The Gerrard Report

  Yesterday, Dougald Lamont, Cindy Lamoureux and I were there to stand for Ukraine and for the people of Ukraine in this time of great difficulty.  The outpouring of support from Manitobans was extraordinary as can be seen from the number of people who came out.  For those who are interested, that is Cindy Lamoureux on the extreme right of the photo of the gathering.  Dougald Lamont's speech is below:  •    To ukrainians •    Thank you every one for this opportunity to speak. Thank you to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Myrolsava, Alexandra Skandrij, Markian McColl and so many others for making this happen. •    You know, I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and I remember the cold war. I remember the invasion of Poland. •    I remember the threat of nuclear war and bombs dropping on our heads in the 1980s. Of not knowing whether, in junior high, whether there would be a world for us. And there was. •    We did see a different future. •    I remember the fall of the Berlin W

Yesterday, Naomi and I were at the 90th Birthday celebration for Charles Huband - former leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party and a distinguished judge with the Manitoba Court of Appeal for almost 28 years.   During the course of his many years as a judge, Charles Huband was notable for being ready to provide a dissenting opinion when he disagreed with the majority of the judges.   His book (above) "Dissent" provides these opinions.   Sometimes dissenting opinions can be very helpful in future cases, or in refining points of law. 

 It was good to be out helping Willard Reaves with his campaign to become the next MLA in Fort Whyte on Friday February 24th.   Thank you to Terry Duguid for your support!

 My heart breaks for Ukraine.   Eighty-nine years ago, in the winter of 1932-1933, was the Holodomor, a famine in Ukraine which is today recognized by Ukraine, Canada and other countries as a genocide of the Ukrainian people carried out by the Soviet government. Somewhere between 3.5 and 10 million people died in Ukraine.  Today in the winter of 2022-2023, Russia has invaded Ukraine.  People in Ukraine face almost impossible odds, but we hope for them and we in Canada must do what we can to support people in Ukraine.  Manitoba Liberals yesterday called for an early return of the Manitoba Legislature to debate and discuss the situation with all MLAs being able to contribute their ideas.   The early return of the Legislature has been rejected, but we will have a matter of urgent importance - dealing with the situation in Ukraine - brought forward on Wednesday March 2, the second day of our session.  It is not soon enough, but it will have to do. 

February 21 is International Mother Language Day.   This year, I joined many others to celebrate in Winnipeg on February 20.  I joined many in our community who have roots in Bangladesh as well as other from other countries who also joined the celebration.   The origin of International Mother Language Day is in Bangladesh.  When a decision was made in the early 1950s that the Bengali language would not be an official language of Pakistan (Bangladesh was then East Pakistan), there were many protests, with one particularly notable one on February 21, 1952.   In time, by 1956, Bengali was accepted as an official language of Pakistan.  However the differences between East and West Pakistan were large and in 1971 Bangladesh became independent.   The importance of a person's mother language was recognized first as Mother Language Day in Bangladesh.   By 1999, February 21 was recognized as International Mother Language Day by the United Nations. Today, it is celebrated around the world. 

 On February 10, I was at Brock-Corydon School as part of I love to read month.   I started with a poem "My Cat" by Judith Viost.  Then because February is Black History Month, I read "Reading Beauty" by Deborah Underwood, a book about a Black Princess.  Third was "When we Were Alone" by Winnipeg writer David A Robertson.   This one started a lot of discussion and questions about residential schools.  Then I talked about, instead of reading the books, two more.   The first was "The Illustrated Father Goose" by Shelley Tanaka - a story of a father, Bill Lishman, and his daughter Carmen who trained geese to follow an ultralight airplane in migration from southern Ontario to Airlie, near Washington D.C.   Their efforts have been instrumental in helping to establish a second wintering ground for Whooping Cranes in order to enhance the survival of the species.   Lastly, I spoke about Yossi Leshem's book "Flying with the Birds".  It is th