Letters, Aug. 7

Clarification: A letter to the editor in the Aug. 6 edition of the Free Press, headlined Defining context, indicated that the federal auditor-general criticized the Canadian Museum for Human Rights for having had deficiencies in managing its exhibitions, saying, “without rigorous systems and practices to ensure accuracy and balance … errors and bias could be introduced to exhibits which could adversely affect the corporation’s reputation and be costly to correct after the fact.”

The report in question was done in 2017 and released publicly in 2018. At the time, the museum agreed with the findings and listed a series of steps it would take to address the issue.

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ERs should be used as intended

Re: Steinbach ER under siege by frustrated Winnipeggers (Aug. 5)

The overflow of Winnipeg emergency ward patients to the Regional Health Centre in Steinbach is not surprising.

At Grace Hospital recently, I experienced a four-hour wait to be seen by a triage nurse followed by another four-wait to be treated by a doctor. During this waiting period, it became obvious that the 50 or so people in the waiting room never declined due to the constant inflow of new patients.

What also became obvious was that a high number of people entering the emergency ward were repeat patients, as they were greeted by name by admitting staff, who had obviously dealt with them before.

In listening to and observing many of these patients, these people were using the emergency ward as a health clinic and were prepared to wait there instead of going to a health clinic or urgent care centre — thus defeating the purpose of an emergency ward.

To alleviate the constant strain, people not in emergency condition should be redirected by administrative staff to an urgent care clinic, a health-care clinic or, ideally, put in touch with a doctor taking on new patients. Let the emergency wards function as they are set up to.

-Gary Pryce, Winnipeg

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Essential, but hopefully unused

Re: City lands $267-M medical research lab (Aug. 5)

Chris Kitching’s report on Ottawa’s planned $267-million emergency research laboratory in Winnipeg is a useful reminder that the most important infrastructure is often the kind we hope never to use.

The laboratory is meant to strengthen Canada’s response to future pandemics and outbreaks. That is prudent. It is also a modest admission that microbes, unlike governments, do not wait for a funding announcement, a ribbon-cutting, or the completion of a strategic review.

An orchestra conductor recognizes the difficulty. An emergency cue may be rehearsed endlessly, but its value is proved only when the cue is no longer theoretical — and when everyone has arrived with the correct score, instrument and, ideally, tempo.

The real work will begin after the announcement fades — maintaining staff, equipment, protocols and public trust through the long uneventful years. Preparedness is not a building, however expensive. It is the habit of believing experts before a virus performs the peer review.

-David Woodard, Tampere, Finland

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Cause and effect?

Re: Canada experiencing religious decline (Aug. 1)

Drawing on the work of Reg Bibby, John Longhurst draws attention to the decline of religious involvement in Canada.

It is true, there are fewer people claiming a religious identity. There is a significant decline in those who hold religious convictions, and a corresponding decline in attendance at religious services of worship.

While Bibby anticipates this decline in all faith groups, he draws particular attention to the Christian faith. And yes, the Christian faith has moved from the centre of Canada’s social life towards its margins. There are important reasons for this, and many in the church are seeking to respond to them.

However, it seems important to me that we also consider more of the picture. For instance, while there is an obvious decline in religious involvement there is also an increase in our culture’s experience of loneliness. In her important book, The Lonely Century, Noreena Hertz argues, “We are in the midst of a global loneliness crisis. None of us, anywhere, is immune.”

I can’t help but ask the question: What connections might there be between the decline in religious faith and the growing crisis of loneliness? This is not to suggest that there is a direct cause and effect relationship. But I know that growing up in Hamilton, I began to learn the meaning of the word “we” through my involvement in the church.

Vocationally, I have had the privilege of learning more of the dimensions of “we” as my wife and I served our church from Fort McMurray to St. John’s. In retirement I have learned even more of the dimensions of community through my work with the Manitoba Multifaith Council.

Religious decline and loneliness crisis? Just asking.

-Ray Harris, Winnipeg

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Failing to stand up

We are supportive of America’s machinations to dismantle the International Criminal Court when we fail to respond to U.S. sanctions on ICC judges, regardless of their nationality.

Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canada’s response to American lawlessness on the world stage has been meek. Our responses to illegal strikes on civilian South American boats and an illegal war against Iran have tended to be supportive of flimsy pretexts.

Our response to illegal tariffs is to limit our retaliation to exclude oil or potash, a move that only seems to appeal to Western separatists like (Alberta Premier) Danielle Smith. Our response to attacks on international criminal law is merely rhetoric.

We are not allies in the U.S. assault on the international order, nor are we defenders of that order.

-Kelsey Enns, Winnipeg

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Out, damned zed!

Re: Some Canadians tell Carney Ottawa’s spelling protocol should lean British (Aug. 4)

Why do the British prefer “organise” and “realise” rather than “organize” and “realize”? As the Cole Porter song goes, “Brush up your Shakespeare/Start quoting him now…”

In King Lear, Act II, scene II, Kent says, “Thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter …”

In Shakespeare’s day, many dictionaries, such as they were, acknowledged only 25 letters of the alphabet. “Zed” existed only as a phonetic representation of “s” and was, therefore, an “unnecessary letter.” Indeed, I continue to regard it as such, and continue to “organise” and “realise.”

But that’s not where it ends. British English is the norm in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, India and Caribbean and African nations.

Oops! Did I say India? Yes, I certainly did — and that would be India with its nearly 1.47 billion people. Once you add that to the mix, you suddenly get the impression that, gee whiz, maybe British English is more dominant than either American English or the Canadian hybrid. Indeed, British English seems to be the “received” standard for many internationally circulated scholarly reports.

As for utility, British English seems to contain fewer instances wherein context might be necessary to differentiate parts of speech.

One example would be “kerb” and “curb.” The former, a noun, is where you park your car. The latter is what you do with your temper when you restrain yourself from saying something intemperate.

Then there’s “tyre” and “tire.” The former, also a noun describes the four round rubber things on your car at the “kerb.” The latter, also a verb, describes the process of becoming fatigued.

So yes, I can understand the emerging support for the Canadian government’s embrace of British English. That embrace has everything to do with utilitarianism and very little to do with attempts at nationalism.

-Edward Keith Bricknell, Toronto