Letters, June 7

Opinion

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This article was published 06/06/2022 (836 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Let PUB do its duty

Re: PUB’s purpose questioned (Letters, June 2)

Letter writer James Roberts cites an often-stated but misguided assertion that “if (Manitoba Hydro) was a private business, it would have long ago been forced into bankruptcy.” In fact, Manitoba Hydro is not a private business but a Crown corporation with no obligation to maximize profits for the benefit of a select number of shareholders. Hydro exists to provide reliable electricity and natural gas service to its customers at the lowest possible cost (consistent with good governance and environmentally sustainable business practices). As a Crown corporation, every Manitoban is an owner/shareholder of Hydro and “dividends” are provided every day in the form of significantly lower rates than would otherwise be the case if Hydro were privately owned.

Another common fallacy is that Hydro’s debt continues to grow unabated with no provision for debt repayment. In fact, Hydro’s rates reflect the total costs incurred to serve its customers including the cost of debt repayment over the lives of the assets used to supply service. To impose accelerated debt repayment through arbitrary financial targets would violate basic cost-of-service principles, would result in intergenerational inequities and would unduly burden current ratepayers.

The PUB fulfils an important role by ensuring Manitoba Hydro’s rates continue to be just and reasonable for all customers. Strong regulation is essential for a Crown-owned utility and the PUB’s authority to approve rates based on sound and disciplined cost-of-service principles should not be diminished in any way.

Vince Warden

Winnipeg

Respect support workers

Re: Health support staff demand contract (June 3)

When people think of health care, doctors and nurses tend to come to mind. All too often, health-care support workers get overlooked. However, without them, our health-care system couldn’t function.

Let’s consider some examples. If you go to the emergency department with a severe heart attack, health-care aides will be the ones giving you chest compressions. They will also look after your most basic needs: taking you to the washroom, bathing, dressing and feeding you, along with transporting you for tests. After you return home, you may need basic assistance — home-care workers are the ones who will provide it.

While in hospital, an army of housekeeping staff work tirelessly to keep you safe from hospital-acquired infections. In the COVID-19 era, their work has become even more critical.

Hospital patients need to eat and often have very specific dietary needs. Your three daily meals and those of thousands of others are prepared with care by a dedicated team of dietary staff.

It’s unacceptable that our health-care support workers have been without a new contract for five years. It’s time for our provincial government to step up, recognize and show appreciation for the important work they do. Moreover, fairness dictates that support workers should be provided with interest on all retroactive wage increases. To do otherwise would be to reward the government for its intransigence, essentially allowing it to borrow money for free from support workers’ cheques.

Sean Petty

Winnipeg

Seeking COVID-19 data

Re: COVID victims deserve to be more than statistics (Opinion, June 3)

Thanks to Tom Brodbeck for pointing out that the COVID-19 death rate in Manitoba was higher this May than in the same month in the past two years. The PC government has decided that if they ignore the threat, their chances to be re-elected next year are enhanced. So, instead of offering more than the general guidance, it’s every person for themselves. Of course, why go to the expense of offering in-person weekly updates by our medical pandemic leaders? They have better things to do.

The unfortunate omission for us older people is that they no longer feel the need to help make an informed decision about booster shots for those of us who are still trying to follow the best medical advice. There are no confidentiality issues I can see in breaking down ICU admissions and deaths into how many people had no vaccinations, or one, two or three, and what the age groups were, as they used to do. Perhaps there would be more Manitobans getting their first or second booster based on stats like those. The vaccination rates for booster shots are very low in Manitoba. It’s like the pandemic is nothing to get concerned about anymore. So we have the majority of our population thinking no news is good news, so let’s get back to normal.

My wife and I are in our early 70s. We had our first booster shot last Dec. 23. I had COVID-19 in January, my wife has not had it. We are eligible to get a second booster anytime, as the wait time between these shots is now four months. At the same time, I have read reports from clinical studies that the second mRNA booster may only be really effective for six to eight weeks after. We would like to know if we should wait until the fall, when the risk of catching COVID-19 becomes higher or, given the latest death count, we should get it right away? Will this become an endless regimen of getting boosters every few months? No wonder people are becoming skeptical if we are now recommended to get frequent boosters. Let’s remember that the impression we were initially given was that one vaccination was going to be so effective against catching it.

Gary McGimpsey

Winnipeg

Home care stretched

Re: Boomers need better home care (Letters, June 2)

Thank you to letter writer Vishno Gupta’s views on “self-managed health workers” and the long neglected home care option known as Self and Family Managed Care (SFMC).

Gupta points out that wages for the workers and the client-care hours are hopelessly inadequate and not sustainable long-term. The SFMC option, especially in rural and northern areas of the province where home care is badly understaffed, may allow family caregivers to be “hired” to provide care to a loved one, thereby keeping them at home and out of an institution. A gross irony of this selfless commitment is that a primary caregiver who receives “pay” to look after a loved one cannot claim the Primary Caregiver Tax Credit.

Gupta rightly points out that pay increases, more care hours and increased tax benefits for family caregivers needs to be urgently addressed. After all, many clients who remain in their homes with proper care continue to be taxpayers, vote and use many community services. How much longer do our health-care service providers and those of us who point out the chronic issues have to keep our collective finger in the dike? We are holding back a formidable sea of woe, yelling for help while waiting for this provincial government to step up and fix the breach. Will our elected representatives wake up before the proverbial flood engulfs us all?

Lorna Sanderson

The Pas

A stall for all

Re: Don’t police gender (Letters, June 3)

I must be missing something. To me, the obvious solution for all would seem to be removing the urinals. Women’s washrooms don’t have them, so why should gender-neutral washrooms require them? A stall for all would seem the answer in providing privacy for everyone while not highlighting any perceived differences.

Margaret Mills

Headingley