Letters, Jan. 5

Opinion

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This article was published 05/01/2024 (647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Questionable priorities

Re: Two-thousand public rental suites vacant due to low repair budget; City report calls for water, sewer rate hikes of more than 20% by 2027 (Jan. 3)

There are two articles in the Free Press that make one question the priorities of our elected officials. The first concerned the need for funding from all levels of government to complete the upgrade of our North End sewage treatment plant. The second concerned the number of vacant low-income rental units due to needed renovations. Both should be obvious priorities, and both fit within the parameters of government obligations.

Vacant government housing is sufficient to provide shelter for every one of the 1,200-1,500 homeless people in Winnipeg. Instead, these individuals are a burden on the police, social services and on the taxpayer, not to mention the tent encampments on the riverbanks.

Lake Winnipeg is a mess and continues to deteriorate — as a recreational asset, as a commercial fishery and as a tourist destination. Governments have a clear responsibility to deal with effluent when it threatens the environment.

Instead, our federal government, in its arrogance, prioritizes making economic choices for Canadians. Billions of dollars are provided to subsidize battery plants. Virtually unlimited immigration is promoted without thought to housing the arrivals or expanding the medical system to accommodate their needs. A bloated bureaucracy is created to refund carbon tax to individual taxpayers.

Our federal government is telling us we must purchase electric cars, without sufficient resources to power those vehicles or a distribution system to deliver the electricity that is available. Canada does not even have a national power grid.

Canadian voters must demand more from our senior elected officials. Politicians generally respond to the voice of the electorate. That voice is heard at the ballot box, but it must also be regularly heard in the court of public opinion.

Robert Sproule

Winnipeg

Fuel taxes necessary

Re: “Are fuel taxes justified?” (Letters, Dec. 27)

Canada’s emissions count. Subsidies to fossil fuels, which are a major cause of climate change, are costing us as much or more than the carbon fee does.

Canada is one of the highest per capita emitters. Yes, overall, we may emit less than two per cent of the total global emissions. But of the highest fossil fuel emitting countries, 16 emit less than two per cent. Add these up plus 20 per cent from other countries that emit even less and you get 42 per cent of global emissions. That’s more than China, the highest emitter. We need to do the right thing, not sit back and expect other countries to pull the weight.

In spite of the falsehoods repeated by certain sources, this last year the carbon “tax” (for which you get a refund) contributed only 0.207 per cent (counting direct and indirect costs) to the cost of inflation. Depending on how it’s counted, Canada subsidizes fossil fuels at the cost of at least $4.8 billion per year. Globally, the climate crisis has inflicted $16 million per hour in extreme weather damages over the past two decades. Two-thirds of this is due to lives that were lost.

Is it right to risk our people and planet not to put a price on pollution?

Lori Bohn

Winnipeg

Opportunistic policy

I’m not sure why it bothers me that mobile traffic camera people set up in school zones during holidays, but it does. I think it is because it seems so opportunistic on their part. The law as it is written allows for it and so they take advantage.

The speed limit in school zones was meant to increase safety for students. So on holidays like Christmas Day it seems to me there is no need to set up a speed camera in a school zone. And yet there it was on Christmas Day, by St. Ignatius school as well as at Harrow school. I didn’t get caught because I was expecting it to be there, but it seems so Scrooge-like and not about safety at all, rather about opportunism.

The police, city council could do some thing about this if they wanted and they wouldn’t have to change the law, simply tell the camera people to have some discretion.

David Wiebe

Winnipeg

Memories inspirational

Re: Lessons Learned as a young surgeon (Think Tank, Jan. 4)

What James Naples learned from his compassionate mentor meant the world to him, and resulted in him moving from self-doubt to trust in himself, allowing him to become a confident and trustworthy head and neck surgeon.

I am very grateful when I read stories like this: stories that admit to failure and exude humility; and stories that remind us of wonderful people who help us along our way.

This story inspires me to become a mentor to someone else; it also gives me hope for our collective future.

Mary Ann Loewen

Winnipeg

Doc a good choice

Re: NDP appoints outspoken ICU physician to serve as special health-care adviser (Jan. 2)

I’m very pleased to hear that Dr. Eric Jacobsohn has been named special adviser to Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara. I hope that one of the first changes made will be to reinstate the mask mandate in all hospitals and health care facilities. Doctors, scientists and researchers know that about 40 per cent of COVID transmission is asymptomatic. I would love to see Dr. Brent Roussin give a news conference where he explains that COVID is actually a vascular disease that affects our immune system.

Maybe something about the link to heart problems and long COVID. It’s not “just a cold” and the longer the public stays in denial, the bleaker our future looks.

Jackie Corrigan

Winnipeg

Facility confusion

With our emergency rooms overfilled, we need help determining what facility to use; we do not know!

Can we build all three facilities next to each other so we can get redirected to the correct facility? Emergency versus urgent care versus walk-in medical clinic; and all three need to be open and staffed 24-7. Then we can get the correct care at the correct place in a reasonable time and leave the true emergencies to the emergency department!

Anni Markmann

Ste. Anne

Failure to discipline

Re: Hartman’s admission of guilt caught on tape (Jan. 3)

The NHL has seriously missed the boat in how it dealt with the Wild’s Ryan Hartman after he high-sticked Cole Perfitti on Sunday. By fining him $4,000 — which amounts to a minuscule amount given his $4-million dollar salary — they have said that he can use his stick as a weapon and get away with it.

In any other endeavour, retaliation with a weapon constitutes the crime of assault.

Hartman picked on the smallest member of the Jets in a dangerous manner that could have resulted in the loss of teeth or an eye. Now we are left until Feb. 20 to see how the Jets respond to Hartman’s cowardly actions.

It is all unfortunate, as I love watching the Jets play winning hockey. Criminal retaliation has no place in the NHL.

Mac Horsburgh

Winnipeg

Consider the PWHL

Now that the PWHL is up and running, and the first few games have been well attended, it is never too early to think about expansion for the new league. Why not Winnipeg?

A city with a rabid fanbase for hockey at all levels. There is no question that a local team would serve as a positive role model for young females playing the game and would spur further participation in minor girl’s hockey and ringette.

Out of tribute for the early 20th century Stanley Cup champions, call the team the Victorias, where they will be known locally as the Winnipeg Vics or Vees. Refurbish the Max Bell Center to hold, say, 3,000 fans, and there you go.

No question the team will sell out every game with great rivalries developing between the other Canadian teams.

David Cohen

Winnipeg