Letters, Dec. 23

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/12/2024 (282 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wrong place for mayor

Re: Naming of police chief delayed after allegations surface against chosen candidate, Dec. 17

In the simplest definition, the Winnipeg Police Board should be a civilian board acting as a liaison between the community and the police and the police and city council.

It is chaired by a member of city council chosen by the mayor.

Mayor Scott Gilllingham, for the first time since its inception, had appointed himself as one of the two city councillors to sit on the board.

I can’t see how the Winnipeg Police Board can effectively carry out its mandate with the mayor as one if its members.

The board should be able to act independently, reach a consensus, and have its decisions and suggestions presented to the mayor and city council. The presence of the mayor on the board diminishes its appearance of independence and diminishes the authority of the chair.

Stan Tataryn

Winnipeg

Help needed

I am one of six internal medicine geriatric specialists in Manitoba.

As of October 2025, I expected to be one of four in the province due to retirement and resignation.

As part of our job, we diagnose dementia and support people and families living with dementia. This shattering disease has very few treatments.

One of the most important parts of management is ensuring adequate community support to individuals and care partners. Adequate supports improve the safety of people with dementia and can prevent undue hospitalization and or delay long-term care placement in some cases.

I am devastated for Earl Moberg and his family (Anniversary of man’s disappearance renews call for silver alerts, Dec. 12).

The recommendations resulting from the critical investigation report following his disappearance are a small step in the right direction, particularly for this disease which can eventually rob individuals of the ability to advocate for themselves.

In 2023, the Manitoba government released a strategy to target care for older adults (Manitoba, A Great Place to Age: Provincial Seniors Strategy 2023).

I hope that the Manitoba government continues to publically and dramatically work on these goals for the betterment of Manitoban seniors.

Lindsay Torbiak

Winnipeg

Rewarding bad behaviour

Canadians, our media and especially our government leaders should just chill.

When a baby is crying, you see to its needs. Is it hungry, hurt or soiled?

If not, it is crying for attention. If you constantly appease this behaviour, the baby is controlling you.

Years ago when a baby came down the golden escalator, it cried and cried and cried. The media gave it unlimited attention, and the baby achieved the highest position of attention and control in America.

Unfortunately, Canada’s leaders have forgotten how to deal with this crying baby that uses threats like tariffs, 51st state nonsense and border security, things it couldn’t care less about, to satisfy its pathological need for attention.

Our leaders should just prepare to deal with the serious issues that will arise, deal with them as serious adults, and leave Americans to deal with their crying baby when it soils itself.

Dan Cecchini

Winnipeg

Easy to criticize

Good for Dr. Bashir. (CancerCare doc leaps to agency’s defence, Dec. 20.)

It’s easy to be a critic. I know; I have been one.

Few things are perfect and someone in the middle of treatment for cancer, whether it’s their own, a family member’s or friend’s, is in an unenviable position.

Like most Manitobans, I have had loved ones, friends and family turn to CancerCare Manitoba for help and support. Almost without exception, the treatment and emotional support offered by those working in CancerCare Manitoba has been professional and appreciated.

It is easy to find fault with anything or anyone if you ask the right questions. My guess is that if you asked the vast majority of patients who have actually been served by the staff at CancerCare Manitoba, it would paint a different picture.

No one would claim that mistakes aren’t made, or that some things could be done differently, but turning those issues into a public spectacle which undermines the well-being of those providing cancer patients with service is not necessarily helpful.

There is no more difficult time for families than dealing with cancer, for the patients and the staff, so let’s not add to that burden by publicly flogging the people who are trying to help.

Jerry Storie

Winnipeg

But criticism justified

Re: CancerCare doc leaps to agency’s defence, Dec. 20

“You have cancer” are among the most terrifying words that anyone can hear.

All of your hope for a cure immediately falls on the doctors at CancerCare. All of your dreams and aspirations balance precariously on the experience and expertise of the medical teams.

As Dr. Bashir Bashir says, “Every patient, when they reach CancerCare, they should know they are in good hands… my problem is when the patient doesn’t have trust in the institution, in their physician. That is half the battle of cancer treatment.”

While I agree with Dr. Bashir, do doctors actually understand why patients may mistrust them and in some cases actually fear them?

A friend of mine endured 22 illness-inducing chemotherapy sessions over the period of a year, only to be told by a cancer specialist that if there is no significant reduction in the tumor after six sessions, there is no use in further treatment.

It was a loss of quality time for my friend and a loss of trust in the doctors. Later on, a lung X-ray revealed multiple blood clots, any one of which could have ended his life. Apparently his doctor had forgotten to prescribe a blood thinner which is standard practice during chemotherapy. Again, a loss of trust in the doctors.

Another friend, who was going through cancer treatment at the same time, was told by his CancerCare doctor that his cancer was in remission (I was there) in order to convince him to enter into a clinical trial which he had refused several times earlier.

Three days later, a different CancerCare doctor informed him that his cancer had actually spread. Again, a loss of trust in the doctors. My friend’s cancer was terminal and the radiation treatments were causing violent illness.

In desperation, my friend asked me to inform the doctor that he wished to stop all treatment, as was his right to do. When I spoke to the CancerCare doctor and informed him of my friend’s decision, I was met with a belligerent and condescending rebuke. No respect for my friend or his difficult decision. So much for trust.

Cancer patients want nothing more than to trust the doctors who may hold the possibility of a cure in their hands but likewise the doctors need to understand the consequences of their decisions and their behaviour towards their patients and their families.

Trust goes both ways.

Wally Barton

Winnipeg

Two-way street

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien didn’t cower when Republicans tried to make a scapegoat of the Canadian border with exaggerated claims about illegals and drugs coming from the North; no, Chrétien reminded their ilk that the traffic, legal and illegal, across our shared border moves in both directions.

So, why isn’t Justin Trudeau demanding that the States stop illegals, drugs and guns from entering Canada?

Greg J. Edwards

Delta, B.C.