Dear Sir;

When I was young there was no health care, and if you had the misfortune of serious illness; it could ruin you financially.

One example I recall was a lady who discovered a lump in her breast. They didn’t have any money for a doctor or hospitalization. They decided that when the steer got fat, it would be sold, and then they could go to the doctor. However, when the steer was fat enough for market, so was the cancer. She suffered and died, perhaps because of the delay in treatment.

There were 2 Jewish doctors in my home town. They cared for 3 towns, and farmers & ranchers in a large area. Many times they wiped off the bills that were owing, when they knew the circumstances of the patient. They even made house calls and delivered babies in the home.

I worked in the Post Office, and once a year they sent out bills owing. This pile of letters was almost a foot high, and I realized that almost everyone in our area owed them money.

I am writing this letter of gratitude for our health care system. First I want to thank Parkland Ambulance for their excellent paramedics who came quickly when I was unconscious. I was sent to Saskatoon for a pacemaker.

Unfortunately I have had to spend quite a bit of time in the hospital. The Victoria Hospital is a very good hospital and I was impressed by the conscientious care I received.

The nurses work so hard, but are still pleasant, kind, and caring. I had wonderful doctors, whose efforts have kept me going.
Recently I had another heart attack and I was dead for 2 minutes, but they applied CPR and brought me back.

I’m 89 years old and I’m still alive, because of the excellent health care I received. I thank God for all my blessings.

Sincerely,
Frances Depeel

Editor:

Canada has been a global leader in investment and showed political leadership in support of COVAX, and we should celebrate this! We are aware of the complexities and trade-offs in accessing vaccines for Canadians as quickly as we can.

As an investor, Canada is entitled to a share of the vaccines purchased through COVAX. But I’m with Stephen Lewis – applying for our share now feels morally repugnant when poorer countries scramble to vaccinate their most vulnerable, and it reads like yet another case of a rich country getting ahead by treading on the backs of the poor.

Randy Rudolph
Calgary

Editor:

I am wondering how the Saskatchewan Premier and Finance Minister decided and justified which Health Care Employees would receive the temporary wage supplement!

The Federal Government provided money to all Province’s Premiers to fund a temporary wage supplement for ALL essential frontline workers during this pandemic.

Yet, only a portion of this money was distributed and targeted to only Long Term Care Employees and to a lesser extent more recently to Home Care Employees.

Hospital Employees were left out completely as they received zero of that Federal money. I am wondering where the rest of the money is?

Was this unequal distribution of the Federal wage supplement intentional?

Does the Saskatchewan Provincial Government de-value their Hospital Employees that much? Is that the message the Premier and Finance Minister are sending us?

All Provincial Hospital Employees are still waiting for our share of the wage supplement we deserve and that was allotted to us!
We “are” a valued part of the Saskatchewan Health Care team!

Marte Olsen
Saskatoon

Editor:

The world recently witnessed a massive step forward in the fight against COVID-19 as the first COVID-19 vaccinations were administered around the globe. High-income countries represent just 14 per cent of the world’s population and they have purchased more than 53 per cent of COVID-19 vaccines which will be enough to vaccinate their entire population almost three times over by the end of 2021. As a result, nearly 67 developing countries will only be able to vaccinate 1 in 10 people against COVID-19 unless action is taken by governments to ensure enough doses are distributed to low-income countries.

Canada tops the list as they have ordered enough vaccines to vaccinate each Canadian several times over. People in low-income countries risk missing out on a vaccine that can save their lives because of the country they are living in. It should not have to be this way. Unless something significantly changes, billions of people living in developing nations will not receive a COVID-19 vaccine for many years. In addition to increasing illness and deaths in those countries, the economic damage could be more long-lasting pushing many residents to extreme poverty. Canadians need to extend their compassion to people living in developing nations by pushing to help them have access to more COVID-19 vaccines.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many leaders belonging to the other G20 countries promised that they will support developing countries in accessing COVID-19 vaccinations. Also, Canada agreed to suspend debt collection from poorer countries to help them have more funding to purchase COVIvD-19 treatments and equipment. Despite these actions, access to COVID-19 vaccinations continues to be a persistent issue amongst low-income countries.

Therefore, I strongly believe it is crucial Canada invests at least one per cent of its COVID-19 response budget towards new and additional global aid to help end the pandemic everywhere. Ending COVID-19 everywhere is critical because we are living in an interconnected world and no one will be safe until everyone is safe.

Thaneya Kug
Toronto