Manitoba Liberals give a major boost to retired teachers.

On May 10, I spoke in support of the private members bill initiated by Cindy Lamoureux, the Liberal MLA for Tyndall Park. This bill provides retired teachers representation on the TRAF Board – the board which oversees the pensions of retired teachers. This has long been desired by retired teachers – to give them representation on the board which oversees the money for their retirement. Following the debate on this bill, it passed second reading and will now be going to committee in the fall. My comments are below.

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, I will speak just very briefly.

I think this is an important initiative by my colleague from Tyndall Park. It is really, incredibly important that RTAM be represented on the TRAF board. This is, in essence, money which is going to retired teachers; it is their money. Democracy, a major principle is that those who are involved should be able to be represented, and I think it's about time that this happened.

I think the people who are concerned about conflicts of interest and things like that, that the problem here, if any, is that RTAM representatives want, more than anybody else, this fund to perform well. And so, I think all of us want a fund which is sustainable and performs well, and I think that there's no one better to ensure that than people from RTAM who have the wisdom and experience over many years to contribute in this way.

I want to thank the retired teachers who contributed so much during the COVID pandemic, because that was really incredibly important that they were here and helping to save our education system, quite frankly. And they did an incredible job, and for that we thank teachers who retired, who came back and rallied to help students at a difficult time.

So, those are my comments. Thank you. Merci. Miigwech.

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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

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020 (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: · We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. · We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted. · We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference. It was very worthwhile. Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science. There is much we can learn from both approaches. With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference. Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success. As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems." Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD. She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science

The Gerrard Report

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