Letters, April 9

Call for responsibility

Re: Kinew drops hint about another gas tax cut for Manitoba (April 7)

When are we going to get responsible governments? Provincially and federally, the government is in huge debt and Premier Wab Kinew hints at another gas tax holiday.

He must be listening to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who thinks the federal government should do the same. Every day we read our health-care system is failing, our schools do not have enough funds and our infrastructure is garbage. How can a gas tax holiday even be considered so governments lose even more money?

And stop the hogwash that it helps those in need because it does not. It mostly helps those with gas-guzzling trucks, SUVs, boats, and cottages to drive to.

At this point I would vote for a government that promised no tax holiday!

Christine Jacques

Winnipeg

The deficit myth

Re: Broad-based tax cuts not the answer (Editorial, April 7)

Whereas I agree that “across-the board tax cuts are not prudent policy,” I take exception to laying the blame on “structural deficits” for one of the reasons why these tax cuts are not the best way to help those in middle and lower-income households deal with the current cost-of-living crisis.

A healthy society’s “prudent policy” must divest itself of the idea that government deficits and debt must be kept in check. We have all been taught to believe that government debt is one of the worst things we can do for future generations.

However, it must be pointed out that government debt, which does not have to be repaid, is not the same as personal debt which does have to be repaid.

Why don’t governments have to repay their debts, you might ask? It’s because the government owns its own bank which it can use to print money and pay its bills based on their priorities. A common misconception about governments printing money to pay its bills is that it causes inflation; it does not. Historically, inflation is driven primarily by the scarcity of goods, such as oil, and not debt.

Today’s citizens are being squeezed not by a deficit but by their own government policies which support deficit reduction. To thrive, governments must pay more attention to the needs of all their citizens (particularly those most in need) and the environment, to once and for all defunct the deficit myth.

Brent Bjorklund

Hadashville

The Canada-Europe connection

Re: Poll suggests openness to Canada exploring EU bid (April 7)

This article includes a phrase referring a possible impediment to Canada joining the European Union as being “despite the obvious geographical barriers.”

Folks might find it interesting to know that the distances from St. John’s, N.L. to Helsinki, Vienna, and Rome are all less than the distance from St. John’s to Victoria, B.C. In fact St. John’s to Paris is about the same as St. John’s to Lloydminster, Sask..

Essentially, all of Germany, France, Spain, the Benalux countries, most of Scandinavia, and the northern industrial heartland of Italy are as close to Canada as Newfoundland is to Alberta, B.C. and Yukon.

As I see it, if all the ruggedness of Canada is not a “geographical barrier” to our existence and ability to trade and thrive together, a bit of water (i.e. the Atlantic Ocean) shouldn’t be seen as a barrier either.

Bring on the EU!

Bob Martin

Winnipeg

Time for better rent control

Re: Rent control killing jobs: landlords (April 7)

Late last fall, as the temperatures stayed toasty, my neighbours and I received a letter from our landlord about our windows. Anyone who dared to keep them open would risk losing their rent discount or having their lease terminated.

We live in an old building with radiators. Our landlord says they wanted to keep the heat regulated for its most vulnerable tenants. Unfortunately, due to the weather, many apartments were stiflingly hot.

These are the power imbalances landlords hold over tenants with rent discounts. And since our landlord has increased our rent hundreds of dollars above the guideline over the past few years, many tenants depend on those shaved-off dollars.

Rent control hasn’t done enough for renters. You can see that from the trail of organizers who have, for years, pushed for the proposed changes this spring. We’re not letting up now.

Amanda Emms

Winnipeg

A failure for future generations

We tell students that civic engagement matters—that if you participate, advocate, and speak up, governments will listen. But the release of the 2026 provincial budget suggests otherwise.

Manitobans showed up. They attended consultations, sent hundreds of letters, and shared personal stories about what is at stake—from farms and northern communities to neighbourhoods already feeling the impacts of climate change. Educators brought these realities into classrooms, helping students connect policy decisions to lived experience.

And still, the result falls short.

I stand with Manitoba Eco-Network and more than 25 civil society organizations that jointly called for meaningful climate investment in Budget 2026. Their message—delivered at the Manitoba Legislative Building—was clear, practical, and grounded in solutions.

The coalition identified three priorities: energy efficiency to lower costs and create jobs; public transit and low-carbon transportation to improve affordability, mobility, and health; and protection of 30 per cent of lands and waters by 2030, in partnership with Indigenous communities.

These are not aspirational ideas. They are achievable, evidence-based actions that align environmental responsibility with economic resilience.

Yet what we received instead was incrementalism.

Incremental investments do not match the scale of commitments outlined in Manitoba’s Path to Net-Zero Strategy. A strategy without sufficient funding is not a strategy—it is delay.

From an education perspective, this contradiction is profound.

We are preparing students for a future shaped by climate instability while demonstrating, through public policy, a lack of urgency in addressing it. We teach environmental responsibility while underfunding the systems required to support it.

Students notice this gap—and they question it.

In my op-ed Climate justice is reconciliation (Think Tank, Jan. 26) I argued that climate decisions are inseparable from reconciliation. When governments fail to invest in climate action, the consequences are not evenly distributed. Indigenous communities—already facing the impacts of flooding, wildfires, and environmental disruption—bear disproportionate risks.

A budget that underfunds climate action is not neutral; it reinforces existing inequities.

Education does not exist in isolation from these decisions.

When public policy fails to reflect the urgency we teach, it weakens trust in civic processes. Students begin to question whether participation matters—and that is a lesson we cannot afford to reinforce.

This moment demands response.

Public engagement does not end with consultations or budget announcements. If anything, it begins here. Manitobans must continue to apply pressure—through calls, advocacy, and collective action—to ensure that climate commitments are matched with real investment.

This is not about partisanship. It is about credibility.

If we are serious about preparing young people for the future, then our decisions must reflect that seriousness. If we acknowledge the scale of the climate challenge, then our budgets must respond accordingly. Anything less is not just a policy failure.

It is a failure of responsibility to the very generation we claim to be preparing.

Ann Evangelista

Winnipeg