The Gerrard Report

Under the Conservative Pallister government we are seeing an increasing movement of people away from Manitoba to other provinces.   Under the last year of the NDP the situation was not good with a net loss of people from Manitoba to other provinces of 4,921 people.   Under the Pallister Conservatives the net loss of people has gone up substantially to 9,246 - an increase in the net movement out of Manitoba to other provinces of 87%.    This is likely because the Pallister Conservative government's policies have made Manitoba a less desirable place to live so we have a larger movement of people away from Manitoba. I am very concerned about the bad government we have under Mr. Pallister which is leading to this outcome.  In a committee meeting on Poverty on Thursday evening December 5th,  I asked Minister Stefanson about a disturbing statistic in the government's Poverty report - that there has been a substantial increase in the number of yout...

Thursday December 5th, Cindy Lamoureux moved an amendment to the government bill to ensure  people of all genders will have access to leave when they are victims of interpersonal violence.   Her comments in the Legislature are below together with the Minister's and my responses.  Ms. Cindy  Lamoureux  (Tyndall Park):   I move, seconded by the member for River Heights (Mr. Gerrard), THAT Bill 7 be amended in Clause 3 by replacing clause (a) of the definition "interpersonal violence" in the proposed subsection 59.11(1) with the following: (a) domestic violence, being violence that occurs when a person is subjected to an act or omission mentioned in subsection 2(1.1) of The Domestic Violence and Stalking Act by another person who (i) is co'-hibiting'–'-habitating' or is 'cohabitated' with another–with the person in a spousal, conjugal or intimate relationship, (ii) has or had a family relationship with the person, in which they...

Thursday November 5th, I spoke in the Manitoba Legislature in reponse to a Ministerial statement on the Montreal masacre.   My comments are below:  Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):   Madam Speaker, December the 6th is a very important day, is indeed a–was a watershed moment 30 years ago. It is something that is very close  to me, in part because I spent four years in Montreal and in part because I had visited the École polytechnique when I was minister responsible for science at the federal level.   And so when this happened  it was not only an incredible shock, it was a shock which occurred in an institution that I had been visiting and been there and seen the incredible contributions that people have made at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, and it was so sad to have something like this happen.       It is and was a turning point, and it's a turning point on which we must build. We must re...

Wednesday, December 4 I asked in Question Period about the large amount of vacant space at the Forks Market, some of which had been vacant for two or more years.  I also asked specifically as to why the renowned Skinner's Restaurant was removed from the Forks Market when there is so much empty space now.  My question and the Minister's response are below.    A video of the exchange can be seen at this link -  https://youtu.be/rD0h3cAkT3o The Forks Market -  Vacancy Management Hon. Jon  Gerrard   (River Heights): Madam Speaker, today The Forks Market has a lot of empty space, much of it empty for two or more years. The list of vacant space includes what was formerly Muddy Waters smokehouse, Beachcombers, Skinners, Dragon House, Aida Crystal, significant parts of Sydney's, Sushi Train, and several balcony businesses a lot–along with a lot of unused former administrative space.       The minister overseeing mun...

Earlier today, I commented on the government's improper use of mandatory overtime.   It was got so bad that I recently heard of a nurse who had been told to do mandatory overtime 16 shifts in a row!   I also heard of another nurse who left Manitoba to go to British Columbia because she was unable to have a life because she had been told to do so much mandatory overtime.   Mandatory overtime is bad for nurses and it is bad for patient care to have nurses who are overtires and overworked.   I asked the Health Minister when he was going to improve the management of health care so that mandatory overtime would not be necessary.   As you will see from his response, the Health Minister talked of the "historic (and I would add disruptive) changes"  he has introduced, which have been in part the cause of the problem of high levels of mandatory overtime use.  He did not mention any concrete steps to reduce mandatory overtime.  My ...