Letters, Feb. 13

Animals deserve justice, too

Re: Couple who tortured, killed animals sentenced (Feb. 12)

I am appalled by the light sentences received by Irene Lima and Chad Kabecz. Twelve years is not enough for such grievous crimes repeatedly committed.

Had the victims been human, they would have received multiple life sentences. I believe they are likely to reoffend; they’ll just be more careful not to get caught next time and are a danger to society at large. It has been shown that people who torture animals have the capacity to torture humans, especially the weak and vulnerable.

These perpetrators took pleasure in what they were doing and charged money for others to watch. They are devoid of basic human kindness and have shown themselves incapable of mercy. They must have extremely deep mental health issues and I question whether either could be rehabilitated.

The light sentences are an example of species-ism and shows the disregard our society places on the experiences of non-human species. Shame on Canada and our court system for such light sentencing.

Monica Ziegler

Winnipeg

Regarding the Winnipeg couple who tortured and killed animals on the dark web: what about the people who bought these videos?

It is frightening to think they are still out and about.

Judy Herscovitch

Winnipeg

Canada’s role in Cuba’s plight

Re: “Lessons from Cuba” (Letters, Feb. 11)

Cuba is at a crossroads. Will it become a “failed state” or will it thrive again?

Are we as Canadians prepared to let it die a slow death or are we prepared to raise our elbows and offer a solution that is within our purview?

What if we were to supply the much needed fuel to Cuba and, in return, Cuba would provide Canada with much needed doctors? Sounds like a win-win solution, right?

United States would, no doubt, slap more tariffs on Canada. However, as we have already learned, no matter how much we acquiesce to their demands, we are still treated with contempt.

Since 1960, Cuba has endured untold hardships inflicted upon it by the United States embargo, but the relentless and ever increasing assaults have taken their toll. Cuba can no longer provide the health, education and quality of life that its citizens previously enjoyed.

Can the United States finally achieve its decades-long campaign to destroy this beautiful island?

Canada can prevent this from happening. Canada can play an important role and exercise a humanitarian approach to save Cuba and alleviate the suffering of its people. We must not turn our back on Cuba.

Elbows up, Canada.

Gladys Legal

Winnipeg

A better model for Canada

Re: Increased taxation requires thorough justification (Think Tank, Feb. 12)

Gregory Mason makes a good case for benchmarking to ensure Winnipeg gets value from taxes. But assigning leadership to the federal government via Statistics Canada isn’t the answer.

Municipal services are provincial and local under Canada’s Constitution. This country relies too much on Ottawa for solutions, even as federal debt has doubled since 2015 to over $1.2 trillion, with interest payments now exceeding $50 billion yearly — fueling higher costs of living for Canadians.

South of the border, the International City/Country Management Association’s Open Access Benchmarking program shows a better way: voluntary, peer-led by local government professionals (no federal control), with standardized data on key services. It’s not flawless — comparability issues persist due to local differences — but cities like Woodbury, Minn., have earned awards for transparency and improvements without added bureaucracy.

Provinces and cities here can expand voluntary networks like Municipal Benchmarking Network Canada similarly. Keep it local for real accountability and efficiency.

Lana Hunstad

Winnipeg

Signal versus noise

Prime Minister Mark Carney seems to have captured the public’s imagination as he constantly burbles on about Catalyzing everything while warning us about Hegemon and Hyperscaling. Maybe he should be equipped with subtitles.

In reality, our country is buried under galactic sovereign debt and its GDP is the lowest in the G7. Yet Mr. Carney continues to squander tens of billions of other people’s money while assuring us that he is just “investing in Canadians.”

The price of gold is exploding and the bond markets teeter toward super-toxicity. These two markers are never wrong. They know; they decide. Everything else is just noise.

Heads up.

Francis Trueman

Winnipeg

The assessment experience

Re: Assessments system needs change (Think Tank, Feb. 10)

The contents of the op-ed by Carson Horsburgh are, to say the least, most informative.

I believe it is safe to say a good majority of homeowners are of the opinion the city’s property assessments are soundly based, whereas they are arrived at by comparing a similar home to one which has recently sold in reasonably close proximity.

This methodology is in my opinion flawed, as it does not involve an objective assessment of the comparative homes, which I fully appreciate is not practical given the manpower this would entail. Specifically, the comparative home may very well not contain upgrades such as new cupboards, roofing, carpeting, windows and countertops, whereas the sold home possessed a number of such features and, thus, the inflated selling price.

A number of years ago I, with assistance from a real estate broker, appeared before the Board of Revision to appeal my assessment based on the aforementioned methodology employed by the City of Winnipeg. My home clearly did not have the multiple upgrades as the houses it was being compared to. The assessment was subsequently amended in my favour. The intent of the subsequent requirement for a non-refundable appeal fee would appear to discourage many people from questioning the assessment even though they may consider it unfair.

The problem as I see it is that the majority of homeowners are unable to fully understand how the assessment was arrived at and there is no independent body that can assist them in this regard. The city assessor, with all due respect, is of little help as they also have, in all likelihood, not entered any of the properties in question.

C.R. Cormack

Winnipeg

On anti-immigrant attitudes

As one of Russian-Mennonite heritage, my family leaving Ukraine for Canada is the lens that is commonly used to frame family history. The horrors of the civil war that brought about the Soviet regime, persecution under aggressive dekulakization, and the Second World War shaped how Mennonites view politics. These events shape communal imaginations, even if one’s family settled in Canada for economic reasons prior to these crises.

For many Manitobans, the Ukrainian experience today mirrors our own family histories; no wonder we are eager to welcome Ukrainians.

But we must also be cognizant of how often our fickle attitudes toward immigration are fuelled by different biases.

Anti-immigration rhetoric over the past few years has been fuelled by anti-Asian biases (exacerbated by misinformation during the pandemic) with anti-Indian biases being a subset of that (exacerbated by economic factors); and by the way the latent Islamophobia of Quebec’s secularism laws, which disenfranchises a religious minority within Canada’s French-language minority, is dressed in nationalism.

Amid these attitudes we find ourselves making room for Ukrainians, as we should.

Yet reactionary thinking wins the day when the immigration question moves to visible minorities.

Kelsey Enns

Winnipeg