Letters, April 13

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/04/2022 (942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Remembering Adam Young

Re: Officials warn southern Manitobans to batten down hatches (April 12)

It has been 25 years since Winnipeg had a spring storm like the one currently forecast. The spring thaw after the 1997 storm swept a young boy, Adam Young, into a storm sewer where he drowned. We remediated a lot of drains after that, but some may have been missed or new hazards created.

Please remember Adam by ensuring the citizens of Winnipeg, and more particularly children, are advised to stay away from drains and ditches. We don’t need more tragedy in our lives.

Tom Pearson

Winnipeg

Helping the homeless

Re: Pitch in for spring cleaning (Letters, April 8)

I applaud letter writer Marlene Beaty’s can-do spirit and community heart when she suggests the solution to beautifying the city is for all those who are able to pitch in and help. We here in Point Douglas have that spirit in spades, and yet we still face a losing battle.

The crux of the problem is that a seeming majority of the homeless population that descends upon the banks of the Red River every year do not maintain environmentalism as a high priority. A lot of chronically homeless people have either mental health or addiction issues, and disposing of garbage properly is seldom on their radar as they attempt to survive into the next day. It’s meant another season of shopping carts filled with debris strewn across our naturally beautiful riverbanks

By merely tolerating and, by all outward appearances, poorly managing this situation, the different levels of government have not assisted us residents, including the homeless population.

As Finland has shown the world, homelessness is a problem that can be solved. It just requires the political will.

Howard Warren

Winnipeg

Recently there has been a discussion regarding those people in our city who are homeless. Some have suggested that the city should provide the homeless camps with toilet facilities and other facilities to make their lives more comfortable.

Most of the suggestions mean well, but are completely wrong. The goal is to reduce homelessness. This can only be achieved by dealing with, and solving where possible, the issues that afflict these people, such as mental health, substance abuse and joblessness.

These issues can most efficiently be dealt with in existing facilities, not in ad hoc homeless camps.

Robert Collings

Winnipeg

Pandemic far from over

Re: Crucial budget for Tories: experts (April 11)

The story begins with “Coming out of the worst health and economic crisis in Manitoba history …”

“Coming out of?”

Surely the Winnipeg Free Press hasn’t donned the same virtual-reality helmet concerning the COVID-19 pandemic the Heather Stefanson government has crammed over its own collective head and is working so hard to make mandatory headwear for everybody else.

We are far from “coming out of” the pandemic, as every medical expert not compromised by working for the Stefanson government keeps warning the public.

It’s important not to bolster the false and dangerous reality Manitoba Tories are busily constructing even as the number of COVID-19 cases is rising everywhere.

Ross McLennan

Winnipeg

Manitoba nurses well paid

Re: Cost of wage-freeze effort becoming apparent (Opinion, April 8)

The authors believe nurses are quitting because of low wages. Do they not know that Manitoba nurses, who have a top salary of $65 an hour, are higher paid than those in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec?

Part of the reason the health-care system is struggling is because it’s too expensive, with too many employees paid too highly. Owing to unions and past NDP governments, many public-sector workers get unfairly high wages, benefits and pensions. Its long overdue that governments stand up to the public-sector unions.

David O’Connor

Winnipeg

To spend or not to spend?

Re: Liberals too comfortable with deficit spending (Editorial, April 9)

The Free Press editorial board is right to point out that the federal government can’t run deficits forever. However, the same editorial board has also written about the dangers of the provincial government’s austerity program. This leaves one a tad confused. It seems we can’t go on spending and we can’t stop spending.

Could someone please offer a solution that balances the budgets while providing governments the funds it requires to build a fair, humane, safe and just society?

Rachel Morgan

Winnipeg

Speeding ticket asinine

Re: Speed reductions are cash grab (Letters, April 11)

I fully agree with letter writer David Peter, who believes the City of Winnipeg is pushing “… lower limits through quickly because it will mean more tickets and more revenue …”

I recently received a ticket in the mail for going 53 km/h in a 30 km/h school zone on March 28. It was the first day of spring break, for Pete’s sake! There was no one in the school vicinity, not even another vehicle.

The limit should be 50 km/h as it is on weekends and during the summer holidays, but that would only be common sense, something which is in very short supply in our civic officials.

Beware of the city’s revenue agents this coming Good Friday.

Gilles Roch

Winnipeg

The pilot project to reduce speed limits in several neighbourhoods is long overdue: compared to other cities in Canada and around the world, Winnipeg is way behind on this. We desperately need to catch up if we’re to meet our climate-action goals of getting more people walking, rolling and taking the bus.

It’s not a cash grab; it’s an evidence-based, World Health Organization-backed best practice. But while we’re at it, we need to stop relying on traffic enforcement to create general revenue; that money should go straight into infrastructure improvements that prevent speeding in the first place. The city shouldn’t rely on unsafe driving to pay its bills.

Emma Durand-Wood

Winnipeg

Jets lack strong work ethic

Re: Jets don’t know what ‘tired’ is (Letters, April 2)

Thank you to letter writer Ron Robert, who said Jets shouldn’t use the excuse of being tired after back-to-back games, and suggested they should work long shifts in a factory if they want to know what it’s like to have a job that is tiring.

I’ve been saying that all along. I have worked in the same production plant for many years. On each machine we have a “target number” to achieve. While there are slackers on every job – some being paid more than others – it’s frustrating to see the lack of pride, respect and ambition some people have for their job.

I do not have six or seven figures in the bank, but I have maintained the same work ethic since the first day I started my employment. It’s not about how much you make; it’s about making a name for yourself with your work ethic.

Yes, the Jets are tired – tired of their job.

Donna McLellan

Gimli

Discarded masks litter ground

Re: Editorial cartoon (April 11)

The cartoon showing pandemic masks blowing in the wind is bang on. On my daily walks, I see many masks on the ground. The disposable masks are most noticeable because of their colour. I cannot pick most of them up because they are frozen in the ice and snow. I guess I have to wait until after this big storm, and the subsequent melt, to be able to clean the neighborhood again of these discarded masks.

Claudette Gagnon

Winnipeg