Letters, Sept. 14

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/09/2023 (755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Axworthy, Doer old news

Regarding the election endorsements for Mr. Kinew from Gary Doer and Lloyd Axworthy:

Due respect for these past politicians, but they have not been involved with current issues directly affecting Manitobans for many years.

Many voters under the age of 50 would be challenged to recognize their names or accomplishments. Mr. Kinew would be well advised to seek advice that he seems to need from current community leaders and formative generation voters in our province.

Joyce Wolfe

Winnipeg

 

Adjust health care expectations

Re: Vague health-care promises not enough (Editorial, Sept. 13)

I agree with your editorial. Health care is a complex file. There are dozens of medical specialties, each of which could likely make a cogent argument for increased funding. Even if a provincial government increased overall spending, there would be disagreement as to how the increased dollars should be divided between the various sectors.

In staffing, there is more than just doctors and nurses. There are physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and many others. Extra money won’t necessarily result in positions being filled if there is a nationwide shortage. Also, Manitoba is often not considered an attractive location compared to B.C. or Ontario.

Manitobans must adopt a more realistic understanding of what a province can provide. We are an aging population which means more physical and cognitive problems. It is doubtful any provincial government could provide service that a majority of Manitobans would find satisfactory.

We must readjust our expectations. Dissatisfaction with health care will persist for decades, perhaps forever unless we do.

Kurt Clyde

Winnipeg

 

Alternative voting imperfect

Re: A primer on choosing a voting model (Think Tank, Sept. 12)

Alternative voting, also known as instant runoff voting (IRV) which I will be calling it, is quite an interesting system that has many merits.

Its ability to represent voters more accurately as well as its simplicity helps it gain popular support among people. However, there is one rather major flaw with this system that I feel was glossed over in the article. In certain situations, ranking a preferred candidate higher can cause them to lose the election and ranking a candidate lower can cause them to win. Therefore, it fails at what is known as the Monotonicity criterion. This unintentionally can cause people to make their chosen candidate lose because they voted for them.

Now an incident like this isn’t necessarily likely to happen in the real world, however the threat of this happening removes many of the benefits of increased representation and reveals a more fundamental problem. The problem is that second and further choices aren’t considered until your first candidate is eliminated, which means much of the election is dependent on what order the candidates are eliminated in.

To combat this, we can use a system that considers everyone’s second, third, etc. choices, my personal favourite being ranked pairs as it both represents everyone and is not very complicated for the voters. I used to be a big proponent IRV but now I see it as a system similar to first past the post. People take a quick glance at the voting system, think it looks representative, but don’t realize what it does to their vote.

Quin Cohen

Winnipeg

 

First past the post has to go

Mr. Thomas has labelled his opinion piece “a primer.” His “primer” is anything but. He has taken a very simple problem and made it seem complicated. The purpose of a voting model is to represent the voice of the citizens, in this case, the citizens of Manitoba.

At the present time, the archaic first past the post system is what Manitobans are saddled with. This system, based on the British Westminster model is used by only a few Western democracies, Canada, India, the U.K. and the U.S. All the other countries have chosen some form of proportional representation.

To make electoral reform very simple, the measure of a truly democratic voting system is one in which each citizen not only has a vote, but each vote has the same electoral power, the power to elect a representative.

First past the post pulls the wool over voters’ eyes. Sure, you can drop a ballot into the box, but, there is no guarantee it will be worth the paper its printed on.

Voters just have to ask themselves, “If my vote is going to be wasted because there is no chance my candidate will ever win, why should I waste my time paying attention to the political discussions and debates? My time would be better spent watching my kids play in their hockey league.” Or, “Do I really want to vote for someone I don’t like so that someone I like even less won’t win?”

In countries with proportional representation, around 95 per cent of votes go toward electing someone, and, contrary to Mr. Thomas’ assertion, voter turnout is higher in PR countries than in FPTP countries. In Canada, turnout is trending downward to 60 per cent or less. Why vote if my vote isn’t worth anything?

And, contrary to Mr. Thomas, ranked ballots do not indicate a more democratic system. The major parties get more bang for the buck, at the expense of the smaller parties.

It’s a very simple choice, real democracy with PR or pretend democracy with FPTP.

Daryl Sturdy

Vancouver, B.C.

 

Cuts have costs

In what universe can politicians promise new services, improvements to health care, new clinics, reducing child care fees, plus a host of other promises, while cutting taxes? Does this make any political sense? Or sense period?

People need the honesty of reality from our politicians. It’s math that if you spend more than you bring in, you will not have the money to maintain services, that are already suffering, much less keep your promises.

We will be a cash-strapped province. Our schools will suffer, and they are already struggling. Child care, health care, homelessness, public services, and wait times at hospitals will stay as atrocious as they are now.

School taxes removed from property taxes, that definitely helps the rich, more than the marginal. Where does the money for schools come from?? Oh yes, new taxes.

People want to know that our politicians understand the people of Manitoba’s needs and respect their intelligence. Promising tax cuts, as good as that sounds to some, will not fly.

Thelma McEvoy

Winnipeg

 

Kinew’s ER plan puzzling

I am still puzzled at how Kinew can think contradicting the NDP consultant’s recommendation to go to three emergency rooms in Winnipeg is a good idea.

Calgary, a much larger city has three ERs. Having an ER does not mean what we had at say, Victoria Hospital where many people including my father had to be transported to a real ER once delivered there by paramedics.

An ER is not just a place. It means a facility that is staffed by every specialty that is available all the time. We simply do not have the specialists for this and in a city this size, the only reason to have more ERs than Calgary is for getting votes.

It is an ill-fated idea and Manitoba does not need its citizens being shuttled from hospital to hospital as Kinew tries to win votes. I am actually surprised he is not recommending an ER in every constituency. This will not fix health care but it will mean a rise in debt and/or taxes.

David Gurvey

Winnipeg