Province-wide Opinion Section.
Your Free Speech letters will appear here.
Shiny and new
| After reading countless letters to the editors in a variety of publications, I always come away with the same feeling. The articles, for the most part, are well written, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and compelling, drawing attention to our extremely broken healthcare system. Some people I have had the pleasure of meeting in person or virtually. These are former healthcare CEOs, and Healthcare Executives. Most are retired but continue to advocate for improvement to our broken healthcare system in New Brunswick. The fact that these individuals are still advocating into their retirement tells me they have been advocates through many governments, Liberal as well as Conservative, with little to no change. The many suggestions they put forward are sound and doable. If we had started building nursing homes 25 years ago, we wouldn’t have the logjam we now have in our hospitals. Imagine how much smoother things would be working Yes, we would still have problems, but I believe that with the logjam fixed, it would be easier to come by solutions. I bring all this up to make the point that, with all the advocacy that has been done over the last 25 years, we have had no meaningful improvement to our healthcare system; in fact, it it is spiraling downwards. We are quickly headed towards the point of no return. With our debt spiraling out of control, many of the improvements to our healthcare that will need to be made will require a large influx of cash. There will be some difficult choices ahead for New Brunswick. I have been using this statement (not sure where it came from) “If they won’t change, replace them!”. So, after a lot of thought and consultation with people I trust and whose advice I value, we have decided to launch an alternate New Brunswick political party. We are in the soft launch phase. There is, of course, a lot of paperwork and back-office work to be done. Official launch will be September 16, 2026. I hope you will join us. Peter Phillips HealthCare First |
Be N.I.C.E. to one another
| N.I.C.E. – Border Patrol in Canada – a video parody about American I.C.E. (Immigration, Customs & Enforcement) Agents, produced by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s TV show This Hour has 22 Minutes Click here for link to YouTube video This video – filmed in my hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia – warmed the cockles of my heart. The tragedy though, and it’s a big one, is that it’s one in a thousand, perhaps one in ten thousand. In discovering something like this, people expose themselves to 999 things that are much more harmful than we can ever comprehend. The staunchest supporters of high tech will always say “just ignore the bad and concentrate on the good and have fun.” But I don’t believe the human brain functions in that way. I think we retain everything we are exposed to and it is manifested in our attitudes, our apathy, our behaviour, our beliefs and so on, often unconsciously. Before the age of technology came upon us, very few were able to achieve any fame or prominence. And, for some, notoriety was their goal. Nowadays, most everyone wants it. And the result? So many have become ostentatious, therefore inadmissible. And yes, I am most aware that many would label me as a curmudgeon, a heretic, a Luddite, irrelevant, a stupid old bugger who just doesn’t get it. And that’s why I have taken leave of the everyday world and have become a freshly-scrubbed sheet, just out of scalding hot water and lye in a copper wash tub atop a cheery wood stove, flapping in the breeze on a brisk spring day in a Newfoundland fishing outport, turquoise icebergs floating by, the souls of the Titanic dead murmuring over the horizon, crocuses shyly popping up beneath the clothesline and later, I’ll lay me down in a cedar chest, pure as the newly-driven snow. Gregory Hawkins |
Navigating rural health-care
| When Rural Health-Care Risk Becomes Personal I recently relocated to Woodstock, NB from Saint Andrews and, like many New Brunswickers, am learning what it means to navigate our health-care system from a rural perspective. Because I have an existing family physician elsewhere in the province, I am unable to obtain a local provider without surrendering that relationship and joining a lengthy waitlist. As a result, I now live more than two hours from my primary care physician and rely on local hospital services when care is urgent or cannot be postponed. Recent reporting on changes affecting the Upper River Valley Hospital has therefore given me pause. Discussions about centralized control, staffing losses, and unfilled surgical positions are often framed in administrative language, but for patients and families they translate into a simple question: Will care be there when we need it? Rural residents already manage longer travel times, fewer alternatives, and limited access to primary care. When local hospital capacity is weakened without clear assurances that emergency, surgical, and obstetric services will be protected, the risk is quietly shifted onto the community. This is not a call for confrontation, but for transparency and engagement. Decisions affecting rural hospitals should be guided not only by efficiency metrics, but by an honest assessment of patient safety, continuity of care, and the realities of living far from major centres. I hope others in the Upper River Valley will reflect on what local access to care means to them and share their perspectives. A strong health system depends not only on planning, but on public trust – and trust requires clarity. Dr. Brian Usher Woodstock, New Brunswick |
Your Free Speech letters will appear here.
That dog won’t hunt?
| Guaranteed basic income bill-s-233 is being considered by Liberal Senator Kim Pate but is doomed to failure before it takes flight. The Senator had the audacity to compare UBI to the great success of Medicare. Considering this moronic bill in the first place is worrisome and destructive as the Liberals struggle with their abysmal poll numbers. Government should pay heed. “No government can afford it,” Aged Senators within the Liberal government are clearly suffering from serious enigmas “upstairs.” So, where in Canadians minds does the problem lie. The preponderance of citizens considers the problem lies squarely on Justin Trudeau’s back and the Liberal party is stuck in a cataclysmic purgatory. Considering that Justin Trudeau has continuously lied to the citizens or at best (misinformed) his constituents, why would anyone listen to what he has to say? G7 countries go out of their way to avoid him and politely sidestep Canada when important meetings take place, therefore we are not invited because they are suspect of our allegiance. As the days roll on, Justin Trudeau and his Liberals suffer tone deafness to the ninth degree and their emotional intelligence equals – zero. The demise is exacerbated by his Liberal supporters which is detrimental to all Canadians. R Yaschuk |
Just looking for a fair deal
| You might not think the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members are on the picket line as the only means of securing a decent raise. You might even think we are wrong to stand strong in solidarity to have our requests heard. You may be asking why strike. Simply, our contract ran out two years ago and negotiations were not successful, so a strike is the only way to be heard. Thus, negotiating a fair collective agreement is the only way to end the strike. We are not asking for a blank cheque; we are asking for a fair negotiated deal ensuring PSAC and Canadians win. Unfortunately, when this government says talks have broken down and it will not bargain to end this strike then Canadians lose. Canadians are missing services they need. We need your help to make sure this government comes back to the table to negotiate fairly. Our PSAC leader, has put forward our requests by responding to every demand made by the government. Sadly, this government has not fulfilled its responsibility to bargain fairly and so what does this mean for Canadians? It means PSAC members remain strong, and the strike goes on. No one wants a strike. We all want to work. We cannot work so long as this government holds out and keeps us off the job. We need your help to do whatever you can to contact the government and bring them back to the table to end this strike. B Kyle |