The 2021 Drought in Manitoba

This summer drought ravaged much of Manitoba, and it was felt particularly in the Interlake. On July 21, I had the opportunity to go to the Interlake area and to visit with farmers. I saw the drought conditions first hand, and heard many stories from affected farmers. It was a dire situation which left many farmers with no choice but to sell of part, or sometimes all, of there herds. Together with our caucus team, Dougald Lamont and Cindy Lamoureux we have continued to stay in touch with produced around Manitoba and have advocated on behalf of farmers with federal and provincial ministers of Agriculture. The federal government is providing $500 million to go toward helping drought affected farmers in western Canada. The province has announced part of the specific (federal-provincial cost shared program), but we are still waiting for the announcement of financial support so that farmers can rebuild their herds after having been forced to sell them as much lower prices than they would like. I hope this announcement will come soon. The photos below are from when I was in the Interlake on July 21

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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

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.

The Gerrard Report

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