Letters, Aug. 4

Charge highlights need for action

The recent reporting regarding a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service employee accused of violating a protection order, following previous convictions related to criminal harassment and breaches of court orders against former partners, raises concerns that extend beyond a single individual.

I believe this case highlights important questions about how public institutions assess and respond to risks associated with intimate partner violence, stalking, coercive control and repeated violations of court-imposed conditions.

Gender-based violence is a public safety issue. Survivors are encouraged to seek protection orders and to call emergency services for safety and support. When those orders are breached, organizations have a responsibility to carefully consider workplace safety, public safety and survivor safety in their decision-making. Manitobans deserve confidence that public institutions have clear, consistent processes to assess risk and respond appropriately.

This is not about assigning blame. It is about ensuring that policies governing employee conduct reflect the realities of gender-based violence. It’s ensuring that the safety of those impacted by gender-based violence is prioritized.

I urge the City of Winnipeg to undertake a comprehensive review of their policies and practices related to intimate partner violence, criminal harassment and protection order violations. This review should include consultation with survivors, gender-based violence experts, unions and community organizations to strengthen institutional responses and rebuild public trust.

The safety of survivors and the confidence of the public depend on it.

Tammy Reimer

Executive director Gender-Based Violence Collective of Manitoba

Where are the resources?

Re: Mayor backs new way to handle mental health calls (July 29)

OK. I get it … Police are overworked and a solution is to move mental health calls out of their bailiwick. No problem. I get that.

What I don’t get is who, where and how is this crisis response supposed to occur? Presumably the city means it will now get handled by a couple of phone calls. Then what?

We are still faced with a system that often has a wait-time like that of our emergency rooms. That same system that does not have resources to support people beyond a few contacts — if they are lucky enough to get even that. Where are these crisis interventionists supposed to come from? Where are the skills to do this work supposed to come from? We aren’t talking about a few hours of Zoom training.

Mental health is a massive, massive need without adequate resources. The city does not see it as their problem. The province looks at immediate, visible, in-your-face needs but with completely and totally inadequate long-term interventions and supports for people who are not visible and on the street.

I am so tired of mental health being treated like a castoff. No plan. No resource allocation. Just talk. Both the city and the province — and the media — are failing so drastically with recognizing long-term mental health resource needs.

Val Kellberg

Winnipeg

Response needs more than good intentions

The proposal to create a “fourth crisis response pathway” for mental health and addiction-related emergencies is well intentioned, but it raises several important questions that deserve careful public debate before city council approves it.

Simply creating another response pathway does not guarantee better outcomes. The report estimates an annual cost of about $6 million, yet there is little clarity about how the program will be funded, how community organizations will handle a 24/7 service, or whether the province is prepared to share responsibility. Launching a new system without stable funding and staffing could place additional pressure on organizations that are already stretched thin.

The proposal also assumes that thousands of emergency calls can safely be diverted away from police and paramedics. While many mental health crises are non-violent, situations can escalate unexpectedly. Community response teams must be highly trained, properly equipped, and able to call for immediate police or medical assistance when necessary. Public safety should never be compromised in the pursuit of reducing emergency service workloads.

The city should certainly improve access to mental health services and ensure people receive compassionate, trauma-informed care. However, success will depend on careful planning, transparent funding, rigorous training and ongoing evaluation — not just good intentions. A pilot project with clear performance measures should be thoroughly assessed before any citywide expansion.

Yog Rahi Gupta

Winnipeg

Time for a changing of the guard

Re: New councillors can bring new approach (July 28)

Loren Remillard comments that, with four city councillors not running for re-election, there will be at least that many new members of Winnipeg City Council. I agree that these newly elected councilors will be facing many challenges.

But will four new councillors alone be able to present new perspectives regarding policy and governance? And will they be able to bring any real change? They might, with more new men and women elected this fall.

Currently there are four councillors running for a fourth term — Matt Allard (St. Boniface), Ross Eadie (Mynarski), Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) and Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) — and another incumbent, Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) campaigning for a sixth term.

Perhaps for the culture at City Hall to change there should be more than four new councillors after Oct. 28.

Walt Roberts

Winnipeg

AI is not creative

Re: Time for a democratic reset (July 30)

John Wiens has come forth with another thought-provoking op-ed on democracy. Here he justly writes of Hannah Arendt’s idea of how loving the Earth is a necessary part of democracy.

Hannah Arendt encourages thinking. One of her books, The Human Condition, written before the 21st century, divides what is known as work into the two parts — “labour” and “work”. Labour is what we do to make money or to provide for children. Work is where ingenuity and creativity are present. Machines may be able to do some labour, but they cannot do work. AI, for example, can prepare hamburgers at a take-out restaurant; but it cannot presently invent new ways for feeding eight million people.

Hannah Arendt urges us to love the Earth. This, as Wiens notes, is a vital part of democracy. It is an aspect of the creativity needed for the grounded responsibilities to live in a diverse and inclusive society. This requires the long-term thinking that presently is only possessed by people.

Barry Hammond

Winnipeg

Pie in the sky?

I am not an expert on any of this by any means, so maybe this is a pipe dream. Here goes: we know that data centres need a lot of water and a lot of electricity in order to operate. Here is my pipe dream — an integrated, self-sustaining system.

How? Let’s look at this. Imagine a setup in which the heat and water from the data centre gets recycled through a greenhouse system growing food and supporting animals year-round, powered by a recycling power system such as combined solar and vertical wind-turbine systems (maybe even methane or nuclear) built right into the whole structure, to be basically a neutral-impact system.

Where are the innovative designers and engineers who can create this? Where are the entrepreneurs with vision to make this a reality? If this old woman can think about this, why won’t they? Plan for a sustainable future, people.

Linda Ross-Mansfield

Winnipeg