Letters, Sept. 22

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/09/2023 (1083 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What’s the problem?

Yesterday, I attended the rally at the Manitoba legislature as part of the counter-protest. I was saddened to witness what was going on in our city. The signs from the “parent rights” side were astounding.

Folks working in our education system were denounced as pedophiles and groomers and told to keep their “hands off children.” I struggle to understand why it is so threatening to these protesters for children and youth to have a safe space in their lives to be who they want to be and grow and develop into the person they feel they are.

Not all children come from loving and supportive families. Lucky for those who have safe and open communication with their parents — but some don’t and why isn’t it OK to provide a safe space and acceptance at school for anyone that needs it? Educators are not groomers; they are not taking away rights from parents.

They are trusted to educate and support our children and offer understanding and acceptance. Why is that a problem?

Melissa Dvorak

Winnipeg

 

Leave LGBTTQ+ kids alone

If the “1MillionMarch4Children” organizers and participants truly wish to protect the well-being of children, they have mistakenly taken aim at the wrong target. Anyone who has payed even the slightest attention to the issues surrounding child abuse, sexual deviance and the grooming of innocent young people, know full well it is not the LGBTTQ+ to be feared.

Organized amateur sport, religious institutions, the worlds of arts and entertainment, politics and high finance have long set the examples when it comes to the successful grooming of the defenceless. The LGBTTQ+ community has been singled out in large part because they represent an easy, convenient and vulnerable target.

The rights to a carefree childhood and LGBTTQ+ inclusion are not mutually exclusive. If we honestly wish to prepare our kids for the world they will inherit, it serves little benefit to censure their learning years in accordance to the biases and dogma of institutions which function within regulated perceptives of acceptance. Our children are not our possessions, we function to provide them with enlightenment as so they are capable of creating and living in a kinder and more just world.

The 1MillionMarch4Children needs to refocus its attention. If it opts not to, then it’s abundantly clear their concern has less to do with childhood, family and freedom and everything to do with the politics of prejudice, privilege and division. No one seeks to deny these people their voices, rights and freedoms. It’s particularly sad they steadfastly refuse to reciprocate the favour.

Dan Donahue

Winnipeg

 

Jabs should be free

Re: Province recommends new COVID, flu shots at same time (Sept. 21)

How good it is to see that Dr. Brent Roussin is still able to make public health announcements, even with the ban on government releases during an election campaign.

However, I am concerned that Manitobans will have to pay out of pocket for respiratory syncytial virus vaccinations! Surely, our public health care system needs to be proactive in protecting Manitoban’s health and what is good (free) in other jurisdictions should be also provided freely in Manitoba as well.

Hopefully Dr. Roussin’s new boss next month will amend that decision.

Bob Sales

Winnipeg

 

Is anybody in the province not surprised that the Manitoba government is not funding the RSV vaccine like Ontario is doing?

Our province is constantly behind the times in almost everything.

We are not a have province we are have not province

Instead of funding the RSV vaccine that almost every senior citizen in the province should get, they would rather spend the $200 they are saving by not funding the vaccine, and spend it on the countless seniors that will be in the ERs and hospitals, this fall and winter with RSV infections.

My guess is its going to cost way more than $200 to care for the seniors who would’ve otherwise taken the vaccine if it was offered for free that will end up in the ER’s in the hospitals.

I guess if Manitobans want to have, they should move to Ontario or other provinces.

Way to go, Manitoba government.

Ron Robert

Winnipeg

 

Culture change needed

Re: Cyclist injured in apparent road rage incident with truck (Sept. 20)

We as Winnipeggers need to do better to reduce toxic culture that is negatively impacting our city.

From road rage incidents, to reckless motorists racing on cruise night causing havoc on Portage Avenue, to distracted motorists who are a hazard waiting to happen, public engagement about driving and how we use automobiles to get around is something most people ignore.

Did you know distracted driving deaths increased 115.6 per cent in Manitoba from 2017 to 2021, according to a study from hellosafe.ca? Meanwhile, distracted driving leads the way as the main factor in automobile collisions in 2021, according to an MPI report. Despite Manitoba being one of the strictest provinces for distracted driving with a fine of $672 and five demerits, such punishment seems lukewarm at best and lacklustre at worst, and is failing to deter poor driving.

On top of distracted driving, road rage incidents are sadly becoming commonplace. From cyclists being bullied and having their bikes damaged, to construction workers being not able to do their job free from rude drivers, the idea of having a driver’s licence seems to be seen in our society as a right.

Having a driver’s licence is a privilege, not a right. We need to do better. Stricter rules for distracted driving, including severe licence suspensions (i.e. a year or two) would deter behaviour. Also, we need to look at how we design our roads to ensure transportation equity for all. More designated lanes for bicycles and public transportation would encourage alternative transportation while reducing our carbon emissions, and give residents more options.

As a recovered victim of being hit by a car while walking a bike on a green light two years ago, we can do better to improve road safety here in Winnipeg. We owe it to ourselves, and the ones we care about.

Adam Johnston

Winnipeg

 

What goes unsaid

Re: Political theatre at its worst (Editorial, Sept. 21)

It will always be “theatre at its worst” because governments — Liberal, Conservative, and to a lesser degree the NDP — will never address the elephant in the room… free market capitalism.

Trudeau himself stated he did not want to interfere with market forces. From food prices to housing shortages, from gas prices to mortgage payments, the government can only play a peripheral role. They can try and persuade, they can tax, they can control or own some key sectors of the economy, which has diminished over the last three or four decades (e.g. creeping privatization of health care), but they are helpless controlling the costs of the major necessities of life.

Any significant moves to control food prices or provide affordable housing must involve positive intervention in the “free market.” Any move like that, price control, taxing the rich, limiting profits, nationalizing enterprises, etc, would bring on incredible pushback. I can hear the the shouts, “socialism! communism!” It is unlikely any party could get elected based on controlling markets.

But that is in fact the dilemma because governments will continue to do the minuet around the gopher hole, and large swaths of the population will remain disadvantaged and struggling to make ends meet.

Robert Milan

Vancouver