Letters, Oct. 4

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/10/2023 (933 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A bear’s backyard

All life forms live and adapt to a particular and distinct area. It is their domain. Humans live in villages, cities and large metropolitan areas where they adapt and learn to survive.

Aboriginal people in Canada once had and controlled all of what is now called Canada. It was their domain. Their culture came from adapting to their specific area. We label this as Aboriginal rights. They followed seasonal survival activities and were mobile. They followed the animals and other food resources to survive,

European settler immigrants came from across the Atlantic Ocean with their perceived notion that land can be acquired and tamed and purchased. Earlier colonial courts ruled that Aboriginal people were too mobile to plant themselves in one location like trees or rocks. This was their land property laws called fee simple. They also ruled that Aboriginal people had no sense of property laws and were too nomadic or semi-nomadic. The Supreme Court of Canada used these terms to deprive the Aboriginal people of the lands they had occupied for centuries.

How do the grizzly bears fit into this narrative? The forest is their habitat. It is their area of survival. It is their home.

European settler immigrants have put up signs with the warning “PRIVATE PROPERTY KEEP OUT” or “TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT or PROSECUTED.” I just wonder if the grizzly bears have the same thoughts about their forest areas?

I always wonder. Are property laws more important than human lives?

Ralph Paul

Winnipeg

 

Intolerant legacy

Re: The horrid history of ‘parental rights’ (Oct. 2)

Hidden quietly away in Chad Hayes’s article was a very trenchant observation, namely that “What parents’ rights activists really want is to solidify in the next generation the same bigotry that permeated their own schools decades ago.”

The right wing parents’ rights agenda is not about change. Indeed it is about loyalty to long-standing and outdated beliefs.

It is about perpetuating the status quo and ensuring that intolerance rules the day.

Mac Horsburgh

Winnipeg

 

Pay attention at home

Let me get this straight. My child tells their school that they do not want to be called the name on their birth certificate or addressed by the pronouns assigned at birth. And I will only find this out by having the school inform me. Really?

How uninvolved in my child’s life must I be to find out about it in that manner?

Rene Vincent

Winnipeg

 

The key to shorter wait times

Recently I went to the Seven Oaks urgent care as I thought I might be having a stroke. Within 30 minutes of being there, the triage team had done an EKG, had taken my blood pressure, and samples of blood. Then, I waited for 5.5 hours hoping to see a doctor. I finally left thinking, “if they don’t think this is something serious, then I shouldn’t worry and should just wait to see my family doctor.

Afterwards, I spoke with a friend with lots of emergency room experience who told me that the EKG was to rule out a heart attack. The blood tests were to look for important markers in my blood that would suggest something serious happening. And the 3 blood pressure tests they did during my visit ruled out a stroke or aneurism. I did not come in because I was bleeding, so any SERIOUS issues had been ruled out.

I believe that wait times could be shortened if, at that point, a nurse had come to me and said, “We have ruled out the usual life-threatening possibilities for your visit. There is currently a five-plus hour wait. Would you like to wait, or would you prefer to make an appointment with your doctor?”

That would have put the onus on me to decide. I would then sign a form that I had decided not to wait, and the hospital would have been absolved of any responsibility.

We live in a world where television paints a picture of someone who goes into the hospital for something relatively minor and a major problem is discovered. Those instances are so rare. I don’t think we need more emergency rooms opened up. We just need communication to help people decide if they really need to be taking up space that someone with a real problem needs.

Darlene Neufeld

Winnipeg

 

No need for closure

The closure of schools for the provincial election is inexcusable. If it is no longer acceptable to have voters enter schools to vote, other voting locations should be arranged.

There are options in every community, so there is no reason to take this day class away from the students or the teachers who value classroom time to cover the curriculum. Surely we can do better.

Mark Metcalfe

Winnipeg

 

Boo to bylaw

Re: Head downtown? No thanks (Letters, Sept. 30)

I totally agree with Mr. Friesen’s comments on going downtown for the exact same reasons. That’s why I stick close to my neighborhood, mistakenly thinking it is safe to use the streets without fear of violating a parking restriction. Wrong!

I made a necessary trip to the grocery store on Dec. 18, 2022 (when a parking ban was issued for snow clearing). On my return home I stopped to pick up my mail (a stop which took less than 30 seconds) at the exact time a city truck equipped with cameras passed by me taking my photo. This constituted a “parking” violation and a fine of $150.

According to bylaw 76/2011 6(3) you are not allowed to “stop, stand or park a vehicle” during the ban. My question is why a stop (for less than 30 seconds) is interfering with any snow clearing operation. There was no equipment working in the area.

Why is this even in the bylaw? What else constitutes a “stop”: a stop sign? Dropping off a passenger? Pulling over to let another vehicle by? Another city cash grab?

Only in Winnipeg.

Al Kenyon

Winnipeg

 

Prioritize RSV vax coverage

A Health Canada ad on TV states that Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) will be very risky for those over 60. As a 76 year-old Manitoban I was horrified to learn from my doctor that the vaccine will be available only if paid for by the recipient.

My husband and I will be able to pay the price (approx. $200) for the vaccine if it is required. My real concern is for the many senior Manitobans who cannot afford to pay for it. When I think back to how quickly the COVID-19 vaccine was given without cost to the individual, I find myself wondering how this vaccine is different. We receive COVID-19 and flu vaccines free. Shouldn’t this vaccine be part of the health-care system?

Ideally this vaccine should be available free to all. But at the very least it should be free for those most at risk, those over 60.

I urge the provincial government to immediately make the RSV vaccine available without cost before RSV shortens the lives of seniors unnecessarily.

Catherine Kreindler

Winnipeg