Letters, May 24

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This article was published 24/05/2024 (839 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No-win for retailers

Re: ‘Enough’s enough,’ grocer says (May 23)

Most people feel sorry for the owners and employees of a business like Food Fare who have to deal with the ever-escalating problem of shoplifting.

They are in a no-win situation. Either let the criminals steal from them and lose money, or try to stop them. When they do, they are assaulted or branded as racist.

I am sure there are many other retail businesses in Winnipeg dealing with this problem but it does not seem that the leaders in our province, and not just the government leaders, are doing anything to stop this in a meaningful way.

They tend to make excuses for these criminals that lead them to believe it is OK to steal from others. I wonder how the criminals would feel if the owners of these businesses were to come into their home and steal from them.

Winnipeg is currently known as the murder capital of Canada and methinks we will soon be known as the shoplifting capital of Canada.

Ron Robert

Winnipeg

After reading ‘Enough’s enough,’ grocer says I was left with the thought “violence begets violence.”

I totally understand the frustration and fear of owners and workers in the grocery and retail sectors having to deal with escalating shoplifting, but is arming employees with baseball bats a viable solution? I came across these words by Martin Luther King Jr.: “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.”

I fear that may be what is happening in this situation.

Maureen Graf

Winnipeg

I am disgusted and sad to read about the recent attack on the employees at the Food Fare.

Employees were attacked by some people using brass knuckles and batons, which resulted in employees being sent to hospital. This store is frequented by shoplifters. I for one do not want to see this store close. I travel across the city to buy their meat. This store serves people in the area who do not have transportation to travel to other areas.

I suggest they start checking photo ID and put up Plexiglass as a barrier. Not only do the employees need protecting, but the consumers as well. In the meantime, the delivery service maybe an option. Good luck!

Lynne Cooper

Winnipeg

Safe supply an oxymoron

Re: Paying attention to the right crisis (Think Tank, May 23)

All the safe supply in the world will not do a darned thing to save the lives of addicts unless you can regulate how much of the “safe supply “ the addicts take.

If you could regulate how much they take, we would not have a drug problem. The whole point of addiction is that the addict can never get enough! They will keep shooting literally until they are unconscious or dead. That’s the nature of the illness.

So it matters not whether the supply is toxic, any amount at all sets off the phenomenon of craving which does not stop until the supply does. And that’s my two cents.

Pamela Matthews

Winnipeg

Speeding issue not so simple

Re: The cost of a need for speed (Editorial, May 22)

This editorial makes some interesting points that are worth thinking about. However, it is not sufficient to say that the problems with traffic enforcement can be solved by simply following the speed limit.

The editorial suggests that photo enforcement may be partly about safety and partly a cash grab. If that’s true, then both of those aspects must be taken seriously. With regard to safety, what we do know from scientific research is that when a speed limit becomes too far removed from roadway design and surroundings, sensory cues conflict and people drive at varying speeds. This increases following too closely and lane changing, both of which cause more injury collisions than speeding. Speed variation also makes it more difficult for vulnerable road users to judge the speed of oncoming traffic. To make matters worse, drivers spend more time concentrating on their speedometer when that is expected to be the primary cue.

We also know that in the majority of cases, drivers slow down when workers are near the road regardless of the speed limit. For these reasons, reducing a speed limit in isolation does not necessarily improve safety. Being vigilant about the use of speed limits is especially important in a city where the CAO states, as Michael Jack did in 2015, that since Winnipeg’s speed limits are set by politicians, exceeding them is not a safety concern.

The second aspect, the pursuit of revenue, must also be taken seriously. Total photo enforcement fine revenue in Winnipeg averages around $4 million per month, much higher than the portion reported in the annual photo enforcement reports. That kind of revenue potential is very attractive. The editorial quotes a WPS traffic division inspector saying they are “encouraged” by declining violations and that they’d rather see people not paying fines. That, however, is not what the police say in internal documents. In the first WPS financial report after the implementation of double-fine construction zones, it states that the zones had “aided in achieving higher revenues.”

Since that time, police reports have routinely framed increases in violations as positive outcomes. A city administrative report about the photo enforcement contract in 2012 stated that officials were “disturbed” by an increasing trend of people challenging their tickets in court because it was negatively affecting program revenue. The report lamented the loss of revenue by the city and recommended legal changes that would discourage people from seeking justice through the courts and lessen its impact on revenue generation. Very serious legal changes were made. This illustrates the extent to which the pursuit of (or dependence on) revenue can affect decision-making.

Not long ago, the Free Press published virtually the same editorial, which also suggested it is “simple” for drivers to just slow down. As it turned out, there was a lot more to the situation than people choosing to speed, and that editorial was implicitly defending a construction zone that was later ruled illegal by the provincial court.

Nothing about traffic safety is simple.

Curt Pankratz

Winnipeg

Climate change reminder

Re: Editorial cartoon, May 22

The cartoon in the May 22 Free Press captures the denial aspect of climate change, but we can go beyond denial to charred forests, blasted mountaintops to find coal, and parched fields that once nourished neighbours and global citizens. Of course the burning down of Lytton, B.C., in 49.6 degrees of heat in 2021, is not too different from burned landscapes anywhere.

Climate anxiety is now affecting people with memories of a more predictable world, including Inuit communities and African farmers. Young people may be more aware than adults, as shown by the child’s tear in the cartoon. Shared anxiety is now affecting more people as noticed by those facing increased insurance costs have noted. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, hope ought to be built on action; but actions on climate issues appear minimal. Lights are left burning all night in rooms without people and forests continue to be cut down faster than new trees can be planted.

Municipal councils, provincial, and federal governments must be encouraged to increase sustainability in the world of rapid climate change.

Thank you for the cartoon prompt on climate change.

Barry Hammond

Winnipeg