Letters, Sept. 27

Opinion

Equipping the justice system

Under Canada’s founding laws, the federal government is responsible for criminal law and court procedure. With that in mind, calls for “bail reform” in the nature of changes to the Criminal Code are fair play.

However, under those same founding laws, it is provincial governments that are responsible for the administration of justice — which includes providing courts, prosecutors, public defenders, police, remand custody, and community corrections. The federal law is only worth the paper it is printed on if there are not adequate resources in place to carry out its purpose.

The role of the provincial government in implementing meaningful measures that improves public safety does not end at the justice system. It also includes proven upstream prevention measures that improve the social and health conditions in our communities that reduce the risk factors that contribute to criminalized activity.

It should not be lost in any conversation on “bail reform” that it is the responsibility of the provincial government in funding and delivering the systems that are best equipped to respond and prevent crime. No law can achieve the same impact that a properly equipped justice system, health system, and social services can.

Gerry Williams

Winnipeg

Staying on the fence

Canada’s incoming ambassador to the United Nations, David Lametti, said that Canada will wait for a UN resolution or a decision from the International Court of Justice before taking a position on whether Israel’s military activity in Gaza constitutes genocide.

That same day, the U.S. vetoed a UN resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. It was the sixth time the U.S. has vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire since October 2023.

The U.S. has funded and armed Israeli army and defence forces and will veto any resolution characterizing Israeli military operations in Gaza as genocide.

Experts on the ICJ say a judgment on whether Israel has committed genocide in Gaza is unlikely before the end of 2027 or beginning of 2028.

By saying it needs to wait for a UN resolution it knows will never survive a U.S veto, or an ICJ ruling that is at least two years away to take a position on whether Israel has committed genocide, Canada is doing all it can not to fall off the proverbial fence. Given what’s at stake in Gaza, surely Canadians deserve a more principled and honest approach.

Daniel Bland

Winnipeg

Sympathy for rural residents

Re: Unionized postal workers on strike after plans to end most home delivery announced (Sept. 26)

Rapidly declining mail volumes with static changes in delivering this service has resulted in billions of losses for Canada Post that has been funded through our federal taxes. I can think of numerous services I would wish our government could support that we simply cannot afford, but much of our postal service does not crack the top 100.

Finally, after 10 years, the Liberal government is allowing discontinuance of home mail delivery in favour of much more efficient community mailboxes that most of us already have and closure of redundant rural post offices. Unfortunately, the postal union has decided to initiate a strike again with unrealistic demands even though Canada Post is effectively bankrupt. In the real world, Canada Post would cease to exist, and all these employees would lose their jobs. I feel for rural persons that have no alternative parcel delivery service and the small businesses affected who warrant at least some postal subsidy by our government.

If the Canadian Union of Postal Workers is unable to understand their weak and vulnerable position, maybe we simply shut down Canada Post, privatize our postal service and subsidize select northern and rural communities to keep them viable.

Bill Speers

Winnipeg

Cleaning up our act

Re: City issues warning about Red River quality (Sept. 24)

In City issues warning about Red River quality, the city’s director of water and waste, Tim Shanks, notes that the provincial government approved the city’s plan to shut off its ultraviolet treatment at the North End sewage treatment plant for five months starting next week.

The shutoff, which city officials say is necessary in order to complete an upgrade that will in the long-term reduce pollution of the river, will in the short-term result in even more pollution of the river than usual. While Shanks says that the change won’t affect drinking water, which comes from Shoal Lake, reporter Joyanne Pursaga points out that 11 First Nations are suing all three levels of government for not doing enough to address water pollution. Further polluting the river with this shut off will not affect Winnipeggers’ drinking water, but it will affect the drinking water of Indigenous communities to our north, and this is neither fair nor acceptable.

Instead of wasting money in the legal system in denying any wrongdoing, all three levels of government, and all the Winnipeggers’ they represent, should be taking responsibility for the fact that our sewage is contributing negatively to the health of the rivers, Lake Winnipeg and the communities that depend on them.

Yes, it’s expensive to clean up our act, but it’s also expensive to try to dodge responsibility. It would make more sense to spend the money where it will make a difference: on improving the health of the rivers and lake.

Jocelyn Thorpe

Winnipeg

Longer walks, less service

Re: Funding Transit a necessity (Think Tank, Sept. 24)

The Sept. 24 item, Funding Transit a necessity, says 83 per cent of survey respondents said they preferred a longer walk to more frequent service. That is sophistic, since “a longer walk” is a vague phrase which doesn’t specify how much longer. It is doubtful respondents meant such long walks to bus stops as provided by the new dispensation, considering this city’s harsh winters.

Even if the survey sample was representative, the 2021 census found 16.8 per cent of Winnipeg’s population to be over 65. Hence the 83 per cent who preferred longer walks to more frequent service may have been under 65 as well as irrational, to say nothing of the disabled, who should also be considered, whatever their ages.

A Facebook survey indicates 77 per cent of riders are not satisfied with the new Transit system, as of today.

Longer walks on icy winter sidewalks represent lower service levels — for the same fare — even for the young. The writer contradicts himself later, after citing the survey, saying “It doesn’t matter what a city says it wants…”

Eliminating thousands of stops may have decreased riding time, indicating lower service levels again; eliminating a few thousand more may decrease riding time exponentially, since there’s obviously an inverse relationship between travelling time and the number of stops!

Ashoke Dasgupta

Winnipeg