The Gerrard Report

On Thursday, in Question Period I asked the government about their plan to address the crystal meth crisis in our province.   Recent reports have shown a staggering increase in meth use in Winnipeg and it is of great concern to me and many other Manitobans.   Sadly, the Premier's response was off topic.  Unfortunately, as you can see below, he is not taking the issue of the meth crisis in Winnipeg seriously. Below is the transcript from Hansard. Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):   Madam Speaker, there's an explosion in crystal meth's use in Winnipeg with devastating effects on young people, on families and on children in child welfare.       In opposition, the current Minister of Health toured Manitoba and pronounced crystal meth a very, very significant issue, as I table.       Recent credible reports indicate that people with meth addictions are being told to get arrested because they'll get help faster in jail than in the health-care system.       Why, giv

With Samantha Rayburn-Trubyk after the resolution passed. Samantha celebrating Samantha and her family together with myself and Dougald Lamont, our new Manitoba Liberal Party leader. Samantha with Cindy Lamoureux, Judy Klassen and myself.  The reception There are in Manitoba about 30 people with dwarfism.  They are often stigmatized and discriminated against because of their short stature.   Yet, in all respects, except for their short stature, they are like other Manitobans.   The run businesses and work in jobs around the province.  They get married.  They have children.   They participate in our community volunteering and helping others.  To draw awareness to their condition and to seek to remove stigmatization and discrimination, I sponsored a resolution on October 24th, to have a Dwarfism Awareness Day on October 25th.  The resolution passed unanimously, being supported by all MLAs.  I want to thank Samantha Rayburn-Trubyk, the President of the Little Pe

Gerrard will create a task force to develop basic income program ready for 2020. Winnipeg , MB – Today Jon Gerrard announced together with David Northcott, a task force to develop a province-wide basic income program for all Manitobans. Jon Gerrard said, “Should I be elected leader of the Manitoba Liberal party on October 21, one of my first acts will be to appoint David Northcott as chair of a task force to develop the basic income program. He will utilize his experience with Winnipeg Harvest along with guidance from those with lived experience to create it." A basic income, or guaranteed minimum income program, has been talked about for years, and pilots are underway currently in Ontario . The plan to be developed by the Task Force chaired by David Northcott  will be a province-wide basic income program which uses the tax system to implement it, and will include supports for community and social engagement through volunteerism. The program w

This leadership contest is about building the Manitoba Liberal Party and improving our province, Manitoba. See the videos of their comments by clicking on the links below: First Nation’s advocate Bertha Travers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=CW9m2PbJL0Y ,  former President of the Twin Lakes Beach Association Jack King   https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=1RkuyKeNv0s   and technology and community internet leader Clarice Leader -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBANpJYgE2o

On Monday the results of the first round in a national competition for funding for a supercluster were announced.  Manitoba was shut out.  Supercluster funding is designed to move a major effort forward to create national centres of innovation such as have happened in Silicon Valley in the United States. Nine superclusters have passed the first round.   Four of these superclusters were in western Canada, one in Saskatchewan, two in Alberta and one in British Columbia.  Manitoba should have had a proposal pass the first round but we did not. There were a number of important components in this major competition which were vital to success. 1) The Premier, if he is to be believed, did not take the time to understand the nature of the competition and the requirements for success.  He said yesterday that he was going to ask Ottawa for the criteria for the competition.  Asking after the competition is over is too late.  He should have found out before as they were publicly known. 2)

On October 21, I had the opportunity to talk with people at the North East Business Exchange at the L'Arche Tova Cafe in Transcona.   This is an important issue, because, as the Conference Board of Canada had found in a recent report, the yearly cost to Canada of depression and anxiety in the workplace is $50 billion.  We need to act to prevent mental illness and to help people keep their brains healthy.  My presentation is at the link below. Click on it to see the video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hiyoF3q-M4  

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Lloyd Axworthy, former President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg from 2004 to 2014, about the future of education.  This discussion focuses on the need for new thinking in the area of post-secondary education to enable us to meet the needs of Manitobans.  Highlights include the need for an online learning system for Manitoba and a new type of Learning Centre in Winnipeg.  Click on the link below to see our discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=spnb8B_RLFg

Monday evening the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre was closed.  Tuesday, when I went by what used to be the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre, the closed sign was up.   But the messaging as to where to go was anything but clear.   First of all, as the WRHA have argued for a long while - urgent care is different from Emergency Care and different from primary care.   Thus logically, patients seeking urgent care should be now referred to the new urgent care centre at Victoria Hospital. Indeed, as the sign above shows this is happening.  Yet, this does not make sense for most.   65% of the people in West Broadway do not have cars.   It is a two to three hour walk from the Misericordia to the Victoria Hospital depending on how fast you walk.  If you take a bus there are several transfers.  The whole logic of the decision to close the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre was and is faulty.   The WRHA argued that they only need two urgent care centres for all of Winnipeg, and now it is ob

Thank you to City of Winnipeg Councillor Mike Pagtakhan, mental and brain health care advocate Bonnie Bricker and environmentalist and fresh water scientist Michael Paterson for their support. You can view videos at these links Mike Pagtakhan at this link  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SrpBpfdbzM&feature=youtu.be Bonnie Bricker at this link  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K0jjI846lE   Michael Paterson at this link  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=B5709pfiE0U