Letters, Sept. 12

An overreaction

Re: Winnipeg teacher disciplined for ‘liking’ student’s post, Sept. 1.

I’ve been stewing about the article for a few days and trying to decide what’s been bothering me.

I feel that the school division overreacted with its disciplinary measures, and that a public servant has been publicly shamed on the front page for what I can only describe as a questionable act.

The named teacher seems to be a responsible and law-abiding person who has committed no crime whatsoever.

At best he should have been called in to the principal’s office and told to avoid interacting on social media with students.

Before I retired from teaching, students would often request for me to be a Facebook friend. My response always was to politely decline and tell them they could repeat the request after graduating.

However, the social media barriers are less clear now that many class and school activities have an online component or presence.

If we want to attract young people to the teaching profession, we shouldn’t subject our teachers to public humiliation for every perceived misdemeanour.

Please save that for the real criminals.

Eric Hemmerling

Winnipeg

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Heat and light

Re: South Winnipeg neighbourhood will be first to go geothermal, Sept. 9.

I commend the implementation of the neighbourhood geothermal system in south Winnipeg. I hope the developers will find an ample supply of affordable ground source heat pumps for the units.

In my research, I have found only two manufacturers of residential ground source heat pumps. Both are in eastern Canada. That’s not enough competition to provoke competitive pricing.

Additionally, my research so far indicates local dealers and installers recommend units that are made in South Dakota and Indiana, which are less expensive than Canadian-made units, even after accounting for the dollar exchange rate.

Adding to the cost of U.S.-made units is Canada’s 15 per cent counter-tariff on U.S.-made ground source heat pumps, effective Sept. 8. Though the counter-tariff may somewhat equalize the pricing between countries, consumers are paying, either way. Moreover, the tariff does little to encourage the establishment of more manufacturers in Canada.

Perhaps the Carney government can add to its national building project list the development of more homegrown manufacturers of ground source heat pumps. Sadly, it seems that their priorities are more heavily leaning into fossil fuels and pipelines, which will doubtless worsen catastrophic climate events in the future.

Heaven help us.

Dan Dyck

Winnipeg

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Dynacare defence

I have bloodwork done at least once every four weeks to monitor blood clotting, and have done so for 10 years now.

The service Dynacare provides is excellent in every way. I can book my appointments up to four weeks in advance and be in and out, often within 10 minutes.

The locations are convenient, the Regent Avenue one is in a large mall with tons of parking, as is the one on Henderson highway. The technicians are a class act; I can’t say I’ve had a bad visit. I get the results and instructions from my family doctor the following morning.

How much better can that get?

If the wages were comparable in 2017 and are no longer, I ask what would cause public wages to rise so fast? Hmmm.

Manitobans are getting a great service at a fraction of the cost. The province should use the savings to provide more operating room hours to orthopaedic surgeons to do hip and knee replacements.

Bill Allan

Winnipeg

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Re: Dynacare sucks, Kinew says (Sept. 10).

Are we living in the Twilight Zone? Are people experiencing collective amnesia? Between the comments of our premier, and letter-writers such as Robert Milan (“Ditch Dynacare now,” Sept. 10), it seems many people have forgotten the poor state of blood-collection services before Dynacare took over.

Do people forget the dark, unwelcoming and poorly located offices? The limited hours of operation? The inefficient processing of patients?

We can have differing opinions on whether Dynacare should be paying its employees more, or whether those employees are providing an essential service under restrictive strike capabilities — but surely everyone agrees that the bright and friendly Dynacare offices, with expanded operating hours and quick processing of patients, are a vast improvement over the previous approach.

Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater just because of the current labour strife at Dynacare.

There is labour strife with the public civil service as well, and we don’t hear the premier saying they “suck.”

It serves his political interests to (once again) blame the prior government for everything, but it doesn’t mesh with reality.

Steve Teller

Winnipeg

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The fittest among us

Charles Darwin in his book The Origin of Species told us that the fittest would help the human species to survive, but Jayclyn Morrissette (‘It was all instinct’ — Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label, Sept. 2) showed us recently what the fittest look like.

They are not necessarily the billionaires of Silicon Valley in the U.S. or the CEOs of wealthy companies in Canada. Rather, they are capable people who move quickly to save strangers who need help.

Volunteers everywhere with courage and ingenuity aid those in need, thus filling the gap. In very few areas does competition assist us, whereas with courage and the motivation to aid those in need, survival will be enhanced.

Unfortunately, the ability to get richer does not help; only sharing and a social conscience meet the criteria of mutual aid. We need to know more about why people dive into water to save others. Training is helpful but it is only added to the courage needed to rescue others. Intellectual capacity was perhaps normal for fellow people. True, Jayclyn knew how to swim, a skill many folk posses.

Trump, Musk and other rich people may believe they are the fittest since many have become billionaires. This is narrow thinking if one looks mainly at wealth gained as the criteria for survival. Ordinary people know better.

Darwin knew that solidarity and social supports encouraged people to help others.

We need to reflect on our concern to help others. Jayclyn Morrissette is a good model for natural selection.

Barry Hammond

Winnipeg

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Big numbers

Manitoba’s latest budget raises an important question: are taxpayers getting value for the billions being spent?

The 2026-27 budget projects approximately $27.3 billion in expenses, an operating deficit of nearly $500 million, and more than $2.3 billion in debt-servicing costs. That is money going toward interest rather than hospitals, schools, roads and essential services.

The government deserves credit for investing in health care and other priorities, but spending more does not automatically mean better results. Manitobans need shorter health-care wait times, better services and greater accountability — not simply bigger budgets.

We also cannot build Manitoba’s future by depending increasingly on federal transfers. We need policies that encourage private investment, create jobs, support small businesses and grow our own tax base.

Government has a responsibility to be compassionate, but it also has a responsibility to be fiscally responsible.

Manitobans deserve a budget that delivers results — not just announcements.

Yog Rahi Gupta

Winnipeg