Letters, Sept. 21

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2022 (829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Respect for queen was earned

Re: A royal farewell (Sept. 20)

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and associated rituals were a remarkable and overwhelming tribute by hundreds of thousands of people who gathered in person, as well as from the dozens of world leaders who attended. It was a truly historic event.

I have never been an avid monarchist, but my admiration and respect has grown for the queen over the decades. Who else gives 70 years of duty to serve their country and the Commonwealth?

I also had to wonder, will the world’s autocrats and dictators, Russian president Vladimir Putin in particular, watch the massive global affection for this monarch and get the message how true public admiration and respect is earned?

Volker Beckmann

Thompson

PM embarrasses Canadians

Re: Video shows Trudeau singing Queen anthem ahead of queen’s funeral (Sept. 19)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a fool of himself by singing Bohemian Rhapsody by the band Queen at a social gathering while in London for the queen’s funeral. His inexcusable actions show he is immature. No other world leader acted in this manner.

Maybe it’s time he stayed home and helped Canadians deal with the health-care crisis and the rise in food costs. Canadians can be better served by a leader who knows what his job is.

Scott Edkins

Winnipeg

Spanking worsens behaviour

Re: In defence of spanking (Letters, Sept. 20)

I have studied the impact of physical punishment (“spanking”) for more than 30 years. I completely concur with columnist Carl DeGurse’s summary of the research.

No study has ever shown physical punishment benefits children. Dozens of well-controlled, methodologically sophisticated, longitudinal studies have shown it places children’s physical and mental health at risk, and that it worsens behaviour over time.

Recent studies have shown its impact on the brain; children who are spanked are more highly reactive to perceived threat, which is partly why physical punishment consistently leads to increased child aggression.

I’m sure many readers were surprised to learn physical punishment remains legal in Canada. In 1892, when our law was written, it might have seemed reasonable to strike a child. In 2022, when we have so much evidence of harm and so much knowledge of how to raise healthy, happy children, hitting them can no longer be justified.

Sixty-three countries have drawn this conclusion and prohibited physical punishment. It is time for Canada to do the same.

Joan Durrant

Winnipeg

Many of us have been where the mother of four-year-old Liam was, as described in this column: a child throwing a tantrum in a public place as the mother is surrounded by the eyes of people who may be judging her coping skills.

Does Carl DeGurse really know what led up to the incident in the store? Perhaps the mom had an entire morning of her son’s defiant behaviour and was at the end of her endurance.

I agree that spanking makes no sense. We teach our children not to strike others, not to take their anger out on others, yet we then use a smack to their bottom when we think we have run out of options.

Making it unlawful to hit a child is a good idea, but how to enforce that law becomes an issue. What would DeGurse have done differently in Liam’s situation if the “no hitting” law existed? Would he interfere with another parent’s child?

I strongly feel the way to change this ongoing issue would be to require first-time parents to take a few courses, right alongside the Lamaze technique of preparing women for childbirth, so they get the training to cope with what is ahead.

Bonnie Bricker

Winnipeg

Ugly reality of factory farms

Re: Today’s farms nothing like Old McDonald’s (Sept. 16)

I couldn’t agree more with the headline on this story about the Discover the Farm showcase by six agricultural groups that banded together to promote farming.

In today’s factory farms, animals are treated like non-sentient cogs in a gigantic machine. Forced into an existence that is quite the opposite of an idyllic country life, the first breath of fresh air that many of these poor animals get is in a truck on the way to the slaughterhouse.

It is impossible to argue that continually impregnating a cow and stealing her babies over and over is in her best interest.

Calves are permanently taken away from their mothers within 24 hours of birth. People who have worked on a dairy farm are familiar with the cries of the babies and the bellows of the mothers. The babies are most often put in solitary confinement and fed a milk replacement so humans can drink the milk meant for the calves.

We don’t need to drink milk to be strong and healthy. The marketed myth that we do is the real misinformation.

Cathy Collins

Winnipeg

The article says “People are becoming less connected to the farm.” Seeing live farm animals up close on a staged farm, and then being served brisket and pulled pork or chicken on a bun, only emphasizes the disconnect.

Why not invite the public to an actual factory farm so they can follow the cows, pigs or chickens that are forced against their will to a slaughterhouse, where they will be killed, cut up and packaged? That is the reality of animal agriculture today.

If you are willing to put animal flesh in your mouth, you should be willing to see the whole process, slaughterhouse and all.

Angele Marion

Winnipeg

City-wide composting needed

Re: Time to make green dream a reality (Editorial, Sept. 19)

The editorial on making the “green dream” a reality was a big support for those of us who strongly feel composting needs to be implemented on a citywide scale. Kudos to the few mayoral candidates who openly support it.

Composting is challenging for residents and businesses in Winnipeg with our long winters. Yes, it will cost money to get it going; however, that’s not the angle to view it from. Instead, we need to ask ourselves: if we don’t take this step forward, what costs will be incurred down the road?

Barbara Coombs

Winnipeg

It’s a shame Winnipeg’s experimental organic-collection pilot program is ending this month because, in my opinion, it was successful.

The city asked those in the program to fill out a survey that included a question about how much more residents are willing to pay on their taxes for this service, although no feedback was supplied on the cost.

To keep costs down, I propose several food-waste collection depots be set up throughout the city. Those who are able and wish to continue composting can drop off their bagged waste. Just a suggestion.

Ursula Cecchini

Winnipeg

Gambling addictions encouraged

I am annoyed by the virtual flood of advertising we see for lotteries, sports betting and casinos. The revenue that goes to government from these activities is truly a tax on the stupid. Your chances of winning are minuscule.

If we need to fund a program, the money should come from general tax revenue. It is unconscionable when government talks about this gambling revenue aiding various worthwhile projects. This ignores the social cost of gambling, financial distress, broken marriages and even criminal activity to finance ongoing gambling.

If gambling revenue is good, by the same token the government should open meth labs and sell the product on the street. Imagine the amount of money that would generate for good causes.

Gambling is an addiction, and the government should not feed an addiction.

Kurt Clyde

Winnipeg