This afternoon, Naomi and I joined many others at a tribute to Vince Fontaine held at the Oodena Celebration Circle at the Forks. Vince was an incredible person. He was able to bring people together in his bands and to play and sing with others in a way that was memorable, indeed unforgettable. He reached across divides in our society. As part of this effort he reached out to Jim Cuddy, Blue Rodeo's front man and asked him to sing a tune on an Indian City Album. As Melissa Martin wrote "To Vince, it captured the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action no.83: artistic collaboration across cultures." Melissa quotes Vince Fontaine "I wanted to stretch out on this album and invite a non-Indigenous person into the circle, so to speak. For me, that's what reconciliation is: broadening the circle and showing people that togetherness again." This afternoon, there was much of that togetherness. A few photos from the event are below:
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
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