Bill 10–The Boards, Committees, Councils and Commissions Streamlining Act

Thursday May 31, I spoke at 3rd reading on Bill 10 which is designed to reduce the size of many government boards and to eliminate a number of them. My comments (from Hansard) are below.

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Yes, Madam Speaker, we're, in fact, in favour of a number of the changes in this bill and reducing some of the boards in size and so on, but we're not in favour–in fact, we're strongly opposed–to two of the changes. One is to the board of CancerCare Manitoba. That's a board which specifically has currently broad representation, which gives it a very effective position. And it has worked very well and given Manitoba very good health care in the area of cancer, so we don't agree with the change there.

The other is to the removal of the advisory council for workplace safety. Under this government, we have seen problems with workplace safety. I have raised some issues recently related to the death of Todd Maytwayashing. I believe we need to improve the situation of workplace safety, partly because of these accidents and deaths and partly because we have one of the highest time‑lost-to-injury rate in all of Canada, so we need a particular emphasis on making sure that workers are working in safe environments and that workers can go home at the end of the day.

And so we don't support those changes, and we'll be voting against this bill. Thank you.

Comments

Dougald Lamont speaks at Meth Forum last night to present positive ideas to address the epidemic, while exposing the lack of action by the Pallister Conservatives

Last night at the Notre Dame Recreation Centre in St. Boniface, at an Election Forum on the Meth Crisis in Manitoba, Dougald Lamont spoke eloquently about the severity of the meth epidemic and described the Liberal plan to address it. The Liberal Plan will make sure that there is a single province-wide phone number for people, or friends of people, who need help dealing with meth to call (as there is in Alberta) and that there will be rapid access to a seamless series of steps - stabilization, detoxification, treatment, extended supportive housing etc so that people with meth addiction can be helped well and effectively and so that they can rebuild their lives. The Liberal meth plan will be helped by our approach to mental health (putting psychological therapies under medicare), and to poverty (providing better support). It will also be helped by our vigorous efforts to help young people understand the problems with meth in our education system and to provide alternative positive

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020 (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: · We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. · We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted. · We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference. It was very worthwhile. Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science. There is much we can learn from both approaches. With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference. Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success. As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems." Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD. She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science

The Gerrard Report

Search This Blog