Today's letters: Thanks to Keith Egli for his story about trauma
Tuesday, May 5: Praise for a former city councillor; criticism over the coronation; pleas for our lifeguards. You can write to us too, at letters@ottawacitizen.com
Published May 02, 2023 • Last updated 53 minutes ago • 2 minute read
Deep gratitude to a brave man
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Re: TRAUMA, TENACITY AND A TATTOO: Keith Egli’s story of survival and resilience, April 29.
Congratulations to Keith Egli for sharing his story of childhood trauma and sexual abuse. He is not only a brave man, but a high achiever as well. Thank you, Keith.
Joan Tye, Ottawa
Coronation crumbs for the masses
Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend King’s coronation in London next week, April 28.
So Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and, no doubt, his privileged entourage, are going to attend the coronation of King Charles in London this week. This trip will be funded by Canadian tax dollars.
Meanwhile, Canadians in Ottawa will be able to celebrate the coronation with an hour-long program of music, art and poetry, put on by the Canadian Heritage Department. Wow!
Gayle Harvey, Oxford Mills.
Raise salaries for lifeguards
Re: Fix the Canada-wide shortage of lifeguards and swim instructors, April 20; and Letter: Pay lifeguards what they deserve, April 29.
Canada’s pressing shortage of trained lifeguards demands a fix. This shortage led Ottawa, for example, to reduce its swim programming by 11 per cent last fall. Premier Doug Ford proposes to solve the problem by reducing the age for certification, a move few parents will find reassuring.
In their opinion article, Martin Sampson and Bobby White pitched a program that “includes a strategy to quickly hire, train and certify lifeguards and aquatics professionals in all regions of the country.” There is certainly the need for a strategy to increase the number of trained lifeguards. But why are so few working our pools and beaches?
For Sampson and White it is a consequence of the pandemic’s interruption of training and certification courses, but the shortage was well underway well before COVID-19 interrupted training courses. Between September 2018 and May 2019, the City of Ottawa saw an almost 20 per cent turnover of aquatics staff.
The fundamental reason for the shortage of lifeguards, like the shortages of workers in our hospitals and long-term care homes, is inadequate pay rates and working conditions.
Lifeguarding is a high-stress, demanding job that requires $1,000 in certification, regular training and recertification every two to three years — typically at the lifeguard’s own expense. Despite this, Ottawa starts its lifeguards at $16.46 an hour, and caps its aquatics staff at a maximum of 24 hours per week.
This compensation, unsurprisingly, isn’t attractive to most young people, let alone experienced employees with a broad range of options. If we want our pools open and properly staffed this summer, we have to demand that the city pay them properly.
Donald Swartz, Ottawa
Some good people in our city
Hats off to the couple who collect garbage along Campeau Drive in Kanata on a daily basis, and to another couple in our building who collect empty bottles and cans and donate the proceeds to the Legion. There are many good people in our nation’s capital.
Pat McAlpine, Kanata
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