Letters, April 20

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/04/2022 (1422 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s truant premier

Re: No question (period): NDP decries Stefanson’s schedule (April 19)

Premier Heather Stefanson has skipped Question Period again, her fourth absence from the house since the spring session officially began March 2.

I wonder what she would do if one of her kids skipped that many classes at school. Do we need a truant officer assigned to Manitoba’s premier?

Karen Coyston

Winnipeg

Maligning Sheegl and Katz

Re: Never forget Sheegl and Katz (Letters, April 19)

Letter writer Wilma Sota and columnist Paul Thomas allege corruption by former City of Winnipeg CAO Phil Sheegl and former mayor Sam Katz.

Both fail to mention that the RCMP did a multi-year investigation and found that no charges were warranted against either of the individuals, who Sota describes as “rogues” who used public money for their private gain.

Could Sota please share her evidence with the police so this matter can be put to bed once and all? If Sota does not have evidence but is just calling them crooks because that is the popular thing to do, an apology is in order.

It should be noted that even in civil court, no actions have to date been brought against Katz.

James Roberts

Winnipeg

Pitbulls get ‘one free bite’

Re: Pet bylaw changes must emphasize enforcement (Editorial, April 14)

Lobbyists for elimination of our current ban on dangerous dogs such as pitbulls argue there are no “bad dogs, only bad owners.” Naive councillors believe a few city workers can educate and regulate bad dog owners, but that’s a pipe dream.

Realistically, some pitbull owners will show little interest in being “educated”. The notion that city staff will work with community-based groups to create an “online resource” to give tips to dangerous-dog owners about training is laughable.

Essentially, this major change to the bylaw means the city will only deal with dangerous-dog owners after their dog has hurt someone more than once. Pitbulls and other dangerous dogs will get “one free bite,” which unfortunately can mean a fatal mauling. One free bite is too much, especially to a child who may be killed or disfigured for life.

Any dog can bite, but few have jaws like a steel trap, are notoriously unpredictable and are bred to attack like pitbulls. Hoping the city can educate dog owners who are willfully ignorant will not help the children and adults maimed by vicious dogs. The public needs protection, not education.

Sandra Bueti

Winnipeg

Nurses don’t get $65 per hour

Re: Province relying on private-agency nurses to greater extent (April 19)

While, as the story says, “Shared Health pays a flat $65 per hour for an agency nurse,” the nurse never sees that full amount. That is the fee that goes directly to the agency. The rate of pay for agency nurses is based on the scale Shared Health uses, which is based on the years of experience of the individual nurse. It is correct that agency nurses have no sick time or other benefits.

The article also failed to address the use of agency staff to cover shifts for nurses’ aides. The usage of agency staff for these shifts far exceeds that for nurses. When the story reports Manitoba spends $3 million every month for private-agency nurses, I expect the amount also includes nurses’ aides.

Ariel Lee

Winnipeg

Bad idea to call in sick

Re: Earth Day supplement (April 16)

In the supplement that came with my Free Press on Saturday, we are urged to call in sick for Earth Day on this coming Friday. I imagine the reasoning behind this admonition is that pollution from transportation would be reduced. But what about the cost to the economy from the loss of productivity and supply-chain disruption that would result? Has anyone done a cost/benefit analysis of this?

Dennis Fenton

Steinbach

Sanctions prove futile

Re: Russia ratchets up battle for control of eastern Ukraine (April 18)

How can NATO and the United Nations stand by and let a deranged bully continue a merciless slaughter in the Ukraine? How do we normal citizens engage our politicians to act much stronger to close the skies over Ukraine and create more resistance to the invasion of Ukraine?

Neither the threat of sanctions before the invasion, nor sanctions since the invasion, have done anything to save lives or deter Russian President Vladimir Putin. It shouldn’t be escalatory to assist Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainians in protecting their homeland; it’s not like they want to enter Russia. The U.S. went into Iraq only on the threat of “weapons of mass destruction.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has gone way too far. How many deaths does it take before NATO and the U.S. will act to save lives?

Garry Sloik

Portage la Prairie

Moved by Ukrainian plight

Re: Ukrainians who have sought refuge in neighbouring Poland are far from defeated (April 16)

Congratulations to Melissa Martin, reporting from Poland on humanitarian work for Ukrainian refugees. I was in tears as I read the situations these people have been put in, not through their fault, but by a horrific war by a Russian despot. It gave me food for thought also, wondering how we would fare in the same circumstances, and thanking God for all our luxuries and way of life here in Canada. It made me not want to ever complain again about some silly thing we feel is so important, such as the weather.

Eva Haddad

Winnipeg

China’s history grim

Advertisements for this week’s dance and music presentation by Shen Yun Performing Arts urge us to “See the beauty of China before communism.” People unfamiliar with the history of China may incorrectly take this to mean that Chinese society was lovely.

In reality, deplorable living condition for the masses of China was a prerequisite to the rise of Chinese communism. This is laid bare by Canada’s post-Second World War ambassador to China, Chester Ronning, in his Memoir of China in Revolution: From the Boxer Rebellion to the Peoples Republic. He wrote:

“In the decadent depths to which Chinese agricultural society had fallen during the periods of the latter Manchus, the war lords, the civil war, the Japanese occupation, and the nationalist corruption, China’s peasants lost nearly all of the desirable aspects of China’s old system. They had become the tortured victims of exorbitant tax collectors, unscrupulous money-lenders, cruel landlords, corrupt officials, and foreign competition.”

“Since the beginning of the 19th century, China had suffered a continuous series of wars and sporadic turbulence, including foreign invasions, the Opium War, war with France, military action to obtain territorial concessions in port cities and extraterritoriality (exemption from Chinese laws) for foreigners, the Taiping Rebellion and mass extermination of the rebels, war with Japan and loss of territory, the Boxer Rebellion, the Republic Revolution, extortion by war lords, the Northern Expedition and the blood bath to exterminate revolutionaries, the atrocities of Japanese occupation, and finally the ravages of civil war.”

Beauty?

Russ Rothney

Winnipeg