Canada Day ‘shame’
Dear Editor:
An open letter to Justin Trudeau, John Nater and Doug Ford.
As Canada Day approaches I am full of mixed emotions. I moved to Canada when I was three in 1973 and all of my schooling was taught in Canadian schools. But not a word was mentioned about residential schools and how colonialism destroyed Indigenous culture, families, and spirits. And now the genocide of presumably thousands of innocent children.
My desire to celebrate Canada Day this year is very low. How can I possibly be proud of a country that has treated a people with such hate. How can I wave a flag when I know so many are still hurting at the hands of our government. My heart is heavy with the number of unmarked graves being discovered.
This Canada Day is full of shame. This Canada Day I will not put up flags and wear red and white. I will choose orange instead.
As a country we need to do more, figure out a way to make peace, figure out how to facilitate real meaningful healing. It’s time to take ownership of a very dark past and seriously look at the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Stop talking and start acting!
I also strongly encourage all MPs, MPPs and every Canadian citizen to enroll in the free on-line course Indigenous Canada offered by the University of Alberta.
We have a lot to account for and as leaders in this province and country it is your duty to lead by example and find a way forward to meaningful healing as a nation.
Lynn Philp,
Harriston
‘Called to act’
Dear Editor:
RE: ‘Only thing they did’? (June 24).
Although I agree that the church and the staff at the residential schools are to be held responsible for the inhumane and indefensible treatment of children at residential schools, I do believe that the government is equally culpable and also needs to be held to account.
For more than 100 years, it was Canada’s official policy to “Take the Indian out of the Indian,” as Sir Duncan Campbell Scott, head of the Indian Affairs department, defined his mandate in the early 1900s. The best way to do this was to begin with the children so they created and contracted out to the churches what became known as residential schools.
As residential schools began to close, the government continued to steal children in the “Sixties Scoop” which took 20,000 Indigenous children from their families and adopted them out to mostly white families. And lest we think these racist actions are limited to the past, it continues today with provincial governments directing children’s aid societies to remove Indigenous newborns from their mothers via “birth alerts.”
The theft of children is only one of the many ways in which the First Peoples of this land have been harmed. It is heartbreaking and unacceptable that the only response to their cries for justice are apologies and more studies.
Canadians are called to act! How? Educate yourself. Read the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and do something. Call/write your MP and MPP and demand they do something. We, who have benefited from the theft of land and the genocide of peoples, owe more than we can pay but we need to begin.
Heidi Matthews,
Erin
‘Stalking’
Dear Editor:
RE: Public health addresses vaccine hesitancy in county, June 24.
How disturbing to learn that Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) is stalking its citizens through “heat maps,” and analyzing vaccine booking data so they know where to concentrate their efforts to coerce people into vaccinating.
I guess we should be thankful that they chose to keep their information confidential, unlike Toronto Public Health, lest they invite all the “vaccine champions,” with both good and bad intentions, to descend on these unsuspecting people.
If they can understand that some people are unsure because these are a new type of vaccine and they would rather see how things go over the next year or so, why not let them? We are given gut instincts for a reason, and when it comes to something that’s permanent and has risks, like injecting something into our bodies, listening to that gut instinct is paramount to anything public health has to say about it.
We have known vaccines were coming since March 2020, when every leader in every nation repeated the same mantra for the cameras: We will not get back to normal until we have a vaccine. We’ve all had ample time to think about it, read about it, and decide what’s right for us.
Maybe WDGPH should concentrate on the people who are having trouble booking appointments, and let those with a wait-and-see approach do what feels right to them. After all, it is they, and not public health, who have to live with the consequences of their decision.
Amanda Philip,
Amaranth
Editor’s note: No one is being “coerced” into being vaccinated. Anyone with concerns about COVID-19 vaccines should consult their physician.
‘Unprofessional’
Dear Editor:
RE: Public health addresses vaccine hesitancy in county, June 24.
I found this article inflammatory and unprofessional. Words such as heat maps/aware of the exact demographics of unvaxxed peeps and plans to amend this. Using the word stigma and turning up the heat on the hesitant. We are better than this in Wellington; shameful message.
People allergic to PEG (polyethylene glycol) or with immune disorders need not be vilified, alter your ways.
Jane Lutner,
Harriston
Editor’s note: Not all COVID-19 vaccines contain PEG. Vaccines are generally safe for those with pre-existing health conditions. Anyone with concerns about COVID-19 vaccines should consult their physician.
‘Spot-on’?
Dear Editor:
RE: Public health addresses vaccine hesitancy in county, June 24.
The June 24th edition of the Advertiser reported that “Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health is turning up the heat on vaccine hesitancy in Wellington County.”
I looked up the meaning of the phrase “turning up the heat” and here’s the definition given by the source of all modern knowledge (Google), word-for-word:
“What does turn up the heat mean? Turn up the heat in British English. To increase the intensity of activity, coercion, etc.
“Turn up the heat (on someone or something): To pressure someone to do something.”
“A: ‘The suspect still isn’t saying anything.’ B: ‘OK, let’s turn up the heat.’”
Your correspondent’s choice of phrasing was spot-on.
Terence Rothwell,
Wellington North
Editor’s note: No one is being coerced into being vaccinated. Anyone with concerns about COVID-19 vaccines should consult their physician.
Power of kindness
Dear Editor:
Quite innocently the other day, through a simple act of recognition and kindness, my wife just may have stumbled upon at least part of a solution to remediation of racial tensions so prevalent in the world of today.
We were awaiting our turn in some checkout line at a local store when a young man took his place behind us placating a newborn by rocking his stroller back and forth. The man, whose wife was yet to appear with their own purchases, was obviously of a different cultural base.
My wife took the time in a simple and short conversation to compliment the obviously proud young man on his child before our number was called by the “next available” teller. Shortly after, it was the young family’s turn and they passed behind us. On his way by, the young man took the time to say “thank you” for acknowledging what to him was such a source of pride.
Those two simple acts of thoughtfulness – my wife’s sincere compliment and the reciprocal recognition of acknowledgement by the young man – demonstrated to me how one simple act of kindness or recognition can bridge any cultural divide which potentially may have existed.
A compliment, holding the door for someone, a sincere ‘thank you’, a handshake, a smile, helping someone struggling with some minor task; all of these gestures acknowledge another human being.
By itself, none of these alone will correct, to quote a line from the famous Christmas carol, “ten thousand years of wrong.” However what we can do is build bridges for the future, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Throughout the annals of recorded history, we have allowed generations of (brilliant?) politicians to legislate equality via commissions, committees, proclamations, laws, edicts, internments, prosecutions, and acts of genocide. Nothing has worked, and in some perverse way may have perpetrated the very animosity it was designed to eradicate.
Perhaps it’s time for humanity to forget politicians completely, and endeavour to treat each other one on one, one small opportunity for kindness at a time, whenever that opportunity occurs, and in whatever form.
Ron Johnson,
Mount Forest
Truth vital to justice
Dear Editor:
What is it about Trudeau that has so many people believing he is a great leader?
He has not functioned with integrity with situations like WE and it continues. He spends like there is no end to finances, like a teenager with a credit card, he did not take care of Canadians with PPE in 2020 and he is not doing it for this variant which is fast approaching or with rapid tests in every home to identify the variant. It is coming and it does affect people who have been vaccinated too.
Israel, the most vaccinated country, is already taking steps because of the high incidence of the COVID-19 delta variant in their vaccinated and unvaccinated population.
Trudeau pushes through much legislation affecting freedoms such as freedom of speech on the internet and he is now introducing Bill C-26 to have people charged before they commit a crime. I am not talking terrorism, I am talking all of us. If you are accused, you can be charged. What kind of justice is this? This is subjective charges based on what … emotions?
We have something come up every day and he does come across on TV as convincing, but please look at the deeds and how our country is becoming divided. He continues to spend and it is not on issues directly affecting Canadians. Clean water for the Indigenous was not addressed at the time. It should have been done right away.
We need peace in Canada. We don’t need a prime minister who enjoys stirring up everything to platform and I believe that is what he is doing. Trudeau needs to be confronted and made accountable.
We have a great country. Nothing is perfect, but we have good people in Canada and wonderful resources. We must work together, and not let anyone divide us, or demean Canadians on the world scene, even our prime minister. We are not perfect, but Canadians will always work to do better! Did you know many children and people all over Canada died of tuberculosis and flu in the late 1800s and 1900s until about 1940 when antibiotics were first introduced? Think about it. This is not discussed in any media. Why?
I love Canada and want justice for all Canadians and kindness, respect and most important, truth.
Truth will set us free and it is vital to justice.
Carolann Krusky,
Fergus
Also ignored
Dear Editor:
RE: ‘Let down and ignored’, June 24.
Ditto to John McWinnie’s Letters to the Editor on June 24.
Our story is similar except first shot was March 30 at University of Guelph. We patiently waited for the promised second dose information – none received. Then tried to contact WDGPH with the same result as Mcwinnie – “Currently experiencing a high volume hang up.”
After the 15th-plus time of hearing this message it sounds like someone shuting the door on you accompanied by a rude comment suggesting that you should go away. Our story did not end as well McWinnie’s, because we haven’t found some extra doses close enough.
This experience was further exasperated by the Advertiser’s front-page article (Public health addresses vaccine hesitancy in county, June 24). WDGPH seems to have lots of data, some of which they are reluctant to share. I wonder if the Advertiser asked questions about: how many notices for second shot were sent out; were the notices sent to targeted areas; what was the response rate? Did Rita Isley suggest that the lower vaccine rates in North Wellington was because they were never invited to have a second shot? As a small sample of two who are not vaccine hesitant, and have a desire to get our second shot, but do not know how to access vaccines (ie. get someone to answer the phone; get a confirming email or number that lets us apply on line).
If a lot people in this area have not received a notice for a second shot it might be useful if they send a Letter to the Editor.
Truman Phillips,
Minto