National Nursing Week

On Monday May 9, I spoke in the Manitoba Legislature on National Nursing Week. My comments are below.

Mr. Gerrard: Madam Speaker, I begin my comments on National Nurses Week with a big thank you to all nurses in Manitoba. What you have done during the COVID pandemic has been and is absolutely extraordinary, and has often been at great personal and family sacrifice.

In spite of many of you having had to switch positions or locations as a result of the Conservative government's reorganization in the 2016 to twenty‑nine period, and in spite of the fact that much of the Conservative government's reorganization has made life and the delivery of health care more difficult, you have continued to work and to help others in a way that has been outstanding.

Even when the Conservative government closed down emergency rooms or urgent care centres or QuickCare clinics where you were working, you have put every effort into continuing to provide care for Manitobans.

Even when the Conservative government failed to listen to recommendations from various knowledgeable sources to ensure adequate staffing of long-term care facilities, including personal-care homes, you have done everything possible under very difficult circumstances to help seniors and elders in our province.

Even when the Conservative government failed miserably in filling staffing positions, to the extent that many, many areas of nursing care in Manitoba were understaffed by 10 to 30 per cent or more, you still came to work and you did everything you possibly could to help Manitobans.

Even when the Conservative government so botched the organization of our provincial health-care system that emergency rooms and urgent-care centres have wait times of 10 to 12 hours, and even when those who have had to wait a long time got frustrated and angry and took their anger out on you, you did not hesitate to continue working and giving everything you have to help Manitobans who are sick and who were having a lot of difficulty.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Merci. Miigwech. Dyakuyu.

Comments

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

Search This Blog