Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 1, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 Ukraine’s pain shared Re: Ukrainians return from abroad to fight Russian invasion (Feb. 27) The Ukrainian people have been a peaceful agricultural people for millennia, which has made them tempting targets throughout history, from the Tartars to Russian tsars to Stalin to the present day. My grandparents lived through the Holodomor where millions of people died, including much of my family. My mother’s remaining family was exterminated by the Nazis and she survived the Second World War in a Nazi camp with a number tattooed on her arm. My father spent seven years as a wounded prisoner of war in Nazi forced-la- bour camps. My parents came to Canada, but nev- er fully recovered as functional human beings. It seems human brutality and greed will never cease, and bullying and oppression will endlessly repeat. Although I have no family left, the current abomination that is unfolding hurts just the same, for the blood of these people, my people, runs in my veins, and their spirit animates my soul. EVA PIP Winnipeg Our prime minister tells Ukrainians the Cana- dian government “stands” with them. A man and wife defending their home and looking down the barrel of a gun must be warmed with the thought. Why do we have a military? Cowardice trumps the obligation to do what is right as the chattering classes cower behind their treaties, their bureau- cracies and their phoney announcements to the world press. A small, pale, reptilian psychopath (credit to Madeleine Albright) who is willing to act out his fantasies has sent the “leaders” of the western world scrambling into hiding behind a wall of noisy platitudes. What a disgraceful display. ROBERT SPROULE Winnipeg Excluding Russians from all world sporting events is a great idea; however, I would add another suggestion. All the Russian oligarchs and their families who are living abroad in all corners of the world should be sent back to Russia. By not being able to access their yachts, homes and pri- vate schools outside of Russia, they might possibly put pressure on Putin to end this senseless war. Perhaps Putin’s comrade, Washington Capitals star scorer Alexander Ovechkin, could be sent back to his homeland as well. LINDA BOUGHTON Winnipeg Why freeze the assets of the Russian leader- ship? Freezing means they will get their assets back at a later date. Seize them. This would really hurt. Russian leadership assets should be turned over to the Ukrainian people as compensation for the losses caused by this illegal action. VIC SORENSEN Winnipeg We often call our grandparents’ generation “the Greatest Generation” for fighting and sacrificing in the face of totalitarian aggression during the Second World War. When did we decide to become a lesser generation? Stern tongue-lashings and economic sanctions do nothing to defend against military aggression. Force can only be defeated by force. How can we look ourselves in the mirror when we are not willing to defend a friendly partner na- tion against destruction and subjugation? Leaving Ukraine to its fate shames us all. MIKE FITZPATRICK Winnipeg I hope the Ukrainian people get the support and attention they deserve and aren’t forgotten as Tibet was when it was invaded by China or as Palestine is as it continues to be invaded by Israel. Where are the other countries when you need them? “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” — Mahatma Gandhi. LOIS TAYLOR Winnipeg The estimated 200,000 Jews living in Ukraine have been severely affected by the political and economic instability that have mired Ukraine in its post-Soviet independence. In addition, Vladi- mir Putin announced that one of the aims of his military incursion was to “denazify” Ukraine, a country whose president is Jewish, had family who perished in the Holocaust, and is the leader of a free and democratic country. As president of the Jewish Federation of Win- nipeg, I commit that we stand in solidarity with the 180,000 members of Manitoba’s Ukrainian community during this tragic time, and remain deeply concerned for the well-being of Ukraine’s population. Our community is proactively launch- ing a fundraising campaign to help address the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding. The attack on Ukraine is an attack on us all. GUSTAVO ZENTNER Winnipeg So much for ‘public service’ Re: Winnipeg’s photo-enforcement system was set up for profit rather than protection, critics charge (Feb. 25) Isn’t it ironic that whenever governments threaten to contract out public services to private entities, the public service and their associated unions jump on their high horses and pontificate about how only the public service can be trusted with these tasks? Meanwhile, investigations by reporters such as Ryan Thorpe bring to light the incompetence and corruption that, over time, become baked into many public service departments. As was documented earlier with the City of Winnipeg’s planning department problems, the rot in these departments starts at the top and works its way to the bottom. New employees are bullied into kowtowing to the system so as not to make their lazy co-workers look bad. And the unions step up to support their members regard- less of whether they are right or wrong. It’s too bad the elected officials in charge are usu- ally too scared to stand up to the unions. No wonder there is not enough money for snow clearing! RENE VINCENT Winnipeg I’d like to thank the Free Press for the ongoing coverage of traffic engineering in Winnipeg. This series really shows the value of local journalism. No national outlet would devote so much time and energy to a topic so mundane, yet so important. I hope that the reporting will change some things at city hall. CHRIS HARVEY Winnipeg Why are the amber light times still not in- creased to the Institute of Traffic Engineers standard? Some were increased a smidge but are still below the recommended times. This has proven to save lives, so why are they still below the standard? I know why. Two words: tax revenue. RON ROBERT Winnipeg At 10:15 a.m. on Friday, a truck spread sand over the intersection of Home Street and Palmer- ston Avenue. That same truck carefully sanded several other intersections in our neighbourhood. At 2:15 p.m., several large plows carefully scraped the snow off the intersection of Home and Palmerston, as well as several other intersections in our neighbourhood. This mindless waste of our tax dollars has got to stop. ROBERT COLLINGS Winnipeg Parades for scientists? Re: Some heroes wear lab coats, not capes (Opinion, Feb. 26) I agree with Carl DeGurse that the achieve- ments of scientists should be better recognized. We have parades for athletes who run and jump well. It would be great if society would stand and cheer and have honorary parades for people who have helped mankind in so many ways by using their brains. DOROTHY HORN 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 mandated 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 TUESDAY MARCH 1, 2022 Spirited leadership race will aid Conservatives F ORMER Quebec premier Jean Charest was edging closer and closer this week to jump-ing into the Conservative Party leadership race to take the place newly vacated by Erin O’Toole. His style and his history stand in sharp contrast to the leading candidate of this moment, Ottawa-area MP Pierre Poilievre. At age 63, Mr. Charest is a longtime fixture in Canadian politics, having joined the Conservative cabinet of former prime minister Brian Mulroney in 1986. He switched parties to lead the Quebec Liberals, winning Quebec elections in 2003, 2007 and 2008. His terms of office were marked by sharp conflict with labour unions and advocates of Quebec independence. He drags behind him the heavy load of baggage accumulated during a long political career. As a party-switcher, he inspires doubts about his party loyalty. As a close associate of Mr. Mulroney, he raises doubts about his understanding of integrity and high principles of government. Mr. Charest offers a sharp contrast to Mr. Poil- ievre. At age 42, Mr. Poilievre belongs to a newer generation of Canadian Conservatives who rose to prominence in the era of former prime minister Stephen Harper. As a Saskatchewan native and a University of Calgary graduate, he reflects the Prairie Conservative thinking that has dominated the Conservative Party since the Harper years. Now serving his sixth term in the House of Commons, Mr. Poilievre served as a cabinet minister under Mr. Harper. In opposition in 2015, he has earned a national reputation as a merciless and sharp-tongued critic of the ruling Liberals. A leadership race between these two men, if it takes shape, will offer Canadian Conservatives a genuine choice between two distinct paths toward power. Mr. Charest bears the scars of the Quebec battles between federalists and the independence movement. Mr. Poilievre has cast himself as an acerbic opponent of Liberal spending programs and an ardent believer in smaller government and lower taxes. Mr. Charest’s career suggests a willingness to reach across party lines — and even to hop over them when power beckons. Mr. Poilievre has known no other party label than Conservative since the current version of the party rose from the ashes of the former Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties. The social conservative wing of the party may still play a large role in a leadership race if the opponents of same-sex marriage and abortion de- cide one of these men is more sympathetic to their views. Either man, however, is likely to disappoint the social conservatives once the leadership has been settled. Mr. Charest’s prospects depend on a long lead- ership race and abundant opportunity to bring new members into the party. Mr. Poilievre would benefit more from a speedy leadership choice dominated by the party as it was re-shaped by Mr. Harper. Mr. Poilievre is gambling that his ardent sup- port for the anti-vaccine demonstrators whose big highway rigs occupied the streets of Ottawa for three weeks will advance his cause. Mr. Charest counts more on people who have voted Liberal all through the Justin Trudeau years to lift him and his party to power. One way or the other, the race that is taking shape should at last end the internal bickering that elevated Mr. O’Toole to the leadership and then promptly dumped him after a single election loss. And it should give Canada a Conservative Party that can fulfil the opposition role that makes parliamentary government work. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Former Quebec premier Jean Charest A_06_Mar-01-22_FP_01.indd 6 2022-02-28 6:02 PM ;