Have your say

Idiotic premise

Dan McGroarty's Feb. 1 piece, Impoverish billionaires! Then what?, starts with an idiotic premise, shared by virtually no one -- that billionaires and millionaires should give everything they own to government -- and goes downhill from there.

The objection of the so-called "99 per cent," which, in the U.S., is everyone who makes less than $250,000 a year, is not just inequality or envy. It is that the ultra-wealthy are taxed a smaller share of their income than middle-class earners, and that almost all economic growth in the last 30 years has accrued to that sliver of society.

Simply because increasing the tax rate on the ultra-wealthy will not solve the whole problem is not a reason for rejecting raising the tax rate to a reasonable level and ensuring that everyone contributes to society -- especially those who clearly benefit from it the most.

DOUGALD LAMONT

Winnipeg

Unite the opposition

Charles Huband in his excellent Jan. 30 article, Liberals must commit to protect the vulnerable, writes on how the Liberals must act in order to survive and become an effective national party once more. Mia Rabson, in her same-day article, NDP leadership buzz still missing, says the NDP is losing support in Quebec and all of Canada while it takes its time to choose a new leader.

Meanwhile, the Harper agenda, which I would describe as extreme, un-Canadian conservatism, threatens to destroy our social programs, our health system, and even our parliamentary system.

The three opposition parties must form a coalition to fight Harper on all these issues. Let us unite to form this coalition in order to stop Harper and his arrogant, undemocratic and un-Canadian agenda.

FRASER MULDREW

Winnipeg

Proactive management

The fundamentals of quality education go well beyond reading and writing and include important life lessons such as how to solve problems and manage conflict -- skills that are critical to every child's success in both school and adulthood. Children naturally look to the adults in their lives, and especially their parents and teachers, as role models in this area.

As a mother of school-age children, I was disheartened to read about the escalating conflicts between schools and parents in our city (Mom banned after battle with school, Jan. 30). When the adults in our schools (teachers, administrators and parents) fail to effectively work at managing differences in respectful and positive ways, we fail our children.

As a mediator, I see every day the importance of proactive conflict management (early one-to-one conversations about differences) and effective conflict intervention (third-party-assisted conversations) for both prevention of and recovery from conflict that damages relationships.

It is rarely easy to do, but it teaches and models important lessons to our children that conflict in relationships is inevitable and that we can work it out.

Sandra Koop Harder

Winnipeg

A harsh sentence

Your readers should know the facts about the new polar bear exhibit at the Assiniboine Park Zoo (A big boon for bears, Letters, Jan. 30). First, it has nothing to do with conservation. From a scientific perspective, there is absolutely no conservation value in capturing wild polar bears and putting them in zoos, since there is no known program for successfully rehabilitating orphaned or captive-born polar bears back into the wild.

Once captured, these wild animals will be forced to endure the rest of their lives in captivity, a harsh sentence for the world's widest-ranging land animal. And what about the Manitoba polar bears we plan to ship to other zoos? Once polar bears leave Manitoba, they are at the mercy of foreign jurisdictions and beyond our ability to rescue.

Remember the 1990s when Manitoba polar bears were discovered languishing in hellish living conditions in Mexico and Taipei? No matter how you cut it, the new polar bear exhibit should be an embarrassment to every Manitoban.

JOHN YOUNGMAN

Former president Zoological Society of Manitoba

Winnipeg

Our ties don't bind

Oil is a divisive force in Canada. As long as this underlying historic fault line exists between Alberta and the rest of Canada, it is obvious Alberta will do what it pleases with its main economic resource. That's the sort of argument contained in Frances Russell's Jan. 25 column, Canada exports jobs along with its oil, which doesn't account for the real problem Canada faces.

Canada, in comparison to most other nations, has always had an identity crisis. There lies the problem. Unity in social, economic and cultural understanding is missing from this widespread country.

Looking at any older country or group of people, you see there is a deep understanding and unwritten cultural governance of that place. Canada has too many different types of people to unite all under one common understanding.

This is why there are fault lines in this country that drive provinces away from each other. Alberta will continue to outsource its oil to foreign markets, not just because of profit, but because it is integrally disconnected from a whole. Why have an oil reserve for Canada when there is no moral or ethical feeling towards the rest of the country?

MARIN KECMAN

Winnipeg

A bigger letdown

Re: Delay brings stadium scramble (Jan. 28). Why does Garth Buchko presume there would be a "letdown of having to return to the old stadium?" The bigger letdown might be having to watch games in an uncompleted new stadium.

Furthermore, as a season-ticket holder, I would not be happy having to attend nine home games crammed into September and October.

NEIL TAYLOR

Winnipeg

Keep tabs on Toby

I was happy to see your story It didn't take long: New home for Toby (Jan. 28) about Toby the tabby cat being taken in by an employee at Riverview Health Centre.

I encourage the Free Press to do a follow-up on this story so I and every other reader can learn how Toby and his new owner are doing.

KENNETH DAVIS

Winnipeg

An easy target

Re: They weren't even warm (Feb. 1). If the federal government is looking for budget cuts, may I suggest Environment Canada. They haven't been accurate for years.

LARRY TODD

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 3, 2012 A11