Letters, Nov. 25

Trump, the errand boy

Re: Zelenskyy: Ukraine faces stark choice (Nov. 22)

The current report of the American president selling out Ukraine to obey his overlord Putin, is another in a series of his cynical and cowardly flip flops. His bombastic and ineffective “demands” and “pressures” on Russia have proven as hollow as expected.

Ukraine has been excluded from the alleged “peace” talks, is being pressured towards ceding unconquered territory to an aggressor, and, even worse, agreeing to give up critical future security guarantees. This is not a peace plan but a postponement of more aggression which all Europe dreads.

“He’s not thinking of more war,” Trump said of Putin.” This reminds us of former British prime minister Neville Chamberlin and his failed policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler. The difference here, now, is that while Britain and her allies were weakened and ill-equipped to oppose that aggression, Trump has massive military and financial power to exert on an inept invader whose power is waning. (Putin’s one-day war has lasted four years due to the courage of Ukraine.)

Trump likes to hang out with perceived “tough guys” in the mistaken belief that he will be mistaken for one himself, when in fact he merely is Putin’s errand boy.

Trump and Putin are alike in one regard, as they are both a stain on history.

Dan Furlan

Winnipeg

Worth a thousand words

I want to acknowledge the fine featured photograph taken by Free Press photographer Ruth Bonneville which graces the front page of section B in the Friday issue of the Free Press.

The composition, use of lighting, depth of field and the wonderful way the subject matter (the couple) were depicted was pure artistry that so often goes unnoticed. Well done.

Glenn Hansen

Winnipeg

Profane times

Re: F-bombs abound (Think Tank, Nov. 22)

I share Paul Moist’s discomfort with the current widespread use of the “F-word.” Beyond its (rapidly waning) shock value, I believe it reflects a growing loss of an intuition of the sacred in humanity’s aspirations. Religion points in that direction, but the sacred is not confined to any creed.

It is telling that the word swear refers both to a binding promise to tell the truth and the word we use with children to refer to “bad language.” The survey cited by Moist highlights a puzzling significant disconnect between language used at home and language used around children. Some jurisdictions have replaced “So help me God,” with “solemnly affirm,” in court oaths — both examples reveal that universal tension between striving to move “upward” rather than succumbing to pulls in the opposite direction.

The F-word is fundamentally about sexuality outside of committed bonds, indicating that humans understand such relationships to be sacred covenants, even without their being publicly professed. When we use it in anger or frustration, we essentially are thumbing our nose at that truth. Consider how many relationships collapse and families are destroyed because of broken promises of fidelity.

Maybe the swear words of a society are its canaries in the coal mine — signals not only of eroding societal norms but of a rejection of life’s essential holiness.

Edwin Buettner

Winnipeg

Farewell to Valour

Re: Valour FC closing its doors (Nov. 21)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers president Wade Miller is deluded if he seriously thinks he did everything he could to save Valour FC.

Speaking as a season ticket holder since the first season, I saw an organization that did as little as possible to woo fans. The team was never competitive. The game-day experience was always poor, and Valour did precious little community promotion beyond phoning it in with occasional ticket giveaways. If Miller were serious, he’d have learned from successful startup teams like the Sea Bears, which delivers a fan experience that is actually fun, while also showing up continuously in the community.

If Miller had been serious about Valour, he’d have fired the coach Phillip Dos Santos about three or four losing seasons ago. And he might have insisted that Dos Santos foster and play local talent instead of seeking the services of yet another foreign born striker who couldn’t score a goal into an empty net. If that’s all Dos Santos and Miller were going to get, I’d rather have been cheering for a homeboy to try to score.

The truth is that Miller and the Bombers did not invest much money or passion in Valour. Maybe they assumed the fans could do that on their own and lift the team into the playoffs without the club investing in better coaches, better players and a soccer-friendly stadium.

The dumbest part of Miller’s decision to cease Valour’s operations is that it’s being done months before Canada is co-hosting the World Cup. A better marketing opportunity never existed. Instead, he’s quitting on us. Winnipeg soccer fans deserved better.

Adam Dooley

Winnipeg

On political remarks

PC Leader Obby Khan stepped in it again on Friday, when he and most of his caucus refused to stand in the legislature after MLA Logan Oxenham’s heartfelt speech commemorating the victims of anti-transgender violence and discrimination. He called the speech political.

Well, of course it was a political speech. Every time someone stands up for the rights of a minority that, in the eyes of some other group, doesn’t deserve to have rights, it’s political.

Khan seems to have forgotten the lessons of his party’s disastrous 2023 election campaign, in which he was the public face of the PCs’ so-called “parental rights” platform. That platform, as we know, was really about denying the ability of gender-non-conforming youth to be who they are.

David Bergen

Winnipeg

Move forward on housing

Re: Municipal board needs oversight (Think Tank, Nov. 21)

Winnipeg, like most other Canadian cities, is in the midst of a housing crisis and projects that meaningfully expand access to affordable and mixed-income housing must be met with urgency, not obstruction.

The proposed 111-unit development beside the Granite Curling Club represents exactly the kind of forward-looking investment our city needs, and it is troubling to see it stalled by a small, unelected provincial panel acting without accountability to Winnipeg residents.

City council approved the project after public hearings and consideration of parking, land use and long-term community benefit. The idea that a facility on city-owned land can unilaterally reject any loss of parking, while offering no evidence-based compromise, should not outweigh the pressing need for homes. When thousands struggle to find stable housing, parking stalls cannot be the deciding factor.

Moreover, overturning the city’s decision undermines democratic local planning. Winnipeg taxpayers, not panellists with some members from outside the city, will live with the consequences of delayed or cancelled developments. If Manitoba is serious about addressing homelessness, supporting mixed-income neighbourhoods, and maximizing federal housing dollars, then it must empower municipalities, not sideline them.

This project is good for the neighbourhood, good for the city and good for residents who desperately need a place to call home. People come before parking. Let the project move ahead.

Luba Krosney

Winnipeg