Winnipeg's Pride Celebration

Wednesday May 30, I spoke in the Manitoba Legislature about Winnipeg's upcoming Pride celebration.

Mr. Gerrard: Madam Speaker, Winnipeg's Pride celebration, which officially kicked off in Winnipeg last Friday with a flag-raising ceremony at the University of Winnipeg, is one of many that will take place across the province this summer, including in Portage, Brandon, Flin Flon and Steinbach.

I'd like to recognize this year's Pride Parade grand marshal, Brielle Beardy-Linklater. She's a 24‑year‑old two-spirited transgender queer woman from the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. She's a fighter at heart who follows her traditional knowledge and practices.

In a recent media interview she has said, and I quote: "I know there's a crisis on First Nations communities with two-spirited LGBTQ kids, in part because they don't know their identity, and what I'm trying to do is to help bridge that gap."

Pride week is a time that we must all stand together against discrimination, racism and intolerance. All of these work against our hopes of an accepting and diverse society.

I urge other MLAs to make every effort to attend Pride events in their communities.

Madam Speaker, I'd like to end my statement with a final quote from Brielle: When I speak, I tell it like it is and I say truth to power.

Miigwech, thank you, merci.

Comments

Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March. South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory. The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions. This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14. Manitoba ( red line ) started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then. South Dakota ( blue line ) has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4. Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.

Dougald Lamont speaks out strongly against the "reprehensible", "legally and morally indefensible" Bill 2

Early in the morning, just after 3 am, on November 6th, Dougald Lamont spoke at third reading of Bill 2, the Budget Implementation and Statutes Amendment Act. He spoke strongly against the bill because it attempts to legitimize a historic injustice against children in the care of child and family services. As Dougald says this bill is " the betrayal of children, First Nations and the people of this province. " Mr. Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface): These are historic times. This is an historic budget, for all the wrong reasons. I was thinking of the Premier's (Mr. Pallister) comments about D-Day today and my relatives who served in combat in the First and Second World War. I had a relative who played for the Blue Bombers and served at D-Day with the Winnipeg Rifles because he was an excellent athlete, he made it quite a long way up the beach. And had he lived until last year, he might have been one of the veterans the Premier insulted by not showing up at a

The Gerrard Report

Search This Blog