One Basin, One Governance Conference

September 16 to 18, I attended the One Basin, One Governance Conference held in Winnipeg. The conference, co-organized by the Red River Basin Commission and the Southern Chiefs Organization was a remarkable effort to bring together people from areas within the Lake Winnipeg Basin to look at the opportunities for working together. As was highlighted on the first evening this is a fight for mother earth. It is a fight to ensure that the land and water within the basin are healthy. There were many notable speakers. Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs Organization demonstrated his capacity for leadership, as did Mary Scherling, Gavin van der Linde and Steve Strang of the Red River Basin Commission. Bob Sandford talked of the urgency of action with respect to climate change as we are observing changes this year in the Canadian arctic and in Greenland which were not predicted, only a few years ago, to occur until 2070 or 2090. Congratulations to the organizers of the conference for an important event.

Tina Keeper, with the Southern Chiefs Organization, presenting on the first evening of the conference.

Simon Baker and Denis Paquett with Native Planet provided a global perspective on the role indigenous people are taking in looking after our environment

Jackie Traverse of the Lake St. Martin First Nation painted during the banquet. Her painting, auctioned off to help raise funds in honour of Gary McLean to provide scholarships raised $4000.

Steve Strang, Manitoba Director for the Red River Basin Commission provided a summary at the end.

Chief Lorraine Cobiness of the Niisaachewan First Nation of Treaty 3 provided an important perspective.

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.

There is an imperative to have a provincial plan to ensure every child learns to read

Too many Manitoba children with learning disabilities like dyslexia are not being identified and helped early on starting in Kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that it is the provinces responsibility to ensure that every child learns to read, and even when, in the case of a child with dyslexia intensive intervention is needed. In 12 years Manitoba has failed to produce a provincial plan to address this issue. We are holding a Forum (see below) on this subject. Please come out to the Forum. There is no cost. Everyone is welcome. To learn more about the need to do better helping children, youth and adults with a learning disability click on this link

The Gerrard Report

Search This Blog