Letters, Sept. 11

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/09/2024 (719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Photo unnecessary

Re: Spirit and legacy ‘an example to us all’ (Sept. 7)

My jaw dropped when I saw the photo the Free Press published online of a concerned crowd around Grand Chief Cathy Merrick after she collapsed.

The story could have been told without publishing that image.

The Free Press should apologize and review their standards for publishing images that could be needlessly traumatizing.

My sincere condolences to everyone who knew and loved her.

Andrew McLaren

Winnipeg

Give time to heal

Re: Verdict triggers shock, grief (Sept. 7)

In juxtaposing the front-page headlines Guard acquitted in inmate’s death and Grand Chief collapses, dies outside of courthouse, the Free Press has done a great disservice to the justice system and to the memory of Grand Chief Cathy Merrick.

To infer that the decision of the courts played a role in Grand Chief Merrick’s tragic passing is unacceptable journalism. Grand Chief Merrick, in her challenging role of representing and fighting for the needs of Manitoba’s First Nations, felt pressures from all sides. Pressure from the First Nations she represented and pressure from governments that pushed back at their demands.

By all accounts Grand Chief Cathy Merrick was a tireless, caring and unwavering leader on behalf of her people. No one knows when our earthly journeys will end, and Grand Chief Merrick’s tragically ended while she was doing the job of representing her people.

Please afford Grand Chief Cathy Merrick some dignity in her untimely passing instead of trying to politicize it. Our sincere condolences to her family, friends and the Indigenous communities she fought for.

Wally Barton

Winnipeg

Decision sets Indigenous issues back

Re: Guard found not guilty in inmate’s death; Spirit and legacy ‘an example to us all’ (Sept. 7)

Many of the opinions the Free Press has shared with its readers bordered, at times, on racism or condones the insidious part of covert racism. But in this day and age it is not as common as it was in past editions.

I read the comments of the late Cathy Merrick on the ruling of a white judge overruling the decision as rendered by the Chief Medical Officer of Manitoba. It clearly indicated that racism is well established in the courts that were set up to promote justice, equality, fairness or impartiality for all in Manitobans. It appears that the Indigenous do not qualify.

The decision as rendered by this particular judge has set back many improvements that were slowly emerging. His decision has reignited anger, confusion and hypocrisy in the law and courts and set the Indigenous community backwards for the next generation to deal with.

Personally, I had the privilege of having the late Cathy as one of my Grade 3 students when I was a teacher in 1972 in Cross Lake, Man.

All Manitobans are affected by her passing as she was a strong advocate for the less fortunate in Manitoba.

May she rest in peace

Ralph Paul

Winnipeg

Police ineffective at protests

Re: Police in no-win situation at protests (Sept. 6)

The story with this headline details the 9,899 hours police worked at protests in the city this year. Policing demonstrations is costly and ineffective, at best. At worst, it undermines the purpose of protest, which is to bring visibility to injustice and affect change.

I have attended close to 40 protests as a safety volunteer this year, and have frequently observed questionable and dangerous police behaviour. Here are just a few examples.

The majority of officers do not assist with traffic, do not engage with protesters, they do not even leave their vehicles.

Police drive recklessly, often darting in and around groups of people. They gridlock traffic unnecessarily instead of letting safety volunteers relieve the pressure — even verbally abusing safety volunteers for doing so.

On one occasion, three officers ignored a car accident that took place 10 feet away from where they were parked. They barely glanced up from their phones as protesters and safety volunteers responded to the accident in their place.

The amount of time and resources devoted to policing protests is absurd. In one case, 20 to 30 officers, including the elite Guns and Gangs Unit, were deployed to a peaceful and compliant protest of 50 people.

Police do not keep protesters safe, we keep us safe. Unlike the Winnipeg Police, we do it respectfully, efficiently, and it costs taxpayers nothing.

Erica McNabb

Winnipeg

The real problem

Re: Sustainability is not the enemy (Think Tank, Sept. 6)

Once again Erna Buffie, standing at the pulpit of climate change, is vilifying the citizens of Niverville who believe that elected council members should decide what happens in their community.

They don’t want an unelected member of an appointed committee to dictate what they should do. According to the chairman of Plan 2050 it was developed over a multi-year period.

Once the plan was complete, the next order of business is to “sell” the plan to the public. The parts of the plan the committee wants you to focus on are talked about at length. The parts of the plan that are not too popular are not mentioned or are downplayed. Anyone opposed is branded a climate denier.

However, the real deniers are those who travel to the cottage and write opinion pieces and comment on social media about EVs and cycling. The deniers are the ones making reservations to fly to their winter homes, or vacation in Tuscany, or go indoor skiing in Dubai.

They seem to think that it’s the guy who drives his internal-combustion-engine car to work and heats his home with natural gas that has to change how he lives to reduce his carbon footprint. The climate activists continually remind us that we are in this together. Look around — are we really?

Gilles Nicolas

Winnipeg

On international students

Re: Immigration not to blame for Canada’s woes despite Poilievre’s claims (Sept. 6)

Great op-ed by Dan Lett on immigration. I agree 100 per cent on what he says but one comment in particular hits home.

International students bring in huge amounts of income to our cash-strapped institutions of higher learning. Without that revenue, tuition fees would have to be raised dramatically to make up the shortfall, so how does it make any sense to prevent these students from finishing their schooling and thereby resulting in our universities not receiving their tuitions?

The government is also cutting the hours these students can work from 40 hours per week to 20 hours per week. Again, how does this make any sense?

For the most part these students are doing jobs that most employers have trouble filling, the wages they make are used to pay rent, buy food, do social activities etc.

Not allowing them to earn sufficient money benefits no one.

Ken McLean

Starbuck

Are we not all immigrants or descendants of immigrants?

All four of my late grandparents came to Canada from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. In his recent column, Dan Lett is wise to point out the flaws of the populist argument that Canada is worse off because we are letting in too many immigrants.

In my opinion there is a racist overtone to these complaints as many people coming here now are coming from countries where people are not “white” like the original colonialists who came here from western European countries. Those colonists stole the country from First Nations people.

If housing is too expensive or in short supply and health care is not working, you really have to look at the way our governments have mismanaged these rather than blame immigrants.

Irwin Corobow

Winnipeg