Letters, Aug. 6

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This article was published 06/08/2024 (755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Support the athletes

Re: Cheating stains Canada’s Olympics (Editorial, Aug. 2)

I take issue with your conclusion “Canada deserves better from the teams it sends to compete in the Olympics.” I believe that is a gross disservice to the team members who have performed admirably in the face of intense scrutiny to qualify for the quarter finals.

There has been no evidence that team members were complicit in the actions of team management.

Instead your editorial should applauded their efforts to overcome the actions of their coaches.

Roger Blanchette

Winnipeg

Leadership qualities

Re: Why the heck shouldn’t a woman be president? (Aug. 1)

Like Dan Lett, I too grew up in a single-parent household. I share his view that a woman could do the job of leading a government. The question, however, that Lett failed to ask in his column is, is it a coincidence that male leaders have initiated and perpetuated all the wars of the last few centuries?

Although it is unfair to generalize about men and women, maybe it is time we began to ask questions that pertain to historical differences between the two sexes. Why is it, for example, that women were excluded from the professions until relatively recently?

And why is it that the research regarding female vs male surgeons indicates that female surgeons have better outcomes than their male counterparts? Is it because they are better communicators and follow surgical procedures more closely?

An important hypothetical question re: females leading governments is, would that reality result in fewer wars?

Mac Horsburgh

Winnipeg

Global concerns

A reconsideration of politics might be healthy for the Canadian electorate.

Politicians want us to believe that the victory of their party is important for the future of Canada. Yet a moment’s consideration will indicate that most important issues (for example climate change) require international action and Canada’s policy must be in accord with the necessities being faced by other countries.

Whether Trudeau, Poilievre or Singh is prime minister will not change life’s trajectory for the large majority of Canadians. Politicians are loath to concede that viewpoint, as it diminishes the frantic raising of money to “save” our nation.

Let’s all take a deep breath. Canada is one small component of a vast network and the realities of that network constrain what any national government can do. We’ll survive.

Kurt Clyde

Winnipeg

Park problems

Re: Rough roads (Letters, Aug. 1)

I agree totally with Michael Banville with regard to the challenges cyclists face.

Pedestrians face similar challenges when it comes to cyclists racing along the walking path along the river in Kildonan Park.

They ring their little bell and those of us walking our dogs, and others, are expected to move off to the side instantly as they want to tear through without slowing down. How about if they ride on the grass around the pedestrians?

Better yet how about they use the roads? There’s signage in the park that clearly states bicycles are restricted to roadways.

There is a path that leads up to the berm that allows immediately access to the multipurpose pathway running along the river behind the golf course by making an immediate left turn.

Lori Mann

Winnipeg

Khan’s comment slap in the face

Re: Hydro revives global energy consulting arm (July 30)

MLA Obby Khan’s comment about Manitoba Hydro’s mandate being “to supply power to meet the needs of Manitobans” is a slap in the face to all Manitobans and should be looked at with great suspicion.

His party won the provincial election in 2016 after 17 years out of power.

Up to that time, Manitoba Hydro International apparently generated net income (profit, Mr. Khan) of $6-8 million a year under the NDP that was used to defray the costs of Hydro and to benefit all Manitobans by reducing our rates.

According to Jay Grewal, the former CEO of Manitoba Hydro, who was appointed by then-premier Brian Pallister (and who, coincidentally, had worked for BC Hydro when it privatized its assets), starting one year after Pallister took over, MHI’s revenue declined 22 per cent and profitability declined 40 per cent.

Mr. Pallister also had a report prepared by former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall (another “good old Conservative”) that under-estimated the value of Manitoba Hydro by some $500 million to $1 billion by ignoring sales and by misinterpreting certain accounting principles.

When I see that comment from Mr. Khan, it seems to me that it was his party that was doing what it could to undervalue Manitoba Hydro for one purpose, and one purpose only, and that was to make it seem like the sale of Manitoba Hydro (like the sale of MTS under former PC Premier Gary Filmon) was the best alternative for all Manitobans.

It wasn’t then and it isn’t now.

One can only imagine where we would be today if the PCs had won the last election. We would probably now be adjusting to a privately owned Manitoba Hydro, instead of discussing the exciting news about MHI getting back into the international hydro market for the benefit of all Manitobans.

There are no such things as coincidences in politics, it seems.

Laurie Etkin

Winnipeg

Take time to look around

California quail are much more plentiful in the Okanagan than they were decades ago. When a life-long friend and I found a dead bird on the side of the road while we were riding our bikes in Kelowna, we had no idea what it was. We gave it the name ‘Lucky Topknot’, because of the small feather plume on its head and because we were determined to give it a respectful funeral. We took the bird home, put the body in a shoe box and interred it in my mother’s garden.

My wife and I have a birdbath and a birdfeeder in our yard, both of which can be seen from the kitchen window. Whenever an adult pair of California quail brings their recently hatched chicks — fluffy little walnuts with big fast feet — into our yard, my wife records the date and size of the family. The numbers usually begin in the teens but inevitably decline over time. Apparently quail are near the bottom of the ladder when it comes to avian intelligence and are preyed upon by various meat-eaters.

In response to the recent heat wave, we put water in a shallow container on the ground, being that the birdbath is not accessible to ‘feathered walnuts’. We have had a family with five surviving chicks, who are now tennis-ball sized, visiting our yard on a regular basis.

This morning they were crowded, shoulder-to-shoulder, around ‘their’ drinking dish. While I was watching them dip the beaks into the water and then raise their heads up high, I wondered if they, like us, experience the same pleasurable sensation of cool water tricking down a hot, dry throat.

When it comes to imaginative ingenuity, Mother Nature gets a gold medal and she is more than willing to share everyday in countless ways.

We just have to take the time to look.

Lloyd Atkins

Vernon, B.C.