Climate summits accomplish nothing
Here we go again with another farce in Glasgow.
There have been no fewer than 26 Climate Summits since the first one in 1995 in Berlin.
There will be another in Egypt next year.
Apart from imposing more taxes on us, in 26 years nothing has been done to actually address the problem. Zilch, niente, nada.
The reality is that there is no political will to do anything, because our governments have been hijacked by the big polluters.
Over the past 100 years, there have been countless technologies to help us better live symbiotically with Earth, 99 per cent of which have been ignored for the sake of profits.
It must be that all of the oligarchs, industrial farmers, coal producers and their families have another planet to inhabit, because if they do not we really need to question their mental sanity.
Lorenzo G. Oss-Cech
Victoria
One thing we’ve lost: The national work ethic
A major side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is the destruction of the work ethic in a sizable part of the Canadian population.
In the old days, people not working when work was available would be called layabouts and looked down at by the vast majority of the population. I believe strongly in our welfare state, but that cannot be maintained if people who are physically and cognitively able, refuse to work.
Not only does the government face reduction in income tax collected, but industries, businesses and other organizations are unable to function properly. For essential workers, the problem is critical: the workers who remain on the job, such as nurses, will get burnt out and compound the problem.
The re-establishment of work ethic cannot be done by governments alone, but by critically examining our educational system as well as our exposure to (primarily American) pop culture.
Kenneth Mintz
Victoria
Association strives for community engagement
A recent letter described the North Saanich Residents Association as a vocal activist group trying to derail the Official Community Plan review process. As community volunteers, our work demonstrates the opposite.
Since 1948, the association has been advocating and acting on the core belief that if residents are informed, they will be engaged.
We encourage transparency and accountability in local government by monitoring council decisions, promoting a culture of participation, sharing information and facilitating respectful dialogue on issues impacting North Saanich, the Saanich Peninsula and the Capital Regional District.
We have played an active role in encouraging residents to become informed, engage and participate.
When the review of the OCP was announced we offered support by hosting a meeting with district staff so residents could understand how they could best contribute; conducting a community survey on the OCP, inviting public input; providing summaries of all council meetings so that residents can see how decisions are being made; and making our membership aware of all OCP activities hosted by the district.
By providing these services, the association encourages informed and meaningful participation in our OCP, and on all matters under the purview of North Saanich council.
Through our website (NorthSaanichResidentsAssociation.ca) we encourage the community to be informed and participate in the OCP and other district initiatives. Our reach in the community exceeds our membership with nearly 370 people connected, and receiving regular updates.
As our members have a wide range of opinions on topics, the association board does not take advocacy positions on local matters. We do, however, advocate for transparency, meaningful community engagement, and respectful dialogue.
John Kafka, Gordon Hardwick, Paige Gibson, Steve Heddle, Carolyn Stout, Susan Chandler and Gary Ng
North Saanich Residents Association board
Four actions to alleviate the doctor shortage
The following are four suggestions to ease the doctor shortage in B.C.:
Fund more student placements at the B.C. medical schools, which may mean that the entrance requirements are lowered to a reasonable level. The graduation requirements should remain as vigorous.
Increase the medical student financial support for those intending to practice in B.C.
Ease the burdensome restrictions for foreign trained physicians to be upgraded to Canadian standards and licensed to practice in B.C.
Because it is not financially attractive to become a family physician, change the current per-appointment funding model to include an annual base payment for each patient to an agreed maximum number of patients, plus a fee for the visit.
Jean Kanngiesser
Port Alberni
Medical system is broken and needs to be fixed
I and my medical colleagues sympathize with letter-writers asking for “more doctors.”
The first step to sustainable solutions is giving up the myth that we have “one of the best medical systems in the world.”
Creating more worker bees won’t help without addressing lack of operational support in practices, and handling the increasing levels of abuse, disparagement and patient dissatisfaction doctors face daily.
Solutions to lack of accessibility and pervasive inefficiencies require options such as more physician extenders, that is: nurse practitioners, office-based registered nurses, administrative support, social workers and dieticians, just to name a few.
Every primary-care physician and many specialists are overwhelmed daily with sorting forms, chasing lab results, co-ordinating care, handling the unexpected, shouldering psychosocial crises and generally facing a firehose of chronic stress, complex care and impossible expectations.
The single practitioner/single patient model is unmanageable, yet the system is slow to adapt. Both physicians and patients are suffering.
No matter how many more doctors are produced, they cannot do the work currently being asked of them. It is about reducing the sense of facing a firehose every day, and drowning, not pumping more people through the training system.
Dr. Jennifer Balfour, pediatrician
Victoria
We’re falling behind other countries
How frustrating for the many people who have written in lately, desperate and discouraged because they can’t even get a doctor, let alone an appointment and timely medical treatment.
Good thing the U.S. border is opening. On Nov. 8, those people lined up to head south will include many people whose appointments in Canada are months away, as well as those who have been on surgery waitlists for months.
Two years ago, while visiting Chile, I had a minor medical problem. I was told that I could go online and book an appointment with a specialist.
I was seen at a beautiful hospital that same day. I had to pay, but the amount was reasonable ($175). Private medical care is affordable for most Chileans, and of high quality.
The doctor mentioned that many Canadians go to Chile for treatment. He told me he understood why after attending a medical conference in Toronto where he saw crowded emergency rooms reminiscent of Chile 50 years ago. It didn’t make sense to him why private health care would be against the law in Canada.
In Chile, it relieves pressure on the public system. We, in Canada, are falling behind other countries and failing our citizens.
Susan Doyle
North Saanich
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