Letters, May 22

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/05/2025 (370 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Status quo must change

Re: Facts about student assessment (Think Tank, May 21)

In response to an article by university professors, Natalie Riediger, Darja Barr and me, Ken Clark––a retiree from Manitoba Education’s assessment division — effectively illustrates our point about the lack of consultation and communication between faculties of education and K-12 curriculum and assessment developers with post-secondary content specialists. His dismissive attitude toward us, “not being in faculties of education,” underscores the problem. Individuals like Clark would benefit from a dose of humility and an openness to collaborate beyond their ideological echo chambers. (For the record, Darja Barr has a PhD in math education.)

Clark mentions PISA but omits critical facts: since 2003 the percentage of Manitoba students performing below level 2 in math — considered functionally innumerate — has doubled. Meanwhile, the share of high performing students has been cut in half. These are not isolated issues. Manitoba is currently the subject of a human rights investigation for failing to teach students with disabilities to read. Reading in Manitoba is assessed using an approach that has been discredited by the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. We are not the only ones who are unsatisfied with the quality of reading assessments in Manitoba.

Clark downplays the concerns of parents of struggling students, while also discounting the need to prepare students for university, noting most don’t attend. But the role of public education is to maximize opportunities for students. Better preparation would lead to higher participation in university and reduced failure rates. And university isn’t the only post-secondary environment where exams are used––colleges and trade schools also administer tests. According to Statistics Canada, 65 per cent of Canadians and 60 per cent of Manitobans attend some form of post-secondary education.

Clark may be content to defend the status quo he helped create, but we are focused on advocating to improve the system.

Anna Stokke

Winnipeg

Netanyahu’s claim absurd

Re: Canada, U.K. France offering ‘huge prize’ to Hamas: Netanyahu (May 21)

What an absurd notion by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who is wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity and war crimes — that Canada, the U.K., and France are offering a “huge prize” to Hamas by lightly threatening action against Israel after nearly two full years of bombing and starving Palestinians in Gaza — not to mention the escalation of violence and repression in the West Bank, as well as increased illegal settlement activities.

It is a positive development that Canada is finally starting to use language critical of the Israeli government, but it is decades overdue and does not go far enough. We’re witnessing the most depraved acts of state violence in our lifetime, livestreamed to our phones every minute of every day.

It’s not time for impotent threats, it’s time to act as a nation — that either believes in human rights or doesn’t — and do our part to end this.

Evan Marnoch

Winnipeg

Fighting fires

There may well indeed be ways to mitigate the potentially devastating impact of wildfires in our provincial parks, however few suggestions have touched upon the possibility that these spaces are already overburdened with human activity and perhaps it’s time to contemplate returning these parks to their natural state as best we possibly can.

The vast majority of Whiteshell seasonal residences are situated on Crown land by means of leases, all of which are subjected to renewal every 21 years, over 3,000 in total. A gradual period of attrition, returning the park to a state which truly reflects the renewed concern for the health of our natural spaces, is something which needs to be seriously considered.

What’s not required is carving out more access in and out of the park in the event of wildfires, greater reliance on the water ways to supply more efficient fire fighting capacity to protect infrastructure, and ignoring the very real possibility of being unable to insure property in the years ahead due to the reluctance of underwriters to engage in the process.

The issue has less to do with how might we tackle a disaster and everything with avoiding it in the first place, as we know that roughly half of all wildfires are due to human causes. I’m not suggesting any attempt to discourage the use of our parks, but instead feel we must revisit what that entails and the degree to which we’ve failed to prepare for the future which is upon us.

The present isn’t sustainable and best to innovate long before we’re not given the opportunity.

Dan Donahue

Winnipeg

Jets’ unfair situation

Re: A magical season, and an agonizing defeat (May 18)

I want to start by thanking Mike McIntyre for his moving and well written piece on the Winnipeg Jets’ season. As we Jets fans move forward, it’s worth noting the team did as well as it did from an extremely disadvantaged, frankly unfair situation.

What situation you may ask? While it is true the Jets 2.0 exist in a salary cap league that didn’t exist when Jets 1.0 played here, it’s in no way an equitable and fair cap. This is because it’s essentially based on gross salaries the teams pay to their players. In other words, what the number is on the contract the player signs.

However, this is a highly distorted number. We all know it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. And that means after the CRA/IRS take their not-insignificant cut. Followed by the local state or province, not to mention taxes related to schools, sales, property, etc.

The reality is a $7 million per season contract may result in a player taking home $5.5 or only $4 million depending on what team they sign the contract with. You don’t think for a second the players don’t have financial planners employed by their agents to tell them exactly how much they’ll see at the end of the day living in each city?

So right off the bat, most Canadian teams will be at somewhat of a disadvantage. And those in higher tax provinces and cities like Winnipeg get it doubly hard.

Couple that with the greatest injustice of all, the no-trade clause. Yes, this is something the player union has fought for but it’s patently unjust in the worst possible way. It wouldn’t be any different than if the Jets were given a power play to start every game just because too many players refuse to be traded here.

When the next NHLPA contract is up for renegotiation that would be the first thing the Canadian teams should be going after to get expunged from the collective agreement. It’s utter nonsense and completely biases the fairness of the game.

Kudos to the Jets. You performed remarkably well, especially given the league has tied both your hands behind the team’s back without most observers even realizing the injustice which befalls the team before they even lace up their skates at the start of every season.

Keith Gordon

Winnipeg