Letters, April 11

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/04/2024 (884 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sporadic sleeping not a nightmare

Re: To sleep, perchance… all night (April 10)

People are distressed because they do not enjoy uninterrupted nightly sleep. Old diaries and modern research have revealed it is quite natural to have various degrees of wakefulness, referred to as segmented or polyphasic sleep.

Many of my acquaintances experience this with little concern, and part of our natural sleep cycle includes a short midday nap. Knowledge and self-awareness can go a long way to reducing anxiety about the fabled eight hours.

Ed Labossiere

Winnipeg

IT standards needed in province

Re: U of W cyberattack a lesson for province: experts (April 10)

Establishing uniform IT security standards for public institutions may be worth pursuing. Perhaps just as important, if not more important, the province should look at ways to reduce the information it collects and retains.

Barry Elkin

Winnipeg

Crunching some numbers

Re: NDP broke election promise and it’s probably a good thing (April 9)

I knew the education property tax rebate would be attacked and reduced or taken away completely. With their new system it would be based on the value of your property under a “homeowners affordability tax credit.”

If that were to be a true fact, then one would think that it be based on the property owners age and income, not the value of their home. A person can be living in a $400,000 home and have a better retirement income than the person living in a more expensive home. It would be assumed that the more expensive home owner has a higher income.

And we all know about assumptions.

Joachim Zimmermann

Winnipeg

I agree with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation that at some point, and the sooner the better, the budget has to come into balance. We owe this to future generations.

What I don’t agree with is the one-sided and unbalanced approach being advocated — the fiscal problem facing Manitoba is not just about expenditure mismanagement. As many, many informed commentators have pointed out during the last few months, this situation was also created by gross revenue mismanagement.

Indeed, as Tom Brodbeck recently noted, “The only reason the province is in a deficit is because the former Tory government cut taxes, including income taxes, while running deficits. It borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars (which will have to be repaid by future generations) to pay for those tax cuts. It was reckless and fiscally irresponsible.” Hence, the solution resides in both expenditure and revenue adjustments, not just one or the other.

And one other thing. I don’t know who people at the CTF hang out with, but I don’t know anyone who could or would “just pack up the mini-van and move to Regina or Calgary” due to differences in taxation policy.

Gerald Farthing

Winnipeg

Little regard for private education

Re: Manitoba saves significant number of international student places (April 8)

While the minister of advanced education pats herself of the back for increasing Manitoba’s allocation of study permit applications, what’s not mentioned is that the lion’s share was divvied up among the public institutions with little regard for the many private institutions that recruit international students and are critical to Manitoba’s international education ecosystem.

In British Columbia, 47 per cent of their cap allocation went to private institutions. In Ontario, nearly two per cent of the cap was allocated to private language schools despite the Ontario government facing the deepest cuts of any province. In Manitoba, only a small fraction was allocated to private institutions and none to private language schools in the initial allotment.

This is a clear signal from the Manitoba government that they do not value the contributions of private educational institutions to international education in Manitoba. And they most definitely do not value English language education, despite it being the essential skill for international student success.

Gary Gervais

President, Heartland International English School

Winnipeg

Walking through life in the core

As a downtown resident, several times over the years I have been asked survey questions by Downtown Biz staff and patrol members. Each time I have queried the questioners as to whether they lived downtown, close to downtown or in the suburbs. Every time, they answered that they were all suburbanites. Their perspective and mine seemed very different.

I walk everywhere downtown and miles from the downtown where I live.

I always wear a 65 litre backpack for my perpetual errands and grocery hauling.

For a number of reasons, I prefer to walk outdoors and avoid the indoor walkways and the Portage and Main underground circus between the bank buildings.

I feel much safer walking outdoors where there is room to manoeuvre if I encounter problem individuals or groups.

Fresh air, a view and activity are to me superior to bland closed in spaces with artificial lighting. Cold, heat, rain, snow and inclement weather are nothing for a properly dressed pedestrian.

To stay outdoors and cross blocked sidewalks, I will walk multiple extra city blocks to utilize traffic lights and crosswalks. Anything to stay outside.

I feel that downtowns should be first and foremost pedestrian friendly hubs with lots of reasons to walk everywhere as much as possible.

Holly Bertram

Winnipeg

No more carbon tax complaining, please

Quit whining about the cost of the carbon tax and use a more environmentally friendly energy source. Rural users of heating oil are the worst of the bunch. They should pay through the teeth for using it. Wake up! It’s time to throw out your oil burners and put in geothermal.

Change takes effort and yes, it costs money, but it has to happen. We respond when it costs us money, the mighty dollar is the greatest motivator. How many people would obey posted speeds if there wasn’t traffic enforcement?

Double the carbon tax, make it really hurt, then people will respond.

Bill Allan

Winnipeg

Wood smoke causes breathing trouble

Re: Wood smoke a health hazard (Letters, April 9)

Kudos to the Free Press for publishing Serge Massicotte’s letter about the effects of woodsmoke on Winnipeg residents and the environment.

I, along with other Winnipegers, struggle with breathing problems induced by the propensity of my neighbours to burn wood inside and outside of their homes. Sadly, between April and October, I generally have to keep my windows shut.

I agree that the city administration should promptly address this issue. But I also wonder why advocacy groups for lung health, environmentalists and political parties with “green” policies have long been so silent on this issue.

Jayne Kapac

Winnipeg

Streetcars, electric buses wise idea

Re: Budget opportunity squandered (Think Tank, April 10)

Peter Denton’s column in the Free Press on Wednesday talks about using internal rail lines and the streetcar tracks still buried under both Portage and Main.

This would be a wise decision for our city and province to make. What a unique way to put Winnipeg on the map with a system that was obviously very successful when it was first implemented many years ago.

We have the electricity, we have the tracks (although still buried) we have the electric buses that are made in Winnipeg. All we need is a city and province together to showcase this.

Ken Butchart

Winnipeg