Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 3, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 Goose and gander Re: Freeland faces same tired questions (Aug. 31) I agree completely with the thrust of this article that women come under more scrutiny for their “qualifications” for a cabinet post than men do. I would also like to point out that qualifications needed in a ministerial posting — except for managerial skills — are really not that important. A specific minister relies on the civil service to guide her or him in policy decisions. There are two opposite examples. The former minister of the environment and climate change, Catherine McKenna, had no background in these areas, yet she ran a competent department that came up with good (if not always popular) policy. The current minister of defence, Harjit Sajjan, had extensive military experience, yet his depart- ment has performed neither better nor worse than those of his predecessors. Bill Morneau had economic experience, but not in macroeconomics. Yet the ministry developed good macroeconomic policy. Chrystia Freeland did not have a background in negotiations, yet performed admirably when negotiating with the U.S. Often satire is more true than reality. That Beaverton headline, “50 per cent female cabinet appointments lead to 5,000 per cent increase in guys who suddenly care about merit in cabinet,” is bang-on. People — mainly men — need to pull their heads out of the sand and actually learn how competence and government work. IAN TOAL Winnipeg Trumpian nonsense rooted in ignorance Re: Big, scary lies carry echoes of the past (Aug. 30) I extend congratulations to my former col- league, John Wiens, whose career in education closely parallels my own. His well-written, perceptive comment about Donald Trump’s “big, scary lies” is historically accurate. I would like to add other factors to the characteristics of Trump and many other authoritarians like him, and those are ignorance, a poor memory and limited intelligence. The violent, evil career of German Nazi dicta- tor Adolf Hitler can be cited as an example of his limited mental capacity. Hitler had limited for- mal education and his disastrous invasion of the Soviet Union shows he was not aware of the War of 1812 and the disastrous defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. Hitler, like Napoleon, could not com- prehend the vastness of Russia, or the capacity of the Russian people to defend themselves. Hitler believed Russia was technically back- ward, but the Russian T-34 tank has been classi- fied as the best overall tank in the Second World War. Historians have stated that it was Russia’s industrial capacity that outpaced that of Ger- many. Sputnik, in later years, was Russian. The heli- copter was invented by Igor Sikorsky, a Ukrai- nian born in Kyiv. Russians such as Ivan Pavlov and his dogs have contributed significantly to science. Trump’s lies, as Wiens has noted, are blatant and obvious, but some of the nonsense that comes from Trump is rooted in his ignorance about the world. He may forget today what he said yester- day. Some psychological observers like to speculate about the IQ of American presidents, with 100 being an average score. John F. Kennedy comes in at about 150. And Donald Trump? Perhaps 90 is too generous for him. MICHAEL CZUBOKA Winnipeg Birds of a feather? I must thank you all for the regular large pho- tos of our prime minister. I trained my bird to say “vote” whenever the paper on his cage floor is renewed. That is a regular occurrence now, with fresh paper lining and a happy bird. BILL KNOTT Portage la Prairie Reopen Wellington Crescent Soon the City of Winnipeg will decide whether to continue with daily street restrictions on mo- tor traffic or to revert to Sunday/holiday bicycle route restrictions. I live a few minutes down Wellington Cres- cent from the section where motorized traffic is limited. The crescent in that area is divided into two one-way sections by a very wide boulevard which allows ample room for pedestrians and cyclists to pass each other while maintaining social dis- tance. There is no need for the street to be closed to vehicular traffic. Since vehicular traffic was limited on that part of Wellington Crescent, I have seen a significant increase in traffic on Academy Road, which was already heavily travelled. There has also been an alarming increase in cyclists racing down my city sidewalk on their way to and from the open area. I tried to respond to the online city survey seeking opinions on the subject. I found the survey to be very biased and could not get past the first question. If the city was truly interested in the safety of residents, it would return that part of Wellington Crescent to its Sunday/holiday status. SANDRA GORDON Winnipeg One Goog story I read an advertorial online some time ago in the Free Press about the Bridge Drive-In (BDI) in Winnipeg. I believe the article stated that no one knew how the Goog Special got its name; that it was a well-kept secret. I had to laugh and say, “I know.” I do so wish I could share that laugh with my former co-worker Barry. Anyway, at long last, I am here to let the secret out. Here is how the “Goog Special” came into being. I am now 70 years old and live in B.C., but my hometown is Winnipeg. My first job, before be- coming a legal assistant, was working at the BDI for Alex Nairn and his wife, Mavis, in the late 1960s. Sadly, Mavis passed on while I was still there, and Alex also passed, I believe, in 2003; may they both rest in peace. At that time, Alex would often leave me to man- age the place. I had a co-worker named Barry (I so wish I could remember his last name), and Alex had given us permission, whenever we weren’t busy, on a rainy or cold day when there were few customers, to experiment and find new and exciting “concoctions” that especially the young guys who were always hanging around (and seemed to have hollow legs) would really go for. So we had a lot of fun and ate a lot of great “concoctions,” and then one day we talked about taking one of our “upside-down milkshakes” and putting a sundae on top. We felt the guys would surely go for that. As for the name, Barry actu- ally came up with the crazy name of the “Goog Special” and I heartily agreed. He’d read that in Australia, a “goog” is an egg, and also an abbreviation of the British dialect word “goggy” — “a child’s name for an egg.” It seems the expression “full as a goog” is actually from the 1930s. It was used often when you were over-stuffed with food or were drunk; they would say, “I’m full as a goog.” So we thought the “Goog Special” would help our young hollow-legged customers to be finally filled. It was a joke, and Alex thought it was a great one. And so the “Goog Special” was born. Just thought I would pass that along. The secret is now out. MARION E. SCOTT Parksville, B.C. 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 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 Another step on long road to reconciliation I F it’s true that reconciliation is necessarily an ongoing and deliberate journey, then Tuesday’s announcement by the federal government to designate residential schools a “national histor- ical event” qualifies as a small but necessary step in a progressive direction. In defining the residential school system as “a tragedy born from colonial policies in Canada’s history,” the federal government in a news release declared the practice — which separated more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children from their families between the late 1800s and the 1990s — “has had negative effects on generations of Indigenous peoples with endur- ing impacts on... communities, cultures, econo- mies, traditional knowledge and ways of life, languages, family structures and connections to the land.” The acknowledgement, which responds in part to the recommendations of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is important as a good-faith gesture and is bolstered by the govern- ment’s accompanying designation of two former residential-school locations — one in Portage la Prairie — as national historic sites. Call to Action 79 (of 94) in the TRC’s final report demands, in part, “Developing and imple- menting a national heritage plan and strategy for commemorating residential school sites, the history and legacy of residential schools, and the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canada’s history.” The building once known as the Portage la Prai- rie Indian Residential School will be transformed into a venue that includes a museum, library and memorial garden aimed at educating the world about the devastating effect of the residential school system on generations of Indigenous children and families. (The other designated site, called Shubenacadie, is in Nova Scotia.) “The story needs to be told through Indigenous eyes,” Long Plain First Nation Chief Dennis Meeches said on Tuesday. And so it should be. As was the case with the seven-year process of gathering of personal sto- ries of residential-school survivors by the TRC, the purpose of designating the former school lo- cations as national historic sites must be to create opportunities for the stories of Indigenous people to be heard and better understood. The removal of children from their families set in motion a multi-generational trauma whose effects continue to resonate in Canadian society. One need look no further than the statistical fact that 90 per cent of children in care in Manitoba are Indigenous for proof that the familial damage has deep roots and continues to spread. The efforts of the TRC and the continuing work of the University of Manitoba-based National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation have been essential to this country’s ongoing reckoning with the consequences of past policies, but the transformation of a bricks-and-mortar structure into a place of education and enlightenment could provide another important point of access to stories that all Canadians need to hear. During a week in which a more destructive attempt to confront Canada’s colonial legacy took place, in the form of protesters toppling a statue of prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald in Montreal — an event condemned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as having “no place in a society that abides by the rule of law” — news of the transformation of the structure in Portage la Prairie offers a hopeful sign that the reconcilia- tion process continues to take steps in the right direction. Mr. Meeches, whose mother was forced to at- tend the school, rightly said it’s important to turn the building’s troubled history toward a more positive purpose: “Although sometimes (Canada gets) it wrong, today is an important milestone, and a recognition of what happened.” EDITORIAL MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Long Plain First Nation Chief Dennis Meeches Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis A_06_Sep-03-20_FP_01.indd A6 2020-09-02 7:12 PM ;