Letters, June 25

If you build it …

Re: Manitoba eyes shrinkflation law, grocery store in downtown Winnipeg (June 22)

What criteria would predict a downtown grocery store’s viability?

From January 1982 until September 1997, our nearest grocery store was at River Avenue and Osborne Street. Its success, and that of the adjacent retailers’, depended on the area’s high population density and higher-than-average household incomes.

Atypically, for Winnipeg, at least, almost none of our shopping entailed an automobile. Indeed, our Winnipeg friends expressed shock at our grocery-shopping on foot. Thus, the River-Osborne complex’s free parking was a moot point for us. And just as well, given our current situation.

We now live near the corner of King and Yonge streets in Toronto — in Ward 13, which is 6.36 sq. km. and contains about 117,000 people. Demographically, it is comparable to our Winnipeg scenario. Within 600 metres to about 1.5 kilometres of our front door, there are two grocery stores (plus the St. Lawrence Market). Each of the two grocery stores is larger than the one at River and Osborne. Pharmacy and alcohol are also available — and more capacious than at River and Osborne.

But what about free parking? Uh, no … our nearby grocery stores offer only paid parking — partly because space is scarce and partly because of the expectation that shoppers in our part of Toronto will use bundle-buggies and shop on foot. Thus, when our Winnipeg friends visited us here, their amazement persisted.

A downtown Winnipeg grocery store would also have space-constraints; hence, parking would be somewhere between sparse and unavailable. And yes, the poorest residents of the downtown “food desert” would already be doing their retailing on foot. But, as some grocers have already predicted, those indigents are insufficient for building a business-case. Before proceeding with a downtown grocery store, Manitoba’s government needs to confirm two issues. First, does downtown have sufficient high-income people necessary for that grocery store’s success? Second, given that downtown grocery store’s probable inability to offer capacious parking, would those high-income people agree to do their grocery shopping on foot and via bundle-buggy?

If the answers are “No” and “No”, I suspect that those high-income people will continue driving over the Osborne Street Bridge to shop at River and Osborne. If that happens, the proposed downtown grocery store will be the gift that keeps on giving during question period…

Edward Keith Bricknell

Toronto

Idea worth exploring

Re: If life hands you a data centre, grow tomatoes (Think Tank, June 23)

Fantastic op-ed by Ed Lohrenz on how AI data centres could actually benefit Manitobans by utilizing the waste heat produced by these centres to heat greenhouses to produce tomatoes. If it’s viable, and it sounds like it definitely could be, this could be a game changer.

Government should be listening to Mr. Lohrenz and exploring his numbers with the due diligence it seems to deserve.

Ken McLean

Starbuck

Feds jumped the gun

Re: PMO issued communique on proposed Manitoba project without doing its homework (June 22)

The recent inclusion of Sio Silica’s proposed Vivian Sand extraction project in a G7 communique raises serious questions about due diligence in federal communications and project vetting.

While Canada is rightly seeking to position itself as a leader in critical minerals and clean-energy supply chains, that ambition must not come at the expense of environmental safeguards or public trust. The Sio Silica proposal remains controversial in Manitoba, lacking full environmental approval and facing significant concerns about potential impacts on groundwater resources that supply drinking water to more than 100,000 residents in southeastern Manitoba.

It is particularly troubling that a project still under regulatory review — and previously rejected on environmental grounds — was highlighted at an international forum as though it were an established or broadly endorsed initiative. Even if the intent was to signal investment potential, the effect risks being interpreted as federal validation of a project that has not met provincial environmental standards.

Equally concerning is the broader political context surrounding the project, including allegations of inappropriate pressure on provincial decision-makers during the tenure of a previous government. These unresolved issues underscore why caution, not promotion, should guide public messaging.

The Government of Canada should ensure that any reference to private-sector projects in high-profile communiques clearly reflects their regulatory status and environmental standing. Premature endorsement risks undermining provincial authority, public confidence, and the integrity of environmental assessment processes.

Canada’s clean growth strategy depends not only on attracting investment, but on ensuring that projects are credible, properly vetted, and socially licensed before being elevated on the global stage.

Yog Rahi Gupta

Winnipeg

Manitoba’s broad shoulders

Having coffee at a stopover on Highway 1 heading east, I encountered a couple of cyclists I had passed on the road about 20 minutes earlier. I discovered that the couple were from Vancouver Island and, to celebrate retirement, were travelling across the country to Halifax — “Ocean to ocean,” as they described it.

They had good things to say about the shoulders on Manitoba’s stretch of Highway 1, which they said were broad and well-maintained. I assured them that I would pass that compliment along to the premier. Consider it done.

Terry Aseltine

Winnipeg

Manitoba Marathon always inspiring

I spent several hours on Father’s Day cheering on runners in the Manitoba Marathon. It was both a motivating and emotional experience, watching not only the elite runners but especially the back-of-the-pack runners who persevere for up to six hours to reach the finish line.

The Manitoba Marathon is by far our largest sporting event, with approx 15,000 participants in different races. Families participate and there are runners from ages 10 to 90. This event is and has been going for 48 years as a huge fundraiser for individuals living with intellectual disabilities.

I encourage everyone to come out next Father’s Day to cheer on the runners to reach their goals, which in turn will help with the important fundraising efforts for our community. In short, I feel this community event deserves a lot more recognition for all the benefits it provides.

Brian Drummond

Winnipeg