Letters, Jan. 13

Consider past failures

Re: Winnipeg and a rush to downtown growth (Think Tank, Jan. 12)

Architect Brent Bellamy touts the development of “an internal courtyard that serves as an urban oasis,” at the Market Lands site, where the old public safety building once stood. Later in the article, he references the upcoming Railside development across from the human rights museum at the Forks where the “first phase will organize 10 low-rise buildings around sun-drenched courtyards and narrow alleyways.”

Does no one in the downtown residential development sphere recall the architectural, award-winning masterpiece that was constructed on Isabel/Salter Street and featured low-rise residences around a sun-drenched courtyard that, within a very few years, became uninhabitable because the surrounding aspect of the building created an unsafe space that served as a facility for drug dealing and assaults?

Those residences, built at great cost, have been razed after sitting empty for many years. With the escalating crime rate and the unhoused situations that plague these areas, do we seriously think that another surround style building and narrow alleyways will fare any differently? Maybe we should reconsider planned design in view of past failure?

Leslie Hancock

Winnipeg

Supporting transit

Re: Density pilot ‘kills this project’ if mandated, developer says (Jan. 12)

I am frustrated that the City of Winnipeg feels a 72-unit building in Osborne Village needs 43 parking spots. This may be a realistic request that suits parking usage in this part of the city, but it really shouldn’t be.

Building parking spaces takes up valuable land, adds additional costs to construction, and makes our city uglier. The city of Winnipeg should have a reliable, robust, and extensive transit system so that we can eliminate or at least scale back these parking minimums. We do not yet have this transit system, and so the city’s response is to lean into more parking.

If developers want increased density, instead of asking them to spend tens, possibly hundreds of thousands on underground parking, why not levy a fee (annual or one-time) that goes towards the city’s transit system instead?

Christian Le Breton

Headingley

Typical hypocrisy

Re: ‘Iran wants to negotiate,’ Trump says (Jan. 12)

U.S. President Donald Trump threatens Iran over its treatment of protesters, while defending his ICE agents’ abuse and killing of protesters in the U.S.

The hypocrisy is staggering, but unsurprising, coming from this president.

Ron Menec

Winnipeg

What Trump covets

Re: An old American story with a harsh new twist (Think Tank, Jan. 10)

I enjoy Alex Passey’s contributions to the Think Tank page, but I question Passey’s assertion that U.S. President Donald Trump’s foray into Venezuela is driven by some grand geopolitical goal, nefarious or otherwise.

It’s possible some deep thinker in Trump’s inner circle decided that a few foreigners saying positive things on the news about him would help his poll numbers.

It’s just as likely that the plot was hatched because that country is home to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize which the president covets. The prize is so attractive to Trump because of the prestige it brings. People who receive it are generally thought to have accomplished great things.

One imagines that if a Nobel Rape & Pillage Prize was equally revered, Trump would find it even more alluring.

Mark Doerksen

Winnipeg

Yet more responsibility

Re: To belt on school buses or not to belt (Editorial, Jan. 10)

I drove a school bus for several years , about 25 years ago. The issue of seatbelts in buses was raised at this time as well.

No doubt seatbelts save lives if worn correctly, seated in an upright position and properly connected. Who will be responsible to ensure this happens every time this bus load of 10 to 72 excited students starts and stop?

Parents already complain about bullying and harassment on school buses asking “what was the driver doing?” (Driving?)

Safety is always an issue that comes into the spotlight when an accident is in the news. Seatbelts are always mentioned as a solution to the problem. Over the years we’ve seen the addition of more flashing lights (on the roof); safety arms in the front (to improve driver visibility of pedestrians close to the bus); and increased fines for violating flashing light rules. These have all been implemented, but collisions will still happen because people are careless and distracted.

In the end, liability will focus on the bus driver who has an endless list of safety checks to follow. Seatbelts will add 72 more.

Allan Jakilazek

Winnipeg

Profound film

Re: Hear her roar (Jan. 9)

Randall King’s review of The Mother and The Bear covers the main themes of the film, but falls short of capturing the profundity of its message for Winnipeggers, and for all children of mothers everywhere.

Writer/director Johnny Ma touches on transcendent human truths with lightness and humour. Lines such as “If we live in a world where we believe there are bears on the loose in downtown Winnipeg, anything is possible,” and “A mother’s love is a very powerful thing,” capable of healing injury and loss, touch beautifully on the intersection of love, medicine, and imagination — and this in the Exchange District, yet.

The cinematography employs just enough magic realism to raise the question whether the injured character merely suffers an ordinary Winnipeg occurrence, i.e., a slip on the ice, or was she confronted with her personal imbalance against the maternal power embodied in what turns out to be an archetypal yet delightfully theatrical bear?

Maybe it’s because I am an expat here, taking in the film at our very tiny cinema here on a freezing Atlantic evening, that this movie touched me so deeply, leading me to reflect on the all-loving power of mothers — not out of place in a city which itself mines a rich history of famous bears.

One wouldn’t think a piece of art could be so moving as to be actually calling me back to “this godforsaken place.”

Thomas L. Steur

Georgetown, P.E.I.

Lowering costs

In November 2024, the city released a proposal to replace the Arlington bridge at its current location. At that time, the cost was estimated at $166 million, with up to $27 million in interest. It would require six years to build.

The above cost and time estimate must have been a mistake. It took slightly over a year to build the Empire State Building in 1930, and it came in under budget. Keeping in mind that each of of the 102 floors are comprised of steel and concrete and the total square footage is over two million.

Six years to build a bridge seems like a very long time, considering the bridge is over land, no other traffic to worry about.

Perhaps the city can look at the technology that was used in 1930 and see if they can duplicate it on this project and have it built in 10 weeks and well under the $166 million price tag?

Alfred Sansregret

Winnipeg