Letters, Nov. 3

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/11/2023 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Drop the puck, not the gloves

No more fighting in hockey.

I’ve played many sports, including football and in this aggressive sport, if you fight you’re ejected from the game.

I find it disturbing that in society, fighting is frowned upon, and in many cases illegal. Most, if not all professional sports have concussion protocol in place to protect the athletes to protect them from further brain damage.

The question then becomes why is it acceptable to beat an opponent in hockey?

These are athletes, but they’re also human beings that can sustain brain damage in a fight.

I don’t care if the NHL or the fans think it’s great to see two individuals drop their gloves and beat

each other. I think it’s unacceptable and puts athletes in danger. It should be banned from all sports including hockey.

Kenneth Miller

Oakbank

Spend wisely on housing

Re: The solution is more housing (Think Tank, Oct. 11)

I think this line deserves repeating:

To quote one of the architects of Finland’s Housing First, “It’s not rocket science.” Move people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing as quickly as possible, then offer support to stay housed and achieve their goals.

Money needs to be spent and spent wisely. Brent Bellamy would like to see surface parking lots in Winnipeg’s downtown used for other purposes. How about apartments for the homeless?

The city cannot afford to be cheap when looking to fix our crime statistics and actually take steps to improve public safety. It is going to cost money, probably lots of money. The option to spending the money required, is to carryon doing as we’re doing.

We must remember that providing the home is only the first step in helping that individual.

Key to success is to continue supporting that individual to stay housed and achieve goals. We need to believe in them and think they’re worth it.

Marilyn Bird

Winnipeg

Where is the UN?

The images and reports from Gaza are heart-rending, as were the reports of the Hamas raid that began all this. On this we can all agree.

Overlooked in all this is the wider failure of the original vision for the United Nations. This organization was originally chartered to be a global peacekeeping/peacemaking force. God forbid any of us have to call 911 to report a serious crime or home invasion. But where is the global police force that would send in an army of sufficient size to arrest members of Hamas and bring them to justice? Instead, we hear pundits criticize Israel for a response that is “not proportional.” Even if somehow Israel limited itself to an eye for an eye proportionate response, wouldn’t we just end up with a lot of half-blind people in the Middle East?

As it is, we approach the celebration of the Birth of the Prince of Peace with a total absence of peace in his back yard. My church’s relief organization sent us an email asking for financial support for the suffering people of Gaza. I fear my modest contribution will be far too little and too late for the thousands who are perishing. The only thing the United Nations seems capable of is writing a UNICEF report on the number of Gazan children who have perished.

So let’s put the spotlight where it needs to be, on the failure of the global community, such as it is, to step in and make things right.

Barry Bence

Winnipeg

Other ways to cut MPI costs

Re: High cost to settle strike (Letters, Nov. 2)

I am sure the letter writer isn’t alone in being concerned about the impact of the new contract for unionized MPI workers on his insurance premiums.

Rather than depriving 1,700 people of fair wages, there is a more productive (and compassionate) opportunity to reduce auto insurance costs: join advocates in fighting for safety measures such as making breathalyzer devices a standard feature in all new vehicles. Also, drive safely and wear a seat belt or helmet if on a bike. Make sure your loved ones do the same. Most expensive claims involve unsafe behavior.

I would rather have my insurance premiums and taxes directed to supporting Manitobans doing their jobs and preventing needless death, injury, and trauma than issuing benefits and paying for avoidable medical treatment and law enforcement.

We can all take action that benefits everyone instead of seeing things as one group gaining at the expense of another.

Michelle Burdz

Winnipeg

Chilly reception coming

Re: Lawyers must uphold the law (Editorial, Nov. 1)

It’s interesting and enlightening to compare the result of the Manitoba prosecution of Alberta lawyer, John Carpay, with the penalty imposed by his erstwhile employer “Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms” (JCCF) in 2021.

Mr. Carpay has been banned for life from practising law in Manitoba, and for three years anywhere in Canada. The JCCF in dealing with the same offence (intimidation of a justice system participant and attempting to obstruct justice) imposed a seven-week leave of absence, following which it announced it was pleased to welcome back Carpay, its president.

It makes me wonder about the inclusion of the term “Justice” in the JCCF title. Anyone taking bets on Mr. Carpay being again welcomed back to JCCF at the end of his current three-year suspension?

Ron Menec

Winnipeg

Meal plan the right move

Re: Meal plan, K-12 funding top education goals (Nov. 1)

This is a great place to start, Premier Kinew. You can fund it by throwing out the 50 per cent rebate on the education portion of our property tax.

It was nice to receive, as any rebate is, but most of us can survive without it. Besides, renters did not receive a dime from most landlords, if any. Corporations, or any business can also survive without the rebate. If not, they are in the wrong business.

There are a lot of kids that go to school hungry, and it has a negative effect on their learning ability. It will even help families having a hard time putting food on the table. A rebate would only be a stop-gap measure for a short period of time.

Another item to simplify Mr. Kinew, is the deduction for tuition fees for university students, by having them put their expense directly on line 58560 of the provincial return without having to fill out a long calculation on a separate page (forget schedule MB( S11). It saves the student hiring a tax consultant to figure out their tuition entitlement, or finding out they don’t get the deduction. Remember the KISS principle. Do whatever you can to benefit them and their education. It may even reduce any school debt they may have.

The province and country win in the long run. By the way, I voted for your team, please don’t let us down. Forget those previous people, they only did what would benefit them and their pals.

Don Halligan

Winnipeg

Let’s make things easier

Re: Time for a change (Think Tank, Nov. 2)

I totally agree with Shannon Sampert’s article. Why can’t we all get on the same page with DST?

Not only would this help people physically and mentally but would make life alot easier! I’m all for making life easier!

Debbie Painter

Winnipeg