Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 8, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 EIA breeds entitlement view Re: Social assistance recipients fear clawback over CERB (Oct. 3) Thousands of people on assistance applied for and received CERB benefits fully aware they were not eligible, but they could not resist an influx of cash. I saw it first-hand in the building I just moved out of. Above me, partners both ap- plied and received CERB for the full six months, on top of the full benefits of Employment and Income Assistance. They ordered food in almost daily, bought lots of name-brand clothing and partied often. In fact, their behaviour over the last six months caused the apprehension of their child. Living on EIA is not the easiest thing. But with menu planning, budgeting and smart shopping it is quite easy to feed your family. Smoking and drinking are not in the budget: a pack of ciga- rettes a day is $480 a month. Just think of all the groceries a person could buy. Personally, I was on EIA with four children for a few years, and managed to feed my kids three meals a day (cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and meat and veggies for dinner), kept clean clothes on their backs, had them involved in sports, and even had phone and cable. And now the people who collected CERB ben- efits and EIA are asking to be let off the hook for ripping off the hard-working taxpayers. I know their budget is limited, so maybe come up with an community-service alternative to repay their debt, such as picking up garbage on the street and sidewalks. We used to have a workfare program; reinstall it to let people pay back their debt. So many people on EIA have an entitlement at- titude. Time to make them responsible. MARLENE JAMES Winnipeg I am very concerned the provincial government is prosecuting Employment and Income Assis- tance recipients who collected CERB. This is a further hardship for the marginalized people in our society. The provincial and federal governments sent cheques to seniors, regardless if they were in financial need. I consider CERB a much-needed financial support for EIA recipients. MARINA PLETT-LYLE Winnipeg ‘Open streets’ are really not Re: Collective response is the best strategy (Opin- ion, Oct. 5) Columnist Brent Bellamy, Coun. Matt Allard and Coun. Sherri Rollins think “open streets” are the answer to our problems. I disagree. While “open streets” are clever marketing, the term is not accurate. In reality, it means closing the streets to motorized vehicles. Wolseley and West- minster avenues were designed and built about 100 years ago for vehicles – cars, trucks and bi- cycles. They were built for a need, and that need has not gone away. If they are “open” (but really closed), that traffic will have to go elsewhere. Bellamy and Allard suggest that building more streets causes greater demand and more traffic. It should be no surprise the roads are more con- gested, as the population and traffic have doubled since the 1950s, but the road capacity has stayed almost the same. If a commuter spends 20 minutes in her car, that same trip would take an extra 20 to 40 minutes each way on a bicycle. How many people can spare an extra 40 to 80 minutes each day to commute by bike? Not many. Never mind need- ing another shower at work and finding a secure place to store the bike. One last thought: Phase 3 of the Wolseley Walk- Bike Project would disrupt traffic on Wolseley and Westminster, directing it onto the residential side streets of Canora, Chestnut and Sherburn. A real estate agent estimated that would negatively affect the property values on those streets by about $40,000 each. Do city planners and city councillors have a mandate to destroy property values of some home owners? RAY HIGNELL Winnipeg Coun. Matt Allard once recommended ban- ning truck traffic on Provencher Boulevard, thus sending these vehicles onto Marion Street. Then he proposed the building of a billion-dollar interchange on Marion and Archibald. Obviously, these ideas went over like a lead balloon. Now, he is touting induced traffic demand. How is this going to promote Mayor Brian Bow- man’s desire to populate Winnipeg with a million residents? PAUL NADJA Winnipeg Free Press writers appreciated Re: Stunned to be a stat (Oct. 6) My best wishes to sportswriter Jason Bell and his family as they deal with COVID-19. I’m happy to see he has not lost his sense of humour, when he writes: “I would describe...my current appear- ance as Trump-like (and look what happened to him!), but with better hair. And I’m bald.” I am grateful to Free Press writers for their dedication to the job in the face of the crisis in their lives. ROBERT PARSONS Winnipeg NDP too negative Re: Conservatives failing Manitobans in pandem- ic fi ght, Kinew says (Oct. 7) I am tired of NDP Leader Wab Kinew’s continu- ing negative slant on everything our provincial government does. He should have been around to help in the previous NDP days. We would still be suffering from the NDP approach to governing. Stop the rhetoric, Kinew, your messages fre- quently contain ideas the current government is pursuing. The current government and our pro- vincial public-health team have done a remark- able job in the COVID-19 fight. MARY RUTHERFORD Winnipeg Bay could enlarge art district Re: Transforming the Bay (Letters, Oct. 7) Most of the ideas published in the Free Press about repurposing the Bay downtown store are mere speculations that don’t take into account financial realities, but they are certainly interest- ing to hear about. My idea is based upon the presence of both the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the new Inuit Art Cen- tre across the street. Can we offer a centre for our artists to work and display their art and, in effect, create an artist district that is sadly lack- ing now, especially when a warehouse many local artists used burned down in July of last year? Obviously, this is not a revenue-producing idea, but if it could preserve a heritage building and give artists an inexpensive venue, it could add to our cultural reputation. The same people who visit the major galleries across the street would obviously be attracted but, with a concentration of this nature, I believe it would be a tourist attraction to outside visitors as well, when that time comes again. GARY MCGIMPSEY Winnipeg Seniors advocate needed Re: We’re not doing enough to protect people most at risk from COVID-19 (Opinion, Oct 6) Tom Brodbeck’s analysis of COVID-19 statistics with respect to seniors got it right. The interests and rights of seniors, both inside and outside of seniors homes, are all too often shuffled aside on the tacit assumption that they will soon fade off into the sunset. Our provincial government needs a seniors advocate to monitor and analyze seniors services and issues and make recommendations to government and service providers to address sys- temic issues, the way it is done in British Columbia. DAVE ENNIS Winnipeg RIP Eddie Van Halen Re: ‘Eddie put the smile back in rock guitar’ (Oct. 7) Rest and rock and roll in peace, Eddie Van Halen. You will be remembered in rock history as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. PAUL BACON Hallandale Beach, Florida 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 THURSDAY OCTOBER 8, 2020 Good reason for another trip to Ottawa W HEN faced with a problem that could erode the popularity of their party, politicians often resort to one of two tactics: 1) announce a study of the issue, which buys time and offers the appearance of taking action; or 2) blame the crisis on another level of government. Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative govern- ment has implemented both strategies simultane- ously as it faces a high level of public criticism over its inability to reduce the long lineups at sample sites for COVID-19 testing. Health Minister Cameron Friesen has prom- ised in recent weeks a “stem-to-stern” study of the province’s testing problem. While declining to offer details, he pledged on Monday that testing capacity will increase “in a matter of days” and the number of sample-collection sites will double within “a few weeks.” His vague assurances are small consolation to the Manitobans who are currently experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms but are being turned away from sample-collection sites because lines are already too long by early afternoon. There was cause for optimism on Sept. 30 when Health Canada approved a device called ID NOW rapid COVID-19 testing, which can be used in such places as pharmacies, doctors’ offices and walk-in clinics. To operate it, a trained profession- al inserts a nasal or throat swab into the machine, which within 15 minutes can detect proteins as- sociated with the virus. The results are not as accurate as the existing COVID-19 tests, but the units would be a welcome addition to Winnipeg’s anti-coronavirus arsenal, especially for people who are unwilling or unable to endure the intolerantly long lineups at the city’s five sampling stations, and for people who are un- able to self-isolate for days while awaiting results from the current test process. The rapid-test devices seemed like a worth- while investment for Manitoba — but then the politicians got involved. The province held a press conference to say it wants to buy a “significant” supply of the units from the manufacturer, U.S.-based Abbott Diag- nostics, but complained the Canadian government is blocking its plans to buy the equipment. Pre- mier Brian Pallister has written Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking the federal government to relieve the U.S. manufacturer of any prohibitions on the sale of the rapid tests to Manitoba. But the allegation that Ottawa blocked Mani- toba’s effort to buy the equipment is untrue, according to federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc. He told the Free Press his government hasn’t blocked provinces from buying COVID-19 supplies, and that Ottawa is working with the provinces on bulk purchases. He and Mr. Trudeau only learned of Manitoba’s allegation of federal interference in a phone call from Mr. Pallister. Different levels of government often dispute matters of responsibility, habitually protecting their turf, but the discussion of whether Manitoba can independently buy rapid tests should rise above such routine jurisdictional disagreements. It’s about letting Manitobans get tested in a prompt manner to slow the COVID-19 spread. It’s a public-health emergency. The matter demands face-to-face conversa- tion between Mr. Pallister and his federal coun- terparts. Manitoba’s premier has recently seen fit to visit Ottawa on matters substantially less grave than Manitoba’s current failure to control the potentially lethal virus; in this instance, the situation is sufficiently serious to warrant an im- mediate east trip to iron out the misunderstand- ing that is hampering Manitoba’s effort to buy rapid-test units. Manitobans would be very interested — many of them waiting in lines that are unacceptably long — to hear about the results of his trip. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis THE CANADIAN PRESS / JUSTIN TANG Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc A_08_Oct-08-20_FP_01.indd A6 10/7/20 10:15 PM ;