Letters, Jan. 16

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/01/2024 (970 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

See what it’s like

It is -30 C outside as I write this, and getting colder.

I was asked by a volunteer of many years’ standing why those getting paid over the years, from town councillors up to the ministers of the day, have not come up with solutions to homelessness? The cost of supporting them has been tens of millions of dollars but no absolute results.

The suggestion was made that perhaps those people in charge should stand outside with the homeless until a workable and immediately implementable solution was agreed to before allowing them back indoors.

Andy Maxwell

Swan River

Don’t paint with broad brush

Re: The unwelcome unvaxxed (Think Tank, Jan. 15)

Patricia Dawn Robertson may think she hurls invectives just on “outliers” with her venomous insults, but caught in her crossfire as collateral damage are such people as my fully vaccinated friends who nevertheless caught, and probably spread, COVID; my relatives with asthma who, although virus-free still produce a “distinctive lower respiratory rasping,” albeit as often as not while perusing the organic food section of a high-end grocery store; mothers, not necessarily resident in a hinterland, whose children (again, fully vaccinated) attend daycare where participation includes mandatory daily full immersion in the latest and as-yet undocumented virus inoculation protocol.

Vaccination is a good thing which governments and the people in general need strongly promote. However, making light of and stereotyping people who dissent simply hardens hearts and reinforces a bigotry which this country desperately needs to nip in its bud.

Francis Newman

Winnipeg

Nature’s intent

Re: California livestock welfare rules test consumers (Jan. 13)

The hog, Intensive Livestock Operations (ILOs), more than other agricultural industries, has faced serious challenges to its viability across Canada and the United States, because of allegations that its operations are bad for the environment and inhumane to pigs.

This economic powerhouse has no respect for the rural residents who live in the vicinity of their factory barns, the environment, or our water sources. Animal stewardship, nor stewardship of the land, is practiced.

By no means, is this modern hog production!

Nature did not intend for hogs to live by the thousands, crammed together inside buildings, raised on pharmaceutical products, with no access to the outdoors for grass, sunlight or the clean healthy scent of fresh air. The industrial production of these animals is a grim saga of asphyxiation, fire traps, human health risks, and animal misery.

John Fefchak

Virden

Missed a spot

Re: City deems storm cleanup success (Jan. 12)

In my experience, the city’s latest snow clearing effort was, with one exception, a success.

Thursday’s bike commute was not nice — I was cycling on Osborne and Pembina and the car traffic was impatient. Friday’s bike commute was wonderful: SW Rapid Transit, Assiniboine Ave and Pembina Highway bike lanes were all plowed. Sunday’s walk was on nicely cleared neighbourhood sidewalks.

But pedestrians deserve better. An elementary school student waiting at a stoplight who had been trudging through snow up to his mid-calf told me: “I have a long way to walk to school and I’m really tired”. As much as I want that young fellow to have bragging rights, I’d like to have seen a few cents of my tax dollars to have gone towards a sidewalk plow making a least one pass down Osborne and Pembina early Thursday morning and clearing sidewalks near schools.

Daniel Prowse

Winnipeg

Mine process a gong show

Re: Probe to have no bearing on sand mine licence (Jan. 13)

Tracy Schmidt, minister of environment and climate change, has declared that “the ethics probe and the licensing decision are entirely distinct.”

Wrong. The provincial oversight of potential mining of silica sand in the drinking water of southeastern Manitoba has itself been unethical. Since 2016, various ministers have bungled this gong show. They knew, or should have known, about the secrecy maintained by the Mines Branch and how that imperiled our water. They condoned the licensing of the sand processing plant before examining the impact of the actual mining needed to feed the plant. They refused participant funding, as allowed by The Environment Act, to help residents educate and represent themselves.

The ministerial-appointed Clean Environment Commission allowed citizens 15 minutes to speak on the proposal and then reduced it to 10 minutes on the appointed day. The public endures an Environmental Approvals Branch that is secretive and led by a revolving door of directors without adequate credentials. In short, the Government of Manitoba has been a co-proponent of mining in our drinking water since 2016.

How ethical is that?

C. Hugh Arklie

Cooks Creek

Unethical situation

Re: International student shot, killed by police was in crisis, needed help: family’s lawyer (Jan. 2)

Afolabi Stephen Opaso was 19 years old. He attended the University of Manitoba and held two jobs. His parents paid heavy tuition fees and no doubt this fact put pressure on him to succeed.

Before the 1970s, foreign students paid the same tuition as domestic post-secondary students. Then came the economic crisis of the 1970s. Soon provincial governments removed their subsidies for foreign students and their tuition became approximately double that of domestic students. Then in the 1990s the federal government reduced its support for universities and soon foreign students became a significant source of income.

Now it is foreign students who are subsidizing the education of Canadian university students. They pay much more for tuition than Canadians. For example, Western charges Canadians $6,590; foreigners, $45,690. UBC, $5,646 and $38,946. U of M, $5,700 and $19,300.

We are talking about young people here, young people experiencing culture shock and living on the emotional rollercoaster of most kids their age. Canada (and the U.S.) are taking advantage of third world parents’ determination to provided a better future for their children. This situation is truly unethical. I am ashamed.

Faith Johnston

Winnipeg

What’s the charge?

Received a letter and an email the other day. The letter was that of a photo of the rear bumper of a vehicle. Said vehicle is registered in my name. The letter let me know I was on the hook for $888. If I was behind the wheel or not, the fine is mine. No burden of proof required.

The officer claims this vehicle was speeding, has signed off, saying that this had in fact had happened, therefore I must be the offender. Come on officer, get off your phone. Show the public your job does not tilt towards the lackadaisical.

If I was there, hand me my ticket to my face. Then, the other shoe dropped. An email shows up saying I must pay by the summer. The fine, it turns out, is $492. Then there is something called “Court Cost only”. Add $222. I looked up the Google as we all do. Items like requisitions for subpoenas or writs. Each one can be had for $30. There are other services provided. Small claims under $5,000 will cost you $100. But I digress. Next is the “Surcharge” of $124.

Again, looked it up. Apparently a surcharge is an additional charge. Doesn’t explain what bang you’re getting for your buck, but if I have to buy someone lunch, just say so. Lastly, there’s the JSS — $50. Very few explanations on the Google. So, I guess what I’m saying is, among other things, itemize your bill. We all want to know what we are paying for.

I know, it’s embarrassing, isn’t it. So, no money grab, right? Very transparent billing process, correct?

Ed Friesen

Winnipeg