We need to value primary health care Re: “Authorities must act to preserve health care,” editorial, Sept. 29. We live in a democracy.
We don’t force anyone in our country to do a job to the detriment of their personal and financial well-being.
This is evident by the one million B.C. residents who can’t find a family physician. We rank second-last in the high-income ranking health-system published in 2021. Instead of pointing fingers and threatening those who are trying their best to provide us with care, take responsibility for your actions.
It can only be helpful and should be applauded when you state that more funding is not a panacea, that the “crisis” can be laid as much at the feet of the medical profession as the government, and that telehealth is contributing to, not solving, the problem while exploiting it for profit. Unfortunately, this entails the political courage to confront entrenched and emerging interests. This has been absent historically and currently seems unlikely.Victoria
But the real problem is successive governments that do not invest the necessary funds in a timely fashion and accelerate a procurement process that seemingly has as its main goal anything but a concrete result.Navy is our first response to international crises Re: “Is there a place for subs in our navy?” letter, Sept. 29.
Because Canada operates under water, we participate with other nations in the submerged traffic system. Right now, today, Canadian Navy ships are working with allied navies in the Pacific to uphold international “law of the sea protocols” while simultaneously maintaining a presence in the eastern Atlantic.
That barely moves the needle toward NATO’s two per cent target; it would bring Canada’s defence spending up to 1.59 per cent of GDP. The current budget is $36.3 billion. There will be little time to make up for deficiencies, particularly in equipment and well-trained combatants.Appalled at the loss of trees along Shelbourne I was appalled to find the magnificent old trees that used to line Shelbourne Street have been butchered. I am told it is to make way for bicycle lanes. Really?