A tribute to Agriculture in Manitoba

Tuesday March 19 I spoke in the Manitoba Legislature in support of our farmers and others involved in agriculture and food production, distribution and retail in Manitoba on Agricultural Awareness Day.

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, agriculture is at the core of who we are as Manitobans.

All of us have to eat. All of us benefit from the nutritious food produced by farmers. Many of us benefit from the jobs and opportunities which result from us having a strong agricultural industry, a strong food-processing industry and a strong retail and restaurant sector.

Agricultural Awareness Day is a day to pay attention to agriculture. I thank our presenters today–Robyn, Steven and Curtis–who gave us an update on the importance of protein in the food produced on our farms and of new developments in the canola and poultry industries.

Agricultural Awareness Day is an opportunity to connect with individuals in agriculture from all over our province.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the budding chefs from Assiniboine Community College–Klarisa Baer and Beth Butterfield–and the budding chefs from Red River College–Peter Matkowski and Anna Borys. Your creative delicacies were amazing.

I had a good discussion with farmers on the canola market given recent developments in relation to China. I gather canola prices have firmed up and the farmers I talked with are optimistic. I had a good discussion with farmers about the carbon tax, which exempts purple gas. I understand that farmers will be looking through the federal budget today to see if any of their other issues are addressed.

Thank you to all the farmers and all those in varied other parts of the agricultural industry who are here today, your contributions to our province and to the health of Manitobans is significant.

Thank you, merci, miigwech.

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