The Festival du Voyageur

It was a wonderful afternoon at the Festival du Voyageur. The photos show some of the activites and the beautiful snow sculptures, but there was much, much more at Voyageur Park.

The Columbia Tierra Querida Dance Group

Featured entertainment at the Youth Empowering Youth symposium today were the Columbia Terra Querida Dance Group. The photos show glimpses of each of the three dances featured.

Youth Empowering Youth

Today at the R.B. Russell School, the Black History Month Celebrations Committee was instrumental in ensuring this symposium on Youth Empowering Youth was held.

Involvement in politics was the subject of Jared Lavallee's presentation (top photo). Community Activism was the focus of Marie Christian's presentation (middle photo). Marie is the coordinator for VOICES - advocating for Manitoba Youth in Care. She is a forceful voice for children and the need for change to improve the present system.

Shimby Zegeye (bottom photo) provided thoughtful introductory comments and Masali Ali was an effective MC.

Egypt and Ambassador Philip MacKinnon

Canadian Ambassador Philip MacKinnon (above) was at the Canadian Club yesterday to talk about Egypt and the middle east. We were provided with an insightful speech. It was a mixture of concerns and or guarded optimism with respect to the middle east and Egypt. It was clear that Ambassador MacKinnon knows the middle east well.

One comment he made about Egypt got me thinking about our problems here in Manitoba. Time and time again I hear from people about the problems with our provincial NDP government. Mr. MacKinnon used a phrase to dexcribe a period in Egypt's history when it was troubled with "stultifying state socialism". This phrase certaintly fits with some of our problems today in Manitoba.

Our province needs to burst out of the stultifying constraints of the present government to achieve its rightful place as one of the leading provinces of Canada. This is one of the reasons I am very persistent in my efforts to change the government in Manitoba to unleash the potential we have in our province.

Frontier Fiddlers

Friday at noon the Frontier Fiddlers were playing at the Legislature.

A number of years ago, Cameron Baggins (bottom photo) realized that there was a need to teach fiddling to children in many communities in Manitoba. And so began his quest. In the years since he has developed and expanded a program which reaches out to communities around Manitoba, especially First Nation and Metis communities to provide for the teaching of fiddling.

Ryan D'Aost (top photo), from Norway House, is one of the students who has learned fiddling and done so well he has earned prizes for his fiddling.

Volunteers and community boosters at the Trapper's Festival

Volunteers and community boosters play an important part in making thet Trapper's Festival a success.

In the top photo, Sharon Arnold is helping out at the Muffer's Briefing Dinner.

In the second photo, Cindy Renner is selling buttons to raise money for the good activities of the Lion's Club in The Pas. They raise money for the hospital and other worthwhile causes.

In the third photo, Wendy Brown is posing with a sleek snowmobile which is being raffled off to raise money for the The Pas Association for Human Development.

The Trapper's Festival Parade

It was cold during the parade, but everyone was dressed very warmly, and there was lots of colour as the floats wound their way through The Pas. The top and bottom photos show two of the floats. The middle photo shows fire dancer Sara Germain and her friend and helper Lindsay Dartnell.

The Trapper's Festival

Every year for 59 years, the Trapper's Festival has been held in The Pas to celebrate the activities of trappers and to bring joie de vivre and festivities to the middle of winter.

The photos show some of the people at this year's Trapper's Festival to celebrate.

The top photo features Bill Bannock, one of the Festival's characters. The middle photo features the contestants for the Fur Queen. Wednesday night the contestants had to demonstrate a talent (this year the talents ranged from singing, to Ukranian Dancing to setting traps), then give a speech, and then answer impromptu questions in front of a large audience.

In the bottom photo, Louise Dewar is showing me the three dollar coin used specially for this year's festival.

Next year, be sure to come to the Festival which will be celebrating its 60th Year.

A significant research effort into Lyme disease in Manitoba is clearly needed

I met today with Elizabeth Wood and Jacob (Jack) Suderman. Both have chronic forms of Lyme disease and need ongoing treatment for it. By history both acquired their Lyme disease from exposure to tick bites near the Red River in southern Manitoba, quite close to a region in northern Minnesota known to have had a number of Lyme disease cases.

The identification of 5 new cases of Lyme disease in 2005 means that it is very important that we now have a significant effort in research to understand this disease in Manitoba, its transmission and its treatment.

This disease is caused by an organism which is a spirochete, a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. It can be cured if identified and treated early. If it becomes chronic it may need ongoing treatment. Because of the importance of early identification and quick and appropriate treatment, we need to be able to deal with Lyme disease in Manitoba better than we are now. This is why research is needed.

Interestingly, Elizabeth reports that the tick population in her area of southern Manitoba was dramatically reduced when there were more wild turkeys in the area to feed on the ticks. Such observations may be important in identifying ways to reduce tick populations and reduce the potential for infection by ticks.

Both Elizabeth Wood and Jack Suderman expressed concern that the drug they need for treatment of their Lyme disease - bicillin - in not covered by pharmacare. For a while, as a result, Jack had to go off the drug, and his disease got much worse. Surely it is less costly to have drugs like bicillin covered by pharmacare when needed for Lyme disease, than to have people like Jack and Elizabeth spend time in hospital because they can't afford the drugs that would have kept them well and out of hospital.

It should be noted that it is believed that the bacteria causing Lyme disease can only be transmitted by deer ticks and not by wood ticks. This is another facet of the disease which may need to be looked at very carefully to be absolutely sure this is the case.

[April 2010: Kathleen Craang has presented new information which suggests some people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis may in fact have Lyme disease. More work is needed before this can be confirmed.]

The Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study

Today, at the meeting of the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study, there was a variety of exciting new scientific information presented. In the top photo David Barber provides a summary of some of the results.

One of the major concerns is the impact of global warming on the arctic ice cap. We saw graphs showing the minimum size of the ice cap has decreased dramatically over the last 25 years (see graph). If this trend were to continue, then the future of the ice cap itself is in jeopardy with considerable impact on sea levels and on the arctic climate and on arctic biosystems.

The Business Council of Manitoba

I met today with the President and CEO of the Business Council of Manitoba, Jim Carr (photo above). He is meeting with each of the political parties in Manitoba in the period before the provincial budget.

The Business Council of Manitoba has done some extensive analysis of the situation in Manitoba. Their analysis shows that Winnipeg, our capital city, has shown population growth of 5.9% since 1990. This is considerably less than Montreal (10.8%), Saskatoon (11.3%), Halifax (14.5%), Edmonton (19.8%), Ottawa (22.5%), Vancouver (34.8%) and Calgary (38.1%). Winnpeg's employment growth and GDP growth are also much less than all the other cities.

Manitoba's average weekly wage rate at $618.78, is lower than Saskatchewan ($634.26), Quebec ($652.58), British Columbia ($701.85), Ontario ($737.44) and Alberta ($741.84).

There is clearly a need to do better than Manitoba has done under either Conservative or NDP governments. That is why I believe we need a Liberal government in our province, and that is why, every day, I go to work determined to do what I can to change and improve things for Manitobans.

The Arctic Climate Change Youth Forum

Congratulations to Rajun Kumar, Tatjana Trabic and Duncan Farthing-Nichol for their efforts in co-chairing the Arctic Climate Change Youth Forum today. In the photo I am with these three co-chairs.

I was honoured to be asked to present our Liberal approach to climate change. While my presentation when on at some length, I emphasized three points:

1) Manitoba should commit to reducing Manitoba's greenhouse gas emissions 6% below their 1990 level by the year 2010. (So far the NDP have not made this commitment or provided a plan to achieve such reductions).

2) Manitoba should develop a Manitoba framework for trading greenhouse gas emissions within Manitoba as part of the strategy to achieve the above reductions. We can't wait for the federal government to act, although we should, to the extent we can, be involved in emissions trading discussions as part of the global effort to make sure the situations in Manitoba are considered.

3) Manitoba must have a plan to invest in road, rail, water management and port (Churchill) facilities in order to mitigate effects of climate change, and to take advantage of opportunities provided by climate change.

The Festival du Voyageur

The Festival du Voyageur is in full swing. Last night's Governor's Ball was a good example.
In the photo, I am with members of the Brunet Family - they are the Official Voyageurs for 2006.

The NDP and business in Manitoba

Friday I met with Shannon Martin of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (top photo). He came to see me in the run up to the Legislative session which starts March 6 with regard to business issues in relation to the upcoming provincial budget.

He pointed out that under the NDP Manitoba has the highest provincial business tax load of all the provinces (middle graph), and the highest burden of red tape for businesses of all provinces (bottom graph). There is a lot of room for improvement. It is, sadly, characteristic of the NDP, to create an environment which is less supportive of economic growth and jobs than in other provinces. This picture is consistent with what I have heard from others lately that, even though there are skills shortages in some areas in Manitoba, there are not adequate high paying opportunities for recent graduates and we continue to lose people to other provinces.

The International African Inventors Museum

As part of Black History Month, staff at the Millenium Library have been working with the Black History Month Committee to bring displays from the International African Inventors Museum to Winnipeg.

In the top photo, I am shown in the area of the displays with Commodore Wade Williams (with the Black History Month Committee) and Ruth Smith who read a poem at the opening ceremonies.

The second photo shows Francis Jeffers. Francis and his wife Denise are the Curators for the International Inventors Museum. They have done an admirable job of collecting information on many leaders and inventors in the black community.

One of the inventors featured is Elijah McCoy. Elijah is a Canadian who invented a lubricant for machines in the 1800s. His lubricant was much better than any others of the time, and people who ran machines always wanted to make sure they had the "Real McCoy".

One of the leaders in the black community who is featured is Dr. Sophia Jones, born in Chatham,Ontario in 1957, and the first black doctor in North America graduating from the University of Michigan in 1885.

Lunch with a teacher in the Druze Community

Wednesday, February 8, we were fortunate to be able to have lunch with Dr. Jaber Aburukun. He has been a teacher and principal at a school in his community and talked to us about his community and about the Druze religion.

There are about 110,000 members of the Druze community in Israel. This religion dates back about a thousand years and emphasizes truth, justice, peace and belief in God. The Druze consider their faith to be a new interpretation of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Members of the Druze religion believe in reincarnation.

Haifa and the Baha'i Religion

Haifa, an important port city for Israel, is also an important centre for the Baha'i religion. In Haifa, is to be found the Shrine of the Bab, who is considered by Baha'is to be an independent messenger of God and the Herald of Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith.

The golden dome of the Shrine was designed by Canadian architect William Sutherland Maxwell and completed in 1953 (see photos which show the Shrine from below and from above). The 18 terraces were designed in 1987 by Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba.

Baha'u'llah laid down principles, laws and institutions for a world civilization which include:
- abandonment of all forms of prejudice
- full equality between the sexes
- recognition of the common source and essential oneness of the world's great religions
- elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth
- universal compulsory education
- right and responsibility of each person to search independently for truth
- establishment of a world federal system
- recognition that faith must be consistent with reason and that science and religion should be in harmony

The Misgav - and Environmental Planning

In the Misgav, we had a chance to meet with Mayor Erez Kreisler and with Mr. Baruch Campano, the Director of the Environmental Branch for the Misgav Regional Council (top photo). The Misgav region has a reputation for innovative, responsible and accountable leadership.

The Misgav region is shown in green in the bottom photo. What is immediately noticeably is that the parts of the region are quite dispersed and indeed some portions of the region are like islands. The Misgav region borders on 24 municipalities. Examples include communities like Sakhnin and Arrabeh which are arab municipalities. It makes for a complex interrelationship among communities, and it means that issues like water, sewage and roads must all be worked out together.

Approximately half of the Misgav Region budget goes toward education, and very different from Manitoba, where education is part of a School Board budget, the Regional Council has this responsibility as well as the responsibility for road, water sewer infrastructure and for building permits etc.

In Misgav, they have developed a process for looking at environmental issues which uses "open space technology" to bring people together to develop a strategic plan for the area. From this process they have developed four priorities 1) education; 2) management of green spaces (includes agriculture and makes up 90% of the municipality); 3) cooperation between Jews and Arabs and 4) Economic Development. Erez Kreisler, the Mayor, talked of the need to move toward more cooperative win-win solutions for the area.

The Crusaders and the Battle of the Horns of Hittin

On our way, on February 8, from Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee to the Misgav region, we passed the site of a major battle during the Crusades. In 1187, the Christian knights were defeated by Saladin, in a battle which marked a major turning point in the fortunes of the Crusaders.

The battle occurred at the hill shown in the photo above. As described to us by our guide, during the battle Saladin's forces set fire to the fields. The Crusaders, with their heavy armour, could not run away fast enough, and many were burned to death. Others threw off their armour and ran to escape.

The Hula Valley - restoring a marsh

In the 1950s, the Hula Valley was drained for agricultural purposes. Up to that point it had been covered in extensive marshes and agricultural efforts were problematic.

Over the years since then, a number of major problems arose. Pollution (notably phosphorous but other chemicals as well) from the Hula Valley was found to be a major cause of problems in the Sea of Galilee (similar to our problems with phosphorous in Lake Winnipeg). The peat in the valley was also subject to problematic fires after the marshes had been drained. To provide a solution to these issues a decision was made to put a marsh back into the Hula Valley.

JNF-KKL had a major role in both the original drainage of the land and in the more recent restoration of the marsh. We were able to visit the restored marsh and to see the incredible number of common cranes and other birds which were present. Since the marsh has been restored, it has become a major migratory stop-over for many waterfowl and for raptors as well as for other birds like kingfishers. The problems with peat fires have been eliminated and the problem of pollution in the Sea of Galilee has been substantially reduced.

The photos show, from top, 1) Esther Weinstein talking about the role of JNF-KKL in the marsh restoration; 2) me standing with Ephie Naim and Itai Shanni who have been involved in managing the marsh and in studying the birds now using the marsh; 3) a mobile blind used so visitors can see the cranes up close; 4) a view of the common cranes taken from the mobile blind; and 5) one of the types of bicycles which are used along with golf carts and regular bicycles for visitors to go along the paths and see the birds at the marsh.

Biriya - Pioneering in Israel

Tuesday, February 7, after visiting Rosh Pina, we went to Biriya, just north of Tsfat. Biriya was established on January 8, 1945 as a fortress and outpost with a wide view of the surrounding area. The top photo shows Esther Weinstein and myself inside the fort. The middle photo shows the view of the surrounding area from one of the peepholes in the wall of the fort.

On March 6, 1946, during the period when present day Israel was under the governance of the British mandate, the British Army arrived and discovered an illegal cash of arms. The arrested and imprisoned the occupants at Acra prison.

Then, on March 15, some 3,000 Jews - many 16, 17 and 18 years old - arrived at the site at 6:00 a.m. and began rebuilding the outpost and planting crops. Later in the day, the British moved them out of the area once again.

The next day, March 16, more Jews returned and the British realized they could not just keep moving people away. A Commission of Inquiry was called.

In 1948, during the War of Independence, Biriya was held by twenty-two 16 and 17 year olds.

The story of Biriya is told and retold to highlight the pioneering of Jewish settlers early on in the history of present day Israel. It is one reason the "pioneering" tradition has continued to be a strong tradition, and why settlers are continuing to pioneer at places like Amona. In today's Israel, there is a growing sense that the attitude to pioneering needs to change. It is this conflict which is at the heart of the huge protests over what happened at Amona.

One of the wonderful developments near the fortress of Biriya, is the investment by JNF-KKL in the development of a park and in planting trees nearby. I was very interested to see that today's Israeli parks now all include efforts to ensure that there is access for those with disabilities to many areas in the park. The bottom photo shows the park near Biriya and the wide gradually sloping paths which can easily be used by those who come in wheelchairs.

Rosh Pina - the cornerstone

Rosh Pina is a small community just east of Tsfat. Jewish settlers moved here from Tsfat in about 1878. It was not easy, but fortunately, Baron Rothschild helped at a time when they were having particular difficulties. He helped with the costs of building homes and of building a synagogue - the one I am standing in front of in the top photo.

Two notable past residents of Rosh Pina were Dr. Gideon Mer and his wife, Zina. They spent many years doing research on malaria. This disease was once quite prevalent in the area because the marshes in the Hula valley were a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Their contributions helped improve the treatment of malaria. In the bottom photo, our guide Nadav Keller is shown standing in front of a display honouring the achievements of Gideon and Zina Mer.

At Rosh Pina, there is a beautiful garden, in the shape of a minora. JNF-Canada has played an important role in helping to fund the improvements in the garden.

The Artists of Tsfat

Tsfat, a community located at the top of a mountain north-west of the Sea of Galilee, is reknowned for its artists.

We were fortunate to be able to visit with a number of the artists. The top photo shows Naomi with Ketti Camus. The second photo shows one of Ketti's works of art - "the dove". Ketti points out that the dove brings peace to Jerusalem.

In the bottom photo, we are visiting with Michael Elkayam, another of Tsfat's talented artists.

Mount of the Beatitudes

The afternoon of Monday February 6, we visited the Mount of the Beatitudes. It was a wonderful and peaceful spot overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I have always been impressed by the beatitudes - see below - and the quiet and tranquility of this spot is certainly consistent with the theme of the beatitudes and the theme of Jesus teaching two thousand years ago at this site.

One of the beatitudes - "blessed are the peacemakers" - is particularly relevant today in the Middle East and in the activities of Canadian peacemakers around the world.

The top photo shows the natural ampitheatre on the hillside where it is believed that Jesus preached to a large crowd. The crowd gathered on the hillside, with Jesus speaking from the base of the hill - the centre of the natural ampitheatre. The bottom photo, taken just south of the Mount of the Beatitudes at Tiberias, shows the Sea of Galilee at sunrise.

The beatitudes:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."
"Bleesed are those who huder and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled."
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Tabgha - the loaves and the fishes

Tabgha, originally Heptapegon (Seven Springs), is the traditional location for the miracle which happened when Jesus was preaching, and thousands were able to feed on five loaves and two fishes.

A church was first built at this site in the 4th century A.D. This was followed, in the 5th century by the construction of a large monastery and church. These buildings were partly destoyed in the 7th century and buried under silt and stones.

Following extensive excavations in the 1980s, this church has been restored. It is a beautiful little church and on the floor are wonderful mosiacs, including a mosaic of the two fish and five loaves. The mosaic, as reproduced on a plate, is shown in the photo.

It is of interest that Tabgha, because of the warm fresh water provided by the springs, and the algae which grow as a result of the warm water entering the Sea of Gallillee, is an excellent site for fish and for fishing.

The primary fish of the Sea of Gallilee is called St. Peter's Fish. It is also known as tilapia. We were fortunate to stop at a restaurant near Tiberias to have lunch which featured St. Peter's Fish. There were, in addition, numerous small dishes of vegetables and sauces.