Letters, June 10

Guess Who deserved more

Re: Guess Who’s back? (June 6)

On Friday night, June 5, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the Don Felder/Guess Who concert at a very full Canada Life Centre.

Being an Eagles fan for many years, it was a real treat to see Mr. Felder and his backup band play an excellent set of music as an opener. The crowd certainly enjoyed it!

As for the headliners, what a treat to have both icons of the Winnipeg music scene back together to sing some of the best-written tunes to come out of Winnipeg or even Canada!

What concerns me is there was simply a photo of the band in Saturday’s paper. But no article, no review, no mention of how great this concert was, thoroughly enjoyed by the 13,000 who were there. Shame on you, Free Press!

Bob Clement

Winnipeg

Concerns about PST break

Re: Coming sales-tax break a confusing mess (Editorial, June 8)

The Manitoba government’s upcoming changes to provincial sales tax on certain food items raise serious concerns about clarity, fairness, and practicality.

While the goal of improving affordability is understandable, the way this policy has been designed and communicated leaves both retailers and consumers in a difficult position. According to publicly available guidance, the rules governing what is and is not tax-free are complex, inconsistent, and in some cases difficult to justify.

It is hard to understand, for example, why similar food items are treated differently depending on where they are purchased. A pastry bought at a grocery store may be exempt, while the same item purchased at a restaurant or food court remains taxable. This creates an uneven playing field for businesses that already operate under different cost structures.

There is also concern about the administrative burden placed on small and medium-sized retailers. Many businesses will be required to interpret vague categories and apply tax rules that appear to rely on fine distinctions between similar products. This kind of uncertainty risks inconsistent application at the till and frustration for customers.

Perhaps most troubling is the lack of consultation with affected industries, particularly restaurants and food-service operators who have been excluded from the changes. A policy intended to improve affordability should not unintentionally disadvantage one sector of the food economy while favouring another.

If the objective is truly to make life more affordable for Manitobans, then the government should ensure that its measures are simple, consistent, and applied fairly across similar types of businesses. As it stands, this policy risks creating confusion without delivering clear or equitable benefits.

Yog Rahi Gupta

Winnipeg

Buyers should make informed decisions

Re: “Blind bidding deserves second look,” (Letters, June 8)

I agree 100 per cent with the writer, Rocky Baronins. The blind-bidding process, when buying a home through a realtor, seems to be very outdated and unethical. Making the most important and expensive purchase of your life without access to all the information needed, is extremely problematic. Buyers need to make an informed decision, not just guessing on other bids being offered.

As Baronins points out, “This is not simply a private transaction between a buyer and a seller.” There are usually realtors involved, encouraging buyers to bid competitively. Who else benefits from those higher bids? The realtors will also benefit from the higher bids. Is that not a conflict of interest?

Let’s hope that the Government of Canada’s Blueprint for a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights can help address this. In the section “Fostering fairness and transparency,” the topic of blind and open bidding is addressed. In the meantime, voice your concerns to realty boards, housing ministers, your MLA and MP. And last, but not least, you can sell or buy your home privately and avoid blind bidding altogether.

Vivianne Fogarty

Winnipeg

Real protection for homebuyers

Re: “Blind bidding deserves second look,” (Letters, June 8)

Reading the letter from Rocky Baronins prompts me to offer my thoughts regarding the blind bidding process which has become the norm for residential real estate sales in Winnipeg.

I believe this is a great detriment to affordable housing in the city. This marketing ploy forces potential buyers to blindly offer beyond the list price if they are to have any hope of home ownership. Potential buyers soon learn that all offers must be free of conditions and cannot be subject to obtaining financing or a home inspection. The result is that many young, first-time buyers pay thousands of dollars over the list price for a home which often requires thousands of dollars of repairs, most of which would have been identified during a simple home inspection.

I suggest that the provincial government take a step toward housing affordability and add a layer of real protection for consumers by amending regulations in three ways, as follows:

First, regulate the listing process so that offers must be presented to the vendor as they are received, not held back for a future offer date.

Second, after offer acceptance, buyers should have 10 days in which to obtain a home inspection and be allowed to withdraw their offers if the inspection reveals defects which the vendor is unable or unwilling to repair, or negotiate an appropriate price adjustment.

And finally, if a home returns to market owing to home inspection issues, this should be revealed on the ongoing listing, which would encourage vendors to deal with defects in an appropriate manner.

A long-standing practice in the real estate industry is that if a realtor delivers a full-price, unconditional offer, the realtor is entitled to the agreed commission even if the vendor does not accept the offer.

Not accepting full-price offers has become commonplace in Manitoba simply because the vendor is disappointed that the anticipated bidding war failed to produce multiple offers over the list price. I believe that regulations should be in place stating that a full-price, unconditional offer must be accepted and the property is considered sold.

Stuart Gauld

Winnipeg

Positive outlook helps us cope

Re: Prognosis grim, but for dogged cancer fighter, fundraiser not done just yet (June 9)

I read the article by Zoe Pierce with tears, as my family is going through a cancer journey as well. Two years ago my husband passed away after six months in palliative care at home, and just recently my son-in-law was diagnosed with it as well.

It is a stressful time, but examples of a positive outlook such as that of Doug Harvey help us to cope.

As Harvey expressed so well: “… it’s a big win for everybody that we fight through this thing together.”

Elfrieda Neufeld Schroeder

Winnipeg