Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 13, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba Infrastructure not everything Manitoba Public Insurance has a program called the Driver Improvement and Control Pro- gram for drivers who have too many traffic and accidents. One of the elements of the program is defensive driving. As a driver, you are responsible for your own safety and life on the road. Motor vehicles have proper infrastructure, speed limits, regulatory signs and laws to control movement so that it is safe for everyone. In spite of the infrastructure and laws and signage, there are still those who choose to do what they want and put themselves and everybody at risk. It’s wrong to claim that once cyclists have all the infrastructure they want and the permission to ignore the rules of the road, everything will be fine and no more cyclists will be injured or die. If that were true, then it should be the same for vehicle drivers since they have all the infrastruc- ture and laws to prevent that from happening. I have yet to see an obituary that said he/she had the right of way. Stop laying blame; it’s the driver’s fault, it’s cyclists’ fault — take responsi- bility for yourself. GILLES NICOLAS Winnipeg Power predicament Seems by everybody’s reckoning Manitoba is on the verge of an electrical power supply short- age in the not-too-distant future. This is the same province that not too long ago was tooting its own horn about supplying power into a western power grid. This is also the province that was signing (at least trying to) power supply agreements with our neighbour to the east, as well as supplying power to our American friends. Now all I seem to hear is that Manitoba Hydro is on the verge of bankruptcy due to a whole bunch of issues. An expensive power line location certainly didn’t help. While wind and solar may be a nice addition to our (and the nation’s) power grid, it’s hard to believe they are nothing more then a short-term stop-gap measure. This leaves two options, nuclear and hydraulic. Nuclear is something many are not in favour of. Even disposal of its waste is a hot topic. Critics say Hydro cannot afford to finance any more generating stations but I wonder if Hydro can afford not to? I need new brakes on my gasoline-fired car, to drive to work. There is no public transit in rural Manitoba. Can I afford to not get them fixed, even though my credit card is maxed out? I certainly cannot afford a new electric vehicle the govern- ment wants me to buy, and where am I going to get the power supply from anyway? Natural gas generation is a controversial and sensitive option. Some creative financing would be in order. Hopefully, tighter control over construction costs would be a priority. There would be many issues to work through, including First Nation involve- ment, but it would create additional jobs and a financial benefit to our northern communities. Some First Nations are already involved in, and reaping the benefits of that. So then, let’s get started. BOB HAEGEMAN St. Pierre-Jolys The chief’s role Re: Police chief’s job posted eight months after Smyth announced retirement (Aug. 9) The chief of police that this article portrayed is a person in a white shirt sitting in isolation dealing with the special interest groups in the community. The chief of police is not a politician and has people around them to handle the bureau- cratic load. They should instead be seen as a leader of 2,000 employees, responsible for instilling in these employees all of the attributes that the article de- scribed. The chief of police is not there to serve the people, the police service is there to serve the people, and the chief is their leader. The chief has to create a culture in which they, and every member above the rank of constable, realize that they are in that position for one reason, and one reason only, and that is to support the constable on the street. If that culture is established and the chief and his supervisors realize that the image the consta- bles present is one that they have created, then this will assure that the constables on the street have the tools needed to meet the needs of the community they serve. STAN TATARYN Winnipeg Disappointing finish It’s disappointing that the CBC couldn’t air the Paris Olympic closing ceremony, in particular the resurrection of the rings, without injecting untimely commercials given they receive $1.2 billion, yes, billion dollars annually from us taxpayers. I, for one, switched over to the NBC broadcast which was more selective in their timing for com- mercials. Indeed, given CBC appears to have as many commercials as its Canadian (or American) counterparts, why is there any taxpayer funding? JOHN LUMLEY Winnipeg Choking on towing bill Re: ‘A tough pill for everyone to swallow’ (Aug. 7) This is indeed a difficult pill to swallow. Winni- peg citizens are choking on it. The City of Winnipeg feels it was overcharged by $1.1 million by a towing company. So what does it do? It goes back for more. Perhaps they hope to gather more evidence for future litiga- tion. What’s next? They could bring back Caspian Construction to renovate City Hall. Or even find a new office for disgraced former CAO Phil Sheegl. You might not be able to prevent companies from bidding on a contract. But it defies belief to take them on again with litigation still pending. To the layman, it appears the City of Winnipeg is actually weakening its position. What rational person would enter a new business relationship with someone who alleged- ly ripped them off to the tune of over a million dollars? This speaks to the aversion some civic officials and employees have to sticking their necks out. GREG PETZOLD Winnipeg Acts of compassion Re: More grace for refugees (Think Tank, Aug. 6) I would like to add another note of appreciation for Shannon Sampert’s call for more grace in response to our world’s refugee crisis. Despite our nation’s response to Jews during the Nazi regime, members of Winnipeg’s Jewish community have in fact responded with grace to refugees in our time. In recent years it has been my privilege to work with friends in the Jewish community to welcome and help settle Yazidi refugees as they fled the violence of ISIS in Northern Iraq. While the trauma of Mount Sinjar is still evi- dent with many, some of the younger Yazidi ref- ugees are now finding their place in our schools and workplaces. Compassionate grace has shaped this Jewish response to Yazidi refugees. RAY HARRIS Winnipeg Cost-sharing plan Re: Rural, northern Manitoba communities strug- gle with staff shortages, ER closures (Aug. 9) Is it not possible for Manitoba government to pay for the education of students who apply to medical school and are accepted, in exchange for a promise to practice in various communities for a set amount of time, like five or 10 years? And then keep repeating the cycle to keep doctors in that community? Perhaps small communities could pay for half the tuition along with Manitoba government for a promise to practice in the community that pays half the tuition. I am sure a lot more people would pursue this field if the barrier of expensive tuition was removed. RON ROBERT 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 AUGUST 13, 2024 Justice delayed is justice denied — for everyone A NOTHER day, another shortage in the health-care system. Seems pretty much par for the course, not just in Manitoba but in much of the country. This time, it’s months-long delays for people who have been accused of crimes and are waiting for psychiatric assessments. “Our province lacks the infrastructure to meet the needs of mentally ill accused persons engaged in the criminal justice process,” Winnipeg lawyer Ethan Pollock told the Free Press. It’s a concern echoed by many other lawyers working in this province’s criminal justice system. The Criminal Code of Canada, Section 672.14 (1), sets the guidelines for such an assessment: an order lasts just 30 days, and can only be extended to a maximum of 60 days. But due to a shortage of forensic psychiatrists, Manitoba lawyers are seeing their clients face delays for assessments that can stretch far beyond that limit. It’s unacceptable, but the truth is, the issue is hardly new. The Free Press wrote about the same issue in this province — wait for it — on the editorial page in February 2013: “The Manitoba courts have run into a new source of backlog — lengthening lineups for psychiatric assessments are delaying cases, forcing accused persons to sit in pre-trial custody in jail or the remand centre.” It’s been a problem in British Columbia, in Alberta, in Nova Scotia, in Prince Edward Island — and further afield in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia. In the U.S., such delays were ruled by a federal court to have been a violation of constitutional rights — in 2014. That’s an American court, and the American Constitution, but the issue is the same: people with mental health issues not getting the timely assessment and treatment they deserve. It is unfortunately not surprising that the issue has stretched on for so very long. The unfortunate fact is that people with mental health issues often don’t get a fair shake in the justice system, regardless of the best efforts of police, defence lawyers, prosecutors and even judges. Anyone who has reported on the court process — or even sat in on it — has seen the broad extent that is made to treat the mentally ill with care and compassion. But to say that people with severe mental health challenges are ill-equipped to work within the structure of the justice system is an understatement. In the great wide world of health-care con - cerns, it’s also not an understatement to sug- gestion that psychiatric assessments for people accused of crimes fall pretty far down the scale of public concerns about failures in the health- care system. There’s unlikely to be a groundswell calling for provincial governments to provide the timely psychiatric assessments that the law explicitly requires. The fact is that people are generally the most concerned about health-care issues that they can imagine could affect themselves, their family or friends. While mental health issues affect a large number of Manitobans, it’s hard for most to put themselves in the shoes of someone whose mental health problems have brought them to court for their actions. Perhaps it would generate more attention if the general public was more widely aware of the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada has made it abundantly clear that justice delayed is justice denied — and that people accused of crimes who don’t have the full array of judicial timelines met with due diligence, are often given stays of pro- ceedings, meaning those accused of crimes may be released without even be tried for their alleged offences. There is a price to pay for ignoring the legal requirements imposed on the justice system. It’s not one we should ignore. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis THE CANADIAN PRESS / ADRIAN WYLD The Supreme Court of Canada ;