Letters, Aug. 31

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This article was published 31/08/2023 (999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tough to describe Stefanson’s stance

Re: MPI workers’ union slams Stefanson’s ‘double standard’; driving instructor fears for replacement examiners’ safety (Aug. 29)

Premier Heather Stefanson, having taken five years to limit health-care workers to a miserly 8.35 per cent general wage increase from 2018 to 2023, is apparently appalled that Manitoba government employees have the gall to want a raise closer to the inflation rate.

This, in the context of Stefanson and her colleagues awarding themselves raises of 3.3 per cent, 3.6 per cent, and 3.6 per cent in upcoming years (they’ve done such a great job!).

How to describe the premier’s stance? Arrogant? Selfish? Out of touch? All of the above?

Ron Menec

Winnipeg

Workers’ demands not unreasonable

Re: The perils of pickets and politics (Editorial, Aug. 30)

The health-care workers Premier Heather Stefanson alludes to in the ad settled for a very poor contract last year.

Based on inflation the government got a huge bargain with that contract and the increase they got was very low based on how hard they worked over the last few years, they were not treated fairly by their current contract.

A one to two per cent increase does not help much nowadays. Had the contract been due to be negotiated now there is no way that the health-care workers would have settled for such a poor contract and there would of a been another strike.

It’s great for her to give herself more than a three per cent a year raise, but when the actual people who do the work want a fair deal, tough s—t for them. Most politicians are a dime a dozen and are easily replaced but skilled workers are much more difficult to replace.

The general public understands that everyone needs a fair wage based on the times we are in, so three per cent is not asking for too much and the public knows this.

The PC government should realize that all provincial employees are taking note of the way they are being treated and they will be voting in the upcoming election. It’s easy for a rich person like the premier to live with the inflation but most people were not born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

It’s time for a fair wage increase for all workers not just the politicians.

Ron Robert

Winnipeg

 

No easy fix to liquor system issue

Re: Do away with liquor system (Letters, Aug. 30)

Our liquor purchasing system in Manitoba has evolved to lining up like cattle and showing ID because of the increasing desperation and violence of the criminal element in our province. Especially in our fair city.

It has since successfully ended the often volatile and dangerous robberies that have put employees and customers at risk. I view this as a preventative measure. Not punitive.

I agree alcohol is over-taxed and hopefully the recent record $741 million in profits are put to good use for Manitobans, be it in health care, education or infrastructure.

Privatization of liquor sales definitely sound attractive. It will certainly reduce the price of our cocktails.

But those entrepreneurs will need security measures in place to prevent theft, and I don’t think any of them will resort to sawed off shotguns under the counter.

In all likelihood they will duplicate the system that has proven extremely successful for Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.

The hundreds of millions of dollars funnelled into education and healthcare will be truly missed. The government will then have to find alternatives ways to tax us to maintain these services. Or tax the private liquor companies.

Buying whiskey from Amazon will likely put dollars in other governments’ pockets. It seems there is no easy solution to this dilemma.

Certainly not one in the immediate future!

Karen Zurba

Winnipeg

 

Design encourages speeding

Re: Stefanson’s former chief of staff ‘not proud’ of serial speeding in government vehicles last year (Aug. 29)

It’s easy — and oh so tempting — to get self-righteous about the speeding infractions of the premier’s former chief of staff.

95km/hr in a 60 zone on Pembina by Dalhousie?! 82km/hr in a 60 zone on Grant?

“Not proud of it; human error,” he says, albeit arguing he was unfamiliar with the city and its speed limits.

Certainly, speed signs are posted and drivers have an obligation to pay attention to them, thus it was indeed his error.

But stop and think about those roadways. Why is it so painful to follow the speed limit sign’s admonition to reduce speed to 60 before you even enter St. Norbert? Because the road is just as wide and uncomplicated before the 60 zone as it was in the 100 zone. The road itself is named “Highway.”

Doesn’t Grant, despite being clearly in the middle of the city, have a thoroughfare feel, not unlike Abinojii Mikanah (formerly known as Bishop Grandin) where the limit is 80?

My point? Although personal responsibility has a significant role to play, a factor in this kind of misbehaviour that is rarely mentioned is how the infrastructure itself encourages speeding. Recognizing people will make mistakes, engineers are taught forgiving design, which sounds good on the surface, but becomes a vicious cycle of removing obstacles to speed, wondering why people drive so fast resulting in crashes and injuries, which encourages more features to make speed seem safe.

Maybe it’s time to accept the driver’s promise not to make that mistake again (ostensibly successfully), and instead give out copies of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer to all members of the Public Works department and all city councillors, and look forward to the changes brought about by their new perspective on how to build a strong town.

K. Braun

Winnipeg

 

Time to grow up

Re: NDP commits to reopening three Winnipeg ERs closed by Tories (Aug. 28)

In response to the NDP’s announcement regarding the reopening of hospital emergency rooms, PC party spokesperson/ MLA Shannon Martin just couldn’t help himself and felt the need to add, “The NDP’s wobbly canoe is close to tipping.”

The reporter politely described that as “turning Kinew’s name into a pun.”

I didn’t interpret that as a benign little pun. What’s next? Liar, liar pants on fire? Grow up. Stick to the facts and a policy platform.

Dana Beljanic

Winnipeg

 

Protest tactics may alienate

Re: Protester arrested after paint splashed on Tom Thomson piece in National Gallery (Aug. 29)

When I heard the news that climate activists had taken it upon themselves to deface the painting Northern River by Tom Thomson hanging in the National Gallery in Ottawa, to say my blood boiled would be a profound understatement.

Thomson’s work, alongside a good many others created by the members of the Group of Seven, were in no small way, the inspiration which drew me into the heart of Canada’s open spaces and my devotion towards their preservation and protection for future generations to behold and cherish. Why anyone would think that defacing such creations, lends credence to their activist intents, totally escapes me.

Perhaps these folks are too young to fully appreciate the consequences of their actions but might I add that while you’re busy trying to save the planet, it’s good to know who your friends are and just perhaps listen to what it is, they have to teach you.

Above all, don’t risk alienating the support gifted you.

Dan Donahue

Winnipeg