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The pain factor
Re Mounting Cost of Opioid Abuse Treatment Taxes Health System (Aug. 23): Alcohol kills more people than opioids.
Pain is a real issue for patients. My lifespan has been shortened by a stroke and stomach ulcers after using common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs, which have substantially more side effects. The pain from arthritis is excruciating. I feel I have been given a death sentence.
Christina Schumacher, Toronto
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Canada is the second-largest per capita user of prescription opioids worldwide. Thunder Bay has the highest per-capita prescription rate of opioids in the world and Manitoulin Island the most overdoses. Opioids only mask pain and are most effective for patients on bed rest, but do little to help them return to normal activities without pain.
With provincial health-care systems spending $93-million to combat addiction to painkillers and costs of substance abuse prevention escalating, doctors and policy-makers need to recognize there is a better way to manage pain. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended physiotherapy as an alternative for people with chronic pain who would otherwise seek prescription.
We need to provide evidence-based care for Canadians and eliminate inappropriate treatment and spending. The goal should be to treat the patient, not just prescribe a drug.
Linda Woodhouse, president, Canadian Physiotherapy Association
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I gave at the …
Re Ontario Bends On Tightening Donation Caps, But Won't Ban Cash-For-Access (Aug. 23): The Government House Leader's office said Yasir Naqvi will consult with the opposition parties on a code of conduct for MPPs that would offer guidelines for raising money from stakeholders. It appears that Mr. Naqvi just doesn't see the problem. Donors at access-for-cash meetings become stakeholders!
Trev Jones, Stoney Creek, Ont.
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As an ardent Liberal supporter, I'm confused by the disconnect between the words and deeds of my MPP, Kathleen Wynne. Promising a transparent and honest style of governing, she continues to allow companies to hand off millions of dollars to members of her cabinet for access. Who, except maybe Ms. Wynne, believes these are altruistic acts? It looks bad, smells bad and is bad.
Marty Cutler, Toronto
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Seize the car. And cell
Re Put The Cell Away, Or Spend Time In One (editorial, Aug. 23): No doubt phone companies and governments will respond to complaints about distracted drivers on cellphones by saying that yet another "public awareness program" will solve the problem. It is astonishing the number of people who are texting or doing anything but paying proper attention while at the wheel of three tonnes of metal moving at 120 kilometres an hour.
Until the Criminal Code can be changed to make cellphone use while driving a criminal offence, let's call on the provinces to amend their highway traffic acts to require the 10-day seizure of vehicles and phones of drivers caught using their phones behind the wheel.
Those who cannot "live" without constantly using their phones are likely to find the threat of losing both their cell and car an absolute horror. Clearly, a fine (regardless of the amount) and demerit points are not a sufficient deterrent.
Richard E. Austin, Toronto
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Low water mark
Re Nestlé Still Taking Water From Town Despite Drought: Activists (Aug. 22): As of Aug. 11, the Grand River Watershed (which includes the town of Aberfoyle) was assigned a "Level Two Condition" under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's Low Water Response Program.
A Level Two Condition means the low water levels point to "a potentially serious problem, managed through water conservation and restriction on non-essential water use."
The action to be taken is that a 20-per-cent reduction in water use is imposed upon all users.
So, I ask: Why doesn't Kathryn McGarry adopt her ministry's findings of low water levels in the watershed and invoke, at minimum, a 20-per-cent reduction in water use? Why isn't she taking into account the mandatory restrictions on water-takings set out in Ontario's Water Resources Act?
Given the dire drought conditions reported throughout Ontario, the ministry must govern water resources in a sustainable manner. First, the minister must consider the purpose of the water-taking permit program (conservation, protection and wise use and management of Ontario waters). This means ground water should be conserved, protected and managed wisely.
Second, the minister must implement the ministry's "Permit to Take Water Guide," which states: "Permits are issued with an expiry date … expired permits …can not be renewed in high-use waters [for] beverage manufacturing."
In other words, Néstle's expired permit for its bottled water beverage manufacturing facility in Aberfoyle must not be renewed in this high-use watershed, especially when low water levels are potentially a serious problem.
Patricia Hania, PhD in water governance, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto
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It took our family about the last seven years to consume a million litres of water. I calculate, based on my utility bill, that I am currently paying for water at the rate of $2,085 per million litres. I have to wonder why a company that is promoting water addiction and in the process polluting the planet with gazillions of plastic bottles, is paying $3.71 for that same million litres. That's just not right.
Clearly, these companies need to pay a lot more if we are ever going to bring this whole environmental issue under control. What will it take for our politicians to start connecting the fiscal and environmental dots here?
Dick Moutray, Kitchener
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Politicians at work
Re Ethics Commissioner To Examine Philpott's Use Of Car Service (Aug. 23): Her car-hire expenses may be one thing, but to make a fuss about Jane Philpott's Air Canada lounge membership is quite another.
As every frequent flyer knows (the ranks of which, with free lounge access, I am sure the minister will shortly join), the lounge is not a luxury. It is a place where people work, freshen up after a long flight (e.g. to Europe) and hold meetings – all very difficult to do in the regular terminal.
Would the complaining opposition parties prefer the minister to read novels in the terminal rather than have a useful working space where she can continue her ministerial duties?
Ronald Labonté, Ottawa
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Re Conservatives Want McKenna To Repay $11,000 Spent On Photographer (Aug. 23): I don't understand why any minister, including the Prime Minister, needs a taxpayer-funded professional photographer following them around to record their activities. If what they're doing is newsworthy, it will be covered by the press. With pictures. For free!
Deborah Kestenbaum, Toronto