Letters, May 17

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/05/2024 (863 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Strengthen animal protection laws

Re: ‘Mind-boggling’ 68 dogs covered in waste rescued from filth (May 16)

This situation has all the appearances of a puppy mill and while “spay and neuter” could be one takeaway message, the other most certainly has to be “adopt, don’t shop.”

It is unconscionable that puppies continue to be bred into existence for profit while there are untold numbers of dogs literally dying for the lack of a good home.

The cost of caring for these poor beings should be borne by those responsible for their neglect. They should also be banned from having animals in the future. Unfortunately, our animal protection laws are woefully inadequate and a more passable punishment could probably be had by reporting them to the CRA for not paying taxes on the sale of their victims.

Debbie Wall

Winnipeg

Rules are rules

Re: Brass knuckles used in attack: police (May 16)

I know exactly how the Zeid family feels with all the theft that is occurring in his stores. Mr. Zeid had mentioned in the past that his staff will protect the merchandise at his stores to any extent, if there’s a theft in progress.

I appreciate that protecting your bottom line, but come on … putting a life of an employee on the line doesn’t warrant $50 or $60 of lost product. It’s unfortunate as to why Grand Chief Kathy Merrick needs to get involved, because an Indigenous person was struck due to an alleged theft.

Maybe Chief Merrick can speak to her people on truth and reconciliation, that the hurting needs to stop, and nothing is free in life.

You can not just walk into a store, take what you want and leave without paying. There are rules for everyone.

Willy Martens

Winnipeg

Request for Wolseley Avenue

We support reducing the speed on Wolseley Avenue to 30 km/hr as well as raised crosswalks in the neighbourhood greenway plan, but we have issues with the planned speed tables and curb bump-outs.

As cyclists, we find the speed tables and curb bump-outs are unfriendly and potentially dangerous. Cyclists have to slow down completely to drive over speed tables or risk losing their balance and potentially falling.

Please don’t add bump-outs and speed tables to Wolseley Avenue.

As cyclists, we would welcome improvements like filling potholes on cycling routes around the city, particularly Wolseley Avenue and Wellington Crescent.

Wanda and Wayne Guenther

Winnipeg

Support existing facilities

Re: What does our city value? (Think Tank, May 16)

Erna Buffie for mayor! Brava to her for speaking up and out about “development” in Winnipeg that is so costly to taxpayers to fund and even more so to maintain.

Erna is spot on about the need for our values to change. Necessary existing facilities are allowed to deteriorate while expensive infrastructure in the ‘burbs bankrupts the city’s budget and the quality of life in established areas.

Gerri Thorsteinson

Winnipeg

Protest elsewhere

Re: University’s priorities should be education, not protest (Think Tank, May 11)

As an educator, I read University’s priorities should be education, not protest with great interest. A university should be a safe haven where ideas can be civilly developed, discussed/debated and learned, without fear, and not shouted down and censored. (This is how humanity grows in collective knowledge and wisdom.)

In other words, universities should be sanctuaries where people can think, teach and learn without being interrupted and not be afraid to express their perspectives. As the apex of civilization envisioned by the ancient Greeks, academia as a community of scholars and students enables the transfer of knowledge and wisdom to the younger generations and thus passes the torch of knowledge and provides inspiration to learn more. It also generates new knowledge via research.

As a professor, I only want to help my students to realize their natural potential and be prepared to function in the real world with real knowledge and analytical reasoning skills, so they can solve real world problems and contribute positively to humanity. Cancelling classes, guest lectures and other intellectual activities does not serve my students — it distracts their energies and frustrates their education. Hosting lectures, conferences and other information venues would better serve the local community in a productive way, as long as they remain civil — and not shutting down schools.

Though I do support the students’ right to protest peacefully, I feel that they need to protest elsewhere in relevant centres of power that are more directly involved in the tragedy of Gaza (e.g. supplying weapons to belligerents) and elsewhere.

A university is no place for a mob.

Michael Pravica

Winnipeg

Time for look in the mirror

Re: Addressing violence (Think Tank, May 11); Adult-education option for EIA recipients could improve lives of ‘fodder for bottom reaches of labour market,’ hearing told (May 8)

University of Manitoba professor emeritus, John Wiens, is exemplary in what we hope for from our senior scholars.

In his recent piece on violence he follows German philosopher and social critic Jurgen Habermas, indicating that the forms of violence can be both unlawful (illegal) and structured (quasi-legal). His focus is on the former, unlawful violence, from terrorism to the normalizing of violent “solutions,” to everyday occurrences amplified by social media and mostly leading to more violence.

Turning to so-called “structured” violence, however, there is much to consider. Wiens offers the examples of: “unconscionable social inequality, degrading discrimination, pauperization and marginalization…”

On these structured but often hidden injuries, I was reminded of the comment by University of Winnipeg senior scholar, Jim Silver, in a May 8 Free Press article about adult education and individuals surviving on welfare (May 8). Silver states, “They were fodder for the bottom reaches of the labour market.”

“Fodder for the bottom reaches of the labour market”: this idea should give us pause and have us unpacking concepts to which we rarely give second thought: human capital, human resources (HR), manpower, hands, all hands on deck, and so on. The systemic violence inherent in this instrumental and extractive view of our fellow citizens leaves little room for human dignity, respect, honour and basic decency.

The unseemly debates about what constitutes a “living wage”; the disdain in which the poor of our downtown and inner city are often held; the cynical stripping of infrastructure and services from working class neighbourhoods — these should be cause for deep shame; that we’ve allowed austerity and neglect to result in the immiseration of an entire underclass, our brothers and sisters.

It’s too easy to forget that our comfortable pew rests on the labour of these others; the source of our safety. But whatever the source of violence, let’s turn to another quote: “We have met the enemy and he is us!”

Sig Laser

Winnipeg