Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 6, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a13 of huh i Dic aim 11 2000 letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email sad commentary about doctors i read the article by reporter Alexan dra Paul court is no place to discipline experts free 3 with great i find it disturb ing that the College of physicians and surgeons of Manitoba is the Only forum that can Stop a doctor from practising is the Public aware that just because a doctor is prohibited from practising in can move to another province or country and set up a practice there it happens All the it seems to me that the whether it admits it or is there to protect its not to protect the rights of the the mystified general Public to which the Bill condescendingly awaits the Day when doctors Are Given More than a slap on the wrist by the College Here in one gets the feeling from the Registar of the local College that the status quo should be i fear that his wish May come True and that the recommendations which came out of the inquest into the deaths of the children at health sciences Centre will end up gathering dust on a what a sad commentary on a society that places the reputations of who have obviously committed crimes against those entrusted to their above the rights of the Hutchings Winnipeg babies not Only victims of mindless tragedy what shocked me most about the column dismissed and derided 30 was not the apparent total Lack of competency of Jonah Odim there Are incompetents in every profession but that such arrogance was also the institutionalized mindset of the hospitals As to the those in charge at the health sciences Centre say things have my thought is that they had nowhere to go but the babies and together with their parents and deserved is Carol Youngson and is Joan Borton appear to be anything but inexperienced and ill suited to pass judg we should Admire them together with their colleagues for their sense of conviction and courage to try do what was when my brother was i spent much of my nonworking time at the Boniface the doctors and nurses there were the most Sensi caring and compassionate people i have Ever they were intelligent and professional under most difficult circumstances like is Youngson and is very deserving of our the toddlers and their families were not the Only unfortunate Vic Tims in such a mindless William Appleby hold your Wallet and run for cover now that City Council has opted to Bol Ster lost revenues from lower property taxes with big user fees for almost every City service a new Era of user fees could begin shortly if Council gets its remember the proposal to charge property owners per garbage bag beyond a set limit for residential waste pickup its not dead on the sur this May seem to be a Small amount to pay for garbage but lets do the the average bag of garbage weighs Between 15 and 20 for the Benefit of lets say it weighs 25 in one metric tonne pounds there would be 88 at per the Cost to the residents of Winnipeg would be per now Check this the City of Kenora is paying a whopping per tonne to dump its garbage in the Brady Are Winnipeg taxpayers getting ripped off in this proposed scheme you be the prior to City Hall claimed it could no longer operate its monopoly at existing and raised its tipping fees to per when Competition reared its ugly the City immediately dropped its Price to per refused to reimburse Winnipeg businesses for years of Price operates quite you can almost bet after this recent property tax its time once again to hold on to your Wallet and run for Craig hand Amer Winnipeg move a threat to childrens safety As a taxpayer and a Parent of a child takes a school bust i have become better to educate the Public Giffor Jones in dark Ages doctors views on mental illness fear mongering i read Giffor Jones column Laws for mentally ill mired in dark 28 with concern and Puz while he touches on valid issues he seems More determined to engage in fear mongering and wors ening the stigma that people with schizophrenia already face than with educating the i have worked As a Hospital based psychiatrist for the past decade for the past six have worked in a specialized program for people with i have seen hundreds of persons with schizophrenia in the emergency in the outpatient clinic and on the Hospital in my 10 years a patient has i assaulted schizophrenia can be associated with violence when not there a fourfold increase in risk of violence in persons with schizophrenia when not in what Giffor Jones neglects to Point out is that people with alcohol problems Are at 10 times the risk for committing violent acts think of the types of murders we have most commonly reported in our those with Street drug such As cocaine or Are at 15 times the risk of violence will Giffor Jones advocate Locking up All those people with the same Fervour he Calls for in dealing with persons with mental ill Ness i frequently am in the position of forcing medication treatment on i do this with an awareness of the history psychiatry has with forc ing while we thought our interventions were in the Best inter ests of patients we sometimes years that our help was not without i suspect Gifford Jones knows that the last Nobel prize awarded for a psychiatric treatment went to the physician who discovered that very effective frontal Lobotomy treatment for persons with serious and persistent mental illnesses can be forced initially but real treatment must involve a collaboration Between patient and medication is but one form of what is More important than medication is a Trust ing relationship Between patient and physician in which life experience can be problems can be addressed and solutions forcing Medica Tion and institutionalizing people never was and never will be sufficient to constitute real i fear that the reference to the mid dle Ages May Best fit Gifford Jones attitudes rather than current mental health i would be pleased to have Giffor Jones come and work with me for a Day or to meet people who Are contending with what can be a devastating illness and to Edu Cate him about modern shalom Coodin my of Rcpt Winnipeg mental health Laws not in dark Ages i exactly say that our men Tal health Laws Are in the dark Ages at this Point in but they will certainly be headed in that direction if medical professionals such As if for Jones my and his Mentor Fuller Torrey have anything to do with Day by the fundamental rights of innocent persons who Bear a psychiatric Label Are coming increasingly under thanks to out context reporting such As this column by if for Jones that has appeared in More than one Canadian no reference is made by Gifford Jones of the numerous studies which refute the violent mental patient myth he puts or of the fact that Over a Century of psychiatric research has failed to reveal any underlying physical cause behind the various human Phenomena that get labelled serious mental he has also neglected to mention the numerous and often very serious Giffor Jones views Worsen stigma of mentally readers Adverse effects that accompany use of supposedly Safe and effective Antipsychotic the draconian brians Law that was scheduled for proclamation in Ontario on 1 is merely the latest legislative initiative to pander to this Brand of Public it is Irre Power hungry physicians such As Giffor Jones and Torrey who Are adding fuel to this particular fire Graeme Bacque Toronto concerned about the apparent plans of the Transcona Springfield school Divi Sion 12 to contract the transportation of our school children to an Independent in my will jeopardize the safety of our whenever you Cut costs on the Price has to be paid in this Case the Price will be paid in the Quality of service that will be if you dont think this is Contact the Manitoba society of people with disabilities and ask them How their service has declined with the privatization of their Handi transit Jeff Livingstone Dugald extricate Manila from corruption i am writing this letter to my fellow Manitoban to ask for ideas As to How my birth countryman extricate itself from the seemingly irreversible quagmire of govern ment in a few presi Dent Joseph Estrada will be tried in the sen ate for removal from but everyone i talked to during my recent visit to from taxi Drivers to Street from sales clerks to business executives in Makati have expressed the same prevailing hopelessness they Are All it Doest matter who it i sincerely believe this trend must be reversed and respect for Law and order must be the Odds of overwhelming the 80 Mil lion people squeezed in just four fifths of the total land area of the burgeoning insurgency and the demoralization of the the Economy almost on the verge of the landlords and government officials All Bent on All these have worsened poverty already prevailing across the the reason i am writing this Appeal is because not one among us is willing Joseph Estrada to make a suggestion Short of annihilating All government officials and they said everything has been from Mao tse land and Vietnam and liberation theology nothing has nothing will maybe your idea is the answer to our Flor Cadigal Winnipeg judge women by intelligence i do not know whether to be appalled or laugh at the remarks made by a Csc producer regarding Stockwell Days daughter inlaw Thiessen i often wonder if most men will Ever be Able to judge a woman by her rather than physical Beau i also wonder if the Public will Ever know the producers name who made the harassing Michelle Chretien Winnipeg Parkin time tinkering wont help downtown it is interesting to note that our City who so quietly and quickly were Able to set up their own pension cannot visualize the negative effect of the drastic Steps they Are contemplating in considering measures to help the Winnipeg transit reducing parking time on downtown meters by allowing Only 48 minutes instead of 60 minutes for a and reducing the number of meters so that fewer parking spaces will be will not encourage Drivers to use the buses instead of their these Mea sures will Only encourage More people to suburban malls with free parking the most damage by such measures will be to downtown not Only will these businesses Hurt but Many will eventually close or move the bold step those Council lors should consider is to allow free parking As Well As free transportation to downtown on the Bene fits from these measures will bring More people helping More businesses in the downtown Winnipeg would become alive with More people on the Issie Oiring Winnipeg Wheeler article hit Nail on head re until environment affects it wont be fixed Jordan Wheeler has outlined just what is expect Able in the future of this planet and he has done it with a unique passion and As an aboriginal Canadian he shows a special slant on global warm ing and the entire Issue of the Environ it is truly Worth reprinting after we have witnessed the total failure of the recent conference on the Environ canadians need to Wake up and know that while global catastrophe will not begin in this blessed it will surely reach and is doing so think about thank you Degryse Portage la Prairie citizenship views Are antiquated i was frustrated to read Fred Clever Leys views expressed in the lets just be Plain Canadian column Cleverley assessment of the dual citizenship problem that Immi Grants should be required to renounce prior citizenship before becoming Canadian citizens demonstrates a close mindedness toward the diversity that makes up Canadas does renouncing ones citizenship not equal a denial of ones her and even ones identity Wake your antiquated views Are Oakley Winnipeg doonesbury l r Ive gou6ht ;