The yellow and black ribbons

Yesterday, yellow and black ribbons were prominent at the conference which was looking at the future for people with intellectual disabilities. Here is what people said about these ribbons:

"We wear these ribbons to let Canadians know that too many people are still locked in institutions. We are horrified that Canadians keep institutions open. We are angry that new kinds of institutions are being built. The black ribbon is because people in institutions are not safe. Many have died. We mourn their deaths. The yellow ribbon is for liberation - we want all people in institutions to step into freedom. All people regardless of the severity of their disabilities should live in the communities with the support they need."

The language seems hard to me because I know many people at the Manitoba Developmental Centre are doing their very best to look after those who are there. On the other hand, the evidence that James Conroy presented yesterday morning at the conference was clear. After studying more than 7,000 people who have been moved out of institutions, he found those who moved into the community had a better quality of life and lived longer.

Sadly, Manitoba's Gary Doer NDP government is 25 years behind everyone else, as Dulcie McCallum said at the conference. All the institutions for the intellectually disabled have already been closed in Newfoundland and B.C., and Ontario will close its last one in 2009. In the photo above, I am at the lunch hour demonstration looking over the black human forms of those in institutions. Clearly people at the demonstration wanted the new way of freedom in the community for those with disabilities, rather than the old ways of the Gary Doer NDP.

I heard clearly from those at the conference of the importance, to those who moved out in the community, of their circle of friends. Organizations like L.I.F.E. (Living In Friendship Everyday), which was "In the Company of Friends", have shown they are effective in building such circles of friends. I have seen why this is so important. As one example, several months ago I visited Catherine Schaefer. Her life is described eloquently by her mother, Nicola, in the book she wrote - Does She Know She's There. The book describes the battles Nicola and Catherine had to get a situation for Catherine where she was living in the community with friends. Nicola and Catherine were successful, and I saw it firsthand. For anyone who wants to know more, Nicola Schaefer's book is a must read.

There are some who have expressed concern about the cost of moving people with intellectual disabilities into the community and looking after them in the community. Study after study has now shown that the cost is the same or less than care in an institution. Study after study has shown that the quality of life for the person involved is higher in the community. Those at the conference - Opening Communities - Closing Institutions presented an action plan. It is time to act on that plan.

A right to live in the community

Yesterday afternoon and this morning, I spent time at a conference looking at community living for those with disabilities. People felt very strongly that those with disabilities have a right to live in the community. People felt very strongly that the Gary Doer NDP had made the wrong decision when they announced a $40 million rebuild of the Manitoba Developmental Centre. All over North America institutions are being closed and people are being moved out into the community. James Conroy a researcher from The Centre for Outcome Analysis in the United States has followed 7,000 people who have moved out of institutions. He was a sceptic to start with but he has found, by following these people, that their quality of life improved. He found that family members changed from being fearful of the disabled person living in the community to delight at what an improvement it was. The testimony of many at the conference was compelling. Speakers were convincing that the Gary Doer NDP were captives of the old myths, the old prejudices and the old way. I came away convinced that it is time to look to the future and not the past, and to use the $40 million to help people to live in the community. In the top photo, I am helping barbeque hot dogs for the lunch in Memorial Park. In the second photo, I am with David Weremy, one of the speakers at the conference.

Brandon is moving to improve stroke care

Manitoba has been behind when it comes to providing quick access to modern stroke care. It is time to catch up. I was in Brandon Wednesday and Thursday evenings to meet with Dr. Michael Hill of Calgary and to hear of Brandon’s plans to move forward on prompt and up to date care for patients who have an acute stroke. Well done Brandon! In the photo I am shown with Dr. Michael Hill and Dr. Charles Norman of Brandon at the meetings.

In Winnipeg we are behind. For at least a decade, scientific and news reports have attested to the near-miraculous effects of using “clot-busting” drugs for treating stroke victims. Where used quickly and appropriately, these drugs can break up the clot causing the stroke, reopen the artery, restore blood to the affected area of the brain and return a person to their former health. A Canadian study, released in May of this year, showed that more than a third (37%) of stroke patients treated with clot-busting drugs had excellent outcomes. The positive outcomes were the same in the 33 high-volume trauma centres and in the 27 community hospitals that were part of the study. Such treatment is now the accepted standard for treating patients with strokes.

Dr. Michael Hill, a researcher and doctor at the University of Calgary Medical School and the study’s co-author, said: “These findings are extremely important because we now have definitive evidence that widespread use of t-PA [clot-busting drugs] for severe stroke will save lives, and help many people return to a completely normal life.”

Yet in Manitoba this approach is only available at St. Boniface Hospital and the Health Sciences Centre. For someone arriving in the emergency room at the Victoria General, Grace, Concordia and Seven Oaks Hospitals in Winnipeg, the modern, standard treatment for stroke is not available. While some will argue that this state of the art treatment for stroke should be standard therapy at all Winnipeg hospitals, at the very least, if modern stroke care is not to be available in some hospitals, then all ambulance and emergency care providers and the general public must know to rush individuals suffering a stroke to a hospital where it is available.

For the best results, the drug must be administered within three hours of the stroke’s symptoms appearing. Indeed, Dr. Michael Hill emphasized at the meeting that the quicker the treatment is provided the better the results. Thus getting treatment within 90 minutes gives significantly better results than at 3 hours. The longer the clot stays and blood flow is blocked, the more brain cells die and are lost, and the damage is no longer readily reversible. Patients must get to the emergency room quickly. Once in the emergency room, an immediate CT scan is required to determine whether the stroke has been caused by a blood clot in the brain (80% of strokes are of this type) or from internal bleeding (20%). This is because the clot-busting drugs are only effective when the stroke is caused by a blood clot. They are contraindicated when there is internal bleeding because they can make the bleeding worse.

In summary, it is time to move to much better treatment for stroke in Manitoba.

Provincial NDP and Tories in bed together

At the Legislative Committee this morning it was very apparent that Tory MLAs are on the same page as NDP MLAS when it comes to using dollars from the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation (MPIC) to fund staff hired by and working in the Minister's office. One Conservative MLA even went out of his way to compliment the NDP Minister responsible for MPIC, Gord Mackintosh, on following this approach which was started by the Tories in about 1997.

From our provincial Liberal perspective, the use of Crown Corporation dollars to hire political staff is bad public policy. I ask "How can a staff person who is hired by the Minister of Justice be an effective advocate for people who have issues with MPIC when their salary is paid by MPIC? Will a person who is paid by MPIC be ready to work hard for the citizens who have concerns or problems with how MPIC is handling their cases?" As Upton Sinclair said: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." Certainly, I have had several significant complaints from MPIC claimants who felt that the Minister's executive assistant did not adequately support their issues with MPIC actions.

By the way, Gord Mackintosh, as much as admitted that Pauline Riley, who is his staff person paid by MPIC funds, was working on the NDP election campaign in the last provincial election - though he said it was on her own time.

Highway 2 and NDP incompetence

Yesterday morning I was in Treherne and I was shocked at the state of highway 2. This is a major truck route, and several truckers have recently moved to Treherne because of this. But the condition of the road is shocking. Indeed, I learned that the road is in such bad shape that next spring there will be weight restrictions on highway 2 between Rathwell and Treherne. This is a major traffic artery and truck transport route. That it could have deteriorated in six years under the NDP to this state is a clear sign of their incompetence in managing the province's basic infrastructure. It is sad. It will mean truckers will have to go long distances out of their way to find other routes next spring, and this will be large extra costs for gas and deisel and for the products that are transported.
The photos show highway 2, its poor condition and lots of big trucks on the highway.

Drainage and the new Lake Winnipeg dike

When I visited Lake Winnipeg to see the new dike near Matlock there was an item I was quite concerned about. The dike has been built with very small culverts. For example, in one spot, two large culverts drain quite an area inland from the lake (top photo). All the water coming through these culverts must then pass through a tiny culvert (bottom photo) under the dike. It is quite likely there could be water backup here in the spring, and possibly a threat of flooding to homes in the area. When a new dike like this is built it is important that it protect people and not do harm. Let us hope that there are not problems in the spring, or at other times with heavy rains), because drainage from inland was not adequately considered.

Cattle Country

Last night, I stayed in cattle country near Napinka. Bob and Pat Brigden were my hosts. Thank you Bob and Pat. I went to see how things are going in an area that was badly hit by wet weather earlier this year. Last June, Bob was kind enough to take me up in his plane to see the country nearby. As the photo above which was taken then shows, it was heartbreaking to see so much water on the farmland in the region.

Today, with the border open to cattle under 30 months, the situation for ranchers like Bob and Pat is getting a bit better, though it is still not good. The situation with crops in the area, however, is grim. Yields were very low, indeed, it was the worst season Bob can ever remember for crops.

Crime in Brandon

Earlier today I was in Brandon. I toured the Rosser ward with Deveryn Ross and he pointed out some of the real concerns in this ward. It is an area with a serious and rising crime rate. One result has been that there is much more commerical space for rent than one would expect in downtown Brandon. Safety is a prime concern of people and people appear to be avoiding shopping in this part of Brandon, in part because of the safety issue. Deveryn has been looking into why there should be the problem with crime that is occurring in this area and is coming forward with some ideas to improve the situation.

One of the concerns is the hotels like the Beaubier Hotel, shown in this photo, where there are numerous people on social assistance living. The problem is that this hotel has a beverage room and quick access to liquor and VLTs. Surely, vulnerable people on social assistance, should be able to live in a safer and more supportive environment, rather than having to live in a situation where they are so close to the temptation and disruption of liquor and gambling. The high number of vulnerable people in this neighbourhood may be attracting criminals and gangs who prey upon their vulnerability. Deveryn we are looking forward to your recommendations for change.

I also want to congratulate Curtis Brown, a journalist with the Brandon Sun, who has done an excellent series of articles on this situation.

Was this necessary?

I got a call from Jim Brennan this week. He has a cottage on Lake Winnipeg. Not long ago, Gary Doer was in Gimli announcing his government was spending $8 million to defend cottages on Lake Winnipeg. Concerns were being raised about high water and big storms on Lake Winnipeg this fall. A few days ago, Jim Brennan arrived at his cottage to find "a mess". His yard was torn up and a big dike now runs through it. This dike looks like a road. Jim asked me "Was this necessary?" He has talked to Bill Brennan of Manitoba Hydro and apparently the best current estimate is that the level of Lake Winnipeg will be only one inch greater than last year in mid-October, and the same level as last year by the end of October. Is one inch higher than last year enough to create potentially catastrophic conditions? Most big storms come in very late October or early November, when the level of Lake Winnipeg is predicted to be about the same as last year.

SuperWalk for Parkinson's Disease

As I was walking this morning in St. Vital park, during the Superwalk for Parkinson's Disease, I was thinking about Leo Kristjanson. Leo died earlier this year, but he left quite a legacy behind. I remember visiting him in Gimli when he was working on renovating the old school. It was a beautiful building, built if I remember correctly in about 1908. Rather than see it bulldozed, he led an effort to renovate it in order to make it a historic building with a museum. Even while he had Parkinson's, Leo was there day after day, doing carpentry and all sorts of other things necessary for the renovations. Leo talked about communitarianism - people coming forward and building communities. He not only spoke about it, Leo particpated - big time.

One of my favorite stories about Leo Kristjanson was from when he was the President of the University of Saskatchewan. A new cancer centre was to be built. Leo appreciated the value of beautiful surroundings for people who are sick or dying. He made sure that the beds for patients at the cancer centre were on the side facing the Saskatchewan River, so patients had a wonderful view of the outdoors, the river and the river bank. Staff offices were located on the side away from the river. Beautiful scenery was vital for patients, and not so important for staff. It was characteristic of Leo to think about people in this way when planning the facility.