Letters, Oct. 1

Opinion

Diversifying power production

Re: Manitoba Hydro posts $63-M loss after another dry year (Sept. 27)

Sometimes, the wind does not blow, sometimes the sun does not shine, and sometimes, it does not rain or snow. However, it is unlikely that all three occur at the same time.

If Manitoba Hydro diversified the production of power including more wind, and started to install solar, then there would be options. We shouldn’t have to buy power. Solar power would add to the grid and allow Manitoba Hydro to store water for later when the winter comes and it gets darker.

Praying for more rain is not a strategy. Solar is the cheapest form of energy now, and is quicker to install and costs much less than hydro dams.

Incidentally, Sweden, a country relying heavily on hydro power, just opened another new 100-megawatt solar facility at Hultsfred; the country’s third large array. Manitoba is further south than Sweden, and would enjoy a slightly more favourable solar profile.

Brian Marks

Winnipeg

 

Rules of the water

As an avid kayaker, I know I have to share the river with my fellow watercraft enthusiasts. I just wish they also know that they had to share the waterway and obey the rules. It appears very few people actually understand the rules of navigable waterways.

If you’re in a motorized boat, as it seemed nearly everyone was Sunday afternoon on the river, and you see canoeists or kayakers or other non-motorized boaters, you are designated as the give-way craft. You’re supposed to alter course and speed, and do so early when you see us. In practical terms this means slowing down so your wake does not substantially disrupt my transportation — the stand-on craft — as we have the right of way.

On Sunday, I saw a motorized craft change course, but not speed, many times around the Alexander Docks. On my journey home I saw the most egregious example— two massive pleasure cruisers with three jet skis behind, no reduction in speed, no course changes. I had to slide into the eddy and come to a near dead stop to position myself for the massive wake that came my way seconds later, a wake so large that for a moment the bow of my kayak was over my head in height. That’s a big wave.

So, to my fellow watercraft enthusiasts, us non-motorized watercraft folk are on the river too, you have obligations to us as you have the faster, more dangerous craft, please understand and follow the rules of the waterway. We all deserve the chance to enjoy the river, please give us the same consideration you would give yourselves.

Will Jones

Winnipeg

 

Concerns about Americanization

Re: “Focus on what’s important” (Letters, Sept. 25)

There is some truth to Gilles Roch’s letter. There is an aspect of professional sport presentation that does distract from other issues, and “late-night comedy” does often inflate the importance of celebrity over social substance. But there are a few points that are worth considering.

First, like theatre and the arts, sports is a form of expression we can share in regardless of whether life-and-death issues are emphasized. This is why in the arts, some plays and songs are whimsical and distracting, while others are poignant reflections on serious social and political issues.

Second, sports have been a political vehicle for a long time — just look at the Olympics and how it is presented through various media around the world in an effort to legitimize national interests, including war. In such an ideologically competitive world, cultural protection is important. Canada has a long-standing need to protect its culture from a large imperial entity to the south. This is why, for example, we have the CRTC, which is mandated to protect Canadian culture in media.

In a way, the relationship between the CFL and the NFL resembles the relationship between Canada and the U.S. The NFL is a wealthy, powerful institution with huge investors. It occupies prime time in Canadian media, and has pursued a long-term expansion to Europe which is coming to fruition. The CFL is a less wealthy but uniquely Canadian institution that, like Canadian arts, requires some degree of cultural protection.

Looking carefully at many of the responses to the rule changes, it seems to me that many of them focus on the movement of something Canadian toward something American, which is tied to escalating fears about American dominance and expansionism. For many people, concern about the potential Americanization of a uniquely Canadian sport is connected to current political realities, not a distraction from it.

Second, the concern around the silencing of late-night comedy is a very real issue. While some comedy is a whimsical distraction, it has for a long time been a vehicle for critical examination of social issues, and it reaches a wide audience. As such, a president who mobilizes legal and policy systems to shut down comedians because of the opinions they express is a significant challenge to freedom of expression and thought. In fact, it is precisely because of the political messages, not the comedy, that these shows are under attack by the U.S. president.

Finally, just because a person is concerned about the Americanization of the CFL, doesn’t mean that these people don’t care deeply about important things like war and conflict. On that note, Go Bombers Go!

Curt Pankratz

Winnipeg

 

New Zealand’s example

Why, oh why, cannot Canada Post take a page out of New Zealand Post’s (NZP) book? As a Crown corporation, New Zealand Post was bailed out in 2001 — and swiftly recovered from insolvency and pending bankruptcy through the setting up of “Kiwibank.” Kiwibank was the brainchild of the NZ Labour government at the time. It was designed to provide accessible retail banking services throughout New Zealand by co-locating within NZP shops. In partnership with NZP, Kiwibank enjoyed a competitive advantage through lower overhead costs and extended service hours of the NZP shops. It is still totally owned by the New Zealand government and NZP is now hale and hearty.

So where to from here in Canada? Why couldn’t the Canadian government at least explore some possible way forward, based on the very successful New Zealand model? If not by creating a new “CanBank” to offer low-cost banking services through Canada Post outlets — could not some form of partnership, along similar lines, be explored with one or more Credit Unions? Could not there be at least a temporary halt to the Canada Post strike, while such positive, new structural and financial prospects are urgently explored?

Philip A. Blain

Steep Rock

 

Benefits of lower limits

I live in Portage la Prairie. Our school zone speed limits are in place all the time. I think this a good idea for three reasons.

We don’t have surprises when school starts again, we slow down in school zones all year long.

The zone closest to my house takes 30 seconds at the reduced speed, it doesn’t really slow down my daily routine.

Most schools have play structures or athletic fields, or both, so there can be children in those areas outside of school hours.

School zone speed limits are there to help protect children. Because you had to pay a fine for ignoring those limits does not make it a “cash grab.”

Bill Brown

Portage la Prairie