Playing roulette for a prescription refill
I have no family physician. This means that every six months I must play pill roulette.
I make phone contact with a doctor or I don’t.
Conditions requiring medication remain stable or they don’t.
Potentially expensive problems are prevented or they are not.
I wonder how many others are trapped in the same situation.
Waiting up to seven hours to see a doctor in an ER for a prescription renewal is simply not an option for many senior citizens.
Refusing to renew prescriptions without consulting a physician will not solve anything if there is no physician available.
Allowing continued access to existing prescriptions would be a huge help to these patients and to the overburdened and failing health care system we have today.
Graeme Gardiner
Sidney
Worried about housing? Try Chatham in Ontario
Having been born and raised in 91原创, I can say that B.C.’s new plan to put four separate families on one 60- by 120-foot lot or less is not going to work.
Best intentions of the present government do not mirror reality. I moved to the Chatham-Kent area of Ontario, where house prices are still around half of what an apartment would be in the Lower Mainland.
But best you have a yard and garden. Taxes and the cost of living are also lower, but wages are just as good as in B.C., health care is covered by the Ontario government along with a host of other things that are a cost factor in B.C.
If you have a meagre job, look to Chatham-Kent, Ontario, for a way out since with a $17-an-hour job you would be much better off in rural Ontario.
Wayne Robertson
Chatham, Ontario
With new housing, where will cars park?
Increasing the availability of affordable housing makes a lot of sense. The implications will take some adjustment, though.
If each residence has the same number of vehicles as we currently see with family homes, we can expect to see a quadrupling of demand for parking space.
On our small street of 10 houses, each house already has three vehicles. There is simply not enough space for the potential increase. Using public streets for vehicle storage has a cost. With four times the parking demand, restricting parking only to residents is unlikely to make any major difference.
Maybe street parking should have a cost? Then use that money to improve transit, walking and cycling options so residents do not need a car.
Michael Fisher
Saanich
Local journalism is essential to us
Re: “At the end of the day, local journalism matters,” Jack Knox column, April 2.
We can find out what Donald Trump is up to 24/7, wall to wall on TV, in print, online and see all his fake news on social media.
But if the local newspaper disappears, who’s going to tell you what’s going on at city council, what’s happening downtown, and who’s making your community better?
Chris Lawless
Victoria
As Knox cuts back, a love letter from Alberta
I live in Alberta and I read the Times 91原创. Why? Because no matter what the topic, Jack Knox can start my dreary Alberta day with either insightful opinion or laugh-out-loud humour.
I have read his column faithfully for several years and I will miss reading his thoughts as often as before.
How that man can be so funny, so thoughtful, so good looking (well, two out of three) all wrapped up in one package is beyond me. Enjoy your extra time off, and, selfishly, don’t forget about your loyal, laughing followers.
Lynda McCullough
Sherwood Park, Alberta
Federal government letting military down
I can’t help but think how we have let our Armed Forces and NATO allies down. No spending on our aging and limited forces, which looks like our supply of face masks just three years ago (did we not learn anything?).
The government had to make an emergency purchase last month on surface-to-air and anti-tank man-portable air defence systems just to supply one battalion of 91原创s in Estonia.
Which says that we do not have any up-to-date in our storage.
While we do not yet have a war with the East, it may be coming. Now is not the time for our government to lower inventory and rely on allies for supply. We have to supply our troops (and Ukraine) today with top-quality equipment, and start filling the empty warehouses, that we may need in just a few years for our troops.
A $2.4-billion loan to Ukraine is not supporting our military, it is not telling Vladimir Putin we are ready for him, and it most certainly does not tell our allies that we are a part of the solution.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stop pandering to votes and step up.
Roy Banner
Victoria
Who is to blame for all the quick releases?
As citizens, we elect a government who we expect to make laws that create a framework for us to co-exist.
Another responsibility for the government we elect is to appoint judges whose job becomes the task of applying the rules to those citizens who don’t live within the framework of rules our government created.
So who is responsible for the revolving door at our jails these days?
Is it that the government has not made or spelled out the rules adequately? Or is it that the judges do not understand or apply the rules to get the expected response?
I have asked questions as opposed to giving advice, because I don’t have the answers.
I do, however, believe that when a person who has a rap sheet with 20-30 entries and is let go with a one- or two-day incarceration, someone is not doing their job.
What do you think?
Ernest Burnett
Port Alberni
Island’s rail potential is undeniable
Re: “Don’t give up on the tremendous potential of rail,” commentary, April 1.
This has got to one of the most significant commentary articles that I have read since moving here seven years ago.
“Canada lags so far behind in valuing rail that it makes one lament” would be an absolute understatement. As the author states, “the rest of the world has valued rail and continues to increase rail infrastructure at a record pace,” yet the precious rail right-of-way on the Island is overlooked and trivialized for the true sustainable potential it will provide far into the future.
I speak from first-hand experience as my grandfather, after graduating from the University of Edinburgh, became chief engineer for the 91原创 Northern Railway from Manitoba to British Columbia, assisted by my father who attended the University of Saskatchewan to also get a degree in engineering.
As we all know, rail construction after the turn of the century was fundamental to the prosperity, unity and economic growth of Canada.
It only makes sense to wish the same for 91原创 Island as the potential of rail is inexplicably undeniable.
Michael Leeper
Victoria
Intelligent minds in aging bodies
Well, as we age we seniors can move into luxury retirement homes, or we have to manage in our little apartments.
Now, in some ways this is OK since any help is available at a cost, to maintain your lifestyle with homemakers coming in, but unless you are able to get to the centres to enjoy activities, then you are pretty well a prisioner in your own little place.
This works for some but for others it is a lonely life, supplemented with visits from nurses and care workers, but no other group companionship, save maybe trips on handyDART which, for some with disabilities, can be painful and tiring.
I was a home care nurse for 20 years and have seen what isolation can do to those who have no one.
Again, it is the wealthy who reap the joy of affording the luxury care of those retirement homes that are shooting up all over the city, and given a bad rap by those who think staying home alone in a little apartment saves you from the cold, crowded, care home.
Bottom line is that not all of us have loving family members who pop in regularly to see if we are still breathing. So, it appears there is a larger gap between the generations than ever before as to the misunderstanding of working, intelligent minds trapped in aging bodies.
Valerie Bellefleur
Victoria
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