Boyd Upper - A tribute and a thank you.

Boyd Upper visited with Manitoba Liberals over the weekend. He is an inspiration. He was involved in the move to have a Canadian flag - being one of the young Liberals presenting a resolution to this effect at a convention in Winnipeg in about 1956. He was involved in the effort to bring in our Canadian medicare system. He attended a crucial Liberal on in about 1961 - at which a resolution was passed, after intense debate, to support bringing medicare into Canada. He was there, in the Ontario election in the early 1960s in which the idea of a Canada Pension Plan was pushed forward to much opposition. For all your work on these initiatives, we thank you Boyd.

Boyd, we also thank you for bringing to Manitoba your experience with numerous campaigns and your assistance in helping Manitoba Liberals in our efforts to elect more Liberals in our province.

Boyd is beside me in the photo above. On my right is my wife, Naomi. On Bloyd's left is Judi Hepper, our candidate in the Concordia bylection coming up.

If you can help in the byelection, please call Judi's campaign manager Bill de Jong at 667-8056 or email the campaign at judiheppnercampaign@gmail.com

Lucentis - Why I am so passionate about making sure Lucentis is available and covered under pharmacare in Manitoba

Lucenits is a drug used to treat acute macular degeneration and it has been found to be a remarkably effective treatment. Acute macular degeneration is a major, indeed I think, the major cause of blindness in seniors. Lucentis is so effective in some people, that people treated early who have lost enough sight that they can no longer drive have their sight return so that they can drive a car once again. It is remarkable. Lucentis is now covered under pharmacare in most provinces. It is not covered under pharmacare in Manitoba. It should be. See also

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2009/01/lucentis-avastin-and-treatment-of-age.html

I am really passionate about this because my father has lost his vision to acute macular degeneration. For my father, the vision loss occurred before Lucentis was available, and sadly at that time there was no effective treatment to save the sight in a person with acute macular degeneration of the type he developed. Over the ten years or more since my father lost his vision (he is legally blind - though with the aid of large magnifying glasses and similar aids he can read but it is cumbersome), it has made his life much more difficult than it would have been had he been able to see well. It would have made so much difference to him and to all of us who are close to him, if he could see well. We do what we can to read to him, and he listens to music and talking books but it is not the same as having full sight.

Nevertheless, my father is a very remarkable person. Even in cold weather, he walks for long distances outside every day to keep fit. He keeps up to date with what is happening and he really enjoys the company of family and friends. In the photo above, I am going for a walk with my father in Saskatoon over the Christmas holidays.

I have a great deal to thank my father for. Throughout my life he has been there for me. Once when I was young, I almost drowned in a swift river, and he jumped in and swam to save me. In the years since, he has been supportive in so many ways it would be impossible to count.

I have featured him on my blog on a numer of occasions including

a) his role in the Second World War - http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2005_11_06_archive.html

and

b) his role in promoting breast feeding and in understanding and treating allergies

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006_06_25_archive.html

and

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006_09_24_archive.html

as well as on many family occasions. One day, I will all put on my blog more details of his role in the discovery of an effective treatment for phenylketonuria, a condition that if not treated results in serious and irreversible brain damage. Today thanks to my father and others who worked with him, many, many children the world over who are born with phenylketonuria are detected at birth and are treated and grow up developing normally and live normal lives, though they have to keep to a particular diet to stay well.

It is because of my father that I am so passionate about ensuring people in Manitoba who have acute macular degeneration have access to lucentis. We can prevent blindness in many people with this disease. We need to be doing it, without having Manitobans pay out thousands of dollars to do so. It should be part of our basic medicare support system so it is available to all Manitobans regardless of income.

I am still getting calls from people who are having great difficulty getting the lucentis they need. It is time for Manitoba to do what most other provinces have done, and cover lucentis under pharmacare.

THE PUSH FOR LUCENTIS COVERAGE SWINGS INTO HIGHER GEAR IN MANITOBA - IT IS TIME TO END MANITOBANS STATUS AS "SECOND CLASS CANADIANS".

I have received an email from Dean Cousens with the Coalition for Lucentis Equality in Manitoba. He raised the isse at the February 2nd meeting of the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce where Health Minister Theresa Oswald spoke. In brief, from Dean's notes, he asked the Minister the following:

GOOD MORNING, MADAM MINISTER.

I'M DEAN COUSENS AND MY GUEST IS SILVIA CHIARAMELLO. THESE NAMES MAY SOUND FAMILIR TO YOU AS WE'VE BOTH BEEN WRITING TO YOU FOR OVER ONE YEAR REGARDING THE ISSUE OF AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION, WHICH AS YOU KNOW, IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF BLINDNESS IN CANADA FOR ADULTS OVER TEH AGE OF 50.

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN WRITING TO YOU FOR OVER TWO YEARS!

AT A COST OF $1,000 PER EACH INJECTION INTO HER EYES, MY FRIEND SILVIA HAS ALREDY SPENT $5,000 TO MAINTAIN HER EYESIGHT.

SINCE 2007, ALMOST 3 YEARS AGO, A DRUG TREATMENT (LUCENTIS) HAS BEEN AVAILABLE, AND IS CURRENTLY FREE TO OVER 90% OF CANADIANS IN 7 PROVINCES, BUT WHENEVER WE ASK YOUR DEPARTMENT WHENI T WILL BE AVAILABLE TO MANAITOBANS, YOU CLAIM YOU ARE "STILL NEGOTIATING" - EVEN AFTER IT HAS BEEN AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE FOR THREE YEARS!

CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND JUST WHAT THE REAL ISSUE IS, AND WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT MANITOBA, THAT YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN UNABLE TO FINALIZE AN AGREEMENT WHICH 7 OTHER PROVINCES HAVE NEGOTIATED QUITE SSUCCESSFULLY? IT'S INEXCUSABLE THAT MANITOBANS ARE BEING TREATED AS "SECOND CLASS CANADIANS", AND MANY ARE GOING BLIND, AS THEY CANNOT AFFORD THE LUCENTIS TREATMENT.

THANK YOU.

Dean tell's me the Minister replied with her usual "We're working on it."

I say - "What is the matter Madam Minister, that it takes three years to get this important drug under pharmacare for Manitobans? How many more Manitobans will go blind before you act? Manitobans should have been covered some time ago. We should not have had to wait, wait and wait like this."

The Algal Bowl by David Schindler and John Vallentyne - A Comment

I have read with great interest, The Algal Bowl, a book which provides an in depth scientific perspective on the problems of algae on lakes like Lake Winnipeg and Killarney Lake in Manitoba. It is a really good book and recommended reading for anyone interested in decreasing the algal problems in Manitoba's lakes. I have several comments.



1) David Schindler and John Vallentyne make the very important point that we need to focus on reducing the amount of phosphorous getting into our lakes. They also indicate strongly that we do not need to reduce nitrogen going into our lakes, because the most problem causing algae can get the nitrogen they need from the air. While there may be a few exceptions - possibly hot weather marine river delta environments - the critical need in almost all circumstances is to reduce phosphorous only. I have been pushing for several years now for a change in Winnipeg, to remove phosphorous but not nitrogen from our City's sewage and waste-water. It is good to have strong support for this approach in The Algal Bowl.



2) David Schindler and John Vallentyne present elegantly the role of fish species in influencing algal blooms. When because of overfishing, or for other reasons, large fish-eating fish like pickerel or pike are depleted in numbers, there is an increase in the fish species which eat small planktonic crustacea called daphnia and as a result reduce daphnia populations. Because daphnia feed on algae, conditions which reduce pickerel and pike and lead to a reduction in daphnia can lead to increases in algae. For Lake Winnipeg this does not appear to be a problem at the moment as populations of pickerel have been abundant in recent years. Lake Winnipegosis which has seen a major depletion of pickerel has not had algal problems, but this is likely because the phosphorous concentrations in Lake Winnipegosis are very low. This is further discussed on page 173 of The Algal Bowl.



3) More attention should have been given to the influence of flow on phosphorous content of water bodies. Increasing evidence suggests that high flow situations are associated with increased phosphorous transport to Lake Winnipeg. This may happen for a variety of reasons. High flow situations, in the spring run off or at the extreme during floods, are often those in which phosphorous is washed from the land into the waterways. This may be due to phosphorous applied as fertilizer or manure to the land, or it may just be that high flow is associated with increased washing of organic matter (grasses, leaves, crop residue etc) into the waterways, or due to high flow producing more erosion of the banks of the waterways. Erosion of soil from banks, along rivers or along the shores of Lake Winnipeg can contribute to the amount of phosphorous, as there is phosphorous bound to the soil and erosion of the soil into the water increases the phosphorous content of the water. It would have helped to have a chapter on the impact of flow conditions on phosphorous levels in the waterways.

In understanding flow conditions, it is noteworthy under low flow conditions phosphorous bound to particles sediments out of the water. Interestingly, when a dam is built, whether small or large, phosphorous settles out of the water. Thus downstream from a dam, the phosphorous content of the water is much lower after a dam is put in a stream or a river. For example, the Saskatchewan River, even though it drains a lot of agricultural land in Alberta and Saskatchewan, provides a relatively small amount of phosphorous into Lake Winnipeg because much of the phosphorous settles out of the water behind the large Gardiner, Squaw Rapids and Grand Rapids dams. Similarly, the Winnipeg River does not contribute as much phosphorous as it might probably because of settling behind the dams along it. Small dams, along the South Tobacco Creek have been also been shown, I understand, to reduce peak flows and phosphorous levels downstream.


4) I also felt there could have been a more in depth understanding of the role of marshes and how to manage marshes to reduce phosphorous in the water. Schindler and Vallentyne do emphasize the important of marshes in denitrification - releasing nitrogen in the air, and lowering the amount of nitrogen in the water. But, managing marshes optimally to reduce phosphorous is important for lakes like Killarney Lake in southern Manitoba where there are major concerns about algal blooms. It would have been helpful to have a chapter specifically on marsh management to reduce algal blooms.


5) Lastly, there could have been much more discussion on the role of surface and sub-surface drainage as it affects phosphorous levels in waterways. Increased drainage achieved by increasing surface drainage, and surface run-off will tend to increase the amount of phosphorous going into the waterways. In contrast, when sub-surface drainage like tile drainage is used, the water flows through the soil before entering the waterways and much of the phosphorous can be bound by the soil during this process thus dramatically reducing the phosphorous going into the waterways. A caution is necessary here, though, because if the phosphorous levels in the soil are very high, the phosphorous binding sites can become saturated and the soil can no longer bind additional phosphorous and is not effective in removing phoshorous. Fortunately, for most of the agricultural areas of Manitoba, the amount of phosphorous in the soils is low and this is not a problem, with the exception of locations with feedlots.

For example, in 1982, Bengtson showed that tile drainage could reduce phosphorous run off by 48%. For more on this see http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2005_09_18_archive.html.

Judi Heppner is the Liberal candidate in the Concordia byelection

Last night Judi Heppner was nominated as the Liberal candidate for the upcoming Concordia byelection.

Judi lives in Concordia with her husband Rob and their three children, and she is committed to working for and helping people in Concordia. Judi is a social worker, a graduate of Booth College, and she has almost 20 years experience working to better the lives of Manitobans through her work with Marymound, MacDonald Youth Services, Booth College, Heathy Child Manitoba, Sara Riel and Mount Carmel Clinic. Judi has worked in leadership roles supervising a clinical team in program delivery and supervising student youth care workers. Judi is especially known for her strong advocacy on issues such as recognizing the academic credentials of smaller post-secondary institutions and recognizing the needs and rights of children in care. She has been involved with FASD service delivery and prevention, as an evaluator of the North End Schools Safer Corridors Project and in the 1997 Manitoba Birth Cohort Study. She presently sits on the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba. She is running because she believes strongly in the need for changes at the provincial level to improve the child welfare system in Manitoba and to improve our ability to have strong community support for children, for youth, for workers and for seniors.

Please also see Judi Heppner's blog at
http://judiheppnercampaign.wordpress.com

Greg Selinger's $93 million goof

Last spring, Greg Selinger, then Manitoba's Finance Minister, presented his budget on March 25, 2009. In his budget he estimated that Corporation Income Tax revenues for the 2009-2010 fiscal year would be $347 million.

I looked at the budget, and based on what happened in Manitoba during the 1991 recession, when corporate income tax revenues dropped dramatically, I suspected Selinger had made a big mistake in overestimating the corporate income tax revenue. The next day (March 26) in the Legislature I challenged Mr. Selinger on his calculations:

"Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, during the recession of the early 1990s, corporate income tax revenue dropped from $201 million in 1989 to $152 million in 1990 to $78 million in 1991, yet this government believes we will not experience such a significant drop-off in corporate tax revenue. Based on the experience of the early '90s, it's likely the minister is overestimating corporate tax revenues for the coming year by about $50 million to $100 million. "

In reply, Mr. Selinger said he was just using long standing projections.

In my supplementary question I asked:

"Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, you know, the minister says he's using long-standing predictions, but in 1991, the then Conservative government, presumably [using] the same predictions, made a serious error when it estimated corporate income tax revenues in the 1991 budget of $173 million, and they came in at $78 million. That was one of the most shocking mistakes in the history of Manitoba, overestimating by almost $100 million the [corporation tax] revenue. "

"Today, the present Minister of Finance is about to repeat a Tory mistake. The integrity of the budget is in jeopardy. He hasn't paid attention to the normal changes expected during an economic recession. Why is the Minister so determined to repeat the Tory mistakes of the past?"

Then on April 6, 2009, I asked again. Mr. Selinger was adamant "we expect the budget to stay on track."

And now, just before Christmas, the NDP government presented its updated budget forecast for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. And, there in black and white, is the revised estimate of corporate income tax revenue - now at $254 million, some $93 million less than the budget estimate of $347 million. This decrease in corporate income tax revenues, which was very predictable, is one of the significant reasons that the NDP now estimate they are way off track on this year's budget - and that we will have a major deficit of $592 million this fiscal year.

While some elements of the deficit might be excused as not so predictable (the H1N1 flu costs for example), the decrease in corporate income taxes was very predictable. The NDP are getting our province into fiscal trouble because they were not smart last spring when they put together their budget. In short, Mr. Selinger made a $93 million goof in his overestimate of corporate income tax revenue, and now we are seeing the result of his poor management.

Welcome to the New Year: Our Liberal vision is to be the best in Canada: Manitoba can and should be the best when it comes to child and youth health

With the NDP, Manitoba is ranked second last. With Liberal legislation, Manitoba would be the best in Canada. We can and should be the best. See the full story below.

The Canadian Paediatric Society recently released a report "Are we Doing Enough? A Status Report on Canadian public policy and child and youth health" (see http://www.cps.ca/) - released Dec 8, 2009.

Presently, under the NDP, Manitoba ranks second from the bottom. Converting Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor to numerical ratings of 10,8,6 and 4, gives the following ranking with Nova Scotia the best.

Nova Scotia 82
New Brunswick 78
Ontario 78
Quebec 78
British Columbia 76
Newfoundland and Labrador 74
Prince Edward Island 70
Saskatchewan 68
Manitoba 68
Alberta 64

What was striking to me was that Manitoba's poor ranking is a result of the NDP failure to support or fully implement five pieces of Liberal legislation which are critical to improving child and youth health in Manitoba. If these five pieces of Liberal legislation had been passed and fully implemented, Manitoba would have a score of 90 and be the best in Canada when it comes to child and youth health. Manitoba can be and should be the best in Canada. It is only the NDP which is holding us back.

It is curious to me the number of people who accept the status quo - with Manitoba having a low ranking on many reports like the 2009 Canadian Paediatric Society Report. Liberals believe is does not have to be this way. We can be the best. We should be the best. We may not be able to be the best in everything, but we certainly should do everything we can to be the best in such a critical area as the health of children and youth.

Political pundits, and members of other parties tell me I am making a mistake to put a priority on children and children's health. They emphasize that children don't vote. But, for me, the future of Manitoba is in our children. Our ability to have a strong Manitoba depends critically on how we raise our children. Political pundits can say what they like, but for me, children are at the heart of why I am in politics. And, I believe there are many adults, like me, who believe that we must ensure the health of our children and our youth.

For reference, the pieces of legislation are:
Making booster seats for toddler's mandatory. Such legislation, like that requiring seat belts, exists in almost all other provinces and for good reasons - every dollar spent on a child restraint device, has been found to save $32. There can hardly be a better return on investment, and yet the NDP opposed this measure and made sure it did not pass. (This was Bill 200 of the last session. It was first introduced in May 2008, and has never been supported by the NDP)

Having a provincial plan to address child poverty. Liberals brought in this legislation because poverty is a major issue in Manitoba, and food bank use has gone up enormously under the NDP as a result. Instead of supporting the legislation, modelled on measures passed in other provincees, and acting to reduce poverty and the need for food banks, the NDP called this action to help reduce poverty "drivel". (Bill 201 of this session - first introduced in May 2008, and not supported by the NDP)

Implementing Jordan's Principle. Jordan's Principle provides for the needs of children with special needs to be considered first, including where there are jurisdictional issues between federal and provincial governments. Liberals brought in legislation to achieve this. The NDP have relied on a weak agreement with the federal government which so far is not working all that well (Bill 203 of last session - first introduced in May 2008, and not supported by the NDP)

Making bicycle helmet legislation mandatory. Such legislation now exists in most other provinces and has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing head injuries and deaths. Liberals introduced such legislation, modeled on acts in other provinces. The NDP said the Liberal proposal was "flawed", "recycled hash" and "out of touch". However, while this measure was being debated, the Canadian Public Health Association was meeting in Winnipeg and eminent members of this society were talking about whether a boycott of Manitoba in the future might be needed until the province brought its laws to protect children up the standard of other provinces. (Bill 202 in the last session - first introduced in May 2005, and not supported by the NDP)

Legislation to protect children from second hand smoke in cars (initially a Liberal initiative and now passed in Manitoba through NDP legislation, but not fully implemented)

The bottom line: It is time to support Manitoba Liberals to get a better situation for children in our province.

The Carman and District Christmas Cheer Board

On December 16th, I was in Carman and while there I stopped in to see the Carman and District Cheer Board in action.

Carman is a community with an extraordinary volunteer effort, and the Cheer Board is a good example. Carman, as a result of the huge effort that is put in each year, is able to help not only those in need living in the town of Carman, but also to reach out quite some distance into the surrounding area and to nearby communities.

Congratulations to Brenda Bryson and the many others who put in so much effort to help others at this time of year.

Cole Choken's Run for Cancer

On December 15th, Cole Choken was at the Manitoba Legislature. He is getting ready for a very long and ambitious run to raise money for Cancer. The run will begin soon - December 27th, and will take Cole through much of the southern and eastern United States and then back to Winnipeg through Quebec and Ontario to reach Manitoba in about six months. The full trip can be seen at Cole's web site:

http://www.colechokenrun.com/

Good luck Cole - and also to Steve Noel and Justin Tetrault who will be with Cole on the journey.

The Inner-City Science Centre at Niji Mahkwa School in Winnipeg

December 10th marked the official opening of the Inner-City Science Centre at the Niji Mahkwa School on Flora Ave. Much of the credit for this wonderful initiative must go to Dr. Francis Amara. He is a biochemist at the University of Manitoba. He took the initiative to build a new approach to learning science in the inner city of Winnipeg. School children are exposed to and participate in exciting and advanced aspects of science, in particular to new approaches to understanding and learning about molecular biology.

The students are engaged and drawn in to the world of science and this is making a difference in their approach to school, to education and we hope long-run will make a difference in their lives and their career choices.

Thank you to Dr. Amara!(with me in the top photo)

The middle photo shows a group of students singing at the opening.

The bottom photo shows Leon Espira, an instructor at the Inner-City Science Centre, with me at the opening. Well done Leon!

I was overly harsh to Gary - I apologize

On December 5th, I was helping Mark Young and others at the Salvation Army serve Breakfast with Santa to many in the community in need of a good breakfast and Christmas Cheer. There were many firefighters there as well who were helping out and demonstrating household fire safety measures in the run up to the Christmas season. As I was serving, I looked around and realized Gary Doer was not there. I got to thinking about the many, many events where both Gary and I have been helping out in the community over the years. And the more I thought about the many times Gary had helped at various functions in the community, the more I realized I had been overly harsh with Gary when I spoke on October 8th, the last day he was in the Legislature. I apologize Gary.

There were perhaps valid reasons for my approach. Traditionally, for the last ten years, the wind up speeches at the end of a session have been highly partisan, and Gary himself has led the way in praising his own "superlative" actions and accusing the Liberals of all sorts of terrible atrocities. But, this was Gary's last day in the Legislature, and I should have praised Gary for his efforts in the community and his willingness to come out at whatever hour was needed to help others.

I should also have talked about the initiatives we worked on together - like the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, going together to Ottawa to help Manitoba farmers, and traveling together down the Red River during a flood to assess the situation and work for Manitobans in trouble.

I should also have talked about Gary's political skill in planning the legislature sessions. Unlike this fall under Greg Selinger, when we had the most disorganized session possible and needed to have two emergency sittings called to complete the ordinary business of the Legislature, Gary Doer was always carefully and astutely organized. The kind of sitting we just finished would never have happened under Gary Doer.

True, there were times when Gary Doer's biting attacks on Manitoba Liberals hurt us. I would argue, many were misleading and based on half truths, but there is no doubt they were effective. Nevertheless, I should have bit my tongue on his last day, I should have given Gary Doer praise for the positive things he has contributed. Thank you Gary for your contributions to Manitoba.

Moving to more respectful workplaces in Manitoba

Today I introduced Bill 219, a bill which provides a framework for Manitoba workplaces to be more respectful, and to have fewer problems with bullying, harrassment and violence in the workplace. It is a bill which follows on legislation in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. At this point Manitoba does not have similar legislation, and I continue to have people coming to me because they have suffered from bullying, intimidation and harrassment in the workplace.

I first introduced this type of legislation several years ago ( see http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006_03_05_archive.html . At the time the NDP rejected it because they said their approach was doing the job. Sadly, this has not been the case, as more and more people have come forward to me after problems with bullying and harrassment in the workplace.

This bill is an important one. Creating more respectful workplaces is a win-win for workers and for employers. Reducing bullying and harrassment in the workplace improves the workplace environment and improves productivity. It increases job satisfaction for workers. For employers it helps to keep skilled workers and it saves dollars by improving productivity and increasing worker satisfaction and worker retention.

To see the full text of Bill 219, go to
http://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/39-4/b219e.php

Thank you to Judi Daly (photo with me above) who has provided help and support in bringing this bill forward. To join Judi's facebook group "Manitobans for Respectful Workplaces", and see the latest information on this topic, please go to

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=198094412856

Also of interest is the following blog: http://respectfulworkplace.wordpress.com/about/