Letters, May 30

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/05/2024 (473 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pup park problems

Re: City needs more safe spaces for small dogs: advocate (May 29)

How can this possibly be enforced when the police cannot even prevent a storeowner’s car from being firebombed by shoplifters-turned-terrorists? Is a carnival-style sign to be posted, reading “If your dog measures below this line, you may enter”?

Although I feel deeply sorry for Elena Perron having witnessed her dog being attacked, I have to ask the following question; At what point are we responsible for our own actions? Would it be when a pedestrian with their nose glued to their cellphone walks across a road without looking and is injured? Or when a motorist has a collision which was easily avoidable had they waived their right-of-way to a driver who is less experienced? Or is it when someone ignores warnings she shouldn’t take her small dog to a particular park because it would be unsafe?

Ms. Perron correctly said, “She has every right as any other dog to be at a dog park.” And so she knowingly put her pup in harm’s way just to prove her point. And my kids also have every right to play at whatever park they like, but if that park has any dangers, such as open access to water, or wooded areas, I’m choosing another park because being in the right won’t bring my loved one back.

Randy Clinch

Winnipeg

The value of A/C

As a concerned parent and climate scientist, I feel compelled to address the recent stance of our school division regarding the installation of air conditioning in our schools. The current plans outlined by the Winnipeg School Division for upgrading school facilities fall significantly short of addressing the immediate and future needs posed by rising temperatures and worsening air quality due to climate change, in my professional opinion.

The climate crisis is undeniably a health crisis, and it disproportionately affects our most vulnerable populations, including our children. With the increasing frequency of heat waves, it is only a matter of time before we face a severe health emergency where an entire school, filled with students and teachers, could be at risk of overheating. By the 2050s, Winnipeg is likely to experience nearly twice the number of +30 days we have now, on average.

A prime example is Wolseley School, where my son attends. This school currently does not have air conditioning, leaving students and staff vulnerable to the escalating temperatures. Our schools need new, adequate air conditioning systems now; not just a few new portable units but much larger units that are adapted to the future. Delaying this necessary upgrade will only exacerbate the issue. Costs will only go up. While it is true that air conditioning is not the most environmentally friendly option, the health and safety of our children must take precedence.

While we all strive for environmentally sustainable solutions, the safety and health of our children should be our primary concern. Immediate action is required to ensure our schools are equipped to handle the escalating temperatures and poor air quality that are becoming more common.

I urge the Winnipeg School Division to reconsider its current plans and take swift, decisive action to install proper air conditioning in all schools.

Ryan Smith

Winnipeg

Exam of little use

I recommend that Education Minister Nello Altomare and his deputy Brian O’Leary delay the so-called Grade 12 English exam permanently.

As both of them know, and contrary to Altomare’s claim that it will “prepare students for future work,” the exam as it is currently constructed is simply an elaborate reading and writing comprehension test, one that is very expensive to produce and assess and which no universities or future employers have any interest in.

Why do provincial governments persist in perpetuating this elaborate busy work?

Teachers of grade 12 English already give their students exams. These teachers are subject area specialists and pedagogical experts. They design exams that reflect the goals of the curriculum as well as the content students have studied through the year.

For some reason, this fact — that Grade 12 students are examined whether there is a provincial exam or not — seems lost on the public.

Insisting that students at the end of their final year of high school take a reading and writng test does nothing to improve their own fluency, nor does the result of this test have any bearing on their future.

Continuing to fund and expedite such a test is really just an elaborate scheme to undermine the public’s perception of secondary teachers, and to satisfy the ill-informed public opinion that results from this. Altomare and O’Leary should do better.

Karen Zoppa

Winnipeg

Let church handle own issues

Re: Resolve needed on church repair (Letters, May 29)

I agree it would be a shame to lose the Holy Trinity Church, as it is a historical building. The congregation also provides service to vulnerable communities.

I don’t believe the church should be treated the same as the old Bay building in terms of public funding, however. The goose-gander argument doesn’t fly.

Religious institutions have enjoyed ample public funding for generations via special tax treatment. Never mind church involvement in injustices commited against First Nation communities.

Rather than crying foul over a lack of public funding, a better funding source for any funding shortfalls would be any of the wealthy religious institutions around the world.

Michelle Burdz

Winnipeg

Where there’s a will…

Re: Status quo a lousy option (Editorial, May 29)

During a press event on July 17, 2023, Manitoba’s Environment and Climate Minister, Kevin Klein noted that in 2013, Lake Winnipeg was designated the most polluted lake in Canada. He went on to say that, since 2016, the Manitoba government has been working diligently to protect the province’s lakes, and ensure they are clean and accessible for future generations.

It will take a heck of a lot more than just money to save our lake.

Ten years ago, past, Lake Winnipeg won the “most threatened lake of the year award,” a testament to bad, short-sighted and ill-informed decisions.

The only way to address this situation is through political honesty, hard work and making tough choices and sticking to them. Our future and the future of all our waters depends on such action.

There has to be action with a determined will of the people and governments to save Lake Winnipeg and our water sources. The continual rhetorical propaganda that we have been subjected to, over the years, and decades, has the effects of a placebo. The lake has literally been studied to death.

I, along with many Manitobans, have been voicing grave concerns about the waters of Lake Winnipeg and how the algae situation has increased in the past 25 years.

It will not be possible for Lake Winnipeg or any of our water sources to survive as long as politics keeps playing the deceitful role of patty-caking the needed efforts of recovery by dealing with the symptoms. Wherever possible, all the nutrient pollution, causes must be eliminated.

In March, 2023, Canada pledged funding for the Great Lakes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s talks with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Laws are needed to protect the Great Lakes from farm runoff; according to a Joint Commission study. The study is quoted as reporting that “voluntary measures to protect the Great Lakes from farm manure (have) proven inefficient and governments should now turn their minds to legislation.”

Does that sound familiar? It should, for it also applies to Lake Winnipeg.

Manitobans and renowned scientists have been expressing those same views for years about the polluted situation of those waters. The lake is not polluting itself.

Manitoba must initiate action to deal with the source and cause of pollution.

Yes, protecting our lake for future generations is a must.

John Fefchak

Virden