Letter to Editor re: PTSD Education
My name is Dr. Carrie Elk and I serve as a subject matter expert in PTSD and have been working with military and other first responders with PTSD providing education and efficient (fast) and effective treatment for PTSD in the US. I have treated Canadian special forces in my practice as well.
First responders, like military members, are in life threatening situations on a regular basis in their work. Everytime someone goes into fight or flight or is in a traumatic situation (traumatic to themselves or someone else) they have an opportunity to get PTSD. By nature of their work, military members and first responders then have more opportunities to have memories stored traumatically causing them issue in their performance moving forward.
Instead of just helping clients learn to live with or manage their symptoms for the rest of their lives, I assist my clients to reprocess the memory themselves so that the memory becomes a sad or bad one but not one that activates a traumatic response upon recalling the event: no longer get ‘triggered’ when they recall the event or are exposed to elements reminiscent of the event.
I applaud Van Tighem and the department for providing peer support, this is so important to know you aren’t the only one and that you are not alone. The next step (in my opinion) is to have a respectful, efficient, effective treatment available to take the next step and correct the way the memory is stored so they can be at their optimal performance in their professional and personal lives.
Thank you, Respectfully,
Carrie ElkTampa, Florida
Letter to the Editor re: Justin and Gerald
So just who is Gerald Butts? I am guessing the majority of Canadians do not know that he is an old Trudeau university buddy who is now the senior political adviser to our new Prime Minister and has had serious input into almost every policy Trudeau campaigned on in the recent election.
Butts was the principal author of former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s bankrupting green energy policies. It was his idea for a “positive message” that helped McGuinty win in Ontario and Justin Trudeau throughout his own campaign borrowed McGuinty’s victory speech words that voters had “rejected the politics of division.” Butts is an anti-energy environmental activists who is okay with running deficits which is why Ontario continues to struggle to reduce it’s debts and has been downgraded by Moody’s to “negative.” What should be of concern to Canadians is that Trudeau campaigned on running “modest deficits” to finance infrastructure and social programs and what happened in Ontario could soon plague the entire country. Since 2005/06 Ontario’s net debt has almost doubled and is now close to 300 billion and the Ontario government has never made a secret of its desire to have the Federal government bail them out.
Trudeau has finally admitted his budget will exceed ten billion in deficit. So much for his pre-election promise to Canadians. The National Bank just recently said the deficit could actually reach ninety billion by the end of Trudeau’s term. When you see the disaster in Ontario with the ballooning debt and crumbling of manufacturing because of the “green” energy policies pushed on the province by Gerald Butts, Canadians have just cause to fear under Justin Trudeau’s leadership.
Gerald HallNanoose Bay, B.C.
Letter to the Editor re: LNG Gas
A friend just sent me a link to a presentation at Simon Fraser University by Andrew Nikiforuk and dealing with “fracking” and the industry of LNG.
http://thetyee.ca/Tyeenews/2016/02/08/Evening-With-Andrew-Nikiforuk/
I thought, how could this be? Our Provincial Government has been telling us for years that LNG is the new “clean energy” that will give us jobs and pay off the provincial debt. As an electorate, we collectively hire the best people to run the affairs of the Province.
Who am I to believe; our own Government who we collectively hired, or a journalist who is probably paid for each article he writes. I must confess that the sources Mr. Nikiforuk used seemed credible, which caused me to realize that I don’t really know what sources our Government used in it’s promotion of LNG. This seems to move in to the “X-Files” zone. The truth is out there; but whose truth are we to believe? I think we need to ask.
Ron RobinsonNelson, B.C.
Letter to the Editor re: Climate Change
With the Paris Climate Agreement, leaders world-wide overwhelmingly accepted that human-caused climate change is real and, because the world continues to increase fossil fuel use, the need to reduce emissions is urgent.
Why are our politicians contemplating spending billions on pipelines when the Paris commitment means 75 to 80 per cent of known fossil fuel deposits must be left in the ground?
The drive to make Canada a petro superpower distorted the Canadian economy into greater fossil fuel dependence, with catastrophic consequences when the price of oil collapsed. The lesson should have been learned long ago: dependence on a single revenue stream is hazardous if that source suffers a reversal in fortune like resource depletion, unanticipated cost fluctuations or stiff competition.
True national security would have Canada moving along a sustainable track, which considers the interests of all Canadians.
Continuing to build fossil fuel infrastructure and strapping ourselves to a future of increasing global warming is a dangerous direction. Shifting to a 21st century clean-energy economy would create more jobs, unity and prosperity —not just in one region — than continuing to rely on a polluting, climate-altering dinosaur industry.
Donna GraceKaslo, B.C.
