Letters,

A mature prime minister

Re: Carney plays well on the road (Editorial, July 14)

The editorial discusses Mark Carney’s strengths from being head of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England.

There is merit in this analysis, but it overlooks Carney’s major contribution to date. This is the simple fact he has replaced Justin Trudeau. Trudeau’s primary personal characteristic is petulance. He slapped a moral label on every issue. If you agreed with him you were amongst the virtuous, if you disagreed with him you were morally culpable and/or stupid. He polarized Canadians in a blink of an eye.

Thank God Carney has displayed no signs of moral posturing. If you disagree with him, he likely would ask you to consider his remarks carefully, as they might provide one with a new perspective.

It is not too early to thank Carney for his maturity.

Kurt Clyde

Winnipeg

If not wind, what?

Re: Gone with the wind? (July 11)

Manitoba needs more electrical power. How are we to generate it? Hydro has said it will not build any more dams. We can burn oil or gas (or coal, God forbid) and live with the worsening effects of global warming we’re already witnessing, or we can use wind, solar, or nuclear energy.

Take your pick.

Those who don’t want wind farms in their backyards have a responsibility to suggest positive alternatives.

Mary Holmen

Winnipeg

Broaden MAID choices

Re: Rethinking mental illness and MAID (Letters, July 6)

Brian Spencler made a valid argument regarding MAID and mental illness from the point of view of someone who has seen how mental illness affects individuals and families.

Most opinions regarding this subject come from either health-care professions or groups responsible for individuals with mental illness, which gives the impression they have a conflict of interest, as they make money off these people. Others claim MAID isn’t moral, ethical or violates the Bible, but no one takes into consideration what the individual wants.

My father was a vibrant, active individual who was diagnosed with dementia in December and died in March. In the end, he was hoisted in and out bed, had his diapers changed, was hand-fed and finally he sat in a wheelchair, almost comatose, the rest of the time looking out a window or at TV. If my father had been cognizant of this I know he would have ended it, as he was a proud man and would have been disgusted by the indignity.

When you are dealing with mental illness, severe stroke or head injury the definition of life has to be redefined. Yes, an individual is breathing and has a pulse — but was he living or simply a breathing life form? I believe my father was the latter, and I’m sure most, if not all, in that situation would rather not be there.

The majority of my circle of friends and family and I agree that, if we are diagnosed with dementia or end up with serious head injury, we should be able to make arrangements in advance for MAID. Pet owners can put a pet down for a variety of reasons yet, as an intelligent individual, I can’t decide how I want to die. (Safety guardrails must be implemented so individuals don’t use it as a convenient way to commit suicide.)

Arthur Matthews

Winnipeg

Protect animals in transport

According to Manitoba’s Animal Care Act, a person must not leave a companion animal in an unattended vehicle if the temperature in the vehicle is so high as to endanger the health of the animal and the ambient temperature is above 22 C. Once again, farmed animals are exempt from protection and denied even this degree of mercy.

Canada has some of the weakest transport laws in the developed world and every year over 1.5 million animals are dead upon arrival at slaughterhouses in this country.

If you were to ask at what temperature is it too hot to haul living beings over blistering highways with no food, water or rest in metal trailers, the answer would appear to be “When enough of them perish to make it no longer profitable.” The bitter irony is that animal agriculture is a main driver of the climate crisis.

We have refrigerated trucks to prevent spoilage once the animals have been killed and their bodies reduced to pretty packages of cellophane.

Surely some of the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars this industry receives can be directed to designing temperature-controlled trailers to offer some comfort in all extremes of weather while the animals are alive — and their use made mandatory.

As conscientious objectors, vegans are already boycotting the cruelty inherent in this industry. It is now time for those who identify as being animal lovers but continue eating them — the majority of Canadians — to raise their voices and demand meaningful change.

Debbie Wall

Winnipeg

Second thoughts on senate appointment

Re: Carney’s pick for senator called a curious choice (July 9); Incoming senator touts reconciliation efforts, commitment to Manitoba (July 10)

Readers of Carol Sanders’ two recent articles on Carney’s Manitoba senator appointment may be interested to know that many better universities prefer to hire extramural candidates, over even their best PhD graduates, for faculty appointments.

The diversity of skills and abstract thinking provided through training elsewhere promotes discussion, and more rigorous interrogation, for their scholarship. An obvious by-product of such an approach is innovation, which may be Carney’s priority in making this appointment.

Chris Jensen

Winnipeg

Give Hydro new marching orders

Re: If it works in Ontario, why not Manitoba? (July 13)

I commend James Wilt on his column on Manitoba Hydro’s options for increased electrical generation. For years Manitoba Hydro has put too many eggs in one basket by relying almost entirely on water power for electricity. We have seen the consequences in the series of dry years we have recently experienced. Now they want to diversify, but are on the wrong track again with the desire to generate power with gas turbines. As Wilt points out, there are other cleaner and probably cheaper alternatives.

The responsibility rests with the Manitoba government to give Hydro new marching orders. For a seemingly progressive government, the NDP has done very little to benefit the environment. Here is an opportunity for a big positive step forward.

And while they’re at it, how about reaching agreements with the Saskatchewan government for Manitoba to generate clean power from wind and solar and send some of it to Saskatchewan to replace the filthy coal-fired plants that they seem so in love with?

Joseph Leven

Winnipeg

A man of many debacles

Re: Trump: The Art of the Debacle (Cartoon, July 13)

Monday’s editorial page cartoon begs the question, which debacle?

Take your pick. Almost invariably, he has a penchant for making things worse and sometimes people die.

Dan Furlan

Winnipeg

Don’t kill field goal returns

If you were at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers game on July 10, watched it live or listened to it on CJOB, there was not a more exciting play to witness than Trey Vaval returning the missed field goal by the Toronto Argonauts for a Bomber touchdown. The most exciting play in the CFL!

I implore the CFL board of governors — do not move the goalposts!

Andrea F. Moore

Winnipeg