The Ma Mawi Pow Wow

Today, at the Friendship Centre, it was the time for the Ma Mawi Pow Wow. There were many dancers with colourful costumes, drummers and individuals and groups with various arts, crafts and posters on display.

The top photo shows Mary Lou Bourgeois and other dancers. In the bottom photo, Liz Barron stands proudly with her two children - Tracy and Dustin. Dustin was involved with organizing the Pow Wow.

Congratulations to all those who were involved in putting on the Pow Wow and making it so successful.

Mary Lou Bourgeois and Bernie Wolfe

This morning Bernie Wolfe was speaking at a breakfast for Mary Lou Bourgeois, the Liberal candidate in Point Douglas, at Kelekis restaurant. True to form, Bernie, the former Deputy Mayor, emphasized the need for a much better approach to the City of Winnipeg than we have seen of late.

As Manitoba's capital, Winnipeg should be growing rapidly and be the driving force for attracting young people to our province instead of having so many young people move away. The centre of the City should be vibrant with lots of people living in it.


Top photo - Bernie Wolfe and Mary Lou Bourgeois. Centre photo, Mary Lou Bourgeois with Rhonda Gordon and Mary Kalekis. Bottom photo - enjoying breakfast.

The Indo-Canadian Telegram

Today saw the launch of a new newspaper in Manitoba - the Indo-Canadian Telegram.

Giri and Devi Sharma (with me in the photo above) are ambitious in their project. Giri, as editor, has done a first class job with the initial issue. I look forward to the coming issues with anticipation.

Martin Cauchon and our Annual Leader's Reception

Last night Martin Cauchon (photo above) joined us for our provincial Liberal Party's Leader's Reception. The hall was full of enthusiasm and with lots of young people - a good sign of the vitality of our party.

Martin Cauchon, the former federal Minister of Justice (Jan 2002-Dec 2003) did not disappoint.

He was by turns both visionary and humourous. He spoke of the challenges to the national Liberal Party, and his coming involvement in the renewal process. Though he has chosen not to contest the leadership (this time), in favour of time with his growing family, he will stay involved in politics - his passion - and he retains his commitment to improve life for all Canadians.

Thank you to all those who made the evening a success.

The Agricultural Rally at the Legislature

Several hundred farmers came to the legislature today to bring attention to the concerns of those in the agricultural community (top photo).

Agriculture is a very important industry in Manitoba, but farmers have had real difficulties in the last several years.

Clearly the new Conservative government in Ottawa needs to act quickly to provide both short term and long term answers.

There is also a role for the provincial government. As Liberals we see that the education property tax should be removed from farm land. We also believe that the provincial sales tax should be fully removed from farm inputs.

As I have said many times before in this blog, there is also a need to address the large deficit in water management (water storage and drainage) infrastructure in Manitoba. Farmers suffered unduly last year because the water management infrastructure has not been adequately addressed. I met a farmer who said the drainage in his area was worse now than it was 100 years ago. I met another farmer who said it was worse now in his area than in the 1960s. Improving the water management infrastructure will decrease the risk to farmers and decrease the likelihood of their crops being flooded or drowned out. Paying attention to this will decrease the need for public dollars to be spent through crop insurance.

I spoke at the rally to emphasize the need to provide better support to farmers (bottom photo).

Christian Worthington

Late Saturday evening, Naomi and I were at "Between The Streets you will Find The Exchange" an event of art and music held at The Studio (62 Albert St. in the Exchange). The painter, Christian Worthington, was featured. He is fast becoming an important Manitoban painter whose work has been sold to collectors from as far away as England, Spain, The United States and throughout Canada.

In the top photo, Naomi and I are with Christian Worthington and Jason Hasselmann. You can see Christian's art in the background. In the bottom photo, my wife Naomi and Christian stand in front of one of his paintings.

You can view a few more of Christian Worthington's paintings at: www.lightgallery.net Press enter and then click on recent artists and you will find Christian's name in the list. For more information on Christian Worthington, please contact Jason Hasselmann @ jasonh@winnipegwords.com

Thompson

Tuesday, we spent in Thompson. I met with the mayor, Bill Comaskey (top photo), with Blake Ellis (at the Thompson Citizen)(next photo), with Bob Bushey (with the Thompson School Board) (third photo), and with Mark Sislo (at CBC - Thompson) (bottom photo) and many others.

There are a lot of issues to deal with in Thompson. The University College of the North is moving slowly forward, but should be developing much more quickly. It needs a better campus, there needs to be more housing for students and day care needs to be much more available.

Mayor Comaskey and many others in Thompson were disappointed there was not support for the proposed recreation centre in Thompson in the recent provincial budget. At a time when we need to be improving the health and fitness of people in Manitoba, improving recreational facilities is very important.

Cross Lake Elder Charlie Osborne

While in Cross Lake, I stopped in to visit with elder Charlie Osborne. Now, 83 years old, Charlie has been a long time contributor to the north and he has accumulated a lot of experience and many stories.

One of the stories he told me, goes back to the early 1950s when he was working for Manitoba Hydro and they were looking for sites to put hydroelectric dams. One of the sites they visited was the location later used for the Kelsey Dam. The Kelsey Dam was the first hydroelectric dam in the far north and provided power for the city of Thompson when it was built and for the mine and smelter located there.

At the site where the Kelsey Dam was later constructed, Manitoba Hydro needed to put a rope across the river. Though there were engineers there, they were not sure how to do this. It fell to Charlie Osborne and his friend to provide an answer.

One person stood on each side of the river, and used a bow and arrow. Each one shot an arrow at the same time. They hoped that the arrows (with a string or twine attached) would become entangled in the middle and they could then pull the string across and use it to pull rope across the river. It did not happen they first time they shot the arrows, but after many attempts they succeeded. They were able to pull the rope across the river as they has hoped.

The photo shows me with Charlie Osborne and members of his family.

Pimicikimak (Cross Lake) Cree Nation

Monday afternoon, we spent at Pimicikimak Cree Nation. Though we met briefly with Chief John Muswagon and his council, much of the time was spent on health care issues with Councillor Donnie McKay and Harold Halcrow. We also visited the nursing station to see conditions there first hand and talked to a number of people in the community.

One of the major issues at the moment is the level of nursing staff. There should be the equivalent of twelve and a half nurses. Intead, there were three at the nursing station when we visited. That morning clinics had to be cancelled because of the shortage of nursing staff. This apparently is a frequent occurence. Indeed, we were told by one community member that his wife had had six appointments cancelled. It is difficult to get good medical care and be sure appropriate medications are being used when so many appointments are cancelled. This needs to be addressed urgently.

There is also a clear need for a health centre or hospital in the community. Cross Lake with about 6,000 people, is apparently one of the largest if not the largest community without a hospital in or near the community in Canada. Residents have to be flown out for ailments (or for laboratory tests) that could be done locally if there were a hospital. As an example of the situation, one day recently there were three people on stretchers in bays in the emergency room of the nursing station, one person was in the obstetrics bay, and two people were forced to wait in ambulances because there was no room inside. As well there were three people in the clinic waiting in wheel chairs.

I have been pushing for a health centre or hospital for Cross Lake for some time. There appears to be some movement recently, but the situation clearly needs to be addressed with urgency. It is very expensive to be flying so many people out of the community when more could be done within the community. It will also be better for people in the community to be able to get care in the community.

In the top photo I am with Councillor McKay and Harold Halcrow. In the bottom photo, I am with Jackson Osborne in front of the nursing station.

Norway House Cree Nation

Monday morning I met with the new elected Chief Marcel Balfour and his council at Norway House. We had a good discussion on a variety of issues from education to child and family services. Clearly healthcare and the availability of doctors in the community is a significant concern. The state of Lake Winnipeg is also a major issue - and Chief Balfour was interested to learn of our recent forum on Lake Winnipeg. http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/03/saving-lake-winnipeg-forum.html

The photo above shows art work in the office of the Chief and Council.

Paddling across the Nelson River - part of a week in northern Manitoba

To keep in touch with people in northern Manitoba and with northern issues, Criag Loewen and I spent the last week visiting Norway House, Cross Lake, Thompson, Wabowden, Snow Lake, Sherridon, Flin Flon and The Pas. It was a week full of interesting encounters, of dialogue with people across the north, and of wonderful northern vistas. I will highlight some of these moments in this blog and the ones which follow.

When we arrived at the Nelson River crossing going into Norway House, the ice was covered with water near the shores of the river. On our way in, we arrived a bit after midnight (we left Winnipeg late in the afternoon). It had been a warm day, and the water was high. Fortunately, we had been reassured by a traveller at Grand Rapids that the ice under the water was solid and passable. We proceeded slowly through the water, and made it across, though I did wonder for a moment if we might need a paddle.

Between the Nelson River crossing and Norway House, efforts are being made to straighten the road. We were told that when the road was originally built, the contractor had made such good time in building the road that he was ahead of schedule. To keep people employed up until the originally targetted date, the foreman was told to put a few more curves in the last section between the Nelson River and Norway House. For thirty years, this section has been very curvacious. Finally, it is now being straightened out.