Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 10, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2025 VOL 154 NO 77 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2025 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 CEO / MIKE POWER Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. 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INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Business B4 Classifieds B5 Comics D4 Diversions D5,6 Horoscope D2 Miss Lonelyhearts D2 Obituaries B5 Opinion A6,7 Sports C1 Television D2 Weather C8 COLUMNISTS: Aaron Epp B3 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada Amid the chaos, it’s important to shine a light on excellence in health-care system I WENT for my regular blood tests this week through our publicly funded health-care system. I showed up at the Dynacare lab at 633 Lodge Ave. near Grace Hospital at 11:25 a.m. without an appointment. It wasn’t terribly busy — maybe seven or eight people in the waiting room. As usual, my family doctor had already sent over the requisition form for the tests he wanted. There was no one in line at the counter. I walked up, handed over my paper Manitoba Health card (my new plastic one, which I ordered online last week, is on the way). They pulled my file, checked my card, asked me if I had fasted (yes) and told me to have a seat. That took all of two minutes. Conveniently, this private/for-profit company has a large computer screen on the wall in their comfortable waiting room that shows not only what the av- erage wait time is (it was nine minutes when I arrived), it lists the first names of the people in the queue and how long they can expect to wait. I was sixth in line. “Thomas B., six minutes,” it said. Great. Staff were friendly and personable. I could hear them asking people how they were, using their first names. My name was called within six or seven minutes. Giving blood doesn’t bother me. And these clinicians are so good at it, I bare- ly felt a prick. Four vials, pee in a cup and I’m done. I left the lab at 11:45 a.m. I was in and out in 20 minutes. Under our universal health-care system, I paid nothing. Within 24 hours, I got a call from a clinician at my family doctor’s office. They already had the results. I have my annual checkup with my doc next week, but the clinician asked if I want- ed to review the results with her by phone that day. Sure. Let’s do it. Everything checked out. Choles- terol a tiny bit high, but nothing to be alarmed about. More exercise and some dietary changes should take care of that, she said. We discussed the results for about 10 minutes. She was pleasant and helpful. So what’s my point? My point is that I write a lot about our publicly funded health-care system and usually shine the light on things that are not working well. That’s typically what we do in journalism: bring attention to things that need fixing. But from time to time, we should also tell the stories of what works well. And we do, through news stories, feature pieces, editorials or opinion columns like this one. There are parts of our health-care system that work well. This is one of them. I have no idea if this is the expe- rience for everyone or if other family physician offices have the same quality and efficiency as mine. But this aspect of the system works extremely well for me. Part of the reason in this case is that government partners with a private firm for blood and other tests such as X-rays. There is a profit motive involved. But contrary to the rhetoric we often hear from some that “profit has no place in health care,” it actually drives excellence in this case. Family physician offices are private, too. We don’t usually characterize their net revenues as “profit,” but it is. That’s how they make their living. And many of them make a good living. They bill government for the work they do, pay for their overhead costs and the rest is profit. There are parts of the publicly managed health-care system that work well, too. As much as we hear about the horror stories of long waits in emergen- cy departments, if you show up to an ER with a life-threatening condition, you will almost certainly be seen and treated very quickly. We hear many good stories about palliative care, cancer treatment and cutting-edge technology in medicine, all of which provide patients with world-class care. Manitoba has some of the best doctors, nurses and allied health-care workers in the country. There are success stories out there. And it’s important to highlight them from time to time. Still, the main focus must be on im- proving the areas that are under-per- forming. Wait times for procedures such as hip and knee replacement surgery or diagnostic tests such as MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds are far too long. Hospitals are under-re- sourced, overcrowded and unable to meet patient demand. Admitted patients regularly pile up in ERs and wait days for a hospital bed, which contributes to long emergen- cy-room wait times. There are serious problems in our publicly funded health-care system that require fixing. But there are many good things about it, too. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca TOM BRODBECK OPINION “It’s not reflective of any actual number that might be in a rate applica- tion, for example, but really designed to help determine what’s important to customers when it comes to costs versus reliability.” Even if Manitoba Hydro was to seek such an increase, it would have to be approved by the Public Utilities Board, the provincial regulator, following public hearings, Powell added. The utility has been hit with a number of financial challenges in the last two decades. It saw its debt triple in 15 years as it built two megaproj- ects — the Bipole III transmission line and the Keeyask generating station — which ran a combined $3.7 billion over budget. More recently, expected annual sur- pluses have turned into losses, partly due to dry weather and reduced water levels. The former chief executive officer, who was let go a year ago, also warned that new generating capacity could be needed as early as 2029. The NDP government made a one-year rate freeze a key part of its election platform in 2023, and Man- itoba Hydro confirmed it will seek no increase for 2025. It plans to file a multi-year rate application in the coming months and has not indicated what rate it will seek for 2026 as part of that request. Finance Minister Adrien Sala, who is also the minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, said in a statement that the government will rely on its long-term energy policy, released last September, which will “explore opt-in demand management and innovative, new options to keep (Manitobans’) energy bills low.” — The Canadian Press Canadian casinos are required by law to report cash transactions that exceed $10,000 — by filing separate reports for payouts and buy-ins — to FINTRAC, as well as reports for any transaction they suspect could be related to money laundering or other illegal activity. The announcement was billed as an effort to better crack down on attempted money laundering at casinos, a cash-rich environment often targeted by criminals trying to launder money. Civil forfeiture does not require a criminal conviction. Advocates for the process argue it’s a powerful tool to combat money laundering, though government use of the proceedings as well as unexplained wealth orders have faced criticism from civil liberties groups and academics concerned about the potential for Charter of Rights and Freedoms infringements and privacy violations. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca FORFEITURE ● FROM A1 JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES HYDRO ● FROM A1 Manitoba Hydro will not be seeking a rate increase in 2025. A WEEKEND OF HIGHLAND DANCING Courtney Horejda dances in the Solo Choreography category at the Winni- peg Scottish Festival at Victoria Inn Sunday. Below, Halle Ingram (right) and Addi- son Robertson from Calgary rehearse in a hallway for the Trio Choreography cat- egory. PHOTOS BY JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS ;