Letters, Oct. 10

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/10/2023 (1067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Terrible state

Re: Oakview Place staff restructuring leads to neglect, aides allege (Oct. 5)

Very saddened by what I read in the article. The people in the new provincial government may want to do some about these “neglect homes” (they are not care homes) before they themselves need to be in one.

The federal or provincial government need to have care for seniors come under their jurisdiction and do away with private for profit homes unless one of the pharmaceutical companies can come up with an anti-aging drug where no one gets old but I do not see that happening anytime soon.

Ron Robert

Winnipeg

What goes around

Re: Tories face period of reckoning, rebuilding (Oct. 4)

It is very apt that the Progressive Conservative party is now rife with the same dissension and division that they caused in the province. Good luck in rebuilding your party as we work to rebuild our province.

Randy Clinch

Winnipeg

Kudos to new premier

Somebody once asked: “Can you make me the best”? and the answer was firm, “No I cannot, but you can with hard work” and that’s what premier-elect Wab Kinew did.

You did it, Mr. Premier, and the whole of Canada is proud of you.

Anant Nagpur

Ottawa

PCs swept off map

Heather Stefanson managed to hold her seat in the Oct. 3 election, by the thinnest of margins (263 votes), unlike Rochelle Squires, Kevin Klein and Audrey Gordon, among so many other PCs who were unceremoniously shown the door.

The PCs have been decimated in this election and deservedly so.

They fear-mongered, sent out dog whistles to the extreme right about “standing firm,” “parental rights,” and are forever tainted by Stefanson’s callousness — “coulda, woulda, shoulda”, “proud parent moment,” “stand firm” — and the unspeakable incompetence of Gordon, who presided over gibberish and calamitous mismanagement of our health care. That Stefanson did not remove Gordon from the health portfolio when her incompetence was evident and harmful to Manitobans boggles the mind. Hence, the NDP tsunami.

That PC members are now bemoaning their party’s extreme right-wing messaging, which they tacitly endorsed for weeks upon weeks, is in bad faith and a transparent attempt to rehabilitate their own severely tarnished legacy (Manitoba Tory cabinet minister denounces right-wing pivot in election campaign, Oct. 4). Only now, Rochelle Squires — fired by Manitobans — denounces her party’s messaging, declaring discomfort, post-election, in matters pertaining to the PC campaign’s weaponization of coded discrimination of LGBTTQ+ Manitobans, and the incoherent PC messaging as it relates to their alleged desire for reconciliation with our Indigenous friends and neighbours, yet denying their humanity in refusing to search the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

It will take the PCs many years to recuperate, rehabilitate their right-wing leaning identity and present a viable alternative to Manitoba’s new political scene. The PCs seismic shift to the extreme right was deservedly slapped down by Manitoba voters. (Tories at consequential crossroads for party’s, province’s political futures, Oct. 5).

Manitoba PCs will be stinging from this rebuke for many years to come.

Kenneth Meadwell

Winnipeg

Name of the game

Re: What’s in a name? More than meets the eye (Oct. 5)

This type of journalism is so needed in our movement forward with Truth and Reconciliation. Niigaan’s explanation provided an in-depth analysis of a premier-elect’s pathway from his naming at infancy to adulthood.

The insights of his special name, and of his many accomplishments and tribulations, gives all Manitobans and Canadians “a second chance” at acknowledging the feat of becoming Premier-elect, against all odds.

Once again, thank you Niigaan, for educating us on the importance of a name in the realm of our political democracy.

Wilma Sotas

Winnipeg

Poor candidate

Re: Tories face an era of reckoning, rebuilding (Oct. 5)

It is mentioned in this article that speculation regarding candidates for leadership of the PC party includes Candice Bergen. I have been a PC voter for my entire adult life. She co-chaired a campaign that I had a very hard time putting an X on the ballot for.

I found the advertising and some of the key focus points so repugnant that I called into the head office complaining. When she took the job, a PC friend of mine on the inside voiced his concern about her negative style and where it would lead the party and his concern obviously played out.

There were plenty of positive economic achievements which could have been the focus of their platform and were not even mentioned. I certainly hope that the future of the party will not be put in the hands of someone who could script one of the worst campaigns in the party’s history.

Kim Bassey

Winnipeg

Bloated chamber

What a colossal waste of money that is only escalating. The population of Manitoba is approximately 1.45 million yet we elect 57 MLAs. That equates to one person representing a paltry 25.5 thousand voters per constituency, with many eligible voters not bothering to vote because they consider all “politicians are the same. They are all crooks”. Sad but true.

So who do these MLAs, with above average salaries, perks and “golden”pensions after a minimum time served really represent? One has to wonder. After election, do you ever read or hear about your MLA, except for the yearly calendar at Christmas with family pictures or pamphlets every election touting their over-exaggerated accomplishments in the community. No, I don’t but than you could trot out a dog in an orange shirt in Wolseley, where I reside, and they would win.

Than you have 57 seats with a premier and 18 of the winning party holding cabinet positions, some with titles that makes one wonder. You are left with 38 backbenchers that you will never hear from, with the exception of the opposing leader and a few backbenchers until the next election.

Time to cut the number of MLAs and cabinet positions and save money.

Kim Trethart

Winnipeg

Money in the plate

Solving our economic problems will take bold and honourable politicians. One good way of lowering personal income tax would be to tax the church and all religious organizations at the same level of any corporation in the land.

I do not see how they are charities. Donations to religions should not be subsidized through tax credits. Another step would be to stop pampering the public sector at the expense of the private sector. Civil servants, military personnel, police, firemen and politicians should get only the same retirement package as those who work in the private sector.

This would enable a bit of overall income tax reduction for everyone.

Sean Murray

Victoria, B.C.