Letters, July 23

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/07/2024 (784 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Enough mollycoddling

Re: Of babies and bathwater (Editorial, July 20)

I have lived in Winnipeg since 1972 and I don’t think there has been a single year when the issue of downtown revitalization wasn’t a major topic in the news. I am firmly of the belief that one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, that it has been an expensive, decades-long exercise in futility is the complete lack of any civic responsibility among the landlords, especially the slum landlords, and the absentee property owners whose decrepit and derelict properties are a major blight in our urban core.

You can blame the poor, the homeless, the drug addicts and the mentally ill, but, they are not the real problem. It’s the people who take advantage of them with their pay-by-month run-down accommodations, the rents for which they invariably collect directly from the city, or provide them with the opportunities to squat, vandalize and torch buildings that have been left derelict. I can think of half a dozen lots right now where the rubble of burnt and demolished buildings has been left to sit for months or years.

Why does the city mollycoddle these property owners? Is it because any attempted enforcement of existing bylaws inevitably results in a wall of lawyers throwing up every delaying tactic in the book and the ensuing court battles take years and cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to pursue? There is something very wrong with this picture somewhere. Why should a relative handful of corporations and individuals be allowed to prevent our city from making downtown attractive and livable again?

J. H. Campbell

Winnipeg

Sad state of square

My wife and I spent Sunday afternoon and evening at Old Market Square taking in the fringe. What a disappointment! There were very few people when there should have been hundreds. I worked the beer tent for over 20 years and it was always hopping with patrons and actors who came for a beer after their show. People from the venues, which where all in the area, filled the square.

The patio is nice, but does not have the atmosphere the beer tent had. People came to the fringe by foot, cycle, bus, or auto. Then they stayed for the day.

They went from venue to venue, shared information, listened to the actors pitch their show and pass out their literature. There are few food vendors and very few merchandise vendors. There is nothing there for them. People now go to the venue of their choice for the day, in St. Boniface, The Forks, Osborne Street, and don’t come to Old Market Square, or if they do it is for one or two shows and then they leave for other places.

If I am not going to a show in Old Market Square, there is no reason for me ever going there. The restaurant patios are almost empty. It is sad what is happening.

Roy Kading

Winnipeg

Pleasant season

I would like to send a big bouquet to the City of Winnipeg Mosquito Control branch.

I have lived in the city for 50 years and remember many past years when I lamented not being able to go outside in my yard/garden because of mosquitoes.

The weather this year would have suggested similar problems but that is not the case. Somehow mosquito control seems to have improved dramatically.

Barry Oswald

Winnipeg

Failed promises

It looks like the NDP and Wab Kinew have pulled it off again.

They ran the election on the promise to fix healthcare and the people of Manitoba went for it. As usual, nothing has changed just like with Selinger and Doer. The voters in Manitoba are so gullible they still believe in the NDP and the garbage they say to get elected.

We see the same thing happening in the U.S. with Trump. He pumps his fist and the voters believe the garbage. I hope Manitoba is going to be happy after four years of NDP spending. We will be back in the glue with a big deficit again.

Joe Melnick

Winnipeg

Visit your local Legion

Re: The Legion’s shifting dynamics (July 20)

Hats off to Conrad Sweatman. The legions and ANAFs are for everyone and you don’t need to be a member to visit.

I am a member of St. James Legion No. 4. I didn’t serve but three generations before me did, plus a cousin. No. 4 sponsored my St. James A’s baseball team and I also attended the Legion Athletic Camp at the International Peace Gardens in my youth. I joined to support the vets.

Great bands play on Friday nights to packed dance floors. I help run poker tournaments on Tuesday nights and planted the seed to host cornhole which now takes place on Thursday nights with the Manitoba Cornhole Association.

The best part is I’ve made new friends, both vets and civilians. Many folks would be isolated without these organizations.

These locations also offer excellent food service.

I encourage everyone to check out a legion or ANAF.

Kelly Ryback

Winnipeg

Kinew right on NATO spending

I agree with Premier Wab Kinew’s urging that we speed up our country’s military spending. All our armed forces equipment is getting very old indeed. Our complement of both regular and reserve forces is too low. With all the work our coast guard vessels do, why are they not included in our two per cent? Just because we have not armed these vessels in the past, we should seriously be considering it, especially since there are so many international interests (including Russia) eyeing the Arctic.

Our international reputation as peacekeepers is still of importance. Political (stupid) manipulation has caused expensive fees for cancellations on military equipment over the last few decades, and politicians have frequently failed to listen to the military leaders about what is needed both for now and for our future as a sovereign nation and as a member country of NATO.

Canada still holds to remaining a non-nuclear nation, so our commitment to the world and our country as peacekeepers in future, depends on not dilly-dallying on this any longer. My parents were older and both veterans of the Second World War. In today’s uncertain political climate, if we don’t want to have another such war, we need to, at the very least, be at our two per cent commitment.

Linda Ross-Mansfield

Winnipeg

Another shining moment for Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew!

While the other premiers complain and tear apart the achievements of our current federal government, such as the Canadian Dental Care Plan, Kinew sets himself apart by addressing the pressing matter of Canada’s defence spending.

When Donald Trump was last U.S. president, he clearly stated his displeasure that Canada’s defence spending did not meet the NATO target of two per cent of GDP. Now it seems inevitable that Trump will win the November U.S. presidential election.

The urgency of speeding up plans to hike defence spending cannot be overstated.

Marilyn Bird

Winnipeg

Cheers for Scott

Re: Winnipeg’s Scott gets call for fourth Olympics (July 20)

While nobody wants to gain a spot on the roster in the way in which it fell to Desiree, I have to admit that I’m darned glad to see her going to Paris, even if it’s as an alternate.

I hope she gets some minutes on the pitch, because she will make a difference. The team needs her experience and her leadership, but most of all, they need her spirit. Go girl!

Ranch Clinch

Winnipeg

Recognition for Gee

In keeping with Free Press letter submission guidelines, while I appreciate the extensive coverage of Tadei Pogacar’s Tour de France win, Canadian Derek Gee’s ninth-place finish is completely unrecognized. Pity.

George Bednarczyk

Winnipeg