A question to clarify the government's plans with respect to Wildlife Management Areas

On Wednesday, May 19th in Question Period I asked the Minister for clarification on the government's plans with respect to Wildlife Management areas. My question and the Minister's response are below.

Conversion of Crown Land to Pasture Land
Management by Manitoba Wildlife Federation

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Mr. Deputy Speaker, I ask the minister to provide details of the government's plan to convert Crown lands designated as wildlife management areas into pasture land so that these lands can become domestic animal management areas.

Is it correct that trees will be bulldozed to put up permanent fencing, and the producers who access these pasture lands will have free rent for five years? This seems odd and unfair, as many producers using Crown lands have seen extraordinary rent increases.

And why is the Manitoba Wildlife Federation to be managing these pasture lands? I thought Manitoba Wildlife Federation members are more interested in hunting wild animals, not domestic ones.

Will the minister table the contract with the Manitoba Wildlife Federation to clarify this situation?

Thank you.

Hon. Blaine Pedersen (Minister of Agriculture and Resource Development): Well, misinformation seems to be the flavour of the day with the Liberals.

First of all, I'm surprised at the member for River Heights with this misinformation he's putting forward there. The wildlife management areas were formed since about 1962, and what's happened is we've seen forest overgrowing the wildlife management areas, which makes for very poor habitat for upland game birds.

With clearing some bush, with brush control in there, pasture management becomes a very important tool for wildlife management, including upland game birds. And this will improve–we're doing some pilot projects in a couple of wildlife management areas, which will improve their capacity for wildlife and, at the same time–

Comments

Manitoba School Boards have contributed much innovation and advancement of education in Manitoba

On Thursday March 25, in Question Period, I asked the Premier why he is getitng rid of school boards when they have contributed to much to the improvement of education in Manitoba. My question and the Premier's response are below (from Hansard). Manitoba Education System Elimination of Boards and Divisions Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, Manitoba school boards have been an incredible source of new ideas and innovation. The White Horse Plains school board brought in audio and video links to Hutterite schools. The Seine River School Division piloted Roots of Empathy, to help kids learn empathy, and also Kids at Play: half-day kindergarten, half-day early-childhood education. The Seven Oaks School Division brought in Met schools. And there are many, many more examples. Why is the Premier getting rid of school boards when they've done so well at listening to parents, at ...

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

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