7)

It was refreshing to see the views expressed in this letter, which noted the extraordinarily expensive precedent it would set to upheave landfills every time a person went missing and their remains were suspected of being in it. While these situations are tragic, there are practical financial realities that we all must face as a society. At $184 million per search, it is fiscally impossible to sustain this long-term for every instance of a missing person.

The money would be far better spent on anti-crime measures that could actually prevent these tragedies from occurring in the first place. That would be of more value overall to society (who is footing the bill), and is a more forward-looking solution rather than dealing with the issue after the fact.

These are the mature, considered decisions that we need from all levels of government — rather than reacting in the heat of the moment, under the frenzy of media attention, to spend massive amounts of money that would set an unsustainable precedent for the future.

Steve Teller

Winnipeg

Unconvincing argument

Re: Manitoba won’t pay to search landfill for slaying victims (July 6)

Premier Stefanson’s claim that this decision is based on safety concerns has been greeted with skepticism.

Perhaps, if she had offered a significant amount of funding (pick a number up to $184 million) for an Indigenous women’s shelter dedicated to these missing women, along with other concrete steps to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, it would have been easier to believe that this decision wasn’t simply about money.

Ron Menec

Winnipeg

News orgs deserve compensation

Given that Google “had an annual revenue of US$279.8 billion throughout 2022 and with most of its earnings being advertising dollars through Google sites and its network,” it looks like it’s profiting greatly from news sources (real or fantasy). Facebook isn’t far behind.

I agree with what the government is doing. “Real” news needs to be buttressed in this world where fair, balanced, accurate and complete news is being challenged by unfair, unbalanced, inaccurate and incomplete news. The latter may be winning and this means that there is hell to pay for countries at the mercy of misinformed citizens.

Germany and Australia tried to take on the giant market muscle of media digital giants. They caved in to Google’s threats. Almost. In Australia, Google and Facebook paid up, striking deals with news organizations to pay for the content they display on their sites for the first time.

I believe the news industry should be compensated for helping Google and Facebook attract customers. The media industry needs subsidizing since news has gone online. Until someone “invents” AI journalists (heaven help us), we need “live” ones with functioning intelligence.

It looks like Canada’s approach is similar to Australia’s deal. Addressing its flaws could benefit our news industry and encourage more countries to get involved in this. The more the better. Google and Facebook can afford it.

Erika Kreis

Winnipeg