Letters, Nov. 17

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/11/2023 (1048 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Long wait for justice

It happens all too often, family and friends pack a courtroom, pouring their hearts out reading victim impact statements.

Each person delivers a raw emotional statement of just how devastating the loss of a loved one has affected them. And once again, it’s due to another drunk driver taking an innocent life, in this case my niece Jordyn Reimer.

Like clockwork, the crown prosecutor and defence attorney spout case law to suggest what should determine the length of the sentence. No matter what the final sentence is, nothing will replace the beautiful life that was lost, and nothing will satisfy the grieving family and friends.

The night that Tyler Scott Goodman decided to drive impaired, we were all handed a life sentence, Jordyn’s absence will be a part of our lives forever.

A final decision will be made, and it needs to reflect the gravity of the crime. What could be more serious than murdering an innocent young woman? This should be considered as serious as manslaughter. How is it different? The result is the same, Jordyn is dead.

Without more serious consequences, more innocent victims will lose their lives, families will be continue to be devastated, and the guilty be allowed to quickly return to society and live their lives as if nothing has changed.

What will it take to finally set a new precedent? Or for that matter, the right precedent? Why does this continue to be treated as an accident, and not as it should be, a crime equal to or greater than manslaughter? Driving drunk is a decision with no regard for human life.

When will we finally have justice for innocent victims and their families?

Jordyn deserves justice.

Signy Shaw

Winnipeg

Cameras long past due

Re: Time for Manitoba to mandate, fund police body cameras (Nov. 13)

As a practising criminal defence attorney, I feel Tom Brodbeck is quite right when he decries the lack of funding for camera technology in Winnipeg policing.

However, even more fundamental than body cameras, the WPS does not even utilize dashcams or interior cameras in their cruiser cars. WPS may be one of the last policing agencies in Canada to be in this position.

RCMP, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, even Brandon police cruisers all have installed audio and video. The technology is cost-effective and proven — after all, World’s Wildest Police Chases began airing programs consisting of police dashcam footage 25 years ago. The fact that Winnipeg transit buses have fully installed surveillance camera systems, while police cruisers do not, is problematic.

Video evidence can streamline trials, contradict or corroborate allegations of police misconduct, force guilty pleas or the dropping of charges before trial, and give triers of fact the best evidence on which to decide criminal cases.

We would catch up with the rest of the world, the rest of Canada, and learn the best methods of storage and retrieval of electronic evidence — for the eventual implementation of body cameras.

Scott Newman

Winnipeg

Let reason prevail

Re: ‘Canary in the coal mine’ (Letters, Nov. 15)

I feel the need to remind Barry Elkin that history actually tells us the outbreak of anti-Semitism goes back much, much, much further than Oct. 7.

In fact, anti-Semitism can be traced to the earliest days of Western civilization, particularly amongst the Romans and Christians.

Let’s not blame the latest crisis in Israel for the rise of anti-Semitism; let’s take a look at our own cultural heritage! And while we’re at it, we should also practice some good old Western-style rationalism, and not make wild claims about Hamas slaughtering all the Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists in the world.

Paul Robertson

Beausejour

Rehabilitation, not retribution

Re: Accused in Osborne Village assaults has ‘very violent’ record (Nov. 14)

This very sad case, for the accused and the victims, demonstrates the need for restorative justice with a sentence something like: “committal to appropriate treatment in secure facilities until such time as there is sufficient healing, and adequate long-term supports in place for living in the community”.

The article states that the accused young woman, Lanessa Moskotaywenene, had “…a difficult childhood marked by neglect, abuse and substance use issues that began when (she) was 11… She has diagnoses of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder.”

Retributive justice — sending her to prison — will do nothing to change the trajectory of her life, nor make the community safer.

Of course, such a facility needs to exist. Does it?

Sara Jane Schmidt

Winnipeg

Contempt not the way

Re: Crime and punishment (Think Tank, Nov. 16)

In his Nov. 16 column, Charles Adler seems to be suggesting we need more politicians that show contempt for the legal system.

I suggest he look to the Trump experience in the U.S. Now there’s a politician with contempt for the legal system!

How’s that working out for them?

Don McPherson

St. Andrews

Make transit easier, too

Re: Transit accelerates drive for ‘full network transformation’ (Nov. 15)

While the goal of more frequent buses is laudable, riders also want trips that take less time and go directly to their destination with minimal transfers. Unfortunately, the transit master plan puts the “downtown” hub at Union Station, far from the probable destination of many riders.

It takes a further 500 metres or so just to get to the nearest skywalk entrance, followed by a lengthy walk to Manitoba Hydro, the University of Winnipeg, and other likely destinations. There was good reason for Graham Avenue to be chosen as the heart of downtown transit.

Why Union Station? Because that is where rail lines happen to be, lines that are to be used as transit corridors but were never designed to move people from far-flung suburbs to downtown. The rail lines are ill-suited to that purpose, unless buses continue to downtown proper and take people where they want to go in the least time.

Jim Clark

Winnipeg

Citizens can help climate cause

Re: Investment needed to meet climate goals (Think Tank, Nov. 15); Absent name and ‘unfortunate diversion’ (Nov. 14)

The investments cited in needing to meet the goal of a net-zero emissions economy in Manitoba seems reasonable and represents a positive start. Utilizing federal and provincial investments underscores the need to keep Manitoba Hydro’s debt ratio at a comfortable level and in public control.

Using tax dollars to invest in our public utility is a good thing, but we as citizens can do more. Harkening back to Shaun Loney’s comments, I, too, can attest to the efficiency of ground source heat pumps.

Until recently my wife and I resided for 17 years on a rural property in an approximately 1,800-square-foot three-bedroom home with geothermal heating and cooling. The system included air to air heat recovery and humidity control.

The system was very efficient, maintaining a trouble-free and comfortable house temperature on the coldest days of winter and hottest days of summer.

The savings in electric power consumption was in the order of 30 per cent year over year. In making the investment the initial cost was returned in about 12 years. When the property was eventually sold, the geothermal unit was viewed as a desirable asset.

The moral of this story is that by installing geothermal heating/cooling we made an investment in ourselves but also in our public utility and in the cause of a net-zero emissions economy.

James Penner

Winnipeg