Letters, Feb. 14

Cleaning up transit

I am a senior, don’t drive and always ride the bus. Now I hardly go out.

They used to say, leave your car at home and take the bus. Now, people who don’t have a car and take the bus to work aren’t getting there on time. Now they say they need to buy a car to get to work. It doesn’t make sense.

I think the people involved who destroyed our transit service need to look in the mirror and admit to themselves — not once, but twice — that they have made a big mistake.

If you think after the end of the year it will be OK, I don’t think so. You are going to lose a lot of transit riders. They should have left everything alone. We need to go back to the right way.

Clean up your mess.

Judy Pescievitch

Winnipeg

Matters of representation

Re: Ex-NDP minister rails at stalled program (Feb. 10)

Eric Robinson raises very valid points of the need for mandatory cultural awareness training for security guards. No one should be racially profiled.

The UFCW Local 832 is reported to represent 3,000 guards. Do we know what percentage of these guards is Indigenous? Perhaps in addition to cultural sensitivity training, the advisory committee could recommend hiring incentives to employ First Nations in their workforce.

Indigenous representation in all sectors including health, social, education and justice is integral to addressing the issue of racism.

In addition, the committee could recommend to the province that small business grants be made available to promote Indigenous-owned and operated security companies.

Beverly McIntyre

Winnipeg

End horse shipments

Re: Rare trial pits animal-welfare groups against horse exporter (Feb. 12)

We owe organizations such as Animal Justice and Manitoba Animal Save our thanks and financial support as they call out the atrocities being inflicted on these beautiful animals. Horses have been a part of our fabric as a nation for centuries and in today’s world are often viewed as companion animals or pets.

Horses are “fight-or-flight” animals with long necks and compared to cattle, different brain positions, making standard captive bolt stunning methods difficult and often ineffective. This can lead to prolonged suffering, where they may remain conscious during dismemberment.

So for lots of reasons I won’t go into, there’s a huge ethical dilemma surrounding horse slaughter and rightly so.

The federal Liberal government needs to follow through on its 2021 promise to end the exports of live horses for slaughter.

I’ve been to Winnipeg’s Richardson International Airport and I’ve seen these gentle giants being loaded into the wooden crates and placed on the tarmac where they wait for hours in -35 C weather to be transported to Japan for slaughter.

It’s wrong on so many levels.

Lois Taylor

Winnipeg

Not all animals equal

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

What was precedent setting was not only the length of the sentences imposed, but the inclusion of the three goldfish, one frog and one axolotl among the victims. And while no amount of jail time will bring any of them back, a lifetime ban on acquiring or accessing animals will, hopefully, ensure none will fall prey in the future. If it can be enforced.

This case is unusual, not because this couple lives in Winnipeg, but because they got caught. So large is this hidden, hideous industry that anti-crush laws have been passed in the United States. But, as is so often the case, not all animals are considered equal.

Some of the activities receiving exceptions include customary agricultural husbandry, the slaughter of animals for food, hunting, trapping, fishing and medical research. What does it say about industries whose business model requires them to be exempt from animal cruelty, bestiality and anti-crush laws to remain viable?

Debbie Wall

Winnipeg

Saving lives on winter roads

Re: Gimme shelterbelts, a needed natural safety feature (Think Tank, Feb. 12)

G.T. Jowett’s article struck a chord with me. I have travelled around Manitoba quite a bit and am in total agreement with the writer about the importance of shelterbelts to reduce safety risks on highways and provincial roads.

There have been many times while we have been driving when blowing snow, sleet, or rain have blown across the highway and severely reduced or completely occluded visibility. It is particularly bad between the west Perimeter and Portage la Prairie, as well as on Highway 75 and many other highways and roads.

Where there are trees and shrubs planted along the edge of farmer’s fields, the visibility is immediately much better. We need to find a way to plant and grow healthy native species along the margins of all farmers’ fields as well as industrial areas.

Manitoba, let’s move on this; we could save innumerable lives.

Marlene Beaty

Winnipeg

Loving the Earth on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day often evokes hearts, chocolates, and romance — but in a world facing climate crises and economic strain, perhaps it’s time to focus on a different kind of love. Let’s embrace the F-words: fossil fuels and finance.

Climate change isn’t accidental; it’s fuelled by coal, oil, and gas. Yet, we often avoid naming these culprits, delaying action we can’t afford. When governments hold polluters accountable and align financial systems with climate goals, change accelerates. Democracy gives us the power to demand better.

This Valentine’s Day, let’s show love for our planet by: regulating a fossil fuel phase-out, sector by sector; pricing carbon strategically, without burdening struggling Canadians; and enforcing transparency in climate risks for financial institutions.

Words shape action. Let’s use the F-words to pave the way forward — and make this Valentine’s Day count.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Virginia Cail

Winnipeg

Time of drought

The western U.S. is currently going through a severe snow drought that, if it continues, will result in serious consequences for those areas affected. Lack of water for agriculture, drinking and hydroelectric requirements won’t be there.

The effects of climate change are coming home to roost. If that happens, Canadians should start to be very nervous. We don’t have endless water supply in Canada, and in fact, water shortages are affecting Manitoba’s ability to produce electricity, but we do have enough to meet our needs with some shortages

Unfortunately we have an unhinged lunatic running the U.S. and there is no doubt in my mind that when severe water shortages hit home, he will be coming north to get what he, in his convoluted mind, thinks is rightfully his. We should be concerned.

Ken McLean

Starbuck

Withholding fuel despicable

As a visitor to Cuba several times, I am disgusted they cannot access fuel due to U.S. President Donald Trump. Thousands of citizens in Cuba rely on tourism for work and will now face even more challenges.

What Trump would like is for Cuba to bow down to him so the U.S. can take control like they had prior to the revolution. Likely there would be several Trump-owned hotels and casinos.

The greed of Trump and his billionaire friends knows no bounds, including leaving people unable to feed themselves or their families. When will the madness stop?

Christine Jacques

Winnipeg