Brandon Overdose and Area Awareness would like to take a few minutes to respond to the article in the Winnipeg Free Press on March 14, 2023 and The Brandon Sun on March 15, from Janice Morley-Lecomte, the provincial minister of health and community wellness.

Re: Tax cuts in the 2023 budget.

I read with great interest the letter to the editor from Janice Morley-Lecomte, the minister of mental health and community wellness, in regard to prioritizing addiction and recovery services.

Linda Ross and the rest of the trustees who voted to eliminate the health-care aide program seem to be out of touch with the needs of the community.

Let’s be “that country!” The country that really means it when we say we want the best health-care system, the best education system, top-notch law enforcement and fire departments and so on. We should take pride in how our country has been committed to, and how it has been providing public “social” program services.

Re: Ottawa fast-tracks weapon purchases as military commanders warn of numerous other gaps. (Winnipeg Free Press, March 9)

On March 3, our organization learned of funding opportunities through Brandon Neighborhood Renewal Corporation’s (BNRC) Reaching Home Initiative according to a Brandon Sun article. A potential sum of $300,000 is available to Indigenous organizations through the Indigenous stream that is designed to assist community-based programming in preventing and reducing homelessness at a local level.

When Canadians vote to elect MPs or MLAs, I think they have certain expectations that the candidates have not only intelligence but common sense, and that they are interested in the position not just for personal gain, but to try to improve the lot of their constituents. They also expect moral and ethical behaviour. Reading Niigaan Sinclair’s “No Place for Toxic, Racist Behaviour,” therefore, leaves me disappointed and angry as most of those qualities were lacking, it seems, among B.C. legislators.

“Thank you, I guess, for saving me? Helping me? Mr. Policeman. You have confiscated my supply of drugs, but for what reason, what end? I know you are acting with the law in mind, but don’t you realize that I have a health problem — it’s called addiction? You must feel I can ‘do better’ and have my health problem get better, by taking away the ‘drugs’ I am dependent on. And now you are arresting me! But I am not a criminal; I’m not the enemy!”

I read an article in The Brandon Sun explaining that even though Canada educates enough replacement doctors, it does not as a policy hire them locally.

RE: Kemnay bridge struck again. (The Brandon Sun, Feb. 24)

I read with interest your article about a Polish historian and a local historian who wanted to honour a Brandon resident, Cpl. Walter John Klos, for his bravery during the Second World War when Canadian forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, to liberate Europe in 1944.

Not commonly understood or appreciated is that it is the generation that came of age in the 1960s that bequeathed to following generations a pan-Canadian health-care system designed to be universal, portable, accessible and publicly administered.

The Brandon Chamber of Commerce is in favour of growth of the City of Brandon. We believe continuing to grow will ultimately lead to a better quality of life for our members, and all residents, by supporting the maintenance and development of amenities that we expect in a modern, modestly sized city.

I find it particularly disturbing that the Manitoba Nurses Union would choose to be so outright in its support of one political party. It is a disservice to Manitobans and the members who do not support the NDP.

It’s the small details …

In a recent article, with photo in regard to “homelessness” and the homeless living in a bus shelter, I was struck by the picture. It showed how organized the person who was living in the bus shelter seemed to be. What I saw was what looked like a shelving unit and the person’s belongings organized in “an orderly fashion.” What did I expect? Well, assuming that being homeless implies “chaos,” then certainly a much less orderly appearance of the bus shelter might be expected. In essence, that person had made the bus shelter a “home.” So, what to make of that?

Absent in the ongoing debate regarding funding of health care between the federal and provincial/territorial governments is the lack of openness on the part of the premiers regarding their objectives and intentions.

Quentin Robinson’s letter (Dec. 20) opposing Brandon City Council’s plan to build a large box store complex on the western side of the city raises several important points city council will do well to consider. The plan is definitely regressive rather than progressive.