Ottawa, these are our hospitals to serve our people. We need to protest cuts | Letters to the Editor

The Ottawa Hospital has announced it will cut about 400 positions, representing three per cent of its workforce. Photo by TONY CALDWELL /POSTMEDIA

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These are our hospitals. We need to act

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Are we going mad? Should citizens not arise in mass protest?

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On a daily basis we hear of long delays in emergency rooms, cardiac arrest or death while waiting, patients waiting a year or more for critical MRIs.

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As a too frequent hospital visitor myself—eye surgery for cataracts, severed thumb, an urgent stent to relieve arterial blockage, pneumonia and prostate cancer treatment— (not all in one year), I have found the efficiency incredible.

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I’ve seen the effective use of triage to attend to the most urgent needs, and RAZ (rapid assessment zones) to clear backlogs; all incredible. It would be nearly humanly impossible to do better with the resources the hospital has without burnout and more losses of dedicated staff.

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And yet we stand by as provincial bean counters call the shots. These are our hospitals to serve our people. People first. Mr. Ford, cut other things first, or say you have done your best and raise taxes. Otherwise we may have lost critical talent for good. It is our choice to act, or watch.

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Michael Wiggin, Ottawa

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Knowing both official languages is key

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In his letter (“The English are tired of favouritism”), Roger Power claims that top positions in Ottawa are to be filled by bilingual people. Except that they simply are not! To the ones he mentions, I can add the names of countless deputy ministers and heads of agencies who never complied with the bilingual requirements of their position. And yet, I know of no francophone working in Ottawa who must not know and use English daily in their work. This means that 100% of qualified francophones cannot apply for any of these jobs unless they know English. As the writer claims, should we not hire them based on qualifications and not spoken language too? How about a Governor General or a Supreme Court judge who does NOT know English? The French are tired of this favouritism. Unless we all start to see and accept, once and for all, that knowing both official languages is a key core qualification for certain positions.

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Christian Sylvain, Gatineau

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Manor Park streamrolling sidewalks

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As a 35 year resident of Manor Park, I am shocked that Ottawa City Council has elected to steamroll the needs or wishes of all the residents of the area, as expressed in three separate surveys. During my residence in this area, no pedestrian has been hit by a moving vehicle on the safe and wide streets in this area. Data from the NRC shows that sidewalks in our climate crack and make it more unsafe for both able bodied and the disabled. Installation of sidewalks is environmentally unfriendly. I have spent decades fighting the adverse effects of the environment on health and I am on the national steering committee of a group to enhance planetary and personal health. The council has made a very ill-thought-out decision.

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Richard van der Jagt, Ottawa

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