Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 27, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 Bombers lay an egg Dressing an " injured" Marve at thirdstring quarterback further makes one question coach Mike O'Shea's decision- making process. @ CappyD I have tickets for Thursday's game against the BC Lions. If the coach starts Brohm, I will not be going. @ SlipknotGuy In the last 25 years, every single CFL team has gone through a successful rebuild that resulted in a Grey Cup. All except one. @ anacreon100 Bombers have too many excuses and not enough success for me to listen anymore. @ therealsebball Was ecstatic when Bombers hired O'Shea. After a year and a bit, it's evident he needs to learn a lot. Thinking his stubbornness might cost him. @ pasid89 Starvin' for Marve in # Bombers @ WpgVargs OUR VIEW �o YOUR SAY WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 8 PERSPECTIVES AND POLITICS EDITOR: Shannon Sampert 204- 697- 7269 shannon. sampert@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL LETTERS FP COMMENTS TWITTER VOL 143 NO 254 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 Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor Operations and Engagements / SARAH LILLEYMAN Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Night Editor / STACEY THIDRICKSON Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE 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 Legal community problems abound ' Vigorous defence' for Amsel ( July 24) shows a legal community gone mad. It was a terrible thing that happened to Maria Mitousis; thanks to the Winnipeg Police Service, no more bombs exploded in people's faces. George Orle was another lawyer who had a bomb sent to him, but fortunately police got to it before he did. For Orle to state it was a " terrorist attack" is beyond belief, and to go on and state that people think the whole justice system is against them is garbage. People have confidence in the judges who preside over the hundreds of court cases that happen each year. It's the bad lawyers the public fears - and rightfully so. KIM SIGURDSON Winnipeg Justice system a joke Re: Vigilante shooter gets 5- year term ( July 23) You take a gun, walk up to someone, shoot them in the head and they die. Murder, right? Not in Canada - it's manslaughter. In any other country, Cody Schmidt would either get a life sentence or possibly the death penalty. But good old bleeding- heart Canada - five years, and he'll be out on the street in two. DIANA FRANTZ Winnipeg Cycling saga spins on In the July 23 Free Press, there are two letters from cyclists offended by the suggestion that bicycling infrastructure is a waste of taxpayer money; they point out cyclists also pay taxes, and cyclists create very little wear and tear on the road infrastructure ( Transportation talk taxing , Letters, July 23). As a lifetime cyclist, I agree, but am offended that so much of the recent bicycle infrastructure is less about providing the best, safest, most useful routes for cyclists at the most reasonable cost to taxpayers, and more about using available funds to divert tax dollars into construction- industry projects. Winnipeg politicians seem to be more interested in getting bikes off the roads than making roads safer for cyclists. Having grown up in Montreal as it developed its wonderful bike culture, and having cycled in so many cities that are light years ahead of Winnipeg in providing for cyclists, it is clear the problems experienced in Winnipeg are a direct result of incompetent, misguided and selfserving politicians. Until the discussion focuses on the exorbitant waste of resources and the culpability of those at city hall, nothing will improve. SHANE NESTRUCK Winnipeg �� I agree with letter- writer Ian Toal that licensing fees do not fund construction of infrastructure ( Licence money doesn't fix roads , Letters, July 22). However, for the privilege of using our infrastructure, motorized vehicles have to pay a licence fee - so why not cyclists as well, as they did at one time? Why should bicycles, including the three my family own, be exempt? PAUL NAJDA Winnipeg Postcards depict the ugly truth Re: Graphic campaign in Winnipeg ( July 23). It seems ironic that people are annoyed by the pictures on the # no2trudeau postcards but not annoyed by abortion. The images on the postcards are real photographs of abortion victims. Thanks to the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform for exposing this injustice as well as Justin Trudeau's stance of denying Liberal candidacy to pro- life people. ELIZABETH ANDRZEJCZAK Winnipeg NDP's history of leaders Free Press commenter " groot" says there is not a history of NDP leadership ( The Notley effect , FP comments, July 23). Has the commenter never heard of Jack Layton? Could the commenter explain why Stephen Harper chose former Manitoba NDP premier Gary Doer to be Canada's ambassador to the U. S.? DON HALLIGAN Winnipeg Leadership, safety key for women Winnipeg ranked 18th out of 25 cities in a study completed by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ( A long way to go , July 16). We scored 17th in leadership and 13th in safety. When women take on leadership and present as strong and action- oriented, we are less likely to be devalued, marginalized or vulnerable, and are therefore also safer as a result. NORMA JONES Winnipeg Mulling mail delivery Re: Canada Post must switch to three- day delivery: expert ( July 25). Business gets delivery to the door five days a week, and the rest of us are reduced to three- day delivery that we have to pick up ourselves? And on top of that " Canada Post should raise prices, get rid of its postal monopoly and convert corporate- owned postal outlets into franchises"? That not only sounds like two- tier service - luxury class for business and economy class for the rest of us - it's a blueprint for dismantling Canada Post, transforming it into into something akin to McDonald's. If that wasn't bad enough, we are supposed to pay more for the reduced service and be happy about it? How about two- tier postage rates? A premium rate for business ( to pay for their premium service) and a discounted rate for reduced service that residents get. - 23698142 �� Our postal service is so abysmal now that it's already the functional equivalent of three- day service, so why not make it official? I can't remember the last time I had mail delivered on a Monday - very curious. I also don't believe Canada Post even tries to deliver parcels anymore. We just get notices instructing us to pick them up at our nearest post office, even though someone was home all day. Might as well stick a fork in it and start making cuts. Nobody will notice. - 23652962 �� Noticed that Loutit's first concern is staffing cuts. As most posters note, daily mail delivery is not a necessary part of their personal life. For the few wanting daily delivery to their house, perhaps Canada Post could offer it as a subscription service. - 9X9 �� Honestly, I thought they should have done three- days- a- week service first before even switching to the community boxes - it's a no- brainer. - R45 Standing pat on Senate Re: No new Senate appointments: Harper ( July 24). Harper's using the Senate as a red herring, and the masses will of course fall for it. The economy's in the tank, unemployment is rising, the dollar's at its lowest point in almost a decade, and grocery prices are rising. The Harper government's going to run a deficit this year due to poor planning and management of the economy. The last thing Canadians need to worry about is the Senate. - 29530827 �� He's about 59 senators late with that. However, I can't say that I blame him. He hasn't exactly shone at appointing them; with the economy in the tank, the last thing he needs is more appointments blowing up in his face. - JustWondering N O never means no in politics. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says he's absolutely, definitely, 100 per cent opposed to forming a coalition with the NDP if the Harper Conservatives fail to win a majority in the fall general election. Mr. Trudeau says he doesn't want to deny Canadians a choice at the ballot box, but his refusal to dance with the New Democrats is more about election politics than principle. The Liberals have said the NDP would hurt the economy, and they disagree on many issues. It's hard to talk about forming a relationship with the party you are demonizing. Mr. Trudeau, however, might very well change his tune if his party finished second in a Torydominated minority Parliament. In that case, the idea of partnering with NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair might look a little sweeter. The third- place party, moreover, doesn't have to actually form a coalition with the second party. It merely has to agree to support it under certain conditions. The question of the NDP and Liberals forming a coalition to deny power to the Conservatives has come up in the past, but it never went anywhere. The very idea of it was considered by the Conservatives as undemocratic, but it is nothing of the kind. Canadians elect a Parliament, and the governor general asks the party with the most members to form a government. If the opposition parties make it clear they won't support that party, and they are prepared to work together in some form, it is perfectly legal and democratic for the head of state to pick an alternative government that has a chance of succeeding. For some reason, coalition governments have been considered un- Canadian - except for the one that was formed in the First World War - but they are consistent with the British parliamentary tradition. Other countries, such as Germany and Israel, regularly operate successfully under coalitions. There is always a danger one of the parties in a coalition will suffer at the polls in the next election, but that's politics. It also explains why minority governments in Canada never last a full term. No party wants to be seen as being in alliance with the enemy for too long. Meanwhile, coalition governments, or some other form of co- operative relationship between political parties, could become unavoidable if either the NDP or the Liberals form a government in the future. That's because both parties have promised to end the first- past- the- post system that enables a political party to win a majority of seats with less than 40 per cent of the popular vote. Only a few governments in the history of Canada have ever been elected with more than 50 per cent. A proportional system, its proponents say, would be more democratic because it would make every vote count by allotting seats on the basis of the popular vote. Participation in the political process would also increase as voters realized they could make a difference in the outcome. The Conservatives believe they would be at a disadvantage in such a system, but that's not necessarily the case. It would, however, require every political party to offer agendas that appeal to the most Canadians, as opposed to appealing to narrow bases. Ideally, such a system would produce more co- operation and consensus in Parliament. The alternative would be more frequent elections, but eventually voters and political parties would figure it out. It works elsewhere, and there's no reason why it couldn't be adapted for Canada. The idea of a coalition government may be off the table for now, but some form of it could well show up after the Oct. 19 election. Coalition governments coming soon? MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Justin Trudeau A_ 08_ Jul- 27- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A8 7/ 26/ 15 4: 20: 01 PM ;