Have your say

Tasting forbidden fruit

Whoever decided to demonize sugar (Want to buy pop? Show me some ID, Feb. 2) clearly never heard that forbidden fruit tastes sweetest, especially to a teenager intent on making a protest against society's restrictions.

A taste for sugar comes long before children can choose pop for themselves. Parents buy what they afford. When water is not an option and milk and juice are too expensive, pop seems reasonable.

Perhaps we should spend our energy (and our money) on providing viable alternatives instead of this knee-jerk proposal to ban sugary drinks.

ANN TIMONIN

Winnipeg

Consider responsibility

While your Feb. 2 editorial City police demand too much outlines a number of considerations when determining compensation for police officers, one important aspect is missing. That is the level of responsibility assumed by the officer while conducting his or her work.

There are officers within the police service who are better compensated on the basis of education, experience and responsibility. But officers who must make split-second life-or-death decisions must be paid accordingly.

If these types of decisions were few and far between, that would be one thing. However, in Winnipeg, police officers find themselves in such positions of responsibility regularly and routinely. Their salary must reflect that.

We should not allow the city to cry that it can't afford to pay. We've seen years of no tax increases and years of city spending in areas not prioritized by citizens. Winnipeggers appear to fear for their safety. The victims of crime and the potential victims of crime deserve a well-paid, engaged and professional police force working with them.

MARLA GARINGER NIEKAMP

Selkirk

Wising up to radar

Re: Ex-Mountie latest to call photo radar mere cash grab (Feb. 1). Yes, photo radar is indeed a much-needed source of revenue for the city. Casinos are also a much-needed source of revenue for the province. Both are strictly voluntary contributions. I don't contribute to either program. I choose not to gamble and I choose not to speed or run red lights.

You would think that after having received a few photo-radar tickets that drivers would truly wise up and stop speeding. The city, in dire need of added revenue, may as well wise up and grab some from drivers who just don't seem to get it. The provincial government should wise up the legislation to allow the mobile photo-enforcement units to be used anywhere the police see a need for them, doing away with the school-zone nonsense.

There are numerous speeding hot spots in and around the city that must also be targeted. This would offer a dual benefit by increasing revenues and forcing even more drivers to wise up. To generate further revenue for the police service, a dedicated number of police patrol units need to also be utilized to target numerous other unwise driving habits, such as running stop signs, cellphone use and sloppy cycling.

DENIS ROY

Oakbank

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Is the public not aware that tickets issued by police are a source of revenue to offset the overall operating costs of policing? Can you imagine what the cost would actually be if police no longer issued tickets for all offences? There would be no revenue being generated and then the complainers would switch over to the high cost for policing.

The ex-Mountie, of all people, should have known better and, more important, he should have known what the speed limit is.

DAN HERZOG

Winnipeg

Paul's wrong reasons

I agree with Nick Ternette (Winning with nastiness, Letters, Feb. 1). It is nice to have a non-fringe candidate in the U.S. openly calling for an end to U.S. military presence abroad. Ron Paul, however, wants to do it for the wrong reasons. His policy of non-intervention extends far beyond military action to include the end of foreign aid.

No one believes foreign aid is a long-term solution, but as long as the rich countries continue to support trade policies that disadvantage those in poorer countries, ending foreign aid would be unethical.

Nor does Paul plan to end the remote extra-judicial execution of alleged terrorists and, as is becoming increasingly common, any civilians who happen to live next door.

Paul has not rejected nastiness; his newsletters contain such gems as "10 Militia Commandments" and refer to former South African president Nelson Mandela as a "corrupt communist" organizing a "holocaust" against white people. Given these factors, it is a wonder he has any support on the left.

SAM DYCK

Winnipeg

Ill-placed faith

Re: The flood is not over, nor is the fight (Jan. 28). I could not agree more with the headline on Scott Forbes' article, and also his conclusion that it is "human folly to experience a disaster and not take the obvious steps to prevent it from happening again." Where we probably part company is on what those "obvious steps" should be.

Putting our faith solely in manmade structures, as he seems to suggest, to hold back the forces already being unleashed against us by anthropogenic climate change, is ill-placed.

The millions already spent years ago on flood-control structures in Saskatchewan did not hold back the terrible flood waters last year on the Souris River system in that province, downstream in Minot, N.D., and then back in Manitoba in places like Souris. The same applies to the decades-old Shellmouth flood-control dam on the Assiniboine River in my area.

I believe all the physical structures Forbes mentions, both completed and planned, can be "tinkered with" to get the best results. But, sadly, having ignored real solutions for so long, these are all that remain, but only as a stop-gap measures.

Tackling the root causes of climate change, by dramatically reducing our burning of fossil fuels and finding alternative, sustainable energy sources, is what we really need.

LAWRENCE POWELL

Roblin

Whales add urgency

I agree with the facts presented in the Jan. 31 article Killer whales moving in on polar bears' territory. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that global warming has a direct affect on killer whales moving to the northern territory for feeding. But this makes the issue of the polar bears' survival even more urgent, as they now have additional competition to go along with the problem of habitat loss.

The sooner we educate ourselves about the polar bears' dilemma, the better will be their chance of survival. Most recently, the Assiniboine Park Zoo took action toward the preservation of this beautiful and slowly disappearing species, and this will help raise awareness of the severity of this issue.

NEETA ISLAM

Winnipeg

All in the breeding

Re: Confused definitions (Letters, Feb. 1). I wish to suggest that Michael Melanson and Michael Cavers are both off base as it concerns the definition of race.

There is only one race of Homo sapiens, as we are all connected by common descent. However, as is the case with other mammals, different breeds exist within our race. That's why we hear terminology such as "half breeds," "banjo-picking inbreds" and "he is a product of his breeding."

Therefore, persons who are intolerant of others of a different skin colour should be referred to as breedists rather than racists.

Grant Rodgers

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 6, 2012 A11