Letters and comments, Jan. 19

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/01/2019 (2071 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No true fans

Re: Fans’ online behaviour too often inexcusable (Jan. 11)

When your editorial criticized so-called “sports fans” for making derogatory social-media comments after a player makes a bad play at a crucial moment, it should have added that such people are revealing their deficiencies in the knowledge of sports in general.

Evidently these “fans” are unaware that even baseball’s greatest hitters failed to get on base more than 60 per cent of the time during their entire careers. They also don’t seem to know that the top quarterbacks in a season don’t complete, on average, one-third of their passes, or that basketball’s all-time leading scorers are unsuccessful from the field on nearly half of their shots.

Likewise in hockey, where, if they’d watch shootouts or penalty shots more carefully, they’d find the goalie makes the save also around half the time.

So why would they believe these odds would be any different under the added pressure of a playoff game or championship tournament? If they believe otherwise and feel they have to publicly denigrate the athlete for a single error, all they’re doing is demonstrating their poor sportsmanship and insufficient understanding of the realities of the game.

Edward Katz

Winnipeg

Don’t take animal welfare lightly

Re: Three dogs found dead, 15 rescued from deplorable conditions (Jan. 15)

This is a very sad story.

How did this person end up with all these dogs? There’s a story there.

Did she go out and steal them from their owners? Or did she just happen to try to help and rescue strays, which then just became too overwhelming for her to take care of, leaving her with a huge problem she did not know how to resolve?

There are many animals abandoned by uncaring and disrespectful owners. This is a huge problem.

The feeling is that animals are not important, let them fend for themselves.

And how many cats do we see roaming the streets in -30 to -40 C in the winter?

Eight years ago, I rescued a five-month-old, three-pound kitten floundering through the snow in the dead of winter. How did she get there? Who was responsible for putting her there? No tattoo, no ownership.

Shame on the people who practise this behaviour.

Evangeline Milton

Winnipeg

Women’s rights are human rights

In our society today, we have a gender inequality issue that is local, national and global. Women around the world are facing discrimination based on their gender and are often viewed as inferior to men. Whether it is violence, sexual harassment, stereotypes, the wage gap, lack of respect or stigma towards feminism, gender inequality is an issue in our society that continues to require sincere attention by men and women.

Statistics from a 2017 Canadian Women’s Foundation report stated that women in Canada still earn 28 per cent less than what men earn — and this gap is not closing, it’s widening. Women only hold 5.2 per cent of the CEO roles at Fortune 500 companies, as well as only eight per cent of the top-paid jobs in Canada. In developing countries, the World Bank Group found that African women have a one in 31 chance of dying from childbirth, while in developed countries it is one in 4,300.

The HeForShe campaign can help improve these statistics to benefit women.

The HeForShe campaign was founded by women of the United Nations. HeForShe recognizes that gender inequality is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue. The campaign invites people from around the world to stand together as equal partners and work toward gender equality in our lifetime. The movement has almost two million commitments from people around the world spreading awareness and making change to gender inequality.

One example of success for the HeForShe campaign was helping end child marriage in Malawi, where one out of every two girls was married before the age of 18. Globally, the campaign has workshops to help positively shift traditional gender norms. Some workshops include deconstructing gender stereotypes in Iceland, where only two per cent of nurses are men, and redefining masculinity in Jordan.

The HeForShe campaign also supported a big protest in Nairobi, Kenya, where the event raised awareness of gender-based violence sparked by women wearing miniskirts. These are just some examples of the positive impact HeForShe has had on our world.

Personally, I committed to the movement and encourage all readers to do so. This movement has continuously helped fight gender inequality and with the support of more people, gender equality can become reality. Our society needs to become more educated on this issue to hope for equal opportunity, and the HeForShe campaign can help.

Olivia Weremy

Selkirk

Protect our wetlands

What happened, or who happened, that changed the understanding and agreement of the Made in Manitoba Climate and Green Plan? This plan was to protect the wetlands class 3, 4 and 5. So much for enshrining the Sustainable Watersheds Act!

The government and Department of Sustainable Development have arbitrarily made this decision and must be held accountable. Is this but another example of a government that can’t be trusted?

The new drainage registrants are now able to determine for themselves what wetlands can be drained. This new Water Rights Registration appears to benefit the land users — not the health of Lake Winnipeg. This lake is in a fight for its life. The wetlands can have a substantial bearing on that life. We must protect these wetlands and not bow to those who would destroy them with what appears to be outright callousness.

The government of Manitoba must do the right thing and rescind this action now!

Carin Crowe

Winnipeg

PM ducked question on Saudi oil

Re: Trudeau faces questions about immigration, trade, Saudi arms deal in Regina (Jan. 10)

Regarding the town hall meeting last week in Regina, reporting in the Free Press missed an important and illuminating point. The prime minister was specifically asked, “Why are we buying oil from Saudi Arabia?” He emphasized at length the need to rely on factual information, and launched into debunking a supposed myth that Saudi oil is used in the province of Quebec. Except he did not actually answer the question, and was only selectively truthful in his comments.

There are four refineries on the east side of Canada. A 2018 NEB report shows the two within Quebec receive some oil from Western Canada, but most is imported from the U.S. There is also some from other countries such as Algeria, meaning there are still tanker shipments involved up the St. Lawrence, but none from Saudi Arabia. Hence the prime minister’s apparent focus.

Except the NEB report also shows the large Irving refinery in New Brunswick has been continuing to use sizeable quantities of Saudi oil for some time. A more forthright response by the prime minister would have been preferred, rather than hectoring us on the importance of truth while then resorting to evasive deception to avoid answering the question.

Robert Parsons

Winnipeg