Letters, Nov. 14

City needs a real plan

Winnipeg’s city council is being led by developers, and residents are paying the price. Houses and apartment blocks are going up everywhere, yet the roads, bridges, transit, and even fire halls needed to support them are nowhere in sight.

In the south end, Route 90 is being tripled, new rapid-transit bridges are built, and ribbons are cut. Meanwhile, in the north, the Chief Peguis extension was cancelled, Arlington Bridge remains closed, McPhillips is a daily bottleneck at Leila, and 100,000 new homes are coming — with no plan for infrastructure.

From Amber Trails, it now takes up to six light cycles just to reach McPhillips. The fire department takes over 13 minutes to respond when alarms go off, a well-above-average, unacceptable delay that puts lives at risk.

Instead of addressing roads and traffic, the city installs concrete “calming” barriers along streets we are forced to use. These barriers must be removed each fall for snow clearing, then replaced in spring — a waste of time and money that fixes nothing.

If Winnipeg wants to be “green” and “smart,” it must start planning like a real city — with infrastructure, safety, and common sense — before the gridlock, not after.

Dave Gaudreau

Winnipeg

Blood in the water

Re: Forget defection, Poilievre should fear resignations (Nov. 10)

Forget defections and resignations. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre should fear MPs who would much rather sit as independents than cross the floor or serve under his leadership. Nothing else could hurt him more than that.

Imagine if a sitting Conservative MP said they would give up the support of their party and all the funds that come with official party status than continue to serve under Poilievre. The frat pack couldn’t attack them by saying they left for power elsewhere or out of perceived wrongs. They can’t say they have betrayed their constituents by running under a blue banner and then switching to a red one.

Granted, no one is talking about anyone threatening to walk down to the far end of the commons to sit with Elizabeth May and the NDP, but if there was someone in the Conservative Party who wanted to hold Poilievre’s feet to the fire, that threat would be the card to play. So don’t be surprised if you start seeing Pierre begin to flail even more wildly than he already does trying to appease his MPs.

The Liberals are on track to have a majority government by the time Poilievre’s leadership review rolls around. Or they might as well if he loses control of his MPs because his promises aren’t worth their loyalty. But still, regardless of the blood in the water, he’s facing his party and the cameras like nothing is wrong, all while trying to convince everyone those are just dolphins circling him.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

Music travels far

Re: Before Hollywood, Redwood (Nov. 8)

Neil Young is an icon. An irreplaceable ambassador from Winnipeg.

Back in the early 1980s, we were camping in Egypt. Several dusty days in a four-wheel drive truck and a sketchy crossing of the temporary armistice line between Israel and Egypt got us to the foot of Mount Sinai.

There were no tourists. None. There was only a 1,500-year-old walled monastery that seemed like a lost city. It was the farthest we got from Winnipeg in our wanderings. And it felt like the ends of the earth.

We started up the countless steps heading for the summit of Sinai. After a while, our guide surprised me. He started softly singing — what else, a Neil Young song: “There is a town in north Ontario…”

Small world. Long may you run, Neil.

Greg Petzold

Winnipeg

Reasons for a rail

Re: Riding the rails… to Gimli? (Nov. 12)

It was heartening to read Scott Billeck’s article. My sister and I make a weekly drive to Gimli from Winnipeg to visit our mother. I have often raised the idea of a commuter train from Winnipeg to Gimli during these trips, an idea which has occurred to me for several reasons.

I moved to Winnipeg from Montreal in 2019, and so I was aware that Montreal has a good commuter train network, built largely on repurposed existing infrastructure — for instance, the disused CPR passenger terminal at Windsor Station. So why not do so in Manitoba?

Since Greyhound pulled out of the province, there has been little in the way of public transport available to the people of the Interlake. Government has done nothing to change this situation, which gives the impression to a recent arrival like me that nobody cares about those who can’t afford a car, or who have disabilities preventing them from driving, or people who would prefer public transport to driving the same route every week. People such as my sister and I.

Rail lines from Winnipeg to Selkirk are in regular use. The rail line from Selkirk to Gimli is kept in good condition in order to allow the infrequent freight trains serving the Diageo distillery and other agricultural industries to make their runs. The infrequency of these industrial and supply trains would make it simple for the province to institute a regular passenger schedule along the same rail line.

The province is set to build a series of passing lanes for heavy traffic on Highway 8. Setting up a regular passenger train run to Gimli would alleviate some of the growing burden of personal vehicles clogging the highways.

Further, the province could gain “green credit” with ecology-minded voters by instituting such a passenger service.

Such a service would be a real game-changer for the people of Selkirk, Clandeboye, Winnipeg Beach and all the other communities along the train route. I am sure that it wouldn’t only be my sister and I using such a service, if it was ever made available.

Vince Tinguely

Winnipeg

Good deed rewarded

Re: “Canadian kindness” (Letters, Nov. 12)

I read the letter from Noah Strauss about a kind Canadian and I have to share a story of great gratitude.

I recently was waiting in line with a cartful of groceries at a checkout. A woman and a young man came behind me and each of them held some items in their hands. I suggested they go ahead of me and they did so with many thanks and offers to help me in unloading my items onto the conveyor.

I declined the offer, but when their items had been checked through, the woman waited until mine were all checked and then insisted on paying for them. Of course, I objected, but she persisted and paid for them, hugged me and told me it was because I was “so nice and kind.” Then she left very quickly.

I was so overwhelmed by her gratitude for a simple act that I was moved to tears. I have often done the same thing for others and a simple thank you is sufficient, but of course, the smile that always accompanies it is the greatest reward.

The woman who paid for my groceries deserves so much more than my thanks and I have passed on my gratitude by donating to a charity.

Dorothy Horn

Winnipeg