Letters, Aug. 15

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2023 (1123 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier needs climate reminder

Re: Tories push federal carbon tax as Manitoba election battlefront heats up (Aug. 11)

The Manitoba premier has publicly declared the federal carbon tax should be eliminated. Her premise is the hardship it is causing for Manitobans. She should once again be reminded this tax is revenue neutral as the money collected is returned to all taxpayers with the lower-income people benefiting the most generally due to lower energy consumption.

The premier has no obvious inclination to acknowledge global warning and the resulting disasters we are seeing every day around the world. Her answer is that we as a province are doing our share by building hydro electric dams and Manitobans should therefore not be “taxed” any further. I would remind her that the fossil fuel industry and the transportation sector are the two biggest contributors to global warming and those are the main targets of the carbon tax.

Her main argument though is the effect of the tax on home heating and the hardships caused. Contrary to this argument, Premier Stefanson’s government has opted to adopt the Tier 1 housing building code which offers the least of five tiers of energy efficiency in home building.

Canadians produce one of the highest per capita carbon footprints in the world and perhaps the premier should be reminded that climate change and global warming have no political or geographic boundaries and we are all in this fight for survival of the planet together.

Brian Dyck

Winnipeg

 

Focus on evidence in education

Re: Cursive, foiled again (Editorial, Aug. 12)

I am writing in response to the editorial titled Cursive, foiled again, which discusses how Ontario students in grade three will be learning cursive script, while Manitoba students will not. The Free Press argues that cursive is not necessary for today’s workplace and advocating for return of cursive is merely a yearning for days gone by. Proponents of cursive state that it helps students learn to focus.

Rather than add to the myriad opinion pieces about cursive writing and other curricular changes, we should be asking difficult questions, including:

1) How are decisions about curricular changes made; and 2) what does the research evidence support?

The debate concerning cursive writing, like other changes in K-12 education, including ‘un-grading’, phonics versus whole language, and abandoning due dates for assignments generally does not contain much solid research. Rather, it tends to be a mixture of philosophy, fads, and personal views, much like that expressed in the editorial. K-12 educators often base their practice on anecdotes and philosophy. Why does the public tolerate this haphazard approach?

A simple literature search about cursive writing, un-grading and phonics revealed almost no peer-reviewed research. Most articles describe the original philosophical view of the topic or offer advice on how to implement said theory. Research evaluating these innovations is difficult to locate.

Even if there was sufficient quality research to support these initiatives, the classroom teacher may not have the skills to use it. Education programs at both universities in the province appear to have no courses about how to locate, evaluate and implement research into teaching practice.

In contrast, students in the health-care professions focus on evidence-informed practice. Think of the resulting uproar if health-care professionals selected interventions based on the latest craze or anecdotes rather than best available evidence.

We should focus on developing a body of reliable educational evidence and use it to build a K-12 curriculum based on research rather than whim.

Terri Ashcroft

Winnipeg

 

In defence of cursive

As a retired teacher and administrator, I have been interested in the recent discussions about cursive writing in schools. I’d like to share some sage advice from George Heshka, a longtime principal of Sisler High School.

Some years ago, I was at a meeting where administrators were having a discussion about the place of cursive writing in schools. Mr. Heshka, was not known as a man of many words, but when he spoke, it was well worth listening. He was in my group, and he said, “Good handwriting is the hallmark of a good education.”

Whenever I hear this topic being discussed, I can still hear his words. I think he was right. There are many good reasons for students to develop cursive writing skills, and this is just another one.

Dianne Logan

Winnipeg

 

City must do better

I’ve been trying to reconcile the complaints and behaviours of the hundreds of drivers that have been upset by the delays to their commutes as they crawl home idling in long lines of traffic, with the catastrophic environmental disasters that are occurring all around us.

One example is the construction of the St. Vital bridge and the traffic backlogs on Osborne and Jubilee. This delay has resulted in construction workers being threatened by some drivers. This project will continue for at least another 18 months. It raises a question about the choices citizens and government are making here.

Our world’s human-made environmental catastrophes might cause a citizen and a government to ask, ‘How do we plan projects while facilitating greener personal responses and ensuring safety for workers?’ as a fundamental question when planning all initiatives.

What green ways can projects be planned? What about planning for peak traffic times where only designated safe bike lanes and rapid transit lanes are open? Park-and-rides could be provided and transit could showcase electric buses on the rapid transit lanes that whisk passengers quickly and greenly to their destinations. Might not these types of decisions facilitate happier citizens, safer workers and a greener approach to how citizens travel to and fro? Might such actions have a spillover effect after construction projects are completed with citizens choosing greener transportation options?

There is no time left to continue to implement the same old systems that perpetuate the same old behaviours. Threatening construction workers is not OK nor is behaviour that continues to warm the planet. How many times do scientists have to tell us ‘enough’ before our actions and government systems adapt?

Caring for each other and contributing to daily initiatives that green our planet is our No. 1 responsibility. We the citizens need to step up and expect that our governments’ planning and actions facilitate citizen participation and contributions in saving our planet.

Lori Tighe

Winnipeg

 

Whose rights matter most?

Re: Corydon Avenue residents’ noise complaints to city, police met with silence (Aug. 12)

The complaints of excessive noise originating out of a business on Corydon raise my concerns about whose rights are paramount in a situation like this; the residents who live in the area or the business owner who likely does not live in the area and his patrons who also likely do not live in the area.

Most of us would prefer to live in communities that afford us peace and quiet, especially in the evening hours. I should think that most residents on Corydon no doubt aspire to the same. Why are the so-called “authorities” not carrying out their duties to rein in this business owner? Why has the business owner been allowed to continue to operate this way even though he was already fined once and has refused to pay his fine?

The people who live in the Corydon area have a right to effective representation from their elected and city officials and protection by the police from individuals and businesses who break the law.

Irwin Corobow

Winnipeg