Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 28, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Events in U.S. a terrifying example Re: A president takes aim at the transgender community (Editorial, Jan. 27) and “Drawing a line, speaking up” (Letters, Jan. 27) Thank you to the Free Press editorial board and letter writer Brandy Cook for their wise, heartfelt, and courageous words about Donald Trump’s transphobic and despicable actions in his first few days in office. What is happening in the United States is a terrifying example of what can happen when those in power are driven by bigotry and hate. Unfortunately, we here in Canada appear to be headed in a similar direction. Already, several provinces including New Brunswick, Saskatche- wan, and Alberta have passed transphobic laws, with some going so far as to pre-emptively invoke the notwithstanding clause, since they know such laws are contrary to human rights. Just recently, supposed prime-minister-in-wait- ing Pierre Poilievre echoed U.S. President Donald Trump when he said, “I’m not aware of any genders other than man and woman.” This is gaslighting of the highest order. Instead of assuring Canadians that he will protect the rights of transgender people, Poilievre chose to feign ignorance (despite the fact that Progressive Con- servatives approved anti-trans policies at their last convention). So for those who say they despise what Trump is doing but plan to vote for Poilievre anyway with an “I don’t agree with everything he says, but it’s time for a change” justification, we need to remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr.: “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” ROBBIE SCOTT Winnipeg Painful history Re: Growing number of Canadians believe Holocaust exaggerated, survey suggests (Jan. 27) I was appalled to read that 18 per cent of Canadians aged 18-24 are of the opinion that the horrific event we call Holocaust has been exag- gerated, and that 15 per cent of Canadians aged 25-34 think so. Even more appalling is the fact that 22 per cent of those aged under 25 get their “information” from the internet. In light of what is unfolding in the U.S. as President Donald Trump — who also seems to get most of his “information” from the internet — daily sets about dismantling the U.S. Consti- tution, the Free Press could do us all a favour by reprinting the stories about the liberation of the concentration camps in the waning days of the Second World War, along with stories about what happened in Germany in the 1930s under the rule of a brutal demagogue. Perhaps you could run those stories alongside the latest information about Trump’s plans for immigrants, LGBTTQ+ people, imposition of excessive tariffs, and gener- ally doing his best to create an echo of the Third Reich just south of us. Perhaps that 33 per cent of Canadians who have never known anything but life in a country that is one of the most tolerant and inclusive nations in the world would come to realize that the coun- try that Trump glibly refers to as the 51st state stands in danger of being another Poland (they can check the internet to find out what happened to Poland on Sept. 1, 1939). RENE JAMIESON Winnipeg Railyard relocation a distant goal Based on this city’s planning history, replac- ing the Arlington Bridge is the only way we can guarantee the relocation of the CPKC railyards. And, again based on history, we can expect huge cost overruns for the bridge. I would think the enormous costs for cleaning up the vast railyard prior to redevelopment would be even higher. Recovering even a small portion of the costs of remediating and repurposing the yards into viable industrial, commercial or residential use just seems out of reach. ALLAN ROBERTSON Winnipeg The Canadian state Talk of our annexation by the U.S. can only be taken seriously if the King did allow America to take his dominion in order to create a new state, or more. I propose that such a scenario may not work out well for the ruling Republicans. If we did become a new American state, (or maybe more than one) it is my projection that the majority of Canadians would register as Democrats. Aligned with New York, California, and other reliably Democratic states, the newly expanded party could easily shut the Republicans out of government for a very long time. America could then build a true democracy. Furthermore, with the renewed political clout of the Democrats, we could then impeach the presidential buffoon and, with the new number of senators, finally convict the rascal and start the road to his just punishment. After that was done, we could then regain our independence. So let us look on the bright side of one of the more absurd speculations of the great clown. MAURICE MEARON St. Clements Potash power Just wondering if U.S. President Donald Trump and company know what potash is and where it comes from. U.S. food production will be vastly impacted, including prices, if something should happen to that supply. The U.S., I understand, only produces three to four per cent of what Canada does and the bulk of the Canadian potash goes to the U.S. If Trump wants to destroy best-buddy relation- ships, cheap potash can also go out the window. The rest of Canada would have to compensate Saskatchewan for the lost revenue, but we have our own wrench to throw at an anti-Canadian / world bully. This is in addition to energy and oth- er critical materials and counter tariffs. We should be best friends with the U.S. but we should not be bullied by the twisted aspiration of the world’s new tyrant. He does not hold all the cards and the rest of the world is quickly having enough of him. HAROLD WIENS Winnipeg Reworking regulations Re: Probe into literacy one of human rights commission’s top priorities (Jan. 16) The Manitoba Human Rights Commission’s renewed commitment to improving literacy outcomes in Manitoba, notably pertaining to the challenges children and their families face with respect to the identification, assessment and treatment of learning disorders, is laudable. In my opinion, it would be greatly facilitated if the current government were to immediately support the establishment of an inclusive professional regulatory framework for all psychologists in Manitoba — a move that would very quickly alle- viate long wait times with respect to the diagno- sis and treatment of learning disorders as well as other neurodevelopmental disorders. While master’s-level trained psychologists working in schools — by virtue of an exemption clause that precludes oversight by a professional regulatory body — provide a wide array of men- tal health services, a restriction on the provision of identical services outside of their work envi- ronment is adversely affecting the availability of services to children and families, especially in rural and northern areas of our province. Similarly trained psychologists in provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador do not face restric- tions with respect to title, scope of practice and independent practice that currently exist in Manitoba. If Manitoba is serious about improving access to the diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelop- mental disorders, aligning our provincial regu- latory framework with those of other provinces would not only extend the scope of practice for those already working here, but also make Man- itoba more attractive to qualified professionals who might want to relocate to Manitoba. VERN KEBERNIK Gimli LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WHAT’S YOUR TAKE? THE FREE PRESS WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU. The Free Press is committed to publishing a diverse selection of letters from a broad cross-section of our audience. The Free Press will also consider longer submissions for inclu- sion on our Think Tank page, which is a platform mandated to present a wide range of perspectives on issues of current interest. We welcome our readers’ feedback on articles and letters on these pages and in other sections of the Free Press ● Email: Letters: letters@winnipegfreepress.com Think Tank submissions: opinion@winnipegfreepress.com ● Post: Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, R2X 3B6 Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. OUR VIEW YOUR SAY COMMENT EDITOR: RUSSELL WANGERSKY 204-697-7269 ● RUSSELL.WANGERSKY@WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A6 TUESDAY JANUARY 28, 2025 Emergency room issues need more than stopgaps T HE Manitoba government says it has taken preliminary steps to improve services in emergency rooms after a 49-year-old patient died while waiting for care at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre earlier this month. Chad Giffin died on Jan. 7 at HSC after waiting about eight hours for care in the hospital’s ER. He was originally assessed as low-acuity, or less ur- gent. However, his condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead shortly after staff noticed the change. The ER was over capacity at the time, as it often is at Manitoba’s largest hospital. There were about 100 patients in the ER, around half of whom were in the waiting room. On Friday, the provincial government said it has taken steps to improve care in the ER as it awaits the results of a critical incident investiga- tion into the death. “There are interim measures that have been taken in terms of making sure staffing is where it needs to be, and that all efforts are being made to ensure that the capacity that’s needed in order to ensure people are receiving the best care possi- ble in our emergency departments is happening,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara told the Free Press. Asagwara would not say exactly what those measures are. However, the Manitoba Nurses Union says it has heard from its members that the changes include adding a unit assistant to waiting rooms in ERs and urgent care centres to help monitor changes in patients’ conditions. While that may be a useful measure, it does not address the core problem facing hospitals, namely that a shortage of staffed beds on medical wards is causing bottlenecks in ERs and urgent care centres. That in turn is causing long delays for patients seeking care. Dr. Shawn Young, HSC’s chief operating offi- cer, previously said that on the day of Giffin’s death, a backlog in the ER prevented admitted patients from being moved to medical beds. It is a common occurrence that plays out at most Winnipeg hospitals. The more admitted patients there are in ERs waiting for a medical bed, the less time ER doctors and nurses have to see new patients. That in turn drives up wait times. It’s a problem that has existed for several years that neither the previous Progressive Conserva- tive government nor the NDP government has solved. HSC had fewer licensed beds in 2023-24 at 781 than it did in 2020-21 at 791, according to Shared Health’s 2023-24 annual report. Bed occupancy during that period jumped from 83.45 per cent to 98.2 per cent. That means on average, there is very little additional capacity to absorb spikes in patient demand. A shortage of personal care home beds and other long-term treatment options for patients is also contributing to the problem. Patients who re- quire a PCH bed or other supports often languish in hospital for weeks waiting to be transferred to alternative care. Together, bed shortages and delays in discharg- ing long-term care patients contributes to hospi- tal congestion and creates bottlenecks in ERs and urgent care centres. While adding unit assistants to waiting rooms may be a valuable measure to provide more frequent re-assessments of patients like Giffin, it does not address the underlying problem. The province must take steps to improve patient flow through hospitals by adding more staffed beds and increasing long-term care ca- pacity to relieve pressure on ERs and urgent care centres. Doing so is critical to bringing down danger- ously long wait times and reducing the risk of more tragic deaths like Giffin’s. EDITORIAL Published since 1872 on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The emergency department at Health Sciences Centre. ;