Letters, April 30

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2025 (331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Outage a wake-up call

Re: Massive power outage in Spain and Portugal leaves thousands stranded and millions without light (April 28)

If a bad actor (country) was planning to attack another’s electrical grid system in order to collapse their economy and prevent access to financial services, communication systems, etc., the logical move would be to test their method on a smaller economy but with similar services as that of the intended target.

Spain and Portugal, as members of the EU, would likely make the perfect “dress rehearsal” for such an attack. Their response would indicate to the attacker where to improve its methods and how quickly the “victim(s)” is/are able to recover.

I’m not saying this was the case this week in Spain and Portugal but I hope it’s a wake-up call for all the other G20 economies out there. We saw what a pandemic can do and we still had access to services. Imagine, no electricity, no communications and no money during the winter months in Canada.

Food for thought.

Chuck Halikas

Winnipeg

Impetus for improvement

Re: In defence of facts and farmers (Think Tank, April 28)

It appears that Sen. Plett did not prioritize making the 28-hour trip, standing in a wooden crate with no food, water or rest himself so he could make “first-hand observations” of what these horses have to endure. Canada has the shameful reputation of having some of the weakest animal transport laws in the developed world and virtually every animal use industry is exempt from protection laws as long as “generally accepted practices” are followed. They have to be, because they could not exist if they were held to the standard of care legally required of those with companion animals.

The majority of Canadians want the live export of horses for slaughter to end. We need to drop the pretext that this niche industry is “feeding the world.” It is providing a “delicacy” for the privileged on another continent and I struggle to think of any other “food” with a larger carbon footprint.

Perhaps our current trade challenges will provide opportunities to operationalize the Canada Food Guide and transition to a efficient, sustainable and healthy plant-based food system. Otherwise, our country may find itself in the position of not being able to trade with other nations due to our inferior animal welfare laws. But maybe that will provide the impetus to improve them … because, apparently, doing the right thing does not.

Debbie Wall

Winnipeg

Class, and lack thereof

Re: Singh steps down as party leader, concedes election and his own seat (April 28)

Jagmeet Singh showed a lot of class stepping down as NDP leader after losing his seat in the election even though the writing on the wall has been there the last two elections.

What I find pitiful is a party leader losing their seat, not stepping down and possibly having the gall to ask another member who won their seat to step down so he can unceremoniously step into that unearned seat — a path which I’m sure Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will pursue.

The constituents in that riding voted for that specific member. Sadly that member may vacate his or her seat to placate the leader. If this happens, Poilievre has lost all credibility with me and a lot of others, I’m sure.

Harry Peterson

Winnipeg

What Poilievre got wrong

Jamil Jivani, the Conservative incumbent for Bowmanville-Oshawa North who is known for his friendship with U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, levies insults against Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in an example of the tone set by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and highlights the divisions within the conservative movement.

Moral concern is not as straightforward as Poilievre may believe, and we are not as limited in our ability to care as his campaign suggested. A perceived constant state of competition for limited resources not only misses the possibility of win-win solutions, it yields a paltry and blinkered imagination of the human potential for altruism.

Benefits enjoyed by immigrants and refugees do not exert corresponding decrements to the well-being of citizens. Instead, co-operation — the force most responsible for shaping our species into what we have become — allows us to stretch our moral concern to its outer limits while simultaneously elevating the well-being of our loved ones.

The world is in a precarious position. Uninspired and miserly beliefs about morality are guaranteed to fuel a downward plunge. As we mourn and remember the late Pope Francis, it is imperative that we take his message to heart.

William Perry

Victoria, B.C.

Growing up as a nation

Re: “Reflecting who we are” (Letters, April 28)

Bill Sparling, in reflecting upon who we are and suggesting a timely change to our Manitoba flag has me reflecting also. Perhaps this is the time we Canadians do the same and engage in a growing up right of passage. No longer Big Boy’s best and trusted friend and child to a long past British Empire, we can truly invest in ourselves and our capacities as a nation, and proudly engage in reconciliation with First Nations peoples.

First steps have been forced upon us, steps of stated renewed commitments to invest in our own natural resources — yes, natural — from minerals and crops to those of our minds and character. Wouldn’t it be something if our newly elected federal government, along with provinces and territories and Canadian investors, took truly bold action in direct focus upon self-responsibility in natural resource development, investing in education, research and development and especially so in our proud and humble Canadian character?

From adolescence to young adulthood, we created our own Canadian flag. It is time now to take the next big step and to realize mature adulthood.

Circumstances have presented us with a wonderful opportunity to face serious international challenges, economically and politically, with a bold coming together and a taking of next steps into a more independent and self-reliant nation with a renewed national identity, one, always with humility, but now with a self knowledge and pride befitting a resource-rich, grown-up nation.

No longer a little brother, our grown-up identity will not only be good for us, it will place us as examples, as competent trustworthy friends to the world, a friend from whom others can learn and upon whom others can rely.

Garrett Loeppky

Winnipeg

Thanks to senator

Re: In defence of facts and farmers (Think Tank, April 28)

I would like to thank Sen. Don Plett for his well-written article in which he defends the horse export business, as well as his own actions in dealing with a poorly written bill in the Senate. When organizations like Animal Justice make statements that fail to include all the facts (or wrong facts) the average person can’t make an intelligent decision.

Horses are a large animal that can be raised quite efficiently for meat or companion animals. It is not for me to criticize any farmer for seeing an opportunity and developing a market for his or her product.

Animal activists have been around for decades and they still fail to present their case without distorting facts. Thank goodness most of us can see right through them.

Thank again to Plett for setting the record straight.

Bob Byle

West St. Paul