Letters, Sept. 18

Opinion

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This article was published 18/09/2023 (749 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pierre should check privilege

Re: WestJet union should apologize for trying to ‘silence’ free speech, Poilievre says (Sept. 14)

Pierre Poilievre says the Westjet union should apologize to him.

So, Pierre Poilevere believes that because some folks love his message, he’s entitled to special status, and the opportunity to share his thoughts with everyone on a flight whether they agree with him or not. He’s offended that the union representing the Westjet employees has taken issue with his broadcast and now Pierre wants an apology to soothe his hurt feelings.

Sounds a lot like the “woke” entitlement that Pierre and his followers so often accuse others of.

Don McPherson

St. Andrews

Alternative voting not better choice

Re: A primer on choosing a voting model (Sept 12)

In response to Dugald Lamont’s campaign promise to change the voting system from first past the post to alternative vote (AV or a ranked ballot), Paul G. Thomas lists some supposed pros and cons of both systems.

An advantage for AV is said to be: “voters can vote for their first choice without fear of wasting their vote.” False. Under AV, if a voter knows their first choice has little or no chance of winning, their vote WILL be wasted, especially if their second choice vote is a distant second preference. Under any of the many forms of a Proportional Representation voting system, no votes are wasted because the final result will always proportionally equate the number of votes for a given party with the number of seats won. All PR systems proposed for Canada, whether at the federal or provincial level, would have local representation.

Australia and Papua New Guinea are the only two countries that use AV at the national or the equivalent of provincial level. In Australia in 2019, parties other than the largest two received a total of 25 per cent of the vote but won only three per cent of the seats.

According to Paul Thomas, Dougald Lamont wants to strengthen our democracy. The Federal Electoral Reform Committee spent five months studying various voting systems. Hundreds of experts were called from Canada and around the world, with 88 per cent recommending some form of Proportional Representation and only four per cent recommending AV. In an article with a headline like A primer on choosing a voting model, space should have been devoted to the system (PR) that most closely aligns the popular (first-choice) vote with seats won, thereby truly strengthening our democracy.

Laurel Ridd

Winnipeg

Kudos to mayor

Re: Gillingham in Houston with homeless Winnipeggers on mind (Sept. 12)

Thanks so much for your article on the homeless and interview with the mayor in Houston. This is an issue that I have been concerned about for sometime in Winnipeg, due to the lack of leadership from all three levels of government. There needs to be, as your article points out, an integration of all the various social services, agencies and groups. So there is not overlap. The administrative structure is of great importance in the success of any program to be implemented.

The homeless in Winnipeg have gotten a rare deal, that is no fault of their own. The mayor should be congratulated for taking on this issue which has lingered and only gotten worse in Winnipeg — leadership is badly needed.

Let us hope the mayor can make some headway through the red tape.

Alan Levy

Winnipeg

Learn from past mistakes

Re: Parties urged to create seniors advocate (Sept. 12)

“A new advocacy network, whose members were horrified by the number of deaths in personal care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, is calling on Manitoba political party leaders to establish an independent seniors watchdog within 180 days of taking office, to promise to establish a seniors advocate who reports to the legislative assembly.”

A seniors advocate would function in a manner similar to the Manitoba advocate for children and youth. The NDP and Liberals have both spoken in favour of the creation of a seniors advocate who would identify systemic problems and have the legislative authority to demand accountability. Key words: “identify systemic problems and have the legislative authority to demand accountability”.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that divorced parents and their children are entitled to a close and continuous relationship with one another and that “shared parenting” become the norm in terminology and practice. The government ratified the UNCRC 32 years ago, yet the Manitoba advocate does not have a mandate within custody and access matters.

So, despite the UNCRC being legally binding, as well as having a children’s advocate in Manitoba, it has not helped some of the children and families affected by divorce. Our family law system continues to be described as being in a state of crisis. And for the families affected, there is the trauma and devastation of an adversarial court system, frustration with the costs that stem from the delays and the dissipation of family assets. And for the children, the instability and emotional stress is catastrophic. Many people are horrified.

We have a children’s advocate, the systemic problems have been identified, but the children’s advocate needs to have a mandate regarding all the principles of the UNCRC and the legislative authority to demand accountability.

Hopefully, for the sake of seniors, the establishment of a seniors advocate will not suffer the same fate as the children’s advocate.

Dolores Belot

Winnipeg

City comparison misleading

Re: Kinew’s ER plan puzzling (Letters, Sept. 14)

While Mr. Gurvey pointed out that “Calgary, a much larger city (than Winnipeg) has three ERs” he failed to include a complete and more statistically valid comparison.

First, though Calgary is larger than Winnipeg (1.3 million compared to 750,000 respectively) — it comprises only 30 per cent of Alberta’s total population versus 56 per cent for Winnipeg in our province. Second, Edmonton with a population of 1.15 million (or 26 per cent of Alberta’s population) has five ERs according to the Alberta Health Services Emergency Wait Time website. Third, there are even more ER departments in other Alberta communities.

Joanna K. Plater

Winnipeg

Check the record

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

The editorial makes the point that none of the parties running for election in Manitoba have been specific regarding how they would recruit new health-care professionals. Asking any party that is not in power to complete such an objective is unrealistic; they lack the necessary details hidden in the minds of senior government officials to put the necessary meat on the bones.

The exception of course is Heather Stefanson’s current conservative government and we’ve seen what they can do, wreaking havoc on the health-care system and alienating every union and profession associated with health care.

It is my sincere belief that notwithstanding that the NDP party has not yet provided the specific details of their healthcare plan there is a higher likelihood that Wab Kinew will succeed where Heather Stefanson has dismally failed.

He is in the business of building bridges not burning them. Health-care professionals will contribute to his initiatives rather than reacting with the rejection and anger that Stefanson has brought upon herself.

Tom Pearson

Winnipeg