Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 23, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba Enough mollycoddling Re: Of babies and bathwater (Editorial, July 20) I have lived in Winnipeg since 1972 and I don’t think there has been a single year when the issue of downtown revitalization wasn’t a major topic in the news. I am firmly of the belief that one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, that it has been an expensive, decades-long exercise in futility is the complete lack of any civic respon- sibility among the landlords, especially the slum landlords, and the absentee property owners whose decrepit and derelict properties are a major blight in our urban core. You can blame the poor, the homeless, the drug addicts and the mentally ill, but, they are not the real problem. It’s the people who take advantage of them with their pay-by-month run-down ac- commodations, the rents for which they invari- ably collect directly from the city, or provide them with the opportunities to squat, vandalize and torch buildings that have been left derelict. I can think of half a dozen lots right now where the rubble of burnt and demolished buildings has been left to sit for months or years. Why does the city mollycoddle these property owners? Is it because any attempted enforcement of existing bylaws inevitably results in a wall of lawyers throwing up every delaying tactic in the book and the ensuing court battles take years and cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to pursue? There is something very wrong with this picture somewhere. Why should a relative hand- ful of corporations and individuals be allowed to prevent our city from making downtown attrac- tive and livable again? J. H. CAMPBELL Winnipeg Sad state of square My wife and I spent Sunday afternoon and eve- ning at Old Market Square taking in the fringe. What a disappointment! There were very few people when there should have been hundreds. I worked the beer tent for over 20 years and it was always hopping with patrons and actors who came for a beer after their show. People from the venues, which where all in the area, filled the square. The patio is nice, but does not have the atmo- sphere the beer tent had. People came to the fringe by foot, cycle, bus, or auto. Then they stayed for the day. They went from venue to venue, shared infor- mation, listened to the actors pitch their show and pass out their literature. There are few food ven- dors and very few merchandise vendors. There is nothing there for them. People now go to the venue of their choice for the day, in St. Boniface, The Forks, Osborne Street, and don’t come to Old Market Square, or if they do it is for one or two shows and then they leave for other places. If I am not going to a show in Old Market Square, there is no reason for me ever going there. The restaurant patios are almost empty. It is sad what is happening. ROY KADING Winnipeg Pleasant season I would like to send a big bouquet to the City of Winnipeg Mosquito Control branch. I have lived in the city for 50 years and remem- ber many past years when I lamented not being able to go outside in my yard/garden because of mosquitoes. The weather this year would have suggested similar problems but that is not the case. Some- how mosquito control seems to have improved dramatically. BARRY OSWALD Winnipeg Failed promises It looks like the NDP and Wab Kinew have pulled it off again. They ran the election on the promise to fix healthcare and the people of Manitoba went for it. As usual, nothing has changed just like with Selinger and Doer. The voters in Manitoba are so gullible they still believe in the NDP and the garbage they say to get elected. We see the same thing happening in the U.S. with Trump. He pumps his fist and the voters be- lieve the garbage. I hope Manitoba is going to be happy after four years of NDP spending. We will be back in the glue with a big deficit again. JOE MELNICK Winnipeg Visit your local Legion Re: The Legion’s shifting dynamics (July 20) Hats off to Conrad Sweatman. The legions and ANAFs are for everyone and you don’t need to be a member to visit. I am a member of St. James Legion No. 4. I didn’t serve but three generations before me did, plus a cousin. No. 4 sponsored my St. James A’s baseball team and I also attended the Legion Ath- letic Camp at the International Peace Gardens in my youth. I joined to support the vets. Great bands play on Friday nights to packed dance floors. I help run poker tournaments on Tuesday nights and planted the seed to host corn- hole which now takes place on Thursday nights with the Manitoba Cornhole Association. The best part is I’ve made new friends, both vets and civilians. Many folks would be isolated without these organizations. These locations also offer excellent food ser- vice. I encourage everyone to check out a legion or ANAF. KELLY RYBACK Winnipeg Kinew right on NATO spending I agree with Premier Wab Kinew’s urging that we speed up our country’s military spending. All our armed forces equipment is getting very old indeed. Our complement of both regular and reserve forces is too low. With all the work our coast guard vessels do, why are they not included in our two per cent? Just because we have not armed these vessels in the past, we should seri- ously be considering it, especially since there are so many international interests (including Russia) eyeing the Arctic. Our international reputation as peacekeepers is still of importance. Political (stupid) manipula- tion has caused expensive fees for cancellations on military equipment over the last few decades, and politicians have frequently failed to listen to the military leaders about what is needed both for now and for our future as a sovereign nation and as a member country of NATO. Canada still holds to remaining a non-nuclear nation, so our commitment to the world and our country as peacekeepers in future, depends on not dilly-dallying on this any longer. My parents were older and both veterans of the Second World War. In today’s uncertain political climate, if we don’t want to have another such war, we need to, at the very least, be at our two per cent commit- ment. LINDA ROSS-MANSFIELD Winnipeg Another shining moment for Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew! While the other premiers complain and tear apart the achievements of our current federal government, such as the Canadian Dental Care Plan, Kinew sets himself apart by addressing the pressing matter of Canada’s defence spending. When Donald Trump was last U.S. president, he clearly stated his displeasure that Canada’s defence spending did not meet the NATO target of two per cent of GDP. Now it seems inevitable that Trump will win the November U.S. presiden- tial election. The urgency of speeding up plans to hike de- fence spending cannot be overstated. MARILYN BIRD Winnipeg Cheers for Scott Re: Winnipeg’s Scott gets call for fourth Olympics (July 20) While nobody wants to gain a spot on the roster in the way in which it fell to Desiree, I have to ad- mit that I’m darned glad to see her going to Paris, even if it’s as an alternate. I hope she gets some minutes on the pitch, be- cause she will make a difference. The team needs her experience and her leadership, but most of all, they need her spirit. Go girl! RANCH CLINCH Winnipeg Recognition for Gee In keeping with Free Press letter submission guidelines, while I appreciate the extensive coverage of Tadei Pogacar’s Tour de France win, Canadian Derek Gee’s ninth-place finish is com- pletely unrecognized. Pity. GEORGE BEDNARCZYK 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 inclu- sion 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@winnipegfreepress.com Think Tank submissions: opinion@winnipegfreepress.com ● 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 COMMENT EDITOR: RUSSELL WANGERSKY 204-697-7269 ● RUSSELL.WANGERSKY@WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A6 TUESDAY JULY 23, 2024 The U.S. election just got more interesting W HAT a weekend it was. Last week wound up with U.S. President Joe Biden facing a COVID-19 diagnosis, while arguing throughout the week that he intend- ed to continue standing for election in the next U.S. presidential race. Not inconsequentially, the Republican National Convention had just ended, firmly cementing Donald Trump as their presidential nominee, and J.D. Vance as the vice-presidential pick. The convention predictably spent many hours bashing Biden for his age and recent poor performances, priming the pump for a campaign based on bash- ing the current president. But Sunday, Biden put out a statement on social media saying he was stepping down from the presidential race and throwing his support and campaign finances behind Vice-President Kama- la Harris. A stream of Democrats announced they were backing Harris through Sunday and Monday, as the Harris campaign racked up an impres- sive US$60 million in new campaign donations. Scores of senators and members of Congress have endorsed her candidacy — exactly the kind of a “groundswell” of support that you’d expect to see effectively stage-managed as part of a mid-cam- paign change of leadership. So what’s it all mean? Well, mostly that we live in interesting times, where a U.S. presidential campaign has moved from a march of duelling arguments of incom- petence to an electoral battle that’s much more challenging to predict. Is the United States ready for a female presi- dent? Is it ready for a Kamala Harris? And what of Donald Trump’s campaign? It has centred on Biden being old, infirm and out of touch. If Harris ends up being the Democratic nominee, as currently seems likely, Trump will be the cranky 78-year-old, constantly airing his grievances, and the oldest presidential candidate in U.S. history, campaigning against an almost 20-years-younger Harris. Republicans repeatedly questioned Biden’s stamina — just what do they expect Trump’s stamina to be like during the next few gruelling months on the campaign trail? Already, there are signs that Trump is uncom- fortable with the current schedule for live debates between the presidential candidates — and Democrats are already playing up the debates as potentially featuring a skilled criminal prosecu- tor (Harris) versus a convicted felon (Trump). There are, of course, wheels within wheels within political wheels. Donald Trump and the Republican party are clearly facing an opponent they did not expect to be facing. Witness Trump’s own Truth Social posting after Biden stepped back: “So, we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate, and quits the race. Now we have to start all over again. Shouldn’t the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud in that everybody around Joe, including his doctors and the Fake News Media, knew he was not capable of running for, or being, President? Just askin’?” Meanwhile, the Democrats are facing a very short timeline to get a candidate in place and set for what will be an extremely difficult campaign, having lost a tremendous amount of name recog- nition with Biden’s departure from the race. All of it points to a frantic few months of cam- paigning on both sides, and something that has become the hallmark of modern campaigning, both in the United States and Canada — personal attacks, slurs, lies and misinformation all seem to be acceptable tools. In the past, a candidate couldn’t afford to lie to voters about their actions, or the actions of other politicians. Now, it seems to have become an acceptable method of political attack, either directly or through surrogate campaigners. Get out your saltshakers — we’ll need to take quite a few grains with what we hear before November. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis (TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE) U.S. President Joe Biden ;