Letters, Sept. 16

Say what you’ll do

I must say that I agree with what Laura Reimer wrote (What do we elect a school trustee to do?, Think Tank, Sept. 12).

I would add, though, that school trustees and school board candidates also have a responsibility to clearly state where they stand on issues in order for people to come out and vote in school board elections.

Simply putting out very generic campaign material (“I’ll work hard on your behalf”; “I live in the area”; “education is important”; and so on …) is insufficient to generate interest or to motivate taxpayers/voters to go out and support candidate X.

I turned 18 the same year that the age of majority was lowered to 18. Proclamation day was a few days later so, along with some of my friends, we went to a pub for our first legal drink. As well, at the first opportunity, I went to vote and I have voted in every election in which I was eligible to vote since then — except for last year’s byelection in Pembina Trails school division (Nov. 25, 2025).

My reason for not voting for the first time since I turned 18 was because there was absolutely no reason to go out and vote. I checked out the profiles of all the candidates running in that byelection and none stood out or stood for anything of substance; it was all pabulum. All their “platforms” — if you can call them that — were insignificant; there was nothing to motivate anyone to go out and vote for any of them.

Yet there are many issues of substance that can and should be dealt with in Pembina Trails (and, I’m sure, in many other school divisions). But not one candidate brought up any issues of significance. And they wonder why there is such a poor turnout in school board elections. (Perhaps some trustees prefer it this way?)

Give the voters a reason to come out and they will!

Back in the day when my kids were in school, I ran for and was elected to the school board where I lived. Turnouts were certainly much better then than they are now. I was not afraid to take on controversial issues; not everyone agreed with my stands, but people came out to vote, either for or against my positions and/or that of the other candidates. People were motivated to come out and vote.

I hope that in this year’s general civic and school board elections that the various candidates will address issues that matter to people. If they do, turnouts will improve.

Gilles Roch

Winnipeg

Coexisting or failing?

Re: Port of Churchill expansion could chase belugas away, U of M researcher says, Sept. 14

Decades ago, we were told mining and other economic development in the North could be “balanced” with protecting caribou habitat.

We’ve seen how that worked out. Fortunes were made. Caribou herds declined, and now some populations are teetering on the brink of extinction.

Now, Premier Wab Kinew is selling us the same old story: that developing the Port of Churchill and protecting belugas can somehow co-exist. But the new University of Manitoba report throws cold water on that fanciful claim.

Wild animals don’t understand this thing called “balance” we keep talking about. All they know is that when their habitat is degraded by noise, traffic and other industrial disturbances, their world is thrown into chaos and their populations plummet.

If we keep calling destruction “balance,” we shouldn’t be surprised when there’s nothing left to balance.

John Youngman

Winnipeg

More to the issue

Re: Staggering issue, Jim Clark’s letter of Sept. 11, 2026.

First, a refresher for readers who may not have read the story on the front page of the Free Press on Sept. 8, and subsequent letters to the editor on the subject.

Currently, independent schools receive 50 per cent of the operating funding (salaries, resource material, etc.) received by public schools and receive no capital funding (providing and maintaining facilities).

In his letter, Mr. Clark states that independent schools, rather than “saving them huge money,” actually “cost taxpayers a lot.” He opines that public schools, by increasing class size by a few more students, could easily absorb a few more students at no additional cost.

Parents and teachers often complain about class sizes, so it’s just as likely that adding a few more students will require increasing the number of classes or, in the extreme, building new schools to house the more than 20,000 students currently enrolled in funded and unfunded independent schools.

Mr. Clark also states that, in certain cases, donations made for capital expenditures can be claimed as charitable donations. That may be true, but depending on the amount, the tax savings for the contributor is only approximately 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the amount gifted, and the savings are not directly funded by the residents of the local school district.

Finally, Mr. Clark believes that independent schools are “divisive” and that students are being “taught that they are ‘different’ than children being taught in regular schools.” My children went to DSFM schools, which are public schools but, in a sense, similar to independent schools. All of their neighbourhood friends went to either the local public school or private schools. As well, they remained friends with some of the kids they played with on local hockey and soccer teams over the years. In the end, what’s wrong with being different?

J.D. Marion

Winnipeg

Build smarter

To avoid building the $3-billion Brandon natural gas plant required for cold snaps, the south Winnipeg geothermal network technology described in Chris Kitching’s Sept. 10 article, South Winnipeg neighbourhood will be the first to go geothermal, should be applied to transition existing infrastructure.

Power savings from a province-wide conversion would flatten peak demand. Additional peak energy can be rapidly provided by routing geothermal lines through sewer mains, as has been done in Germany, and by using industrial and building waste-heat-recovery systems.

Geothermal networks can be amortized over a long period at zero capital cost to the province, funded by monthly utility bills lower than current rates. Furthermore, integrated air conditioning would reduce public health risks from heatwaves and protect Hydro from liability.

The best option to ensure reliable, safe, affordable energy for Manitobans is a province-wide transition to shared geothermal heating, not a $3-billion, greenhouse-gas-producing natural gas plant destined to become a stranded asset.

Dennis LeNeveu

Selkirk

Public or private

It all boils down to “you get what you pay for.”

I have had grandchildren in both private and public schools.

My observation has been that the education and supports that the private schools offer far surpass that of the public schools.

The classes are smaller and teachers are readily available for remedial assistance.

Yes, it is expensive and it is a privilege to be able to send a child to private school, but we live in a democracy and where people choose to send their children to go to school is their business.

Maureen Gordon

Winnipeg

Remembering boxing

Reading about George Chuvalo (“Transcended boxing,” Sept. 14) brought back memories from the 1940s and 1950s of listening to radio broadcasts of boxing matches to keep me awake while I was babysitting.

The sound of the countdown and the bell were familiar radio sounds to me in our household, seeing that my military father’s favourite hobby was boxing for the military, and he liked to keep up to date with “the fights.”

Living in Ottawa at the time Chuvalo turned professional in 1956, I believe Chuvalo may have been one of the contenders whose fights I listened to.

Diane R. Unger

Cooks Creek