Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 2, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 Seeing inside factory farms Re: Manitoba quietly considering ag-gag law (Opinion column, Sept. 30) Huge thanks to Kaitlyn Mitchell for her article exposing this terrible anti-freedom of expres- sion legislation. Let the public make no mistake: ag-gag laws, however they are disguised, have one goal only, and that is to hide factory farming abuses from the public. Time and again, investigations across Canada have revealed rampant animal cruelty in slaugh- terhouses, farms and animal transportation. Instead of working to solve these problems, big agriculture wants to cover them up. Manitobans and all Canadians today are highly concerned about the animal suffering, food safety violations and pollution caused by corporate meat, egg and dairy production. But the factory farming lobby groups are powerful, and pressure legislators to pass “ag-gag” laws aimed at intimi- dating and punishing the whistleblowers, investi- gators and journalists who expose these issues. I hope the Pallister government can stand up to this pressure, and support what is good and just for all Manitobans. What does the factory farm- ing lobby have to hide, anyway? KRISTIN LAUHN-JENSEN Winnipeg Poor time for evictions Re: Advocates scramble as pandemic eviction moratorium ends (Oct. 1) Your article is timely and correct in raising an alarm about the Manitoba government ending COVID-related rules that prevent evictions, rent- al increases, and late-payment fees for renters. Just as case numbers are rising, renters — whose income has been vastly reduced through layoffs and business closures — are now facing eviction in the cold-weather season. My only complaint about your article is that it gives the impression the primary victims are those who live in abject poverty, and who often experi- ence homelessness. They will be horribly impacted, to be sure, but untold numbers of Manitoba’s middle-class, working families are at risk as well. I wish your article had made that more clear. COVID-related rescue programs must not end yet — and that includes rescue for landlords, don’t get me wrong. But we are not out of the woods. This is no way to “Restart Manitoba.” TONY HARWOOD-JONES Winnipeg Debate showed U.S. erosion Re: Trump Biden ‘dumpster fi re’ casts doubt on debates (Sept. 30) It is truly a crying shame that the highest- ranking American, the president of United States of America, can announce falsehoods (actual lies) and have some U.S. citizens believe them. For a society to function properly, all types of com- munication must be honest and factual. This defi- nitely did not happen during the televised debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Political lies erode the pillars of our democratic society. Let us pray that these sort of antics do not rub off on our Canadian politicians. ROBERT J. MOSKAL Winnipeg Call a lie a lie Re: U.S. debate a low point for political discourse (Editorial, Oct. 1) In the editorial, you say U.S. President Donald Trump speaks “falsehood-based provocations” and “untruths”. Why the double-speak? Trump is a liar, he lies all the time. Stop covering for his lying lies. CHRIS HARVEY Winnipeg Hydro profitability undermined In 1996, the Manitoba Telephone System be- came a privately traded company, despite polls that showed a majority of Manitobans opposed the sale. The chief executive at the time, Bill Fraser, was a promoter of privatization, even declaring its benefits in pamphlets enclosed with telephone bills. Privatization had two immediate effects: tele- phone bills increased by about 20 per cent, and Bill Fraser’s pay increased threefold. Recently, Manitoba Hydro has been instructed to lay off several hundred workers, supposedly to save money because of the pandemic. Hydro continues to provide the same services as before, and the smaller workforce will affect its ability to do so. Manitoba will lose those jobs, the workers face unemployment when work is scarce, and the taxpayer pays the costs of EI and other necessary relief for the laid-off workers. At the same time, its subsidiary, Manitoba Hydro Telecom, has been instructed not to submit a proposal to provide interdepartmental commu- nications for the government of Manitoba, though that would be well within its capability. Manitoba Hydro International, which provides consulting services to energy suppliers in other countries, has been instructed not to seek new busi- ness except on very short-term conditions, and on contracts which can terminated on short notice. There seems to be a concerted effort to under- mine the effectiveness and profitability of Manito- ba Hydro. Possible reasons for doing this would be to make it easier for the government of Manitoba to sell it, and to make it go for a lower price. NEIL STEWART Killarney Vaccine preservative not harmful Re: Like Typhoid Mary (Letter, Sept. 26) Letter writer Rudy Valenta has incorrectly suggested that the vaccine preservative thiomer- sal is harmful to our health. Overwhelmingly, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediat- rics have all endorsed numerous studies through- out the world that report no significant harmful effects from the amount of thiomersal used in vaccines and, specifically, no neurodevelopmental harm. Nevertheless, no vaccine in Canada for routine use in children contains thiomersal, with the exception of some influenza vaccines. BRADLEY POLLOCK, MD Winnipeg Story deserved prominence Re: Nurse fi red, coroner to investigate after dying Indigenous woman taunted in hospital (Sept. 30) Initially, I was perplexed that this important Canadian Press article about a Quebec hospital appeared on Page 8 of the Free Press, as opposed to front and centre. But I then realized that in- deed, therein lies the entire problem in Canada. BEV GRADIDGE Portage la Prairie Playing with the budget Re: Ignoring the facts makes for a better budget story (Opinion column, Sept. 30) In response to Dan Lett’s column, I just in- formed my cat Bob that I had it tough balancing our family budget, and apologized for the need to cut his daily cat-food quantity in half over the year, but family expenses for electricity, water and sewer costs, property tax, television and internet, our own food and his food had simply been too high. Poor Bob. He did not know about the bonuses we received this year from Messrs. Trudeau and Pallister. So, as he and I go through the budget figures, line by line, Bob is just going to have to understand that we are working with 2019 revenues, rather than 2020 revenues; otherwise, it will be a tough 2021. If Brian Pallister can be less than honest about his budget, by including an extra billion-plus from Justin Trudeau, I guess I can be somewhat less honest with Bob. DON HALLIGAN Winnipeg LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 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 FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 2020 Face mask usage unnecessarily politicized O F all the behavioural modifications we’ve been asked to make amid the COVID-19 pan-demic, masks remain the most contentious. You don’t see fistfights breaking out at conve- nience stores over handwashing, nor do you see large-scale protests demanding the right to work when sick. Masks are the pandemic made visible, a constant visual reminder of the changed world we inhabit. Masks are a harm-reduction tool corrupted, a talking point to be debated, politicized, protested. But masks are among our most useful tools in fighting the spread of COVID-19. As has been repeated many times but apparently cannot be over- stated: masks are about keeping other people safe. And, as of Monday, masks are now mandatory in indoor public spaces in the Winnipeg metro- politan area. This health region is at level orange, or restricted, on Manitoba’s pandemic response scale and will remain there for the next few weeks. A mask mandate is part of that order. Of course, not everyone is on board. In Win- nipeg, social media lit up with reports of people being rude to those who must enforce mask mandates, which mostly means staff at busi- nesses that are open and just trying to survive. You know, the very businesses people complained were closed. Retail and restaurant staff have also had to become de-facto conflict mediators. In Toronto, a fistfight broke out at a convenience store over masking; “Fighting Over Masks In Public Is The New American Pastime,” reads a recent New York Times headline. Closer to home, a man was arrested and charged after a Walmart employee was assaulted while trying to enforce the store’s mandatory-mask policy. If there’s an overarching criticism of pandemic messaging, it’s that it has been unclear and occa- sionally confusing. Many people have been strug- gling with the notable change in tone from April — when things were locked down and we were repeatedly told, “Now is the time to stay home” — to late summer, when you’d be forgiven for asking “What pandemic?” despite the uptick in cases. Canadian politeness and apologia bled through into how officials talk about public-health measures: things are “suggested,” “encour- aged” or “recommended.” People “may be asked to” engage in further measures. In Manitoba especially, there has been a baffling amount of foot-dragging on implementing measures such as a mandatory-mask mandate. All of this has set up the people on the ground — the wearers of masks, the people having awkward conversations with reticent family members and friends, the minimum-wage fast- food workers suddenly tasked with enforcement and conflict resolution — for failure. It’s hard to be assertive about something when the public- health messaging has been anything but. The loudest voices in this should not be the anti- maskers, virus-deniers and entitled individuals who, for reasons unexplained, believe they are impervious to a virus that has shown, over and over again, that it doesn’t discriminate. Edicts, hard-line rules and fines should not be necessary for a greater-good public-health measure. In an ideal world, people would will- ingly don masks because it’s the right thing to do, and we’re all in this together. If we want to avoid more people getting sick and dying, and if we want to avoid further lock- downs and restrictions, adjustments are required in our day-to-day behaviour. Masks, like seatbelts and condoms before them, will become normal. A habit. A reflex. A given. Worth noting: the same week Winnipeg moved to level orange, the world marked a grim mile- stone — one million COVID-19 deaths. Wear a mask. EDITORIAL MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Masks are now mandatory in indoor public spaces. Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis A_08_Oct-02-20_FP_01.indd A6 2020-10-01 4:41 PM ;