Of letters, sausages and a bounty of fish

Let’s talk sausages. And fish. And letters. We get letters. Lots of letters to the editor, some of which we can print, some we can’t.

Cleanup of river sewage met with silence

Winnipeg is experiencing a very wet year, so wet in fact that the rivers are rising and the riverbank vegetation can be described as jungle-like. High water has delivered a current clearly evident in the Red River’s flow to Lake Winnipeg.

A dash of mortality sprinkled among colourful fields of tulips

In April, I was fortunate enough to be able to check off a major bucket-list item for me: see the tulips in the Netherlands.

Like wooden clogs, windmills and Miffy, the minimalist white bunny created by Dutch artist/children’s book author Dick Bruna, tulips are deeply embedded in the iconography of the Netherlands. They are not a native species but rather a coveted 17th-century import from the Ottoman Empire that ushered in “tulip mania,” which is now a business phrase to describe large economic bubbles and bursts.

As a spring baby, I have always loved tulips. For me, they symbolize renewal and birth, the beginnings of things.

And so, in mid-April — which is peak tulip season — I made the trip to Keukenhof, one of the largest flower gardens in the world, with one of my oldest friends. It’s about a 35-minute bus ride from Amsterdam and is only open for eight short glorious weeks when the tulips burst into bloom.

Letters, July 22

Interesting that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is critical of recent hirings in the public service including correctional officers, sheriffs and social workers. None of the positions listed in the article paid more than $70,000 per year. Pretty hard to argue these positions don’t provide vital services.

Indigenous-led solution to universal crisis

Last week, the Manitoba government announced the fulfilment of an election promise, pledging $727,000 to support the development of an Indigenous-led supervised consumption site downtown, near Main Street, in 2025.

Manitoba is the only province west of Atlantic Canada without a supervised consumption site. People experiencing addiction use the sites to inject or otherwise use drugs in a non-judgmental environment. This prevents overdoses and deaths and provides access to supports necessary to escape substance abuse.

Such “wraparound” supports usually include mental health care, employment and skill training, and the facilitation of a healthy network or relationships necessary for a “clean,” balanced lifestyle.

Since Canada’s first safe consumption site in Vancouver opened in 2003, health advocates have argued that for a minimal cost, most such initiatives reduce crime, death and the spread of diseases such as HIV while providing health care and opportunities to those who need it most.

God, country and Donald John Trump

A friend wanted to go for coffee a couple of nights ago. It prompted me to respond with the three most spoken words in the English language, “No, thank you.” But the person persisted.

So I said the timing did not work because Donald Trump was speaking at the Republican Convention that night. I was writing a column about it the following day for the Saturday edition of this newspaper. My friend said coffee on Thursday night was a much better idea than preparing a column about a person everyone in Winnipeg hates. I thought to myself, how Trumpian that sounded — positively hyperbolic.

I’m confident the majority of people who read this newspaper are not Trump supporters. But I am equally confident that many in Winnipeg and many others reading this in Manitoba do indeed admire the former president, who, the data tells us, is on the road to another four years in the White House.

As of this moment, his opponent, U.S. President Joe Biden, is either fighting off or surrendering to the campaign inside his own party to replace him as the Democratic Party nominee. But I digress.

Of babies and bathwater

It’s the little things that matter, and on those, the City of Winnipeg talks tough enough.

Here, for example, is what it says you have to do with your yard.

“The owner/occupant of a property is responsible for the maintenance of their property, which includes the conditions of the grounds, fence and accessory buildings.

“For example: noxious weeds must be controlled on a property; fences must be maintained in weather-resistant condition by application of paint or preservative and kept in good condition; properties must be free from any accumulation of dog or animal wastes; properties must be maintained so that litter, refuse or other debris do not accumulate so as to be unsightly; properties must kept free of derelict vehicles or auto parts; accessory buildings must be maintained and be protected with a weather-resistant paint or preservative.”