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Re: Lockboxes for drugs and weapons: Nurses fed up with drug use in B.C. hospitals
To say we were incensed by this news story would be a total understatement. When and why do the rights of substance users trump those of patients and staff? Hospitals are supposed to to be places of healing and should be a safe environment for all those requiring treatment for urgent health issues, not to mention the poor staff attempting to help them and carry out their vital duties.
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What is going on in our already beleaguered health-care system right now is disgraceful, and has to stop immediately.
Decriminalization of drugs and safe supply has done nothing whatsoever to ease the crisis, which is only getting worse by the day. Let’s begin by completely banning any illicit drugs and weapons from entering our hospitals in the first place.
Health Minister Adrian Dix’s suggestion of hiring more security guards staff won’t solve this issue.
Come on, Ministry of Health, surely we can do better than that, and once again be proud of our once-enviable health-care system. Right now, it’s nothing but an embarrassment and many poor people are being denied the safe and timely help they so desperately need. There is something very wrong with this picture.
Carlie Holland and Denyne Butler, Richmond
It is utterly unconscionable to subject our already overworked health workers to the perils of toxic drugs and weapons. How can we permit this pattern of behaviour in hospitals that jeopardizes patients who are already health-compromised?
Premier David Eby’s assertion that smoking and weapons are not allowed in hospitals rings hollow, and security officers can do little to improve security when law enforcement is defanged by decriminalization. This ill-conceived policy further drains health resources from patients who need them. Listen to our frontline workers. It is time for decriminalization to be abandoned.
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Dr. Frederick Kwong, Vancouver
The federal government needs to leave some money in Canadians’ pockets
When asked about plans to raise income tax, our prime minister stated: “We’re going to continue to focus on putting money in the pockets of Canadians.”
That statement sums up Canada’s biggest problem. Trudeau, his cabinet and the Liberal party like putting money in our pockets. It secures their power and control over us while making them appear generous and benevolent. But that isn’t their job. Their job is to leave money in our pockets.
We, the citizens of Canada, have the job of putting money in our own pockets. The government then takes some of that money to provide good governance and well-run services.
However, this government is constantly rummaging around in our pockets, taking as much money as it possibly can. They then spread it around to our inefficient public service and headline-grabbing vanity projects. This spending is done without any accountability. After extending this generosity and benevolence, they put a little bit back into our pockets.
Some Canadians wait for their carbon tax rebate to arrive before they can go shopping and buy carbon-tax-price-inflated groceries. The Liberals would claim that this proves their system is working.
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Mr. Prime Minister, I don’t need you to put money in my pocket. Just stop rummaging around in my pocket and taking money away from my family and me. Please.
Ian Ballam, Burnaby
Commercial fishing is not an inherent right
Re: Fishing closures at Port Renfrew a serious mistake
B.C. Forest Products shut down their operation in Port Renfrew because they cut the last tree down. Now this reader wants the last salmon in the ocean caught?
I live on Vancouver Island. In recent years, I have seen more wildlife and marine mammals in the Salish Seas than ever before, and many more whale-watching and eco-tourist companies.
I’m not sure why we kowtow to commercial fishing off the Pacific west coast. It’s not an inherent right, except for my First Nations brothers, of course. I respect the fishing guides in Port Renfrew, but it’s time to switch to whale watching, from Chinook killing.
Levi Nathom, Sidney
Letters to the editor should be sent to sunletters@vancouversun.com. Click here to report a typo.
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