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Remember Sewergate come election time

Re: Our watershed’s future far from assured (April 29)

Just read your editorial about the never to be forgotten travesty of Sewergate. As a young girl I attended an event at which Mayor Lloyd D Jackson was the primary speaker — yes it was many years ago. One of the subjects of his address was our bay. In those days almost every business dumped into Hamilton Harbour. He commented that business was booming and one of the best things Hamilton had going for it was that we had largest open sewer system in the world. I have never forgotten this address. So now that millions of dollars and volunteer hours have been spent to recover this “Open Sewer System,” where are now? Almost back where we started it seems.

Kudos to Councillor Maureen Wilson for having the spunk to speak up. Too bad she does not have more support on council.

I hope the citizens of Hamilton remember this travesty when we go to the polls.

Laurel Thompson, Hamilton

Long-term care crisis has a long history

I hope that Monday’s editorial page headline and content about the COVID crisis in long-term care in Ontario caught everyone’s attention. Beside it was the editorial cartoon taking us back through the premierships of Doug Ford, Kathleen Wynne, Dalton McGuinty and Mike Harris. But our collective inability to address long-term care goes back even further. In the early ’70s, my mom, a public health nurse, was a provincial nursing home inspector. She often had horror stories about care in some of these homes, especially ones in rural Ontario. These experiences disturbed her and she returned to public health nursing after two years. Years later, as my mom struggled with her own decline, she would sometimes make plaintive pleas: “Don’t put me in the home.” Memories of what she’d seen never left her. Now, almost 50 years later, we still face a crisis in long-term care. Will we ever learn?

Paul Fralick, Dundas

Roosevelt would have supported LRT

To all those opposed to LRT, please do yourselves a favour and read about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was first elected in 1932, after the Great Depression. He initiated, the “Works Project Administration,” which helped pull the U.S. out of the Depression. I think, he would have approved of LRT.

Joseph Paluch, Hamilton

Double thanks from a downtown senior

I am a senior living in a highrise apartment downtown. Part of my isolation routine is to go for a walk every day in my neighbourhood. Not only is this helping my health mentally and physically it is enabling me to discover new things. When I started these walks it was still winter and I have been watching spring arrive. An interesting thing, like in the story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” the Grinch could not stop Christmas from coming by stealing all of the “trappings.” Neither has COVID-19 been able to stop Spring from coming just by “stealing” so many of the good trappings.

One of my favourite walks goes through the tunnel under the train tracks on MacNab St. It joins the city hall/Whitehern area with the Durand Neighbourhood. However, it had become so dirty and garbage filled that I no longer felt safe using it. So, I called Jason Farr, my councillor, last Friday wondering if it was possible to have it cleaned up but fully understanding it may not be possible considering all the COVID-19 stuff. By Monday it was cleaned! Thank you to Jason and the city workers who did the job! So, in spite of the virus our city is working well! What a great place to live! Ruth Simmons, Hamilton

Great service from city hall

I prepaid for swimming lessons for my grandson that were to start in April. Recently, I emailed the recreation department at city hall asking about how I should expect to receive a refund/credit. In return, I received a standard form email stating that the centres have been closed due to the pandemic. OK, I thought, I can wait and inquire once things get back to normal. To my surprise, I received a phone call from the department this morning from a very friendly and chipper young lady ready to explain everything to me.

A big thank you to this city hall staff member who took the time to deal with my not so important problem so pleasantly.

Lenore M Poppa, Hamilton

Nurses sure aren’t treated like heroes

It is just lip service for Ontario nurses to be called heroes in this pandemic.

Ontario nurses are working in “The Year of the Nurse” without a contract. The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) just presented a brief to the arbitration board that proves that there is no respect for the nurses of Ontario. Remember the OHA gets its marching orders from the Ontario government. So Doug Ford should be held accountable for the disgusting presentation and ignorance of the OHA.

I was chair of the Ontario Nurses Association negotiation team post-SARS. The OHA argued that there wasn’t a nursing shortage. We knew the system was broken then, when nurses were working in two, three or more health care settings to make a living. It’s unsafe to casualize these professionals.

Now more than ever there needs to be sound decisions, respect and concern for public health.

I implore the arbitration board to do the right thing — toss the OHA brief in the trash and respect our nurses and our communities.

Pat MacDonald, Mount Hope

Trump didn’t get most votes

Re: Trump letter hit a new low (April 30)

The writer suggests 50 per cent of Americans voted for Trump. Do the math. Trump had 46.1 per cent of the vote and he lost the popular vote by 2.87 million votes. His opponent received 48.2 per cent of the vote, so that would be more, wouldn’t it?

Patrick Lynch, Stoney Creek