Better approaches to water management are needed in Manitoba - an example along the Oak River

A few days ago, Reed Wolfe (with me in the top photo) sent me an email about the problems he is having on his land along the Oak River south-west of Rivers in western Manitoba. He had heard me talking on Brandon radio and felt I should learn about what was happening on his land.

This week, yesterday, I went out to see for myself. In the last few years Reed and his wife have had much more problems with water on their land, and coming up close to their home than they have ever had before. They showed me a video with some fairly dramatic footage of the water in the creek near where they live breaking out of its banks and coming very close to their home. Reed also showed me a site (bottom photo) along the Oak River where the increased water flow has created a large washout or caved-in area. Three years ago, Reed was farming the land where there is now a big hole. This is a troubling example of the problems with increased water flows in the Oak River.

Reed has been watching what has happening in the area, and it is very cleear that major increases in drainage upstream from his home are resulting in the water coming off the land much more rapidly than before. The increase in water at peak runoff created by the big increase in drainage is creating problems.

This increased peak runoff is also one of the big reasons for increased phosphorous in Manitoba waterways. Phosphorous is a sediment associated nutrient, and with faster current, there is increased erosion, increased sediment and increased phosphorous in the water. At the same time, the increased flooding of farmland which results is likely picking up more phosphorous from the farmland and also increases phosphorous in the water. If we are going to help Lake Winnipeg and decrease the phosphorous going into our rivers and lakes, we need to change our approach to water management.

My view is that we need to start with a goal of no net loss of wetlands. This means we need to create new wetlands in a similar extent to what we drain. A helpful example along the South Tobacco Creek shows how 26 small dams have created new wetlands and dramatically reduced the peak runoff. The result is much less flooded farmland, much less damage to culverts and roads, and less phosphorous in the water of South Tobacco Creek. It is a win-win for all. The newly created wetlands also help to recharge the aquifer and provide protection against periods when it is very dry.

Creating new wetlands using small dams upstream would do the same along the Oak River and along the creek near Reed Wolfe's home. It will need a change in how we approach water management in Manitoba. It will need appropriate incentives and support for such small dams, which balance the incentives for more drainage.

The Canadian Wheat Board

There was a large rally of farmers today at the Canadian Wheat Board on Main Street in Winnipeg. Farmers want democracy. Farmers want to be able to run the Canadian Wheat Board and to determine its future without being dictated to by Stephen Harper, Chuck Strahl the federal Conservative government, and their provincial Conservative allies.

The farmers are right. Farmers elect the majority of the Board members of the Canadian Wheat Board. Farmers should have the right to decide the future of the Canadian Wheat Board. At the recent vote to elect board members for the Canadian Wheat Board the results were very clear. The majority of farmers still want a single desk selling capability for the Canadian Wheat Board. The majority of farmers still want to have the market power and the muscle of a strong Canadian Wheat Board working for them.

I was there to listen to and to support the farmers who came to the rally.

Sir John Franklin Community Centre

I have been getting a lot of feedback, very quickly, on my Report from the Legislature. I apologize to those at Sir John Franklin Community Centre ( see also http://www.sjf.ca/) that their views were not adequately represented. I have just spent an hour with John Young, President of the Sir John Franklin Community Centre and I offer the following observations:

John Young and the Sir John Franklin Community Centre (SJFCC) Executive do not see a merger with River Heights Community Club (RHCC) at the RHCC site as an option, now or in the immediate future. Indeed, this has not been discussed by the SJFCC as an option. They do see a vision for the future in which RHCC and SJFCC are involved in shared projects as the way of the future for our community as a whole. An example of this is the shared plans for winter carnival January 29-February 4 (see http://www.sjf.ca/carnival/index.html ). This joint project will benefit from the two venues and the larger population to be a vibrant winter event.

John Young and the SJFCC executive see the Sir John Franklin Community Centre site as viable on its own location. In the not too distant future, with development at the Kapyon Barracks site there is likely to be a larger local population of children even than today and thus the Sir John Franklin Community Centre site will be needed more than ever. The nature of the programs and facilities at SJFCC and RHCC are sufficiently different and complimentary that both can benefit from working together.

John Young does not rule out the possibility of eventually amalgamating SJFCC with other community centres at the Lipsett Hall site. But, for the moment, he and the SJFCC executive are very much of the view to build on the very good facilities and people at the SJFCC site.

John, I know you and your executive are working very hard to serve people in the SJFCC area. Thank you for calling me quickly and making sure I had this material on my blog.

If you have more comments I can be reached on my email at jgerrard@leg.gov.mb.ca

Invitation to a Holiday Party December 17

You are invited to join
Hon Dr. Jon Gerrard, M.L.A. - River Heights,
&
Hon Anita Neville, M.P. - Winnipeg South Centre
at the
River Heights
Holiday Celebration
December 17, 2006
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
River Heights Community Centre,
Multipurpose Room,
(Grosvenor Avenue @ Oak Street)
1:30 A few brief words
1:35 the Yellow River Chinese Association dance presentation
The outside ice rinks are available for anyone who would like to go skating
Refreshments will be served

A tribute to Charlie Coffey

Tuesday December 5: Charlie Coffey was in town to attend a reception in his honour. I first got to know Charlie Coffey when he was the regional director for the Royal Bank of Canada for Manitoba. Charlie stood out for his interest in community activities and in particular for his efforts with aboriginal people, with young people and with entrepreneurs.

Recently Charlie Coffey has been the Executive Vice PresidentGovernment Affairs & Business Development for the RBC Financial Group. Over the years Charlie has received many awards and honours including the Award of Distinction from the Public Affairs Association of Canada and the Humanitarian Award for Community Service from Yorktown Family Services (Toronto). ORT Toronto presented Coffey with its first annual "local hero in a global village" award in 2005. An Honourary Doctor of Laws degree was conferred upon Mr. Coffey by Trent University for his "extraordinary contributions to society through community leadership." Charlie Coffey was appointed an Officer to the Order of Canada in 2004 and received the 2004 National Child Day Award.

Charlie Coffey will continue to help with efforts to ensure the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is completed in Winnipeg. Thank you Charlie Coffey for all you have done.

Improving access by patients to their health records

Tuesday December 5: Kevin Lamoureux and I brought in Bill 210 which would provide for 24 hour access to medical records for those in hospital or in a personal care home instead of the present 30 day access. This is a measure which is needed to ensure patients or guardians have quick access to health information so that they can become partners in their care with health care providers. Below is the transcript from Hansard.

Bill 210–The Personal Health Information Amendment Act

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the MLA for Inkster, that Bill 210, The Personal Health Information Amendment Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur les renseignements médicaux personnels, be now read a first time.

Motion presented.

Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this bill is to enable patients in hospitals and personal care homes to access information about their own health within 24 hours if it's readily available. It would reduce the time now, which is 30 days down to 24 hours, so that patients and those who are health care providers can share information much more easily and move toward a more collaborative environment where patients and providers work together in the best interests of the patients' health.

And the transcript from Question Period:

Health Care System - Access to Personal Health Information

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, in our health care system, patients in hospitals or in personal care homes should have quick access to their own health information. But the fact is I hear all too often from Manitobans about the difficulties they have in gaining quick access to personal health information.

Indeed, in the gallery here today is Mimi Raglan and her family who have experienced major problems in helping to care for family members because they weren't allowed quick and timely access to medical records. Present legislation says access only needs to be provided in 30 days. It is far too long.

Will the Minister of Health support our proposal to ensure hospital patients or their legal guardians have access to a patient's recent health information within 24 hours?

Hon. Theresa Oswald (Minister of Health): I thank the member opposite for the question. As the member knows, as members in the gallery would know and members of Manitoba know, The Personal Health Information Act was created and designed to not only deal specifically with privacy issues which, of course, are paramount to individuals in dealing with their very personal and intimate health records, but it is also about access. That act came into play in 1997 and part of the act was a requirement of a review process. That review process has taken place. It's been extensive. We are looking very closely at those recommendations, Mr. Speaker, and we have an intent to bring forward legislation in the upcoming session.

Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, the government has had seven years to address this issue and they have not. Clearly, somebody who is in hospital or in a personal care home needs quick access to their health information so they can be full participants in their own care and improve the quality and the type of care that they're receiving.

Indeed, I understand that the Patient Safety Advisory Council of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has also recently decided to support the principle of hospital patients gaining access to their own medical records within 24 hours.

Again, I ask the minister on this specific issue: Will the minister support our call to ensure that patients in hospital or their legal guardians have quick access within 24 hours to their health information, to their medical charts?

Ms. Oswald: Carrying on, Mr. Speaker, from where I left off, I would first take the opportunity to correct the member opposite when he suggests that nothing has been done. The review has been done, and the work that Manitobans and health professionals have done to adapt and modernize the act has been extensive. I really regret that the member opposite would suggest otherwise. [Does it take seven years to do a review? Why has the government not brought forward any legislation when there has been plenty of time to do so?]

But let me draw attention to a very important point, Mr. Speaker, and that is the act, as it is written, really does allow access to information as soon as possible and that it must be within 30 days. In fact, many patients who request this information already get that information within 24 hours. [But the fact remains that this is not consistent and it needs to be - there are too many peole who are not getting the information when they want it.]

The Manitoba Health Research Council is in need of attention and much better funding

Monday December 4: I raised concerns about the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC) in question period in the Manitoba Legislature. The following is from Hansard. It is worth noting that I have raised concerns quite a number of times in the Manitoba Legislature about the MHRC - over the last several years - but so far the NDP have not listened. But it is important to keep up efforts to get more attention to the MHRC and to very substantially improve its funding.

Manitoba Health Research Council - Government Support

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, a good health care system requires proper investment in health research as a cornerstone for improvement. The Manitoba Health Research Council is the lead agency of the provincial government in supporting health research in our province.

For seven years now, I've been calling on this government to pay attention to health research, and for seven years, this government has done astonishingly little to support the MHRC. In fact, provincial funding to the MHRC today is the same as it was in 1989. Adjusting for 17 years of inflation, the MHRC has essentially lost 30 percent of its real funding. Indeed, if the amount was adjusted for inflation and the proportion of the health care budget, it would now be some 4.7 million, not 1.9 million.

I ask the minister: Why has the NDP government paid so little attention to the Manitoba Health Research Council?

Hon. Jim Rondeau (Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mines): Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased that the government is doing things with this. I met with the council, they just presented me with a report. I've accepted the report and we're moving on it.
A couple of years ago we increased it by $200,000 [Note this increase only returned MHRC funding to 1989 levels). We're increasing our concern on the fund and we're working together with the research industry; not only to broaden and expand it; not only to get more co-operation; not only to encompass not just government but private-sector foundations, research organizations, universities, to create an overall scope, an overall plan to move research forward.
I don't think it's one pillar. It's a number of groups working together to enhance the research, because together we may do $30-million worth of research, but there's about $140 million of research in the province a year. I think what we have to do is work together, co-operate and then get more bang for our buck.

Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, as a direct result of this government's failure to properly support the MHRC, Manitoba is slipping ominously in health research support. Let's compare this government's record with Saskatchewan. Here's a shocker. The funds this government provides to the MHRC are just one-third of what the Saskatchewan government gives to the Saskatchewan Health Research Council. If this government would have kept up with Saskatchewan, it would be investing $6 million annually in the MHRC. As a result of this government's seven years of neglect, while the number of national CIHR grants accepted for Saskatchewan researchers has gone up 5 percent a year, in Manitoba, the number of grants accepted has decreased by one percent a year. Terrible.

Can the minister explain to us why this government cannot even keep up with Saskatchewan in funding the Manitoba Health Research Council, our health research council?

Mr. Rondeau: To correct the member, in the year 2004-2005, the Province directly spent $26.9 million on R&D. That's up 62 percent from 1999. In the Budget 2005, we boosted R&D tax credit by 33 percent to encourage R&D in the private sector, and what we want to do is we want to grow the industry.

Just for the information for the members opposite, Manitoba is home to 41 new companies. That's a growth of 10 percent in two years. We're one of the fastest-growing life sciences sectors in the country, if not North America, and we're growing at a rate higher than average.

So what we're doing, Mr. Speaker, is we're working, not just with government, we're working with government, universities and private sector to expand the whole industry. It's not just a government responsibility. What we believe we can do is work with others, co-operate with others and then win–

Stephane Dion is elected Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

There was a lot of colour and excitement at the Liberal leadership convention in Montreal as delegates went through four ballots to elect Stephane Dion as the new leader (top photo - Stephane Dion is at the podium making his acceptance speech).

Though I supported Gerard Kennedy initially, I moved with Kennedy and almost all of his supporters to back Stephane Dion. In the middle photo, I am with Eugene and Susan Whelan who also supported Gerard Kennedy and then moved to support Stephane Dion.

Stephane Dion has a lot of experience. He also has the ability to bring all the candidates together as part of the Liberal team in the next federal election. Congratulations to Stephane Dion.

For more on Stephane Dion see my blog comment of August 31 of this year at http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006_08_27_archive.html

TSX Venture Exchange - Winnipeg - Listing Ceremony

Thursday November 30. I joined others at the Listing Ceremony for the TSX Venture Exchange in Winnipeg. It is always good to join entrepreneurs who are trying to build businesses in Manitoba.

It was sad, however, to hear, as I have often heard before, that the NDP government in Manitoba does a terrible job in supporting entrepreneurial activity in our province. The NDP just do not seem to understand entrepreneurs. It is one more reason why we need to reject the NDP and elect a Liberal government in the next provincial election.

Waiting times for CT scans and MRIs in Manitoba - the NDP are managing very badly

Thursday November 30: The NDP have done a terrible job of managing waiting times for CT scans and MRI tests in Manitoba. My question on this subject provides some insight into why this is so. The system set up by the NDP is promoting the ordering of multiple tests and procedures when only one is necessary. Sadly the answers by the Minister of Health reveal her lack of insight into the problem. The following is from Hansard in the Manitoba Legislature:

Wait Times - Diagnostic Tests

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, the facts on health care and this problem are bad and getting worse. As the national Wait Time Alliance reports, Manitobans now have to wait eight to eleven weeks to get CT and MRI scans. These diagnostic tests are done at the very front end of health care, at the start of a medical assessment. Extra wait times for diagnostic tests means that the next step in care and treatment must have an additional eight to eleven weeks in order to happen. It doesn't matter whether the treatment is surgery, drug treatment, chemotherapy, radiation treatment or whatever, every step is now delayed eight to 11 weeks all because the diagnostic tests are not available.
Why is the minister running a health care system with such lengthy, up-front delays and wait times? Why is this minister making patients wait eight to eleven weeks extra?

Hon. Theresa Oswald (Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, we did see reports in the media yesterday of a report card concerning wait times on a national level and specific to Manitoba, and I was very pleased with elements of the report card. Certainly, we see that we have in Manitoba challenges as well. [The Minister goes on to address wait times in other areas rather than the wait times for CT scans and MRI tests which was the subject of this question].

Mr. Gerrard: I'm rather surprised that the minister is happy at such long wait times for CT and MRI scans. My goodness. You know, what is important is not just the number of MRI scanners and CT scanners, but it's actually whether people can get access to care. But, maybe, the minister in the statistics which were reported did not take into account that family practitioners in this province can't order MRI scans, and, therefore, the real wait time is the three months it takes to see a specialist, and then the eight to 10 weeks that it takes to get an MRI scan.
When will the minister end this cover-up and acknowledge that the real wait is five months instead of three months?

Ms. Oswald: Well, with the greatest of respect, Mr. Speaker, I think that the theorizing of the member opposite calls into question a number of his facts. As I said before, I certainly do acknowledge, and we acknowledge on this side of the House, in making health care a priority, we need to look at the wait times for all situations and that includes diagnostic imaging. [The Minister sadly never gets to the real issue which is that the real wait time for MRI scans is much longer than the wait time that is reported. Unfortunately, the province has not set standards for when MRI tests are needed. Instead of setting standards - which would allow family practitioners to order tests when the standards are met - and refer the patient to a specialist only when there is uncertainty, the province requires family practitioners to refer all patients to a specialist who then orders the MRI. The result is that the real wait from the time the family practitioner sees the patient is often three months to see a specialist and then eight weeks for the MRI or a total of five months, rather than the eight weeks reported.]

Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, the facts are often that there's a wait for three months for a specialist. The facts are, as we heard yesterday, at least an eight-week wait for an MRI scan. The fact is that, because a family practitioner can't rely on quick access to an MRI scan when needed, family practitioners often order both an MRI and a CT scan when only one such test [the MRI] is needed. Instead of one test, we have an MRI, a CT, and a specialist visit.
I would ask the minister: Why is she operating such a wasteful, inefficient system, instead of making sure that people can get the tests that they need right away so that we can have good health care, instead of delayed health care?

Ms. Oswald: [After some blather, the Minister responds] "it sounds to me like he is blaming doctors for irresponsibly ordering tests. I find that very strange." [The Minister is totally off base here. The problem is in the health care system she is responsible for. Doctors will always do what is the in best interests of their patients. The system needs to change so that tests can be done quickly and efficiently and then there will not be any need for this ordering of multiple tests and procedures because the one that is really needed is not available quickly.]

Lake Winnipeg, algal blooms, phosphorous and the City of Winnipeg

Wednesday November 29: My member's statement focused on Lake Winnipeg and the phosphorous coming from the City of Winnipeg. This is reproduced directly from Hansard - in the Manitoba Legislature

Lake Winnipeg Algal Blooms

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the urgent action we need to take as a province to save Lake Winnipeg before we do further irreparable harm to our environment. Lake Winnipeg is slowly dying, being choked to death by excessive algal blooms, and study after study has clearly shown that this danger is the result of the excessive amount of phosphorus entering Lake Winnipeg.
Phosphorus is the key nutrient behind the explosive growth of algae and each year an astounding 6,600 tonnes of phosphorus enters Lake Winnipeg. What few people know–and I, too, was shocked when I first learned of this–is that while we scramble to find ways to reduce phosphorus in Lake Winnipeg each year, we put between 57 and 70 tonnes of phosphorus straight into the city of Winnipeg's water supply. The City does this to reduce the leaching of lead from the pipes that supply the city with its water.
Worse, the phosphorus added to Winnipeg's drinking water is a soluble form of phosphorus, and there are growing concerns that soluble phosphorus may, in fact, be a lot more damaging to Lake Winnipeg than sediment-bound phosphorus. The real impact on Lake Winnipeg may be even larger than we first thought.
It doesn't have to be this way. Right now a number of other alternatives to phosphorus are being used in other jurisdictions to control leaching. These include sodium silicate, potassium silicate and carbon dioxide. It's high time we look seriously at replacing phosphorus in Winnipeg's water supply with a better, greener and more cost-effective alternative. In the long run, it will pay to make the switch not only environmentally but financially since every bit of phosphorus added to the water supply has to be removed later during wastewater treatment, by switching to alternatives we can save on treatment costs. But, more importantly, it's simply the right thing to do now and for future generations of Manitobans.

My Speech to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities

Wednesday November 29: Below is the text for my speech to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. Though I did not follow the text precisely, my speech was close enough to the text that it is worth putting on my blog.

President Ron Bell and Members of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.

It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to speak to you today. Like you, I am firmly committed to building in Manitoba successful, livable communities in an economically strong, environmentally sustainable province.

Many have wondered why I, as a physician, would give up such a respectable profession as a physician to become of all things a politician. Well, look at it this way, I didn’t really leave my practice, I just expanded to include all of Manitoba.

If so, Gary Doer sure has left a heck of a lot of patients for me to see…

Seriously, like you I know it takes dedication, personal commitment, some knowledge and expertise, and often a little luck, to make meaningful change and improvements in our province.

Today, I want to speak briefly about four areas where we need to make meaningful change and improvements: agriculture, infrastructure, health care and education taxes.

You folks know that we have some of the very best soil anywhere in the world here in Manitoba, and we have knowledgeable and committed farmers who are trying to make a living providing some of the best quality food that it is possible to produce.

Yet we have governments at both the provincial and the federal levels which seem hell-bent on creating economic uncertainty that undermines a lot of the hard work and planning that farmers have done.

At the provincial level, there’s the NDP which had once supported the hog industry, even to the extent of putting up $27 million of taxpayer money to support a new Olywest Hog Plant inside Winnipeg.

Then, all of a sudden, without warning or consultation, without even a hint to the industry, this same government slaps a moratorium on hog barn expansion.

Sorry, I mean “pause” – the NDP is calling it a brief “pause” in expansion. So brief that the NDP can’t even tell us when the end date is.

Some even say this is a backhanded attempt to get itself out of the political box they put themselves in with the Olywest Plant. Facing all the political opposition from the local community, the moratorium might be a desparate attempt to save the skins of the NDP MLAs in Radisson and Transcona in Winnipeg.

This is a misguided policy. There are better ways to reduce the phosphorous going into Lake Winnipeg, as I will discuss in a moment. Not only has the moratorium sent shivers and shakes throughout the hog industry, it attacks anyone who earns a living from agriculture. When you have a government which implements a sweeping policy change like this without any consultation, without any warning and without a real scientific basis – you have to ask – what cockamamie scheme will this government cook up next?.

It is painfully clear we need governments which will really listen to farmers, not pretend to listen the way the NDP pretends to consult municipalities. Just as cattle producers need to be able to vote when mandatory levies are imposed, so too do wheat producers need to be able to vote on major changes proposed for the Canadian Wheat Board.

It is my position, my belief, that farmers in Manitoba not only should be able to vote at the same time on barley and on wheat, but the two votes must happen together. It is vital that a clear result and decision be made on the future of the single-desk if we are going to minimize the uncertainty that has been created by the federal government. It is important that farmers have input in a way that minimizes the economic costs of any proposed change.

When it comes to the concerns over Lake Winnipeg and other lakes facing ecological damage from phosphorus-loading, I know there are better approaches than the NDP’s eleventh hour Hail Mary of a hog marotorium. We Liberals have right now before the Legislature a bill to ban phosphorous in dishwasher detergents – a move than would reduce the amount of phosphorous going into Lake Winnipeg by 2% - compare this to the 1% contributed by all of the hog industry in Manitoba. So ask yourself which would costs Manitoban’s more, ending unnecessary phosphorus in detergent or shutting down all expansion in the hog industry?

I also believe, as Herm Martens, the Reeve of the R.M. of Morris has suggested to me – that we should move towards ending the winter spreading of hog manure, and that we require injection of hog manure rather than spreading it on the surface. These two measures alone would likely have more impact that the government’s misguided moratorium – a moratorium that I am worried may never be lifted while this government is in power.

Agriculture is not the only area where we need to see better leadership from the provincial government. Take transportation infrastructure – our many miles of roads, highways and bridges that are the arteries of the province. Never in the history of Manitoba were there as many problems with infrastructure as this year.- from the horrendous washboards that the province calls provincial highways to the bridges which have not been maintained. For weeks this fall, the government was forcing huge trucks through the middle of Portage La Prairie – all because they did not have the basic good sense to pay attention to a deteriorating bridge along the Trans Canada Highway, waiting instead to the last minute when it was so bad that it was no longer usable.

Or how about Highway 2? The stretch between Elm Creek and Winnipeg is so full of craters, it looks like a moon-scape. Take a moment and visit my blog where I have uploaded so many posts on this government’s infrastructure maintenance it is mind-spinning. Take a look at the photos I have collected of collapsed bridges and washouts while this provincial holds up disaster relief payments to municipalities. I see some nodding of heads in the audience, folks who know exactly what I’m talking about.

It’s time for this government to live up to its commitment to provide disaster repair funding as they agreed to with municipalities.

But it’s not just our physical infrastructure in our communities that has paid the price of neglect.

When it comes to health care, the sad reality is that the present government is operating a system which is has become so dysfunctional, so poorly coordinated that medical tests often have to be repeated because the results are unavailable to family physicians. Family practitioners, the local community physicians who should be at the centre of the whole health care system, are kept so far out of the loop that they have to learn about the death of one of their patients in hospital by reading about it in the newspaper. This is no way to run a health care system. And it is exactly this type of top-down, command-and-control NDP-way of doing things that has given us poor health care outcomes, uncertainty in agriculture, and a crumbling infrastructure.

In terms of education property taxes, we Liberals wholeheartedly agree with the members of the AMM, that current levels are far, far too high. We will again be campaigning in the next provincial election on our commitment to reduce educational property taxes by half, while increasing the provincial contribution to education to 80%. Beyond that, however, reductions simply become unsustainable – and anyone who promises you instant 100% relief on education taxes is either divorced from reality or deliberately leading you on.

It is significant that the meeting which you have here today is occurring at a historic moment for our province. There is no doubt that we have a province of unlimited opportunity – opportunity which is being squandered by an out-of-touch and indeed arrogant provincial government. I am here today, to offer you a different vision – a vision of a Liberal government which believes we can clean up Lake Winnipeg, and build the industrial base of our province. – A vision of a Liberal government which believes that farmers need to be involved and supported as we develop new and forward-thinking opportunities in agriculture and rural Manitoba. – A vision of a Liberal government which believes in consultative planning for a high quality sustainable infrastructure – A vision of a government ready to make the changes so necessary to sort out our present dysfunctional health care system, and to improve the educational opportunities for Manitoba.

I look forward to hearing from you on your thoughts about this vision and how we can work together to make such a Manitoba possible.

Thank you – Merci – Meegwetch.