Jon Gerrard's Blog

Machu Picchu

2012-01-19T20:10:00.003-06:00

Naomi and I are taking a short break from politics, to spend a few days together. This year is our fortieth anniversary! Today, we arrived in Machu Picchu, an incredible place in the Peruvian Andes, often referred to as the Lost City of the Incas.

Our visit to Peru started on Monday in Lima. We travelled all over Lima on their bus rapid transit system, and it was excellent!

Tuesday, we flew to the Inca Capital of Cusco. At over 3,000 meters above sea level, we found it exhausting doing any walking uphill. This is, of course, due to the high altitude. It is a startling difference from a few weeks ago, when I went up 21 stories in Saskatoon, hardly having to pause. Cusco, is nevertheless a place full of surprises, one of which is that it is today a major arts centre with many fascinating artists. On Wednesday we were starting to acclimatize a bit and made our way to the Inca sites of Tambomachay, Puka Pukura, O´enqo and Saqsayhuaman. It is amazing what the Inca´s built so many centuries ago, not least of which was some 4,000 km of roads under Pachacutec.

This morning, by bus and train, Naomi and I reached Aquas Calientes, quite a trip through the high hills and mountains and along the Urubamba River. This afternoon, we reached Machu Picchu itself. What a site! There is so much more to tell, but it will have to wait until I can add some more (now done - see below).

Machu Picchu - a second day: We were in Machu Picchu for two days.   Machu Picchu was built as far as I can tell because it was on the major road from the Inca capital in Cusco to the Amazon basin on the east side of the Andes. Various products from the amazon basin were highly desired by the Inca and Machu Picchu was built along the Inca Trail. Some of the plants from the Amazon were then grown in Machu Picchu and adapted to the higher altitude as the Inca were very involved in plant breeding. There are other reasons for this site which may have or appear to have included security for the Incas, establishment of a learning centre for young people of the Inca aristocracy, an experimental farm for edible, ceremonial and decorative plants and for specific cultural, ceremonial and scientific (astronomical observations), and a retreat or home for Pachacutec.

The Sun was very important to the Inca. The specific site of Machu Picchu was probably chosen because it was a place with the maximum amount of sun (low points in the valleys surrounded by the high peaks meant the valleys had much less sunlight), and the sun was important for growing crops, and because it was used, through astronomical alignments, to tell the time of year. (Specific spots at Machu Picchu are aligned precisely to the summer and winter solstices. For example, the pass along the Inca Trail, the Sun Gate, high above Machu Picchu, aligns specifically to reference points in Machu Picchu at the time of the Dec 22, solstice. This was important to know to time the growing of crops and of festivals etc.)

The Inca were amazing builders. They also knew a lot about water management. Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo (where we were today) show the extent they understood the importance of an integrated approach which used both water storage and drainage so that they would have the water for their domestic use and for their crops when they needed it.

Two Stories from our visit: On our second day in Machu Picchu, we, like many others, were up before dawn so we could get to Machu Picchu to see the sun rise. Naomi and I took the bus the 8 km from Aquas Caliente to Machu Picchu, up a very steep climb. We did our share of walking when we got to Machu Picchu, including taking the part of the Inca Trail going up to the Sun Gate. We are starting to be able to walk up the mountain much better than we were. But we were no match for a young woman we met from Montreal. Instead of taking the bus, she climbed all the way. She had been climbing steadily up the steep climb for an hour and a half. We met her when she arrived at the top just after 6 am looking fresh as if she had just begun. She was carrying a backpack which was almost as big as she was. She had come in the previous 48 hours from Montreal to Cusco to Machu Picchu.   We climbed together up the steps between the agricultural sector and the urban dwellings and to the Guardhouse at the top.  Even with her her big pack, she was still going strong after her long climb up. She had legs like a burro and a heart like a mountain goat. We are clearly among the huffers and puffers compared to her.

Going back now, to our first day in Machu Picchu we were fortunate to have Aurelio guide us around and explain many details that we would have missed without his help. Aurelio, who is about 33 years old, has a degree in Archeology and has been guiding for a number of years. He obviously very much enjoyed talking about Machu Picchu and showing people around with great pride in the accomplishments of the Inca. His knowledge and understanding of Machu Picchu are amazing. At one point on our journey around the site, he paused at one of his favorite spots with an incredible view of the mountains all around.   He turned to us and said ¨Welcome to my office.¨  (see photo above). For those of us who work in an office surrounded by four walls, it is incredible to think of being able to work in these surroundings. Naomi and I had a special appreciation of his sentiment because a number of years ago, our son Charles, a snowboard instructor, took us to the very top of a mountain where he was working then in the Canadian Rockies and as we reached the top of the mountain, Charles paused and said with a big smile on his face: ¨Welcome to my office.¨

Ollantaytambo: Today we visited Ollantaytambo. What is particularly interesting here is that when the Spanish conquered this town, work on the temple stopped immediately leaving partly completed operations. The two large blocks of stone on our right and left were brought to this site after being quarried high on a mountain across the valley several kilometers away. The rocks had to be moved about 1000 meters down the mountain where they were quarried, and then taken several hundred meters up on this side to reach where they are now. Without modern tools, they used amazing ingenuity. On the left the rock has on its face a long design which is the mouth of the statue. The rock on the right has two eyes and it is about to be lifted on top of the rock on the left. In order to do this, the workers have laboriously begun the process of raising the rock on the right, inserting small stones under the rock as they gradually levered it upwards. Had the Spanish conquest not occurred this process of gradually levering upwards would have continued until the rock on the right with the two eyes was placed on top of the rock on the left.

Cabinet shuffle: There is a reason Selinger has changed Family Services Ministers

2012-01-14T19:56:00.003-06:00

The last 12 years have seen major problems in the way the NDP have handled the Child Welfare system in our province. The number of children in care has almost doubled over the period reaching 9,432 this last year, as the NDP have focused on apprehending children rather than on supporting children and families. We now have about ten times the number of children in care in Manitoba on a per capita basis as Western Australia has in care. And on a per capita basis we have about five times as many children in care as New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. This situation of apprehending children first is creating a lot of problems for families. Other jurisdictions do much better in assessing the situation and in doing what can be done first to support the children and families so that the children don't have to be apprehended and taken into care.

In addition to the problems associated with taking so many children into care, we have had major issues come up under the NDP including as one example the very troubling abuse and death of Phoenix Sinclair. The coming Inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair will be important to enable a first hand look at how badly the NDP have been running Child and Family Services in Manitoba. Shifting Gord Macintosh out of Family Services at this juncture is a crafty way of preventing us from asking questions of him in the Legislature related to his handling of the situation. A new Minister can plead ignorance, whereas if Gord Macintosh were still Minister, we could have ask him specific details about his handling of the situation.

Nevertheless, even given this NDP change, we will do our best to continue to hold the NDP accountable for the problems they have created in Child Welfare in Manitoba.

Canadian Paediatric Society adds its voice to emphasize the importance of newborn hearing screening

2012-01-10T16:01:00.003-06:00

I am been a very strong advocate of universal newborn hearing screening for some time. Today, the Canadian Paediatric Society added its voice to the growing chorus of people and groups calling for universal newborn hearing screening. In their ranking, only Manitoba and Nunavut scored POOR on universal newborn hearing screening. The NDP should be ashamed of their failure in this area.

Here is what the Canadian Paediatric Society said:
"Children with hearing loss who are not supported by early intervention show irreversible shortfalls in communication and psychosocial skills, cognition and literacy. The impacts of deafness can include lower academic achievement, underemployment, poor social adaptation and psychological distress, and are directly proportional to the severity of hearing loss and the time lag between diagnosis and intervention. Evidence shows that infants who are diagnosed and receive intervention before six months of age score 20 to 40 percentile points higher on school-related measures (language, social adjustment and behaviour) compared with hearing-impaired children who receive intervention later.

The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends that provinces and territories provide universal hearing screening for all newborns via a comprehensive, linked system of screening, diagnosis and intervention. Canadian infants deserve the advantages of early hearing loss detection and timely intervention."

It should be noted that "the two-step screening procedure implemented in most universal newborn hearing screening programs is highly effective and cost-effective, particularly considering the lifetime cost of deafness. One Quebec study found that implementing a province-wide universal newborn hearing screening program would cost approximately $5.3 million (in 2001), but would ultimately result in a new benefit of $1.7 million per year to taxpayers."

The full report is at http://www.cps.ca/english/Advocacy/StatusReport2012.pdf

There should be no peat mining in provincial parks

2012-01-10T13:41:00.002-06:00

Our provincial parks have been selected because the have unique natural, historic or cultural value. They should not be the site of mining operations.

This morning I joined with the Green Party Leader James Beddome, Manitoba Wildlands Director Gaile Whelan Enns, and Wilderness Committee Campaign Director Eric Reder to speak out against the NDP plan to have mining in Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park. Under NDP plans, the Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park, adjacent to Lake Winnipeg, may be home to a 531-hectare peat mine. An NDP-designed public consultation process could open the floodgates to many more peat mines across southern Manitoba, including in parks.

There are plenty of other places in Manitoba where peat can be harvested. Indeed, peat harvesting is an important industry in our province, with peat being harvested for use in gardens and for other purposes. However, the NDP, who have been in power for 12 years, should have long ago drafted clear regulations which respect both the needs of industry and the needs of our environment.

For example, when peat is harvested, land may be drained and if mitigation measures are not taken, the result could promote flooding. We do not want this to happen, especially after this last year. Peat is also an important store of carbon and our approach to harvesting peat needs to consider the carbon balance that is achieved and our goal to reduce the release of carbon into the atmosphere.

Liberals have focused this last year on improving economic growth and fiscal responsibility in Manitoba

2012-01-09T20:02:00.000-06:00

Economic Growth and Fiscal Responsibility: Throughout this last year Liberals have put a focus on improving economic growth and fiscal responsibility.

As numerous observers noted during the election, Liberals were the party which ranked first on fiscal responsibility. Knowing the NDP were running up a big deficit, we were cautious on our spending promises, while both the NDP and the Conservatives promised hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of new initiatives. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/liberals-are-best-on-fiscal.html

A central component of our plan for economic growth in Manitoba was expenditures on research and innovation, through the Manitoba Research, Innovation and Opportunity Fund, the Manitoba Health Research Council, a Manitoba Science and Engineering Research Council and a Small Business Investment in Research Fund. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-liberal-commitment-manitoba.html

Another pillar of our move to promote economic growth is reducing and eventually eliminating the payroll tax, a tax on growth and empolyment which has resulted in many lost opportunities and jobs in Manitoba. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/manitoba-liberals-will-reduce-and.html

A third objective of our move to promote economic growth is the support of green business development in our province. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/manitoba-liberals-on-environment-on.html

Lastly, Liberals support a number of measures to help entrepreneurship and business growth in Manitoba. These include 1) We believe Manitoba should join the New West Partnership of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. 2) We support entrepreneurship generally, and specifically see, as with the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative that there is a special role for promoting entrepreneurship as a part of education. 3) We believe it is important to reduce red tape, and 4) We believe the provincial government must be a leader in being fiscally responsible and in spending effectively and efficiently on behalf of Manitobans so that every penny counts and so that quality is emphasized. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/manitoba-liberals-will-improve-business.html

In addition to the above, as our report on the flood indicates, we see that while it is important to be fair in compensating people who have been harmed, it is also prudent and wise to plan better so that floods are prevented and so that money spent in dealing with the flood is spent wisely. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/12/report-on-flood-of-2011-by-manitoba.html

Why is it taking 8 years after the 2004 Emergency Care Task Force Report to get a full report on its status and implementation?

2012-01-09T13:01:00.027-06:00

We recently requested under FIPPA (The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act), information on the current status of the 46 recommendations outlined in the 2004 Emergency Care Task Force Report, and of any still uncompleted implementation plans. Apparently this information is not readily available and so our request has been denied. However, we have been assured that the information will be made public within 90 days of November 22, 2011 when our application was received. We will wait and see.

The 2004 Emergency Care Task Force was called together in January 2004 because of very serious problems in Winnipeg's Emergency Rooms. On September 25, 2003, 74-year-old Dorothy Madden died in a Winnipeg emergency Department (ED) after waiting six hours without being seen by a physician, and without being reassesssed from the time of her initial triage. She had gone into cardiac arrest as a result of a heart attack she had suffered three days earlier.

Then on January 7, 2004, 20-year-old Melissa O’Keefe suffered a miscarriage in a Winnipeg Emergency Room, after waiting almost four hours without seeing a doctor and without being reassessed following her initial triage. Within days, many more women came forward publicly to share their stories of waiting hours without being seen by medical staff and then miscarrying. Again the issue of Emergency Room wait times was front and centre with the public.

Something needed to be done to address these concerns. The Emergency Care Task Force was called together in January 2004. Within days of its formation the Emergency Care Task Force developed a list of four recommendations to be implemented as soon as possible: One of these was to "Add a nurse reassessment role in each ED. Under this new role, a designated nurse would be responsible for monitoring and communicating with patients and their families after they have been triaged [and] while they are in the waiting area. These nurses would also ensure that patients are being monitored while in the examining room until seen by a physician, that any change in status is communicated to the rest of the ED team and that reassessments are done in a timely manner."

The final report delivered in July 2004 confirmed this recommendation as follows: "Reassessment Role - The WRHA Emergency Program should introduce a new role to Emergency Rooms at tertiary, community and Missericordia Urgent Care to ensure patients waiting to be seen are waiting safely by having them reassessed. This nurse, in partnership with the Triage Nurse, will act as an advocate for the patient and family."

The question of whether this recommendation was properly implemented is key to what happened when Brian Sinclair waited for 34 hours in the Health Sciences Centre Emergency Room without being seen. Where was the reassessment nurse? Was there a reassessment nurse on duty? We have been told that there was a reassessment nurse. But was the reassessment nurse doing reassessments, or had he/she been asked to carry on other duties? The full details of whether this recommendation was fully carried through, and fully implemented is important. If it was not fully implemented, then a reason for the death of Brian Sinclair may have been the failure to carry through recommendations which were considered urgent in 2004. If it was carried through, why was it that Brian Sinclair was not reassessed after having reported, as he did, to the Triage desk.

I want to thank Leslie Worthington for keeping on top of the question of whether the Emergency Care Task Force Recommendations were implemented. Indeed, Leslie Worthington has asked repeatedly, most recently starting in October 2010, to Theresa Oswald as to whether these recommendations have been implemented and has not been able to get a satisfactory reply. Indeed, on October 21, 2011, a person from Theresa Oswald's office was supposed to call Leslie Worthington and then never did. When Leslie mentioned this to me, we filed the FIPPA request. So it is not as if Theresa Oswald's office was unaware of this issue. Indeed, one would have expected, given the importance of well functioning Emergency Rooms, that the 2004 Emergency Care Task Force Recommendations would have been followed up very diligently.

Improving Health - reducing sodium in our Canadian diet

2012-01-08T09:17:00.002-06:00

As those who read my blog know well, I am a very strong supporter of measures which can improve health. This is one of the essential measures we must prioritize in order to improve the quality of life of people in Manitoba and in Canada. It is also essential if we are to better manage the cost of our treasured medicare system.

Excess dietary sodium is associated with a high burden of disability and premature death in Canada. Consider these points:

1) Presently the amount of sodium consumed in Canada averages 3400mg of sodium per person/day, greatly exceeding both the recommended daily intake of 1500 mg.day and the recommended upper level of 2,300 mg/day.

2) Excess dietary sodium is a significant contributor to increased high blood pressure. Increased blood pressure is the cause of: 50% of cardiovascular disease, including more than 6 in 10 strokes, 50% of heart failure and 25% of kidney failure, 13% of premature deaths overall; and over 40% of deaths in people with diabetes.

3) 1 in 5 heart attacks and strokes are estimated to be caused by excess dietary sodium, amounting to 14,000 preventable Canadian deaths/year (this is about 500 deaths a year in Manitoba).

4) For each year there is a delay in lowering dietary sodium to recommended levels, the impact is estimated to result not only in 500 Manitobans dying of cardiovascular disease, but also 1500 Manitobans being hospitalized, 4,600 Manitobans being newly diagnosed with hypertension, and $52 million in extra direct health care costs for Manitoba.

5) The high sodium in the diet of Manitobans and Canadians is due largely to eating processed foods and restaurant prepared foods with high sodium levels. If the food industry gradually reduced the amount of sodium in processed and prepared foods, public consumption of sodium could be reduced to safer, and recommended, levels.

You can help by spreading the word about the problem of high sodium consumption in Canada. You can help by passing on this message to others. You can help by calling on governments to bring in regulations to reduce sodium levels in processed and prepared foods in Canada.

The statistics provided above comes from information provided by Dr. Norm Campbell, Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary writing for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and together with Presidents of various national health organizations. I have adapted national numbers to our situation in Manitoba based on Manitoba's population.

Health Care issues in Manitoba for 2011 - a summary

2012-01-07T20:58:00.005-06:00

It is useful at the end of the year to provide a summary of the health care issues in Manitoba. With some important changes, Manitoba could have one of the highest quality health care systems in the world.   Sadly the problems in NDP management of health care in our province are severe enough that the NDP are putting medicare at risk. My goal, in pointing out the major issues of this last year, is to get major improvement in our health care system in Manitoba. As I have pointed out in previous blog posts, wise investments in health care and in keeping Manitobans healthy can save lives and save dollars at the same time.

Personal Care Homes: Major issues continue to occur with personal care homes in Manitoba. A report released January 21 by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy showed a dramatic increase in the use of new generation antipsychotic drugs in personal care homes from 2% to 27% of people. This is in spite of black box warnings about the use of these drugs in elderly individuals particularly those with dementia [and a large proportion of individuals in personal care homes in Manitoba have some level of dementia]. In June, we found that NDP commitments to implement an Alzheimer's Strategy were never kept. Additional issues in personal care homes, and in the care of patients with Alzheimer's Disease are detailed in my blog posts from Jan 23, June 25, June 26, Sept 16 and Dec 6.

Type 2 Diabetes: The Epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes in Manitoba continues to grow. The NDP response has been slow and hopelessly inadequate. It was recognized as an epidemic in Manitoba in 1996, and it has grown to become a health care crisis and an economic nightmare, and still the NDP are failing to act in a meaningful way to address the epidemic. These facts are detailed in my blog posts on Jan 8, July 2, Oct 24 and Nov 14, and our Liberal approach is provided on my blog post of Sept 17th. Improving diet and fitness are two cornerstones of preventing diabetes. Better diet and improved physical activity can help us keep well and reduce the incidence of other diseases and sicknesses as well.

Long wait times and poor health care management: Far too many wait times for health care in Manitoba are getting longer instead of shorter as I document in blog posts on Oct 25th, and Dec 12.  Waits in emergency rooms, in spite of many studies, are often far too long - see my blog post on Sept 24th. Emergency Response times are also too slow in parts of Manitoba (see my blog Dec 16th). As Liberals we have presented effective solutions (see my blog on Sept 17th). Management issues continue in health care in our province - see my blog posts of May 25th, July 14th, Oct 25th, and Dec 5th.

Children's Health: Shockingly, the health of children in Manitoba continues to be a major concern. A preventable health problem like dental caries in young children is growing along with the number of dental surgeries needed for treatment in children under age 5 (see my blog post of Aug 22).   Detecting newborns with hearing loss and treating them as quickly as possible has been recognized as a neurological emergency because of the sensitive period in their first few years for children to learn speech, language and social interaction, and yet astonishingly we still do not have universal newborn hearing screening in Manitoba (see my blog post of Oct 13). We need improved diagnosis and treatment of learning difficulties in children (blog Sept 27), and although progress has been made in newborn screening for Cystic Fibrosis, the program at this point is temporary and not yet a permanent one (blog Oct 23rd). Mandatory booster seat and bike helmet legislation has not yet been passed in Manitoba putting us behind most other jurisdictions in our approach to child safety (blog Oct 2, Oct 4, Dec 13).

Drug Policies: Bill 41, the Pharmaceutical Act, passed 5 years ago in the Manitoba Legislature has still not been implemented putting us far behind the rest of Canada (blog Sept 2). Reforms underway in other provinces in pricing for generic drugs are still not begun in Manitoba (blog Sept 2). Overuse and inappropriate use of drugs is poorly addressed (blog Jan 23). AIDS drugs readily covered in other provinces are not covered under pharmacare so Manitobans are now being treated like second class citizens (blog Dec 8). The NDP election promise to cover all cancer drugs has still not been implemented and it is suspected that Manitobans are suffering and dying because they cannot afford the necessary drugs (blog Oct 21).

Prevention of Health Care problems: Approaches to prevention in Manitoba are far from optimal. Whether it is diabetes (above), FASD (blog Sept 28th), depression (blog Aug 20), arthritis (blog Aug 30) or osteoporosis (Aug 31), it is very clear far better approaches are possible and should have been implemented. The result is much higher health care costs and poorly quality of life for Manitobans.

Breast, Prostate and Pancreatic Cancer: In Breast Cancer, the current standard of care in Ontario and in the United States, Oncotype testing and treatment based on the results, has not yet been implemented and covered under medicare in Manitoba with the result that too many women are now receiving suboptimal care (blog Dec 15th). Therre is not a provincial standard for Prostate Specific Antigen testing and we may be overtreating men with prostate cancer (blog Oct 8). Pancreatic Cancer is not receiving enough attention (blog Sept 18 and Oct 26).

Addictions and Mental Health Issues: Improvements are needed in the treatment of addictions and mental health issues in a coordinated and effective way (blog Sept 7).

Research: Research related to the new liberation treatment for Multiple Sclerosis has been slow to start so that Manitobans still can not receive treatment in Manitoba through clinical trials here. Advances in spinal disc replacement surgery for which many Manitobans are going out of province at their own cost are not been adequately evaluated and researched here (blog Nov 5).

Electronic Health Records: Manitoba is a laggard in introducing electronic health records (blog July 6, Dec 5). The result is our health care system is less well organized and less efficient than other jurisdictions.

Improved Health Education: Jean Paterson in reading my blog comments that improved health education is needed. I agree.

Our Liberal Plans and Approaches: I have provided details of our Liberal approach to health care in many blog posts in the last year. As well as the ones mentioned above, please see posts on July 6, Aug 18, Oct 1, 2, 3, 19, 20. Some of the critical differences are summarized on Oct 19. " Liberals see the incompetent, low quality, high cost NDP model for providing health care in Manitoba is misguided, and indeed is so wrong it threatens the very future of public medicare. We, Liberals will stand up for Manitobans who believe in a much higher quality, lower cost and less wasteful health care system which focuses on keeping people, families and communities healthy and on high quality care when needed." Additional specific details are in the platform we wrote for the provincial election this year (see http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/our-platform/ )

Transplant of Bald Eagles from Manitoba to New Jersey which began in 1983 has proved very successful; We need to promote the role of Team Manitoba..

2012-01-06T21:13:00.005-06:00

Back in early 1983, when I was contacted by Jack Swedberg about the possibility of transplanting young Bald Eagles from Manitoba to the United States, it was hoped that this would be important in restoring the Bald Eagle population of New Jersey to health. With the very recent news that the number of Bald Eagles in New Jersey has now reached the milestone of 100 nesting pairs, we now know the effort which resulted has been very, very successful. The 100 nesting pairs are almost all descended from 60 eagles transplanted from Canada, primarily, perhaps exclusively, from Manitoba.

This is a big story in various newspapers. The reports are that it was Canadian eagles that saved the day for the US. What is missed in the recent stories is that fact that the eagles were from Manitoba. Team Manitoba should get some credit. People like Bob Nero, David Hatch and Bill Koonz should get credit for this tremendous effort.

For the recent story see http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Canadian+transplants+bring+bald+eagle+back+from+brink/5946375/story.html

For the background on the transplantation of eagles from Manitoba to New Jersey, see:
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/wildlife-nature/articles/pdfs/bald-eagle-eagles-across-the-border.pdf

If you are pregnant in Manitoba, please be aware that it is very important that you ask to have your baby's hearing tested (screened) very soon after he/she is born.

2012-01-06T20:46:00.002-06:00

It is very important for all newborns to have their hearing tested very shortly after they are born. For quite some time now, the technology has been widely available to test the hearing of all newborns. The tests which are used have long names - either otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing or automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) testing. Hearing loss is the commonest medical problem which is found readily by screening at birth which is one reason why screening for hearing loss is so important. Another big reason why screening for hearing loss at birth is so important is that a newborn with a hearing loss can be helped, and this can make a difference for the rest of your child's life.

Children who have hearing loss who are not screened and are missed early on may have impaired language development and social abilities and can have lifelong struggles. Children who are screened and found to have hearing loss at birth will develop better language and social abilities and be more successful.

Sadly, Manitoba is one of the very few remaining jurisdictions in North America where we do not have universal newborn hearing screening. This means that if you have a child born in Manitoba you need to ask, indeed insist, that your child has a hearing screening test soon after he/she is born.

I have been advocating for universal newborn hearing screening in Manitoba for some time. We have encountered tremendous resistance to such screening from the NDP in Manitoba. However, even though we do not have universal newborn hearing screening, you should be able to get it in whichever centre your child is born. If you are told that it can't be done for your child, please call my office at 204-945-5194 or email me at jon.gerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca and we will be your advocate and do everything we can to make sure you get the hearing screening you need for your baby.

Please note that as I report on my blog Dr. Hema Patel, a prominent Montreal pediatrician, says it is a neurological emergency to detect and help a child early who has a hearing difficulty. (see http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/universal-newborn-hearing-screening-dr.html ) It is considered a neurologic emergency because a child whose hearing loss is detected at birth can be helped to develop normally. A child whose hearing loss is detected late - at age three, four or five, may miss a very critical and sensitive developmental window and may as a result have lifelong difficulties with speech, language and social activities.

For more information on newborn hearing screening please visit http://www.thfc.ca/cms/en/ChildrenYouth/NewbornHearingScreening.aspx?menuid=106

Memories from Colonsay, Saskatchewan when I was working on a construction crew; Sunrise over the Saskatchewan River

2012-01-02T21:27:00.001-06:00

Working Construction at Colonsay: Yesterday, driving back to Winnipeg from Saskatoon, Naomi and I passed the town of Colonsay where the Potash Mine (photos above) brought back memories of when I worked there many years ago.

It was a summer when I was 19 years old. My brother Peter and I both spent the summer working construction at the mine site. Much of what we did was preparing for and pouring concrete as the various buildings around the mine were erected. One day, I will never forget.

We were shoveling concrete from the bucket of a front end loader into the base of a wall which we were building. The front end loader, running on a diesel engine, was angled toward the wall and there were about four of us shovelling away. For some reason, the operator left the driver's seat and stepped to the side to watch or to talk to someone. And just at that moment, the front end loader started moving forward. We had no warning, and immediately we saw what was happening, we scrambled back and out of the way as quickly as we could. It was moving right toward the wall. One of our work crew was caught and could not escape. His leg was trapped right between the bucket and the wall as the front-end loader moved forward. His weight was on his other leg standing inside the bucket. He turned white and yelled in fear.

But, by luck, his foot slid between the teeth of the front end loader. For a moment, it looked as if he would be crushed as the machine continued onward into the wall. Fortunately, one end of the bucket caught the wall, the front-end loader slowed, the driver leapt back into his seat, put the brakes on, and then slowly reversed relieving the pressure on our fellow worker's leg. Several moments later, he had freed his leg, and still shaking, examined it closely. The skin was bruised, but from what we could see the leg was not broken. He was taken to see a doctor to get checked up. We heard later that day that he was ok, and two or three days later he joined us back at work. It was a close shave, and one I still remember vividly.

Sunrise over the Saskatchewan River: While in Saskatoon, we had a really good visit with my brother Peter and his wife Nikki. Nikki and Naomi really enjoy each other's company (second photo). My son Tom and his fiance Nadine enjoyed visiting with my father (bottom photo).

Nora Fien - our Manitoba Young Liberal President

2012-01-02T20:28:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Nora Fien (left above), who was elected our Manitoba Young Liberal President on December 20. Nora has been very involved in the Young Liberal Scholarship Program for the last two years. In the photo above Nora and Naomi Gerrard (on the right) are presenting a Scholarship to Andrea Kramer (centre), one of our 2010 winners. Nora is attending the University of Manitoba in her fourth year doing a major in maths. If you are interested in becoming involved in the Manitoba Young Liberals (age 14-25) then please contact Nora at manitobayoungliberals@gmail.com
And a big thank you to Andrew Jones who has been the Manitoba Young Liberal President for the last two years.

Climate Change - Manitoba and Canada - where we are and where we could be.

2011-12-31T12:21:00.001-06:00

It is the last day of 2011, and time to look at where we are and where we could be when it comes to climate change and climate change action in Manitoba and Canada.

Stephan Dion provides a view, today, on climate change. He points out the need to have an approach in which businesses, individuals, organizations and governments work in an environment where there are incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, this does not exist. Shifting from taxing income and profits to taxing pollution, as Stephan Dion proposed in 2008, would have achieved this. It would also have more effectively reduced greenhouse gases and shifted our economy toward more environmentally friendly products and services, a direction which increasing we need to go.
For more see -
http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/Dion+decries+Canada+climate+change+plan/5930795/story.html

Instead of moving Manitoba and Canada forward, early this December we saw both Manitoba and Canada retreat from even trying to achieve Kyoto targets. Dec 6th, 2011 was the day that the Kyoto pledge died in Manitoba.  Dec 6th, 2011 was the day that Manitoba announced it was giving up on achieving Kyoto targets in our province, a commitment that the NDP had enshrined in Legislation. The NDP admitted that their plan, designed to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases in Manitoba was not adequate and coupled with this the plan they had put forward had not been implemented well. It was the worst possible time for Manitoba to make this announcement because it was just before the Climate Change conference in Durban where the future of the Kyoto protocol was to be discussed. Manitoba's action undermined support for the Kyoto Accord and for strong efforts to reduce greenhouse gases globally at a very critical time.

Indeed, almost immediately after the conference on climate change in Durban concluded, Peter Kent, Canada's Environment Minister announced Canada was formally withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol. It was a strange situation, Canada going to the conference as a member of the Kyoto Protocol and staying in the Kyoto Protocol so it could do its best to kill it from inside, and then formally withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol immediately after the conference.

Ah, but you say, some sort of a deal was reached in Durban. But here is what Margaret Wente said in the Globe and Mail: "No matter where you stand on climate change, there’s one thing on which we can probably agree. The “breakthrough” deal hammered out in Durban is completely meaningless. No carbon dioxide emissions will be cut because of it. All they agreed to do was keep on talking about a framework for a deal you can be sure will never happen." Thomas Homer-Dixon in saying more - that we should be “ashamed” by our inaction on the climate. “The lies are starting to corrupt our civilization from inside out,”

While we may differ on the details, most of us can agree on this - there is a long way to go to deal with climate change in Canada, in Manitoba and in our world. We must not stop trying as individuals, as organizations, as companies or as governments. Dealing with climate change may be as urgent for Manitoba as it is for island countries like Mauritius. Models of climate change predict increased wet weather in spring and early summer in southern Manitoba - the very weather that led to the severe flood of 2011.   We do not want more floods like 2011, and the potential for even worse floods is worrying to say the least.

The Deadline

2011-12-30T17:11:00.003-06:00

While visiting with Stuart Houston recently, I heard this remarkable story. It features R.D. Symons a well respected prairie artist and writer, and a day in early 1967.

R.D. Symons, born in 1898, was 69 in 1967. He had been diagnosed with leukemia, a condition which then carried a death sentence. He was lying in his hospital bed feverish and feeling awful. In walked Bob Nero, a friend, who had been working with Symons at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina. Symons was very weak, looked deathly white and seemed to be near the end of his life, but he was intently trying to read a manuscript.

Nero looked at Symons and asked: "What are you doing?"

Symons, looking up weakly from the manuscript, explained: "I am checking the proofs for the manuscript of my book "Hours and the Birds", and I must get it done tonight, because I feel so terrible I am sure I will be dead by morning."

Bob Nero, hesitated only a moment, and blurted out "Boy, that is some deadline!" The two of them burst into laughter, and they kept on laughing for a long time.

The next morning Symons' fever was down and he was feeling much better. Stuart Houston, now 44 years later, credits Bob Nero and the laughter as the medicine which pulled Symons through. It was years before laughter was more generally acknowledged for its healing properties through the efforts of Norman Cousins and others.

Symons lived for five more years. In that time, he published a series of remarkable books including The Broken Snare (1970), Many Trails (1970), Still the wind blows (1971), Where the wagon led (1973) and North by west - two stories from the Frontier (1973). Thank you Bob Nero. Whether it was the laughter you inspired, or something else, your visit to Symons when he was sick was somehow magical.

[In the years since 1967, much scientific work links laughter to improved cardiovascular function and improved anti-cancer activity. For instance by researchers at the University of Maryland found that endorphins released by the brain in response to laughter cause the production of nitric oxide (NO), which then triggers a number of cardio-protective signaling processes responsible for not only vasodilation but also for reducing platelet aggregation and vascular damage. In addition, it has been reported by Professor Lee Berk from Loma Linda University that laughter increases the activity of several critical antibodies and natural killer cells, which are essential in the body's defence against cancer. Interestingly, Stuart Houston's son Don Houston was involved in some of the early work on endthelium dependent relaxing factor which was later found to be NO.]

A friend honours his mother - Dr. Sigga Christianson Houston

2011-12-30T16:21:00.001-06:00

While visiting this week with Stuart and Mary Houston we learned of their establishment of the Sigga Christianson Houston Travel Award. This award will fund bursaries for medical students to travel to remote northern communities to learn in a summer program under the supervision of a general practitioner or a pediatrician.

Stuart and his family are honouring Stuart's mother, Dr. Sigga Christianson Houston, the first Canadian woman physician of Icelandic descent.   Sigga overcame many obstacles to graduate from the University of Manitoba faculty of medicine in 1925.   It was a time when the leadership of Nellie McClung and others in Manitoba had left many young women of Sigga's time with the feeling they could do anything they wanted, and Sigga's medical school class, with 13 other women, was a good example of this.

Sigga, with her husband Clarence, also a doctor, practised together in Yorkton, Saskatchewan for many years. Sigga was widely known for her ability to help infants who were eating poorly and not growing well - "failing to thrive".  She was widely known for her abilities and her success in Saskatchewan and nearby Manitoba.

Just before Christmas the Houston's made the formal announcement of their decision to support the Travel Award for students, and to provide the major funding needed for it.  A big year end thank you to the Houstons for making students and health in northern communities a top priority.

The last day of our Manitoba Liberal Party year end fundraising appeal

2011-12-28T20:54:00.006-06:00

During the year, our Liberal team works very hard to be a voice for and a vehicle for improvement in Manitoba and for ordinary Manitobans. Our ability to act with and for ordinary Manitobans who are struggling and to help build a better, healthier Manitoba depends on the generosity of ordinary people in Manitoba contributing anything from $5 and up. Some with the ability, contribute more. But every dollar helps and every dollar counts.

Our year end fundraising campaign is our most important revenue campaign because most of our contributors know it is the last chance to take advantage of the tax receipt benefit.

If you have made a year end donation, thank you. We will send all our thank you letters with our tax receipts in the last week of January.

If you still wish to make a donation, you may:
a. Phone our office today at 988-9380 to make donation arrangements.
b. Donate on-line via our safe and secure on-line banking. We have worked with the Royal Bank to make credit card donations simple - click on our website at www.manitobaliberals.ca and click on donate now. It's very simple to do. How safe is it? Very safe. It's more safe than mailing your information through Canada Post, and we provide confirmation of your generous support.
c. By all means, send us your cheque or information by mail! So long as your donation is dated in the 2011 year, we can accept it this week, or next! Mail should be sent to Manitoba Liberal Party, Attention Dennis Trochim - Executive Director, 635 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0X1.

We appreciate every supporter and contributor who recognizes that Liberal ideas do make a difference. Our impact towards a better province has always been about helping people who need it most, and ideas for better health, improved education, and a stronger economy.

Donations are eligible for tax receipts to be sent in three to four weeks. - up to 75%!
Yes - if you donate up to $400 in this calendar year, $300 of it is eligible for a tax deduction - and your real cost is $100.

One final question - can you afford $25 to support us? If you can, then a $100 donation in 2011 will give you a tax receipt for $75 - and that is why your real cost is only $25. And if you do That, then I will be happy to present you with a paid membership valid until 2013 - if you like.

No matter your support level, we do appreciate you.

Thank you - and all the best in the New Year!

White Shadows - the art of Milos Milidrag - we have a lot to be thankful for.

2011-12-28T14:56:00.002-06:00

White Shadows: During this holiday period, when Naomi and I dropped in to see Milos Mildrag's art show at the Gurevich Gallery at 200-62 Arthur Street in Winnipeg, it immediately struck me how fortunate we are, even with natural disasters like the flood this year, to be living in Canada. Milos was a respected art painter and art professor in Sarajevo. When fighting broke out there in the 1990s, he saw first hand horrific violence and great hardship. He lost cousins and friends to the civil war. He and his wife realized their teenage son would soon be drafted. They came to safety and a new life in Winnipeg.

Milos`s show, Lost in a Lost world (I was here), speaks loudly of the torment of his life, weaving into the mixture his fascination with Inuit life and art. It is complex and colourful art. The photo above, White Shadows, which I interpret as representing the white ghosts of the past, is an example. To Milos, Naomi and I say: ``We are very happy you chose Winnipeg. You are not only a remarkable artist, but also an amazing teacher. Good luck. And may your next show move from the torment of the past to speak increasingly of the wonder, the excitement and the tapestry in your new home.

Where was Greg Selinger when it came to the fight for the Canadian Wheat Board? And will Selinger be there for the Port of Churchill?

2011-12-22T14:21:00.002-06:00

Selinger and the Wheat Board: In June and July, when he was looking for votes, Greg Selinger did a lot of advertizing using your money and my money to say how much he supported the Canadian Wheat Board.   But this fall after the election, as the fight for the future of the Canadian Wheat Board reached the most critical stage and was working its way through the House of Commons and the Senate, Greg Selinger was nowhere to be seen. I know, because I was at rallies for the Canadian Wheat Board, and I have been following Mr. Selinger's statements closely. The most he has said about the Canadian Wheat Board since the election was a comment after a meeting with Stephen Harper that he recognized the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly was going to be gone. He had given up.

At the Rally for the Canadian Wheat Board on November 15th, in front of the Canadian Wheat Board on Main Street, I was there to support. Greg Selinger was not only not there, but the only NDP MLA who came was Jim Maloway and he came very late and snuck in and out without saying a word publicly.

It is time to call a spade a spade.  When it really counted Greg Selinger was not there for the Canadian Wheat Board, preserving its single desk marketing ability, and making sure the Canadian Wheat Board would stay strong to support farmers.

Where is Greg Selinger’s plan to save the Port of Churchill?
The NDP must do much more for Port of Churchill than they did for the Wheat Board.  Greg Selinger must present and implement a plan to keep the Port of Churchill active and economically viable with the very real, imminent demise of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk. As approximately 90 percent of the shipping through the Port of Churchill is grain, there is a critical need for the provincial government to identify and help facilitate new sources of revenue – both nationally and internationally – to keep this strategically located northern port viable.

Though the shipping of products other than grain through the Port of Churchill has been touted for many years, little other than grain has actually been shipped. In 2007 and 2008, some fertilizer was imported, but these imports have not continued the last three years. Without a major emphasis of the Port and a feasible plan of action in the immediate future, it is likely the Port will close.

Apparently, Greg Selinger is talking about having a Task Force to look at the future of the Port of Churchill. Good. But, talk without effective action is not good enough. Effective action is the critical phrase here. Saving and ensuring a strong future for the Port of Churchill is not going to be easy, but it must be done for the best possible future for Manitoba. The Port of Churchill can be a vital gateway for goods being shipped through CentrePort and south into the US and Mexican markets. Thus, it is logical to involve CentrePort in this effort.

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to improve conditions for Manitobans and to hold the NDP accountable we ask for your support as part of our end of the year Annual Fundraising Appeal. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

Doug Connery 1955-2011 - a tribute

2011-12-21T20:46:00.000-06:00

Doug Connery: This afternoon, I attended the funeral of Doug Connery in Portage la Prairie. It was particularly sad day, since Doug was only 56 years old, at the peak of his career and had been a major leader in the effort to deal with various issues this year related to the Flood of 2011. He was a pillar in the community of Portage la Prairie. I met Doug many times over the years and have a lot of respect for him, his role as a major vegetable grower in Manitoba and Canada, and his leadership in relation to the Flood this year.

In recent years, Doug, who was named the young farmer of the year in 1990, has run the business operations of Connery Riverdale Farms and has served as President of the Canadian Horticultural Council and President of the Vegetable Growers Association of Manitoba.

Doug and his family had a cottage at Delta Beach, and he was active there serving as President of the Delta Beach Association and as a Director of the Association of Lake Manitoba Stakeholders.

Doug had a good sense of humour, but he was also a tough negotiator who loved to make things happen. We will miss you Doug.

Report on the Flood of 2011 by Manitoba Liberals

2011-12-21T12:01:00.006-06:00

This morning, we released our Liberal report on the Flood of 2011 at a press conference at the Legislature. With me were Dennis Turek, Chair of the Flood Action Committee for Twin Lakes Beach, Jack King, President of the Twin Lakes Beach Association and Garry Grubert a member of the Twin Lake sBeach Action Committee. There were also many others from around Lake Manitoba at the press conference. We are calling for an independent review of the Flood of 2011. We need this because there ware far too many areas where imrovement is needed, as documented in our report. We also need this independent review because better preventive intervention could have drastically reduced the damage and the cost of this year's flood. In brief our main conclusions are:

1) The primary causes of the flood were a) very high soil moisture, b) much higher than normal precipitation during the winter and spring in western Manitoba, c) a drain-only policy for water management for the last 40 years and d) failure to implement sufficient channel outlet capacity for water from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg within a reasonable time after the Portage Diversion was built.

2) There was a lot of room for improved performance by the provincial government, and identifying the shortcomings can help in better flood preparedness in the future.

3) Lake Manitoba was used as a water storage reservoir when large volumes of water were channeled through the Portage Diversion into Lake Manitoba to save people between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg and in Winnipeg.

4) People around Lake Manitoba were not given sufficient warning of the large rise in water level which occurred on Lake Manitoba and to date have not been adequately compensated.

5) The problem of regulating water levels on Lake Manitoba is not yet fully resolved as the water release capacity from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg is still not sufficient to ensure the outflow can match flood inflows when the Portage Diversion is operating at full (or above) capacity.

6) The independent review of the food of 1997 contributed in a major way to improvements in subsequent flood management, in particular to protection of the region along the Red River including Winnipeg and south of Winnipeg.

7) An independent review of the flood of 2011 is urgently needed for optimum flood protection for Manitobans in the years ahead.

The full report is available online at http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Report-on-the-Flood-of-2011-Jon-Gerrard.pdf or can be requested by sending an email request to Nancy Chippendale at the Manitoba Liberal Caucus. Nancy's email is nancy.chippendale@leg.gov.mb.ca

The Full Version of the Report is also below on this site:

Report on the Flood of 2011

Dr. Jon Gerrard,
Leader, Manitoba Liberal Party
MLA, River Heights
December 2011

Contents

Summary:

Introduction:

Background to The Review:

The Review

The Red River:

The Assiniboine River:

The Primary Dyke at Brandon:

The Impact of the Drain-Only Policy of the NDP Government During its 12 years in Power:

The Portage Diversion:

The Hoop and Holler Cut:

The Assiniboine River from Portage la Prairie to Winnipeg:

The Souris River:

Lake Manitoba:

Lake St. Martin:

Peguis and Fisher River:

Lake Winnipeg:

Lake Dauphin:

Shoal Lakes:

North Salt Lake and Salt Lake near Strathclair:

Support for Flood Affected Manitobans (Compensation, Buyouts, and Temporary Lodging for those Evacuated):

An Independent Review of the Flood of 2011:

Conclusion

Acknowledgements:

Summary of Recommendations:

Please note: This is an interim report. Feedback and input is encouraged to improve reporting and recommendations.
Summary:
The flood of 2011 was widespread and was the most costly in the history of our province. The report concludes that the very severe flooding on Lake Manitoba was a result of four factors, the very wet weather of 2010 and the heavy snowfall in western Manitoba in 2010-2011, the drain-only policy of the last 40 years of Tory and NDP governments, and the failure of governments since the 1970s to complete the needed improved outlet from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg. The report further reviews aspects of the flood at various locations throughout Manitoba and provides 30 recommendations for action. The report notes that Lake Manitoba was used as a water storage reservoir during the flood of 2011 in order to save Manitobans between Portage and Winnipeg and in Winnipeg. It also notes that there was inadequate warning for many residents around the lake and that to date compensation has been inadequate. Chief among the recommendations is a call for a very thorough independent review of the flood of 2011, as was done in 1997, in order that our province can be much better ready for future floods. This Liberal report is presented both to emphasize the urgency of this independent review, and also as input toward the material which needs to be considered as part of the independent review. It is important to take the opportunity of the 2011 flood to ensure similar improvements are made along the Souris and Assiniboine Rivers, and provide future protection for regions around Lake Manitoba, Lake St. Martin, along the Fisher River, around Lake Dauphin, the Shoal Lakes in the Interlake area and the Salt Lakes near Strathclair.
Introduction:
In 1997, an independent review of the 1997 flood was commissioned and a report was provided in June 1998, An Independent Review of Actions Taken During the 1997 Red River Flood.[1]This report made 58 recommendations. Implementation of many of these recommendations helped to mitigate problems associated with subsequent floods. Conversely, lack of implementation of certain recommendations has contributed to the extent of damage in floods like that of 2011.

The flood of 2011 was the most costly in the history of Manitoba with estimates of municipal, provincial and federal expenditures at $815 million and rising. In addition there were losses to farmers of about $1 billion, and significant but undetermined losses to individuals and businesses. The total cost of the flood will be more than $2 billion. It was very extensive, being worst along the Souris and Assiniboine River watersheds and around Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin, but also affecting the Red River, the Waterhen River, Lake Dauphin and a considerable number of smaller lakes and rivers in Manitoba.

This report is based on first-hand observations and interactions with Manitobans living through the flood on the ground level. Conversations with residents and visits tomany flood affected communities are what have informed the bulk of these observations and recommendations for the future.

The flood was the product of high soil moisture, of heavier than usual snow fall particularly in parts of western Manitoba, and of the lack of appropriate water management policies. In this report, we assess various aspects of the flood of 2011 with a view to making recommendations for improvement and in order to be ready should there be another flood in 2012 or subsequent years.

It is our sincere hope that this collection of information, observations and recommendations will stimulate the government to immediately announce an independent review of the actions undertaken during the 2011 flood and ensure that it is made public in the interest of the well-being and future of all Manitobans.

Background to The Review:
In the period leading up to the flood of 2011, during and afterward Jon Gerrard had the opportunity to meet and visit with individuals and communities throughout Manitoba. Gerrard’s experiences built upon his knowledge of and experience of many previous floods in Manitoba both as a federal Member of Parliament and a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Communities and sites visited include but are not limited to St. Norbert, Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Delta Beach, Strathclair, Lockport, Selkirk, St. Laurent, Lake St. Martin, Little Saskatchewan, Ashern, Lundar, Ste Rose du Lac, Eddystone, the Hoop and Holler Cut, the Portage Diversion, and a flight over the Assiniboine River, the Portage Diversion, Lake Manitoba from the outlet of the Diversion to St. Laurent and the Shoal Lakes.

This report is presented in order to improve the readiness of Manitobans for future floods. The 1997 flood resulted in improvements in flood protection along the Red River, including dikes around communities and the expansion of the floodway, which have been very important to providing protection along the Red River in subsequent floods. It is important to take the opportunity of the 2011 flood to ensure similar improvements are made along the Souris and Assiniboine Rivers, and for Lake Manitoba, Lake St. Martin, along the Fisher River, and around Lake Dauphin, the Shoal Lakes in the Interlake area and the Salt Lakes near Strathclair which will provide the future protection needed for these regions.

While the report is presented with a view to being constructive in preparing for future floods, it has been necessary to point out areas where the response could have been improved both from a quality of response standpoint and/or from a cost standpoint. We have been particularly critical in instances where there had been previous recommendations from the Manitoba Liberal Party or from previous reports on Manitoba floods that if acted upon would have reduced the impact of the disaster.

The Red River:
The flood along the Red River was significant, but thanks to preparations begun as a result of the Independent Review of the 1997 Red River Flood, the damage to property and the disruption of lives was much less as relatively few people along the Red River had to be evacuated in 2011 compared to 1997 when about 28,000 Manitobans were evacuated. That being said, there were certain areas where decisions could have been improved as along the Red River, north of Winnipeg.

South of Winnipeg: In 2011, Highway 75 was closed at Morris from April 18 to May 17, or for 29 days. This resulted in a major disruption and diversion of traffic away from Highway 75. The closure also had a huge effect on the surrounding communities economically and in terms of emergency response times. A long run solution to the continuing closure of Highway 75 during Red River floods needs to be found.

Recommendation 1: A solution to the closure of Highway 75 at Morris needs to be found. The engineering and financing of a solution needs to be part of the plan developed in response to the 2011 flood.

North of Winnipeg:In 2011, there were major ice jams north of the site where the floodway enters into the Red River near Lockport. These ice jams resulted in water from the floodway entering the Red River and then flowing back toward Winnipeg and causing significant flooding of people in the Municipalities of East and West St. Paul. Damage may have amounted to as much as $2-3 million dollars.Local residents believe that a major reason for the ice dams was the lack of dredging along the stretch of the river adjacent to Lower Fort Garry, and just north and south of this point. Historically (before about 1996) this section of the Red River was dredged regularly and the channel was kept deeper (about 20 feet deep), compared to presently when it is for most of the year about 12 feet deep. The greater depth of the river historically was associated with much less in the way of ice dams in this area, and there was not the back flooding found this year. Local residents argue that a modest annual funding towards dredging,perhaps $200,000 -$300,000, would have been sufficient to prevent the flood damage in the millions of dollars this year.

There have been ongoing discussions about the approach to breaking up the ice on the Red River, including the possibility of using hovercraft as well as the amphibexes.

Recommendation 2: The section of the Red River north of Lockport needs to be studied and appropriate actions taken to reduce problems with ice jamming in the spring which have led to flood problems north of Winnipeg.

The Assiniboine River:

Estimation of the extent of the flood of 2011:There was considerable concern that the NDP government underestimated the extent of the flood of 2011. However, it was known that the ground was saturated in the fall, and through the winter the amount of snow in western Manitoba was considerably higher than normal. Indeed, in March 2011, the government predicted that the flood at Brandon would crest at 1182.2 feet. In fact it crested at 1182.9 feet, only 8 inches higher. Nevertheless, because the flood forecast for western Manitoba received a lot of criticism either because some of the time it was wrong, or because people were not adequately alerted to just how bad it was going to be at 1182.2 feet, many felt that the prediction and/or warning were not enough.

Recommendation 3: A full review of flood forecasting in the Assiniboine Basin is needed to ensure future forecasts provide adequate warning of conditions to people in the basin and in Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin.

Recommendation 4: An enhanced partnership is needed among Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota to provide improved flood modeling, flood forecasting and flood mitigation for the Souris and Assiniboine River watersheds.

The Primary Dyke at Brandon:
On June 20, 2006, Premier Gary Doer told Brandonites that "We will work with the federal government and the City of Brandon to ensure that Brandon is protected for a one-in-100 year flood event. We are committed to meeting a one-in-100 year target with the federal and the city government."

Sadly, as Deveryn Ross reported (Winnipeg Free Press May 19, 2011),

“That promise was never kept. Brandon has nowhere near that level of flood protection.The Selinger government can't blame the City of Brandon. Brandon's acting city manager, Ted Snure, says that the provincial government never proposed a 1-in-100-year flood protection plan to the City of Brandon during the past five years. Sure, who has also served as Brandon's city engineer, was not even aware that Doer had made such a promise. In order to grasp the significance of that broken promise, consider that the 1-in-100-year flood protection level in Brandon is 1,181.6 feet above sea level at Brandon's First Street Bridge -- just 15 inches below this year's peak of 1,182.9 feet. That means that Brandon could have been protected against this year's flood with a few rows of ordinary sandbags if our NDP government had delivered the 1-in-100-year flood protection Brandon was promised. With that protection in place, no homes would have been flooded, no citizens would have been evacuated from their homes, no businesses would have been forced to close, and hundreds of workers would not have gone without paycheques.”[2]

Clearly an investigation is needed into why the promise was never kept, and why the primary dike was never built as promised. This mistake was extraordinarily costly for the City of Brandon, because of the nature of the diking needed because of the absence of the primary dike protection to 1181.6 feet, and because of the extent of evacuation needed and the extent of business closures. The city estimates the cost of the 2011 flood at $5.3 million.

Recommendation 5: A full investigation is needed into why the primary dike was not built as promised, and the extent of extra costs resulting from this mistake.

Recommendation 6: The primary dike is still not fully completed to provide protection to 1181.6 feet. Indeed, consideration must be given to putting the primary dike up to 1184.9 feet (the maximum height of the flood of 2011 plus two feet). This needs to be done on an urgent basis.

The Impact of the Drain-Only Policy of the NDP Government During its 12 years in Power:

In 1997, one of the major recommendations of the Independent Review of the 1997 flood was to have a much better water management policy for Manitoba. This recommendation was neglected. For the last ten years the NDP government has had a drain only policy. For more details see:http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/11/ndp-provincial-water-management-policy.html.

The result of this policy has been a disaster. Under successive Tory and NDP governments since the 1960s, the drain-only approach in western Manitoba has led to a 30 per cent increase in the amount of water coming off the land[3]. Under a policy which invested in water retention and drainage in a balanced way, there would have been dramatically less water coming off the land in western Manitoba, the Hoop and Holler Cut would have not been necessary and the damage on Lake Manitoba would have been dramatically less. Liberals have been outspoken on the misguided approach taken by the NDP, and have called repeatedly for major and consistent investments in water retention along the lines of the effort on the South Tobacco Creek where 27 small dams have reduced the peak runoff by 25 per cent.

The drain only policy has contributed to flooding of farmland as well as to flooding association with high water levels in many rivers and lakes in Manitoba. It should be noted, as relevant to this, that the South Tobacco Creek approach reduced downstream flooding of farmland by about 75%, and almost eliminated damage to municipal infrastructure like roads and culverts.

On November 22, 2011, Jon Gerrard flew with Bob Brigden to look at the situation in south-west Manitoba. There has been a large amount of new drainage in the fall of 2011, and no new water retention. The NDP folly continues.

In the 1997 independent review, a recommendation was made that, “the province should develop a sustainable water management structure to better serve the needs of Manitobans into the next century.”[4]

Recommendation 7: The government must immediately change to a balanced approach which emphasizes no new net loss of wetlands and invests substantially in water storage.

Recommendation 8: Lessons from the South Tobacco Creek need to be implemented in many, many other areas of southern Manitoba.

Recommendation 9: An Ecological Goods and Services support program needs to be implemented province-wide using the Blanchard RM ALUS pilot program adjusted to take into account improvements suggested by the Manitoba Beef Producers.

The Portage Diversion:

In 2011, there were times when the Portage Diverson was operated beyond the design level, and there were places where the water was leaking and/or the banks had to be shored up. A full review of the status of the Portage Diversion is needed to plan for the future and ensure it is able to operate optimally with a flood like that in 2011, or at a level slightly higher. Concerns were also expressed about the operation of the gate which holds back water so that the water can flow into the Portage Diversion rather than down the Assiniboine River.

Recommendation10: A review of the Portage Diversion is needed, together with a plan to address a flood the equivalent of 2011, or greater. A decision needs to be made as to the level to which the Portage Diversion/Assiniboine River needs to be planned to protect against a situation with a flow which is up to about 5,000 cfs more than in 2011. Where would the extra water go? Would the Hoop and Holler Cut be repeated? Would plans for a long term approach to handle this amount of water be made? Plans for handling a larger amount of water need to be in place to ensure decisions are well made in advance rather than last minute.

Recommendation 11:The full review of the Portage Diversion must include a review of the operation of the gate which holds back water for diversion into the Portage Diversion, and a review of the Diversion itself to ensure it is capable of handling well the 34,000 cfs without leaks should there be another flood like 2011 or of greater magnitude.

The Hoop and Holler Cut:

In 2011, the Hoop and Holler Cut was made to ensure safety and security of the flow along the Assiniboine River between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg should the amount of water flowing down the Assiniboine River need to increase because the Portage Diversion had reached full capacity, and had the amount of water flow continued to increase. In the final analysis, the amount of water put through the Hoop and Holler Cut reached only about 500 cfs. However, there was a very large cost to the Hoop and Holler Cut in the extent of preparations that were needed in case more water had to be put through the Hoop and Holler Cut.

Flows through the Hoop and Holler Cut, quickly found their way to two small creeks south and east of the cut itself. This in fact was what, in part, contributed to only a small amount of land being inundated by the water flowing through the cut. In retrospect, improved planning might have allowed direct channels to be made to these two creeks reducing even further the impact on farmland.

The experience in building the Hoop and Holler Cut has allowed a better understanding of what can and should be done in the future if flows along the Assiniboine River were even to exceed the combined capacity of the Assiniboine River and the Portage Diversion. Planning needs now to occur to formally put in place a plan should this occur in the future, and preparations made for this should it happen.

Recommendation 12:A full analysis is needed of the costs and benefits of the Hoop and Holler Cut, its impact on handling the overcapacity, and risk of overcapacity, of the Assiniboine River and Portage Diversion.

Recommendation 13:A future plan is needed to address the situation should it arise in the future of flood waters exceeding the current capacity of the combined Assiniboine River and Portage Diversion. This plan may or may not use the Hoop and Holler Cut as the “safety valve,” but it does need to have a safety valve and the preparations need to be made in advance to optimize costs and benefits should this be necessary. The plan should look at whether permanent channels could or should be created from the Hoop and Holler Cut site to the two nearby creeks to minimize impact on farmlands, and to understand what is the maximum capacity of these two creeks, and the impact of this approach should another flood of the size of 2011 or greater occur.

The Assiniboine River from Portage la Prairie to Winnipeg:

The maximum amount of flow down the Assiniboine River between Portage and Winnipeg in 2011 was about 18,000 cfs. Even at this level there were many points of “leakage” where water was leaking through the dykes, and the Canadian Army had to be called in to provide the capacity to address these leaks because of the danger which could have occurred had the leaks become major breaks with widespread inundation of nearby lands.

One problem in 2011 was that the dykes between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg had not been kept up to the necessary levels in the last 12 years. This caused a major problem. Hurried building of these dykes in the early spring did occur, but clearly left the situation at a tenuous level given the amount of leakage that occurred along the Assiniboine River.

Recommendation 14: A full review is needed of the dikes along the Assiniboine River between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg with a view to ascertaining accurately the status of the dykes and to preparing a plan to ensure the dykes are built up to ensure safety of the flow along the Assiniboine River at 18,000 cfs, and to consider the possibility of being able to increase the flow along this stretch of the Assiniboine River during future floods.

Recommendation 15: Modeling studies are needed of the full Souris-Assiniboine watershed to provide for better flood management of this whole watershed in future years.

The Souris River:
The flood of 2011 resulted in a very high level of flood waters along the Souris River and the need for exceptional diking at and near Melita, Souris and Wawanesa. Consistent with what was done after the 1997 flood along the Red River, the situation of these communities needs to be reviewed with a view to putting in place permanent diking which will provide protection to a level of the 2011 flood plus two feet. This process should begin an on urgent basis. It has been suggeseted that part of the flooding problem in 2011 could have been lessened had water been let out during the fall of 2010 and during the winter from the Rafferty-Alameda Reservoir. This needs to be investigated and a plan put in place jointly with Saskatchewan for improving the approach in the future.

Recommendation 16: Assessment of the Souris River, particularly near Melita, Souris and Wawanesa should be completed with a view to recommendations to put in place flood protection for communities, and for homes and farm buildings to a level of 2011 plus two feet. In some instances it may be more cost effective and appropriate to buy out affected individuals.

Recommendation 17:Operation of the Rafferty-Alameda Dam should be reviewed jointly with the province of Saskatchewan to look at optimizing its operation in relation to circumstances where flood conditions are imminent.

Lake Manitoba:

Lake Manitoba was very severely impacted by the flood of 2011. In essence, Lake Manitoba was used as a water storage reservoir to protect people between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg and in Winnipeg. Many residents around Lake Manitoba did not have adequate warning of the dramatic rise in water levels which was to occur this year. Indeed, in the first half of May, senior government officials were saying that the increased water flow through the Portage Diversion would not have much impact on Lake Manitoba water levels. Communities like St. Laurent and Delta Beach were devastated. Many other communities were very severely affected. While some communities built dykes that worked (as in Lundar Beach), much of the sandbagging at St. Laurent proved to be largely ineffective as six foot high sandbag dykes were overwhelmed by the surging waves and high waters. A very large impact also occurred on ranches surrounding Lake Manitoba. Many cattle producers were devastated by the situation. Developments at various places around Lake Manitoba, as at Lake Manitoba Narrows were severely impacted, and future development close to the lake will now be very much affected by the flood and the planning which occurs now in order to determine what the future levels of Lake Manitoba will be.

The government of Manitoba was caught with its pants downwhen it came to Lake Manitoba. When Jon Gerrard raised concerns in the Manitoba Legislature about Delta Beach on Lake Manitoba, senior staff in Minister Ashton’s office said the problems on Lake Manitoba were not even on their radar. Why was the planning in terms of Lake Manitoba so inadequate? Why was Lake Manitoba not on the government’s radar? Why was the channel from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg to increase the amount of flow possible from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg not constructed after having been recommended and seen as necessary going back to the 1970s? In the wake of the flood of 2011 and its impact on Lake Manitoba there remain many outstanding issues. For the long term, one of the most critical is to ensure a plan is in place to better accommodate large floods like 2011, or even larger, if they are to happen in the future. Long term planning around Lake Manitoba is vital to allow responsible planning for the future – in terms of what will be rebuilt, what will be bought out, and what future developments will be allowed around Lake Manitoba.

Delta Beach: It was problematic that people at Delta Beach felt that the government response was very slow initially in comparison to other areas. Indeed, local residents have indicated they believe $50,000 spent on a dike at Delta Beach in early may could have protected the community and saved hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in damage. [The $50,000 likely underestimates the cost of the dyke, but even if it were $300,000, the savings would have still been substantial.] The severity of the impact at Delta Beach, and the potential for early intervention to prevent the devastation, means this area needs particular attention in a review and recommendations.

St. Laurent: A very large response was undertaken to the flood at St. Laurent with approximately 1,000,000 sandbags used in the early phase of the flood protection response. There were issues initially as few in the community had training building sandbag dikes. But under the leadership of individuals like Louis Allain, this was overcome and an amazing effort was put into building sandbag dikes up to six feet in height. However, the sandbag dikes were largely overwhelmed by the large storm at the end of May, 2011. The review should look at the situation of St. Laurent with particular attention to properties which survived the storm of May 2011 due to the nature of the diking provided. There is a clear need to develop improved approaches to protecting homes along the shore in St. Laurent, and to provide a clear plan for the future.

After the storm of late May, a dike was built internally in the community to protect the bulk of homes which had not been damaged in the storm. However, this should have been followed by greater effort to protect homes along the immediate shore of Lake Manitoba which had survived. An analysis is needed here of what could have been done better to protect homes in St. Laurent and what measures will be put in place for the future.

Recommendation 18: A complete review is needed of all aspects of the management of the flood on Lake Manitoba during 2011, from preparation, warning alerts, inspection, compensation, future planning etc.

Recommendation 19: Special attention needs to be made to the flow of water from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg. The capacity of the flow from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg needs to be increased so that larger flows are possible from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg without adversely impacting communities around Lake St. Martin or along the Dauphin River.

Recommendation 20: A long term plan needs to be put in place to regulate the level of water on Lake Manitoba, to minimize damage to those around Lake Manitoba while ensuring those downstream are not adversely impacted. This plan is vital to those living around Lake Manitoba being able to plan their lives moving forward. Regulations need to be put in place, for example, in relation to development around the Lake in the years ahead in light of what can be achieved in terms of assured flood protection in the future.

Recommendation 21: The review of the approach to the flood as it affected people around Lake Manitoba needs to use a “fairness” lens which looks at the fact that people on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin took the ”bullet” to save many others in Manitoba. It needs to look at the fair treatment of farmers and businesses which were affected, as well as home and cottage owners.

Lake St. Martin:

The communities of Little Saskatchewan and Lake St. Martin were very severely affected by the flood of 2011. As this report is being written there are still many residents of Lake St. Martin in hotels and temporary living arrangements as they are unable to return to their homes in Lake St. Martin and plans for an alternative temporary or permanent community site have been slow in coming together. There are many issues surrounding the situation on Lake St. Martin which need attention. The community of Lake St. Martin has seen higher water levels on a regular basis in the years since the Fairford Dam and since the operation of the Portage Diversion has put more water through Lake St. Martin. These changes and their impact on the community were never adequately addressed. The amount of water in Lake St. Martin has also been affected by the FairfordDam which in many years holds back water in the summer, and then releases it in the fall in a way that has a severe adverse impact on muskrats and other wildlife on Lake St. Martin. This aspect has also not been addressed. Overall, the results of the situation on Lake St. Martin in the last thirty years, have had severe economic impact on the community of Lake St. Martin and their local cattle producers. To read more about these impacts, see: http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/05/flooding-along-assiniboine-river-in.html

Recommendation 22:A full review of the impact of the flood on Lake St. Martin and the communities of Little Saskatchewan and Lake St. Martin is needed, along with the development of a plan and recommendations for the long term situation of Lake St. Martin. With the channel from Lake St. Martin to Big Buffalo Lake now operational, and with additional channel plans being contemplated, it will be possible in the future to have much better planning for the level of water on Lake St. Martin.

Recommendation 23: A report is needed on why the initial dike at Lake St. Martin was built so poorly that it was ineffective and contributed to more flooding instead of saving the community from being inundated.

Recommendation 24: An evaluation is needed of the poor planning which occurred when the channel from Lake St. Martin to Big Buffalo Lake was opened which resulted in the stranding of a great deal of equipment. There was a lot of extra unnecessary cost incurred because the channel was opened prematurely. A report needs to be made to detail what happened and why the costly mistake was made.

Recommendation 25: A plan needs to be implemented for the long term level of Lake St. Martin and for the long term situation of the communities of Little Saskatchewan and Lake St. Martin. This plan must e extend to which communities will be moved or rebuilt on the existing sites, the extent to which permanent dikes are needed. As with Lake Manitoba, a fairness lens needs to be used because residents around Lake St. Martin suffered greatly so that many others in Manitoba could be spared.

Peguis and Fisher River:

The communities along the Fisher River, including Peguis and Fisher River, have experienced a great deal of flooding in recent years, particularly Peguis. In spite of much rhetoric, a robust long term plan has not yet been implemented.

Recommendation 26: An effective, long term flood protection plan for Peguis and Fisher River needs to be implemented expeditiously.

Lake Winnipeg:
Lake Winnipeg saw very high water levels starting in 2010 and continuing for muchof the 2011 year. There was serious erosion in some areas, and it could have been much worse. Individuals in a number of communities where there has been substantial erosion including Lester Beach, Victoria Beach and Sagkeeng among others have felt that there has been difficulty in getting a prompt, effective and consistent response to prevent continuing erosion. Liberals have advocated for a Lake Winnipeg Authority which would ensure the right balance is achieved in protecting cottages and in protecting beaches along Lake Winnipeg's shoreline. The authority would also serve to monitor marshland on the shores and provide protection for and support for restoration of marshes like the Netley-Libau Marsh which are essential to the health of the lake.

Some of the suggestedpowers of the authority as envisaged would include:
- Full authority to regulate and manage shorelines on Crown land
- The authority to work with individuals around Lake Winnipeg to set "best practices" guidelines for shoreline management.
- A special focus on erosion and how it can be handled to better protect property owners
- A mandate to with individuals, with municipalities as well as with First Nation and Métis communities around the lake
- A mandate to provide regulations with regard to lake levels within parameters to be established by legislation

Recommendation 27: It is recommended that a Lake Winnipeg Authority be established to help in managing the situation of those living around Lake Winnipeg to enable a consistent, effective and prompt response where there are concerns about erosion and other shoreline issues surrounding Lake Winnipeg.

Lake Dauphin:
Lake Dauphin suffered severely flooding in 2011. A full review of the situation on the lake is needed and a long term plan must be implemented for Lake Dauphin.

Recommendation 28: A review of Lake Dauphin and the flood of 2011 is needed and implementation of a plan to reduce future flood risks.

Shoal Lakes:

The Shoal Lakes in the Interlake region of Manitoba have seen a very large rise in the water level in recent years to the point where the lakes are now one lake. The situation continues to have a major impact on individuals and farms in the areas. A plan needs to be implemented expeditiously to address this issue.

Recommendation 29: A plan must be put in place expeditiously to deal with the very high water level in the Shoal Lakes and provide those in the area with the ability to plan for their future knowing what the future will hold in terms of water levels for the Shoal Lakes.

North Salt Lake and Salt Lake near Strathclair:

NearStrathclair, the situation of the North Salt lake and the Salt Lake has created problems for local landowners and for their farms. Many feel neglected by the government. A clear plan is needed to address this issue. See this blog post for a detailed analysis: http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/07/manitoba-liberals-have-very-different_07.html

Recommendation 30: A long term plan must be implemented to deal in a much better way with the Salt Lakes and with people in the region around Strathclair who are affected.

Support for Flood Affected Manitobans (Compensation, Buyouts, and Temporary Lodging for those Evacuated):
While problems arose in many areas of Manitoba with flood compensation, those around Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin have been the most severe. Gerrard has talked with many who feel the flood compensation issues around Lake Manitoba could have been much better handled. A family, whose St. Laurent homewasravaged in the large storm at the end of May that they could no longer live in it, still had not received any compensation by November. Many farmers were frustrated by the nature of the supports and dealing with programs which did not always adapt to the local needs on the ground. Business people often felt left out, whereas in the 1997 flood there was a program to help non-farm businesses deal with disruptions and lack of income due to flood related factors.

Overall, there have been many complaints raised of unfair or inadequate compensation. One particular area of contention has been the appraisal of property after the flood. Following the flood, there was a dramatic drop in the assessed value of many homes and properties around Lake Manitoba. While the drop my well represent the current purchase price if these properties could be sold, and may be helpful to individuals along the lake in dealing with school and municipal taxes in the next year or two, it is very problematic to apply the reduced value of property after the flood to determine compensation to be paid. Compensation should be paid on the basis of the pre-flood value of the land and property, not on the basis of the post-flood much reduced value.

Had a recommendation from the independent review of the 1997 flood, calling for a complete disaster assistance program using a “one-window approach” been developed in advance of the need and been administered through local flood recovery centres, communities all over the province would have been better able to cope with the trying situation while being informed.[5]

Recommendation 31: The use of a “one-window approach” would have helped with various aspects of the delivery of support to those who were affected by the flood. Particularly problematic was the separation of farm-related compensation and support and other flood related supports. It should be reviewed as to why this was not achieved in 2011, and it should be implemented in the future.

Recommendation 32:When determining compensation for loss of value of land and property, the determination should start with the pre-flood assessed values.

An Independent Review of the Flood of 2011:
While the present report may be the first overall report on the Flood of 2011 presented publicly, it certainly will not be the last. Indeed an important aspect of this report is that it is a chance to review the need for a thorough independent report as was done in 1997. In this review, we found that the independent review of 1997 was extraordinarily helpful in presenting and advancing plans for future flood protection in Manitoba. Indeed, the review of 1997 can be credited with being a critical step in the protection of the Red River Valley subsequent to 1997. The increased protection in the Red River Valley has been very successful in the years since in decreasing the risk of floods to residents of the Red River Valley.

A thorough independent review of the flood of 2011 could lay the same groundwork for measures to be taken along the Souris and Assiniboine Rivers, around Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin and in other areas of Manitoba which have been flood affected in the last few years including Shoal Lakes (the Interlake region), the Salt Lakes, Lake Dauphin, Fisher River as examples. Thus the establishment of an independent review as soon as possible is needed. Indeed, it is urgent. In 1997, the independent review was established in August of 1997, and reported in June 1998. We are already very late in establishing an independent review of the 2011 flood per these standards.

Part of the urgency of the review is the need to be prepared for 2012 and what it may bring. As we are now in December, we have already lost time in the fall of 2011 that could have been used in preparation. Liberals believe there is a major urgency to establish this independent review by the end of 2011, so that the recommendations can be ready as soon as possible.

An additional reason for the urgency of this independent review is the prediction of climate change models which suggest that Manitoba will have increased wet weather in spring and early summer in southern Manitoba. While in previous decades, we may have seen alternating wet and dry cycles, in the world of global warming we may see a consistent pattern of wetter years as we have seen in the last 15 years. While the models of climate change were predicting this change to a wetter climate in spring in southern Manitoba, this has not been adequately taken into account in the planning undertake in the last decade. It now must be considered in our provincial preparations that we may have to be much better prepared for future floods as they may be more common than in the last 15 years.

Recommendation 33: An independent review of the flood of 2011 needs to be established as soon as possible, but not later than the end of December 2011.

Main Conclusions:

1) The primary causes of the flood were a) very high soil moisture, b) much higher than normal precipitation during the winter and spring in western Manitoba, c) a drain-only policy for water management for the last 40 years and d) failure to implement sufficient channel outlet capacity for water from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg within a reasonable time after the Portage Diversion was built.

2)      There was a lot of room for improved performance by the provincial government, and identifying the shortcomings can help in better flood preparedness in the future.

3)      Lake Manitoba was used as a water storage reservoir when large volumes of water were channeled through the Portage Diversion into Lake Manitoba to save people between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg and in Winnipeg.

4)      People around Lake Manitoba were not given sufficient warning of the large rise in water level which occurred on Lake Manitoba and to date have not been adequately compensated.

5)      The problem of regulating water levels on Lake Manitoba is not yet fully resolved as the water release capacity from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg is still not sufficient to ensure the outflow can match flood inflows when the Portage Diversion is operating at full (or above) capacity.

6)      The independent review of the flood of 1997 contributed in a major way to improvements in subsequent flood management, in particular to protection of the region along the Red River including Winnipeg and south of Winnipeg.

7)      An independent review of the flood of 2011 is urgently needed for optimum flood protection for Manitobans in the years ahead.

Acknowledgements:
The kind help and assistance of many, many people is recognized. Thousands of volunteers worked very hard to deal with the flood of 2011. Many people working on the staff of municipal and provincial governments contributed an enormous effort with an incredible amount of overtime hours. The Canadian Armed Forces played a critical role in helping to deal with the flood of 2011. I had the opportunity to talk and meet with an extraordinary number of people during the 2011 flood. This report is a tribute to the many hard working Manitobans who contributed in one way or another to helping with the flood effort.

It is dedicated to the memory of Doug Connery who died recently. Doug Connery’s farm was affected by the Hoop and Holler Cut. Doug Connery had a home at Delta Beach and he was affected also by the flood on Lake Manitoba. He was one among many, many people who were severely impacted by the flood of 2011.

Summary of Recommendations:
Recommendation 1: A solution to the closure of Highway 75 at Morris needs to be found. The engineering and financing of a solution needs to be part of the plan developed in response to the 2011 flood.

Recommendation 2: The section of the Red River north of Lockport needs to be studied and appropriate actions taken.

Recommendation5: A full investigation is needed into why the primary dike was not built as promised, and the extent of extra costs resulting from this mistake.

Recommendation 7: The government must immediately change to a balanced approach which emphasizes no new net loss of wetlands and invests substantially in water storage.

Recommendation 8: Lessons from the South Tobacco Creek need to be implemented in many, many other areas of southern Manitoba.

Recommendation 10: A review of the Portage Diversion is needed, together with a plan to address a flood the equivalent of 2011, or greater. A decision needs to be made as to the level to which the Portage Diversion/Assiniboine River needs to be planned to protect against a situation with a flow which is up to about 5,000 cfs more than in 2011. Where would the extra water go? Would the Hoop and Holler Cut be repeated? Would plans for a long term approach to handle this amount of water be made? Plans for handling a larger amount of water need to be in place to ensure decisions are well made in advance rather than last minute.

Recommendation 11: The full review of the Portage Diversion must include a review of the operation of the gate which holds back water for diversion into the Portage Diversion, and a review of the Diversion itself to ensure it is capable of handling well the 34,000 cfs without leaks should there be another flood like 2011 or of greater magnitude.

Recommendation 12: A full analysis is needed of the costs and benefits of the Hoop and Holler Cut, its impact on handling the overcapacity, and risk of overcapacity, of the Assiniboine River and Portage Diversion.

Recommendation 13: A future plan is needed to address the situation should it arise in the future of flood waters exceeding the current capacity of the combined Assiniboine River and Portage Diversion. This plan may or may not use the Hoop and Holler Cut as the “safety valve,” but it does need to have a safety valve and the preparations need to be made in advance to optimize costs and benefits should this be necessary. The plan should look at whether permanent channels could or should be created from the Hoop and Holler Cut site to the two nearby creeks to minimize impact on farmlands, and to understand what is the maximum capacity of these two creeks, and the impact of this approach should another flood of the size of 2011 or greater occur.

Recommendation 14: A full review is needed of the dikes along the Assiniboine River between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg with a view to ascertaining accurately the status of the dykes and to preparing a plan to ensure the dykes at built up to ensure safety of the flow along the Assiniboine River at 18,000 cfs, and to consider the possibility of being able to increase the flow along this stretch of the Assiniboine River during future floods.

Recommendation 15: Modeling studies are needed of the full Souris-Assiniboine watershed to provide for better flood management of this whole watershed in future years.

Recommendation 17: Operation of the Rafferty-Alameda Dam should be reviewed jointly with the province of Saskatchewan to look at optimizing its operation in relation to circumstances where flood conditions are imminent.

Recommendation 22: A full review of the impact of the flood on Lake St. Martin and the communities of Little Saskatchewan and Lake St. Martin is needed, along with the development of a plan and recommendations for the long term situation of Lake St. Martin. With the channel from Lake St. Martin to Big Buffalo Lake now operational, and with additional channel plans being contemplated, it will be possible in the future to have much better planning for the level of water on Lake St. Martin.

Recommendation 23: A report is needed on why the initial dike at Lake St. Martin was built so poorly that it was initially very ineffective and contributed to more flooding instead of saving the community from being inundated.

Recommendation 24: An evaluation of the poor planning which occurred when the channel from Lake St. Martin to Big Buffalo Lake was opened which resulted in the stranding of a great deal of equipment. There was a lot of extra unnecessary cost incurred because the channel was opened prematurely. A report needs to be made to detail what happened and why the costly mistake was made.

Recommendation 25: A plan needs to be implemented for the long term level of Lake St. Martin and for the communities of Little Saskatchewan and Lake St. Martin, the extent to which communities will be moved or rebuilt on the existing sites, the extent to which permanent dikes are needed, etc.

Recommendation 26: An effective, long term flood protection plan for Peguis and Fisher River needs to be implemented expeditiously.

Recommendation 28: A review of Lake Dauphin and the flood of 2011 is needed and implementation of a plan to reduce future flood risks.

Recommendation 30: A long term plan must be implemented to deal in a much better way with the Salt Lakes and with people in the region around Strathclair who are affected.

Recommendation 32: When determining compensation for loss of value of land and property, the determination should start with the pre-flood assessed values.

Recommendation 33: An independent review of the flood of 2011 needs to be established as soon as possible, but not later than the end of December 2011.

[1] Manitoba Water Commission. 1998. An Independent Review of Actions Taken During the 1997 Red River Flood. A report to the Honourable J. Glen Cummings, Minister of Natural Resources, June 1998.

[2] Ross, Deveryn. “Brandon let down by NDP.” Winnipeg Free Press; May 19, 2001.

[3]Gabor, Shane and Dr. Pascal Badiou.The Impacts of Wetland Loss in Manitoba; Fact Sheet.Ducks Unlimited Canada.2008. http://www.ducks.ca/conserve/research/projects/broughtons/index.html.

[4]Manitoba Water Commission. 1998. An Independent Review of Actions Taken During the 1997 Red River Flood. A report to the Honourable J. Glen Cummings, Minister of Natural Resources, June 1998. pg. xvii.

[5]Ibid. pg. xv.

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to improve conditions for Manitobans and to hold the NDP accountable we ask for your support as part of our end of the year Annual Fundraising Appeal. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

Giizhigo-Misameg, the Sky Whale Airship - an idea whose time is coming.

2011-12-19T21:44:00.001-06:00

Airships: Airships are an idea whose time is coming. Barry Prentice, bottom photo, has been advocating the potential of airships for many years. Today, the first airship built in Manitoba, Giizhigo-Misameg, (meaning Sky Whale) was on display at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba (top photo). It will be used as a research vessel to study the construction and operation of airships in our Manitoba climate and their potential for delivering freight to isolated northern communities.

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to improve conditions for Manitobans and to hold the NDP accountable we ask for your support as part of our end of the year Annual Fundraising Appeal. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

Our Holiday party

2011-12-19T09:45:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Holiday Party at the River Heights Community Centre yesterday afternoon, with lots of people stopping by to chat and enjoy the refreshments.

Emerson, Manitoba and the need to improve emergency response times

2011-12-16T20:24:00.001-06:00

This morning, I was in Emerson and visiting with Mayor Wayne Arseny, Deputy Mayor Art Klan and Fire Chief Jason Propp. Our discussion focused on the issues surrounding slow emergency response times for health issues in Emerson, and the recent death of a women where there was too slow a response.

First, though let me say that I was impressed with the Fire Fighting team in Emerson. Fire Chief Jason Propp showed me around the Fire Station and the excellent set up and equipment that Emerson has. Congratulations to all in Emerson who have contributed to this high quality fire fighting and rescue capacity in Emerson. By the way, the Emerson Fire Department began in 1880 - and was the third Fire Fighting Unit in Manitoba!

But when it comes to emergency responses for health reasons it is another situation altogether. Emerson had an excellent emergency response capacity before the Central Regional Health Authority became involved and messed things up. The response times were normally under 8 minutes before the Central RHA took over. Central RHA promised they would have responses in less then half an hour, but it soon became apparent they were not going to achieve that. The reason, there is now no emergency response capacity based in Emerson. Emergency Responders must come from Altona, Morris, Vita or St. Pierre. Two recent examples were given to me. In one there was a response time of about an hour when a man fell off a roof. In the second, the response time for a woman who had a fall was about 90 minutes from when the emergency call was put in. This woman was taken to Morris and there was found to have serious injuries and sent to the Boundary Trails Hospital between Morden and Winkler. I was told the trip to Emerson from St. Pierre, which is where the ambulance came from, and the trip to Morris and then the trip to Boundary Trails took about 3 hours until she was where she needed to be to get help. Sadly, it was too late and she died.

After talking about the situation, and the problem of slow emergency responses for people in Emerson, we had a discussion about the solutions. One difficulty is that Emerson is at the very edge of the Central RHA, and also at the edge of the South Eastman RHA. Emerson is ideally suited to provide service to people in Emerson and the surrounding area. However, because Emerson is located at the edge of the two RHAs, it appears that neither one wants to establish an Ambulance service based in Emerson even though it is situated on Highway 75, and is the fifth busiest border crossing in Canada processing about $14 billion in trade traffic annually, and having more trade that any other border crossing in Western Canada.

Yet, the present Health Minister in Manitoba has neglected Emerson. The Mayor in Emerson has been asking for a meeting with the Minister of Health to deal with this situation for some time, but has been unable to get such a meeting. Because Emerson sits at the border of two RHAs, there is an urgent need to find a way for the two RHAs to cooperate. Given that each of the two RHAs view Emerson as the far distant periphery of their empires, the only way to achieve this cooperation is the direct intervention of the Minister of Health. There is, of course, a larger issue here - that the Minister needs to provide a framework for the RHAs that encourages cooperation on issues like this instead of one that encourages separation!

The answer for Emerson may not be all that difficult. Indeed, I was informed that members of the Fire Department (the Emerson Volunteer Fire and Rescue), would very much like to have training as emergency responders so they could respond to health emergencies, just as in many other communities, members of fire and paramedic services often have cross training and work closely together. The problem is that achieving such training today is too expensive. There are two options. The first option is to send the Emerson fire fighters to Brandon to get the training. This is far too costly and too inconvenient. The second, and better, option is to have the Emerson fire fighters get their training in Emerson. While this is a good option, it is also expensive, costing $27,000 to provide the course in Emerson. The Minster of Health could intervene to facilitate the Central RHA, the South Eastman RHA and Emerson working together in providing this course. Alternatively, the Minister of Health could undertake talks with the Central RHA and the South Eastman RHA about working together to have a formal ambulance service in Emerson. The big question is: Will the Minister of Health get involved or will she let the unacceptably long emergency response times for Emerson residents continue?

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to improve health care services in Manitoba and to hold the NDP accountable we ask for your support as part of our end of the year Annual Fundraising Appeal. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

Manitoba's Second Quarter Financial Report a very Sobering Document

2011-12-16T16:35:00.005-06:00

Manitoba Financial Report shows poor management of provincial finances: A look through the government's second quarter financial report released today, paints a very sobering picture of the state of Manitoba's finances with a forecast ballooning of this years deficit from about $500 million to about $1 billion.

My immediate reaction is "How could the NDP have so badly managed our provincial finances at such a critical time?"

What is most striking is that the NDP government has been spending much more than budgeted in family services and justice in costs which were not related to the flood. It appears that the NDP were continuing to spend in a major way, without thought to the overall financial picture, during the first six months of this fiscal year. I suspect that they spent and spent and spent in the run up to the election on October 4th.

The NDP should have been much more careful of non-flood related expenditures, knowing how serious were the extra financial demands of the flood itself. After all, we are in a time of considerable global economic uncertainty, and we need to be very careful in managing our fiscal situation so that we will be able to cope if the global economy takes a turn for the worse. Furthermore, in my view every dollar of taxpayers money needs to be spent as wisely as possible.

In attempting to watch over the province's finances with an interim Minister of Finance, the NDP are trying to take canoe Manitoba through a rapids, switching their stern paddler in the middle of the turbulence. The Premier needs to immediately appoint a permanent Finance Minister who can present a plan to get us through the rough waters and then guide consultations with Manitobans in the run up to the Budget this coming year.

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to hold the NDP accountable and to improve financial management in our province, we ask for your support. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

Liberals call on NDP to give a holiday present for Manitoba women

2011-12-15T10:56:00.008-06:00

Oncotype Dx testing to improve Breast Cancer diagnosis and treatment is needed in Manitoba: Today, I am calling upon the Minister of Health to implement and fund under medicare the Oncotype DX test for selected newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. It has the potential to exclude many breast cancer patients from receiving chemotherapy, due to each patient’s own tumor characteristics. While this testing is widely available in the United States and is selectively available in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, Manitoba’s NDP government is excluding breast cancer patients from this opportunity.

The Oncotype DX test looks at a group of 21 genes within a woman’s tumor sample that are most influential in determining the tumor biology, which can predict more accurately than any previous test the likelihood of a woman’s chances of having her cancer return. The test may rule out that the tumor might not benefit from adding chemotherapy – presently given to most women without any chemotherapy sensitivity testing after initial surgery.

The Oncotype DX test can also improve the quality of life in certain subsets of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients by avoiding unnecessary chemotherapy. It also helps high-risk patients, previously classified as low risk, by ensuring they receive needed chemotherapy. Tens of thousands of dollars each month could be saved in Manitoba.

Dr. Joseph Ragaz, Medical Director of the UBC and WHC Breast Cancer Prevention and Risk Reduction Clinic, says "Most cancer based research data, and the comprehensive Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada [CACC] 2010-2011 overview of the subject, agree the test is cost effective. Most US-based guidelines and increasing number of Canadian institutions are calling for routine testing with Oncotype DX in the selected cohort of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.”

I believe this would be a wonderful holiday season gift for breast cancer patients if the Minister of Health would announce today she will fund in Manitoba the OncoType Dx testing for appropriate breast cancer patients.

Linda Minuk joined me today for this announcement (photo above). She emphasized that this testing can save considerable toxic chemotherapy for many breast cancer patients. She also emphasized the importance of informing newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in Manitoba about the testing. At present it is available to patients at a cost of $3700 to the patient. We believe this cost should be covered under medicare because evidence has shown it improves the quality of diagnosis and treatment in women with hormone receptor positive breast cancer.

Backgrounder on Oncotype DX (21-Gene Assay)
The Oncotype DX test is a diagnostic test which is designed to help women with some types of breast cancer learn more about the biological activity of their specific tumor and to receive improved treatment.

In 2007, the expert panels of both ASCO and NCCN recommended the 21-gene assay as evidence-based. Since then, in most parts of USA, the Oncotype Dx testing became routine care for all node negative breast cancer patients whose tumours tested positive for hormone receptors.

Along with other pieces of information, the results from the Oncotype DX test can help women and their doctors make decisions about whether or not to include chemotherapy in their treatment plan. It can also help indicate how likely it is that a woman’s cancer may return in the future.

The Oncotype DX test looks at a group of 21 genes within a woman’s tumor sample—16 cancer genes and 5 control genes—to see how they are expressed, or how active they are. The results of the test are reported as a quantitative result, which is a score between 0 and 100 that correlates with the likelihood of a woman’s chances of having her cancer return, and the likelihood that she will benefit from adding chemotherapy to her hormonal therapy.

Currently, each tumour sample to be tested must be shipped to a centralized laboratory of the patent-holding company in Redwood, California. They receive specimens from around the world, and no other laboratory is in position to perform the test. The test costs $3,700 per sample.

In 2005, the 21-gene assay was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been used increasingly throughout the US. In 2007, the expert panels of both ASCO and NCCN recommended the 21-gene assay as evidence-based. Since then, in most parts of USA, the Oncotype Dx testing became routine care for all node negative breast cancer patients whose tumours tested positive for hormone receptors.

Currently, the majority of US insurance companies cover the cost of the assay. Thus, the 21-gene assay is available to virtually all US breast cancer patients who are node negative and, recently, also to the low risk node positive cases, if estrogen receptor positive.

Until 2009, this test was virtually unavailable in Canada outside clinical trials.

With data mounting on the benefit of using the 21-gene assay, Canadian provinces have responded as follows:

• British Columbia began a registration study for the 21- gene assay in 2010. However, it is restricted to node negative cases and until recently was active only in the Vancouver clinic.

• Ontario started funding the 21-gene assay more consistently, using an OHIP provision for out-of-country health services, which requires an application by the oncologist and prior approval from the health ministry.

• In the last few months, Quebec’s RAMQ has started funding an increasing number of 21-gene assay tests.

Presently in Manitoba, the 21-gene assay is available for women with breast cancer who are willing to pay for it (approximately $4,000). It is not covered under medicare in Manitoba.

Information provided by:
The 21-Gene Assay: Impact on breast cancer in Canada
By Joseph Ragaz, MD, FRCPC
http://www.canceradvocacy.ca/reportcard/2009/pdf/The%2021%20Gene%20Assay%20-%20Impact%20on%20Breast%20Cancer%20in%20Canada%20-%20Joseph%20Ragaz.pdf

The 21-Gene Assay: Canada’s Uneven Response
By Joseph Ragaz, MD, FRCPC
http://www.canceradvocacy.ca/reportcard/2011/The%2021-Gene%20Assay%20Canadas%20Uneven%20Response.pdf

Saving Lives: Saving Dollars: This announcement is one more in a series of Liberal announcements focusing on saving lives and saving dollars.

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to promote the health of women, we ask for your support. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

Chaos in Child and Family Services extends right to the Minister's office - Number of children in care goes up to 9,432 this year; Governments should obey the law - the Canadian Wheat Board; Invitation to our Annual Holiday Party

2011-12-14T16:26:00.005-06:00

Number of Children in Care goes up in Manitoba: Today, last thing in the afternoon, the Department of Family Services and Consumer Affairs finally released it much delayed annual report. This report normally due in September is three months later and shows how poorly organized the Minister and his department are at the present time.

Notable in the report is the fact that the number of children in care has risen to 9,432. This increase from last year when it was 9,120 shows that once again the current NDP government is putting a lot more emphasis on putting more and more children into care rather than helping to support families so that children can stay with their families. It is a sad testament to the direction the NDP are taking this province that the number of children in care has gone up drastically since they came to office from just over 5,000 children in care in 1999. Liberals believe it is vital to better support families so that fewer children will need to go into care in the first place.

A recent study in the journal Lancet shows that the number of children in care in Manitoba is drastically higher than in other jurisdictions. The number of children in care per capita in Manitoba is about ten fold higher than in Western Australia and about five fold higher than in Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. For more see http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)61087-8/fulltext#article_upsell
This is a result of the NDP in Manitoba having primarily an apprehension strategy rather than a family support strategy, in spite of the fact that it has been recognized since the 1970s that a preventive, public health approach to child maltreatment should be a major focus.

http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/minister-of-child-and-family-services.html
http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2010/06/ndp-have-been-disaster-when-it-comes-to.html
http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/manitoba-election-liberals-are-very.html

Governments should obey the law - the Canadian Wheat Board: It is my belief that government's are responsible, as are individuals, to obey the law. The Conservative government is wrong when it decided to pass the law to get rid of the single-desk marketing ability of the Canadian Wheat Board without having a vote to consult farmers.

This last week, Federal Court Judge Douglas Campbell ruled that the Conservative government has broken the law in its legislation to end the Wheat Board's 76 year old monopoly over the sale of wheat and barley grown in Western Canada. In the current law, these changes to the role of the Canadian Wheat Board require consultation and a vote by farmers before major changes are made to the Board's operation. Judge Campbell ruled that the Conservative government in making the changes without consultation and a vote of farmers is breaking the law. Campbell said: "Not adhering to these values is not only disrespectful it is contrary to law."

Democratic processes are fundamental to our country, Canada. As a country we have fought in many wars to preserve our democracy and our freedoms. The Conservative government needs to consult farmers with a vote of farmers before proceeding. The Conservative government is instead going to appeal in court the ruling of Judge Campbell. That is their right in our democracy. But this bill should not be implemented until the full judicial process is concluded, including at the Supreme Court, if necessary. If needed, Governor General David Johnston, should withhold royal assent until the court process is concluded.

Invitation to our Annual Holiday Party Dec 18th:

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our efforts in the Manitoba Liberal Party to promote the well being of children in Manitoba, we ask for your support. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

The Pirates come to the Manitoba Legislature

2011-12-13T15:21:00.000-06:00

The Grant Park Pirates were at the Manitoba Legislature this afternoon. In honour of their winning the Winnipeg Free Press Bowl, I hosted a reception for the team and their coaches. Congratulations, once again, to all the Pirates on their success.

Delays in investigating child welfare deaths: Once again NDP actions fail to make children a priority in Manitoba

2011-12-13T12:41:00.001-06:00

Today, the Ombudsman is reporting that there are undue delays in the investigation of child welfare deaths in Manitoba. Several years ago, when the NDP brought in legislation to transfer reponsibility for the investigation of children's deaths to the Children's Advocate from the Medical Examiner, they claimed this would result in a better process. However far from this being the case, the result to date has been long delays in the investigations. Children are our future. They are the most important of all. Why is it that whenever the NDP get their fingers involved in changes like this the result is often worse rather than better?
For more on this story see
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/breakingnews/manitoba-taking-too-long-to-review-child-welfare-deaths-ombudsman-135516713.html

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to promote the safety and well-being of Manitoba children, we ask for your support. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

The Battle for Booster Seat Legislation in Manitoba

2011-12-13T08:27:00.002-06:00

Booster Seat Legislation is needed in Manitoba: For the last several years, Manitoba Liberals have been battling for legislation to make the use of booster seats mandatory for children in Manitoba. This is a basic safety issue. Lacking this legislation, the lives of our children are at risk. Almost all other provinces have such legislation. This legislation is particularly important for preventing spinal cord injuries which can happen when children who are 5-8 years old and are in a car accident while using a regular seat belt instead of a booster seat.   Much research shows the importance of this legislation to save injuries and lives in children. Research also shows this legislation will save money. Every dollar spent on a child restraint device has been found to save $32. Of note, the Canadian Pediatric Society has given Manitoba a failing grade for not having such legislation.

Current Manitoba Legislation: Presently in Manitoba children up to age five and 50 lbs must ride in a car seat. Almost all other provinces now require children to ride in booster seats up to when they are 145 cm (4 ft 9 inches) in height or 36 kg (80 lbs) or 8 or 9 years of age.

Action by Manitoba Liberals:
A bill to make booster seat use mandatory in Manitoba was introduced three times by Manitoba Liberals.
First Time:
April 11, 2008: Jon Gerrard seconded by Kevin Lamoureux introduced legislation (Bill 224) at first reading to have mandatory booster seat use in Manitoba for children under the age of 8 who are up to 145 cm or 80 lbs.
June 10, 2008: Jon Gerrard seconded by Larry Macguire introduced Bill 224 at second reading. Bill 224 was then debated with Jon Gerrard and Larry Macguire speaking in favour and Kerri Irvin-Ross, Erin Selby, Sharon Blady, Rob Altemeyer, Doug Martindale and Peter Bjornson speaking in opposition. The bill did not pass because of the NDP opposition.
Second Time:
Nov. 24, 2008: Jon Gerrard seconded by Kevin Lamoureux introduced legislation (Bill 200) at first reading to have mandatory booster seat use in Manitoba for children under the age of 8 who are up to 145 cm or 80 lbs.
June 2, 2009: Gerrard and Lamoureux moved Bill 200 at Second Reading. It was debated at length with Jon Gerrard, Kevin Lamoureux, Larry Maguire and Heather Stephanson speaking in support and Erin Selby, Sharon Blady, Daryl Reid and Jennifer Howard speaking in opposition.   As a result of the NDP opposition to the bill it did not pass on to the next stage.
Third Time:
December 10, 2009: Lamoureux and Gerrard introduced legislation (Bill 215) at first reading to have mandatory booster seat use in Manitoba for children under the age of 8 who are up to 145 cm or 80 lbs.   The bill was not moved to second reading because there NDP continued to be opposed to the bill.

Manitoba Liberals continue to promote and support legislation to make booster seats mandatory for Manitoba children in order to save injuries and to save lives.

These efforts are all part of the Manitoba Liberal effort to save injuries and lives and save dollars.

Make a Donation to support our efforts: To help our Manitoba Liberal Party efforts to promote the safety and well-being of Manitoba children, we ask for your support. Please go to http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/ and click on DONATE NOW to make an on-line donation.

An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal recognizes that addiction is a disease

2011-12-12T14:36:00.000-06:00

An editorial in today's Canadian Medical Association Journal recognizes that addiction is a disease. The editorial emphasizes:
1) "People use addictive substances because they generate intense brain responses - reward, craving, withdrawal - mediated by neurotransmitters (particularly dopamine) that potently drive behaviour."
2) Many aspects of our genetic make up as humans can influence the likelihood that an individual will become addicted. In medical jargon "Many genetic polymorphisms have been identified that enhance addictive responses by altering receptor sensitivity or drug metabolism.
Dr. Matthew Stanbrook concludes that "Addiction is a chronic relapsing disease that we must treat as we do other such diseases."

While there is no uniformly successful approach to treating an addiction, as I have highlighted in an earlier blog, there are good examples like the St. Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation which have achieved a high success rate in treating addictions. http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/preventing-addictions-reduces-crime-our.html We need to make sure we have such effective treatment approaches available to help people and that treatment is available when it is needed, not months later as is too often the case in Manitoba. Improved treatment of addictions can help in many ways, including decreasing violent crime. The move toward greater recognition of an addiction as a disease is a good move, and hopefully will help us better treat and manage this condition.

Health care wait times increase in Manitoba

2011-12-12T10:01:00.004-06:00

A report today shows that wait times from the time a person has an appointment with a specialist until treatment have gone up in Manitoba to 17.5 weeks (graph above). This is a very large increase from last year when the wait time was 8.9 weeks. The 17.5 week wait time is the longest wait time for Manitoba since this survey started in 1994. As I have indicated in another recent post, there is a problem in Manitoba as wait times increase even as the province spends more money on health care. The current NDP government has a poor track record in ensuring timely care for Manitobans.

For the full report see: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/waiting-your-turn-2011.pdf

World AIDS day passes one more time and still Manitobans with AIDS are treated as second class citizens by our Manitoba government

2011-12-08T14:23:00.002-06:00

Manitobans still being treated as second class citizens: World AIDS day was last week - Dec 1. As Jim Kane has pointed out Manitobans with AIDS are treated as second class citizens compared to Albertans. This is a quote from Jim Kane:
“In Alberta, all your HIV meds are covered under the catastrophic drug plan,” says Kane. “In Manitoba, they have a pharmacare plan, which assesses a deductible, depending on your income. If I were still working and not retired, the first $6,000 would come out of my pocket unless I had some kind of co-insurance. For other people, the variety of those who do not have co-insurance, they’re falling between the cracks of our social safety net.”

The particular problem here is that it is very important that individuals with AIDS are on full treatment in order to minimize the potential for transmission to others. As Dr. Hedy Fry says “What happens if you are found to be HIV-positive, and you are given this drug, and within the first dose the viral load drops? By the second dose, the virus is no longer detectable and you cannot transmit HIV. This is prevention and treatment in one." But in many cases those who become HIV-positive don’t get appropriate treatment or delay treatment simply because they can’t afford the medications with the result that transmission to others becomes more likely.

This year Manitoba will receive more than $1.9 billion dollars in equalization transfers from the federal government for the specific purpose of ensuring Manitobans receive the same benefits of being Canadians as those who live in other provinces. But, in Manitoba, the present NDP government is letting people down. Manitobans are being treated as second class citizens because the present NDP government is not using the more than $1.9 billion it receives from the federal government to ensure equal treatment to other provinces.

Interestingly, spending the money to ensure equality with Alberta in the support of AIDS drugs probably saves Manitoba dollars overall because it probably means less transmission of the AIDS virus in Manitoba, fewer Manitobans with AIDS and decreased overall provincial health care costs.

If you want to send a message to Premier Greg Selinger, urging him to end the second class treatment of Manitobans, please email him directly at Premier@leg.gov.mb.ca

There is a major problem in Health Minister Theresa Oswald's office

2011-12-06T21:55:00.000-06:00

More than a month ago, I wrote to our Minister of Health, Theresa Oswald about a very serious circumstance. I was approached by a fine gentleman whose mother had been put in a Manitoba personal care home. It was immediately apparent that there were problems. Let me explain.

His mother, I will call her Mary (not her real name) is 78 years old with a physical disability. She is mentally very bright. She is "sharp as a tack".

Imagine Mary's surprise when the first night her roommate tried to crawl in bed with her! Politely Mary showed her roommate back to her bed. But then, an hour or so later, Mary awoke to find her roommate climbing into bed with her again. Once more, Mary politely showed her roommate back into her own bed. Twice more during the night her roomate came climbing into her bed. Twice more Mary, getting more and more exasperated, and more tired with her sleep interrupted in this fashion, got out of bed to show her roommate back to her own bed. It was not a good start to her time in the personal care home.

But this was not all. When Mary had first arrived the day before, she was put in a wheelchair, but was unable to go to the bathroom without help. She had had to wait 8 hours before help came! Fortunately her son arrived in the evening, but by this time she had had no other recourse but to urinate in her pants. Her mother had been pulling the "help" cord but help did not come. Her son Barry (again not his real name) arrived at this point to find his mother crying she was so embarrassed. Barry helped his mother change out of her urine soaked pants. Without Barry, who knows how long it would have been before help had come.

Care does not seem to be a word that is understood well at this facility. The first day Mary had her toothpaste and two shirts go missing from her room. From October 18th till October 30th, the commode Mary was using was not emptied. The atmosphere in the care home is a difficult one for a person like Mary who is fully mentally with it, as almost all the residents are severely cognitively challenged. There are many patients who are drooling, yelling, asking for help, crying etc without anyone to assist. Barry, being a kind gentleman has frequently helped patients get up who are lying on the floor. As you can imagine, Mary has not got much rest in this environment. Indeed, it is worse. As Barry puts it "My mother is so sad and depressed so far it is ripping my heart out having her in this facility."

At the end of October, I wrote urgently to our Minister of Health Theresa Oswald about this terrible situation. It is now more than a month later. There has been no change at the facility. There has been no action taken by the Minister, and I have had no reply to my letter. Mary's roommate still tries to crawl into bed with her. The other conditions at this personal care home have not changed. And Barry, who also contacted Minister Oswald's office has also had no reply. There is a major problem in the office of Minister Oswald. She should be embarrassed.

Kyoto Pledge dies in Manitoba - the NDP just never listened and never developed an adequate plan

2011-12-06T15:51:00.001-06:00

Today, December 6th, 2011 will be known as the day the NDP Kyoto pledge died. The NDP just never listened. For many of the last 12 years I have been telling them in the Legislature that they needed to have an adequate plan to reduce agricultural greenhouse gases and they never did. Agricultural emissions were the emissions which have increased the most! This was not the only shortcoming (see below), but it was a major one.

Agriculture and Nitrous Oxide: A particular problem in this respect has been nitrous oxide which is an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas (about 350 times more potent than carbon dioxide). Nitrous oxide is especially produced under conditions where fertilizer containing nitrogen is put on wet fields (or when fields to which nitrogen is applied become wet). Studies in North Dakota suggest that reducing nitrous oxide production by half (perhaps more) is feasible. This is a win for farmers as the nitrogen applied at significant cost, is better used to help the crop grow instead of just going up in the air as nitrous oxide. It is a win for greenhouse gas reduction. Much improved approaches to water management are part of what is needed, as well as improved application of nitrogen so that more ends up in the crops and less as nitrous oxide. There has never been a serious plan presented by the NDP to reduce nitrous oxide production.

Other reductions in greenhouse gases: As has been well documented in the Auditor General's report http://www.oag.mb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/rtl_performance_audits_2010.pdf the plan that the NDP government did present was inadequate. The documentation is all there in detail. The NDP did not have a plan to reduce the greenhouse gases to the extent needed by their Kyoto pledge. The NDP did not even meet the reductions they had set out in the plan. All in all, the NDP performance was poor when it comes to addressing climate change and meeting the target they pledged to meet, and put in Legislation that they would meet.

The Sunrise Ceremony at the Legislature this morning to remember the 14 who died in the 1989 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal - and stories from people there

2011-12-06T12:36:00.000-06:00

This morning I attended the Sunrise Ceremony. We were there to remember the terrible day in 1989 when 14 women were killed at the Ecole Polytechnique. The ceremony was a sobering reminder of what happened 22 years ago, and the need to be vigilant to prevent hate against women, or against any group in society.

After the ceremony, I talked to several women who shared stories with me:

Major Karen Hoeft of the Salvation Army Booth Centre in Winnipeg (top photo), talked about the history of the Salvation Army and its support for women's rights. Founded in 1865, the Salvation Army by 1878 was a very strong supporter of women's rights and had in its Foundation Deed of that year, the principle that women had the same rights to preach as men. Karen reminded me of the many times in its subsequent history when the Salvation Army led in ways that incorporated women's ideas. She cited as an example the principles for social action put forward in 1890 which were:
1. Programming must lift up and facilitate change at the personal level whenever matters of character or conduct are at the root of individual or familial dysfunction;
2. Effective intervention must include strategies that alter social circumstances and outside forces as they contribute to suffering;
3. The scale of the intervention must, by design, be commensurate with the human outcomes and life changes sought;
4. Effort must be sustained over time, sufficient to support long-term growth;
5. Efforts must be specific, measurable, realistic, feasible, and motivating yet practical in every sense;
6. Intervention must not unintentionally injure those it is intended to benefit;
7. While assisting one individual or population, our intervention must not negatively impact the well-being of others
These principles are still good today when looking at pushing for social action and social change as we do in our own efforts in the Manitoba Liberal Party.

Margaret Lesperance, of Portage la Prairie, (second photo) told me of her family which came to Manitoba in about 1898 to the Riding Mountain area. In the early years, many children died because of Scarlett Fever. It was a tough time, and Margaret is writing up this family history so it will be better known.

Shannon MacFarlane, told me of the story told by Gordon Sinclair today. She mentioned his crediting Kevin Lamoureux prompt response to Marsha Dozar. I know that this is just what Kevin does every day, and what we, in my office, try to do every day in helping people. We don't always succeed, but we do our best, and, as is fitting today, on the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, we try to help those who are targetted or victimized to build a better province and a better society.

Poor performance by the WRHA needs more drastic steps

2011-12-05T13:11:00.002-06:00

When I saw this morning how badly the WRHA continues to manage our emergency rooms in Winnipeg, my reaction was - How on earth is it that the problems in our Emergency Rooms in Winnipeg continue? A reduction of 3 minutes in waiting times over many months is simply not good enough.

We have had numerous reports and a number of deaths in our emergency rooms - including Dorothy Madden, John Klassen and Brian Sinclair, among others - and yet the WRHA continues an inadequate approach to managing emergency rooms. The leadership in government (the Minister of Health) and the leadership in the WRHA (the President and Vice Presidents) need a salary cut ‘wakeup call’. I called today for Selinger to reduce salaries of the Minister of Health and WRHA senior management on a monthly basis until this situation is resolved.

Reports today show the WRHA paid close to $250,000 to the City of Winnipeg for ambulances waiting excessive lengths of time. This indifference to taxpayer dollars and the WRHA’s inadequate delivery of service should result in monthly ten per cent reductions in the salaries until the situation is resolved, with the first 10 per cent reduction happening immediately.

If the situation with emergency room waiting times is not resolved in one month, reductions in the salaries of the Minister of Health and of WRHA senior management should be 20 per cent in one month's time (by the second month), and be 30 per cent in two months time (the third month). This situation must be fully resolved so that ambulance patients do not have to wait excessively anymore.

The salary of the WRHA’s President and Chief Executive Officer Arlene Wilgosh is $267,140. The salaries of the WRHA’s six vice presidents are as follows: Brock Wright, $334,556; Lori Lamont, $178,515; Catherine Cook, $227,693; Réal Cloutier, $194,091; Paul Kochan, $196,595; and John Van Massenhoven, $162,078.

The WRHA burdens the City of Winnipeg with soaring paramedic costs to create the optics of reduced wait times because they are too incompetent to implement real solutions. Perhaps this disgraceful approach to management will finally turn around with drastic salary decreases to the Minister of Health and the WRHA’s senior management.

Today's Canadian Medical Association Journal highlights problems in ehealth

2011-12-05T12:38:00.000-06:00

eHealth has been a major problem in Manitoba. It has taken far too long and the approach has been delivered poorly with the result that we in Manitoba are far behind most jurisdictions. As an editorial in the CMAJ points out today the development of ehealth in Canada, and this is true particularly in Manitoba, have been fraught with mistakes, poor design and top down instead of bottom up approaches. It is a sad testament to the poor political leadership by the Manitoba NDP and the Tories before them on this issue. See http://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2011/12/05/cmaj.109-4065 for more details.

I have talked about this problem on previous occasions. One example is the slow development and use of electronic medical records in many areas of Manitoba. http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/07/manitoba-liberals-have-very-different.html

Saying Thank You to our Candidates and Volunteers - we do this for you.

2011-12-04T19:53:00.005-06:00

The election October 4th was about the future of Manitoba. But, for me it was most particularly about our candidates and our volunteers. We had a Liberal candidate in every constituency. Many of them came this afternoon (top photo) for a luncheon which Naomi and I hosted at the Pampanga Banquet Hall. We are involved in politics because we believe in the people of Manitoba, and most particularly those who stand up and are counted in the democratic process. The election was about our candidates who put themselves, their names and their efforts on the line. The election was about our volunteers who put in endless hours helping our Liberal campaign and our Liberal team. Naomi and I work for our team, our candidates and our volunteers and for the vision for the future of Manitoba which many of our candidates and volunteers have helped to build. In many other places on this blog, I talk about our team's vision. Today, we talked about our candidates and our volunteers and their efforts. Thank you, all of you, for all you have done and all you continue to do.

In the packed hall, we sang Oh Canada, for we believe deeply in our country, and in our province (second photo). We gave candidates like Gerard Allard (third photo) a small token of our appreciation. We enjoyed the dancing of young Manitobans in the Urban Fusion group (fourth photo). And (in the fourth photo) we enjoyed the singing of Keith and Renee - most particularly their song "we can be the leaders of change," for that is who we are.

Thank you to Jim Bear and Twyla Motkaluk who were our MCees, and to Mie Larsen, Erena Donovan, Kristy Rydz, Jackie Otaguro, Nancy Chippendale, Eric Nosaluk, Peter Koroma, Brian Peel, Bob Axworthy and Kelly (from Pampanga's Banquet Hall) who all helped with the event.

Marjory Graham (1917-2011)

2011-12-03T17:24:00.000-06:00

This afternoon I joined many others to celebrate the life of Marjory Graham. Marjory was a phenomenon, a multi-talented Manitoban from the community of Moline, who toured the world serving as a nurse in England, North Africa, Italy and northern China before returning to Manitoba in 1949 to work here. As her daughter Ruth said, this afternoon, she was a seeker with a questioning mind and an adventurous spirit. Her personality, as noted as early as her school years was "unusually strong". She was the sounding board and the touchstone for her family, and also for Liberals in River Heights for she served on the Executive of our River Heights Liberal Association for a number of years, always contributing and helping enthusiastically. Thank you Marjory.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet - Judy Slivinski expounds at Rotary today

2011-11-30T20:20:00.001-06:00

At Winnipeg Rotary at lunch today, the guest speaker was Judy Slivinski, Senior Director of Marketing and Development at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She and Principal Dancer Vanessa Lawson did an excellent job of promoting the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and of describing the exciting partnership being undertaken with the acclaimed choreographer Twyla Tharp. Tharp's new full length ballet will be coming to the stage of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in the fall of 2012. This will be one more in a long line of achievements for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the longest continuously operating Ballet company in North America. Founded in 1939, already by 1953, the Winnipeg Ballet was so accomplished it was given the Royal designation by Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet has now toured in 577 cities in 44 countries and is one of the most toured ballet companies in the world. Congratulations to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation Awards

2011-11-29T22:01:00.002-06:00

Tenth Anniversary Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation Awards: This is now the tenth year of these awards. It is a very positive evening recognizing the achievements of aboriginal youth in Manitoba. There were 69 awards presented. The recipients are going to post-secondary education institutions. From Faye Jashyn, who was with me at the Awards, I heard amazing stories of the persistence of these kids and their parents or mentors who made this success possible. It was a heartwarming evening to see so many young people doing so well. In the top photo, Eleanor Thompson and Arnold Asham are presenting an award to Nikki Thompson a student in an Inner City Youth studies program at the University of Winnipeg. In the middle photo, Michael Embury and Cindy Osborne are presenting an award to Darcie Cote (MC Tina Keeper is visible in the background). In the bottom photo, Board Chair Diane Carriere is presenting an award to Danielle Desjarlais a student in Environmental Design (Executive Director Sandra DelLaronde is in the background). Congratulations to all the award recipients.

Screeching Hobgoblins - Education in Manitoba needs major improvement because it has been a disaster under the NDP

2011-11-28T13:46:00.003-06:00

Education in Manitoba needs Major Improvement: Results released today of the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program organized by the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada show that Grade 8 students in Manitoba had the lowest performance of all compared to other provinces in science and reading, and the second lowest in mathematics. See http://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/270/pcap2010.pdf
The results are similar when children are evaluated separately by gender and language (French or English) of the child.

Our children are our most important consideration for our future, and the NDP are letting our youth down. Major changes are needed in education to give our children the chance they need to succeed.

For twelve years, the NDP have promoted themselves as the saviours of Manitoba's education system, but now that the results are in, we can see that they have been a disaster for our children. Not only is the performance of our children in reading, math and science far short of where it should be, but we have one of the highest dropout rates in Canada and the NDP won't even report drop out rates by school division.

I am convinced that our children are just as smart as children in other provinces, and that we have very dedicated teachers, but we have a major problem in Manitoba in the approach to education chosen by the NDP. While we do need to be inclusive in our education policy, we also need to use the full range of learning tools we have to ensure that each child can learn at their own level and at a pace which works for each child. We also need to invest more in efforts to develop the leadership ability in each child, for as author Stephen Covey has emphasized in The Leader in Me, tapping into the leader in each child can be a very positive force to engage students and to improve learning performance. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/11/ben-shedden-is-running-to-be-school.html

And about Screeching Hobgoblins - I am of course referring to those in the NDP who will be screeching that all is fine and that it is okay to have our children less well off than children in other provinces.

From my perspective, the poor learning performance in Manitoba must be addressed urgently. I am passionate about our young people and about learning. I will not rest my efforts until the education system in Manitoba is much improved and gives each child the opportunity needed to get the best possible start and in this learning and education is the key.
P.S. I have talked about the need to improve before. See for reading: http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/08/it-is-really-important-that-we-improve.html
For mathematics: http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/08/we-need-major-effort-to-improve-math.html
And for Science http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/08/we-need-to-pay-attention-to-science.html

Remembering the Holodomor

2011-11-27T10:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I joined many others at a ceremony at City Hall to remember the Holodomor genocide, the famine in Ukraine in which between 5 and 10 million people died. The event was an important reminder of the need to stand up against genocide and against activities like racial discrimination which lead to it. The photo on top shows the monument at City Hall sculpted by Roman Kowal and erected in 1984. Below the monument are the following words:

Erected to Commemorate

the 50th Anniversary

of the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine

1932-1933

And to the eternal memory of over 7 million

innocent victims of forced starvation: the

result of a ruthless procurement policy

decreed by the Soviet Government in Moscow.

In remembrance of this tragedy we stand

determined that this inhuman act shall not be

forgotten, and that such horrorsshall

never be allowed to happen again.

"On a renewed and blessed earth

All evil deeds shall disappear,

And mothers there shall be, and sons,

And truth shall reign upon the earth."

Taras Shevchencko

Dedicated this 24th day of June, 1984

Ukranian Canadian Committee

Winnipeg Branch

Fraser Mustard - a tribute: from Blood Platelets to Early Childhood Learning

2011-11-27T10:17:00.001-06:00

I first met Dr. Fraser Mustard when I was going to medical school at McGill University in about 1968. He spent several days as a visiting lecturer talking about blood platelets and heart disease. He was an engaging speaker and before he finished, he had left us all with the most detailed set of notes we received from any teacher while I was at McGill.

Blood Platelets: Several years later, in about 1974 I met Fraser Mustard again at a medical conference which I attended.   I was now doing research with Dr. Jim White at the University of Minnesota on blood platelets. Over the next several years, I was to meet Fraser at many such conferences. He spoke eloquently of his own research which largely focused on the causes of atherosclerosis, the role of platelets and the influence of inhibitors of platelet function.   I was often presenting my own much more modest research findings on the cellular biologic mechanisms of platelet activation and the role of prostaglandins, thromboxanes and other agents. Fraser was, in every case, stimulating and thorough, often presenting keynote lectures.

As my research progressed, I became increasingly involved in grant reviews, and from time to time I would be asked to review grant proposals from Fraser Mustard and his team. His proposals stood out because they were among the most thorough and best organized of any proposal I was given to review.

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research: When I was elected a Member of Parliament in 1993 and entered the federal cabinet as the Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, once again I met Fraser Mustard on a regular basis. Now, it was because he was President of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and was building a new type of institute, one without walls which brought together distinguished scientists from across Canada and some from around the world to carry out research together to explore major scientific and social challenges. Once again, I was involved in decisions around the funding of Fraser's proposals, though this time it was in a much broader political context.  Fraser was also very involved during this period as a member of the Board of Directors (and for a time as Chair of the Board) of Ballard Power based in British Columbia which produced advanced fuel cells. He was a strong advocate for the building of this new technology which has helped to revolutionize the generation of power for vehicles and for power generation, and once again, there were proposals for funding support which we considered and supported.

Early Childhood Learning: In the last 1990s, Fraser was becoming increasingly concerned about early childhood education and early childhood development as critical to improving the health of our society. As a pediatrician I was also very concerned about the early development of children. In 1998, I invited Fraser to come to speak about this to people at the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg. After 1999, when I was elected a Member of the Manitoba Legislature provincially, I became increasingly involved in advancing early childhood education and child care in Manitoba at a political level. There was advocacy and rallies and lots more see for example one in the coldest part of our Manitoba winter http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2007/02/it-is-time-to-put-children-first-not.html and it helped lead to improved funding in this area provincially. As a further example, in the recent provincial election, one of the largest single expenditures we put forward was in the area of early childhood education and child care (an additional $44.5 million in the first year of Liberal government), or an increase in spending in this area of more than 30% in a single year to address the horrendously long waiting times for child care and early childhood education in Manitoba under the NDP.   ( see posts http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-early-childhood-educaiton-and-car.html , http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/we-manitoba-liberals-will-reduce-wait.html )

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Fraser Mustard and the many diverse activities he was involved in over the course of his lifetime. With his recent passing, we need to remember his incredible contributions, but we also need to dedicate our efforts to building a better society based on improvements in the early experiences and early learning of children.

Jeremiah Kopp for School Trustee in Ward 2 (St. Vital) in the Louis Riel School Division

2011-11-25T11:47:00.001-06:00

Jeremiah Kopp for School Trustee:
Jeremiah Kopp, who I know well, is running to become the new School Trustee in Louis Riel School Division.

Jeremiah is a very enthusiastic, hard working young man with lots of good ideas. He brings a thorough knowledge of the school system and has lots of knowledge to bring forward to represent the views of his generation, views which are important to be represented on the school board.

Jeremiah has already been very involved in politics, being very active in numerous election campaigns during the last decade. He has a good sense of how to keep in touch with people and to represent people well. I believe, if Jeremiah is elected, he will do an excellent job for people in Louis Riel School Division.

The vote is tomorrow, Saturday November 26th from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm., so be sure to get out and vote if you live in the area.

NDP provincial water management policy is "drain only" and is madness

2011-11-23T15:06:00.009-06:00

The provincial NDP drain only policy has contributed very substantially to the extent of the flooding this year. I talked about this at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities Convention today.

From 2000 to 2010, the NDP government spent $56 million on drainage and nothing on water retention, in figures we obtained under the Freedom of Access to Information. This 100% drainage and 0% water retention policy is greatly increasing the extent of flooding in Manitoba.

A carefully researched study of Broughton's Creek watershed has shown that the drainage there is so extensive that 30% more water is now coming off the land and into our waterways.   Similar changes are happening in other areas of western Manitoba. Translate this into a perspective on what happened this year. At Portage la Prairie, we saw a peak of just over 50,000 cubic feet per second coming down the Assiniboine River towards Portage.   To address this it needed the Hoop and Holler cut and a massive amount of water going down the Portage Diversion to Lake Manitoba causing great damage around Lake Manitoba. With 30% less water coming off the land, there would have only been between 35,000 and 40,000 cubic feet per second coming, the Hoop and Holler Cut would not have been needed and the damage around Lake Manitoba would have been very substantially less.

We must have a dramatically different water management policy than we have had under the NDP. The water management policy must include 1) major funding for water retention, as well as 2)funding support for farmers through an Alternative Land Use Program, or Ecological Goods and Services Program to help our water quality by preserving wetlands.

MANITOBA'S PROVINCIAL EXPENDITURES ON DRAINAGE AND WATER RETENTION*

Year                Drainage           Water Retention
2000-01         $3,886,000                  $0
2001-02        $3,566,000                   $0
2002-03        $3,020,000                   $0
2003-04        $3,216,000                   $0
2004-05        $5,670,000                   $0
2005-06        $5,026,000                   $0
2006-07        $6,200,000                   $0
2007-08        $6,376,900                   $0
2008-09        $8,009,000                   $0
2009-10      $11,302,300                   $0

TOTAL      $56,362,200                   $0

* From Freedom of Access to information requests to the Departments of Water Stewardship and Infrastructure and Transportation.

[Note added November 25, 2011: I know I have created controversy by calling the NDP policy madness. The problem is this. I have been talking about the need for major investments in water retention since 1999, and nothing has happened. The NDP have been told by me many times by me how important this is, in the Legislature, in public statements outside the legislature and on my blog (see for example the Sept 23, 2005 post on South Tobacco Creek shortly after I started writing my blog), but as the table shows they have done nothing. Secondly, the result of the terrible NDP approach to water management over the last 12 years, the floods this year were much worse than they should have been. There is no escaping the fact that the NDP policies on water management have been a disaster and are madness. So, once more I am calling for change, but I am using much stronger language because they have failed to listen for the last 12 years.]

Leadership in Education: Ben Shedden is running to be the School Trustee in Ward 1:

2011-11-20T20:17:00.002-06:00

Ben Shedden is running to be the School Trustee in Ward 1: I first met Ben about eighteen years ago. His father Greg, a teacher, was helping me on my successful election campaign to become the Member of Parliament for Portage-Interlake. In the intervening years, Ben has become a teacher and is working as an instructor at the NEEDS (Newcomer Employment and Education Development Services) program to teach new immigrants to Canada many of whom have come from war affected countries. He has learned the importance of a high quality education, and has an understanding of what is needed to provide the best possible education for children in Winnipeg School Division 1. Margaret Von Lau, the Executive Director at NEEDS, speaks very highly of Ben.

Leadership in Education: Ben's top plank in running to be a School Trustee is to “Promote and support leaders from within the schools.” In the photo above, I am presenting Ben with a copy of Stephen Covey’s book “The Leader in Me” which emphasizes the importance of building leadership in students. But, it is not the leadership of a few; it is an approach which considers each and every child a leader of something.

The Stephen Covey Leadership approach to education aims to develop leadership one child at a time. It is an approach in which all students are assigned leadership roles with many decisions made by students not teachers. Students in elementary school are even involved in the hiring process for new teachers!

The results of this leadership approach to education have been dramatic. First, children are highly engaged in school and behavior problems and disciplinary issues in school are dramatically decreased. Second, student achievement on test scores has increased. As well there is enhanced self-confidence and esteem in students, increased teachers’ and administrators’ job satisfaction and commitment, and parents who are pleased with the changes and engaged in the process. In the recent election campaign, improving student leadership in schools was an important part of our platform. I believe in the importance of this approach and I support Ben Shedden in his efforts to become a school trustee and to prioritize the development of leadership skills in students.

As Steven Covey points out, “Today’s young people, our children, belong to the most promising generation in the history of the world.” The leadership approach to education develops initiative, integrity, work ethic, and improved treatment of others. It develops character as well as improving learning and schools. It focuses on helping students to take the responsibility for their own lives as well as working with others more effectively, and acting ethically even when no one is looking. It is about unleashing the potential in every child.

Remembering Louis Riel; Pinball Clemons, Good Samaritans and the Salvation Army

2011-11-16T20:53:00.002-06:00

Remembering Louis Riel: Today is the anniversary of the death of Louis Riel on Nov 16, 1885. I joined members of the Metis community including President David Chartrand in a ceremony at the grave of Louis Riel to remember him and his contributions to the birth of Manitoba including the setting up of a provinsional government (top photo). Members of the provisional government are shown in the plaque in the legislature (bottom photo).

Pinball Clemons, Good Samaritans and the Salvation Army: This morning at a breakfast for the Salvation Army, Pinball Clemons was the guest speaker. He spoke forcefully and passionately about the need to help others,and the role of the Salvation Army in helping others.

As readers of my blog know, I introduced good Samaritan legislation in Manitoba http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2005/11/good-samaritans-and-legislation-to.html We now have the legislation which protects good Samaritans, but helping others needs above all a commitment to help others. As Pinball Clemons emphasized, in the story of the good Samaritan, those who did not stop to help asked the question _ "If I stop what will happen to me?" In contrast, the Good Samaritan who stopped to help asked the question "If I don't stop, what will happen to him?" We need to be better about asking the second question.

Monica Guetre - champion for cell phone and high speed internet access for rural Manitoba

2011-11-15T21:36:00.001-06:00

When it comes to advocating for justice and equality for rural Manitobans, Monica Guetre (top right above) is the person. As Monica puts it: "When it comes to safety and economic development, rural Manitobans must be treated fairly. We must have cell phone and high speed internet access. There can be no more excuses."

Monica is right. For twelve years, the NDP in Manitoba have provided every excuse under the sun. This must end. Cell phone access for people in rural Manitoba is vital. It is vital for safety. It is vital for commerce, for truckers and for travellers as well as those who live in rural Manitoba. Monica can list off community after community which does not have cell phone access. This evening in Steinbach, Monica and I were joined by Sandra Hoskins who pointed out that there is no cell phone access in her part of rural Manitoba, in spite of the fact that MTS says there is. Sandra lives there. She knows. In spite of what MTS says, she can not get cell phone service at her home.

High speed internet access is just as important as cell phone access for people in rural areas, for economic development, for learning, for access to health care knowledge and for access to government and other services. The NDP are operating in a time warp by not ensuring, in 12 years, that rural Manitobans have high speed internet access. It is part of the divide of inequality of citizens that the NDP have created in our province. It must end.

Monica campaigned from one end of La Verendrye to the other talking about how important cell phone and high speed internet access are. She is still campaigning for cell phone and high speed internet access. She won't stop. Thank you Monica for speaking up for rural Manitobans. I pledge to work with you and others like Cheryl Main (left in the photo above) who believe this is important for fairness and equity and safety for rural Manitobans.

Lake Manitoba compensation - strange decisions create unfairness

2011-11-14T19:53:00.000-06:00

Two days this week, I visited with people around the shores of Lake Manitoba who have been severely affected by this year's flood. As I pointed out in my recent blog, people around Lake Manitoba took the bullet (the impact of the flood) to save many other Manitobans between Portage and Winnipeg and in Winnipeg who might well have been flooded if so much water had not been channelled into the Portage Diversion. We need to make sure those around Lake Manitoba are treated fairly.

An example of an odd decision being taken when it comes to compensation, is the decision to treat first year cows (heifers) different from older animals when it comes to assistance. Yesterday, I met a farmer who is marketing his older animals and keeping his heifers over winter. (This by the way is good animal husbandry in a tough year, and the way his family has looked after their farm for generations). If the winter site had older animals, and is compromised by flooding, then he would be eligible for government support for site renovation, or for custom feeding his animals elsewhere, but with his first year heifers, he is not eligible for such support. Common sense would suggest heifers and older cows should be treated the same but that is not the way the NDP govenrment works.

The reason for this difference seems obscure unless it relates to a lack of trust of farmers asking for compensation. However, such an excuse does not hold up since the reporting and auditing of farmers is being done in a way that any inappropriate use of this subsidy would be detected very quickly.

Diabetes - it has been twelve years of Liberal fighting to get a decent approach to addressing the diabetes epidemic

2011-11-14T15:28:00.000-06:00

World Diabetes Day: Today is the 90th anniversary of the discovery of insulin. It is World Diabetes Day. The epidemic of diabetes in Manitoba has been officially recognized by the province since 1996, but all too little has been done to effectively reduce the incidence of diabetes.  Ever since I have been elected to the Manitoba Legislature, I have been pushing to get the province to implement an effective approach to improving care for people with diabetes and to preventing diabetes in Manitoba. I will go over some of my efforts:

November 28, 2002: In question period, I asked about Mr. Henry Poirier who died in 1999 as a result of a lack of provincial standards for diabetes assessment in Manitoba hospitals. He was admitted as a known diabetic, but his blood sugar was not tested, and because it was not monitored it got out of control and this led to his death. The then Minister of Health, David Chomiak, not only failed to implement provincial standards to prevent future problems, but he had the audacity to say that the province had one of the best strategies for diabetes prevention in Canada, when the strategy had never been appropriately implemented.

September 10, 2003: I asked Minister of Health David Chomiak in estimates "Has the minister, in fact, set certain goals and targets with respect to the prevention and early treatment of diabetes?" The Minister replied that "with respect to ... diabetes, [there]... will then be ...specific standards in the next round that will be established for each region provincewide." So far as I have been able to determine, no such specific goals or standards for reduction of diabetes in each region have ever been adequately set.

2005: Liberals deliver the report: Six Lost years: Its time for Action which details the terrible failing of the NDP in addressing the diabetes epidemic in Manitoba.   The report called on the provincial government to treat diabetes as an epidemic and to be effective in reducing the incidence of diabetes in our province. We also pointed out the very large cost to people and to our province of not acting to prevent diabetes. http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/documents/Healthy_Kids_Minority_Report.pdf

2008-2011: Liberals call repeatedly for a priority on addressing the diabetes epidemic in Manitoba. The incidence of diabetes goes up and up. Liberals introduce the Diabetes Reporting Act to ensure diabetes is a reportable disease and that we have up to date information on the extent of diabetes in Manitoba. The Diabetes Reporting Act is rejected by the NDP.   Liberals repeatedly call for action in the government's Throne Speech and Budget to address diabetes prevention in a major way. The NDP do all too little and the incidence of diabetes in Manitoba continues to go up and up.

Today the epidemic of Diabetes continues unchecked in Manitoba. The costs to individuals and to our society are very large. On World Diabetes Day, we need to be paying much more attention to diabetes and to preventing diabetes in Manitoba.

For more on our Liberal approach see:
http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/07/type-ii-diabetes-health-crisis-economic.html
or
http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/manitoba-election-as-manitoba-liberals.html

In the photos above, I am at the World Diabetes Day event at St. Vital Centre.   In the top photo, I am with Carol Lezack of Walmart who is involved in diabetes education. In the bottom photo, I am with Yvette Beaudry of the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Congratulations to the Grant Park Pirates on winning the Free Press Bowl

2011-11-13T16:20:00.004-06:00

Congratulations to the Grand Park Pirates: I was fortunate to be able to be at the football game on Thursday evening to see the Grant Park Pirates beat the Miles Macdonell Buckeyes 36-22 to win their first Winnipeg High School Football League title. I must admit I was quite nervous when the Buckeyes had tied the game 22-22. Fortunately a stellar play by Grant Park linebacker Marshall Naylor in recovering a loose football in the Buckeyes end zone put the Pirates ahead with six minutes to go, and from then on they did not look back. Congratulations to all the Pirates, and especially to quarterback Damien Suprenant, and to running backs Michael Ricchott and Jordan Birrell, and wide receiver Matther Kaufmann who scored touchdowns.

Fun at the Santa Claus Parade

2011-11-13T12:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Shirley Robert, Sandra Hoskins, Nathaniel, Ashley and Nicholas joined me in the Santa Claus Parade to represent the Manitoba Liberal Party.

Lake Manitoba - compensation - the problem of debris

2011-11-13T11:41:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, when I was at Lake Manitoba narrows, I stopped in to visit Blair Olafson. He talked with me about the problems with debris washing up along the shores of Lake Manitoba. In the area of the photo above, he has had to remove 6 semi trailers of debris. It is not a small problem. Indeed, for ranchers in this area, the debris which is now tangled along the fences, as well as on the shores has created a mess. Because of damage of the fences, cattle are getting out. And cleaning it all up is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, especially for a rancher with quite a bit of land.

Debris and the problem of cleaning it up does not appear to have been factored in to the compensation package people are being offered, and yet right now it is one of the big expenses for ranchers like Blair Olafson. As I have said elsewhere, people like Blair who are hurting because the Portage Diversion was opened full for so long need to be treated fairly because they took the bullet to save so many of us. See also: http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/11/we-took-bullet-story-of-lake-manitoba.html

Answering Peter Schroedter - Yes we made the flood an issue, and had a plan, but we could have done better in communicating it

2011-11-09T21:31:00.001-06:00

Peter Schroedter in his article in the Winnipeg Free Press on Nov 5 said we had not addressed the issue of flooding on Lake Manitoba or offered ideas for solutions. This is not true. Yesterday, I made a point of getting together with Peter Schreodter to talk about our Liberal approach.

First of all, let us be blunt, the problem of severe flooding on Lake Manitoba was a direct result of two factors, the “drain only” policy of the last 40 years of Tory and NDP governments, and the failure of governments since the 1970s to complete the needed improved outlet from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg. The latter is now being belatedly addressed with the channel from lake St. Martin to Lake Winnipeg.

With regards to the former, that governments of the last 40 years have had a “drain only” policy with regard to southern Manitoba cannot be denied. The amount of effort put into holding back or retaining water has been tiny compared to the effort to retain water. The study of Broughton’s Creek watershed in western Manitoba puts this in perspective. The increase in water coming off the land between 1968 and 2005 was 30%. With a balanced approach to drainage and water retention, the Hoop and Holler Cut and much of the damage on Lake Manitoba would never have occurred.

Similarly, had the proposal in the 1970s to improve the outlet from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg occurred, the damaging effects of the flood of 2011 on Lake Manitoba would have been dramatically reduced.

Liberals have argued for the last decade that a drain only policy is wrong and that a major effort to retain water is needed. A single watershed example on South Tobacco Creek provides an example of what 27 small dams holding back water in the upper reaches of the watershed can achieve – a 25% reduction in peak runoff and dramatic reductions in flooding of farmlands and in damage to municipal road and culvert infrastructure. We have pointed this out for many years, and yet little has been done to emulate this in a major scale elsewhere in southern Manitoba.

In the 2007 election, Liberals argued for a province-wide ecological goods and services program to support farmers in keeping wetlands. This is now gaining wider support, but we are not yet there. But, it is not enough we need two more items, as we have proposed repeatedly, and emphasized in our platform in the 2011 election. The first is a no net loss of wetlands policy. The second is a major provincial financial investment in water retention activity like that along South Tobacco Creek, and at places like Pelly’s Lake. We proposed such a major investment in our 2011 election platform.

As we have pointed out, the no net loss of wetlands policy cannot be achieved on an individual farm scale or even on a municipality scale, but needs a provincial scale where there can be trading among those who drain and those who retain water to achieve the balance needed. Liberals are not against drainage, indeed, we support a legal right of farmers to drain, but with one caveat, that all drainage be balanced by water retention so we do not exacerbate flooding. Over time, this approach can be harnessed to improve water retention in critical areas where it is needed to prevent future flooding.

As well, planning for Lake Manitoba needs to address the immediate situation of those around the lake. Several components are needed. First, a clear long term plan which confirms the water levels to be maintained on Lake Manitoba, so that those around the lake can make sensible choices based on the long term situation of the lake. Second, a clear, effective and fair compensation approach to those who have suffered damage. The latter needs to recognize that the water which travelled through the Portage Diversion this year saved hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of damage in southern Manitoba including in Winnipeg. In saving so many in southern Manitoba, many thousands of people around Lake Manitoba were flooded and suffered huge losses. In consideration of past practices, where there has been artificial flooding, and I count this as artificial flooding, then compensation must be fair, and it must be in full to the extent of the damage suffered from the artificial, government produced, flooding to save others. This is our approach. It was sort of partly promised in the initial NDP rhetoric but it is far from being delivered now. In our view, it must be delivered.

I had a good meeting with Peter Schroedter and was able to see first hand some of the major issues people are dealing with near Lake Manitoba in the area west of Moosehorn. I learned a lot, and at the same time, I was able to show Peter that Liberals have some good ideas. We certainly both agree that there is a need for much more attention right now to the situation of people around Lake Manitoba.

Furthermore, I emphasized that we did make a flood announcement September 10 during the election, indeed the first and only real flood prevention announcement of the campaign - see http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/09/we-manitoba-liberals-annouce-we-will.html But there is no doubt we need to do better in getting our message out and in making sure all Manitobans are aware of the major difference between our approach and the NDP and Tory approaches.

"We took the bullet." The Story of Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin

2011-11-09T15:09:00.004-06:00

"We took the Bullet:" I spent yesterday along the east shore of Lake Manitoba, from St. Laurent to Willow Bay and Deighton Beach. I met with many who shared their stories of the last year, and what has happened to them and to their friends. The photo above shows an area which was pasture, and is now marsh. It is all too typical of what has happened, and why help is needed for people near Lake Manitoba.

First, a perspective. Large amounts of water flowed this year from the Assiniboine River down the Portage Diversion and into Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin. This water was diverted from coming east down the Assiniboine River towards Winnipeg. Those of us who live along the Assiniboine River and in Winnipeg must be very grateful that, thanks to the Portage Diversion, we were spared a major flood where we live. We need to recognize, to thank and to help those who have suffered because they live on Lake Manitoba or Lake St. Martin. They took the bullet so we could be spared.

Now should be a time to continue to help those around Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin. And yet, too many around the lakes feel they are not being treated fairly and that promises made by the NDP are not being respected.

Let us start with the big promise. Time and time again, Greg Selinger and Stan Struthers repeated their promise that there would be 100% compensation. The 100% compensation was mentioned repeatedly with respect to compensation for those artificially flooded by the Hoop and Holler Cut. The Portage Diversion and flow into Lake Manitoba and downstream Lake St. Martin created a similar "artificial" flooding on these lakes, and people who were artificially flooded to save others should have received similar compensation. They have not.

In too many instances, in the stories I heard yesterday, compensation has been slow or non-existent to date. The result is too many people are not feeling supported or feeling abandoned. One individual with severe damage to his home in the storm of May 31 had been told they could not even file a claim until the water had left their home. They are still waiting. Farmers who are struggling because land which has yielded hay almost every year for many, many years is now growing cattails or is underwater. They are not finding the fair and just support that should be coming.

I learned Gratton's Store in St. Laurent that is not eligible for any assistance even though it was severely impacted by the flood (see sign on the side of the store above). In 1997 there was a JERI (Jobs and Economic Restoration Initiative) but there does not appear to be anything similar this time around. Individuals could be helped by receiving advances on the compensation that they will receive, but this does not appear to be happening. There are concerns about the fairness of compensation, and the need to have assessments done of the damage which is independent of the government so that compensation is fair. There is much to do before winter full sets in. The situation needs to be treated with urgency.

For those who need an advocate because they are not being treated fairly, please email me at jon.gerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca and I will do what I can to help.

Manitoba Art Expo continues today - see The Sacking of Brandon House and many other works

2011-11-06T09:02:00.001-06:00

Manitoba Art Expo - The Sacking of Brandon House: Don McMaster's painting of "The Sacking of Brandon House" see above is, I am told, a representation of the action the first time in recorded history that the Metis flag was flown. The scene is 1816 and Cuthbert Grant is featured riding his horse in the activity shown in the painting, and the Metis flag is visible. Peter Fidler recorded this event in his journals - see http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/16/sackingbrandonhouse.shtml In the photo above, I am with Don McMaster the artist.

There are many, many other fascinating and wonderful paintings at Manitoba Art Expo. It is open today (Sunday November 6) from noon to 5:00 pm, at the Assiniboine Downs. My wife, Naomi, has some really neat paintings of children, and of rural Manitoba scenes. There are in told 42 artists including Laura Beare, Leona Brown, David Brownlee, Elizabeth Delgatty, June Derksen, Elena El, Eleonore Esau, Marie-Lourdes Fillion, Gabriel Bely, Shirley Germain, Naomi Gerrard, Roman Gierek, Faye Hall, Monika Hansen, Joanne Harris, Glenn Hayes, Viera Jakubek, Eileen Kasprick, Pamela Kehler, Leon Kiva, Koseph Koensgen, Wendy Kroeker, Jennifer La Bella, Dianne Leatherdale Johnson, Diane Levet, Dianne Lund, Don McMaster, John Nielsen, Diana Persson, Leon Pewarchuk, Brenda Phillips, Elma Rauser, Estelle Menard Regnier, Lore Rietze, Melaney Robins, Guy St. Godard, Anthony Steffes, Judy Sutton, Hubert Theroux, Ellen Turbett and Randy Warren,

Spinal disc replacement surgery and the Winkler conference November 4

2011-11-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

Friday this week, I was in Winkler to attend a conference organized by Ken Hiebert to have a discussion on the spinal disc replacement surgery being done at the Stenum Hospital in Germany. I understand that about 100 people from Manitoba with significant back problems have travelled to the Stenum Hospital near Bremen, Germany for surgery to replace a badly deteriorated disc with an artificial disc.

At this meeting we heard very favourable testimonials and were presented with very positive results of the artificial disc surgery. The fact that so many Manitobans have gone, apparently successfully for many, to the Stenum hospital for this procedure which is not available in Manitoba certainly speaks to the potential of this procedure. As I entered there was a slide on the screen - a quote from Wilhelm II, a former German Emperor "I believe in the horse. The automobile is only a temporary phenomenon."

It may well be that spinal disc replacement surgery is the direction of the future. It may well be that we should consider the possibility of Manitoba Health covering the cost of such surgery [or Worker's Compensation when it the injury is a workplace injury] or of having such surgery made available here. But, I suggest that a first step would be for there to be an independent assessment done by Manitoba Health of the results in the 100 Manitoba patients who have been to Stenum Hospital for this surgery. It is important to know the success rate, the overall effectiveness of the surgery and any complications or side effects that may have occurred. When there is a potentially promising advance like this, we should not sit on the sidelines, we should become better informed of both the positive benefits and the shortcomings of this procedure. It is also important that we know this information as Manitoba patients will be treated by Manitoba physicians when they return and Manitoba physicians should know what to look for in following people who have had this surgery.

LITE Breakfast

2011-11-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

Friday morning this week I was at the LITE (Local Investment Towards Employment) breakfast to support their efforts. In the top photo I am with LITE Board Members Jennifer Bogosh (left), and Lindsey McBain (far right), and Terri Proulx (to my right) who is a member of the LITE public relations committee. In the middle photo, I am with Mindy Brooker of Mindy's Jewelery who is showing her varied and colourful assortment of earrings and other jewelry. In the bottom photo, I am with Blaine Harris who is showing his traditional crafts.

FASD and Crime - the MCJA Crime Prevention Breakfast

2011-11-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning this week, I attended the Manitoba Criminal Justice Association's Breakfast on FASD and Crime Prevention. Speakers were Dr. Albert Chudley, an expert on FASD and Judge Marie Kate Harvie who has been dealing with offenders with FASD who come before the courts.

Dr. Chudley emphasized the fact that up to 17% of people in Manitoba's Stony Mountain Institution have FASD, and a larger proportion (70%) have some sort of brain or mental health condition. Offenders who come before the courts can now, when referred, be assessed for FASD. So far, of 133 offenders who have been assessed, 94 have been diagnosed with some form of FASD. Sadly, the program has a long waiting time and 377 individuals of the 510 who have been referred have not yet been assessed.

For those who have been assessed, it can make a significant difference in using programming which recognizes the FASD and reduces subsequent delinquency. For example, one of the problems with children with FASD is that a high proportion drop out of school [65% of children with FASD coming before the Youth Justice Assessment were not attending school http://www.ihe.ca/documents/026-Harvie.pdf ]
Following the identification that a child has FASD, the school learning program can be adapted, and the problems that a child with FASD has in getting into trouble can be addressed so further involvement with the criminal justice system is reduced.

A high proportion of the youth with FASD who get involved with the Criminal Justice System get involved with gangs (65%), and this may be because youth with FASD tend to be easily led and influenced. Addressing FASD in a much better way can result in fewer youth getting involved with gangs and decrease gang problems as well as decreasing crime.

For many years, I have been pushing for better understanding of FASD and better approaches to preventing FASD and to helping those with FASD as a way of improving our society and reducing crime. Some small steps are now happening, but we need to do much more in this area to prevent FASD in the first place, as well as to be able to do assessments quickly in order to help those with FASD so that they have better opportunities than getting into crime and gangs. For more on this subject see my blog on
Gerard Allard and his efforts in this area. http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/07/gerard-allard-liberal-candidate-in-st.html

The Brandon University Strike

2011-11-02T21:37:00.002-05:00

This morning I was in Brandon to meet with faculty at the Brandon University who are on strike. The strike is now in its 22nd day. This is far too long. It is severely impacting students. It is also having an impact on Brandon University's reputation. It is past time for the strike to come to an end, and yet the provincial NDP government has been slow to act to ensure a timely and fair resolution to the dispute so that students can complete their courses. I hope both sides will reach an agreement soon. But if provincial action were to need legislation, it will now be more difficult because the session ended yesterday, and the legislature would have to be recalled.

[Note added Nov 11: We are now in the 31st day of the strike. It has gone on too long. Students are being severely affected. Mediator Michael Werier has recommended binding arbitration, but under current legislation that may not happen for another 29 days. Legislation to mandate that binding arbitration happen immediately could be introduced but would require a recall of the legislature. Since students can be so affected by a strike, caught in the middle, it would seem logical to change the legislation as it applies to post-secondary education institutions to proceed more quickly to binding arbitration so that students do not lose out so badly in instances like this. I value input from people on this - email me at jon.gerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca ]

Blink and you miss it session ends. Liberals focused on terrible shortcomings of the NDP

2011-11-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

The all too brief Legislative session ends today. We focused on exposing the ghastly abominable performance of the NDP on so many issues. Here is a selection of my questions:

1) Liberals called on the NDP to immediately fulfill their promise to make all cancer drugs free for Manitobans, but it was soon apparent the NDP are more focused on finding loopholes to avoid keeping their promise than on doing what they promised. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/liberals-are-calling-on-ndp-to.html

2) Liberals called the NDP to account for dismally neglecting prevention of health problems like diabetes. We exposed the fact that diabetes is not even on the provincial list of the top 98 public health problems. With that kind of approach the diabetes epidemic continues out of control. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/ndp-neglects-diabetes-epidemic-not-even.html

3) Liberals called it for what it is. Too many health care wait times in Manitoba are getting longer, even as spending increases due to poor NDP management. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/health-care-wait-times-and-number-of.html

4) Liberals expose the fact that a shocking 72% of sexually exploited youth in Manitoba were actually in the care of the provincial government's child welfare system when exploited. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/sexual-exploitation-of-children-and.html

5) Liberals expose the fact that the Minister responsible for Child and Family Services is late with his report, is shirking his responsibilities and is likely trying to hide the face that the number of children in care has increased again under his watch. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/minister-of-child-and-family-services.html

6) Liberals expose the fact that Selinger's support of the Canadian Wheat Board is tepid at best - with reports he has almost given up on keeping the board, and that Selinger has no transition plan to help farmers, to help those who may lose jobs, or to keep the Port of Churchill. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/canadian-wheat-board-my-question-about.html

7) Liberals expose the NDP's neglect of inner Winnipeg which is contributing to gang activity and crime. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/high-crime-rate-in-part-because-ndp.html

8) Liberals expose the fact that Selinger has neglected northern Manitoba and never approached the federal government with a proposal like Ontario did to ensure clean running water for First Nations communities. http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/11/ndp-neglect-northern-communities-with.html

The session may end today, but Manitoba Liberals will remain active and vigilant in support of Manitobans from all over our province. If you have an issue that needs to be brought forward, please email me at jon.gerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca

NDP neglect northern communities with no running water

2011-11-01T09:08:00.009-05:00

As the Winnipeg Free Press's series "No Running Water" has more than amply demonstrated, the NDP have badly neglected northern communities. More than 1400 homes have no running water. This is the legacy of 12 years of NDP inaction.

Contrast this situation of NDP inaction, to what happened in Ontario. In 1992, the Ontario government took the lead in working with Ottawa on an agreement to ensure many communities in Ontario have access to running water for their residents. This 1992 Liberal-NDP partnership agreement ensured homes in 21 First Nation communities in Ontario where there were homes without running water would have their homes connected to running water. This was followed by a Liberal-Conservative partnership agreement in 1996 which ensured an additional 14 First Nations communities would have their homes connected to running water. In spite of this example from Ontario, the Manitoba NDP have done nothing similar to ensure Manitoba homes are connected to running water and more than 1400 homes in Manitoba are still not connected. Indeed, shockingly, one of Manitoba's senior Ministers said not long ago that he was not even aware of the Ontario agreements.

In June 2009, I was in Garden Hill and saw first hand the very poor conditions with many homes with no running water. One of the homes I visited is in the photo above. It is past time that this is changed and that communities all over Manitoba are ensured of having running water for their homes. See http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2009/06/h1n1-flu-and-garden-hill-in-northern.html

We are promoting a petition to get action to ensure all Manitobans have access to clear running water, and to be sure that First Nations communities in our province are treated fairly. A copy of the petition is below. Please print a copy of the petition, then gather signatures, and bring or send the petition in to my office in the Legislature - at Jon Gerrard MLA-River Heights, Leader-Manitoba Liberal Party, Room 169, Manitoba Legislature, 450 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8. You can also fax it in to 204-948-3220. The petition is also available for downloading at http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/11/01/manitoba-liberals-initiate-petition-for-clean-drinking-water/

Today, I asked the Premier in Question Period - "Why in 12 years has he not ensured that people in northern Manitoba have access to clean running water? " The Premier was clearly set on blaming the federal government for the problem. But, it is quite clear that the federal government was very receptive to a proposal from Ontario, and would almost certainly have welcomed such a proposal from Manitoba, but to my knowledge Manitoba never presented a proposal like Ontario did. Surely it is time for the government of Manitoba to come to the table, like the government of Ontario did, and ensure people in First Nations communities in Manitoba have clean running water. Please help this cause by signing the petition and get your signed petition to us so we can increase the pressure on the provincial government to act.

High crime rate in part because NDP have failed to deliver on inner Winnipeg recreational facilities

2011-10-31T14:59:00.003-05:00

In Question Period today I asked three questions:
Mr. Speaker, for years, this government has neglected inner Winnipeg while providing generous support to south Winnipeg. For example, the NDP committed multimillions of dollars to the Southdale Community Centre in 2007 and to the Dakota Community Centre in 2011, yet have failed to deliver significant funding for badly needed upgrades to the Freight House Community Centre in the 12 years they have been in power. Manitobans expect their government to provide youth in inner Winnipeg alternatives to the temptations of the street. The upgrades to the Freight House Community Centre – which is also used by Rossbrook House – need provincial support. I ask the Premier, “Why has he focused so much community centre funding in Seine River and Southdale, and so little funding to the Freight House Community Centre? The problem here is that there has been no new infrastructure added to the Freight House Community Centre in 20 years, and the field adjacent is not in usable condition because of inattention.

2. The Premier’s neglected inner Winnipeg. This has been a tragic mistake as children in inner Winnipeg have inadequate facilities and sports fields, and we have far too much trouble with crime and gangs in inner Winnipeg because the NDP government neglects funding good sports fields and sports facilities. The Freight House Community Centre is one example. The Field of Dreams at Gordon Bell High school is another. The field of dreams should have been completed by now to give Gordon Bell High School students a long-overdue adequate sports field. Why is it still an empty field instead of being a usable field for sports activities? The problem here is that the Field of Dreams athletic field for Gordon Bell High School was promised for this fall, but likely won't be ready for at least another year because right now it is still an empty field full of weeds.

3. The Premier gives us more excuses. The NDP only provided partial support to create a field for Gordon Bell after a year of intense lobbying from the community and students, whereas new schools routinely get a fully funded adequate field when they’re built. The cost of dealing with crime, gangs and high school drop-out rates is going up and up because this Premier is failing to invest in inner-Winnipeg sports facilities. Sports programs in inner Winnipeg foster a sense of pride, hope and connection with youth, yet the struggling Freighthouse Community Centre has not received the millions in provincial funding for their dream of an excellent community centre, and the field of dreams stands empty. Why, in twelve years, has the Premier not delivered on critical sports infrastructure for Inner Winnipeg? The lack of facilities for youth in inner Winnipeg has a direct impact on crime. Youth participating in team sports learn teamwork, discipline, ethics and communication, important life skills, and they focus on sports and opportunities and are more likely to stay in school instead of getting involved with gangs.

Keeping the focus on Killarney Lake and reducing its algal problems

2011-10-30T11:20:00.001-05:00

Keeping the focus on Killarney Lake and reducing its algal problems: Yesterday, I attended the Killarney Lake Mini-Symposium. Organized by Jay Struth Chair of the Killarney Lake Action Committee and by Judy Danard (top above), a member of the committee, this symposium continues an important focus on solving the major algal problems at Killarney Lake. I have been to Killarney Lake many times. It is important to solve the algal problems on Killarney Lake. It is also vital to help Killarney Lake because it can provide important insight into how to address the problems of algal blooms on Lake Winnipeg. For more see http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2010/10/diane-orihel-and-new-approach-to-algal.html
Various presentations made during the symposium highlighted the situation of Killarney Lake and potential actions which are needed. Congratulations to the Killarney Lake Action Committee for a successful symposium which is keeping the focus on Killarney Lake. Bottom photo shows Dale Wrubleski of Ducks Unlimited Canada making his presentation.

Pelly's Lake - and the need to invest in water retention as well as drainage

2011-10-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I visited the Pelly's Lake area just south-west of Treherne. It is an example of a project which needs to move forward as part of the need to retain water on the land, not just to drain water from the land. At Pelly's Lake, an attempt to drain this land was made many years ago, but it was a major failure. This area should be used to retain water rather than attempting to drain it.

For the last twelve years I have been talking about the need to have a much better water management strategy in Manitoba, a water management strategy in which we are putting a major effort into holding water back and retaining water on the land rather than just draining water from the land.

For the last five decades consecutive Tory and NDP governments have followed a water management approach which has been primarily a "drain only" approach to water management. The problem with this, as we have seen in a careful study of the Broughton's Creek watershed, is that there has been a dramatic increase in the water flowing off the land. In the case of Broughton's Creek watershed amount of water coming off the land is now 30% greater than in 1968. The result of this can be seen dramatically in what happened along the Assiniboine River and in Lake Manitoba this year. At Portage la Prairie, the flow reached just over 50,000 cubic feet per second. At thirty percent less than this, the flow would have peaked at 35,000 cubic feet per second. At 35,000 cubic feet per second the Hoop and Holler Cut would not have been needed and the damage on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin would have been dramatically less. Bottom line, is we need a dramatically different water management policy for Manitoba than we have had in the past under consecutive Tory and NDP provincial governments.

And today, the NDP still have not learned. When I was in Treherne, the drainage only policy is proceeding as farmers are putting in a lot of time and effort to improve drainage. Now, I am for better drainage of crop land, I just believe we need to have a major effort to improve water retention and we need a major investment in provincial funds to improve water retention. So far the provincial investment is far short of what is needed, and progress on the Pelly's Lake project is unlikely to move forward without this significant provincial investment.

In the case of Pelly's Lake, there is planning underway to change direction and to retain water in the Pelly's Lake in the spring thanks to action by local farmers and others in this area. The water, or some portion of it, would then be released later in the year allowing hay cropping of part of the land and providing water downstream when it is needed later in the summer. More details can be seen at http://www.lasalleredboine.com/pellyslake.html But, as I indicate above, unless there is a change in provincial direction to support projects like this, progress could take many years, just like the progress on the Treherne Dam just north of Treherne has taken many, many years and is certainly not progressing at the speed it should be. One more note, restoring this marsh has parallels in the Hula Valley project I have visited in Israel http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2006/02/hula-valley-restoring-marsh.html

The Canadian Wheat Board - my question about its future in the Manitoba Legislature.

2011-10-28T11:26:00.002-05:00

Today, I asked about the future of the Canadian Wheat Board in the Manitoba Legislature. It appears the Premier is becoming resigned to losing the battle on the Canadian Wheat Board, but he does not have a transition plan, and gave no indication he is working with the federal government on a transition plan.

Manitoba Liberals are strong supporters of the Canadian Wheat Board, and of the democratic rights of farmers. We believe the democratic rights of farmers needs to be respected. Farmers have voted to show they want the Canadian Wheat Board to continue and farmers in Manitoba need to be supported.

We are also realists in that we see the importance of the provincial government having a back up plan should the federal Conservatives succeed in their objective of ending the single desk of the Canadian Wheat Board. My questions are below:

1) The Premier recently met with Prime Minister Harper, and following the conversation, it was reported with respect to the Canadian Wheat Board that the Premier thinks there is still room for negotiation, but the biggest question is how well the two opposing governments on this debate will play together in the sandbox and deal with what happens in Manitoba when the monopoly is gone. The economic impact of the Canadian Wheat Board is a major factor in the future of farmers in Manitoba. It will also impact Winnipeg with an estimated 2,294 jobs in Winnipeg dependent on the Wheat Board, of which 460 are positions at the CWB itself. In addition the Canadian Wheat Board is very important to the future of the Port of Churchill. With the Canadian Wheat Board sitting in the cross hairs of elimination by the federal Conservative government, what is the provincial government going to do?

2) It was reported in the Globe and Mail in early October that the Premier is almost resigned to losing the battle on the Canadian Wheat Board, and that the Premier admitted there is little he can do to stop Stephen Harper from ending the single desk. The Premier also said that, as Premier, he has a responsibility to make sure that Manitoba comes out of this better off than it was before. I ask the Premier – has he, in fact, given up? And what is the Premier’s transition plan if the single desk goes given that Stephen Harper has the Wheat Board in his cross hairs and his finger is pressing increasingly hard on the gun’s trigger?

3) The Conservative government has indicated that they will provide some dollars for the Port of Churchill and that for a few years they will subsidize the shipping of wheat through Churchill. But they have not presented a viable long term plan for the economic survival of the Port of Churchill. Why has the provincial government not yet presented a viable long term economic plan for the future of the Port of Churchill as part of a larger plan for the future with respect to farmers and the grain industry in Manitoba? And when will we see such a plan so it can be discussed in the Legislature?

Minister of Child and Family Services is late with his annual report

2011-10-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

CFS Minister continues to stall release of 2010/2011 annual report

Liberals suspect an escalating number of children in care under the reckless NDP mismanagement of Child and Family Services. At last count, 9,120 children are in the care of CFS, according to its 2009/2010 annual report, traditionally released every September. The Minister’s suspicious delay in providing the 2010/2011 report strategically attempts to avoid additional questioning of the NDP’s management of CFS during this session in the legislature.

In April, 2011, the Manitoba Liberal Caucus filed a FIPPA request looking for the number of children in care as of March 31, 2011. The NDP response was that the report was not finalized and would be ready by October. Four months later, the NDP is still stalling the report’s release.

Is the Minister delaying the CFS annual report to avoid answering questions about yearly increases of children in care? We know that from the last five reports, the number of children in care under the present Minister has escalated from 6,629 to 9,120. Is there yet another horrible show of his incompetence within this next report’s pages?

The NDP’s mismanagement of the CFS department has been so tragic that last year, staff of the Children’s Advocate reached out to a legislative committee that oversees their budget for help – because of the chaos happening within the department.

Every child in care represents a broken family. There needs to be a much greater emphasis on helping families and on ensuring strong families rather than on breaking up families. The escalating number of children in the care of CFS is a deplorable legacy of the NDP.

November is Pancreatic Cancer Month

2011-10-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

November is Pancreatic Cancer Month: Today, in the Legislature, I spoke on a Member's Statement about the need for more attention to Pancreatic Cancer. My statement is below.

November is national pancreatic cancer month. Pancreatic cancer impacts the lives of too many Manitobans. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Canada. It is estimated that 4,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2011. 75 per cent of those diagnosed will die within the first 12 months. Most of these will die within the first 6 months.

While pancreatic cancer is responsible for five per cent of all cancer deaths, it sadly receives less than one per cent of all cancer funding.

The Forget Me Not Pancreatic Cancer Network is a grassroots organization based in Winnipeg which is trying to improve pancreatic cancer awareness and research. Lead by Lisa Webinger, the organization is currently working to help fund the expansion of the Manitoba Tumour Bank to include pancreatic tumors. The funding will help to increase staffing resources to increase the number of samples banked from patients with pancreatic cancer. It will also help the education for patients about the ongoing research efforts within CancerCare Manitoba. Expanding and maintaining a database linking patient data to the Cancer Registry is also important to capture all pancreatic cancer patients in the province and to link with other provincial and national databases to help increase pancreatic cancer research.

The Forget Me Not Network is championing November as pancreatic cancer month by encouraging all Manitobans to participate in Pennies for Pan Can. All rolled coin can be dropped off at any Cambrian Credit Union throughout the month of November with all donations going to pancreatic cancer research.

On June 12, 2012, Lisa will be attempting to set a world record for the most money raised for charity while running a half marathon – all in support of pancreatic cancer awareness.

Today, I am wearing a purple wrist band in support of pancreatic cancer awareness and I encourage all members of the house to support this important cause not only in November but all year round.

Sexual exploitation of children and youth in Manitoba - shockingly almost three quarters of exploited youth were in the care of Child and Family Services when exploited

2011-10-26T14:59:00.001-05:00

Last week at the Legal Education and Action Fund breakfast, Benjamin Perrin, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at UBC, spoke eloquently about the need to address issues of human trafficking and of the sexual exploitation of children and youth.

A very striking statistic that Mr. Perrin gave was that almost three quarters of the approximately 400 children and youth identified as being sexually exploited in Manitoba each year were, at the time of exploitation, actually in the care of the provincial government’s Child and Family Services.

Today, I asked the Premier to explain why it was that almost three quarters of the children and youth who were sexually exploited in Manitoba were actually in the care of the provincial government’s Child and Family Services at the time of their exploitation?

The Premier decided not to reply himself. Instead Minister Macintosh replied to indicate that the problem was not the government it was the young people themselves.

Blaming the very young people who the government should be helping is very sad. Normally one would expect that a child in the care of Child and Family Services was there to be protected from harm rather than exploited. All of us are only too well aware of major issues in the way this government has operated Child and Family Services. But it is very difficult to understand how it could be that almost three quarters of sexually exploited children are actually in the care of the government’s Child and Family Services at the time of exploitation. Indeed, it has been found that most of the sexual exploitation is hidden in “gang houses” and “trick pads”. How is it that children in the government’s care are getting into gang houses and trick pads? Why is it that children in the care of CFS are not better protected than this? The government has some answering to do - and they sure did not provide answers today.

It’s well known that for optimal development, children need secure homes, violence-free family environments and protection from victimization. We need to know what the Minister actually doing to protect children in care from sexual exploitation and develop approaches which are much better than are being used now.

Some of the statistics on the sexual exploitation of children and youth in Manitoba are to be found at: http://www.stopsexwithkids.ca/app/en/what_is

Health care wait times and the number of WRHA managers both go up

2011-10-25T15:34:00.000-05:00

Wait times for MRI scans now average 13 weeks, up from 5 weeks in 2007. Wait times for ultrasound exams averages 10 weeks, up from 5 weeks in 2009. Wait times for Hip Replacements are 19 to 39 weeks now, up from 12 weeks in 2000. Wait times for Knee Replacements are 20-52 weeks now up from 15 weeks in 2000. The longer this government is in power, the worse the wait times. The government has done so poorly it is threatening the very future of public medicare.

Today, I asked the Premier, why is his government so incompetent and when will he bring in the major health care improvements needed? Indeed at the same time as the Premier is failing to improve so many wait times, I note that his government has increased overall expenditures on health care from $2.3 billion in 2000 up to more than $5 billion in 2011. As a result of increases in the last two years, the WRHA now has more than 300 managers and more than 100 directors. Why is it that so much money is spent, so many managers and directors are hired in health and yet so many of the wait times get longer and longer?

Of the approximately 5,500 people in the WRHA earning more than $50,000 per year, the number of managers is more than 300. Indeed, the WRHA may need a concert hall in order to get everyone together, and by the time all 300 plus managers have had their say, the situation may have changed and a new decision may be needed. In my supplementary questions, I asked the Premier why have the NDP adopted the Conservative RHA model which is clearly not working as it is presented funded and structured because wait times are getting longer and longer and longer for so many conditions?

NDP neglects diabetes epidemic - not even mentioned in government's top 98 A-Z public health priorities

2011-10-24T14:38:00.001-05:00

NDP neglect diabetes epidemic:
In a list of the top 98 public health issues on the government’s A-Z public health list everything from flu pandemics to arena air quality are listed, but diabetes is not even mentioned. See - http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/atoz.html [Note added Nov 12: Diabetes is now on the list after I raised this issue.]

In the last twelve years under the NDP government, tens of thousands of people in Manitoba have developed diabetes because of this government’s shameful neglect of the diabetes epidemic.

An unconscionable number of lives are being lost because of the diabetes epidemic in Manitoba. Diabetes is cruel in the miseries it causes before it kills. It is the number one cause of blindness, the number one cause of kidney failure, and the number one cause of peripheral vascular disease and amputation. As this epidemic has galloped forward, the Premier ignored it in throne speech after throne speech and budget speech after budget speech. Why did the Premier once again, in this year’s throne speech not mention, let alone priorize, addressing the tragic and expensive diabetes epidemic sweeping our province.

Fifteen years ago, in June of 1996, Manitoba’s Minister of Health declared diabetes to be a major public health issue and an epidemic. According to the May, 2009 report Diabetes in Manitoba, 1989 to 2006 - Report of Diabetes Surveillance, the number of new diabetes cases has almost doubled from a five-year average of 3,920 per year (between 1989 and 1993) to 6,390 per year (between 2002 and 2006). http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/chronicdisease/diabetes/docs/diabetes100.pdf

Though the province has had a diabetes strategy since 1998, many of the recommendations have never been implemented and the number of people with diabetes continues to rise to an estimated 94,000 Manitobans this year

In question period today I asked the Premier "Why does the government not have an effective approach to reverse the diabetes epidemic?" He did not provide an adequate answer.

Liberals continue to put forward concrete solutions for a strong alternative vision to the NDP’s reality of healthcare management incompetence, which threatens the very future of medicare.

Newcomer Youth Educational Support Services (NYESS) receives award from Teachers of English as a Second Language in Manitoba (TEAL)

2011-10-23T21:01:00.000-05:00

Peter Koroma (with me above) is one of the members of the NYESS Coalition - the Newcomer Youth Educational Support Services. This coalition runs a summer youth program for newcomer youth and children. It is a program which makes an amazing difference for young people who come from various parts of the world, but particularly from Africa. Last week, the Coalition received a major award from TEAL Manitoba (Teachers of English as a Second Language in Manitoba) for their efforts.

The NYESS Coalition is comprised of four non-profit organizations, the Sierra Leone Refugee Resettlement Inc., the Congo-Canada Charity Foundation, the Eritrean Community in Winnipeg and the Helping Hands Resource Centre for Immigrants.

I am particularly proud of this award because Peter works in my office during the day and in very involved with ensuring this program works well as a volunteer in the evenings and weekends.

Edda Pangilinan - a tribute to her work as Honorary Consul for the Philippines in Winnipeg

2011-10-23T10:16:00.000-05:00

Edda Pangilinan has been serving as the Honorary Consul for the Philippines in Winnipeg for the last five years. During this time, thousands of people have immigrated from the Philippines to Manitoba, bringing their talents and their families to establish new lives and new homes here. It has enriched our province and been a big benefit to us here in Manitoba. Edda herself has spent countless hours helping new arrivals and making sure that the Philippine community presence is felt and appreciated in Winnipeg. Last night, at the Pampanga Restaurant 300 people gathered to pay tribute to Edda's work as a Honorary Consul and her volunteer contributions to our community.

In the top photo, Naomi and I are with Edda. In the middle photo, Edda is celebrated by many of her friends. Prominent at the occasion were Kevin and Cathy Lamoureux (bottom photo), with Kevin giving the major speech to pay tribute to Edda.

Cystic Fibrosis Newborn Screening in Manitoba - Progress is being made, but Liberals will keep up the pressure for a permanent program and for improved newborn screening in many areas which still need it

2011-10-23T07:30:00.001-05:00

As I have pointed out overall newborn screening in Manitoba is in a shocking state and major improvement is needed. See - http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2010/12/newborn-screening-in-manitoba-is-in_07.html

Since I have been putting pressure on the government to improve in this area, changes are starting to come. One of these is in the newborn screening for Cystic Fibrosis. Thanks to the Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba and the efforts of people like Dr. Hans Pasterkamp, province-wide newborn screening for Cystic Fibrosis started in July 2011 and is committed to last until March 2012. We still need pressure on the provincial government to make this a permanent program funded provincially.

Briefly the Manitoba program involves testing a small blood sample at birth for immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT), a marker for cystic fibrosis. Where this sample is positive, there is a repeat test at three weeks. If the second test is also positive, then there is a test on the child's DNA for the common forms of cystic fibrosis followed at about four weeks of age by a sweat test which will provide definitive confirmation of the diagnosis.

It is very important to screen for cystic fibrosis at birth. Children identified early can be helped early to ensure they will grow normally. Children who are not detected at birth risk developing complications of cystic fibrosis including growth and respiratory problems.

I understand the Children's Hospital Foundation's Ice Gala Event on November 21, 2011 will feature particular attention to the Cystic Fibrosis Screening project. If you would like tickets please go to http://www.goodbear.mb.ca/ICG.aspx

There is still much more that is needed to improve newborn screening in Manitoba. You can see other blog posts I have done on the need for newborn hearing screening at http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2008/12/bill-108-universal-newborn-hearing.html and http://manitobaliberals.blogspot.com/2011/10/universal-newborn-hearing-screening-dr.html

Liberals are calling on the NDP to immediately fulfill their promise to make all cancer treatment and support drugs free

2011-10-21T11:58:00.001-05:00

In the recent election and in the throne speech yesterday, the government said that it would be “making cancer treatment and support drugs free.” Each day that passes without this being implemented, some people with cancer will suffer because they can’t afford the expensive cancer drugs, and others may die because they can’t afford these drugs.

Today, in question period I called upon the Premier to act to make sure cancer treatment and support drugs are made available free as of today. He refused to do so. I will continue to put pressure on the NDP to fulfill this promise until it is done.

Part of the action needed, is to address the long period that many Manitobans have had to wait after drugs for cancer patients have been shown to be effective and useful and have been approved nationally by the Health Protection Branch of Health Canada. Manitoba has among the longest waiting times of all provinces. The drugs for cancer patients should be approved under pharmacare very rapidly once they have been shown to be safe and effective under the very thorough Health Protection Branch review. I asked whether the Premier would act quickly to make sure this happened. The Premier waffled and tried to give himself an exit strategy from his promise. This is completely unacceptable. As I said in the Legislature, the Premier may have won the election, but he does not have carte blanche, and I will do everything I can to hold him to account to deliver on the promises he has made.

If you have cancer and are still having to pay for drugs, please send me an email at jon.gerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca and I will be an advocate for you to get your cancer and support drugs covered fully by the province.

Throne speech - NDP do so poorly they are putting our public medicare system at risk

2011-10-20T16:47:00.001-05:00

The NDP throne speech – quickly thrown together to introduce a rushed nine-day session – raises more questions than answers and particularly reveals that there is no commitment to a less wasteful health care system. Indeed, the NDP approach is so weak it threatens the continued existence of our public medicare system. The Manitoba Liberal Party seeks accountability from the NDP to deliver quality services to Manitobans at reasonable costs.

The people of Manitoba deserve to have their government deliver sustainable, quality services with their hard-earned tax dollars. So many Manitobans have experienced the failure of the health care system and the effects of crime and flooding. The NDP need to deliver real solutions – and these are not found in this throne speech.

Health-care failures Liberals continuously identify include poor approach to the diabetes epidemic in Manitoba, lack of effective efforts to reduce FASD, and lack of quality elder care – including the over-medication of elders to control them in personal care homes. The health of children living in care – a direct NDP responsibility – is another area the NDP have made worse in their 12 years of power. Wait times continue to contribute to accelerating illness and even death. The throne speech provides so little hope of real improvement that the very future of public medicare may be threatened.

The throne speech also shows the NDP plan to continue their high cost, high crime policies, as there is little to suggest they will change Manitoba’s position as the violent crime capital of Canada. Further, the NDP reveal they have no realistic plan to address the entrenched poverty so many Manitobans experience.

For the many Manitobans affected by flooding, there is a weak approach to any support to improve environmental stewardship and increase water storage to reduce flooding and flood damage in the future.

Vision for the future is also lacking: there is no plan for the government to take leadership in ensuring Manitoba will do well if and when the “single desk” of the Canadian Wheat Board is eliminated. Further, there is no plan to ensure all of Winnipeg will have a Rapid Transit system.

The NDP continue to add people and programs without ensuring strong results for Manitobans who deserve better. Many Manitobans actually suffer because of non-existent, or delayed – and often poor – services. This disappointing throne speech ranks as one of the poorest in the last decade.