To the Editor:
My name is Valdine Flaming and I am a disabled Métis woman who has lived in Thompson since I was two years old. I’ve left Thompson a few times for school, but I always return and I’m happy to be back in the middle of the boreal forest, minutes away from some of the best hiking trails yet. The landscape in the north is one of a kind and I enjoy being on the land as much as I am able to.
I’m writing to you today because I am an avid user of the Norplex Pool. I walk laps in swimming pools to manage pain and chronic illness and I am concerned about the services being provided by the Norplex Pool this year. In the month of April, the Norplex Pool was closed or unavailable to me for seven days: April 4, 7, 8, 11, 14, 28, 29 and 30. While I understand that closures due to foulings may be unavoidable due to policies and legislative requirements, I believe the lack of staff is completely avoidable. The Norplex is a great facility which must remain open and functional in our community:
As a city looking toward the future, and as an accessible location for people to retire and live, the pool is a resource for adults and children who have impairments like myself. We would like the pool to be as accessible as possible.
For families in the north, the pool is an affordable recreation option that must not be disregarded. Many of us learned water safety there as children with public swim, school swims and swimming lessons. Families would like to see facility and programming improvements.
For busy professionals, the pool is a morning and night option which allows high-intensity low-resistance exercise while accommodating our workdays. Rather, the pool was an option before these hours were cut completely without consultation with the users. Fitness swimmers would like some of these hours reinstated and we would all like fouling prevention addressed in a more proactive way.
All of these uses make the Norplex a great facility and resource to our community. If you are a user of the Norplex Pool please join our user group online. Search Friends of Norplex Pool on Facebook to join the conversation with dozens of others. We may all use the pool for different reasons, but the more hours and services are cut at the facility, the more our community is hurt. We ask the City of Thompson to include us in all future discussions regarding the pool.
Our community has much to look forward to and our future is bright. The Norplex is part of that future.
Valdine Flaming
Thompson
