Letters, Sept. 5

Clearing the air

Re: QDoc patients in middle of billing dispute (Sept. 4)

QDoc has been fortunate to have a genuine partner in the Manitoba government over the past several years. Premier Wab Kinew and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara have been consistently clear that no Manitoban should go without care because of where they live, and that commitment is exactly why virtual care exists as a permanent, publicly available option today. We built MediNav, the province’s online appointment booking system, together with Manitoba Health, and that same collaborative spirit has helped make more than 350,000 patient visits possible through our platform — many of them evenings, overnights and weekends, reaching rural and underserviced communities that need it most.

We want to be direct with the people who rely on us: QDoc is not going anywhere. We continue to see patients today, and we will keep doing so tomorrow. The issue reported this week is a technical billing matter, not a service disruption, and we are actively working with the province to resolve it quickly, so we can keep growing our capacity to serve Manitobans rather than limiting it.

We also want to take responsibility for our part in the recent confusion. Our Aug. 24 message to a small subset of our patients was meant to keep our community informed, but its tone left some people more worried than they needed to be, and for that we apologize. That was never our intention.

QDoc exists to help this government deliver on a vision it has championed from the start: that every Manitoban, no matter their postal code, can see a physician or nurse practitioner when they need one. Given how firmly the premier and Minister Asagwara have stood behind that promise, we have every confidence this billing matter will be resolved quickly and fairly. We’re proud to keep working hand in hand with the province to expand access to quality medical care for all.

Dr. Norm Silver

CEO, QDoc Virtual Healthcare Winnipeg

We’re a mutual aid society

Re: ‘It was all instinct’ (Sept. 3)

We hear much today about the struggles in Ukraine, Israel and other places in the world. But we hear little about the solidarity of people everywhere.

We learned in the Sept. 3 Free Press about Jayclyn Morrissette, who rescued a father and a two-year-old from drowning in the Red River. (She said it was) instinct that caused her to save the drowning pair. Perhaps it was more human solidarity that motivated her.

We hear much today of turmoil in the world but little about mutual aid. Back at the turn of the 19th century, Peter Kropotkin published the book Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, which noted that some birds and insects rescue struggling kin from suffering, and animals often formed rings to protect other animals from attacking them. It appears humans sometimes provide the solidarity that helps keep others safe or alive.

I fear we may be overlooking the mutual aid that some humans do for strangers. Hopefully there will be places on social media to alert more of us that an instinct, perhaps in all of us, is to help others survive the struggles of the 21st century.

Barry Hammond

Winnipeg

Off-road safety demands attention

The recent fatal off-road vehicle rollover in the R.M. of Dauphin is another painful reminder of the need to take off-road vehicle safety seriously in Manitoba.

For my family, this is deeply personal. Several years ago, we lost a child in our extended family in an off-road vehicle collision. My wife and I have also come dangerously close to being struck by an off-road vehicle while running on a narrow local trail, with little room to safely get out of its way.

In Headingley, we regularly see off-road vehicles travelling at high speeds along residential streets and trails. Many appear to be unregistered and uninsured and lack basic safety equipment. These are not toys. They are powerful motor vehicles capable of causing serious injury or death.

This is not about preventing responsible people from enjoying off-road vehicles. It is about ensuring they are operated responsibly and that existing laws mean something.

I have raised these concerns with municipal and provincial officials, but too often correspondence goes unanswered or responsibility is referred elsewhere. That needs to change.

Local police and the RCMP also have an important role in enforcing Manitoba’s off-road vehicle laws. Laws are most effective when they are accompanied by reasonable, visible enforcement and public education. Waiting until someone is seriously injured or killed is not enforcement, it is reacting to a tragedy that might have been preventable.

Municipalities, the province, local police and the RCMP should work together on enforcement, education and prevention. Parents and young riders also need to understand the laws, the risks and their responsibilities.

With municipal elections approaching, voters should ask candidates what they will do to improve off-road vehicle safety in their communities.

We know the risks. We have the laws. What we need now is a commitment to prevention before another family experiences preventable tragedy.

Paul Brault

Headingley

Reduced speeds necessary year-round

Re: No school shouldn’t mean no school zones (Sept. 4)

Tom Brodbeck is right that school zone speed limits should be permanent. Not only are schools frequented for playgrounds and daycares, they house day camps and other summer programming that attracts children and parents.

Moreover, the city should expand so-called school zones to simply be places where speed limits are lowered because of the frequent presence of children.

My child’s daycare, the downtown YMCA, is on a street with no such speed limit, with cars whipping down Vaughan Street in an effort to make a light, while children and workers navigate a pedestrian crossing to access their playground.

We need new child-safety speed-limit zones around parks, community centres and daycares that operate 365 days a year.

Peter Miller

Winnipeg

I couldn’t agree more with Tom Brodbeck’s piece on school zones. Living basically “in” a school zone and working at a school, I am very aware of the need for lowered speeds around schools.

All spring and summer, there are so many kids heading to the playground and sports fields. During summer break there is rarely a time when kids aren’t at the playground.

In my opinion, the reduced speed should be 24-7 all year long — not a popular opinion, unfortunately.

Carol Nikkel

Winnipeg

Recycled — and returned

I know there are many naysayers out there regarding Winnipeg’s recycling program. I have heard too many people say it all goes to the city dump, it’s a tax grab, etc., etc.

I am a diligent recycler and promoter of recycling and here’s a story that will hopefully make some believers:

My son inadvertently put his fiancée’s wallet in a paper bag and put it out with the recycling over the weekend. Recycling went out on the Monday. On Tuesday, the Winnipeg Police phoned him with the news that the recycling depot had recovered a wallet in the sorting process.

It’s a real thing and they have awesome employees!

Sharon Evans

Winnipeg