A paramedic closes the doors of an ambulance at a hospital in Toronto on April 6, 2021.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Be patient
Re “Canada’s health care system overwhelmed with steep rise in respiratory viruses” (Dec. 21): I’ve rarely been sick over my 82 years. So I was shocked last month to awake with a frightening bout of diarrhea, followed by weeks of serious body fatigue.
My family doctor retired and our small town has no walk-in clinic. Where do I turn? The symptoms persisted and later, persuaded by kind neighbours, I reluctantly took myself to the emergency department of our local hospital.
Once there, I became impatient and, after two hours, walked out. At that point my daughter intervened and insisted we go back to get some answers. It took five or six hours, but in the end I learned that I had an acute urinary tract infection, easily treatable by a round of antibiotics.
It was an important lesson for this older man to be more patient and listen to others. As for the emergency staff, they were outstanding. Textbook efficiency and very caring.
Les Dominy Renfrew, Ont.
In time
Re “Canada to join U.S.-led naval mission to safeguard Red Sea from Iran-backed rebel attacks” (Dec. 19): Canada’s lack of suitable vessels to contribute to this mission is bemoaned, while “new surface combatants still in production include ships with such capabilities.”
According to the Canadian surface combatant website, the program remains in the design stage. We should be ready to stand with our allies sometime in the early 2030s.
Dieter Neumann Georgian Bluffs, Ont.
Re “Canada has to get out of its bubble” (Dec. 16): MP John McKay “cannot think of a conversation at the door in the last two or three elections where anyone has been concerned about the inadequacy of our support for the military.”
Since Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, I can recall many conversations with friends and neighbours where great concern has been expressed about our lack of military support. This in metro Toronto, which is about as far away from a military presence as anywhere in Canada.
I hope this sentiment is heard loud and clear by our political class.
Michael Colborne Toronto
Missing middle
Re “Mississauga inks housing deal after Windsor rejects federal government’s density requirements” (Dec. 19): During a recent visit to Ontario, I had the pleasure of a tour through the tony Rosedale district of Toronto.
Driving the leafy streets, I was surprised to see several multi-family buildings scattered through the community, including duplexes, townhouse blocks and apartment buildings. Well designed and beautifully landscaped, these fit well into the streetscapes and did nothing to detract from the charm of the neighbourhood. The notion that multi-family buildings cannot fit comfortably into lower-density neighbourhoods is wrong.
Victoria’s new Missing Middle design regulations provide thoughtful, well-balanced guidelines to show how modest increases in density can be woven into existing communities in harmony with the existing fabric. These should be followed by more cities.
Douglas Campbell AIBC, FRAIC; Victoria
Food for thought
Re “Carrots” (Letters, Dec. 18): I agree that people would be more motivated to take better care of themselves if they got a carrot. A break at tax time? Who wouldn’t try for that?
The problem, however, is that prevention and good health are often invisible. It is much easier to feel the need to finance the results of neglect.
People who have diseases, need surgery or get into accidents are “seen.” Money is poured into hospitals to help them.
Of course when something happens like the pandemic, prevention moves to the top of the list. Look, however, at what has happened since COVID-19 cases and deaths decreased.
The push for prevention is there, but not so noticeable.
Julie Levin Toronto
AI watch
Re “Here’s how we can safeguard privacy amid the rise of artificial intelligence” (Report on Business, Dec. 18): Those who believe that science will ultimately make our lives better and save the planet from total erosion would benefit from reading films and novels, where artificial intelligences are depicted taking over our lives in the process of building a perfect artificial world. What might have originally been fictional is becoming more and more a reality with every passing year.
The list of these frighteningly prescient stories is long and includes notable examples such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), the novel Neuromancer (1984), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), The Matrix (1999), WALL-E (2008), Oblivion (2013) and many others.
Believe these prognostications are implausible and overblown? Well, better check to see if it’s our minds actually formulating such an opinion, or are we simply thinking the way the algorithms want us to think?
What do you think, Neo?
Ray Arnold Richmond, B.C.
I remember
Re “Two medieval German towns sate the architectural history nerd in me” (Dec. 20): The cobblestone streets of Regensburg and Bamberg are randomly but poignantly studded with small brass plaques, each inscribed with the name of a former resident.
Beneath the name is most often the German word for “murdered” and a date from the early 1940s. Incredibly moving.
W. Selby Martin Bracebridge, Ont.
Take your time
Re “Buying time: Slow grocery checkouts boost connection in a hurried world” (Dec. 19): I find that checkout lanes with cashiers are often slow-moving because of lineups: Store owners cut back on such lanes to save costs, and cashiers lost jobs when self-checkouts were promoted.
Who knows? Maybe there will be a push to get rid of super mailboxes and we can once again be saying hello to cheerful mail carriers, who often kept track of residents in need of a little more attention. Friendly waves from garbagemen have also disappeared.
In some instances, efficiency serves everyone well. But there is usually a cost in terms of human connection.
Mary Valentich Calgary
Christmas cheer
Re “When playing Santa, I have one fleeting moment to convey the right message to children” (First Person, Dec. 19): I have the great good fortune to be a friend of Santa Claus, known in his civilian life as essay-writer Glenn French.
This year, Santa has defined for each of us a special opportunity. To help him “move the public discourse … in a more positive direction,” let’s each of us find a day, an hour or even just a few minutes for a simple act of kindness, or to say a few kind words to somebody in need of support and encouragement.
It is up to all of us to keep Santa as real as real can be.
Martin Birt Uxbridge, Ont.
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