Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 1, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba Rough roads I recently returned home for a couple weeks and was not only shocked but appalled at the human interaction between motorists and cyclists in Winnipeg. Having once been hit by a vehicle running a stop sign, I can certainly attest to the challenges cyclists face at any time on a public thoroughfare. In my case, it was merely a case of a distracted driver. Living on Wellington Crescent has proven to be a real eye opener. Several times, while pulling out of my driveway or returning via the shortest possible route, I am greeted with stares, vulgar comments and of course the international sign for love in the form of a middle finger. In each case, I stop, and ask, what’s up with that? Ironically, on more than one occasion, the cyclist actually came onto my driveway. I wonder, do you treat people at Winnipeg Square or your favourite restaurant in the same fashion? Let’s be fair: this is hardly the actions of the average cyclist and I sympathize with those who face the menacing driver base in Winnipeg. Let’s face it, fellow citizens, like it or not, we better get used to the fact the world is changing. Cycling is fun, it is healthy and the last time I checked, MPI reminds us all: driving is a privi- lege, it is not a right. I applaud folks who choose to cycle to work, for enjoyment and with their family. I am blessed with three grandchildren and I worry often, hoping they will be safe cycling on our streets. So the next time we are on the road as a motorist or as a cyclist, let’s remember our decisions, choices and actions could very well make someone’s day or effectively turn it into our worst nightmare. MICHAEL BANVILLE Winnipeg Rose-coloured lenses Re: Hydro revives global energy consulting arm (July 30) Finance Minister Adrien Sala says that Manito- ba Hydro’s consulting operation, MHI, “potential- ly lost out on some 30 global contracts worth tens of millions of dollars …” Does “potentially” mean MHI was actually en- gaged in a pre-qualification or bidding process? Or does it just mean looking at potential projects that are somewhere in the pipeline somewhere in the world? Does “tens of millions of dollars” mean contract values or potential profits after all costs are accounted for? Mr. Sala makes it sound so simple. I was in- volved in international engineering consulting for several years and I can tell you that this is a very tough, very competitive business in a crowded field. Often you are up against big American, Euro- pean or Asian firms. You can spend $100,000 bid- ding on a major project only to find out later that someone else was wired for it from the begin- ning. As former Hydro CEO Jay Grewal is quoted in this article: “bidding on dozens of jobs doesn’t mean you are going to get dozens of jobs.” That is not to say Manitoba Hydro shouldn’t be in the game. But you don’t seriously pursue 30 contracts. You very carefully choose a few where you have a reasonable chance of being competi- tive. And MHI would probably do well to partner with local consulting firms who have experience in international consulting. I think Mr. Sala’s rosy picture of how international consulting will help Hydro’s bottom line is a tad optimistic. ROBERT FOSTER Winnipeg Good advice Re: Civility, please (Think Tank, July 30) On a smoky, hot Manitoba morning when I was greeted with climate change out my window and wildfires to the north and west, it was reassuring to read the Civility, Please article in the Free Press. The challenges facing all of us across the world (political instability, threats to democracy, fam- ine and so much more) require us to all step up. The advice in the column provides a great how to: give others the benefit of the doubt, subscribe to reliable news sources, evaluate the merits of an argument, criticize ideas not people, amplify constructive views and don’t give up. We can all make our corner of the world better, and by reaching out to support others the impact will spread. DONNA ALEXANDER Winnipeg Problem of both-sides-ism Re: Civility, please (Think Tank, July 30) Republican representative Dusty Johnson’s column is an excellent primer for good political campaign conduct. However, it promotes the falsity of both-sides-ism. After the Republican presidential nominee as- sassination attempt, another Johnson — majority Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson — called for the angry rhetoric to be toned down. Does he not listen to his own leader? Only one side spews anger and hate. Only one side promotes violence. Only one side is corrupt. Only one side cheats. And only one side lies, and lies, and lies, and lies. And if I have to explain which side, isn’t that the problem? DAN CECCHINI Winnipeg Fringe failures As a longtime fringe-fest attendee (and occa- sional creator), I am deeply disappointed in the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival organization for its decision to sell 100 per cent advance tick- ets for all performances. (This began in 2022.) I should mention each advance ticket carries with it an additional fee of $2.50 when purchased in person at RMTC, and an additional $4.50 when bought online. When the festival began, there were two things that categorically set it apart from traditional theatre. No. 1: Anyone who paid the application fee could mount a show — there were no eligibility requirements or restraints on artistic content. No. 2: Admission prices were kept low so all Winnipeggers had the opportunity to see affordable theatre. You never knew how good each show was going to be, but you took your chances, because you weren’t paying that much to begin with. In my experience, I usually ended up seeing some truly spectacular theatre and some real duds. With the arrival of advance tickets, a certain percentage of the house was reserved for people who could afford to pay a premium and liked the conve- nience of having guaranteed tickets. However, before 2022, there was always a limit on the number of advance tickets sold, so those who couldn’t afford the premium prices, and didn’t mind coming early to line up, had the option to do so. (The fact is, some of the best tips came from people talking to each other while in line!) It’s also important to clarify that the extra fees don’t benefit the performers — they go to the fringe festival. I understand as the cost of living rises, so must admission prices, and I know all arts organiza- tions are struggling financially, but surely the fringe could find some other way to fill their coffers other than leaving fringe-goers without the option to see the sold-out shows (usually the best of the fringe) at the original prices, as stated in the program. ROBBI GOLTSMAN-FERRIS Winnipeg Thanks for the coverage I just wanted to pass along my kudos to the Free Press for having a staff writer (in this case, Zoe Pierce) attend and report on the 18U AAA Provincial Baseball championship over the weekend. As someone deeply involved in the baseball community at a coaching and board member level (with the Charleswood Minor Baseball As- sociation), it is great to see these young athletes and their coaches recognized for all of the hard work they have put in this season (and in previous seasons to get to this level of baseball). Coupled with the article earlier this summer from Ken Wiebe on the St. James A’s female 15U team, I truly hope the Free Press continues to focus on the many great stories that the local baseball community has to offer. As someone who has been involved in this community for nearly 10 years, I can attest there are many great teams, coaches and athletes who take pride in playing the great game of baseball during our summer months. JASON ROSIN 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 THURSDAY AUGUST 1, 2024 Keep your phone in your pocket T HE bus is heading north. As is not an unusual occurrence, some- one waiting at the bus stop leaps up from a bench at the moment the bus cruises by. A moment too late. Distracted by their smartphone, they hadn’t seen the bus coming. Luckily, the driver, used to such distractions, had slowed to be absolutely sure the potential passenger wasn’t waiting for this bus. Inside, almost everyone has a phone out. Two passengers also almost miss their stops, en- grossed. Later on the same day, heading south this time, a gaggle of teens boards the bus, talking and laughing excitedly. Overloud, still learning modulation. Just being teens. One pulls out their cellphone to look at it. Then another. Then every- one. Pavlov’s bell has been rung. For the rest of their journey, Mountain to Por- tage, an expedition crossing two streets and 26 avenues, there is unexpected teen silence, each of the five studying their own phone. Yesterday, we had a Think Tank piece from Dennis Hiebert, writing about people giving up smartphones and going back to their “dumber” flip-phone precursors, as if they were donning a kind of technological chastity belt to prevent them from succumbing to their baser urges to watch the latest cat video. Understandable, when smartphone users are spending — it’s fair to say wasting — an average of five hours a day on their devices. Smartphones are an absolutely amazing piece of hand-held technology. From flashlight to birdsong and plant identifier, from fitness tracker to GPS, from communications device to concen- tration-destroyer, they are reshaping our world in ways most could not have conceived when IBM began selling the Simon Personal Communicator in 1994. But at what cost? Go to a bar or a concert to see a live band perform, and you can marvel at the sheer number of people who believe recording an experience is more important than, well, experiencing it. You can only guess how many near-identical videos of the same event are filling up terabyte upon terabyte of storage space. Go to a restaurant and you can look across at a table for two, complete with a couple entranced not with each other, but with the blue glow of their hand-held devices. Watch a parent with a two-year-old in a stroller, the two-year-old burbling happily at the jolts and judders of a Winnipeg sidewalk soiree, while the parent is ear-podded to somewhere else entirely. We’re humans: we evolve — mental and even- tually, physically too — around our tools, and we will no doubt evolve to reach a point of balance with this latest seismic shift in technology. But, in the process, we will lose a lot of a crucial resource that we all have a finite amount of — time. And we’ll miss plenty of first-hand experiences that we will never, ever recover. Today is the first day of August; it is the height of summer, the days are hot, the evenings soft. There might be thunder and lightning, birds calling in the shadows, maybe just the chance to sit and feel the warmth of all-too-brief summer sun on your skin. Walk a woods path — marvel at flowers. Maybe we should all resolve to spend more time being where we are, rather than using our finite number of days being entranced by the fey shadows in a technological box that seems to own us more than we own it. Fight the good fight. Resist. Live in the experience, rather than in a small and blue-screened reflection of it. And don’t take out your phone. Just don’t. Please don’t. Because if you do, we’ll probably find our- selves doing the exact same thing. EDITORIAL RUSSELL WANGERSKY / FREE PRESS Find this, instead of your smartphone. Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis ;