Letters, May 2

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/05/2022 (1495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mom denied dignified death

Re: Cracks in assisted-dying law begin to show (Opinion, April 29)

Columnist Royce Koop is right that Medical Assistance in Dying is not perfect, but my personal experience says the rules are still too tough, not too lax as he writes.

Just over three years ago, my mother’s sister partook in MAiD. Multiple bouts with cancer left her with an intact mind but almost no quality of life.

My mother, who had just started down the path of Alzheimer’s, expressed a desire for MAiD to be available to her when her time came; we said we would keep that in mind but knew she already would not be deemed mentally competent by the time she might qualify medically.

Fast-forward to exactly a month ago, when my 88-year-old mother with advanced dementia was taken to St. Boniface Emergency in a non-responsive state due to an infection. They thought she might recover, but three days later declared her body had started shutting down irreversibly. We were advised that even with aggressive medical treatment she would not last more than a few days, but likely would die within 24 hours if she went on comfort care.

Based on her medical directive, we chose comfort care. Her heart did not listen to the doctor and we sat beside her 24 hours a day for 16 days until that last organ finally gave out.

The staff at the hospital was exceptional and treated my mother with dignity, but even so this was not the dignified death my mother wanted and deserved. Ruth Charach and many others could have died with greater dignity if the system was even more lax.

Avrom Charach

Winnipeg

Putin eerily similar to Hitler

Re: Canada has sent heavy artillery and ammunition to Ukraine (April 22)

As I read Free Press articles on the war in Ukraine, the parallels between Vladimir Putin’s strategy there and Adolph Hitler’s plans to crush Poland and Europe are eerily similar.

1) Hitler wanted to re-establish Germany as great on the world stage, as Putin does with Russia; 2) Both used propaganda to dehumanize a population and garner home support; 3) As the world watched and listened to Putin and Hitler, there was initial denial of the possibility of invasion; 4) Like Hitler, Putin thinks nothing of committing war crimes to achieve total destruction of another country.

Will the world wait too long to supply Ukraine with sophisticated weapons to defend itself while still applying sanctions, or is the world letting Putin gain total control over Ukraine in the hope he will stop his aggression at that point?

Dennis McGavock

Winnipeg

Bill homeowners for sewer fix

Re: 60 million litres of raw sewage released into Red River during storm (April 26)

Coun. Brian Mayes suggests the problem with discharging untreated sewage into the Red River during periods of heavy rain is most likely caused by the combined sewer system in the older neighbourhoods. I challenge his statement that’s “It’s up to the federal and provincial governments to bail out Winnipeg.”

Rather, I suggest it is primarily the responsibility of the owners of the affected properties to pay to get their sewer system upgraded to the same, or an equivalent, system as is used in the newer neighbourhoods, sometimes referred to as “urban sprawl.”

I know I had to pay to a “local improvement levy” when the storm sewer was put on my street. I was given two options by the city — pay cash, or pay one-tenth of the cost each year on my property taxes.

A third option might be to have the city file a lien against properties where such a cost might cause financial hardship. But I cannot accept the excuse that these property owners “can’t afford” to pay, when it is their homes that are being protected from sewer backup and water in basements. As well, one cannot overlook the significant increase in property values these homeowners have realized over the last few years.

I do not know whether a “combined sewer system upgrade” is more expensive (possibly less) than the cost to service new undeveloped land with a storm sewer, but at the very least the homeowners in the affected neighbourhoods should pay an equivalent amount to that which the newer neighbourhoods have paid, or will pay. There is nothing fair about homeowners in the newer neighbourhoods paying twice for the city’s sewer system — once for their own property and then again in property taxes and provincial and federal taxes to upgrade the older neighbourhoods.

Bob Nichols

Winnipeg

Pesticides offer summer relief

Re: Keep ban on cosmetic pesticides (Letters, April 26)

We all want a clean and safe future for our kids, and I would like to enjoy the outdoors as much as others do, but I cannot. As one of the almost eight per cent of Manitobans who live with seasonal allergies, and with bumper years of ragweed and dandelions since the pesticide ban became law, spending time outside has been more difficult than ever before. I’ve had to pave over my entire backyard so I can use my BBQ. I now have to use antihistamines almost daily, whereas before I only used them occasionally.

For me, the use of pesticides was never about the appearance of my lawn. It was about being able to safely use my own yard without having to use medications. It was about being able to BBQ, to garden, and to stand and chat with neighbours. It was about feeling normal.

Using safe, rigorously tested pesticides approved by Health Canada on my own property should be my prerogative, because we eight per cent also look forward to summer.

Randy Clinch

Winnipeg

Map app records potholes

Re: Cause of potholes contested (Letters, April 29)

Letter writer David Albert Newman suggests someone should create a Manitoba pothole map app that depicts emerging potholes and completed repairs, providing information that would help minimize vehicle damage for fellow Manitoba citizens by recommending alternative routes.

There is a variety of such an app already developed and widely used. It is called “Waze.” It’s a Google app and can be downloaded for Android and Apple smartphones.

It works like this: if you are driving down a street and encounter a hazard, just hit the hazard button and it records and places it on the map to alert other drivers.

Will Franklin

Winnipeg

Denmark leads way on vaccines

Re: Stalled push for third dose needs boost (Opinion, April 14)

Columnist Tom Brodbeck has attacked people for refusing to get vaccinated, calling some of them “flat earthers.” Now that Denmark has announced it is temporarily stopping its COVID-19 vaccination program due to high rates of immunization and falling infection numbers, will Brodbeck call out the Danish government?

What are Brodbeck’s qualifications regarding the vaccines? Is he a doctor or a scientist? No, he is not. Maybe it is time for the Free Press to drop opinion pieces and just print factual articles.

Scott Edkins

Winnipeg

Eager for Indigenous food

Re: Awaiting Paddlewheel’s return (Letters, April 23)

Letter writer Simone Nicolas mentioned her family’s favourite items in this restaurant that used to be in the Hudson’s Bay building, such as bread pudding and squared jello with a dollop of whipping cream on top, but I hope that the new Paddlewheel in the Indigenous-themed incarnation of the building will also serve up Indigenous comfort foods. Then we can all learn a little bit more about the first cultures of this land.

Linda Ross-Mansfield

Winnipeg