Camperville - high drop out rates, ambulance service and the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables need attention

March 30, 2010, I was in Camperville with Marvin Krawec to follow up on my earlier visits there. Back in Sept. 2006, when I visited Camperville to meet with Ernie Urbanowski and others (see my blog of Sept 16, 2006), I found that there were some real issues in the way in which housing was being supported by the NDP government in Camperville. I described it as the "Save a buck and spend a fortune" approach. Fortunately, my efforts and those of others have led to changes and improvements in how things are now being done. It was good to hear that this was happening.

This time in the meetings I had in Camperville, there major issues emerged.

1) The NDP approach to ambulances in this area is a problem. When an ambulance is needed in Camperville it will normally come from Winnipegosis about half an hour away. This is too slow for the people of Camperville and I was told that there have been deaths because people have had to wait so long. People in Camperville want an ambulance stationed in their community so that the time to have an ambulance come in an emergency can be much shorter.

2) Grade twelve graduation rates for children in Camperville are too low. I was given figures of about 20% of students graduating from grade 12. This is very, very low compared to the average grade 12 graduation rates throughout Manitoba of about 79% currently. [Our drop out rate province-wide continues, however, to be the lowest of all provinces in Canada so even provincially we need to do better - and lack of attention to the situation in communities like Camperville certainly does not help the provincial average]. Camperville is in the Swan River constituency of Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk. It is disappointing that after ten years, that the Camperville students have not had more attention from their MLA and that the graduation rate is still so low.

3) People in Camperville want to be healthy and eat healthy food, but there is no store in the community which sells fresh fruits and vegetables, and for Camperville residents going to Dauphin or Swan River is a long way and it is expensive. A store which sells fresh fruits and vegetables in Camperville is badly needed.

I have told people in Camperville that I will take up there issues, as I do for people in communities around Manitoba. Already, this past week, in question period in the Manitoba Legislature, I raised my concerns about the low graduation rates in Camperville and other similar communities in Manitoba. Sadly Nancy Allan, the Minister responsible, did not even mention Camperville specifically in her answer, though she did indicate that her government was concerned about the high drop out rates in Manitoba (they clearly have not done what is needed in the last ten and a half years!) and might be making an announcement soon. Well- I can say to Nancy Allan - the people of Camperville will be watching you.