Letters, May 26

Time for leadership on solar

Re: Time to warm up to solar (May 23)

We have just sent off our application to Efficiency Manitoba, and I appreciated the article a great deal.

I did not know, for instance, that we still had any form of selling energy back into the grid, which is gratifying to hear, as for some personal adopters, that will be a key factor. That said, I find the reasoning of Hydro for not deploying utility solar to be quite compelling — I have always seen a distributed grid as the one that makes sense here.

For instance, it is quite easy for a homeowner, who already has to clear their driveway and walkways when it snows, to include clearing said snow off of their panels as part of that routine. For a Hydro facility, they would need a team of humans or robots to do that job each snow day.

Likewise, Hydro (like any solar user here) would need to invest in massive battery capacity, which as they point out, would be redundant and not the most efficient form of storage in our context, given the lake’s reservoir existing. I grew up with a family cottage on Lake Winnipeg, and the old folks talked about how Hydro had messed up the beaches at some point before I was born, which is why we all need to build those rickety piers every year; there’s a sandbar out there which used to be the beach, so I was told. That is why we have a 97 per cent emissions-free grid, I suppose. Some politician in the distant past made an unpopular decision which paid out and keeps paying out for us all. Kinda like Duff’s Ditch — it’s a thing that the best Manitoban politicians do.

A homeowner’s battery needs would both be more modest, and easy to deploy, with upkeep offloaded to the resident and the community of electrical contractors that would service a distributed grid. This would be great for our business community in general.

It is crucial that the government step up the incentives for distributed solar today, because our federal government is doubling down on everything terrible about our energy sectors in their efforts to create a neoliberal paradise which will perish in carbon-emission flames.

Manitoba and Manitobans have the power to seize our own energy future, house by house, much as China, Pakistan and other countries have been doing in the last couple of years. We truly can save ourselves on this one, and maintain our nearly-emissions-free grid for generations to come.

Premier Wab Kinew, let’s see some real Manitoba-style leadership.

James Paskaruk

Arnes

Snowbirds can wait

Re: Grounding of the Snowbirds example of military’s treatment (Think Tank, May 23)

The columnist begins by stating that he is “irrationally angry,” “furious even,” and deeply frustrated and annoyed with successive governments because they have “failed to keep Canada’s iconic Snowbirds flying.”

Yeah, well, I too am annoyed, furious even, that someone can be so annoyed and furious about that when so many people are dependent on food banks and homeless, there are ridiculously long waits for mental and physical medical care of all sorts, our public infrastructure is in a growing state of major disrepair, the need to better prepare for the impact of climate change is becoming ever more obvious, and so on.

Yes, the Snowbirds are iconic, and yes, maybe previous governments should have acted more responsibly, and yes, maybe this situation is emblematic of how poorly the military has been run, but this is not the time to be advocating spending tens of millions of dollars on symbols and nostalgia, no matter how compelling they may be.

Until we start doing a better job of doing what should be done to address serious matters of concern that are there for all to see, we should not be putting any time, energy, and resources into what might make us feel better while not fixing anything which clearly needs fixing.

Gerald Farthing

Winnipeg

Hurtful rhetoric

Re: Drug busts part of solution: mayor, premier (May 22)

As an observant Jew who was celebrating Shavuot, a holiday mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a time of rejoicing, I was shocked to open my paper on Friday morning to see our premier indulging in an antisemitic Christian trope — apparently being tough on drug dealers is “Old Testament,” and having love and compassion for drug users is “New Testament”?

I’m going to assume that this was his usual penchant for shooting from the lip without thinking of the consequences of his words, but this is really hurtful for a minority group that doesn’t need supersessionist language from our supposedly progressive premier. An apology, and maybe some education on this kind of talk, would be nice.

Emèt Eviatar

Winnipeg

Communication failures

Re: We must do better for our patients (Think Tank, May 22)

Thank you Sino Aiello for so eloquently describing the communication challenges of caring for your father’s health. My condolences to you and your family.

As the primary health-care point person and advocate for my parents, I experienced every one of the systemic communication challenges you described. It required enormous amounts of time away from my job, energy, and stress as I did the work of communicating and reminding the various health care disciplines who seldom had time to actually read their patients’ charts, take accurate and thorough notes, or provide adequate explanations for questions and actions.

What is beyond maddening is how little things have changed since my parents passed 15 and six years ago.

Like you, Sino, I am not placing blame on individuals, but on a system so short of human resources that stressed-to-the-max caregivers are forced to become automatons simply out of the need for self-preservation.

Still, I choose to hope your assessment reaches the eyes and ears of those who can improve the systemic communication failures you describe. It’s been beyond long enough.

Dan Dyck

Winnipeg

Trust compromised

The recent situation involving Coun. Russ Wyatt has exposed a serious flaw in the City of Winnipeg’s charter. Under the current legislation, a councillor charged with violent or sexual offences cannot be suspended unless they are convicted. This means someone facing allegations as serious as drugging and sexually assaulting a person can continue to sit on council, collect a salary, and participate in decisions which affect the public.

This is not about guilt or innocence — it is about public trust and safety. Many professions have safeguards which allow temporary suspension when serious charges arise. Municipal government should not be held to a lower standard than teachers, social workers, or health-care staff.

I care about this issue because I work directly with vulnerable people, and I see how deeply trust in public systems affects their sense of safety. When someone in a position of authority is allowed to continue in their role despite serious charges, it sends the message that accountability is selective — and that vulnerable people’s safety is not a priority.

Winnipeggers deserve a system that protects the community, not politicians. The provincial government must amend the charter to allow suspension in cases involving serious violent or sexual charges. This change is necessary to maintain confidence in our institutions and ensure residents feel represented and safe.

Kelsey Sobiak

Winnipeg