NDP incompetence and dishonesty

Things were abuzz at the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) convention today. Increasingly, the Metis are better organized as they demonstrated at the Keystone Centre in Brandon. More than 800 delegates were registered representing Metis from all over Manitoba. Front and centre was the issue of Metis hunting rights. The Supreme Court, in the Powley decision, made clear in 2003 that the Metis have the right to hunt and fish for food. The Metis at the convention made it clear that the Gary Doer and Stan Struthers NDP have misled them, saying they would recognize Metis hunting rights, but then sanctioning the arrest of Metis like Will Goodon who have hunted for food. The MMF has gone to great lengths to develop a responsible harvester card system, to have strict limits on the number of animals or fish to be taken, and to collect data on what has been harvested so that good conservation practices can be followed. Yet the NDP have failed to deal quickly and fairly with the Metis and they are justifiably upset. In the photo, I am visiting with delegates at the Metis convention.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

At noon today, I joined many others in a walk from the Forks to the Legislature to raise awareness of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The good news is that there have been improvements in how children with FASD are educated in school, and children with the new approaches are now learning better. It was also good to see many nursing students who care deeply enough about preventing FASD come out and march today. The bad news is that Manitoba's NDP government has failed, in six years, to identify all children born with FASD in Manitoba (or even come anywhere close), so that these children can be identified early and helped. We still do not know how many children are being born with FASD each year in Manitoba, and without knowing this we don't know whether our efforts to decrease FASD are having any effect. For more details of what is needed see our Liberal report on Healthy Children at www.manitobaliberals.ca In the photo above, I am joining many others in the walk to the legislature.

Land Mines - they are closer to home than I'd like

Sitting at the Conference on War Affected Children at the University of Winnipeg this morning, I thought back to one of the big reasons for the original conference in Winnipeg five years ago, which resulted in part from the movement to ban land mines – which were (and are) causing too much death and disability, too often of children. It was about two years after this that my wife was in Cambodia, nursing with an international group, for two weeks. She saw first hand, innocent people who were badly injured from land mines. Even today, there remain far too many land mines. And whenever I think of our daughter, her husband and their baby girl in Laos, I also think of the huge number of land mines still left in that country after the Vietnam war. Pauline, at least for the moment, is not in an area which is badly affected, but the land mines are always there, in the back of my mind when I think of Pauline, Roger and Grace in Laos. In the photo above, I am with Lloyd Axworthy, Alexandre Trudeau and Dr. Rey Pagtakhan at the War Affected Children Conference.

Difficult times in farm country

Today in Brookdale, when I stopped to visit with a number of farmers in their fields, I got an earful. It's been a poor wet year, with prices for crops like canola and wheat too low, and costs for inputs like gas and fertilizer too high. One farmer put it bluntly "The problem is here. And it is ___(expletive deleted)_____ serious!" For some the situation is precarious. For young farmers, the situation is particularly troubling. It is tough to make a living from farming when you have to work half a year in the oil fields of Alberta to cover your losses on the farm in the rest of the year. Farming is a wonderful lifestyle – but it is doesn't work if you can’t make a viable living out of it. Clearly, something has to change. There needs to be better certainty for farmers. Somehow, farmers deserve to get a larger proportion of the final sale price of the bread or other products produced from their crops. Manitoba farmers, with all they have been through this summer, also deserve more help from provincial and federal governments than has come so far this year.

It hurts - I cry

Today I was at a funeral for a former neighbour and a friend – Estelle Piper. When we lived near St. Francoix Xavier, Estelle and Eric Piper were our neighbours. Estelle was a big contributor to the community – and today it showed – the facilities at the Chapel Lawn Funeral Home were full to overflowing. She will be missed. My condolences to Estelle’s family.

After the service, I met many friends – but the story of one stood out. Adrien Lachance and his wife farm with their sons near St. Eustache. This year they combined one field of 230 acres – and when they added it up – they had 3 bushels to the acre of canola. Its enough to make one cry. So much effort, so much invested, and so little return.

The CBC

I was out at noon today to support the CBC workers who are out on strike. It is time to get this strike settled. The CBC is a national institution. We need the CBC fully operational. Their reporters have often tackled newsworthy stories with a depth and detail greater than other media. I discussed with CBC reporters one such story which needs more attention at the moment – the use of Crown Corporation dollars to hire political staff by Manitoba’s NDP politicians. As one example, Gord Mackintosh, Minister of Justice, has been and still is using dollars from our Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation to fund a political staff person in his office. “Can you imagine the outcry if funds allocated to the CBC were used to fund political staff?” was the comment I got back. How true!

Kississing Lake

Kississing Lake is an incredible northern Manitoba lake – one of the best fishing lakes in our province, and yet it is under threat. As reported today in the Free Press, the lake is near one of the worst toxic mine waste spills in Canada. If this were happening on Lake of the Woods or Lake Winnipeg there would be a hue and cry like you would not believe. Because of inaction by the present NDP government, the toxic wastes continue to flow from Camp Lake (where the mine tailings are located), into Kississing Lake killing crayfish and molluscs and threatening fish and bird populations for a long distance into the larger lake. The toxic wastes have never been properly contained. I have been twice to Sherridon and Kississing Lake to see the situation for myself (see photo). This photo shows the red contamination of waters near the pile of mine tailings.

The NDP members of the legislature including Gerard Jennissen the MLA for Flin Flon were well aware of this issue when they were in opposition, Yet they have done nothing in their six years in office to prevent continued leaching of the toxic mine wastes into Kississing Lake. The inaction of the NDP on this issue speaks volumes. They no longer have much credibility on major environmental issues.

A Sikh Anniversary

I was honoured today to be invited to attend the sacred anniversary celebrations held at the Sikh Society of Manitoba temple. On September 1, 1604, the Sikh holy book, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, was placed in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India by Guru Arjun Dev Ji. Important to the Sikh religion are ten gurus. Guru Arjun was the fifth of these Gurus. The Sikh religion is remarkable in that it teaches respect for and tolerance of all religions, and an appreciation of whatever is valuable in other religious traditions. After the ceremony at the Temple, I joined members of the Sikh community at the Manitoba legislature, on a walk in downtown Winnipeg, and for refreshments at Memorial Boulevard Park. The celebrations were colourful as well as moving. It was a joy to be able to share this experience with my friends who are Sikhs, and to learn from them more about the Sikh religion and its teachings.