Letters, Oct. 23

People over cars — always

Re: Researchers: lights at crossing ‘long overdue’ (Oct. 22)

Maggie Macintosh’s article was right on the mark. The biggest problem with pedestrian crossings is the remarkable inconsistency, but there is also the fact that drivers at every traffic light are trained to keep running through amber lights until they turn to red.

I use the pedestrian crossing at Roblin Boulevard and Hunterspoint Road and drive through it every day. Almost every day I see drivers, from a full block away, who will just keep going through the flashing ambers (at the crossing), especially if there is traffic ahead of them doing the same thing.

Drivers seem to expect pedestrians to wait until there’s no traffic. All pedestrian crossings should show solid amber, turning to red when pressed, consistent with every other intersection. Consistency is absolutely a key element in safety and the city needs to prioritize pedestrian safety over driver convenience.

James Thomson

Winnipeg

A long and winding wait

Groucho Marx once said “I’d never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member.” Woody Allen made the line famous again in the movie Annie Hall.

And I am now a member of one of those clubs: The Waiting for Knee or Hip Surgery Club.

I am not happy to be a member, but many club members are worse off than me. I struggle with walking, stairs are a challenge and driving my car is excruciatingly painful. But I generally sleep through the night and, with the help of pain medications, I plod through the day.

I feel for fellow members who have been waiting months and years in intense pain for surgery they could get privately, in a few weeks, if they had an extra $30,000. I feel for the members who wake up every hour because they have moved the wrong way. I cringe when I see others who can’t walk without a cane or a walker.

The irony here is that as we get older, we are told that aging well is all about staying active and involved. Yet our health-care system, when we need it, forces inactivity on us for long periods of time. As a consequence we are forced to deal with issues related to pain management, depression, anxiety and other related health concerns, as well as a diminished quality of life.

But don’t blame the surgeons for this problem. Our health-care system puts them in the unenviable position of having to tell patients they will likely have to wait an inordinate amount of time to get the surgery they need.

I wonder why our system has not done more to address the patient challenges associated with these long queues. There must be more that can be done to alleviate the suffering of those patients who have been waiting years to get needed surgery. The goal of medicine is to treat the patient and alleviate suffering — not simply to cure a disease. If patients must wait beyond a certain number of months, why not subsidize private surgeries? What is wrong with offering proactive surgery when and where warranted?

I was first referred to my surgeon three years ago when I was bone-on-bone in the medial part of my knee. I was told I wasn’t eligible for surgery. Call when things really deteriorate, they said.

I did what I could over the last three years and watched the quality of my life decline. Now it looks like surgery will be scheduled for June 2027. And that almost four-year wait is a damned shame.

Mac Horsbugh

Winnipeg

The sky did not fall

Re: Gillingham changes tack on Portage and Main (Oct. 22)

The Free Press reported that a subject of (the Oct. 21) debate between mayoral candidates was the above-ground opening of the Portage and Main intersection to pedestrians. The will of the people had been expressed, said one candidate, when in 2018 a majority of voters (in the plebiscite on the issue) said they wanted the intersection to remain closed.

I remember at the time having heated “debates” with friends who insisted that if pedestrians were allowed to cross above ground at Portage and Main, it would be a catastrophe. Traffic would grind to a halt! Pedestrians would be injured!

It’s now eight years later, the intersection has opened, and none of the predicted calamities came to pass. Instead, all of us can drive through or walk across Portage and Main as we choose.

We can all see the positive outcomes. It’s just easier to get across. No more descending into a labyrinth to get from one corner to another. No more taking a wide detour to get from the East Exchange to Portage Avenue. It’s especially better for people with mobility issues — more and more of us these days — and for folks who are not really welcome in the commercial environment of an underground mall.

Speaking of candidates’ debates — I’d say that opening the intersection was democratizing. It serves the people, and our free movement through the downtown area. It connects our public spaces and makes parts of the city that have been cut off from each other much more accessible. Urbanists would argue that this will contribute, with many other changes, to positive social impacts further down the road — and just a more pleasant downtown!

Wise people change their mind when they see the evidence. I’m not talking mayoral candidates, but Winnipeggers. Would anyone now say that Portage and Main should be closed to pedestrians, as it was for 47 long years? Surely not. We’ve moved past that.

City planners and many architects — including Brent Bellamy in this newspaper — argued for years that this intersection should be opened. We’re all right to think critically about the claims of experts. But I’m sure the Winnipeggers who experience downtown now, as both drivers and pedestrians, would all agree that the urbanists’ call on this was the right one.

It has been a great change for downtown. And watch this space — there are a lot more coming.

Lawrence Bird

Winnipeg

Protect free speech

Re: Denialism hurtful, not a crime: Kinew (Oct. 15)

The criminalization of an expression of an opinion, whether we agree with it or not, as proposed by Leah Gazan (Bill C-254, a private member’s bill to amend the Criminal Code), should be strongly opposed. The issue is not the residential schools and the harm that they caused to Indigenous Peoples, but the limitations on free speech. Premier Wab Kinew should be commended for his opposition to this bill.

Lily Stearns

Winnipeg

Kinew has what it takes

Re: “Parlez vous?” (Letters, Oct. 15)

I was not aware that Premier Wab Kinew spoke fluent French. That little fact has further underlined my thinking that Premier Kinew would make an excellent prime minister. He is more than qualified and would bring a progressive, reasoned and balanced voice to Canada’s top job.

Robert Milan

Victoria, B.C.