Paramedics transport a patient to the emergency room in Montreal on July 20.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
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Not said
Re The Meaning Of The Pope’s Visit To Canada (Editorial, July 28): The Pope made a good but selective apology to First Nations on Canadian soil. Basically, he said sorry for the church’s part in sending priests to accompany RCMP officers to take children away from their parents.
There was no mention of crimes that may have been committed. A study in France of sexual abuse in Catholic institutions there showed a relatively small number of abusers, some 3,000, committed a massive number of crimes over 70 years. More than 200,000 abused minors, and who knows how many times each was abused.
Was it different at residential schools? Perhaps we will find out with an investigation into the facts.
Whatever happens, the church joins a long list of institutions who seem to place public reputation above the plight of victims. Will it ever stop? What do we do to protect kids?
Ed Dunnett Qualicum Beach, B.C.
Quick fix?
Re Looking To The Past Could Help Fix Health Care’s Future (July 27): “There is a simple reason for the stressed state of health care.” Yes, I see an unwillingness on all sides to accept more reasonable life expectancies.
I’m 65, and a life expectancy of 75 feels about right to me.
George Parker Cobourg, Ont.
Discussion about health care reform makes frequent mention of the good family doctor, but I find a fundamental weakness in the system.
Patients are fortunate if they can find a family doctor. However, they have no practical ability to choose between contenders. Not all doctors are equally well-informed or good at listening.
Many of us would be better off if we had access to shared clinics with a number of doctors supported by nurses and nurse practitioners.
Nicholas Tracy Fredericton
We should consider patients in hospital who would be approved for discharge by their physicians, but cannot access appropriate post-hospital care.
They occupy beds which could otherwise be used by people waiting in crowded emergency rooms. ”Hallway medicine” may result in tragic occurrences.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that patients requiring “alternative levels of care” in 2020-21 accounted for 16.9 per cent of patient days in hospital. The majority of these patients are elderly with chronic diseases. They can be cared for at home effectively and more cheaply than in acute hospitals.
Home-care programs would increase availability of hospital beds, thus decompressing ERs and diminishing wait times for patients awaiting elective procedures.
Morley Lertzman MD, FRCPC; North Vancouver
Why do we waste resources we already have? We have many refugee and immigrant doctors who could, through special language programs and faster recertification, assist with filling our void in family practice.
Not only would it be efficient, it would also assist other immigrants who often make their first connections in a new country through doctors or schools.
Shelagh Barrington Toronto
As a surgeon (now retired) in a busy regional hospital during the last 40-odd years, I witnessed an explosion of administrators. It went from a handful of competent executives to the present situation of hundreds of staff in their own downtown office building.
The true costs of acute care should separate out the cost of administration. When we know that, we will know better how to reform health care.
W.T. Simpson Prince George, B.C.
Eat local
Re Food Costs May Have Peaked, But Don’t Expect Prices To Soon Fall: Experts (Report on Business, July 21): If we can expect food prices to drop as we harvest domestic produce, why then would Ontario plan to pave over farmland?
I recently spoke to a woman from Texas, who said the weather there is 107 F (41.7 C) with no rain expected. Can we depend on produce from the United States? Americans will and should feed themselves first.
As the climate crisis continues, food production will likely be more difficult and less reliable. Replacing farmland with highways, filled with emissions-spewing vehicles, and shipping food from far away would be short-sighted and irresponsible.
Jan Vanderwal Toronto
Stratford stranded
Re For A Model Way To Support Theatre Recovery, Look To Quebec (July 27): One surely significant factor in the Stratford Festival’s struggles to return to prepandemic attendance figures: a dramatic drop-off in U.S. patrons.
The festival has for decades drawn on a loyal fan base travelling from northern U.S. states such as Michigan and Illinois. By the many accounts coming from mayors and businesses in border cities such as Windsor and Niagara Falls, would-be U.S. tourists are choosing to stay on their side of the border rather than risk the chaos at Toronto Pearson Airport and, irrespective of the mode of travel, the often-malfunctioning ArriveCan app and other COVID-19 protocols.
Barry Corbin Toronto
Nick of time
Re Conductor Had A Record Tenure At The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Obituary, July 23): I was fortunate to be a season-ticket holder during Bramwell Tovey’s entire stellar tenure with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Once, on my way to a performance at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on the University of British Columbia campus (not exactly a central location), my companion and I got caught in a traffic jam. When we finally pulled into the underground parking lot, we rushed to the elevator with enough others to rapidly fill it to near-capacity. The doors had started to close when I spotted a figure hurrying toward us with arms waving.
I managed to keep the doors open until Bramwell Tovey could slip in. Someone in back wondered out loud whether we might all be too late to be seated before the concert got under way. The maestro turned around to him and said, “Don’t worry, they won’t start without me.”
And they didn’t.
Hal Hartmann West Vancouver
Well done
Re There’s Just Something About Cyrillic (First Person, July 21): I am also studying Russian using the same app as essay-writer Doug Wanless.
Being literally old school, I have no smartphone but am using a desktop computer to brush up on Russian and other languages learned decades ago in various levels of schooling. It is fun and challenging.
The Cyrillic alphabet is indeed a tough nut to crack for English speakers. To Mr. Wanless: molodetz.
Natalia Mayer Toronto
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