Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 29, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A12 OUR VIEW �o YOUR SAY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 12 PERSPECTIVES AND POLITICS EDITOR: Shannon Sampert 204- 697- 7269 shannon. sampert@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL LETTERS FP COMMENTS TWITTER VOL 143 NO 79 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 . To speak up and to listen Re: Silence is no longer an option ( Editorial, Jan. 27). As a resident of Whyte Ridge, Brian Pallister is supposed to represent me in the legislature. Pallister's narrow, elitist attitude is reflected in his recent remarks claiming that, based on his sheltered experience, Winnipeg does not have much racism. I commend the Free Press for taking him to task in the Jan. 27 editorial. My wife and I volunteer every week at a place of welcome and hospitality that includes many First Nations folk, located in Augustine United Church in Osborne Village, a short distance from Pallister's Wellington Crescent home. We serve and chat with aboriginal people and others who experience racism and discrimination ( systemic and personal) nearly every day. Pallister could learn a lot by sitting with and listening to our appreciative, genuine and honest friends whose stories touch the heart in the spirit of compassion. JOHN WESLEY OLDHAM Winnipeg �� My experience in private and public life, including time as a cabinet minister, chairman of Manitoba Hydro and subsequently as adviser to a First Nation, has been that many politicians and business leaders in Manitoba have worked diligently and with honourable intentions for decades to resolve outstanding aboriginal issues and create opportunities for aboriginal people to participate in and benefit from economic activity. I expect few are satisfied with the results achieved, but all will have learned that the challenge is much greater than they initially thought, the issues more complex. Although they all will have encountered racist attitudes, I expect that few if any would feel racism has been a significant factor limiting their achievements. It may be that some leaders we are not hearing from know that to speak honestly and openly about reasons limiting their successes will result in further accusations of racism, which they know will solve nothing. Instead, they choose to keep doing things within their power rather than standing tall for a fleeting photo opportunity. BRIAN RANSOM Woodlands Urban reserves offer a solution The most telling statistic in Chiefs tone down angry stance ( Jan. 28) is the " unemployment rates of 60 to 95 per cent and little prospect for economic development on reserves." Mary Agnes Welch's excellent article Urban reserves offer a renaissance ( Jan. 28) details the success of urban reserves. This, it seems to me, is the beginning of the solution to many of the challenges faced by First Nations. Urban reserves provide economic possibilities, educational opportunities and positive interactions between aboriginals and other Canadians. In Winnipeg, all levels of government should end the legal wrangling over Kapyong Barracks and open the land up to a well- planned urban reserve, which would offer economic benefits to First Nations people in Manitoba. NEIL BLUNDELL Winnipeg An earful over airplane noise Re: WAA inflexibility curbs city's livability goals ( Jan. 28). Stores teeming with shoppers during business hours are not the same as condos full of new- to- the- area residents trying to sleep at night, regardless of what developers might have us believe. I suggest the airport's 24- hour noise- management line be routed directly to both Bob Downs' and Bartley Kives's residential telephones. That way, at 3: 00 a. m. on nights when winds dictate that cargo jets depart and arrive directly overhead the Polo Park area, the magnitude of noise complaints can be made apparent to the ones publicly demonstrating the least knowledge of the impacts of increased residential density under flight paths. STEWART FAY Winnipeg Regulated pot past due I would like to thank David Asper for coming out of the cannabis closet and advocating for a regulated market ( Time to regulate marijuana , Jan. 24). The time for that action was 30 years ago; it is now long past due that we repeal the entire war on drugs. It is prohibition that brings the harm to society. CHRIS BUORS Winnipeg Enough with ' rookie' label Every time Coun. Matt Allard is quoted in the Free Press , he is referred to as " rookie" ( Allard wants better whistleblower protection for city staff , Jan. 26). We get it - Allard is a first- time elected official to Winnipeg's city council... along with several others, including the mayor. Why isn't Mayor Bowman always labelled a " rookie mayor" as well? DAVE RONDEAU Winnipeg Boil- water brouhaha There seems to be a misunderstanding. It's a " boil- water advisory," not a " buy- bottled- water advisory." @ audettenic Many on our First Nations need to boil water daily. Our finite inconvenience is reality for many. Let's remember that. @_ DaveARobertson Winnipeg PSA: It's much quicker and cheaper to boil water than to drive to a grocery store. @ spcarson Winnipeg: Make sure you don't forget to boil your pet's water. FYI, many rescue centres in the city looking for water donations. @ DancingDogTreat On a day like today I really wish I had a pot to boil water in. Oh well - next outbreak I'll be prepared. @ jesswick87 Thinking of starting a business where I pre- boil water and then sell it out of the trunk of my car downtown. @ steveputz My brother is actually asking me how to boil water... @ MarcACacho Winnipeg's water woes Re: City awaits test results to see whether drinking water is safe ( Jan. 28). Sometimes things go wrong with even the most stringent testing. I have lived here my whole life and I don't recall a boil- water advisory for the entire city. I doubt the city/ province are enjoying this. I feel sorry for Brian Bowman. Every time the man turns around, he walks into another wall. The boil- water advisory is a precautionary measure in an effort to be as proactive as possible. You can protect yourself and your family by following the city's instructions, or you can use your water as usual. It is your choice. - emcee51 �� This is just a precautionary measure. Testing processes are very precise, and human error is the main cause. This will no doubt pass when additional tests are taken and the all- clear is issued. Unfortunately, the media feed the paranoia to the masses causing bottled- water shortages. Just boil the water before using; rural folk with wells do this and there never is an issue. - 23692997 �� First it was brown water, then it was no water, now it's boil water. This city is falling apart.. - 46444601 �� Re: New tests clean, but boil- water advisory still in effect for Winnipeg ( Jan. 28). People with kidney problems like myself and those on dialysis are happy to know that the city and our mayor are not taking any chances with our lives. - Senior Lady �� That's it, I'm heading back to Mexico. - EBlair1 Ashton the NDP favourite? Re: Ashton the one to beat ( Jan. 28). I find it kind of sad that the best candidate the NDP can find to run for leader is so long in the tooth. They need a younger, more positive person at the helm - not another retread. - rnd- D- rnd'r �� @ rnd- D- rnd'r: I think that may be Kevin Chief, but after the election has ousted the NDP. - AH2 �� The so- called Gang of Five paves the way for Steve Ashton to become party leader. That would be amusing. - Spence Furby �� I see nothing wrong with Ashton that a personality transplant wouldn't correct. - Waynefd �� And the new captain of the Titanic is... I don't see Ashton being the life preserver this sinking ship needs. - JustWondering W INNIPEGGERS are now dealing with the inconvenience of a boil- water alert. For many, Wednesday's announcement meant a mad scramble to the nearest grocery store for bottled water or jugs. Facebook and Twitter came alive with jokes about alcoholic alternatives such as wine. Some felt embattled but accepted it with the usual Prairie resolve. If this week has been annoying and inconvenient, try 17 years. Shoal Lake has had a boil- water advisory for close to two decades and is one of many First Nations dealing with substandard water quality. According to Health Canada's website, there are 135 drinking- water advisories in effect for 91 First Nations. Seven of them are for Manitoba reserves and five of those are boiling- water alerts. For more than 1,400 Manitobans, access to water and sewer services on reserve is a mishmash of fixes most people in Winnipeg would not put up with. This includes communal taps or " rockets," sometimes three or more kilometres away for its users, cisterns that can fail water- quality standards or water trucks. But, it's not just reserves that are dealing with water issues. The town of Reston, southwest of Winnipeg, had their boil- water advisory rescinded Wednesday. It had gone into effect the previous Friday. In total, the province has 78 communities or water systems under boilingwater advisory alerts. That seems ridiculous in this day and age. Water is something we should be able to take for granted, but it's obvious we can't. Last winter's frozen- pipes debacle courtesy of aging infrastructure in Winnipeg brought that home. Over 2,500 homes went without water - some for months. City hall now claims it's better prepared to deal with this issue should the weather turn nasty again. We'll see. The frustrations of Winnipeggers last winter and over the last couple of days pales in comparison to those for whom this has become a lived reality, and it certainly points to a need for some serious public- policy attention. The United Nations General Assembly in 2010 affirmed access to water and sanitation as " essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights." The Harper government was slow to support the UN in this regard, but in 2011 supported the World Health Organization's resolution that calls for improving access to water and sanitation. Critics say though, there needs to be less talk and more action. Where's the money? Water and water safety are emerging as a public- policy issue for all levels of government. Here in Canada, the Walkerton tragedy that killed seven people and made another 2,300 ill in 2000 may have been the defining moment for many to wonder just how safe our water is. A parasite in the North Battleford water system in 2001 made 7,000 people sick. Research indicates many Canadians wondered how this could happen in a developed country, and confidence in our water safety has deteriorated. Detroit, a city trying to deal with bankruptcy, garnered international attention when it moved last June to shut off water to 323,000 homes for non- payment. The UN condemned the move as a " violation of the human right to water and other international human rights." The homes targeted in Detroit were poor and black and the city justified its decision because it was dealing with a $ 5.6- billion water and sewage debt. Privatization is now on the table. This is a familiar tune. In 2007, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities warned our municipalities will need $ 88.5 billion to upgrade aging water systems. Most of that money is expected to come from municipal governments dealing with tight budgets and demanding taxpayers. In First Nations, it is estimated $ 4.7 billion will be needed to bring onreserve systems up to standards. It comes down to money and a commitment by all levels of government for an investment to protect a basic human right. We can't take this for granted any longer. Safe water is a basic human right A_ 12_ Jan- 29- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A12 1/ 28/ 15 5: 41: 59 PM ;