Letters, April 20

A place for garbage

Re: Spruce-up spree sweeps through downtown (April 15)

Much is being said about the garbage and dirt that is visible on Winnipeg’s streets now that the snow is gone. I am glad to see that efforts are being made to clean up what has been revealed.

However, some of that garbage would not be on the streets had there been receptacles for it.

On North Main from Chief Peguis to the Perimeter, there is one garbage receptacle. In spite of repeated requests to both the previous and present city councillors, there are no receptacles even at bus stops. The reason given for the lack is cost and difficulties emptying the cans. Garbage and recycling trucks seem to be able to handle the job on other major streets, but not North Main.

If we truly want to improve the look if our city, then let’s at least give people the opportunity to dispose of garbage and recycling items appropriately.

Brenda Wedlake

Winnipeg

On fixed fees

Re: “Water conservation” (Letters, April 17)

I couldn’t agree more; water is precious and increasingly scarce. I believe there is a better way to structure billing. My proposal is to make a fixed initial amount of water free for every metered address.

While maintaining fixed connection fees, this system would provide a free basic ration, with usage exceeding that threshold charged at rapidly increasing, incremental rates to encourage conservation.

Barry Armstrong

Winnipeg

Poor performance

A very disappointing showing by the Winnipeg Jets in their last home game of the season. The TV commentator let them off the hook saying it was very hard for the players to be motivated for the game.

Really? The millions of dollars they are paid is not enough motivation to do their job? Pride is not enough? What about performing for the sold out crowd who don’t make millions but nonetheless paid their hard-earned dollars to watch the game?

They deserved better.

Sharon Tod

Winnipeg

Pothole strategy

Re: Pothole problem will only get worse unless province steps up (April 2)

I concur wholeheartedly with Tom Brodbeck’s analysis on the pothole problem and the need for increased financial support for the city to get a leg up on repairing its decaying road infrastructure. Nevertheless, I would add two footnotes to his arguments:

One — A strategy that I see the city beginning to embrace is that of resurfacing, not just patching, some of the worst potholed street areas, particularly on high traffic volume streets and intersections. This does not solve the whole problem, but allocating a reasonable chunk of the budget to it begins to cut back on the sheer volume of these road hazards appearing each spring.

Two — Surely, there are new innovative ways to stop the maddening, reappearing pothole phenomena. Perhaps it is time for the city (or someone) to do some R&D on developing a pothole filler that uses today’s super-adhesives to provide an ultra-strong bond with concrete or asphalt, one where the joins are virtually impenetrable by water.

Jack Goodman

Winnipeg

Lab consolidation

Re: “In defence of Dynacare” (Letters, April 17)

I am happy to hear that some people’s experience with Dynacare is good. Unfortunately for some, it is not always the case. The issue with Dynacare is that they consolidated many neighbourhood labs. For example, a small but busy lab in West Broadway was closed and people using the facility are now left with another small, very busy lab downtown.

That lab services a large population, many who are elderly, disabled, or new immigrants. Parents with toddlers, people using walkers or wheelchairs, people in from the street, are crammed elbow to elbow into a small space.

Very few have the ability to use the online app that sets up an appointment for bloodwork. My experience is that, it is no guarantee there would not be a wait upon arrival at the lab. There is often a lineup out into the hall, and wait times routinely exceed an hour. Two days ago, I found myself, on a spontaneous visit, waiting an hour and a half. At one point the screen showed wait times of over two hours.

Driving to another lab is not an option for many of the clients. Parking is available nearby, but for a fee. It is an example of service disparity between the core, and the suburbs.

Kathleen Kristjansson

Winnipeg

Real investments in community

Re: Homelessness crisis worsening, data shows (April 14)

The reasons for the homelessness crisis are laid out very clearly if anyone is willing to honestly put the pieces together.

At the same time the Free Press reported that our homelessness crisis is worse than ever, they also reported the latest in a series of tax cuts or holidays from Wab Kinew’s NDP government and Mark Carney’s Liberal government. This time, it was yet another holiday on gasoline tax from the federal government.

I’m a middle-class single mom. These cuts have a minimal effect on my finances, but every day I see the devastation caused because the government is not funding important social services. Housing, health care, education, clean air, and water, support for those with addictions.

(And yes, it would be nice to get the roads fixed too.)

Instead of a hodgepodge system of gimmicky tax cuts that primarily benefit middle- and higher-income earners, what about a real investment in our community to empower people to succeed in life?

Kathryne Cardwell

Winnipeg

A statue’s changing meaning

Re: “Many problems with statue’s relocation” (Letters, April 13)

With regard to criticisms of the removal of the First World War memorial in front of the former Bank of Montreal building at Portage and Main:

Over time, Winnipeggers have come to see the Bank of Montreal war monument as representing all Canadians who have given up their lives in war, and as recent letters to the editor have suggested, the tragedy of war in general.

But is that really what it represents, even if many people think it does? According to the Manitoba Historical Society Archives, this statue — and granted, it is a compelling work of art — was erected to commemorate the 231 employees of the Bank of Montréal who lost their lives in the First World War. The most visible text on the monument — the huge letters on its stone plinth reading “PATRIA” — suggested it also stood for patriotic defence of the “fatherland” that Latin word conveys. I thank my Gordon Bell High School English teacher, Mr. Kennett, for teaching me Wilfred Owen’s great war poem ending in the line: “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori.” That poem implicitly blames fatherlands for such wars. That was probably not an intention of the original monument, but it’s a nuance that many today would concede.

What monuments like this actually represent is complicated, and contested.

It is understandable that removal of the statue might be interpreted as a disregard of history, Canada’s role in the world wars, and the tragedy of war. But once the building it stands in front of no longer belongs to the bank who commemorated their employees in this monument, would it really be appropriate to keep it where it was? Do the new owners have any responsibility to keep it there? Instead, they gifted it to the city, and the city decided what to do with it.

It’s worth recognizing that the Red River Métis nation has a long tradition of warriorship, dating back centuries. Métis fought in the war of 1812, both world wars, and the many other wars in which Canada has fought since then. The same is true of other Indigenous soldiers who fought and died for Canada, a country which went on to abandon them in many ways.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to erect a statue, at the same location, to the many Métis who died in Canada’s wars, fighting for this country. Then over time Winnipeggers might come to identify with them, and see them as representing Canadian war veterans generally.

Moving the statue is just one of the current transformations of the Bank of Montreal building. Changes like these are not about forgetting the past. They are about the recollection of a history too long forgotten.

Lawrence Bird

Winnipeg