Letters, July 2

An examination of context and selection

Re: Ensuring context requires courage, builds trust (June 27)

Bravo to Stephen Borys for so clearly articulating the need for intellectual honesty, scholarly rigour and inclusion of broader historical landscapes when telling complex histories. As Stephen notes in his article on the Canadian Museum for Human Right’s Nakba exhibit, context is fundamental to good museum practice.

As someone who has spent decades leading major cultural institutions, Stephen’s voice carries enormous credibility because he understands that curatorial independence is not incompatible with balance, and providing historical context is not an act of censorship or political compromise.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the CMHR’s Nakba exhibit debate has been the repeated suggestion by museum leadership that members of the Jewish community sought to silence or remove the exhibition. That has never been my position or that of the mainstream Jewish organizations which have been in constant communication with the museum.

The concern has always been that a national museum, with all the gravitas and credibility that brings, owes its visitors the fullest possible understanding of history. As Stephen notes, context does not diminish suffering. It deepens understanding, which should have been the goal of this exhibit, but is clearly not.

Stephen’s article reframes the conversation where it belongs: not around competing narratives, but around the standards Canadians should expect from our national cultural institutions and the public trust they hold.

In an increasingly polarized environment, it takes courage for respected museum leaders to remind us that visitors are capable of holding more than one truth at a time, and that museums serve the public best when they embrace complexity rather than simplify it.

Gail Asper, Winnipeg

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Stephen Borys tells us, from his experience, that every museum exhibit is an act of selection, and not every museum has the capacity to tell every story. And not every museum is designed for the same purpose. War museums. History museums. Art museums. Human rights museums. All have a specific purpose and tell unique stories. What they have in common is the responsibility to tell those stories with intellectual honesty and scholarly rigour.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, with the launch of its newest exhibit on the Nakba, has done so while holding to those responsibilities. The Nakba exhibit has also fulfilled Borys’ claim that museums should challenge assumptions, introduce unfamiliar perspectives and encourage conversations. The Palestinian perspective and the story of the Nakba has never been told, which is why the museum needs to be applauded for finally, after 77 years, giving Canadians a different perspective and ending the single narrative that has dominated the telling of the complicated history of Israel’s founding.

Harold Shuster, Winnipeg

Unravelling a tangled web

The desperate disintegration of too many of our citizens by rampant illegal drug abuse, bottom-rung poverty and homelessness is a complex tangle that I believe needs multiple strategies and approaches.

In recent days you have reported on several key initiatives that are good-faith efforts to correct and improve our course of action and reverse what many people in Winnipeg see as ineffective inaction. It just may be that these hopeful and helpful approaches can turn the tide.

The increased policing and crackdown on open drug use and trafficking on our streets and communities is long overdue. This is very difficult, disquieting and dangerous work facing our Winnipeg Police Service and we need to support their efforts to carry out their mandate. This is very serious business.

Further and importantly, the incarceration of the criminal drug thug for 24 plus years, as reported in Saturday’s Free Press (Greed and domination and 24½ year sentence, June 27) is an important link to building a chain of accountability, deterrence and control of the vile drug pushers who stalk and exploit the most vulnerable and despairing people in our communities.

As Justice Martin is quoted saying (in part) during the sentencing, “No one with a lick of common sense would disagree that over the last decade the illegal drug trade in meth and fentanyl has set a plague in our community. Lives are destroyed and the community is left struggling to cope.”

Finally, can our response to homelessness also be as nuanced and multi-faceted as the complexities of addiction, mental illness and poverty?

Why not some hybrid models for supporting people and families without a home? A long-term plan that includes, in some form, a safe, clean publicly managed site/encampment that is resourced and supported is probably a viable alternative for many who live on some of our mean streets.

Let’s go forward Winnipeg, we can do better together.

Roland Stankevicius, Winnipeg

Stop sending nasty weather

I would respectfully ask the governors of North and South Dakota to put a lid on the lousy weather emanating from their states, ruining what few summer months we enjoy.

I’d hate to think this is part of the CUSMA negotiating strategy, but these days one never knows. Perhaps it’s simply payback for all that wildfire smoke Canadians directed southward last summer which we all know was a well-constructed plan, orchestrated by the highest levels of government and our national security agencies, all designed to create leverage with respect to the trade negotiations.

While we ought not be surprised by the onslaught of miserable weather originating from the south, I’m wondering if the Americans are prepared for the winter we’re about to unleash upon them.

Dan Donahue, Winnipeg

Invest in a cleaner economy

Re: “Fossil fuel’s grip on government” (Letters, June 26)

The letter writer rightly points out that the industry shields itself from regulation by citing its nine per cent contribution to our GDP. However, that GDP number is so high largely because oil and gas is inherently inefficient and expensive to extract, refine, and then inefficiently burn in conventional cars, where up to 80 per cent of the fuel’s energy is entirely wasted as heat. This massive, built-in waste is heavily inflated by over $10 billion in annual taxpayer subsidies.

By contrast, technologies such as wind, solar, and batteries are vastly more efficient. If we took that $10 billion away from propping up aging fossil fuel giants and added it directly to consumer EV incentives, the government could increase Canada’s current $5,000 rebate to a massive, game-changing $25,000 or more per vehicle for over 400,000 buyers every single year.

Furthermore, shifting to these zero-emission vehicles would drastically reduce tailpipe pollution, which Health Canada estimates causes 1,200 premature deaths right here at home every year. High GDP shouldn’t be a trophy for economic and human inefficiency; it is time to stop funding pollution and start investing in a smarter, cleaner economy that saves both money and lives.

Stuart Williams, Winnipeg