Letters, Nov. 6

Protect the consumer

I am encouraged to see the Canadian government strengthening its relationship with the European Union. Greater economic co-operation, expanded trade opportunities and stronger international partnerships are certainly welcome developments.

But I hope our government recognizes another important opportunity: learning from Europe’s approach to protecting consumers.

For years, the European Union has been a leader in introducing regulations that place greater responsibility on manufacturers and provide meaningful protections for consumers.

Consider the growing movement toward the right to repair. European policies are making it easier for consumers to repair appliances and electronic products, rather than being forced to replace them.

Manufacturers face requirements to make certain replacement parts available for 10 years, helping products last longer and reducing unnecessary waste in our landfills.

Europe has also taken a more precautionary approach to regulating certain chemicals used in cosmetics, shampoos and deodorant, as well as restricting food additives commonly used in North America processed foods. Additionally, they have stronger airline passenger protection rules. Canada has consumer protection laws of its own, but in my opinion, they are too relaxed.

As Canada strengthens its economic ties with Europe, let’s look beyond just trade agreements and consider policies that will also benefit Canadians.

Anne Thomson

Winnipeg

Not a bad latitude

Re: Time stands still: How permanent daylight time could affect Manitobans (Oct. 30)

Given the many claims circulating about the potentially deleterious effects on biological rhythms among Manitoba having moved to permanent daylight time, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare two cities’ sunrise and sunset times: Winnipeg and Oslo, Norway.

Both cities are approximately the same size, have similar educational systems in terms of achievement, a similar-sized commuting population, and with one new important distinction: Oslo maintains a rollback of one hour from Central European Summer Time (CEST) to Central European Time (CET) while Winnipeg will remain on what is curiously referred to as Manitoba Standard Time.

Oslo is about 10 degrees of latitude further north than Winnipeg (and not too far off that of Thompson). When one examines the sunrise and sunset times of these two boreal cities on four select dates — Nov. 1, Dec. 1, Jan. 1 and Feb. 1 — a pattern emerges.

It calls into question whether the effects of permanent daylight time will have any material effects at all on students heading to school, parents commuting to work, or early-bird retirees reading the Free Press.

On these four calendar dates, the sun will now rise at Winnipeg at 8:18 a.m., 9:05 a.m., 9:27 a.m. and 9:02 a.m., respectively. Our Norwegian counterparts have the sun rising at 7:39 a.m., 8:52 a.m., 9:19 a.m. and 8:32 a.m.

These astronomical facts demonstrate little in the way of a difference in the supposed “darkest and coldest days” of the winter months.

In fact, our kids are off school during the two weeks of the latest sunrises of the year in late December/early January.

Moreover, those living in Oslo have virtually the same sunrise time as we do during the two darkest months of the year, despite having differing approaches (now) to the idea of moving the clocks twice a year.

Most commentaries focus on the months of December and January when announcing a lengthy list of negative impacts on human circadian rhythms. Can we be so certain that such effects are as widespread as some claims appear to support?

Most people of working, schooling and child-rearing age do not “get up with the sun” no matter where they live in Canada; they rely on an alarm system to break their sleep schedule, so to speak, and it’s “up and at ’em.” That plan has you up in the dark from November to February for about 40 years!

I can think of one demographic, to which I now belong, that has the lifestyle flexibility to “follow the sun” and set aside all concerns about the state of the clocks: retired Manitobans.

For those in support of permanent standard time, to align with Saskatchewan: are you willing to rise at 4 a.m. in June as you “follow the sun”?

All boreal countries hold precious those long, lingering summer twilight hours which will, as has been our custom for over 60 years, now be “permanent.”

For those who need some cool, pre-dawn air to comfort your awakening in the dark, step outside these days and ponder the moon, Jupiter and Mars in the November skies. That is what our ancestors were accustomed to.

John Murray

Winnipeg

Recognition for Wheeler

I commend the Winnipeg Jets for putting on a great Heritage Classic event, and all the fans that came out and supported both the Heritage Classic and the Jets Alumni Game. It was a memorable weekend for all and Winnipeg did it up right.

I think it was also fitting that Jet fans had a chance to say a proper goodbye to Dustin Byfuglien during the weekend. Proper closure for both sides to a great Jets career.

What I think was missing and is still unfinished is a proper celebration of Blake Wheeler’s career and a proper goodbye. Wheeler played 12 years here and was captain for six of those years.

He was the heart and soul of our team during the Jets’ best seasons around 2017-2018 when we went to the Stanley Cup semifinals against Las Vegas. He lived here 10 months of the year when he played and was greatly involved with charities in the city during that time.

It was nice when the Jets signed Bryan Little to a one-day contract before he retired and gave him a proper sendoff afterwards. Does Blake Wheeler not deserve at least that much? I think so.

It is great we are starting to celebrate our original Jets 2.0 players and forming a proper group of alumni. This recognition of Blake Wheeler’s career would be a proper way to further celebrate our alumni and cement him as one of the Jets greats of this era.

Jack Scott

Winnipeg

Bear with U.S.

Canadians, please know that Americans sometimes vote for the opposite of the president they just endured. Richard Nixon had the “solution” to Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam War; Jimmy Carter was the hopeful antidote to the Nixon-Watergate period; and Ronald Reagan’s charisma and tough Iran talk reassured voters after Carter’s troubled term.

Will that hold true for 2028? I’m not sure.

Imagine that U.S. President Donald Trump finds a loophole in the 22nd Amendment and runs for a third term. Suppose, too, that Democrats nominate former White House chief of staff and former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel as their nominee.

Trump and Emanuel aren’t exactly opposites. Both speak their mind, and neither is a shrinking violet. Ideologically, they’re miles apart.

I wrestled in high school, and recall a teammate’s astute observation. He said that in a match between two highly aggressive wrestlers, the winner usually comes down to who’s the better wrestler.

Let’s apply this thinking to politics — chiefly campaign debates. We’ve seen that debating prowess doesn’t guarantee election-night success, as in George W. Bush vs. John Kerry; Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton; Trump vs. Kamala Harris; and the 1988 VP debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen.

While Clinton and Harris were worthy opponents, Trump never matched wits with someone like Rahm who can neutralize pointless aggression and bluster. This would be a cerebral mismatch in Emanuel’s favour.

I hope Democrats are as cerebral when selecting their 2028 nominee — and that voters follow suit at the polls.

Canada, please bear with us.

Jim Newton

Itasca, Ill.