From our Network:
Start your engines! Driving.ca is Canada's leading destination for the latest automotive news, reviews, photos and video.
Find out more ›
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Letters to the Editor: Nov. 6

Letters to the editor have readers emphasizing the importance of carbon monoxide detectors, asking politicians to make the pandemic the priority and the issues of locally receiving medical care

Safeguard family

Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer because you cannot see, taste or smell it. It is produced when appliances and equipment in your home such as a natural gas furnace, water heater or stove, wood or gas fireplace, propane generator or kerosene lantern are installed improperly or not maintained.

Distroscale

Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Low levels of CO exposure make you feel like you have the flu, without the fever. High concentrations can kill you. Four of my relatives died from carbon monoxide poisoning a decade ago and the pain of that loss continues.

Carbon monoxide awareness week began Monday. Watch your mailbox for educational pamphlets, and take these two simple steps to keep your family safe:

Get an annual inspection of all the fuel-fired devices in your home

Install and regularly test approved carbon monoxide alarms. (It’s the law in Ontario.)

Please do your part so the silent killer cannot harm your family. Learn more at www.cosafety.ca and www.endthesilence.ca.
John Gignac, retired fire captain
Brantford

Politicians should make pandemic the priority

As a resident of Woodstock, I feel fairly safe in regards to catching COVID-19 because of the smaller size of our community and our residents seem to be following public-health recommendations and provincial regulations.

Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Many parts of Canada cannot say the same.

However, when it comes to financial difficulties, our community is no different from the rest of Canada. We are hurting too. I am, therefore, furious to hear that our government was talking about a non-confidence motion when it seems clear to me all parties should be making the pandemic a priority and working together on how to solve this crisis.

They, better than anyone, know how much an election costs and the time it takes. I am feeling such disdain for politicians right now and thinking they are only interested in being in power and have no care for the people who they were elected to serve.

How incredibly naive am I.

Laurel Gillespie
Woodstock

Being neglected

I am horrified by the neglect I am receiving from some medical teams during this pandemic, including not being called in a timely manner for examination and surgical procedures by specialists to whom I have been referred.

Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

I am being treated by my family physician in Windsor by teleconferencing and having my meds faxed to a pharmacy in Woodstock, where I moved four months ago. I am grateful she is continuing to help me as I can’t get a family doctor in Woodstock because there is a doctor shortage and no one is taking new patients.

I was treated promptly and with respect at a walk-in clinic here, where the doctor determined I needed a specialist and surgery as soon as possible, but then the disconnect occurred. There was no callback and no excuses from the specialist’s office when I called. Finally, I received a letter that I was being directed to a general surgeon and, when I met with him, he said he wouldn’t operate on me because I was high risk and needed to be treated in London.

Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

I am in the most neglected group. I don’t have COVID-19, I am a senior, 74 years old, and a woman.

I am going to continue to advocate for myself and have asked my family physician to try to get a referral to a physician in London.

Susan Courtney,
Woodstock

COVID-19

Here’s a rundown of our daily coverage on the Woodstock-area fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic from March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for breaking news and updates as they happen. Send us a message with any cancellations or stories. For more national stories click here.   

This Week in Flyers