The Gerrard Report

The crowd swelled out from the steps of the Manitoba Legislature - out into the lawn at the front, out to both sides.   It was impressive.   Students on strike from their classroom had come to participate and to learn from the speakers and to show their concern that urgent action is needed to address climate change and to save our planet.  I was proud to have two grand children who had come.  One had walked with friends for one hour - a zero-carbon walk in order to get there from their school in St Boniface.  She and her friends want a future for themselves and for all who live on our planet. 

Thursday September 26th, Dougald Lamont, Cindy Lamoureux and I were sworn in as MLAs by the Clerk of our Legislative Assembly - Patricia Chaychuk. 

It was an amazing evening and an incredible movie - STAND!  September 24th, Naomi and I were fortunate to be able to attend the screening of the movie STAND!. It was an amazing evening and an incredible movie - telling a story of love in the midst of the 1919 general strike in Winnipeg.  Danny Shur spearheaded - with Rick Chafe - the writing of the script and the lyrics and the effort to get the funding to produce the movie.  Director Robert Adetuyi and cinematographer Roy Wagner assembled the cast and to film the movie.   Congratulations to all who were involved in this effort.    The world changes one heart at a time. The cast of STAND! assembled on the stage after the screening. 

September 24th, after hearing Michelle Obama, Naomi and I went to the Forks Market to see Jordan Van Sewell.  Naomi has long been an admirer of Jordan Van Sewell's whimsical and fun sculptures, as have I.  A month ago, I promised Naomi that if I were to be re-elected in River Heights we would visit Jordan Van Sewell and purchase one of his sculptures to celebrate.  We did.  It is below - titled "The Flutist and the Grasshopper"  They are sitting in the fall - below a tree with one leaf left.  In front is a cobblestone road and a patch of grass.  

September 24, Naomi and I joined many other Manitobans at the MTS Centre to listen to Michelle Obama.  She talked, more than anything else about children.   She spent much of her time at the White House in ensuring her own children were doing well.   She also spent much of her time at the White House in addressing how we can improve the physical and mental health of children.  One part of her message came across loud and clear "we set the bar too low" - when it comes to our children.  We need to "end the limited expectations."   We need to "fill kids with possibilities."  

The evening of Sept 21, I joined many others at a fundraising event to help support children in the Congolese community in Manitoba to go to school.   This is an invaluable initiative by the community.  Leaders in the community recognize that education is the great equalizer and they want to ensure that their children have the best possible chance to get an education and to succeed. This effort was also supported by many members of the Winnipeg Downtown Rotary Club.

Sunday September 15, I attended a celebration of the life of Dr. Henrique Rigatto.  Dr. Rigatto was a colleague who worked at the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg for many years.  He came to Winnipeg from Brazil in the early 1970s, established the neonatal intensive care unit, and did extensive clinical and basic research which looked at the mechanism by which the brain controls breathing and how such control develops in utero and after birth.  His research was world leading and helped greatly in the understanding of how breathing is controlled very early in life.  As part of his work in the neonatal intensive care unit with newborn babies he helped develop the newborn transport team which was able to bring many sick infants from all over Manitoba to Winnipeg to get help.  In 1986, recognizing that the time for transport of an infant is critical he was successful in urging the province to get a jet airplane which could land on the small northern runways to red...

Saturday September 21 I joined the Ride and Stride for Rett Syndrome in King's Park in Winnipeg.  There was an excellent turnout for the event.   Rett Syndrome is a rare (1 in 8,500 females), severe brain condition which results from a change in one of the genes on the X chromosome.  The event was to raise awareness and funds to help children or adults with Rett syndrome

September 18 I joined many others in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Creative Foundation.  It was an exciting evening with the exceptionally gifted 15 year-old Tanmay Bakshi talking about teaching young people how to learn about and use augmented intelligence.   Congratulations to Yisa Akinbolaji and all involved with the Creative Foundation on a very successful 20 years.  Naomi and I are together with Yisa Akinbolaji, his daughter Abby Akinbolaji and his partner Catherine Rust-Akinbolaji Presenting a Life Mentor Award to Dr. Tito Daodu with her proud parents receiving the award on behalf of Tito who was unable to be present.  Tanmay Bakshi talking about computers, apps and augemented intelligence.  Tanmay emphasized that human creativity is always going to be needed.   Tanmay talked about AI as augmented intelligence rather than artificial intelligence.  We purchased Tammy Bakshi's book Hello Swift!  for...

Sept 16th, Dougald Lamont, Cindy Lamoureux and I had a Caucus meeting to discuss the results of the election and to start preparing for the Legislative session which is coming soon.    We are all working well together.  Cindy and I are both in strong support of Dougald as our Manitoba Liberal Party Leader.  

September 16 to 18, I attended the One Basin, One Governance Conference held in Winnipeg. The conference, co-organized by the Red River Basin Commission and the Southern Chiefs Organization was a remarkable effort to bring together people from areas within the Lake Winnipeg Basin to look at the opportunities for working together.   As was highlighted on the first evening this is a fight for mother earth.  It is a fight to ensure that the land and water within the basin are healthy.   There were many notable speakers.   Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs Organization demonstrated his capacity for leadership, as did Mary Scherling, Gavin van der Linde and Steve Strang of the Red River Basin Commission.   Bob Sandford talked of the urgency of action with respect to climate change as we are observing changes this year in the Canadian arctic and in Greenland which were not predicted, only a few years ago, to occur until 2070 or 2090...

September 12th, Naomi and I were at Victoria Hospital's 4th Annual Miracle Garden Party.  Congratulations to Sachit Mehra and his wife Caroline (with us below), and to the many others who made this event such a success. 

September 11 was the ribbon cutting for the new water fountain at Wellington Crescent and Guelph St.   Runners realized the need for this water fountain.   Reider Insurance approached City councillor John Orlikow and together they made it happen.  It also has a bowl for dogs as there are a lot of dogs who walk with their owners along this stretch of the crescent.    The Ribbon Cutting The Waterfountain on Wellington Crescent near Guelph St.  John Orlikow speaking of the history of the development of the water fountain The water fountain has a bowl for dogs as well. 

The Winnipeg Free Press in their article "Day Care Dilemma" laid is out clearly.  "More than half of Manitobans struggle to access the child care they need."    They lay out the platforms of all the political parties and say with respect to the Manitoba Liberals that  "The Liberals say they would put up 18,000 new spaces over eight years and boost workers’ wages. That would mean a total target of 55,000 spaces by 2027. The party appears to be the only one to have a goal for overall child-care spaces." None of the other parties had a goal to address the wait list.  Indeed, as an example, the NDP say "The NDP have promised to add 600 spaces a year."   This is only a fraction of what Liberals will add - which is 2,250 spaces a year.  Further the NDP plan would take 30 years to reach the 18,000 new spaces needed to address the current wait list.  If you care about access to child care and early childhood education in Manitoba vote Liberal...