Dear Editor
Faith. What is faith? Faith in mankind? It is knowing you can relyon others to be honest and upstanding. Having faith in our fellow man is dwindling, in fact faith in Sun CountryBoard hasdisappeared. There was a time when we, the ordinary citizen, had faith in the people who representedus on boards, councils, and governments. We had faith in men/women in positions of power. We knew if board members didn't represent the public with honesty and integrity, they would be replaced, either by being fired, oroften when they realized they were not capable of handlingthe job that was assigned them, they had the good sense and humility to admit they were wrong, and humbly resigned, with apologies. At one time, residents from Wawota and surrounding districts had faith thatSun Country Boardwas sincere, and were there to represent the public.What has happened?
The public have lost faith entirely in the Board of Sun Country, particularly the two women who seem to hold the power. It has been proven time and time again that the Chair of this Board does not have the ability to manage such a large business. Since the auditor's report revealed the thousands of dollars missing because of poor management,and not following their own hiring policies, I would think Sharon Bauche and Marga Cugnet would hang their heads in shame, and finally admit this job is bigger than they are. They could even go so far as to admit to the Health Minister that they have misrepresented numerous facts regarding the situation at Deer View Lodge. If the Health Minister was doing his job, in the face of this audit report, and the fact that now he KNOWS they were being dishonest in some areas, perhaps he should thoroughly check all areas, instead of saying he can do nothing. If the truth leaked through to the Premier's office perhaps he would take a second look, instead of just taking Sun Country's statements at face value. Is there hope of honesty and integritybeing restored? How did it make the heads of Sun Country's Board feel when the auditors singled them out as the only one of the three health districts audited that did not follow their own guidelines? How come Sharon reported that Cal Tant was "dismissed without cause" when the auditors report clearly indicates that hiring procedures had not been followed, andit was under hisleadership that money went missing? Could it have anything to do with whether or not he received a severance package?
If Kevin Weedmark hadn't revealed theinformation about Hal Schmidt's past how many years would Sharon have been pleased with Hal's work, saying "he is a nice man"?Has Sun Country followed their own hiring procedures when they hired Marga Cugnet as interm CEO, when she has no administration qualifacations?
Sun Country's refusal to re-open beds in Deer Viewhas caused numerous senior citizens and their families untold hours of heartache.Sun Country'sclaim that thereis no waiting list for Deer Viewis so far from the truth, when at any given time there are several on the waiting list, and several moreplaced in other towns. To me, the last straw was when a 92 year old, World War IIveteran was forced to move to Estevan Nursing Home, 160 km's away.( What happened to the 100 km limit?) He got word on Thursday, and was shipped out on Monday. He could not believe this was happening to him. He knows no one in Estevan. His eyesight is very poor, he has trouble finding his way around in a new facility. This gentlemanwas very instrumental in building Deer View Lodge in the first place, knowing it would be there for him when he needed it. What does it do to your heart when you see a grown man cry?? Personally, it gets me stirred up, and makes me wish that somebody somewhere would have enough compassion to listen to the cries of our people.
The Save Our Beds committee has worked hard and diligently, trying to get people in power to listen, to no avail. The requests were not unreasonable, just asking for common sense and compassion, which seems to be sadly lacking in Sun Country.
Sincerely,
Jean Bogner, Wawota
