Letters, Dec. 20

Resisting racism together

Re: The growing horror of antisemitic violence (Editorial, Dec. 17)

I very much appreciate the Free Press’s editorial. I was born shortly after the end of the Second World War into a Jewish family whose members had been murdered in the Holocaust. I have experienced antisemitic comments on different occasions throughout my life. So, I’m well aware that antisemitism is a light sleeper; that it emerges out of its slumber when the circumstances are ripe; that the current rise of fascism in North America and abroad provides fertile soil.

The deadly Bondi Beach mass shooting is a particularly tragic expression of this.

At the same time, I am concerned that, along with the welcome denunciation of antisemitism, its violent expressions have become a justification for and entrenchment of Islamophobia in general and anti-Palestinian sentiment in particular. Netanyahu’s accusation that Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood was the cause of the Bondi massacre exemplifies this tendency. The conflation of the denunciation of antisemitism with the silencing of Palestinian voices sadly, is alive and well in Winnipeg: a case in point, the opposition to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ decision to host a Nakba exhibit.

What seems to be lost in current divisive exchange is the fact that the rise of antisemitism goes hand in hand with the rise of Islamophobia. A reality that dates back at least as far as the Crusades.

Which suggests to me that there is a real opportunity for members of Winnipeg’s Jewish and Muslim communities, including members of our Palestinian community, to join together in co-resistance against racism and violence; in a reciprocal honouring of cultural communities that have long been joined at the hip. Indeed, there are local groups such as Islamic Social Service Association, Manitoba Friends of Standing Together and Women Wage Peace Winnipeg that are working to achieve this goal. But so much more needs to be done to ensure that safety, peace and justice are enshrined as pillars of community life, here and abroad.

As I write this I know my words may sound naively hopeful. But as a number of progressive thinkers have reminded us, in these fraught times, “hope is a moral imperative.”

Frances Ravinsky

Winnipeg

Making the call when it counts

Re: Blizzard wreaks havoc at schools (Dec. 19)

Many people were upset that the school divisions did not make the call early to close the schools for the blizzard conditions we experienced on Thursday. The highly paid superintendents in our school divisions should have made the call early in the morning and not have had to wait for the police department to make it for them.

It just goes to show that these people can’t make a decision on their own. I feel that if the police department hadn’t made the call to tell people to stay home, employees and students would have been expected to show up to their schools. The mayor should have also stepped up and told people to stay home, considering it was unsafe to travel even in the city as the roads were in poor shape. Not to mention the north wind blowing in our faces that took your breath away.

After being employed as a teacher for more than 32 years, I remember only twice in my career that schools were closed. Once in November 1986 and again in April 1997. I believe the mayor at that time made the decision to keep people home to aid the street plowing equipment with the cleanup.

Many other times I felt the schools for safety reasons should have been closed due to poor weather conditions, but they stayed open.

Doug Ingram

Winnipeg

Tax cuts play role in deficit

Re: Manitoba’s debt hole (Think Tank, Dec. 12); Province showing no signs of fiscal responsibility (Dec. 17)

In their Think Tank piece, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is right to be concerned about the growing provincial debt and increasing interest costs. The column from Dec. 17 states that in spite of a projected increasing deficit this year, the government spending is unsustainable.

Both rightly and strongly note that expenditure growth needs to be constantly scrutinized to assess necessity, especially in these fiscal circumstances. Both, however, completely or nearly completely ignore what has happened over the last number of years on the revenue side, which as a contributing factor also needs to be discussed.

Indeed, the deficit is to a significant extent arguably due to tax cuts, which have disproportionately benefited the better-off among us. Furthermore, we were asked to imagine the possibilities if the increases in equalization payments over the last few years (around 1.8 billion) had been used to lower the deficit and increase funding in critical front-line service areas, instead of largely funding tax cuts (about $1.6 billion).

So yes, let’s have a good discussion about the size of the provincial debt, but let’s do so in light of all relevant data, information and considerations.

Gerald Farthing

Winnipeg

Civil society under threat

Re: Winnipeg health officials apologize after antisemitic speech yelled at event (Dec. 17)

I was shocked by the mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration in Australia, another Commonwealth country.

As a non-Jewish physician, I decided to attend the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre Hanukkah ceremony in order to support my Jewish colleagues and friends. Alas, I was witness to the after effects of the attack, prior to this peaceful ceremony celebrating one the great narratives of Jewish history.

Not only is our cherished Jewish community being attacked, but also our fragile dream. This peaceful kingdom we call Canada is under siege.

Civil rights and freedom of religion and the rule of law are threatened by a new kind of barbarism. We cannot yield. The centre must hold. An attack on a treasured minority community is an attack on us all.

James Reynolds

Winnipeg

Section 33 a threat to human rights

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, adopted in 1982, is a crucial component of the Canadian Constitution. These are the cornerstones for the protection of human rights in Canada. Unfortunately, Section 33 of the Charter, the notwithstanding clause, has been employed many times by provinces for their political gain and in order to avoid court action. More recently, provinces have used it to target minority groups, depriving them of rights that they thought were guaranteed in the Charter.

In Quebec, the government banned public employees from wearing religious symbols at work. This targeted members of religious groups. In Alberta, it was used to force teachers back into the classrooms without the ability to have due process or use legal means. Alberta also used it to pass three transgender policies that might contravene the Charter.

It’s a wonder that there hasn’t been a greater outcry from the general public over the actions from the provinces. Are we becoming too complacent? Are we adopting the attitude of “if it doesn’t affect me, why speak out?”

This is a concern.

This has consequences for minority rights. The threat of what happened to Japanese Canadians during and after the Second World War can possibly be repeated, or happen to another minority group.

If we truly believe that rights and freedoms of all persons in Canada should be guaranteed and protected, we must abolish the notwithstanding clause from the Charter.

This is the challenge we must pursue, if we truly believe in a just, fair and open society.

Art Miki

Winnipeg