A wonderful birthday present

Yesterday, my birthday, I received a wonderful present - Charles, our son, arrived back from New Zealand. He has been teaching snowboarding there for their winter season. A level four instructor, he is a very good teacher, and he loves the mountains and the snowboarding. But it was great to have him arrive home on my birthday. We were up late getting caught up and being able to be together for the first time in several months.

Kevin's quests

Kevin Lamoureux, our Liberal MLA for Inkster, has been on a role this year. Those who saw the article in the Winnipeg Sun from October 10, will know of Kevin's concern to reduce crime and improve safety in Winnipeg. But, Kevin has also been working hard to look at reform to Manitoba's electoral system. Should Manitoba introduce a set date for elections each four years as British Columbia has done? Should there be mandatory voting in Manitoba? (See also earlier blogs on Mac Harb's discussion of this idea). Should there be a change from our present first past the post electoral system to some form of proportional representation? All these ideas and many more are up for discussion in public meetings Kevin is holding around Manitoba. His last public meeting is this coming Monday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m. at 226 Tyndall Ave. This is Kevin's constituency office and there is plenty of space for anyone who would like to come. If you are interested please call 888-4000 or send an email to mail@4kevin.ca to register.

Good-bye Jack - we miss you

Today, I attended the memorial service for a good friend, Jack Thompson. Jack was a wonderful travelling companion for me during the first few years I was leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party. He was an incredible raconteur, and would relate story after story as we drove together to the winter fair in Brandon. In 2004, I was lucky to be in Morden when Jack was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame for his efforts, over many years, as a builder. I remember well, one of the people who spoke then about Jack. He said "there may be as fine a gentleman here in this hall tonight, but there is no finer." Jack was a remarkable person.

Kindness and courage were characteristic of Jack. He served in the Second World War with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles for five years. He fought in the D-day invasion and in the Normandy liberation and was wounded in action during the battle of Carpiquet Airport. He received citations for initiative and bravery.

In every contact I ever had with Jack he remained positive with a good mood and a sense of humour. Jack - I will miss you.

My condolences go out to Jack's family and friends.

CANARIE and high tech employment opportunities in Manitoba

This CANARIE is not a bird, but like the canary in the coal mine, it provides a signal to Manitobans when things are not going well. Two weeks ago, the signal came through loud and clear – there are big problems with the way the NDP government is approaching support of Manitoba companies who are in a position to apply for CANARIE funding. This CANARIE is the Canadian Network for Advanced Research and Education. It provides funding, on a competitive basis, to companies in the high tech area involved in various aspects of information technology, networking, and advanced software development. In recent rounds of applications, competitive applications from Manitoba companies have been turned down. A primary reason is that CANARIE funding needs matching support, and Manitoba, under the NDP, has no structured mechanisms to ensure small high tech companies in this area have a decent chance. In addition, the innovation support network in Manitoba is rather fragmented and companies find it difficult to build collaborative teams to pursue such opportunities

There is a better way. In the United States they have what are called Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. The funding is highly competitive and is based on excellence. It has enabled small businesses to do research and to develop novel products. In addition to the United States, Europe also has programs exclusively for SMEs. If we had an SBIR-like program in Manitoba for Manitoba companies, it would provide the initial funding for companies applying to CANARIE which could then be dollars which could be matched by CANARIE funding allowing high tech firms in this area in Manitoba to grow and to compete nationally. CANARIE is a good program for large organizations, but for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) it does not work well when there is no provincial support.

At the moment, all too many young people working in this field who train in Manitoba are being attracted out of province because we do not have adequate numbers of such high tech information technology companies growing and developing here. It is time to change the Manitoba approach. I believe we need to put in place an SBIR like program which will help Manitoba small businesses and allow them to compete successfully for CANARIE funding and to grow and develop into significant high tech employers here in Manitoba. This approach will provide more high tech opportunities for employment in Manitoba. Such opportunities are critical to keep young Manitobans in our province and to attract other young people to our province.

Thanksgiving

There is much to be thankful for today. Naomi and I are thankful that our three children, our son-in-law Roger and our granddaughter are doing well. It has been wonderful to receive photos of Grace as she grows up (see photo above), even though she is far away at present. We are also thankful that Naomi's mother and both my parents are in good health. We think also of my two brothers and their families and Naomi's three brothers and their families.

In my legislative office I am thankful to have such good staff as Leah and Craig. At the Manitoba Liberal Party headquarters, we are grateful for all Dennis's hard work and wish him well on his birthday this weekend. I am thankful for all the volunteers who help out in my legislative office or in the party office. What I do would just not be possible without a lot of help from a lot of people.

And this week, I am thankful for Dr. Jean Paterson coming forward to be our Liberal candidate in Fort Whyte constituency. It takes courage and commitment to come forward and be a candidate. We thank you Jean.

Lastly, we are thankful that the Bombers won their game today.

Manitoba Great Wall Performing Arts Inc

Friday evening, Naomi and I were present at the Manitoba Great Wall Performing Arts annual Moon Festival banquet. It was a sumptuous dinner with entertaining dance and music performances as you can see from the photos. One of the people I met was Eddy Lau (see bottom photo). Several years ago, I took a course from Eddy Lau on how to use computers to produce multimedia materials. Little did I guess I would be using some of Eddy's teachings to do this blog! But I will have to get a lot fancier if I am to get up to Eddy's standards. Thank you Eddy.

Congratulations to all the volunteers and all the performers at Manitoba's Great Wall Performing Arts group to the success of the Moon Festival Banquet.

The NDP fail Manitobans on the environment and the economy

Whether it is the environment or the economy, the NDP are failing Manitobans. This year was the 14th year that a careful audit has been conducted in Manitoba using stringent World Wildlife Fund standards. This year Manitoba's grade was an F. This is the first F in 14 years, as Alexandra Paul reported in the Free Press. The NDP have failed badly in fulfilling the protected areas goals, and commitments for our province. There is no excuse for what has been happening. It is just one more example of bad and incompetent management by the present NDP government. Visit http://www.manitobawildlands.org/#456 if you would like to see more.

When it comes to the economy, the news is no better. As Tom Brodbeck pointed out in the Winnipeg Sun this week, Manitoba's job growth was tied for lowest of all provinces in 2004, and does not look much better this year. Year after year under the NDP, Manitoba's economy has grown less than the national average (the only exception being 2000, when it only just reached the national average). This is a result of their poor understanding of the nature of economic growth. Too many entrepreneurs and investors fly over Manitoba when they see the NDP government here.