Letters, March 1

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This article was published 01/03/2024 (622 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shock over Spirit Rising House

Re: Home accused of giving pot to youth (Feb. 29)

Nahanni Fontaine has a very difficult job, perhaps the most difficult in government, because as minister responsible for the care of children and families in a province with not nearly the resources it takes to do this, she has made the decision to cut ties with a “child-care” facility.

I only wish someone could wave a magic wand, or, alternatively, tax the higher income brackets, to secure more and better resources for child placement. As I wrote in a previous letter to the Free Press, when a youth was released from court only to go to “no placement available,” it’s not for a lack of caring but a lack of resources.

Enter Spirit Rising House, with its so-called “harm reduction” treatment plan of permanently causing “functional and structural changes to the developing brain” of adolescents. Cannabis is illegal for minors for a really good reason — it harms their brains and can increase anxiety and psychosis. I think many of us have known teens who become “pot heads” failing, first in school, then in adult life.

Is there a need for harm reduction? Absolutely, yes. For adults, cannabis can help wean them from meth addiction. It may even help adults dealing with alcohol addiction, which is also deadly. I also support the development of safer injection sites for adults. For adults.

Nahanni Fontaine is defending children’s rights in the best possible way. As she says, her priority is to see that the children in care are protected, cared for, and loved in a good way. That’s what we want for all of our children. Megwetch.

Gloria Enns

Winnipeg

The article regarding the unsanctioned use of marijuana as a “harm reduction” measure at Spirit Rising House has created a sense of shock in many individuals.

The article goes into some detail about the impact of THC on the mental health and neurology of younger individuals. It’s powerful. What is not in the article is anything regarding the impact of the amphetamines, or the opioids. If one is considering THC as a harm-reduction measure, it is likely because the impact of these other classes of drugs are at play.

The psychological impact of amphetamines and opioids lasts for months and months. One of the factors in treating addictions is the tendency of humans to seek external solutions. This pattern becomes a behavioural habit that is very hard to break.

Breaking the patterns of addictions is hard work, the length of time for a person the break these patterns varies. Time in treatment is too brief. I do not know how long the stays at Spirit Rising are, but it’s too brief. Treatment also requires follow up, good follow up.

There is also the offloading of responsibility. Minister Fontaine redirected specific questions regarding Spirit Rising to the Southern CFS. What’s omitted here is that governments of all stripes show in their behaviour a desire to distance themselves from actual immersion in this problem.

This is a reflection of how the treatment of addictions is at arm’s length from government. We, voters, allow this. The impact of addiction mounts, in terms of cost, lives, and deteriorations in emergency and police response times. Voters and governments continue to allow a major health and social issue to be marginally addressed in our health-care system.

The energy, time and co-ordination to truly address this issue is at least on par with the energy, attention and work required by all levels of government that seems to be leading to a national drug program. Will we step up?

Dick Forbes RPN BA

Winnipeg

Hostage release wouldn’t spare Gaza

Re: “Hold Hamas accountable” (Letters, Feb. 28)

I need to address the falsehoods in Chris Melnick’s Feb. 28 letter. Melnick claims that the Israeli government repeatedly declared that the war would be over as soon as hostages are released. Frankly, that is the complete opposite of the truth.

Israel, its prime minister and other government officials have repeatedly stated that their military operations, including an impending invasion of Rafah, will continue whether a new hostage deal is made or not.

Such statements have been reiterated by Netanyahu mere days before Melnick’s letter was published. Furthermore, every hostage exchange deal Israel has presented, subsequently rejected by Hamas, has not contained any provision for even the possibility of a permanent ceasefire. As the whole world wants a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, so does Hamas. Only Israel stands in the way by denying the possibility even if all hostages are released.

Now I must also say, no matter how you feel about Hamas’s actions, it is appalling to suggest that accountability for Israel’s actions — which include the deaths of over 13,000 children and counting, and the forced famine on a population of over 2.3 million people — should fall on anyone other than its perpetrators; those being the State of Israel, and its supporters internationally who enable it.

Steven Osborne

Winnipeg

Pledges matter

Re: Trump leaves NATO partners essentially on their own (Think Tank, Feb. 28)

McKenna states “alliance members have not met their 2014 pledge to allocate two per cent of their GDP to military expenditures.”

I am not a supporter of Trump but there is irony in criticizing Trump for an outlandish statement about not supporting a NATO member who is delinquent. I have railed in the past about politicians who have made “pledges” at international conferences, particularly COPS, but then do not deliver and instead extend the commitment date to accomplish the objectives. So, it is ironic that countries who have made pledges to NATO objectives apparently don’t realize the definition of a pledge is a “binding promise” and that “binding” means “an agreement, contract, etc. that cannot be changed or stopped.”

Again more political grandstanding with no real commitment.

Gary McGimpsey

Winnipeg

Time for new care standards

More than 17,000 residents of long-term care in Canada died because of COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, 80 per cent of deaths took place in long-term care homes, giving Canada the distinction of having the highest such numbers among nations in the OECD.

Those who lost loved ones haven’t forgotten about commitments made at the height of the pandemic by all levels of government and by the sector itself to right these systemic wrongs.

I was pleased to see the recent release of national standards for long-term care and to see feedback from our National Association of Federal Retirees reflected in the final standards.

The problem, however, is that the standards are still voluntary. Enforceable regulations are needed to have a real impact.

Now is the time to implement enforced principles and national standards for long-term care. As part of a national seniors strategy, these standards must specify conditions and criteria the provinces and territories must meet to receive federal health and social transfer payments, with repercussions for failing to meet the standards. This will ensure equitable and consistent quality care across the country, and adequate levels of funding for these types of care.

It will also ensure greater public accountability of government delivery of long-term care.

I urge all Canadians from coast to coast to coast to call on the government to implement and enforce principles and national standards for long-term care. The time for this is now.

Sincerely,

Gail R. Faveri

Winnipeg