Letters, July 31

Disappointed with gallery

Re: ‘Strong partners,’ diplomat predicts (July 30)

The thing I find most unsettling as to the U.S. ambassador to Canada meeting with our local chamber of commerce is the fact the Winnipeg Art Gallery agreed to play host to the event. Given the hostility of the Trump administration towards cultural institutions in the United States and its decision to inject its political agenda into the mandates which govern them, I struggle to understand why the gallery felt this to be a good fit.

As we lean upon our collective culture in order to differentiate ourselves from the existential threat emanating from the south, institutions such as the Winnipeg Art Gallery play a large role in bringing it to life.

Willingly playing host to a representative of a president who has and will continue to threaten our sovereignty is quite frankly an insult. I’m quite certain many an artist will agree.

Dan Donahue

Winnipeg

 

Inclusive monument policy

Re: Ten Commandments monument returned to spot near longtime home in Assiniboine Park (July 29)

If a monument representing the dominant and culturally hegemonic mores and milieu of 60 years ago is being placed in a public park, with public support, under a stated “goal of reconciliation,” I hope the City of Winnipeg and the Assiniboine Park Conservancy have ensured that Indigenous and Métis teachings are displayed with equal prominence throughout this particular patch of Treaty One territory.

It is also logical to assume that monuments from other religious and philosophical traditions should be as welcome in “this quiet, peaceful setting” of Assiniboine Park as the Ten Commandments monument is.

Perhaps a collection of such monuments grouped together would demonstrate how much Canadian society has evolved over the last 60 years, and show how broadly welcoming Turtle Island has been to faiths and beliefs from around the world.

Sowmya Dakshinamurti

Winnipeg

 

Poor local leadership

Re: A bridge too far for area residents, businesses (July 29); Time for a re-election, or for a re-evaluation? (Think Tank, July 29)

The juxtaposition of Scott Gillingham‘s desire to be re-elected mayor and the decay of the city infrastructure is both laughable and unconscionable. Gillingham and Coun. Janice Lukes were on council in 2015 when they deferred spending on the north end sewage treatment plant with a projected cost of $795 million. Now the cost overrun has ballooned to $3 billion or more. With forward thinking, city council could’ve paid for repairs to both the Arlington and the Louise Bridges while avoiding a $4.8-billion lawsuit over the pollution of Lake Winnipeg. Now they are spending $180,000 for a review of the failed project … sad but true!

The leadership at city hall is deplorable. Gillingham’s election promise to raise taxes a projected 3.5 per cent was either incompetency or an alternative fact as the increase of 5.95 per cent became the reality.

How amazing Lukes can lobby for money for the South Winnipeg Recreation Campus, while the people of the city’s north and east suffer with transportation discrimination with failing century-old bridges, as well as a closure of the Happyland Pool. I have no recall of a bridge or pool being closed in south or west Winnipeg. Although it is good that the residents of Waverley West will have a great recreation complex, the residents of Transcona have been waiting for a recreation centre for years and the children of St. Boniface deserve better.

Maybe before his re-election campaign, Gillingham should take Lukes and ride the bus from the north and east ends of the city instead of from St. James. It might be an awakening!

Linda Boughton

Winnipeg

 

Time for tougher judges

Re: Police crack down on crime in Osborne Village (July 25)

Great news that the police will be cracking down on crime in Osborne Village.

Now if only the judges will do the same, we might get somewhere.

Janice Chase

Stonewall

 

Advice for councillor

Re: Councillor with correctional officer background poised to join police board (July 16)

Coun. Evan Duncan’s comments on his appointment to the Winnipeg Police Board caused me concern. Declaring that he’s ready to “work with the chief and his deputies” to address the “not good” state of public safety is at the very least presumptuous.

It’s an incredibly bold statement for a first-term councillor with no policing experience and no previous role in governance/oversight. Before offering his insights, maybe he should have spoken about learning how the board works, about the purpose of civilian oversight and about the importance of independence from operational policing.

His background in youth corrections and provincial investigations is worth acknowledging, but it doesn’t prepare someone for an oversight role like this holding police leadership accountable or to navigate the complex intersection of public trust, transparency and law enforcement.

This role isn’t about jumping in to fix things. It’s about showing restraint, listening carefully and earning credibility with both the public and the police service. That starts with humility.

Marc Robichaud

Winnipeg

 

Discerning Trump’s motives

Re: Trump’s ongoing, lunatic tariff war (Think Tank, July 15)

At the risk of being viewed as a Trump sympathizer, allow me to suggest that the man is dumb like a fox.

Like most businesspeople, U.S. President Donald Trump believes that the U.S. is living beyond its means in both international trade and government expenditures. Both are in long-term significant and growing deficit. The country is importing away more goods and services than it is exporting, and Washington is spending away more money than it is collecting in personal and business taxes. Presumably, this can’t go on indefinitely.

The solution to the former is to import less, and/or export more. The solution to the latter is to spend less and/or increase governmental revenues. Since reducing services and/or raising taxes in a democracy is always a hard sell — particularly in the U.S. — Trump has chosen to solve both problems at the same time by taxing imports. Although Trump tells them differently, U.S. consumers will pay more for all their goods and services, while the tariff revenue will go directly into the public coffer thereby allowing Washington to pay down its huge national debt.

Tariffs will also give offshore exporting companies a large incentive to “reshore” their manufacturing plants back to the U.S. In effect, Trump is imposing a hidden “Mulroney-GST” tax on the American public to simultaneously solve his country’s trade and revenue problems — at our expense. It’s the art of the deal!

Robert G. Roehle

Winnipeg