Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 26, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 OUR VIEW �o YOUR SAY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 6 PERSPECTIVES AND POLITICS EDITOR: Shannon Sampert 204- 697- 7269 shannon. sampert@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL LETTERS FP COMMENTS TWITTER VOL 143 NO 76 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2015 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204- 697- 7000 Publisher / BOB COX Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Engagement / JULIE CARL Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor Production / STEVE PONA Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Night Editor / STACEY THIDRICKSON Director Photo and Multimedia / MICHAEL APORIUS W What's your take? The Free Press wants to hear from you. Email: letters@ freepress. mb. ca Post: Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, R2X 3B6 Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Follow us on Twitter @ WFPEditorials For a how- to video on writing letters, visit winnipegfreepress. com SCAN PAGE TO LEARN HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY . CPP the savings solution Your editorial on the Canada Pension Plan and a proposed provincial pension plan was right on the mark ( A better way to improve pensions , Editorial, Jan. 20). As an actuary and pension consultant, I have a strong awareness of the issues, and am a strong advocate of expansion of the Canada Pension Plan. Despite the virtual demise of pension plans in the private sector - not surprising since employers are not in business to provide lifetime financial security - the importance of providing for Canada's future retirement income needs has never been greater, particularly as life expectancies continue to increase. Contributions to a pension plan are not a payroll tax; they are savings during our working years to provide income during our retirement years. If we do not save for our own retirement, we will either pass the burden on to our children or have to accept a reduced standard of living in retirement. Contributing to a pension plan allows us to spread the income earned during our working years over our entire adult lifetime. Established almost 50 years ago, the CPP is a great Canadian success story. The solution to filling the biggest gap in our retirement savings system is already there. Let's build on it for the benefit of our children and their children. DONALD SMITH Vancouver, B. C. Clinton's ' Peg visit pricey It was good to see that the Hillary Clinton lunch was well- attended From ' Peg to Putin to pipeline ( Jan. 22). At $ 300 a seat, do we have any idea how many attendees were paid for by the federal, provincial, city and Crown corporation's purses? ROBERT SALES Winnipeg �� The Free Press headlines Passionate, poignant, powerful , followed by From ' Peg to Putin to pipeline ( Jan. 22) with respect to Hillary Clinton - and with the accompanying sycophancy - all make for a cringeworthy report. This reader is peeved. BILL KNOTT Portage la Prairie Spay clinic no solution While I agree with letter- writer Debbie Wall that the proposed city bylaw is not a fix for city strays, I disagree with her assertion a low- cost spay- and- neuter clinic, with the released being managed with shelter and supplemental food, is the solution ( Bylaw no fix for city strays , Letters, Jan. 17). This is a Band- Aid solution based on the assumption that all cat owners are responsible and will utilize these clinics, even if they are low- cost, which is questionable. KIM TRETHART Winnipeg Hockey's culture of violence persists I was enjoying dinner at a nice local restaurant last week. When I glanced up at the overhead television screen, a fist fight was occurring between two professional hockey players. The referee looked on for a lingering while before he intervened - then it happened again. Many people are working hard to remove the culture of violence from society. Why, then, are our hockey heroes - the leaders and role models for many youth - still instilling in us that aggressive physical assault is part of what it means to be a hero? SHIRLEY KOWALCHUK Winnipeg Parking problems a time issue The proposed downtown parking changes do nothing to encourage activity downtown ( Dig for loonies a little longer , Jan. 20). It not about the money - it's about the time limit. A two- hour limit does not work, but perhaps a four- hour limit might work. Some common sense needs to be added to the discussion with city planners to find a practical solution. ANNA SIKORA Winnipeg Hypocrisy in premier's apology Is Premier Greg Selinger's apology to aboriginal communities worth anything ( Assessing Selinger's apology , Letters, Jan. 22)? Selinger apologized for the damage hydroelectric development has done to their traditional land, way of life and cultural identity. This is nothing but a gesture of hypocrisy on the premier's part. To apologize is one thing, but to continue to support and construct power dams is a slap in the face to the aboriginal communities and, in fact, all Manitobans. JOHN FEFCHAK Virden Hungry for hockey I hate that there's no # NHLJets hockey until Tuesday. @ dukster57 Going through Winnipeg Jets game withdrawal. Can't wait for Tuesday. @ BernhardSandy I'm looking forward to the NHL all- star game ending, as that will mean we're back to # NHLJets playoff- run hockey. # gojetsgo @ timmwes Dustin Byfuglien on Shea Weber's slapshot: " It's not right. There are guys that gotta get hit with that thing." @ ChrisKuc The Winnipeg Jets mascot looks like someone who would want to hurt me. @ TheAndyBabic We had a blast skating at the MTS Centre this morning. Thank you @ NHLJets for a great family outing. @ JulieFisher88 I would rather watch Tom Brady deflate footballs than watch anything to do with the NHL all- star game. @ smittyinpg Toboggan- ban bunk Re: Tobogganing- ban idea ripped ( Jan. 25). This has nothing to do with protecting kids, and has everything to do with protecting the city. They fear lawsuits much more than a kid's broken leg. As others have pointed out, this is a problem with our legal system that allows lack of personal responsibility to be legitimate grounds for legal action. - 22685237 �� We are growing a generation of indoor kids - indoor skating, soccer, etc. - and eliminating forms of outdoor activities. " Stay home and be safe" is what we are telling them. But there could be a house fire, then what? Don't drive or ride in a car - you could be in an accident. Be careful out walking, you could be run over. You could be cut by a blade while skating, or fall on the ice and get a concussion, break a bone or hurt your back... but we still do it. I tobogganed. Friends got hurt - and yes, I got a few sore hits myself. Did it stop me? No. I was back out there as quick as I could get there. Do you need to be careful? Of course. Parents need to be the eyes and ears for their kids. - DDC �� Here is fair notice to any politician who might get a stupid idea in their head to ban tobogganing: You won't get re- elected to anything. Your political career will vaporize. - in_ the_ burbs �� Helmets aren't practical for this activity - kids need to wrap up warm with tuques, hoods and scarves. Try fitting a helmet under or over all that. All that's needed is common sense and a responsible adult watching. - dorothyst CentreVenture mess Re: Learning SimCity's lessons ( Jan. 24). I think Brian Bowman is in a no- lose situation. Anything he touches seems to reveal some sort of malfeasance, ineptitude, dishonesty or self- serving mismanagement on the part of the previous mayor et al. In life, if you have a choice, most people would prefer to follow a loser. If that's Brian Bowman's hope, then he's going to be hitting home runs for the next couple of years - there is likely so much more of the same to be turned up. Wait until Joshi is permanently removed - that's when we'll really get the Bad News Bears stuff coming out. - Larry Bud Melman �� It's going to take decades before we've fixed all of Katz's messes, isn't it? - charlene1 �� @ charlene1: If we are lucky. Don't forget he had 10 years to sow his seeds. - beekpr1 E DWARD Snowshoe was a 24- year- old prisoner at Edmonton's maximum security prison when he hanged himself. He had been at Stony Mountain Institution first and was then transferred. His time behind bars included 162 days in segregation; 134 of them at Stony. The reason? He threatened guards with a juice box. Mr. Snowshoe had also repeatedly attempted suicide, and he was described as paranoid and vulnerable by staff. Mr. Snowshoe fits the profile of many dumped into solitary confinement in Canada's federal prisons. There is a high rate of mental illness among prisoners. Prisons have a much higher rate of suicides than the general population, and half occur in segregation units. Mr. Snowshoe's story is reminiscent of that of New Brunswick teenager Ashley Smith, who killed herself after more than 1,000 days in segregation. Their sad odysseys have triggered a rising demand for major reform of how Canada uses segregation. Canada is about to face a reckoning on its routine use of solitary confinement and the fact so many of the inmates dumped into isolation suffer from mental- health issues, or are at risk of selfharm or suicide. Scientific evidence shows isolation, and depriving inmates of social contact, compounds behavioural problems and mental illness. That is especially true for young people, with their developing brains. Last week, a constitutional challenge to the federal practice was launched in British Columbia. On any given day, 850 inmates, or one in four, are in segregation, isolated in small cells for 23 hours a day. The Harper government has not responded to demands for change. After an inquest into Ms. Smith's death, it rejected recommendations to cap the number of days a prisoner can spend in segregation, and to ban segregating prisoners with mental- health issues or at risk of self- harm. This practice contravenes international standards and bucks the trend in other countries - even the United States has started pulling back on isolating prisoners. To this, the Harper government responds simply that it is interested in the rights of victims. Also unaddressed is the fact federal prisons do not have adequate mental- health resources, despite the fact 61 per cent of offenders entering prisons each year are identified as needing help, especially female or aboriginal offenders. This is not just a federal corrections issue. Most inmates are in provincial institutions. Unlike the federal system, which employs an ombudsman who collects data on segregation, provincial jails are not monitored by independent watchdogs. University of Manitoba law professor Debra Parkes fought to get basic numbers on segregation in jails here. Initially denied because the Corrections branch doesn't keep statistics, an appeal and a price tag of $ 5,000 provided some numbers, but only for the Portage la Prairie women's jail. It revealed that in 2009, there were 176 placements in segregation, involving 134 inmates; 143 were for non- disciplinary reasons, often cited as " overflow," meaning crowding. And in 32 per cent of the non- disciplinary cases, no reason was given. Prof. Parkes said a request for numbers on male inmate isolation was unaffordable, because it required going through individual inmate files. This is the way governments hide damning details and systemic human rights abuses. Mr. Snowshoe spent 162 days in isolation before he killed himself. Prof. Parkes' data showed one woman spent 190 days in segregation in 2009. Why? Who was she? Where is she now? Has jail, with its stated intent to prevent crime and rehabilitate offenders, made her a better citizen? The evidence weighs heavily against the odds. Canada's harmful, virtually unrestricted segregation practice cannot pass the charter sniff test. In Manitoba, Justice Minister James Allum should not wait for a court- imposed edict to clean up the use of solitary confinement in provincial jails. He must appoint independent oversight of the practice. The first task should be to publicly report how many inmates each year are put into segregation and why. Abusive, unrestricted segregation of inmates A_ 06_ Jan- 26- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A6 1/ 25/ 15 4: 48: 20 PM ;