A4

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

I am writing in response to the letter to the editor published Feb. 13 regarding plans at Canadian Blood Services. At our open board meeting in Moncton on Nov. 27, our chairperson mentioned in her opening remarks that due to Moncton's growing population and large donor base, CBS will undertake a feasibility study to review the possibility of opening a satellite collections site in the Moncton area.

This would be an additional collections site in N.B., not a replacement for the Saint John site.

It is true that Canadian Blood Services employs phlebotomists and we have for a number of years. Phlebotomy is not a traditional skill for nurses and, as such, most clinics have a mix of phlebotomists - some are clinic assistants, some are nurses and some are purely trained phlebotomists.

As a not-for-profit organization funded by taxpayers, Canadian Blood Services is always looking at ways to be more efficient. Canadian Blood Services has re-built Canada's blood system in the last 10 years and it's considered one of the safest systems in the world.

Because we rely on funding from the provincial ministries of health, we are always concerned with containing costs but never at the expense of safety.

New Brunswick has one of the best collections per capita in the country.

Donors in this province understand the importance of regular blood donations to meet the needs of hospital patients. We are continuing to build the best blood system for Canadians and a positive and engaging workplace for employees.

PETER MacDONALD

Director, Donor & Clinic Services, Atlantic Canadian Blood Services

Save right whales from entanglement

Re: Researchers team up with N.B. fishermen to protect right whales from lobster trap ropes

Although it's encouraging to think Canadian scientists and fishermen are working together to try to develop lobster gear that won't harm the North Atlantic right whale it is very clear that more needs to be done right now if we have any hope of saving the most highly endangered large whale in the world.

Officials at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have been in denial about the severity of the entanglement problem in Canada for too long, and the bottom line is that gear and right whales are in the waters of Canada at the same time and right whales are getting tangled up in it.

It's a sad reality that once the whales are entangled in the lobster gear the lines wrap in ever-tightening circles, impacting proper feeding and causing intense pain and suffering from infection. Entanglements can lead to long-term chronic injury, prevent right whales from feeding and swimming normally and may lead to a slow, agonizing death.

Nearly three-quarters of the surviving North Atlantic right whale population is scarred from entanglements in fishing gear and with the U.S. now blaming us it's time for Canada to take serious, quick action.

The death of a single North Atlantic right whale represents a serious setback to the survival of the species. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans must take the necessary action to avoid the loss of one more right whale from entanglement.

DEBORAH GLEASON

Right Whale Campaign Manager International Fund for Animal Welfare

Firearms Act is real target

A Feb. 20 letter confuses the Firearms Act with long gun registration. The writer's not alone. The federal Conservatives' continuing efforts to lump everything bad about the Firearms Act into the globular Firearms Registry has confused many. The writer stated that "legal gun owners in Canada are already licensed and can be identified via their licenses. Criminals are not licensed."

One need look no further than MP Garry Breitkreuz's website and find that the licensing component was the main culprit in the cost overruns, not the registry.

However that information has to be ignored if you intend to retain the Firearms Act POL/PAL licensing, which Breitkreuz's Bill C-301 does. POL/PAL licensing is a people registry that tracks only those that are not criminals. C-301 continues to make criminals out of citizens for nothing more then their "papers" not being in order.

The National Coalition of Provincial and Territorial Wildlife Federations (which includes the New Brunswick Wildlife Federation) in a presentation to the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, on the Firearms Act, (May 15, 1995) called POL/PAL licensing an "unjustified, expensive, ineffectual intrusion into Canadians' lives."

Perhaps this is the reason the Conservatives hid behind a private member's bill, that has little chance of passing, rather than present government legislation that would have a real impact on the Liberals Firearms Act. An impact that's not contained in C-301. The record needs to be set straight on the real target, the Fireams Act, not on the long gun registry.

AL MUIR

Spokesman Canadian Unlicensed Firearms Owners Association (CUFOA)

Some city streets down to one lane

Well I never have seen such a mess! I look out my door and I see a blanket of the white stuff covering as far as the eye can see. One might look at that statement and go "Duh."

My point is that I have seen the roads of Maple Row and Champlain Street on the west side like this for the past three weeks! We have a street that is deemed two-way traffic but it has been one-way for weeks now (no exaggeration here).

The snow drifts are now mostly ice drifts, it is literally four feet-plus from the curb on each side, permitting only one vehicle to get through.

Most surrounding streets have been cleared but the snow and ice continue to build on the side streets. As far as I remember, the taxes for homeowners are the same in the streets that are cleared.

To top it all off, they were doing road work last week and diverted all traffic down this one lane, slippery road which has not been plowed properly and there was salt on top of the snow.

I understand there is a contract company out there. I sure hope they are paid by performance because if they are not, the city is getting hosed.

To the city manager: do something or quit.

CORY DUCEY

Saint John

Kudos for work done after storm

Who could ever imagine after seeing the amount of snow that fell on our already snow laden city on Monday, that our city streets would be up fully functioning by the morning commute Tuesday?

Kudos to the city works department and to the school district outside workers for all the hours upon hours of endless snow removal.

People are very quick to point out when the work is not done, the same should occur when the work is done. I would be hard-pressed to find someone who can dispute the fine job that these men have done in a near impossible situation. Thank you, and thank you to your families, who I'm sure haven't seen some of you since Sunday.

MARY DELANEY

Saint John

Local politicians can be wrong, too

Derailed by debt (Feb. 20) was an insightful editorial on provincial spending. It related government spending to the misuse of "credit cards" which can lead to a "hole of debt and dependency."

This provides a logic that can apply equally to debt-laden provincial communities. Even the failure of the world economy can be linked to similar mistakes.

Equally, our local "experts" and politicians are just as apt to be wrong or lacking in foresight. When we see the politicians announcing a $14 million rink debt for the Kennebecasis Valley and telling us that more rinks are good for us, what's the reality?

After blowing half a million on rink plans, Rothesay is having second thoughts involving a more inclusive, character building and cost-effective multi-sported recreation for the whole community.

Basketball and soccer have become the choice of the world majority and the modern choice of the more urbanized Canada. Times do change.

People aren't rushing to live in Saint John because of Harbour Station nor is KV shrinking because of a "shortage" of ice time.

As for max stimulus, other experts say that money would be best spent on revenue generating, not tax-consuming projects. Superplexes are endless tax consumers, using up tax dollars that can't be spent elsewhere, either on essentials or other sports.

Just as the people of Saint John let their politicians dig them into a hole, so can the people of KV.

As for sportsmanship and leadership, the Bathurst Phantoms can't be beat.

LEN McLAUGHLIN

Quispamsis