The Manitoba Legislature Session - Week Four

The Session of the Manitoba Legislature - Week Four


1) Children and the Environment:

Flin Flon: On Monday I asked Stan Struthers, Minister of Conservation, whether the school yards and play areas for children which had tested above acceptable levels for mercury, arsenic or lead had been either clean up or closed to children, the answer was not clear. Sad.

2) The Laurel and Hardy Show at the Legislature: Tom Brodbeck wrote a column - titled "the Laurel and Hardy Show at the Legislature" describing the real problem we often have in trying to find out who is reponsible. All too often Ministers avoid responsibility by saying someone else is responsible. Not good behaviour for NDP Ministers.

3) Accountability in Elections:
a) On Tuesday, Kevin Lamoureux introduced, seconded by me, Bill 207 which will amend the Elections Act and the Elections Finances Act to ensure that when an investigation is done by the Elections Commissioner there is a proper report. At the moment there is so much secrecy at the Elections Commissioner's Office, we can not even learn from the Commissioner whether or not he is doing an investigation. The present situation is untenable and must change.

b) On Thursday, I introduced Bill 208 which will make it illegal to vanadalize, mutilate or steal election signs during an election. Similar legislation has existed in Saskatchewan for more than 10 years and is needed here. As I pointed out, when we are want to reduce crime, we need, as they have done in New York and elsewhere, make sure that small crimes are addressed. In this case, we need to set an example during elections. Sadly, the NDP MLAs for Minto, Wellington and Burrows, areas where crime is a concern, spoke up against the bill, and in favour of theft and vandalism. This was bizarre.

4) Health Care:
a) The NDP continue to waste health care dollars: A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal last week reported that 22-43% of antibiotics prescribed were done so inappropriately. This is a very high proportion. On Tuesday, I asked Theresa Oswald, the Minister of Health, why she was operating a health care system where we are wasting money on inappropriately prescribed medications, while at the same time her Gary Doer NDP government is refusing to use public dollars to support badly needed treatments for cancer (like Rituxan, Avastin) or diabetes (insulin pumps). The Minister stood up to defend her government's waste of health care dollars, and to try to say her government was being accountable, but it is rather hard to defend a situation where public dollars are being used to such an extent for inappropriate treatments.

b) A provincial bone and joint health network: On Wednesday, I continued my efforts to get increased political support for a province-wide bone and joint health network, similar to Alberta Bone and Joint Health - which has been very effective in reducing wait times for specialist consultations and for orthopedic procedures.

c) Determining the incidence of FASD in Manitoba: People in Manitoba are incredulous when I tell them that Gary Doer and his government still does not have a valid figure for the incidence of FASD in our province. We have had eight years of talk about FASD from Gary Doer and his government, but we still do not have the basic facts to help us more forward in reducing the incidence of FASD. On Wednesday, I continued my long, long fight to get the government to act.

5) Poverty:
Manitoba continued to have a very high level of poverty. On Wednesday, I extended an olive branch to Gary Doer and his government. I asked Gary Doer if he would set a goal to achieve a 50% reduction in child poverty in Manitoba by 2011. I also indicated that we, as Liberals, would be ready to work with him to put together and implement a plan to achieve this goal. Sadly, it appears Gary Doer is not very interested in working with Liberals to reduce poverty.

6) The Environment - Lake Winnipeg:
On Wednesday I used my Member's Statement to talk, yet again, about the need for action on Lake Winnipeg. It follows:" Lake Winnipeg Clean-up Initiatives
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Speaker, the recent federal Throne Speech has a token mention of the federal government's intention to help clean up Canada's major lakes.
The last federal budget was a major disappoint­ment in that less support was provided to help clean up Lake Winnipeg than was provided to help clean up Lake Simcoe, a very small lake in comparison, in Ontario. Even worse, we're now hearing that even the money designated for Lake Winnipeg has been very slow to be delivered to help the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium in its efforts to improve the lake. Manitoba Liberals are very concerned that Lake Winnipeg was not specifically mentioned with any particular plan or designation in the Throne Speech, and we're disappointed that the federal government didn't provide any more details to their water strategy that they have done to date.
There is very little that has happened either at the federal level in the last year or at the provincial level with respect to cleaning up Lake Winnipeg. Indeed, Lake Winnipeg, as all of us know, is now in major danger with increased algal blooms, increased erosion and increased problems just like Lake Erie was in the 1960s. It needs urgent action, not token support. It needs a major effort, not just a token mention.
There needs to be in our province, which is an incredible and wonderful province, a major effort to clean up one of our real treasures, Lake Winnipeg, and make sure that it is there in the way that it needs to be for all of us, for our children and our grandchildren and their children, for generations to come."