Danielle Adams

March 1, in the Manitoba Legislature I paid tribute to Danielle Adams. 

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, a wave of shock and disbelief swept over me when I heard of Danielle's death. It was tragic, on Highway 6 between Thompson and Grand Rapids. It's a stretch of highway that I have travelled on many, many times, often twice a year going up to Thompson when I was the Leader of the Liberal Party. She died far too young, leaving behind her husband Bill and two boys, Nic and Joe, and many, many other family and friends.

      Though we were not in the same party, I admired and respected Danielle. She spoke with passion on early learning and child care, on poverty, on behalf of those with dis­abil­ities and on housing issues. These are issues on which I have personally been deeply concerned with during the period I've been elected, both as a Member of Parliament and as a member of this Legislature. They're issues to which we need better answers than we have achieved to date. Danielle is owed recog­nition for standing for those in need in Manitoba and, parti­cularly, for those who live in the North.

      I didn't know until today that Danielle had a learning dis­abil­ity. She did remark­ably, con­sid­ering what she had to overcome to be an MLA and to do well as an MLA as she did.

      Many years ago, I learned an im­por­tant lesson from a mentor of mine. I was studying and doing research in London, England, and my supervisor, a Professor Soothill, was a well-known and internation­ally recog­nized scientist. He had dyslexia, a learning dis­abil­ity. He explained to me when I arrived how it was almost impossible for him to read words in a book and that he had got through school, including medical school, by paying very close attention when his teachers taught in class. That was essentially the only way he could learn. He could never read quickly enough. It was onerous, laborious and very, very slow when he read. He couldn't read quickly enough to keep up.

      Interestingly, he had done so well that he was appointed to be on the admissions selection com­mit­tee for Oxford Uni­ver­sity. And each time the selection com­mit­tee took in student applications and he was involved reviewing them, he scanned the applications very carefully searching for students with learning dis­abil­ities because he knew that if they had made it that far to apply to Oxford Uni­ver­sity, that they'd overcome extra­ordin­ary obstacles and that they deserved unreservedly to be admitted to Oxford Univer­sity to study. It was an im­por­tant lesson that people with dis­abil­ities–in this case learning dis­abil­ities–can often do extra­ordin­ary things and come over extraordinary obstacles. We have to thank Danielle, especially, for her con­tri­bu­tions and showing us what can be done even when you have a learning dis­abil­ity.

      It is a sad and inadequately recog­nized fact that one of the risks of being a Member of Parliament or a member of a prov­incial legislature is a car accident. As elected individuals we tend to travel a lot to reach and meet with people all over the province. For those who represent rural and remote areas the risks are greater, for the time spent travelling is sub­stan­tial.

      When I was a Member of Parliament, within the first year that I was there, in 1994, Gaston Péloquin, a Member of Parliament for Brome-Missisquoi, died in a car accident travelling between Ottawa and his con­stit­uency. It was a shock and a forceful reminder then of the hazards of the open roads to elected members of parliament or legislatures. Danielle's death is a shocking reminder of this.

      Since the 1990s, the hours we're in the Legislature have improved, but the weather is no better and many of the roads are no less dangerous. It is im­por­tant, I believe, in Danielle's legacy, that there is a careful look at how we can make Manitoba's roads safer, whether it is the roads them­selves or the clearing of roads, or the alerts we are able to give drivers travelling on roads when con­di­tions are difficult.

      As a person who has travelled many kilometres on Manitoba roads, I can see areas where im­prove­ments in the notification of driving con­di­tions on roads could be a sig­ni­fi­cant help. On a recent visit to Onanole, Brandon and Killarney, for example, there was much that was good on the prov­incial website, but I think it could be improved. Perhaps we can find a change or an im­prove­ment that could possibly prevent the death of people like Danielle in the future. We need to do this.

      Perhaps, even as another example, the recent multi-vehicle accident on Highway 1 west of Brandon involv­ing as many as 25 large trucks and cars could have been prevented. We were in Brandon the day before. The highway was extremely slick and icy after a freezing rain and it left a layer of ice on the road.

      I hope that all of us as MLAs can put an effort into making our roads safer. It would be good not only to save lives, to save the damage and destruction of vehicles and, interestingly, to reduce the cost of vehicle insurance. Let us work together to do this in the memory of Danielle.

      I offer con­dol­ences to family and friends, from myself and my wife Naomi, and to the members of the NDP caucus who have suffered a tragic loss of a close friend. Together in the Chamber we have lost someone very special and we will always remember this loss.

      Thank you for the op­por­tun­ity to speak and say a few words.

      Merci. Miigwech.