Letters, Oct. 3

Enter the nihilists

Re: There may be no ‘reason’ for the violence, Sept. 27

This interesting Free Press editorial about nihilism opens any number of issues for further consideration. To start, I’m not convinced that nihilism as portrayed can be an ideal free floating tendency untethered to any existing “reason” or social reality. That said, I do like the phrase, “internet addled nihilism”.

In ordinary usage, nihilism is taken to be an attitude and doctrine of certain alienated individuals or subcultures which rejects moral purpose and holds that life is meaningless; this sometimes resulting in acts of political violence. In philosophy, however, Friedrich Nietszche ascribes true nihilism not to an alienated out group, but rather, to the ordinary citizen, the upright bourgeois, comfortable in his/her common sense, order and good government.

Could it be that generalized unreason and disavowal of issues that are existential in nature also warrant being categorized as nihilistic? Or, we accept the reality of climate change and its all-too-evident effects, but then set that understanding aside to carry on business as usual.

Would this provide context and logic to the nihilism of alienation and exclusion?

Or, from our American neighbours, a citizenry electing and accepting a manifestly criminal, authoritarian, and lunatic leadership, backed by an amoral oligarchy and racist white nationalist Ayatollahs, and then carrying on, open for business.

Would these examples not fit Nietszche’s sense of nihilism ?

So if we’re discussing the unreason of nihilism, perhaps the rot goes deeper; perhaps we’re all nihilists now.

Sig Laser

Winnipeg

Looking for a home

Forty-one years ago, a very close friend’s 12-year-old son died suddenly and unexpectedly. One never expects to bury their child and does not “get over” the death. But one does need to find meaning and joy in life, once again.

Two years after her son’s death, my friend and her husband attended their first Sharing Meeting of The Compassionate Friends (TCF). She expressed that despite not feeling any better, she knew she would be back, she needed to be with other bereaved parents. It was a very gradual process, but in time I started to see a little of my old friend return. She had begun to volunteer at TCF and I joined as an Advisory Board Member. That was 39 years ago, and we are both still involved.

Over the years, I have witnessed the incredible role that peer-support plays in helping bereaved families find meaning and joy in life once again. And now there is a possibility that this support could end.

The Compassionate Friends is an international peer-support organization, and the Winnipeg Chapter established in 1977 was the first in Canada. After almost 49 years of having a presence in the Health Sciences Centre and having had an office/meeting space since 1991, HSC is unable to continue providing them with this space, which is critical to their continuation. TCF must relinquish their space by Dec. 1, 2025. While they are more than thankful and appreciative for the many years of support from the many staff members who helped them along the way, they have a major dilemma.

I am appealing to the community to see if anyone is aware of available office space for The Compassionate Friends, with cost being a major factor.

Pat Walmsley

Winnipeg

Endless road work

Last May, Wicklow Street in East Fort Garry was dug up for road replacement. Scheduled completion was summer 2025. It is October, and the work is not yet complete.

A number of months ago, a nearby parallel roadway, Woodgrove, was dug up. The road is still dug up with no apparent progress beyond a gravel dump. This road is completely closed.

I estimate that between 75 per cent and 85 per cent (about 95 per cent right now) of the time there is no work actually being done on the road projects. Signage is helter skelter; old, outdated signs remain; directions and information are inaccurate; no accurate signage warns motorists what lies ahead.

For weeks and weeks, the City of Winnipeg website has stated the Wicklow project is 90 per cent complete. Why is no one completing that final 10 per cent?

When will the city start completing road projects on time? When will the city provide accurate and appropriate signage at construction sites?

Nadine Delisle

Winnipeg

Cash grabs and cameras

When I went for a walk with my wife at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning I noticed a photo radar van parked in the school zone at Dalhousie School. When my daughter and I drove to the Orange Shirt Day March at The Forks for 10 a.m., the van was still there, as it was when we returned from The Forks at noon.

This left me confused: aren’t school speed zones intended to protect children going to and from school? Why would enforcement be monitoring a school zone on a day when no children are there?

Photo enforcement does not monitor school zones during the summer — I assumed because school is out. Why do they monitor school zones on Truth and reconciliation day, when school is also out?

By enforcing school zones on a non-school day, is the Police Service is simply raising money? And is that the intention of photo radar — to raise money?

Say it isn’t so. I thought the intention was safety. Photo radar in school zones on Orange Shirt Day looks like a cash grab.

David Stark

Winnipeg

Home care improvement

As a long-term home care client, I have some observations on system faults.

The costs of maintaining hospital and assisted living beds are very high. Home care, which allows people to stay in their apartments or homes at far lower cost, makes sense.

Adding people will not work without restructuring the system. Hospitals strive to empty beds intended for medical patients and occupied by people awaiting home care arrangements. That is predictable and manageable. The objective is to integrate clients into the system with minimal disruption.

Training of non-delivery staff must require 40 hours following experienced workers on their rounds every third year. The insight into delivery working conditions and meeting clients face-to-face will be invaluable.

Training and pay levels for home care workers must be restructured to reflect their level of responsibility. Pay levels are inadequate, and many work at second and third jobs to meet the increasing costs of living.

Workers are assigned arbitrary times to deliver services to clients. They are not paid for travel between clients or for unexpected factors that prolong the time needed to deliver services.

Many people, including the autistic, disabled, dementia sufferers, the elderly and youth, consider the homecare worker as their main contact with a world that ignores their existence. There must be a compassion component to the care they receive.

We are losing competent and dedicated people due to burnout and a lack of control over their day-to-day schedule.

Home care workers are unique. They must mix empathy and compassion with firmness to ensure care is properly delivered.

Not everyone is suited to the tasks they undertake. Better pay, compensation for unpaid time on duty and professional recognition will solve most of the problems they face.

John Feldsted

Winnipeg