Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 06, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 Border concerns The reopening of some Canadian provinces to business this week raises the question of opening the border to the United States. Many Americans, looking at their mortality and infection rates, may come to think of Canada as a place for epidemic asylum. How do we prevent price gouging, even though Canadian practices would possibly lead to higher prices starting with parity dollars? After a two- week isolation, and social-distancing practice, would they be able to stay for the summer? Would Canadian and provincial consulates in the U.S. be able, with rental and tourist agents, to maintain a orderly but profitable market? JAMES NEUFELD Winnipeg Po-tay-to, po-tah-to Re: Pursuit of fi rst prompts rush to reopen (April 30) and Businesses confused by reopening rollout (May 1) It is really not surprising that there would be problems with a government of this political stripe trying an exercise in a "planned economy." Those two words are socialist or even communist anath- ema to conservatives. Perhaps they could come to look at those governments that tried to plan their economies, and failed, with a little less loathing. Restaurateurs are wondering where they will get enough hand sanitizer to follow guidelines and run their business accordingly, or how long it will take to train their staff in appropriate protocols. Indeed, will there be staff willing to return? Opening playgrounds seems to be fraught with risk as well - hundreds of tiny hands touching the same equipment, with no sanitizing between touches. But perhaps with some real planning, things could proceed better and provide solutions to other problems. All the potato farmers unable to deliver their product because of steep drops in demand for french fries could sell their potatoes to a distillery for making alcohol to be used in sanitizers, perhaps enough for this province and export, too. All those students looking for summer jobs? Many could be put to work sanitizing playground equipment at frequent intervals to preserve the health of our precious youngsters. This reopening approach and its apparent lack of adequate planning and consultation reminds me of an old Soviet-era joke. The Chief District Commissar approaches the local area Agricultur- al Commissar and says to him "It is time to plan the rationing of potatoes to our comrade citizens for the coming winter. How was the potato har- vest in your area?" The Agricultural Commissar replies, "The bins of potatoes are full as high as God's knees." "That is well, comrade Agricultural Commis- sar, but of course you know that there is no God." "Yes, comrade Chief District Commissar, and of course you know that there are no potatoes." RICK WIENS Winnipeg Problems with firearm ban Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is finally delivering on his election promise of banning as- sault weapons, and he is right, you don't need an assault weapon to bring down a deer. Where he is wrong is in banning firearms, instead of addressing the real problem of allowing illegal firearms to enter Canada virtually unrestricted, and allowing criminals to "carry" loaded firearms in our streets and our parks, while they are engaged in their illegal drug trades and drug wars. Everybody knows what the problems are, including Trudeau and the police, and nobody is going to do anything about it. While on the subject of election promises - does this also mean we finally will get that other voting system he promised us during an election? The system that would fairly represent all Ca- nadians in our Parliament and provincial legisla- tures, a ballot that would give voters a party vote and a candidate vote on the same ballot, choices that are completely independent of one another, as if you have two separate ballots? Something tells me I am dreaming, eh? ANDY THOMSEN Kelowna, B.C. While the government's new ban on various as- sault weapons is overdue, it's likely to prove only a half-measure, since the estimated $250 mil- lion to be spent on its buy-back program will be triple what it's allotting over the next five years to the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) for new initiatives to intercept firearms being smuggled in from the U.S. Even if the percentage of domestically-sourced crime firearms has been climbing in recent years, between 70 and 99 per cent of firearms, mainly handguns, used in the commission of crimes in Canada have had American origins and were brought in illegally. Although more than 13,000 other prohibited items such as knives, brass knuckles, pepper sprays and martial arts devices have been seized by customs officials, last year the CBSA inter- cepted only 647 firearms. Apparently since the Canada-U.S. border is one of the longest and busiest in the world, it's essentially impossible to know or track how many guns are crossing. So unless the CBSA and RCMP are given more resources for the task and there's more co-opera- tion with the U.S Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau, and as long as drug dealing continues to be profitable, incentives for continued weapons smuggling will offset new restrictions on law- abiding Canadian gun owners. EDWARD KATZ Winnipeg University funding is diverse Re: Province to cut workforce costs by 2.2 per cent (May 5) Revenue for Manitoba universities was $1.37 billion in 2017-2018, according to the latest data from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers. Sixty per cent ($800 million) of funding came from university operations: fees ($242 million), donations and investments ($109 million), federal research grants ($124 million), contracts ($100 million), sales of services ($87 million), and mis- cellaneous sources ($141 million). Forty per cent ($570 million) came directly from the province. These figures somewhat mask actual sources. Tuition from students and families came in part from Canada student grants and loans ($71 mil- lion), from dedicated RESP accounts and from for- eign students. And some provincial money came from the Canada Social Transfer ($500 million) and federal equalization payments ($1.82 billion). Given university funding is diverse and rep- resents over two per cent of Manitoba's GDP, caution is needed or cuts may compromise programs and external funding, violate expecta- tions of sources and further weaken the Manitoba economy. JIM CLARK MANITOBA ORGANIZATION OF FACULTY ASSOCIATIONS Winnipeg Building a good environment Re: Lend a helping hand (May 4) I just wanted to say that I really liked Sabrina Carnevale's article interview with Shane Solomon at Republic Architecture. A very good closing point that I agree 100 per cent with: "Employers who are compassionate, proactive and accommodating will be better posi- tioned to emerge in the post-pandemic era with a resilient - and appreciative - workforce." In our office here at Number Ten, knowing and hearing it directly from the employer/partners has definitely made a significant positive impact directly on all staff. DEAN SCHILLING, ARCHITECT NUMBER TEN ARCHITECTURAL GROUP Winnipeg LETTERS AND FP COMMENTS WHAT'S YOUR TAKE? THE FREE PRESS WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU. The Free Press is committed to publishing a diverse selection of letters from a broad cross-section of our audience. The Free Press will also consider longer submissions for inclusion on our Think Tank page, which is a platform man- dated to present a wide range of perspectives on issues of current interest. We welcome our readers' feedback on articles and letters on these pages and in other sections of the Free Press ? Email: Letters: letters@freepress.mb.ca Think Tank submissions: opinion@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 OUR VIEW YOUR SAY PERSPECTIVES EDITOR: BRAD OSWALD 204-697-7269 ? BRAD.OSWALD@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A6 WEDNESDAY MAY 6, 2020 Indigenous rights central to 150 celebration P LANS to celebrate Manitoba's 150th birthday this year have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Manitobans can still take time to celebrate the province's rich history and remember the events - including the struggle for self-determination and the fight to protect Indigenous rights - that led Manitoba to join Confederation. It was 150 years ago this week that the House of Commons debated the Manitoba Act, a statute that brought the first Prairie province into the constitutional fold. On May 12, Manitobans will celebrate the 150th anniversary of that historical achievement - the day the bill received royal assent in 1870. Manitoba's entry into Canada was not an easy journey. The events of 1869-70 - known as the Red River Resistance - occurred during a period when Indigenous rights were virtually non- existent and the notion of responsible government was still in its infancy. It was against that back- drop Canada made its first attempt to settle the West in 1869. Following a backroom deal between Ottawa and the British government to purchase what was then Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, Canada planned to take over the territory Dec. 1 of that year. Without consulting those living in the Red River Settlement - most of whom were of M�tis ancestry - the government of John A. Macdonald made arrangements to install a lieutenant-gover- nor and a federally-appointed council to govern the area. No provisions were made to protect the land holdings of local inhabitants, nor their linguistic or cultural rights. For the time being, there would be no elected legislative assembly in the new territory. Provincial status would have to wait until a sufficient number of new settlers from the East moved in. Unwilling to accept those terms, a growing number of Red River settlers - led by M�tis leader Louis Riel - took up arms and resisted what they saw as a takeover of their land. After preventing lieutenant-governor designate Wil- liam McDougall from entering the settlement (and following the establishment of a provisional government), they demanded to negotiate with Canada. Red River residents were not opposed to joining the new Dominion; they simply wanted the same democratic and land rights other Cana- dians already enjoyed. That was the essence of the resistance. Following a winter of internal conflict in the settlement (which included the execution of Thomas Scott), three delegates were chosen to travel to Ottawa - at the invitation of the federal government - to negotiate Red River's entry into Canada. It was there Red River residents - soon to be Manitobans - secured the democratic, linguistic and land rights they sought, including full pro- vincial status and an elected legislative assembly. Land holdings would be recognized and M�tis families would be eligible for 1.4 million acres of land grants. Those and other provisions were contained in the Manitoba Act, a constitutional amendment introduced in the House of Commons May 2, 1870 and debated over a period of 10 days. The act was proclaimed into law on July 15. The birth of Manitoba was marked by a strug- gle for democracy and the recognition of Indig- enous rights. The rights of Manitoba's Indigenous people continued to be under attack for many decades after 1870, and still are today. But Mani- toba's entry into Confederation was the beginning of the fight to improve those rights. The efforts and vision of those who fought for them 150 years ago are worth remembering and honouring. EDITORIAL MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES A statue of Louis Riel stands at the Manitoba Legislature. Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the M�tis A_06_May-06-20_FP_01.indd A6 2020-05-05 5:42 PM ;