Letters, Aug. 12

Blood from stones

Re: Toothless regulations leave flyers to fend for themselves (Aug. 11)

As a regular flyer and taxpayer, I wonder why I am expected to pay more for flights and taxes because some people refuse to accept the inevitable uncertainty of flying, given its complexities, especially in a challenging environment such as Canada.

Airlines do not have secret pockets of unused cash they can access to correct and compensate for passenger problems or excessive profits that can be reduced. Surely the most likely outcome is that flights will cost more for everyone to cover the increased liabilities.

Similarly, governments do not have “idle” tax revenues for processes to adjudicate complaints. Funding must be diverted from services elsewhere or taxes must increase. Although fines may cover some of the cost, they add another expense and result in higher ticket prices to preserve bottom lines of airline budgets.

Certainly, there are cases in which individuals and organizations should be held to account for shortfalls in service, neglect, or the like. However, some limits are needed to ensure that passengers and taxpayers are not unreasonably burdened financially by naive expectations of litigious flyers who brook no disruption to their lives.

Jim Clark, Winnipeg

Heed the call

Re: The drugs changed — our systems didn’t (Think Tank, Aug. 11)

Marion Willis’s call for a holistic, systems-based response to Winnipeg’s challenges is both timely and necessary. Complex issues such as homelessness, addictions, mental health, public safety and poverty cannot be solved through isolated actions or short-term fixes. They require a co-ordinated, community-based approach that addresses root causes while providing immediate and long-term support.

A successful strategy must include robust data collection, ongoing monitoring, and transparent reporting so programs can be evaluated and adjusted as circumstances change and decision makers are held accountable. Good intentions alone are not enough; evidence must guide decisions and investments.

Equally important is sustained funding and adequate human resources from all levels of government to support specialized, long-term services in health care, housing, addictions treatment, public safety and social supports. Prevention remains the most effective and cost-efficient strategy. Investments in housing, mental health services, youth programs, education and community supports reduce the far greater social and financial costs of crisis intervention later.

This must be a multi-pronged effort involving co-ordinated action among governments, community organizations, businesses, service providers, Indigenous leaders and citizens, all pulling in the same direction. No single agency or level of government can solve these challenges alone. Winnipeg citizens deserve nothing less.

As we approach this fall’s municipal election, now is the time to ask candidates where they stand. Will they support a truly holistic, evidence-based approach? How will they work with other governments and community partners to address the critical challenges facing our city?

Voters deserve clear answers before casting their ballots.

Jules Rocque, Winnipeg

Deliberate misdirection?

Re: The right plan for Manitoba Hydro (Think Tank, Aug. 11)

I am an interested but completely amateur observer of the discussion going on over Manitoba Hydro’s long-term energy plan. I found Hal Turner’s argument disingenuous. He blatantly implies that critics are suggesting wind and solar generation and battery storage (and eventually geothermal) as on-demand sources during peak demand times.

I think that he actually understands that this is not the case. In my understanding, those critics are proposing wind, solar and battery as alternatives for base power generation with the partially displaced hydro power being the source for meeting peak demand.

Lake Winnipeg and our northern dams, as the primary source of our province’s hydro power, are, in fact, a huge storage system that has been used effectively for decades to increase power generation during peak times. Mr. Turner knows that this could continue as a supplement to increased wind, solar and battery sources for base power. For him to ignore that perspective amounts to him being the one who is ignoring the facts.

John VanWalleghem, Winnipeg

Unsung, everyday heroism

We recently got up close and personal with Manitoba’s health-care system. And what did we find? In a word, heroes. They appeared as 911 operators, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, doctors, orderlies, cleaners, CT scan technicians, X-ray technicians, food services staff, lab workers, security workers, pharmacists, laundry workers, etc.

When my wife experienced worrisome cardiac symptoms, a single phone call to 911 triggered the system to respond. Everyone involved in this unexpected drama responded like true professionals, even though some workers might not see themselves in that category. Regardless of their station or expertise, they all were kind and competent. Our emergency responders, law enforcement and health-care workers are everyday heroes whose work often goes unseen and unacknowledged, except when we really need them.

All of this care and compassion is juxtaposed with a backdrop of overwhelming workloads and criticism when the system doesn’t meet the expectations of a demanding public.

The system isn’t perfect but there are heroes who show up every day to protect us, care for us and get us on the road to healing. A long, loud, standing ovation for these unsung heroes.

Wally Barton, Winnipeg

Hearts that bleed

In his support for the 10-day drug sweep performed by the Winnipeg Police, letter writer Gilles Roch (“Echoes of PET,” Letters, Aug. 10) cites former prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s use of the term “bleeding hearts” seemingly as a retort to those Winnipeggers who do not appreciate how this sweep was handled.

I wonder if Gilles Roch knows that before the 20th century, the phrase was actually associated with the bleeding heart of Christ, and thus signified deep compassion and love?

It was only in 1938 that the American journalist Westbrook Pegler repurposed the phrase “bleeding hearts” to mock the lawmakers who wished to outlaw lynching at the national level. Later, the phrase was again wielded by Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy to disparage opponents of his abusive methods.

Given such company, I’m glad my heart still has the capacity to bleed. I hope that our upcoming municipal election will seat new councillors who have also retained their capacity for compassion.

Mary Horodyski, Winnipeg

Overlooking possibilities

Manitoba’s Bill 43 finally gives e-scooters legal status, but I fear we are regulating our cheapest, cleanest transportation into a corner. The new rules ban riders under 16, ban sidewalk riding nearly everywhere, and ban these vehicles from faster roads, before Winnipeg has built a bike lane network that gives them anywhere safe to go.

An e-scooter or e-bike costs a fraction of a car, runs on pennies of electricity, and produces no exhaust. For teens, seniors and families without a second car, they are independence. A 14-year-old can legally ride an e-bike today. Why ban that same teen from a scooter capped at 25 km/h, about the speed of a bicycle?

Elsewhere, these machines do serious work. DHL replaced 33 delivery vans with cargo bikes in the Netherlands. UPS cut its Dublin delivery emissions by 40 per cent with two cargo trikes.

The bill is not yet proclaimed and city bylaws are not yet written. There is still time to choose education and infrastructure over bans, and to welcome these vehicles instead of merely tolerating them.

Stuart Williams, Winnipeg