Bite the bullet, improve health care
I hurt my shoulder really badly a few days ago, and needed a quick diagnosis and treatment. I went to ER and spent five hours there, waiting, waiting, waiting, and got good treatment.
While waiting, I asked the nurse exactly why it was taking an expected seven hours and 27 minutes to be treated. Basically, here’s what she said:
The ER is far too small for the area it serves, and because there are many with no GP, they come to ER for non-emergent treatment. When an ambulance comes in with a trauma or the like, the ER physicians are pulled from the ambulatory area to the trauma area.
Everybody waits. There are no beds available in the ER because the beds are filled with admitted patients who cannot be transferred to the patient care centre because those beds are full. The patient care centre is far too small for the area it serves.
Many of the patients in the patient care centre beds are just waiting for placement in long-term-care homes, which are full because there aren’t enough of them for the area and demographic they serve.
Does this all sound repetitious?
The solution is to bite the bullet now and construct another large hospital beside the Royal Jubilee Hospital within its campus. Duplicate this across B.C. where the facilities do not meet the needs of the people.
Build more long-term-care homes. To reduce operating costs, reduce the number of staff who do not wear uniforms and do not treat patients.
Build out for the next 50 years, not for the present, and plan for expansion.
We need a Health Ministry with long-term foresight, not wishful hindsight.
David Hansen
Victoria
Provincial government acted in bad faith
Re: “All investments come with risks,” letter, Oct. 26.
Comparing compensation for the removal of property rights with a government guarantee of stock market profits is laughable.
If governments arbitrarily changed legal land use on commercial property that was already approved and built based on existing regulations, they would rightfully be liable to pay compensation.
Simply put, the provincial government engaged in a type of bait-and-switch scheme on short-term rental zoning — first, by approving Official Community Plans that allow these land uses, then by imposing prohibitions after people have spent their money in good faith.
Conflating this act of bad faith governance with stock market speculation is the textbook definition of a non-sequitur.
Chris Bradshaw
Victoria
Greens should settle their leadership
Should Green Leader Sonia Furstenau be the king maker? In the Oct. 26 letters, some people clearly think not.
In that case, the Greens should elect a new leader or endorse the current one so that everyone knows who they should be negotiating with moving forward.
Of course, the Greens will have to spend some time selecting candidates. Time will have to be given for the candidates to canvass all members of the party from across the province and finally a ballot will have to take place to elect the new leader.
Time will also have to be given to the leader to consider the views and opinions of their party for negotiations with David Eby and John Rustad.
All things considered, the legislature might get down to business just before the summer break of 2025.
Justin Aldhouse
Victoria
Disproportionate number of seats
It seems like every election cycle, the least represented party wants proportional representation enacted, preferably just before the prior election.
The voters of B.C. have rejected these proposals three times. There are two major reasons.
First, there would not necessarily be someone living in your riding representing you.
Second, the systems we have been presented with all give seats to “the party.” This effectively eliminates independent candidates.
Many people also have problems with clauses in the proposed system as well.
A far bigger problem is the disproportionate number of seats in a small, but congested geographic location called the Lower Mainland and southern 91原创 Island. 91原创 Island has 15 ridings, with one representing the northern half of the Island, while the southern half has 14 ridings.
Kim Morton
Qualicum Beach
New Green MLAs will have lots of influence
Green Leader Sonia Furstenau is one of those people who brings a sense of quality and sincerity to local government.
Having shown that she has all the attributes required to be an MLA she was unwilling to campaign in a safe seat, but chose instead to run against a sitting candidate. This showed that as a leader she recognized the quality of others and attempted to win a third Green seat however difficult the challenge.
One recent writer bemoaned the probability that the two Green MLAs would support the NDP, and urged them not to “continue to be the bandage party.”
It would seem he has a weak grasp of politics: the way forward for every small party in a situation where it has the balance of power is to associate with the major party that reflects its views.
With the guidance of Furstenau, the two Green MLAs will achieve a voice and an influence that other MLAs could only dream about.
Barry Mathias
Sidney
A vote of support for Sonia Furstenau
To all those who wrote pernicious and downright hurtful letters about Green Leader Sonia Furstenau: You obviously must be worried about her even though she doesn’t have a seat as an MLA.
You must realize that the party (of which I am proudly a member) elected her to be the leader. As far as I am concerned, she can go on being the leader and you can go on quaking in your boots as she wields her legendary “Green Crusader” power.
Ron Wurtz
Shawnigan Lake
Eby needs to listen to the right people
I scolded the editors for the ego-driven commentaries by Gordon Campbell. Twice obsessed, not twice blessed.
Many of us recall him as a one-man band and that did him in. Yet I fear he may have been a role model for Donald Trump: Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
David Eby and the NDP knew the public and the polling were against them, but instead of “we hear you” we got “we have to do better.” Huh, what?
Eby, another lawyer, needs to stop listening to the party yes men and listen at the grocery store, pub, coffee shop and grade school. His grade would not be a namby pamby emerging or extending, it would be a resounding F.
Christy Clark and Stephen Harper said they would hang around after defeat at the polls, but of course didn’t. Eby hasn’t been defeated yet, but there are the role models.
Grant Maxwell
Nanaimo
Canada Post does not need all that trash
Re: “Canada Post should have recycling at mail boxes,” commentary, Oct. 26.
I wholeheartedly disagree. The reason is simple: These blue boxes will get filled with every piece of trash imaginable.
Who cleans this up? Canada Post is struggling to make a profit, so they will not, it is not their job. I don’t blame them.
We live across the street from a mail box bank. This was tried, and failed.
No one wants to empty it, including Canada Post, so it overflows with all sorts of junk, including bags of doggie doo.
Why can’t you just take the stuff home and blue box it there? We all have a blue box. Also, do not put it back into the mail slot for delivery, the postie is not your maid! Do your part, take it home!
Rod Stiebel
Langford
He survived, and refused assistance
Two police cars, six officers, one ambulance with two attendants, one semi-conscious male, the scenario on the street across from a seniors residence took about 45 minutes to resolve. The man was able to struggle to his feet, the police and 911 responders offered assistance. The man refused the ambulance.
He got to his feet and walked away. Everyone patiently tried to assist him.
They conferred, and all left. The man is now sitting with his backpack, on the sidewalk at the corner of a building.
He seems to have survived, this time.
Judith Hodgson
Victoria
Take heed of warnings from climate experts
Re: “World is on track for more warming without climate action,” Oct. 25.
The story quotes a United Nations report that said the world is on a path to get 1.8 C warmer than it is now, but could trim half a degree of that projected future heating if countries do everything they promise to fight climate change.
The fact this story was buried in the second section of the Times 91原创 speaks volumes about our concern, or lack thereof, about this issue.
That politicians at all levels of government are basically ignoring climate change adds to my dismay about our priorities as a society.
Are we just going to continue ignoring dire warnings from experts in the climate science field?
It strikes me as madness that those in positions of leadership are shirking their responsibility to inform and galvanize the general public about the urgency of action pertaining to this issue.
The article concludes with a statement that we are on a 3.1 degrees path, which is a path to disaster.
If that doesn’t alarm you, what will?
Bob Bergen
Victoria
Special thanks after a collision downtown
I am writing to express my gratitude for all the folks who helped me after my collision with a vehicle while cycling home on Oct. 24 at about 3:40 p.m. at Yates and Cook Street.
Thank you to the bystanders who sprung into action to check on me, phone for help, and share their contact information for the police report and ICBC claim.
Thank you to the paramedics who arrived within moments to assess me, clean and bandage my wounds, and provide me with much needed levity.
Thank you to the police for your kindness, advice, and for offering to drive me home. I would also like to thank the involved driver for remaining on the scene and cooperating. I’m glad that you weren’t also injured and I apologize that I was a little sassy with you in my brain-rattled state. These days, I feel like our communities are becoming more loosely knit and it’s easy to feel alone. Sprawled out on the road, I was not in a state to make good decisions.
I sincerely appreciate the kind strangers who made me feel safe and cared for. Thank you!
As a final note, please remember that painted lines and bollards don’t keep vulnerable road users safe — vigilant and attentive drivers do.
Vehicles are getting bigger. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with your mirrors and blindspots. Never cross over a bike lane unless you are absolutely certain it is clear.
Stay safe!
Joel Williamson, RN
Victoria
Mann Avenue residents penalized
Mann Avenue may well have the widest bike lanes in the province at seven feet six inches wide each direction. All that space, enough for two cyclists riding side by side, yet we can no longer have a parking lane. No more guests, emergency vehicles, delivery vans, HandyDART, or taxis. But on Glanford Avenue bike lanes are one foot less, and on Wilkinson Road, they are two feet narrower.
Even Royal Oak Avenue near busy Broadmead shopping centre, has bike lanes only four feet six inches wide and with an eight-foot parking lane adjacent.
Making things even worse, Saanich claims that for safety reasons, they will install concrete bike lane barriers on Mann at a cost of $150,000, narrowing the vehicle lanes.
Is this to ensure residents don’t try to park on the street again? Are we being punished? Some think it unfair to “store” residents’ vehicles parked on the street, but why not have a bylaw which restricts on-street parking to four hours? Would that cost $150,000?
Why are Mann Avenue residents being penalized this way?
Larry Gill
Saanich
Antisemitism is all around us
Turkey just bombed Kurdish sites in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for Kurdish activities in Turkey. Where are the vociferous and hateful slogans, street demonstrations and university sit-ins condemning Turkish aggression?
Israel has endured rocket shelling for most of its existence and even more so in the past 30 years with the birth of Hamas, Hezbollah and others of its ilk.
I have always stated that there is no country in the world that would stand by idly while its territory was bombarded regularly without retaliating.
One of the hallmarks of a democracy is equality for all. Antisemitism was buried temporarily because of the horrors of the Holocaust. However, after Oct. 7, the dam broke and it has become socially acceptable again. Where were the self-righteous cries when Assad killed 800,000 of his own people?
Where were the screams of indignation when so many Sudanese were butchered? I would bet that few of the protesters even heard of the Yazidis who were killed and raped by their own countrymen.
When Kurds were being massacred in Iraq, did we see the howling in the streets? What about Russian aggression in the Ukraine? Only when Jews fight for their existence do we see world wide condemnation. For shame!
Yes, Antisemitism is alive and well. It has increased exponentially in our own backyard. As 91原创s, are we prepared to confront it?
John Sitwell
Saanich
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