Letters, March 14

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/03/2025 (240 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A problem of values

Re: Conservative book-ban group crashes Kindergarten open houses (March 13)

I think given their anti-abortion rhetoric, the government could easily amend existing laws to include schools to so they have the same buffer zones clinics and hospitals have. This would mean these groups have to stay 50-150 metres from the school property.

And why the members of any group or anyone who sneaks into a school isn’t arrested and charged with trespassing is beyond me. Especially if they have no connection to the school such as a child enrolled.

If you believe you need to keep your child safe from the public school system by homeschooling them, that is your choice. It’s someone else’s choice to send their child to a public school. Stay in your lane and out of the schools. Because what you think you need to do to protect your child in this world isn’t the same as what other parents want to keep their children safe in this world.

If you want to shame your child when it comes to their bodies and instil hate for people you hate in them, that is your choice. If others want their children to learn about having a healthy body image and know what they are going through is completely normal and how to protect themselves as they mature, while understanding not everyone has to fit into this box or that box, that is their choice.

But at the end of the day every family is responsible for the values they want to instil in their children. And that is something that should take place in the around the kitchen table or in the living room, not the school library or in the classroom. Because values are something no book in any library should be able to change. Inform, maybe. But not change. And if your values you are trying to instil in your children can’t withstand a library book, then maybe the problem is with your values rather than with that book.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

I hope everyone who read this story in the Free Press understands that what Action4Canada is doing, is what America is right now. If you want to become that, just vote for the Conservatives and their leader, Pierre Poilievre. These people vote, they are organized, they are big picture; for them it’s not enough to have Poilievre as prime minister, it’s about winning down-ballot, school boards, insidiously becoming part of the system in order to destroy it.

While it might be fun to dismiss these people as a small fringe, they are anything but. Nationalist Christians are not to be taken lightly. This is why every election — municipal, provincial, federal — is so important to pay attention, learn about the candidates, even if they aren’t in your riding, understand their beliefs, their policy ideas, their donors and backers, it’s the only way to keep these people out of our most important systems of society, unless you want to turn into what America has turned into, that’s what we have to look forward to if we go that way.

Think carefully, and critically and always ABC (Anybody But Conservative) folks.

Will Jones

Winnipeg

Poor response by Ewasko

Re: Making fun of Trump backfired on premier, Tories say (March 12)

It is interesting that when presented with an opportunity to rightly criticize the manner in which Premier Wab Kinew dealt with the order to remove American alcohol products off the Liquor Mart shelves, interim Progressive Conservative Leader Wayne Ewasko decided to devolve into inflammatory rhetoric around Kinew being an “ex-con rapper.”

There is room for criticism of that order and the manner in which it was communicated. I don’t believe that mocking a famously thin-skinned U.S. President Donald Trump in the middle of a trade war is a good idea, nor did I enjoy the lighthearted nature of the photo opportunity for a move that has serious repercussions for the livelihoods of people involved in the liquor industry in Canada and the U.S. (his Trump impression was not bad though).

However, bringing it back to “criticisms” of Kinew being an “ex-con rapper” is entirely irrelevant to the criticism of the order, and carries with it some thinly veiled racial undertones along with a message that Manitobans roundly rejected during the last election.

Ian McIvor

Winnipeg

Recognizing a friend across the border

Re: Canada strikes back (March 13)

Above your well-written front-page article on the comments to reporters of Dominic LeBlanc, minister of finance and intergovernmental affairs, on tariffs and sovereignty, was the picture of Point Roberts, Wash. resident Brian Calder holding a “Point Roberts, Wa. Supports Canada” sign.

The Free Press has helped saner heads prevail these days by printing letters and articles from supportive Americans shamed and embarrassed by the destructive, chaotic, and misguided actions of the current U.S. administration. LeBlanc and then Chrystia Freeland were blunt and impressive with their clarity and logic (what a concept), about how foolish and harmful these tariff and sovereignty scams are for both sides. One thing is clear, internationally, trust with the U.S. has been lost. Trade deals can be negotiated, but trust, once lost, may never be regained.

Being sane does not mean passive. Personally, I feel Canadians are beyond anger. We each need to take what specific and practical steps we can to strengthen Canada and prosper. We also need to acknowledge and thank the many Americans like Mr. Calder who recognize and respect Canada as a friend.

Dan Furlan

Winnipeg

Fees unreasonable

Re: Councillors, homeowners voice concerns over looming fee hikes (March 11) and “Consequences not unexpected” (Letters, March 13)

The city fee increases suggested, especially for trash and recycling collection, are massive, and as letter writer Tom Pearson reminds us, “the less fortunate in modest dwellings (will) shoulder the same burden as those in the McMansions.”

First off, it seems reasonable to me that trash and recycling should simply be a necessary civic expense much like policing, street repair and libraries, and should not be separately charged for but just included in our basic property tax.

But if for some reason that I have not been able to fully comprehend it needs to be a separate line item on our tax bills, why change a flat fee based on address and not a sliding scale based on the mill rate. The poorest among us cannot afford to buy lots of stuff that needs to be trashed, but the rich can, and it seems likely that they toss out more stuff. And like income taxes and general property taxes, the more well-off can certainly afford to pay more and support (OK, call it “subsidize” if you want) those with lesser means.

The exorbitant flat fee proposed is not fair or reasonable. The costs should simply be included in our overall property tax to begin with, or if separated out, be charged more fairly using the mill rate for each property.

Bob Martin

Winnipeg