Letters, May 17 – Winnipeg Free Press

Opinion

Strengthen animal protection laws

Again: “Reasonable” 68 dogs buried in garbage were rescued from the dirty place (May 16)

This situation has all the makings of a puppy mill, and while “spay and neuter” might be one takeaway message, the other should certainly be “adopt, don't shop.”

It is unconscionable to continue to breed puppies for profit when there are countless numbers of dogs dying for lack of good shelter.

The cost of caring for these poor souls must be borne by those responsible for their negligence. They should also be banned from keeping livestock in the future. Unfortunately, our animal welfare laws are woefully inadequate and their victims can be punished more lightly by reporting them to the CRA for sales tax evasion.

Debbie Wall

Winnipeg

Rules are rules

Again: Brass Knuckles Used in Assault: Police (May 16)

I know very well how the Zayd family feels about the thefts that took place in their shops. Mr Zeid had previously said his staff would do whatever it took to protect the goods in his stores in the event of a theft.

I appreciate protecting your bottom line, but come on…putting an employee's life on the line doesn't warrant $50 or $60 in lost product. It's sad why Grand Chief Cathy Merrick had to get involved because a local resident was hit with an alleged theft.

Perhaps Chief Merrick can tell his people about truth and reconciliation, that hurt should stop and that nothing in life is free.

You can't go into a store, get what you want, and leave without paying. There are rules for everything.

Willy Martens

Winnipeg

Demand for Wolseley Avenue

We support reducing the speed limit to 30km/h on Wolseley Avenue and raising pedestrian crossings in the neighborhood greenway plan, but we have a problem with the proposed speed tables and barrier restrictions.

As cyclists, we find breaking speed tables and barriers unsavory and potentially dangerous. Cyclists must slow down completely to pass the speed tables or risk losing balance and falling.

Do not include bumps and speed tables on Wolseley Avenue.

As cyclists, we welcome improvements such as pothole filling on cycle paths around the city, particularly on Wolseley Avenue and Wellington Crescent.

Wanda and Wayne Guenther

Winnipeg

Support for existing facilities

Again: What does our city value? (Think Center, May 16)

Erna Buffy for Mayor! For telling him about “development” in Winnipeg, it costs taxpayers so much to fund and so much more could be supported.

Erna understands the need to change our values. Expensive infrastructure in cities bankrupts the city budget, and regardless of the quality of life in designated areas, existing necessary facilities are allowed to deteriorate.

Gerry Thorsteinson

Winnipeg

Protest elsewhere

Again: A university's priorities should be education, not protest (Think Center, May 11)

I study as a teacher A university's priorities should be education, not protest with great interest. A university should be a safe haven where ideas can be developed, discussed/debated, and learned without fear, yelling, or censorship. (This is how humanity grows with collective knowledge and wisdom.)

In other words, universities should be sanctuaries where people think, teach, and learn, and are not afraid to express their views. As the pinnacle of civilization envisioned by the ancient Greeks, the academy, as a community of scholars and students, provides the opportunity to impart knowledge and wisdom to the younger generation, and thus inspires learning and learning more. It also provides new knowledge through research.

As a professor, I want to help my students realize their natural potential and become ready to work in the real world with real knowledge and analytical thinking skills so they can solve real-world problems and make a positive impact on humanity. Stopping classes, guest lectures, and other intellectual pursuits doesn't serve my students—it drains their energy and undermines their learning. Holding lectures, conferences, and other informational events will serve the local community effectively as long as they remain civil and do not close schools.

While I support the right of students to protest peacefully, I believe they should be protesting at the relevant centers of power (such as the supply of arms to the warring parties) and elsewhere directly involved in the Gaza tragedy.

University is not a place for crowds.

Michael Pravitsa

Winnipeg

It's time to look in the mirror

Again: Stand up to violence (Think Center, May 11); An adult education option for EIA recipients could improve the lives of “fodder for the lower end of the labor market”, the hearing said. (May 8)

Professor Emeritus John Vince of the University of Manitoba is exemplary in what we expect from our senior scholars.

In a recent article on violence, he follows the German philosopher and social critic Jürgen Habermas in suggesting that forms of violence can be illegal (illegal) and structural (quasi-legal). His focus is on past illegitimate violence, from terrorism to the normalization of violent “solutions” to everyday events amplified by social media and often resulting in violence.

However, when it comes to “structural” violence, there are many things to consider. Wiens offers examples: “unreasonable social inequality, discrimination, poverty and marginalization…”

I am reminded of a May 8 comment by University of Winnipeg Senior Researcher Jim Silver about these structured but often hidden traumas. Free press article on adult education and people living on welfare (May 8). “They were prey for the lower end of the labor market,” says Silver.

“Fodder for the bottom of the labor market”: this idea allows us to pause and discover concepts we rarely think about: human capital, human resources (HR), labor, hands, all hands on deck, etc. The systemic violence inherent in this instrumental and extractive attitude of our countrymen leaves little room for human dignity, respect, honor and basic decency.

Misplaced debates about what constitutes a “standard of living”; the contempt with which the inner-city and inner-city poor are often held; the cynical removal of infrastructure and services from working-class neighborhoods should be a source of deep shame; we have allowed frugality and indifference to abuse the entire lower class, our brothers and sisters.

It is very easy to forget that our comfortable position rests on the labor of these others; the source of our security. But wherever the violence comes from, let's turn to another quote: “We have met the enemy, and that is us!

Sig laser

Winnipeg