South-western Manitoba - continuing education - economic development - and ensuring good water treatment

Friday, in south-western Manitoba. I visited people in Deloraine, in Melita, in Reston and in Brandon. There is a hunger for economic development but it is not happening as well as it needs to happen. There should be much more in the way of local opportunities for young people. And it is not just a matter of creating jobs for young people, it is also a matter of helping young people to see the opportunities to start businesses and create their own jobs for themselves and for others.

And it is not just a matter of bringing in big projects from outside. We need a provincial government which has a much clearer vision of working with communities to foster increased local opportunities for starting and building businesses. In the era of the internet and the world wide web, many businesses can be located away from major centres, but we have not yet done enough to create the environment to facilitate the building of such businesses in communities like Deloraine and Melita and Reston.

While the rural municipality of Pipestone has been fortunate to bring in more oil revenue this year, there is not yet a clear plan to use the funds wisely to build for the future.

There is some adult education in Deloraine, but there are problems training individuals to be certified to operate water treatment plants. I suspect, as well, that we need to be doing better in training and developing the entrepreneurs who will start and grow businesses in Deloraine and nearby communities.

There is much that is possible – to build on the existing agricultural base - from wind energy to ethanol to biodiesel. There are also new opportunities in information technology and environmental industries.

One positive development which is coming is the Cancer Care centre in Deloraine. Using strong information technology and other supports, this centre will enable a considerable part of cancer treatment to be delivered locally. In the 1990s, this approach to outreach and improved local delivery of medical care had been extended to many communities around Manitoba. It should not have taken so long to get it to Deloraine. Indeed, there are other areas of health care, where we should be working in a similar fashion to provide more health care locally. Indeed, a focus of the provincial government should be to ensure that more services are delivered locally instead of the opposite.