Letters, Aug. 29

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/08/2025 (211 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Oil’s impact

Re: Energy efficiency is only part of the puzzle (Think Tank, Aug. 28)

I read with interest oil industry employee Rick Judson’s article in defence of the continued promotion and use of fossil fuels. I noticed no reference to their effects on climate change.

My memory is not the best anymore, but wasn’t it just last month that we were frequently advised not to spend time outside due to poor air quality? He could have at least waited for the smoke to clear from our lungs.

Ryan Carr

Winnipeg

Stale act

Re: Poilievre says temporary foreign workers taking jobs from young Canadians (Aug. 27)

Pierre Poilievre says that temporary foreign workers are taking jobs from young people. Without analyzing anything it would seem that is true.

Unfortunately if you look at a lot of the jobs these foreign workers are doing, they are jobs they can’t fill with Canadian workers. So Mr. Poilievre wants to cut immigration but has no proposals as to how these jobs would be filled.

I’m sure the employers who rely heavily on foreign workers wouldn’t be too happy not being able to have workers to meet their requirements. He is certainly quick to criticize but very slow with solutions.

His shtick is getting a little old.

Ken McLean

Starbuck

Antisemitism’s consequences

Re: Criticism is not hate (Think Tank, Aug. 27)

In his op-ed Dennis Hiebert writes: “Antisemitism surged in response to the ethnocultural nationalist movement of Zionism that emerged in late 19th-century Europe supporting re-establishment of a Jewish homeland via the colonization of Palestine, which was realized in 1948.”

Hiebert’s statement makes no sense whatsoever and is strangely ahistorical. The Arab Ottoman Empire ruled over the area for 400 years until the British occupation in 1917. In fact, the Jewish presence in the land endured for some three millennia under colonization by several empires, including the Romans, the Ottomans, and the British.

Antisemitism in the late 19th century had nothing to do with Zionism. Primarily, and unlike earlier religious-based discrimination, 19th-century antisemitism increasingly adopted racial theories, portraying Jews as biologically inferior or inherently corrupt. This pseudoscientific racism would lay the groundwork for more systematic and institutionalized forms of antisemitism in the 20th century. In Germany, Jews became the scapegoat for German defeat in the First World War and the ensuing economic disaster, even though some 100,000 Jews served in the German army and many were awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.

Another factor that contributed to the rise of antisemitism in the 19th century was nationalism and identity politics. Many countries were going through periods of political and social upheaval, seeking to establish a unified national identity and Jews were excluded as “outsiders.”

The consequences of 19th-century antisemitism were profound. Jews faced social exclusion, legal discrimination, and violence across Europe and beyond. They were subject to pogroms, discriminatory laws, and limited access to education and employment opportunities. Two thousand years of religious antisemitism made the new racial antisemitism palatable to the masses. All of these factors shaped the conditions that would later enable the murder of six million Jews.

Belle Jarniewski

Winnipeg

Time to build a road

Re: PM hints at major nation-building investment in Port of Churchill (Aug. 26)

It’s time to build an all-weather highway from Gillam to Churchill, and then on to Rankin Inlet. A 2007 study commissioned for Manitoba Highways in 2007 by SNC-Lavalin showed the feasibility and costs associated with such a project.

Since then Manitoba construction companies have built such roads in the other parts of northern Canada and have developed the required technologies and expertise. The study indicated the potential not only to expand the capacity of the Port of Churchill but more importantly the huge benefits to the local communities from improved access to goods and services at much lower costs, and the ensuing development of their local mineral and other resources.

I am sure all the nitpickers will try to stop the concept but bold leadership with an eye on the future well-being of Canada should be enough to get this project built. What are we waiting for?

Andrew Dickson

Winnipeg

Location, location, location

Re: Proposed housing project would put curling club on ice: Granite lawyer (Aug. 26)

The latest article on the hearings being held regarding the curling club parking lot being turned into “affordable housing” is absolutely incredible.

You are talking about building a large apartment on the riverbank? Since when is that even possible and even if it was, what would be the cost of shoring up that riverbank? There are many other more reasonable locations to build this housing which would be far less costly and disruptive. This is primary property and presently utilized for a small parking lot.

Since when does “affordable housing” have a prime location such as this, unless of course there is a lot of wheeling and dealing going on in the mayor’s office? The Granite is one of the oldest and best curling clubs in the country and should remain where it is with necessary parking attached. It’s time to really examine why/who is wanting this property and how much each and every suite in the planned building will cost.

No doubt the smallest with no river view would be “affordable” with the remaining much larger, luxurious suites for the well-to-do in this city. Enough is enough of pretending these are “affordable” housing units. Who are they trying to kid?

Jan Weedon

Winnipeg

Getting around town

To check out the new transit initiative, my son, who is a quadriplegic, and I decided to try taking a city bus downtown. We found the bus drivers very helpful because every bus had a different type of wheel clamp but once we actually arrived downtown, we were very disappointed in what we saw.

There is no bus stop anywhere near the RBC Convention Centre; the peeling condition of the paint decorating Graham Avenue made it obvious the road had never been cleaned properly before the paint was applied; and honestly the dirt and weeds along the sidewalks was embarrassing. It felt like “no one loves this place.”

For years we have been deploring the condition of Main Street between Selkirk and Portage and now it was even more embarrassing to see how we didn’t even care enough to clean up for visitors to our city.

Couldn’t some of the city budget go to employing students who can’t find summer jobs to sweep and weed and even pressure wash our downtown sidewalks? Couldn’t we come up with creative ideas for businesses or streets to compete for being the most welcoming spot in the city? We live in the most wonderful location in North America — central to everything — couldn’t we capitalize on that theme and take pride in Winnipeg and do something so that our pride is no longer bruised?

The gardeners in Winnipeg do such a beautiful job enhancing the beauty of our city. Now it’s time for our mayor and council to take care of our streets and sidewalks — am I naive in thinking a beautifully clean city would also have an influence on the crime rate that is bruising us? Why not give it a try?

Shirley Adam

Winnipeg