People over cars
Re: Portage and Main has to be people-friendly (Think Tank, May 1)
The reopening of the intersection of Portage and Main to pedestrians is an issue that should be decided by City Council, based on the expertise of city planners and architects such as Brent Bellamy (Think Tank, May 1). As Bellamy states, “Portage and Main will never successfully attract people if it is simultaneously designed to repel them.”
Barricading pedestrians repels both tourists and those who choose to live downtown and experience this area as part of their neighbourhood.
Automobiles should not take precedence over foot traffic.
Roberta Simpson
Winnipeg
EV solutions
There is a valid concern regarding the range/distance EV’s could travel before the battery dies.
To extend the distance an EV could travel, the manufacturers could do three things.
First, as an option, have a small trailer filled with charged batteries that could be connected and towed behind the EV that could extend the range when the main EV batteries lose their charge.
Second, on this same trailer, a low resistance generator or alternator could be installed that operates when a trailer wheel is moving to either charge batteries as the EV moves or to just power other electrical devices without using any battery power.
Lastly, the EV itself as well as the trailer could have solar panels strategically attached to help charge the batteries while travelling or to just operate other electrical options when the sun is shining. EV range should increase dramatically.
Robert J. Moskal
Winnipeg
Voters aren’t fools
Re: Province pledges to triple Grace ICU capacity (April 30)
If “heal health care” is going to be a slogan Stefanson tries to pin her government’s re-election hopes on, she must truly believe voters are stupid.
Her party beat and battered the health care system since coming into power and now want to try to convince us they are the only ones who can help undo the damage they have done.
They are expanding the hospital in Steinbach and the ICU at the Grace and several other “please forget all the bad stuff we did” projects.
But you will have no staff under this government. It’s a government that froze wages, refused to negotiate with or listen to front line staff, and reduced their ranks in order to “slay the deficit.” The only thing they slayed were the services we all rely on and the belief that they valued and respected healthcare workers at every single level of our now crippled system.
The NDP should run on a “heal Manitoba” slogan. Voters will know what they are getting at without having their intelligence insulted.
Brian Spencler
Winnipeg
Questioning the timing
So the Conservatives are planning to triple the size of the Grace Hospital’s ICU. A good and necessary proposal.
They seem to work in threes. Close three ERs and triple the size of the Grace’s ICU. A coincidence? I wonder?
I know ICUs and ERs aren’t the same thing but they are definitely tied to each other. It begs the question, would this have happened if an election wasn’t looming?
I can’t answer that question with certainty but nonetheless it’s a positive step.
Ken McLean
Starbuck
Keeping Bowness, Cheveldayoff has purpose
The Jets owners have decided to maintain the services of both Rick Bowness and Kevin Cheveldayoff for the foreseeable future. While some Jets fans will have questions about this decision, I believe that it serves a valuable purpose as the Jets move forward.
Players will know in no uncertain terms who is running the team, and it is not them. Keeping management intact says clearly that management runs the team, management will make the decisions as to who comes and who goes and that players, no matter what their individual ability level, are there to play the game as their coach wishes and not to question coaching philosophy or try to impose their wishes on how the team should function on the ice.
When things go wrong for sports teams, there is often a knee-jerk reaction to fire the coach or to fire the general manager. Sometimes they are the problem, but not this time. Let’s hope that the players concerned reflect on this over the summer months and return in the fall with a team first attitude and a desire to make the Jets a team of which we can all be proud.
Spencer Schell
Winnipeg
Make ambulance service part of pharmacare plans
Why does the government not add ambulance services to the formula for pharmacare?
The government has done the work to tell each and every one of us how much people can afford based on their income. It would seem a easy way to make sure that people are not being put under undue financial hardships based on an emergency situation.
I don’t think of this as outside the box thinking, I would say it is just thinking.
Regards,
Will Franklin
Winnipeg
Bowness saying it like it is
I have read the recent Free Press articles about the Jets following their season-ending loss in Vegas. My overall reaction to these articles is… “disappointment and disgust”.
It appears only Coach Bowness is willing to say the truth about the quality (or lack thereof) of play by the Jets’ team during this season, especially the last three to four months. The result of Coach Bowness’ comments were these multi-million-dollar players got their feelings hurt!
All I have also seen is numerous Jets players focusing on “how” the message was delivered but I never heard about one player commenting on “what” was said! That includes GM Cheveldayoff and his unwillingness (or inability?) to acknowledge that there is a huge problem with this team.
Frankly I’m not sure why Coach Bowness even agreed to come back and secondly this team’s/organization’s unwillingness to speak the truth is going to result in even more empty seats in the arena. So much for their flashy ticket drive media blitz.
Craig Turner
Winnipeg
Three cheers for 311 staff
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I want to give a big bouquet to the much maligned 311 and Winnipeg’s Water and Waste department. I needed the water to my house shut off.
They co-ordinated their efforts. They had to come multiple times for location, repair and shut off and then turn it back on. They were so helpful, efficient and professional. A special shout out to Jason from Water and Waste who went above and beyond! I was so impressed and grateful.
Andrea Sanderson
Winnipeg
A Lightfoot memory
Gordon Lightfoot provided so many memories for so many people. One memory is playing over and over in my mind today.
I thumbed from Toronto to Sudbury in 1976. Turning left, I headed for the mountains. Employment in Banff was the destination.
I recall, one day, hearing that Lightfoot would be playing in Edmonton the coming Saturday. Well, I left Banff at 7 a.m. that Saturday. My thumb took me to Calgary, then Red Deer, and finally to Edmonton. Purchased a single ticket at the far end of the Edmonton Coliseum.
I remember Lightfoot walking onstage. I recall the voice, the cheers, the applause, and a palpable sadness as the show closed.
After the show I slept in a city park by a river with a few thousand other Lightfoot fans. Thumbed back to Banff the next day. The show date was July 24, 1976. How do I remember the date?
Still have the ticket stub.
Gordon, thank you for the memories. Gordon, rest in peace.
Eric Proctor
Peterborough, Ont.
