Letters, April 6

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/04/2022 (898 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Health minister’s hot seat

Re: Couching health-care criticisms (April 5)

Health Minister Audrey Gordon plans to take her sofa to parks and open spaces and invite people to sit down for a chat. My suggestion would be to place her couch at HSC’s emergency room on a Friday and Saturday evening. Speak with Manitobans and chat about how long they waited in the ER. It’s standing-room only a lot of the time.

I have a lot of experience in the ER waiting room due to a family member’s issues. Our longest wait two years ago was 14 hours. It is not a pleasant experience.

Janice Lankester

Winnipeg

These planned “couch conversations” are a pathetic gesture in the face of irresponsible (in)action by Premier Heather Stefanson and Health Minister Audrey Gordon, who lifted restrictions as cases mount in yet another wave. Shame on them and the Progressive Conservative party for pandering to the vocal minority that is the unvaccinated.

Meanwhile, health-care workers on the front lines, such as those represented by the Manitoba Nurses Union, are ignored as the provinical government purposely keeps Manitobans in the dark about COVID-19 variants.

Gerri Thorsteinson

Winnipeg

How about foreign nurses?

Re: Tories still ignoring outside advice, at all our peril (Opinion, April 4)

Any idea if the Manitoba Nurses Union is still fighting tooth and nail against having foreign nurses brought into the system more quickly, which might be a solution to ease the shortage?

James Robert

Winnipeg

Story reflected ableist belief

Re: ‘Back to where they started’ (April 4)

In publishing the story about Betty Sanguin choosing a medically assisted death in the church where the ALS sufferer had raised her family, the Winnipeg Free Press has chosen to platform harmful and stigmatizing views about disability.

While the family of Sanguin has my deepest sympathy for their loss and I want to recognize that living with ALS cannot be easy, this feature tells readers how Sanguin did not want to live with such things as a feeding tube, being dependent on others for routine tasks, receiving daily nursing calls, being unable to feed herself, or relying on text-to-speech software speech to communicate. Meanwhile, there are many disabled readers of the Winnipeg Free Press who lead meaningful lives with these kinds of supports.

Stories such as this are dehumanizing for the many disabled people who require supports like these in order to live their lives, and also reinforce the ableist belief that it’s better to be dead than disabled.

Allen Mankewich

Winnipeg

PCs hope for split vote

Re: ‘Do Manitoba voters have a viable third option?’ (Opinion, April 5)

In political advertisement masquerading as opinion, columnist Deveryn Ross slyly advances the agenda of the Conservative party, once run by his former boss and our former premier Brian Pallister.

First, he attacks Wab Kinew by alluding to past indiscretions, ironic given NDP references to Ross’s own past were described as “gutter style, Trump politics” by his boss.

Not satisfied with tainting the NDP leadership, Ross has the audacity to suggest the NDP is responsible for the multiple failures of health care in the province, somehow overlooking all the supposed “improvements” introduced by the Progressive Conservatives since being elected more than six years ago and the fact PCs are notorious for reducing revenue to hamstring subsequent governments.

But the most clever move is to encourage the “third option” of the Liberal party, knowing full well the best (only?) way for PCs to retain power (the ultimate goal) is to split the vote of centrist and left-leaning parties. I’m surprised he didn’t put in a plug for the Greens as well, given their increasing contribution to electing Conservatives.

Jim Clark

Winnipeg

Vaccines true role confused

Re: Triple-vaxxed, still got COVID-19 (Letters, April 4)

I can certainly see how letter writer Annemarie Wiebe has come to the conclusion she has regarding the triple vaccine being ineffective. Many anti-vaccine people will use this article to justify their stance.

An important but unstated observation should be pointed out: from the start of this virus, officials have stated the vaccines will not absolutely prevent infection, but rather significantly reduce the severity. Many chose to ignore this part of the message.

While one example in the story did attend a hospital, none was admitted, none was intubated, none was comatose, and absolutely none passed away (thankfully). All thanks to the vaccine and their being triple-dosed, hospitals and ICUs were a bit less crowded. Also of note, masks work, and the N95 models work best.

Bob Haegeman

St-Pierre-Jolys

Re: Aches, anxiety… and aggravation (April 2)

I don’t believe Premier Heather Stefanson’s lifting of public-health rules and her return-to-normal mandate had anything to do with the 10 Manitobans interviewed for the story who were recently infected with COVID-19 for the first time.

Nobody forced them to take risks. They were free to take or not take protective measures at the events they chose to attend. All participants in this story had a choice to wear a mask and either didn’t, or took it off for brief periods of time. That is what a free society is all about — you make individual choices. To blame the premier is inane.

Kim Trethart

Winnipeg

U of W women deserve better

Re: Wesmen come up one win short (April 4)

Headlines on the story also include “U of W women fall to unbeaten Ryerson in U Sport championship final” and the story’s first paragraph reads: “A season that began with the promise of a national championship ended one step shy of the ultimate goal for the Winnipeg Wesmen women’s basketball team Sunday night.”

Is this for real? A Winnipeg university team that won a silver medal in this national championship, a team that beat the odds to make it this far, and this is the best the Winnipeg Free Press can do?

The headline should have read: “Congratulations U of W Wesmen women’s basketball team, silver medal national champions, first appearance in a national final since 2003.”

Great job, U of W women. You did not fall short, but media coverage sure did!

Diane Goltz

Winnipeg

Opera gala too pricey

Re: Opera fans treated to solid greatest hits (Review, April 3)

The information at the top of this review states that attendance was 484 persons.

I am a classical music fan and have attended several recent Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra concerts, so I thought I would check this program out. When I called the Centennial Concert Hall box office to inquire about ticket prices for the gala concert, I was told that prices were approximately $150 for the main floor and $75 for the second balcony.

I realize this program was a fundraiser for Manitoba Opera, but the fact so few people attended it should be an indication that admission prices were way too high. I hope Manitoba Opera will take this into consideration when planning a similar event in the future so more Winnipegers can enjoy local talent.

Ruth Muscovitch

Winnipeg