Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 17, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba On euphemisms Re: Student injured after encounter with home- less person during outdoor gym class (Sept. 10) Our language has become so sanitized it obfus- cates reality. We no longer speak of “bums” but of “homeless” or “unsheltered persons.” This might sound kinder, but it clouds the underlying truth. The bien-pensant statements from school officials are part of the problem. Their language creates a false moral equivalence — as if the only distinction is simply having or not having a home or shelter. The word “bum” better captured the truth: idleness, refusal of responsibility, and, too often, menace. If we can’t describe problems honestly, we can’t solve them. Euphemisms don’t make children safer; they put them in harm’s way. TYLER DUNFORD Winnipeg Fontaine’s error Re: Kinew risks further trouble in keeping Fon- taine (Sept. 16) There are so many reasons why Nahanni Fontaine should not have publicly displayed her thoughts on Charlie Kirk all over social media. It was a hot-headed and immature reaction. First of all, Canada abolished the death penalty and nothing Charlie Kirk said or did would make it to trial, never mind being executed for it. That’s not the Canadian way, period. It boggles my mind though why any of our gov- ernment representatives are commenting at all on Charlie Kirk’s death. Please think before you speak or post publicly. The majority of Canadians are sick of all the rage farming for the “tragedy and trauma circus” that is the state of American politics and media. As for Fontaine, she can’t seem to separate her activism from good governance. Except when it comes to the people she is supposed to represent in the legislature. She’s the minister of accessi- bility and families, yet she’s been both insulting and dismissive to members of these communities when she should be advocating for them. As Dan Lett said, there is a “nagging sense it won’t be her last error in judgment.” I don’t see how it possibly could be. DEBRA MCCORMACK Winnipeg “It would be too easy to show her the door,” Ki- new is quoted as saying in Dan Lett’s column. “It is a much harder task to say we’re going to work through this together and I am going to try to help you understand why we need to bring people together and not divide people at this time.” Really, Mr. Kinew? With all the documented needs of health care, housing crisis, escalating costs for food and most everything else, an unco-operative president down south and in all likelihood a difficult path forward for many young people, you choose to babysit a senior cabinet minister who appears to have the emotional maturity of a child? I think you owe more to the taxpayers of this province than a government representative such as Nahanni Fontaine. If Fontaine had an ethical backbone, she would resign herself and spare our government having to deal with this matter which does directly reflect on our provincial leaders. GLORIA TAYLOR Winnipeg Valued perspective Re: Future hopes hostage to grinding war (Sept. 11) The war in Ukraine started on Feb. 24, 2022, with a full-scale invasion by Russia. Since then, many conflicts have occurred on Ukrainian soil. The conflict continues to this day, causing immense suffering of civilian casualties and widespread destruction of Ukraine. This has been one of the deadliest wars in Europe since the Second World War. Throughout these three years, many articles have appeared in the Free Press about Ukraine, the country itself, its people, and the challenges. Personal- ly, I have read many articles on the subject but articles written by Melissa Martin about Ukraine really stood out among all. Browsing through the Free Press I came across an article written by Martin. An excellent written account about Ukrainian people, their daily life, psychological and physical defacement because of the war. We all know what is happening in Ukraine. Therefore my comment in this letter is not too narrate or make a recollection of the war but to compliment Martin for her dedicated involvement as an international reporter for the Free Press, presenting an outstanding interpreta- tion of her perspective on Ukraine. This article identified how she felt living in Ukraine during her time there, the people she met and seeing the atrocity, that is taking place. The Free Press is fortunate to have such writers. PETER JOHN MANASTYRSKY Winnipeg Odd statement by Smith Re: Talk of Alberta separation ‘bananas’: ex-pre- mier (Sept. 16) It was reported that the current premier of Alberta once again stated “…I believe in Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada.” What does this statement actually mean? At the extreme, it could mean that the premier wants Alberta to be 100 per cent in control of every- thing that occurs in Alberta as long as Canada remains united as a nation. However, this is a difficult path to follow. The federal government is responsible for services that affect the country nationally. Examples of these include banking, cross-border transportation, the military, tele- communications and others. This responsibility is actually embedded in the Canadian Constitution. An amendment would be required to the Con- stitution in order for any province or territory to be sovereign, either totally or partially, within or outside a united Canada. This would be a long, laborious process that would take years to come to fruition, if ever. BRIAN FRASER Winnipeg Trouble in the village Re: Keep up the crime crackdown: biz owners (Sept. 12) As a long-standing resident of Osborne Village, I have certainly noticed an increase in vagrancy and begging, in the neighbourhood, in the last couple of years. Homelessness and poverty are not crimes, but they make a lot of people uneasy and fearful. Those suffering from either or both, are worthy of help and care. Personally, I’m not afraid and feel safe. But, every single time I go to the supermarket or the drugstore or the liquor store at River and Osborne, I am besieged by many people, in the doorways, asking for money and often harassing customers. I don’t give money to people panhan- dling on the streets, partly because I’d be hand- ing out cash half a dozen times a day, and partly because I don’t think it’s the answer to anybody’s problems. Drug abuse has obviously also increased sig- nificantly, and is unnerving. People on drugs yell and curse, and often carry weapons, perhaps as much for their own protection, as for the intention to commit a crime. Addiction is a terrible afflic- tion, and again, addicts need real help, and real resources dedicated to them. However, it’s not fair to all of us, who love living in the Village. Part of the charm is the diversity of people attracted to the neighbour- hood. The character of the area is enriched by a broad range of seniors and students and young professionals, and other working people. And the character is enhanced by the “characters.” But, we shouldn’t need to experience abuse of this nature, when we leave our homes to walk around our neighbourhood, and patronize busi- nesses. One small solution I see is the removal of the concrete circular benches, immediately outside the liquor store, and near the now empty Star- bucks shop. People hang out all day, sitting on the benches and engaging in unwelcome behaviour towards passersby and customers of the store. While I can appreciate that it is important for everyone to have a place to gather and visit with others, that is not an appropriate place, and not the primary purpose of those folks using the space. My understanding is that the benches and prop- erty on which they sit are owned by Safeway, but I expect the city has the power of persuasion to have this magnet for disorder removed. VALERIE GILROY 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 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2025 Better protection needed for urban trees P OET Joyce Kilmer perhaps said it best in his poem Trees — and with brevity, too. “I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree.” While you might have stopped and thought about the poetry of the trees that are a constant in the city of Winnipeg — big and small, some- times healthy and other times failing, you proba- bly haven’t thought about the value of a tree. “Depending on the city, for each dollar spent on tree maintenance, about $1.88 to $12.70 was returned in various benefits,” Tree Canada points out. “These values are likely to be lower esti- mates, as they do not include the value of tourism, recreation, or impact on property values, human health, and social wellbeing. Urban trees provide services akin to other urban infrastructure by re- ducing runoff and erosion, improving air quality, saving energy, and sequestering carbon, which increases over time as trees grow.” So it’s probably only sensible that the City of Winnipeg should not only actively protect and maintain its urban forest canopy, but require others to do it, too. Right now, the city is examining the idea of a tree protection bylaw as part of a general bylaw review this year. But in the meantime, council is also looking at requiring infill developers to pay a set fee — $1,000, the amount it costs the city to plant a tree on public land — into a Public Tree Fund when the developers can’t meet the number of trees re- quired under the city’s current landscaping rules. Several Canadian cities already require devel- opers to pay a fee — often between $1,000 and $2,000 — for each tree they fail to plant. Develop- ers have argued that the fee is actually a tax for having used lots to the maximum size permitted for development under zoning regulations. But that muddies the water more than a little bit: after all, landscaping rules generally require the planting of a certain number of trees, and if the footprint of a building makes it impossible to plant those trees, then developers simply save the cost of the work they were supposed to do. All the fee would do is ensure that, if a tree can’t go on the lot of a particular infill development, it will go somewhere else instead. And $1,000 is remarkably cheap. Consider this: the City of Saskatoon actually calculates a value for individual trees and levies that fee if a tree is removed. And it can be much more than $1,000. Trees are marked with a warning placard for prospective developers, which has a space to in- clude the cash value of the tree, based on its size and age. Tree protection includes a buffer zone so that heavy equipment doesn’t compact soil around tree roots. And, “in general: trees that are healthy, sound and over 15 centimetres DBH will not be removed.” (DBH is a tree trunk’s diameter at breast height, measured at 1.3 metres above ground level.) Saskatoon’s urban forestry plan includes expanding the amount of the city covered by a tree canopy to 15 to 20 per cent — and the city is looking at expanding its tree regulations to private property. Want to test the value of trees in Winnipeg? Pick a hot summer day in the city, and walk down a block where the elms have been cut down be- cause of Dutch Elm disease, followed by a block where the trees still stand. You’ll know in an instant what trees can do. Oh, and back to Kilmer for a moment. “Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.” Winnipeg city council can’t make a tree either — but it can make a fee. And there are plenty of reasons why it should. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis RUSSELL WANGERSKY / FREE PRESS A civic tree protection notice in Saskatoon. ;