Letters, April 5

Opinion

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This article was published 04/04/2022 (899 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COVID-19 data crucial

Re: Manitobans know how to stay safe in absence of COVID data: health minister (April 2)

With a sixth pandemic wave bearing down upon us, the government has stopped reporting COVID-19 data, ended regular expert briefings, closed testing sites and cancelled contact tracing. Further, they’ve changed the definition of what constitutes a COVID-19 fatality, such that fewer deaths will likely be attributable to the virus.

Perhaps it would be more apt to refer to the governing PCs as the Pandemic Cover-up Party?

Sean Petty

Winnipeg

“Manitobans sick with COVID-19 must look after themselves,” says Health Minister Audrey Gordon.

I was so angered by her comments, yet again, that I needed to step away from reading the story before coming back to finish it. Manitobans deserve better from a health minister

We are all only as good as the information we have. And her lack of knowledge as to what the federal government did with the information Manitoba used to send them, and the utter bewilderment she displayed by not understanding why Manitoba was left out of the COVID-19 modelling, scares me. The only thing that scares me more is a premier who has complete confidence in our current health minister.

Manitobans sick of this government’s response to COVID -19 must look after each other because we are truly on our own now.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

In this age of social media, the need for reliable data is greater than ever so, by withholding data, the provincial government is shirking one of its major responsibilities in this time of pandemic uncertainty. An example is Health Minister Audrey Gordon’s lack of knowledge, and her apparent unconcern, about information shared with federal health officials. “I’m not familiar with it” is a response that is simply unacceptable.

Edwin Buettner

Winnipeg

Triple vaxxed, still got COVID-19

Re: Aches, anxieties … and aggravation (April 2)

All 10 of the people featured in your article were triple-vaxxed, and they all got COVID-19. One would think they might stop and question the efficacy of a vaccine which, after three doses, still couldn’t keep them from getting sick with the virus. But no, they blame the government’s lifting of restrictions and lack of information for their woes.

Collectively, they provide a stellar example of the degree to which people have been brainwashed by the prevailing propaganda, and the extent to which we’ve come to rely on government for absolutely everything, including our so-called “safety.”

Annemarie Wiebe

Morden

Don’t blame city for winter

Re: Don’t call the city, pick up a shovel (Letters, April 2)

I cannot agree more with letter writer Gregory Teleglow. The concept that anyone should be driving with so-called “all-weather” tires, or worse, summer tires, and expect the city to keep the roads and lanes in Winnipeg as clean as in Vancouver is ridiculous. It is time every citizen embraced the concept that Winnipeg is a winter city. Investing in a shovel and possibly an SUV is entirely reasonable in a winter city. Helping neighbours would also be nice.

Bravo to Teleglow for having the courage to suggest the city is not responsible for winter.

Shane Nestruck

Winnipeg

Gregory Teleglow admonishes those of us who complain about the conditions of sidewalks and back lanes to simply buck up, stop crying, and get outside and shovel. For those of us who are incapable, well, we can just ask a neighbour.

If Teleglow reads the Winnipeg Free Press, he would have seen recent photos of Winnipeg back lanes, which were a nightmare of navigation. No amount of shoveling could clear that mess of ice, snow and ruts.

But since Teleglow suggests we are not resilient and really a bunch of crybabies if we don’t hit the lane with our pick axes, I invite him to grab his shovel and come to my place to help me get out of my garage. After all, he did say we needed to develop a sense of community.

Mary-Jane Robinson

Winnipeg

Prayer has many faces

Re: Prayerful moments produce positive results (April 2)

Columnist Carl DeGurse describes the British Columbia Humanist Association’s observation that religious rituals are inappropriate in a secular setting as “slagging.” No, the prayerful are not under attack again and I’m sure the BCHA is fine with “secular meditations, poetry, inspirational thoughts, or songs,” as described by DeGurse.

Manitoba’s current struggle with provincewide polarization would definitely benefit from a few minutes of daily rational thought. Every council meeting could begin with a careful listening of Carl Sagan’s inspirational description of our planet in his book Pale Blue Dot. City hall is in there somewhere.

Gordon Kidder

Winnipeg

I valued greatly the words in this column. An unfortunate result of our ancestors in their efforts to separate church and state has been a lessening of prayer in our public lives. Adults and children alike are deprived of a practice that brings us into deep connection with others, with our souls, with the universal spirit.

After a lifetime of longing for spirit and rejecting the idea that we should pray to a god that was often portrayed as old, white, vengeful, I have come to peace in addressing my prayers to a great spirit, residing in us all, giving thanks for life, for love, for family, friends, my community, for plants, for animals and asking for help. I pray that everyone finds this peace.

Bill Martin

Gimli

Supporting liberty, privacy

Re: Room for all in ‘mainstream’ politics (Opinion, April 1)

In a spirit of patronizing inclusiveness, columnist Royce Koop insists we must all gravitate toward participation in healthy mainstream politics rather than allow our maladapted souls to be driven to the fringes such as “the convoy or the People’s Party or worse.”

While we should all appreciate the professor’s benign concern for our mental health, maybe it’s he and his fellow academics who are truly out of touch. The fact truck drivers’ lives were ripped to pieces for no reason by tyrannical state mandates appears to elude him. The People’s Party supports the core of the western intellectual and cultural tradition — privacy, liberty, property rights and contract. Don’t let Koop catch you falling for any of that impertinence.

Francis Trueman

Winnipeg

Streets like war zone

Re: Potholes spring up on city streets (March 18)

To a visitor, it must seem like Winnipeg is a war zone or developing country when they see the condition of our streets littered with craters. I have yet to see one city crew filling potholes in the last month in all the driving I have done.

If there are not enough workers to do the job, than hire more people for a few months and call it the pothole patrol. But get the holes filled, please — it is dangerous out there.

Ron Robert

Winnipeg

In the last two days, a large pothole, approaching sinkhole size, has taken out at least five cars on southbound Kenaston Boulevard, just south of Grant Avenue. The City of Winnipeg pothole report line doesn’t seem to want to accept notification. Wondering how many more cars have to be damaged, or what serious accident has to take place, to have the city fix it or, if they can’t do it now, put up a barricade.

Mia Kinal

Winnipeg