Letters, Sept. 1

Health-care help coming

Re: NDP can’t unclog ERs without giving community care a boost (Aug.29)

Excellent article by Tom Brodbeck explaining the problems in our emergency rooms and the related bottleneck in the overall health-care system.

Several key points were made, including not enough capacity outside hospitals to move people no longer needing acute care to an alternative level of care (care homes, assisted living, home care or some other community support). This blockage results in ERs with people waiting for ward beds, and other ER attendees having long waits to see a doctor. Not acceptable. I agree wholeheartedly.

Brodbeck says, “when enough beds are lost this way, the emergency department becomes the waiting room for the entire health-care system.”

I think this, in or out of context, is a bit of an overstatement. Numerous people have what are serious and urgent health concerns and receive timely care from their family doctors, walk-in clinics or Qdoc.

We also need to remember how we got here. Budget cuts and underfunding by the previous government, beginning in 2016 and running through 2023, including cancellation of $1 billion worth of health-care infrastructure projects (February 2017); $83 million cut to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (2017-18); layoffs of more than 500 nurses; and closure of three emergency rooms to mention only a few things that led us to our current situation

Brodbeck concludes that “until government makes a serious commitment to expanding personal care home capacity, home care and assisted living and other community supports the hospital bottleneck with remain.”

True, and I would add hiring more ER doctors, nurses and health support workers, and adding ward hospital beds and ER beds would make a significant difference. Also important is finding family doctors or nurse practitioners for the estimated 150,000 to 188,000 people who do not yet have a primary health-care provider, largely in rural and northern Manitoba.

The current NDP government put forward its first budget in March 2024, which included several initiatives to begin the long rebuild of our health-care system.

We have to face reality. There are some quick wins each year, but significant programs and infrastructure improvements and new developments take years from budget and concept-plan to the opening of new programs and facilities.

The government has added 141 personal care home beds, staffed and funded in the last two years. There are currently 409 additional personal care home beds either under construction or funded and in the planning stages (including 32 alternative care beds in partnership with Siloam Mission). The $1.5-billion expansion and renovation of Health Sciences Centre, which began in 2024, will include ER improvements and 240 net new patient rooms by 2030.

I wish it was all being done faster, but help is on the way

Don Budinsky

Winnipeg

How soon they forget

The leader of the country just south of us has constantly claimed that Canada has been ripping them off for decades. On the surface, the numbers seem to support that: Canadian exports to the U.S. are around US$400 billion, while imports are around $US260 billion. That sounds like a large trade imbalance in Canada’s direction.

But let’s look at it on a per‑capita basis. Canadians purchase about US$11,000 per person from the U.S., whereas Americans purchase about US$1,400 per person from Canada. The ratio is about seven to one in America’s favour. How exactly are we “ripping off” the U.S.?

Our purchasing power is much stronger than we think. We need to support Canadian products wherever possible. When Canadian products are not available, purchasing from another country is a reasonable option. It’s not that we want to punish the American people — goodness knows many of us have family in the U.S. — but we shouldn’t support the policies the American administration has put in place.

How quickly 9/11 and the flights diverted into Gander, N.L. are forgotten, when Canadians took in so many Americans at a moment’s notice. How quickly the danger Canadian diplomats faced while hiding six American diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis fades from memory.

It goes on and on — Canada has stood shoulder to shoulder with America on so many occasions.

Were we “mean and difficult to deal with” during those times?

The craziest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.

Dieter Koberstein

Winnipeg

We’re gonna need a better map

Re: ‘Lake America’ to display on Google Maps (Aug. 31)

At time of writing, both Manitoba Hydro’s outages map and Manitoba Public Insurance’s Find an Inspection Station map display “Lake America”. This is because they are dependent on Google Maps to display geographic data.

Geoview is an open source, free to use, alternative to Google Maps for uses such as this, published as part of the Canadian Geospatial Platform, a collaborative effort led by Natural Resources Canada. It certainly isn’t a perfect replacement, but it is pretty close, and as it is open source, users can submit improvements to it for usage by everyone. It can be found at Geo.ca.

Our governments and Crown corporations should look to reduce their spending on foreign, private tools, and instead use that money to hire Canadian developers to contribute to open, Canadian alternatives that everyone can use.

Christian Le Breton

Winnipeg

Sign vandalism cowardly

Re: Council candidates call out vandalism after campaign signs defaced in Waverley West (Aug. 31)

Sixteen of Nafiya Naso’s signs were defaced with gang tags, crude drawings and taunts such as “loser” and “Ur not winning.” Nearby graffiti included homophobic slurs, anti‑India messages and repeated “3LK” markings.

This is an attack on democracy — the work of people who fear a Canada in which minorities and newcomers participate freely. Those who try to silence their neighbours expose themselves as the cowardly enemies within our democracy.

Martin Zeilig

Winnipeg

A quiet Canadian statement

The Haskins Street Band played at Concordia Village’s Birthday Tea (on Friday, Aug. 28), as we often do. As you may know, the folks there are elderly and variously abled in their ability to stand.

I hung a small Canadian flag from my music stand and announced that our next song would be the Woody Guthrie tune This Land is Your Land, but with the Canadianized lyrics. I added that in these times of troubled relations, it provided a great example of how we’d like to do business with the U.S. … co-operative … collaborative.

I invited the audience to sing and clap along.

It started at the closest table, just to the left. One lovely lady stood and began singing and clapping. Her tablemates joined her. Then it slowly spread through the crowd until a good portion of the audience was on their feet clapping, singing and smiling as proud Canadians.

We are sometimes asked why we play these venues. There’s little money in it and it’s a ton of work to haul in, set up and break down.

Well, there’s one answer.

George Bednarczyk

Winnipeg