Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 21, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Stop the blame game Re: Homeless plan stokes fears (Jan. 20) Prior to the last provincial election, the NDP pledged to repair the damage the PCs did to our health care, among other things. Fifteen months later we’re still reading about wait times and individuals dying in emergency or being misdiag- nosed and released. The article about the living conditions in some Manitoba Housing residences contains details which anyone would find appall- ing. When the provincial government is asked about these situations, it seems whether it is Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, Housing Minister Bernadette Smith or any other member, they play the blame game on how the PCs caused these problems. After 15 months in office, I think it’s time to quit the finger-pointing and take responsibility for the things they haven’t fixed. HARRY PETERSON Winnipeg Save disability benefit Re: Disability benefit at risk unless quick action taken to approve regulations: advocates (Jan. 18) There are many Manitobans with disabili- ties that have a significant physical or mental health-related impairment; in addition, many have a low income. The Canada Disability Benefit’s regulations still haven’t been approved. This program was to provide up to $200 per month to eligible aged Canadians with disabilities to help those struggling to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. The Canada Disability Benefit program was to come into effect July 1. Unfortunately, that will not be the case! Throughout Canada, advocacy groups in con- junction with disability organizations were spear- heading this project to create a more inclusive and fair process in assisting Canadians. Over the years, I have been affiliated with people who had a qualifying disability that impacted their activi- ties on a daily basis. These Canadians that I have been in contact with throughout those years, and others, contribute to our society in many ways. Disabled Canadians deserve dignity and equali- ty. They simply cannot be left behind. Please, let’s not let this be a dismal failure. PETER JOHN MANASTYRSKY Winnipeg Misguided plans Re: Committee votes to set aside cash for Arling- ton Bridge (Jan. 17) Despite the nearby Salter and McPhillips streets rail crossings, Coun. Janice Lukes favours taking on $30 million in debt to replace the Ar- lington Bridge as a “trade corridor.” Meanwhile, the city has no money to clean up burned-out Main Street properties and acquiring vacant homes for refurbishment as supportive housing. Our mayor favours fining property owners when arsonists strike. Council has grand plans for new transit routes but riders are unable to use bus shelters in winter due to their city-tolerated use as homeless shel- ters. It’s sad that taxpayers have to hear these well-intentioned but misguided plans rather than creative, effective ideas to meet the inner city’s growing safety and housing needs. WAYNE MANISHEN Winnipeg Curl Canada must do better Re: To hell and back (Jan. 16) I have been an avid curling follower since I saw Ernie Richardson and his team win his fourth Brier in Brandon in 1963. I’ve always enjoyed the venerable old roaring game. But I wonder what has happened to the civility and respect usually accorded to what was once the friendliest game to play and watch. I am totally baffled by what happened to Bri- ane Harris over the last year. Testing positive for a “trace” of Ligandrol picked up by a kiss from her husband and consequently being immediately banned from the Scotties followed by a year of trying to exonerate herself and get back to play- ing the game she loves is beyond comprehension. “Trace” is the operative word. We all remem- ber the East German swimmers and others whose body shape indicated they were pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs. How can a trace amount enhance performance? Why not set a level where once that level is crossed, it could enhance performance? The actions of Curling Canada, and the delay by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to bring down their verdict in this case, make me suspicious as to what actually caused this situation in the first place. Questions I have that I’ll never know the an- swer to are these: did Briane or one of her team- mates inadvertently say something or cross paths with some vindictive person in Curling Canada who determined the team needed to be punished? Was the Einarson team just so successful over the past few years that someone decided they needed their lofty position taken down a notch, all the while knowing how much of an effect it would have on the team and the daily life of Ms. Harris? I would have expected better from Curling Canada and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It certainly could have been handled a lot more dip- lomatically. For the sake and future of the sport let’s not ever see this happen again. LARRY GOMPF Winnipeg In praise of Martin Every Saturday, after our Free Press is deliv- ered and it is time to dissect the paper, I ask, “Is there a Nick Martin?” We look forward to reading his critique of famous, infamous and genuinely unknown mystery authors. His observations, of gruesome murders, dysfunctional detectives and shady characters give just enough to make us want to get that latest title. Nick has an uncanny ability to steer us through a complicated plot and knows when to put on the brakes before giving too much away. We are amazed at the number of books he reads and how entertaining his reviews can be. Keep up the great work and we will be waiting for the next mystery to unfold (but not revealed, eh?). MARY PRENTICE Winnipeg Wasted opportunity Re: Sutherland Hotel destroyed by fire (Jan. 16) It’s unfortunate the province or city did not buy the Sutherland Hotel. There were about 60 rooms in that hotel that could have been renovated for the new proposal in getting people living in en- campments into proper housing. It would have been economically and socially more efficient as the various health and social agencies that will be involved in the transition for the previously homeless could deal with multiple people at the same location. But not all is lost as the core still has hotels such as the Manwin Hotel, the Mount Royal, and the King’s that are all vacant. As well, these hotels are close to the numerous outreach programs like Siloam Mission, The Lighthouse and Our Relatives’ Place which could help in the transition from homelessness. ALFRED SANSREGRET Winnipeg University wrong to scrap language program Re: U of W kicks women’s soccer team, English Language Program to curb (Jan. 14) The University of Winnipeg’s decision to cut its English language program is shortsighted and wrong. They rationalize the cut by saying the program is outside of their core programming. This tells me a few things. It tells me they don’t recognize that their lan- guage program is a major recruitment channel for the university; that by primarily relying on language proficiency tests for international student admissions, they will limit the number of countries from which to recruit and, consequent- ly, reduce the diversity of the student population; and they don’t understand that proficient English with understanding of Canadian culture and context is the most essential skill for their stu- dents to be successful in their studies and to find employment after graduation. Cutting the language program will exacerbate the decline of international students, limit the diversity of their student population and produce poorer results for students and the university. GARY GERVAIS 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. OUR VIEW YOUR SAY COMMENT EDITOR: RUSSELL WANGERSKY 204-697-7269 ● RUSSELL.WANGERSKY@WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A6 TUESDAY JANUARY 21, 2025 Sometimes, you can fight city hall W INNIPEG Mayor Scott Gillingham’s change of heart on a proposed pilot pro- ject that would have cut snow-clearing services on residential roads is a useful reminder that citizen engagement with government can be a powerful tool. The city unveiled the pilot project as part of its 2025 budget released last month. Under the proposed plan, the threshold to plow residential streets would have been raised to 15 centimetres of snowfall from the current 10 cm beginning in October. The estimated savings: between $2.75 million and $5 million a year. But it would have come with a human cost. Critics, including those concerned with how it would affect pedestrian mobility, immediately panned the idea. They rightly pointed out that many pedestrians already struggle with poorly cleared sidewalks and some are forced to use residential streets where there are no sidewalks. Less-frequent clearing of residential roads would only make matters worse, they argued. People with disabilities, including those who use mobility devices, would have been particular- ly hard-hit. David Kron, executive director of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba, said the proposed change would have forced some people to stay home more often. “It doesn’t take a lot of snow buildup to make a street or a sidewalk inaccessible for folks that use a manual or power chair or, like myself … a cane,” he said. “If folks can’t get out of their homes, they can’t be part of the community.” He and many others voiced their concerns about the pilot project. And, as elected officials often do when there is a groundswell of oppo- sition to a proposed plan, they reversed their decision. In a unanimous vote last week, council’s public works committee passed a motion to scrap the pilot project. Gillingham said he would support the motion when city council votes on the overall budget on Jan. 29. “We had more feedback concerned (with) the snow-clearing pilot idea than we did about the (proposed 5.95 per cent) property tax increase,” he said. The people spoke and the politicians listened. That is a hallmark of our democracy. People often think they have no say over how governments spend their tax dollars or what laws and bylaws they enact. In fact they do, mainly because politi- cians want to get re-elected and do pay attention to citizen feedback. That may not always be desirable when debat- ing controversial policies, such as supervised consumption sites or how to combat homeless- ness, since it can fuel populist sentiment in government that may contradict evidence-based research. Politicians still have to make tough decisions from time to time that may not always be popular with the public. The province, under then-pre- mier Duff Roblin, would never have built the Red River Floodway in the 1960s had it only listened to the critics. But when it comes to basic services like snow-clearing, library services, public schools or health care, politicians do typically pay attention to public sentiment. If they don’t, they do so at their own peril. City council may, for example, want to pay closer attention to the public backlash around the decision to scrap the Community Connections program at the Millennium Library. The city touted the program in 2022 as a valuable pub- lic service “that will connect individuals with library services and social supports, including items to help meet basic needs” when it was first launched. Citizen engagement on public policy issues matters. The public has power and influence over what their elected officials do. The about-face at city hall on the proposed snow-clearing cut underscores that reality. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham ;