Letters, Jan. 10

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2024 (977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Don’t delay on highway fix

Re: Province commits $12M to redesign highway intersection where crash killed 17 seniors (Jan. 8)

Building an interchange incorporating an underpass or overpass crossing the Trans-Canada Highway at the intersection where the deadly crash occurred would take 20 to 25 years? Really? That long? Needing this length of time is quite improbable in an advanced society such as ours. And this is an obvious solution. The U.S. built their interstate highway system many decades ago with overpasses that were built in much shorter times.

Where is our federal government funding to protect traffic on the prairies on its Trans-Canada Highway system by helping to fund building overpasses as it seems to do in other parts of the country? Surely the costs could be shared.

Bruce Hutchison

Ottawa

To my mind there is no other reasonable option. I have travelled through this busy intersection hundreds of times, I have seen the difficulty in crossing and know for a fact that the biggest issue is the speed of the east/west traffic.

It is not busy enough to consider the cost of an overhead crossing but just busy enough to need to significantly slow or stop traffic. The cheapest and quickest solution is traffic lights and I would ask that they be installed immediately at little cost with minimum traffic disruption and huge safety gains.

After they go in, monitor the corner for safety and only then, if deemed needed, build a traffic circle for far less money than other options. I have been through the circle at Oak Bluff, corner of No. 3 and No. 2 on many occasions and can advise that this circle has fixed the problems at that oddly situated corner, quite simply it works because it slows the drivers down, makes them think, and does not allow the option of “blowing through” which truckers and others do at red lights when they see it to be “safe.” My 30 years plus working at MPI in the claims area has given me an insight to the horror that inattention can cause and the belief that the only way to control traffic is to force it to slow down, signs do not do the trick.

So please, Premier Kinew, let’s make the decision to save life and injury and still consider the costs.

Manitoba is full of costly mistakes that helped no one, let Manitoba be innovative and cost sensitive at the same time, making us leaders in this area.

John Zaplitny

Carman

Important points

Re: Let’s talk about children and education (Think Tank, Jan. 4); Math instruction isn’t adding up: prof (Jan. 5).

In the first piece, a primary message is that children will learn more about how to be happy and engaged, and do well at mathematics, from how their teachers care for them, and model healthy relationships, than from anything else they might do.

In the second, a primary message is that Manitoba Education, and its counterparts, need to make the teaching of foundational math skills (based on “the science of learning”) more of a priority if students are going to leave school with the numeracy skills they will need.

Both points of view are critically important, because teachers must be both caring and pedagogically competent if students are to learn as much they can. Caring and competence should be able to happily coexist in the same teaching and learning space. Perhaps both writers share this perspective. If they do, I wish they would have explicitly said so.

In any case, I believe that most teachers strive to do both — to be both caring and competent. Let’s keep encouraging them to keep doing this.

Gerald Farthing

Winnipeg

After reading the article focusing on improving math education, I agree that this is an important topic that does need to be addressed, but, as a student who does not have a cellphone yet, I do realize that it could come in handy at times during the school hours. I do not agree with the ban of cellphones on school ground, it is technically already in play.

It is not like the teachers of our schools are saying, “OK students, let’s play games and talk to family on our phones”, because that’s not how it works. Phones can be very useful if used at an appropriate time, for example if there are no devices and you need to do research, or if there is an emergency and you need to contact help or family. Phones do cause a distraction to students, but they do not need to be banned.

Another thing that stood out to me was the topic of math nowadays being harder, so it sticks in student’s brains. I do tend to forget what I have learned in my math classes and my other classes too, but as a student I do know that if we are bored, we forget easier and we don’t listen. If we are excited and are enjoying what we are learning, we remember it better because we were having fun and it’s a moment we enjoyed. So, if we can make math a little harder but still fun, it would be fair for teachers and the students.

Dreyven Bastians

Winnipeg

Disco never dies

Re: Disco eternal (Jan. 4)

I enjoyed David Sanderson’s piece on the 50th anniversary of disco. However, in an A-Z retrospective told from a local perspective, he overlooked the biggest resurgence of disco since the ’70s, which was the 1998-2002 Boogie Nights Cabaret. (Now Cowboys.)

Most Winnipeggers under the age of 65 would have their only exposure to disco through this nightclub and their various bands. Names such as Super Booty, The Odd Squad, Galactic Dolls and the Boogie Knights Band (who still perform an annual reunion show) introduced this music to generations who missed the first go-round for disco and greatly contributed to its local relevance to this day.

Thanks to David for this polyester-paved trip down memory lane.

Keith Gordon

Winnipeg

Humbug!

On Dec. 25, a mobile speed enforcement unit was parked on Markham Road, beside Arthur A. Leach School at 10:30 a.m. It was there again on Dec. 26 at 1:50 p.m. and again on Jan. 1 at 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

I can only assume that the mobile units are there as a “cash grab” for the city and not for the safety of the school children, as no children were attending school on those days.

Janet Marchylo

Winnipeg

Praise for Cheveldayoff

I have to say I hope all the fans who were calling for Cheveldayoff’s head last spring are willing to eat a whole plate of humble pie.

Four of the players he picked up in trades last year, Vilardi, Niederreiter, Iafallo and Namestnikov currently have more points then Pierre Luc Dubois. Not only that, they are all better two way players and don’t take stupid penalties.

Plus there is Kupari recuperating and a second round draft pick waiting in the wings. Hellebuyck and Schiefele are on long term contacts and playing some of the best hockey of their career. The Jets are in first place and a serious contender. Cheveldayoff is in consideration for GM of the year. Top choice for many.

He certainly should have silenced his critics at last. What more could fans want?

Rob McConnell

Winnipeg