Letters, June 11

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/06/2022 (886 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One cool city

Re: City keeping it real with new slogan (June 8)

Winnipeg’s new civic slogan is “Made from what’s real.”

In my travels around Canada, I frequently got “Winter-peg” comments from people from Victoria to St. John’s and, without a trace of irony, people I met in Whitehorse and Yellowknife! In most cases, they had never been here.

My response was simple and direct: “Winnipeg — sometimes cold, but always cool.” That invariably morphed into a discussion about the people and things that make this city a great place to live. And to visit.

I think I’ll stick with my unofficial slogan.

Robert Pruden

Winnipeg

I remember annual management meetings where we had to rewrite our “Mission, Vision and Values” for head-office approval. We basically just substituted words and phrases here and there (or, on a few occasions, copied the statement from several years back.) We knew it did not matter, and we never had to do a do-over.

Our new city slogan is just as vacuous. A phrase that means whatever you want it to mean is… meaningless.

Allan Robertson

Winnipeg

Look beyond police uniform

Re: Police put aside emotion when tracking child killers (June 10)

Too often we forget that peace officers are people with lives and families. We seem to stop at the blue uniforms and decide that’s who they are. And nothing else.

The weight of what they see in the course of performing their duties is a burden most of us couldn’t bear. So in all of the discussions around our police services in our city and beyond, we have to make sure we don’t lose sight of the people who are doing the job day in and day out. And remember that the uniform is something they put on. It isn’t who they are.

Brian Spencler

Winnipeg

Lack of nurses paramount

Re: Nursing grads to the rescue (June 9)

So the provincial government is proud that it gave funding to train 30 new nurses at RRC Polytechnic when it was forced to slash 75 nursing seats thanks to a huge funding cut by former premier Brian Pallister. Many nurses are near or at retirement age and will leave due to burnout. Some younger nurses are also burned out and are seriously thinking of quitting nursing.

The bottleneck in our health-care system is the lack of nurses. Our wait times at ERs are ridiculous and some people leave and end up dying. As well, there is no way to deal with the 165,000 or so backlogged diagnostic tests and surgeries without more nurses.

People are dying because they cannot get cancer or heart diagnostic tests. People who need hip, knee, spine and cataract surgeries are suffering greatly. Many of these people are elderly and paid for health care in Canada for their whole lives.

Russell Jonson

Winnipeg

Respect faith differences

Re: Book offers a picture of religious diversity in Manitoba (June 9)

Ray Dirks and Manju Lodha should be applauded for their book A World of Faith and Spirituality, which offers a picture of spiritual diversity in Manitoba, a diversity that exists throughout Canada.

Lodha rightly says that the core values of all spiritual paths are the same. In the Bhagvad Gita (2nd century BCE), Lord Krishna says (Chapter 4; verse 11): “In whatever men approach me, even so do I reward them. My path do men tread in all ways” (for “Men” please now read “they/them/women/men”); and again in chapter 7; verse 21: “Whatsoever form any devotee desires to worship with faith — that same faith I make firm and unflinching.”

Manitoba can become a beacon to the world in the peaceful co-existence of and respect for each citizen’s spiritual paths.

Shashi S. Seshia

Winnipeg.

Trauma shapes lives

Re: Grand chief’s accuser goes public (June 9)

The article makes reference to the request for “a trauma-informed inquiry.” A legitimate question arising out of this request might be what exactly is a trauma-informed inquiry?

If it’s an inquiry that acknowledges the role trauma plays in one’s life, then I entirely support it. All too often, we ask questions such as “Why are you behaving like that, and what is wrong with you?” instead of the more fundamental question “What happened to you?”

Trauma shapes our lives for good and bad. It is absolutely essential that, in any inquiry, we focus on understanding our past in order to create a future that includes healing and resilience.

Mac Horsburgh

Winnipeg

Judge history with context

Re: Ryerson unfairly maligned (Letters, June 9)

Francis Newman writes about the demonization of Egerton Ryerson, who would have been mortified to learn how, many years after his death, principles of his revolutionary school system were used to establish the Indigenous residential school system, where students were abused.

A person should be judged on the totality of his or her life, not by cherry-picking the negatives and ignoring everything else. In the case of politicians from a bygone era, we should look at the full measure of their legislative agenda, and in the context of the accepted morality of the time.

Robert Foster

Winnipeg

Let pandemic inspire voting

Re: Province surpasses 2,000 COVID-19 deaths (June 9)

Health Minister Audrey Gordon said: “The pandemic has not been kind to Manitobans or to individuals across the country who have lost a family member… our government is open to any ideas that the family members might have about how we can recognize the loss of their loved ones.”

The only acceptable answer to this question is, in the next election, ensure that the Progressive Conservative government is not just relegated to official Opposition, but perhaps dropped to third-party status.

When you go to your polling station, take a moment to remember someone who was close to you, who you have lost because of the stupidity and inaction of this government.

Will Franklin

Winnipeg

Fredheads cheer eternal Cat

Re: Kidsfest lets Fred Penner celebrate The Cat Came Back’s unlikely success (June 9)

The Cat Came Back and it keeps coming! I first heard the song in 1981 when an enthusiastic educational assistant played Fred’s debut album for me as a first-year music teacher at General Byng School in Fort Garry. I knew the chord progression for the chorus from Hit the Road Jack by Ray Charles.

It was part of my kindergarten music program though 32 years of teaching music in the city until my retirement in 2018. It was an often-requested song by students in the last 11 years of teaching special-needs music classes in the Louis Riel School Division.

When the pandemic hit, my wife and I couldn’t do the travelling we’d planned, so I took a term music-teaching job in St. Vital this past fall. The kindergarten teacher at my school showed the students Cordell Barker’s award-winning animated short film of the song. The kids ask for the song every day now, so we sing it every day!

In 1983, the Easy Ts vocal group was formed, and we had the pleasure of hearing kids belt out the song while performing at the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival for packed tents of Fredheads at school shows and evening “Best of the Fest” performances for kids and their families.

The Cat Came Back arguably inspired a boom in music and arts entertainment for children, of which Winnipeg was the capital city. Jake Chenier, Al Simmons, Bob King, Canadian Content, Jamie Oliviero and eventually Rocki Rolletti, among others, were musical ambassadors for the city, performing for audiences around North America. Thanks, Fred!

Bill Quinn

Winnipeg