Lead exposure and violent crime in Manitoba

Increasing evidence from many sources links the lead exposure pregnant mothers and young children to increased violent crime when the children are age 18 to 25. On October 10th, I asked the Minister of Justice what we was doing to understand whether the government was looking at this link and whether it was acting to look at whether this was one of the reasons for the high violent crime in Manitoba.

Violent Crime Statistics
Lead Exposure Link

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Manitoba has a disturbingly high level of violent crime. Under the present Conservative government the violent Crime Severity Index has risen by more then 30 points to reach 169.8; no other province has seen anything comparable.

Manitoba may have a large increase in crime under this government because the government has done little to address poverty, homelessness, mental health or addictions. Alternatively, as I table, increasing evidence links violent crime to lead exposure, and lead exposure details have been covered up for years in Manitoba.

Will the government ensure action is taken rather than more study and stall?

Hon. Cliff Cullen (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Well, Madam Speaker, while the member's reading the information pertaining to the Chief Medical Examiner, I will also send him over a copy of our Manitoba's Policing and Public Safety Strategy. This strategy was developed in consultation with police forces across Manitoba and stakeholders.

Now, we know we are taking the collaborative approach by working with police agencies across the province. We know what the NDP platform is: the NDP platform was to get rid of the RCMP here in Manitoba.

That is not our approach. Our approach is a collaborative approach, and we're working through this strategy. We're working with all stakeholders to provide public safety to all Manitobans.

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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

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