Letters, July 7

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/07/2025 (262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Glad to see action on vacant homes

Re: Time’s up: city mulls crackdown on derelicts (July 4)

I am happy to hear Coun. Cindy Gilroy is trying to move forward on the huge number of vacant houses. Three years is too long. I have waited at least that long for a house across the street from me to be repaired or developed. Winnipeg needs to get on top of this issue, fast.

There needs to be a plan involving all departments of the city, to address each stage of rehabilitating our city centre, from expropriation, remediation, demolition, or redevelopment into new housing, or much needed green space.

Also, the city must address the elephant in the room: the number of vacant commercial buildings in the core. Owners of these properties need to be subject to the same time restrictions.

With foresight, the decay in this city’s centre can be reversed, and people can all find homes.

Kathleen Kristjansson

Winnipeg

Take a different approach

Re: Kinew’s two options: let Fontaine dig herself out of hole after outburst or fire her (July 2)

I think it’s sad that the one part of this story that stuck out the most was that members of equity-deserving groups would have to look at this incident through a lens of “Well, what are we going to do? Vote for the Conservatives? That would be even worse for us…”

To feel trapped or forgotten or undervalued in the world you share with others, to the point where you have to accept Nahanni Fontaine’s comments and actions as the lesser of two evils, should leave everyone trying to figure out just how bad things must really be for those faced with these daily obstacles. It should also signal to conservatives that maybe they shouldn’t be trying to push Fontaine any further into the mud than she has gotten herself stuck in, but rather find some way to clean up their reputation within communities that have been hurt or forgotten under their times of getting to hold the reins.

Yes. What she did was horrible. Standing there pointing screaming “bad thing!” at the top of your lungs won’t change that for her or anybody offended by her actions. The PCs aren’t fooling anyone by trying to disguise their partisan politics as support for a community. One they will quickly forget about when they eventually get back into power. So maybe try a different approach to the situation. It could actually signal to people they are a party capable of change.

And leave Fontaine and Premier Wab Kinew to figure out what change, if any, they will make as a result of what has happened, and leave it to the voters to feel if that change is enough.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

Time to make a real deal

Since U.S. President Donald Trump got elected in the U.S., he has scrapped/walked away from the trade deal between the U.S., Canada and Mexico that he actually agreed to and signed when he was president the first time around. He’s instituted tariffs against us.

Prime Minister Mark Carney must insist on some type of ironclad guarantee and assurance that Trump won’t scrap any new deal/trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada like he did before.

Can anyone really trust a bona fide liar?

Robert J. Moskal

Winnipeg

Fontaine’s comments not so bad

Re: Minister angers deaf community with slight against interpreter (July 2)

We’ve been taught over the last many years that we should see and refer to the person, not the disability.

Nahanni Fontaine did just that when she spoke her mind about the ASL interpreter that shared a stage with her while speaking at the June 26 event. While lamenting the distraction of having the woman in view during her address, she didn’t refer to her as an interpreter, or mention ASL or the deaf members of the audience. She only made it clear that the person was a distraction and should not have been positioned as closely as she was.

To interpret her comments as a slight against the deaf community is quite a stretch, and to suggest that Fontaine should step down or be removed by the premier is ridiculous. Fontaine has apologized — twice.

Nothing to see here folks. Time to move on.

Don McPherson

St. Andrews

Keep ban in place

Re: Mixed reviews for first year of cellphone ban (July 2)

As I read Mixed reviews for first year of cellphone ban, I thought I must recommend to all teachers, parents and administrators to thoroughly read Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation.

What has happened since the release of the iPhone in 2010 is alarming and the statistical proof is there. He speaks about “discover mode” and “ defend mode” which has been part of mammalian growth for millennia. Phones have the ability to keep youngsters in “defend mode” to their detriment. The iPhone has been here for only 15 years and we are now seeing the effects on the mental health of Gen Z’s children and adolescents.

I think we must continue with the ban at least all the way through middle years with no turning back. That way, no matter what work-arounds our creative and still developing young people figure out on their off school hours, at least they will have a period of the day to learn, and to construct and maintain friendships that are not terminated by the pushing of the “off” button.

Elizabeth Dorey

Winnipeg

Traffic planning

Re: “Look south for inspiration” (Letters, July 2)

Perhaps we need to look further afield than North Dakota for road inspiration. I have driven on autoroutes in Europe with 140 km/h speed limit and roundabouts. So easy. Observe the signage, slow to 60 km/h, yield and merge, around and away.

No stop signs, no awkward turning, minimal interruption to the flow of traffic. Would cost more than an RCUT but a lot less than a grade-separated interchange.

Robert Foster

Winnipeg

Room enough for everyone

Re: “Where can pedestrians walk safely?” (Letters, June 30)

In response to Catherine Collin’s letter, I write this in response. I am sorry you were injured entering a store and required a long rehabilitation.

However, regarding your issue with others on the sidewalk besides yourself, I say this.

I am an e-bike rider and for a small portion of my ride from Westwood to downtown, I ride on the sidewalks of Portage to Charleswood Bridge. There is no way I’m riding on Portage with the crazy drivers. Those sidewalks barely have pedestrians and if there are, I ring my bell and say passing on the left loudly for them to hear. I have been ignored by a person using earphones or has their nose in their phone; some like to take up the whole sidewalk.

These sidewalks should be able to be shared, so that we all are safe by splitting them up half and half. One group is not more deserving than the other.

If the biker was your granddaughter, would you want her riding on busy Portage or riding safely on a small patch of sidewalk with a bell to warn of her arrival to pedestrians?

Elaine Stobbe

Winnipeg