Letters, Oct. 23

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This article was published 23/10/2023 (904 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Solutions to bus aggression

Re: Transit drivers fear ‘huge increase’ in assaults (Oct. 19)

As someone who frequents Winnipeg Transit, I have witnessed first-hand the increase in aggressive and dangerous behaviour towards drivers.

This is also true for passengers on buses, as I have witnessed others be the targets of verbal and physical acts of aggression, and have been the target myself.

Our government and Winnipeg Transit need to do more in finding a solution and I propose the following: addition of physical barriers for the passenger entrance to the bus, which will stop non ticket or passholders from boarding.

Passes and cards could be registered to their holders and a camera could watch the entrance.

This way aggressors can be identified by their cards and in some cases banned altogether.

This does not seem unreasonable as a similar system is used in Manitoba Liquor Marts and physical barriers on buses are used in other countries.

In a perfect world, everyone should be able to access public transport, but when the safety and lives of drivers and passengers are at risk, it is time to take action.

Riley Coates

Winnipeg

Stop catastrophe now

Re: Stop pro-Hamas rallies (Think Tank, Oct. 18)

The right to participate in peaceful demonstrations and protests that do not seriously disturb the peace is a cornerstone of Canadian democracy. After witnessing days of ruthless bombing of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, and after learning that Israel cut their access to fuel, water, electricity and aid, is it any wonder that Canadians across the country are rallying in support of Palestinians?

The Israeli government’s order for a million Gazans to evacuate to the south suggests that a ground invasion is imminent. This is an emergency that means life or death to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.

The top priority for anyone who cares about human rights and upholding international law is to do everything possible, urgently, to stop this catastrophe. Rally participants are calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the occupation that Palestinians have endured for over 50 years. Through our protests and our rallies, we are saying to our elected leaders that enough is enough. We need them to take action now.

Debbie Hubbard

Canadians for justice and peace in the middle east-Okanagan chapter

Kelowna, B.C.

Competence is key

Re: Elections Manitoba boss defends agency’s performance despite issues with new technology, human errors (Oct. 13)

I was disappointed by the response of Chief Electoral Officer Shipra Verma to the significant problems which occurred during our Oct. 3 provincial election.

Ms. Verma says that the election was conducted in a free and fair manner, but she misses the point. What is more important than her words is voter’s perception that the election was conducted competently and transparently. Unfortunately, neither criterion was met.

In a future election with the dozen or so “swing seats” in Manitoba, it is possible the election of a government could depend on a few hundred ballots. While the double-counting of 1,400 votes was not a problem this year, it would be a disaster in such a scenario.

Ms. Verma blames some of the problems on human error but then goes on to say that employees were given sufficient training. With respect, I think that the employees being blamed for the errors might be a better judge of the adequacy of their training.

The refusal to communicate appropriately as problems occurred on election night and during the following 10 days is difficult to understand and impossible to defend.

While Elections Manitoba is carrying out a review, an independent third party must be engaged to perform parts of that review such as providing an opportunity for employees to provide feedback regarding the adequacy of their training. This is particularly important given the initial indications that Ms. Verma is minimizing the problems and adopting a defensive response to feedback.

I don’t want to minimize the complexity of conducting an election but given that elections are held on a four-year schedule, voters are entitled to a much higher degree of preparation resulting in a smoother election process. Conducting elections in a competent and transparent way is absolutely essential to our democratic system.

Robert Pruden

Winnipeg

Gas tax math

As Manitobans we should be receiving in mid-October our third carbon tax rebate for the year.

As the rebate is automatically deposited in people’s bank account I am always surprised how few actually people know they have received these funds or what the funds are actually for (especially younger people).

Ask 10 people and I will bet six have no idea where the funds came from or why they were received.

Of course the government could have sent an actual cheque (like the education rebate homeowners receive in Manitoba) which would result in people being more knowledgeable of the rebate.

However, direct deposit is obviously the more financially responsible way of disbursing the rebate vs. mailing.

Is government more concerned with getting votes and exposure or distributing funds the more financially smart way?

I am also surprised how many people believe this is just a tax grab, when in reality government estimates 80 per cent of people actually receive more in rebate dollars than they actually pay out.

Calculating what you actually pay in carbon tax is really not that hard.

Most vehicles now show how many litres per 100 kilometres they drive.

For comparison’s sake:

1) Drive 15,000 km a year.

2) Vehicle gets 10L/100 km. (This would probably be a larger/older vehicle.)

3) A fill gets you approx 500 kilometres.

4) Carbon tax $0.14/litre

5) Carbon tax paid on fill $0.14 x 50L = $7

6) Based on 30 fills a year, 30 x $7 = $210 is the actual carbon tax you would have paid for gas on vehicle.

If your mileage was actually 6L/100 km, the tax you would pay for 15,000 km driven would be $126 in a year.

Carbon tax is also paid for on natural gas for home heating and shown separately on each monthly bill. Simply add up for the year.

I have a larger 2,500 square-foot home and carbon tax for natural gas was $333 for the last 12 months.

Add together the carbon tax paid for vehicle gasoline and natural gas at home to get the total carbon tax you pay.

Everyone gets the same total rebate for the year.

First adult: $528/year

Two adults, no kids: $792/year

Family of four: $1,056/year

Drive a more fuel efficient car, drive less or don’t own a vehicle and you receive that same rebate, but the tax you would pay would be less, hence more dollars in your pocket.

Will the carbon tax on road transport alone solve the climate issue? Of course not.

However, keep in mind road transport accounts for 15 per cent of the total greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted.

Finally, if you are interested at all in increasing your basic knowledge of climate change, I strongly recommend buying Mark Jaccard’s book Citizen’s Guide to Climate Change.

The book is very readable and informative for everyone.

Doug Brownlee

Headingley