The Gerrard Report

Today, Chief Dino Flett together with many members of the Garden Hill First Nation, Wasagamack First Nation and St Theresa Point First Nation marched from the Soccer Complex on Leila Avenue in Winnipeg to the Manitoba Legislature.   Accompanying them was Judy Klassen the Liberal MLA for the constituency of Kewatinook.  Chief Flett, Judy Klassen and other First Nation leaders called upon the government of Manitoba to declare a state of emergency and take effective and immediate action to provide additional help for the evacuees.  I joined the march near the Legislature (photos above), and then Judy Klassen and I both spoke during the event at the Legislature.  In my remarks I supported the call for the province to declare a state of emergency.   I also called for an inquiry into why no effective action was taken when the fire was small to prevent its spread.  In discussions I had with individuals aware of the situation the fire is believed to have b...

Community involvement in health care decisions is fundamental to putting patients first and to improving our health care system. In the wake of many recent poorly considered Pallister government health care decisions which have not had community input, it is clear that we need a process which puts community input into decisions made by our provincial government and regional health authorities.  Below are my comments from a press conference earlier today in front of the Victoria Hospital.  "We are here today in front of the Victoria Hospital, the location of the Mature Women’s Centre which is being closed by the Pallister government.   Closing the Mature Women’s Centre is a bad decision.  It has an incredible health care team – doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, a dietitian and a kinesthesiologist – which does excellent work and uses approaches which keep women healthier and are at lower cost than traditional approaches.  It is one example of recent arbitra...

[ During the last few days, Naomi and I have visited several Folkorama pavilions.  With Jim Carr at the Spirit of Ukraine Pavilion Israel Pavilion A visit by the Folklorama Llama to the Greek Pavilion  The Mexican Pavilion

Tuesday evening, August 15, I was in Grandview where about 500 people packed the community hall to express concerns about the Pallister government's plans to close their ambulance station.  The meeting was organized by Grandview's three physicians who see the ambulance station in Grandview as critical to the future health care for the region.  We were told that the decision to close the Grandview ambulance station was based on a computer model from Nova Scotia which does not adequately consider the realities of the situation in Grandview.  What concerned me most was that the Conservative's decision was made without any community input and community consultations.  In my view community input is essential in order to have the best possible health care system.  I listened to the case made by Grandview doctors Dr. Jacobi Elliot and Dr. Jim Rae, and by many community citizens.  The question was asked "Why are we being moved from a good system to a substandard...

Yesterday, in Gimli, I joined many others to pay tribute to the efforts of Robert T. Kristjanson and the many years he has put in helping save Lake Winnipeg.   Robert was one of the first to point out the problem with algae on Lake Winnipeg, and he has been relentless in his efforts to ensure Lake Winnipeg and its fishery will have a healthy future.   In the photo above, Robert Kristjanson is together with Bill Barlow and Al Kristofferson.   The three became known as the three amigos as they travelled around Manitoba and into the northern United States to raise awareness about the plight of Lake Winnipeg.   I should add, that I had many positive comments in Gimli about my recent call for ending the dumping of raw sewage into the Assiniboine and Red Rivers by the City of Winnipeg.

Today, beside the Assiniboine River, I called for action from Brian Pallister and his government to address the raw sewage going into our Red and Assiniboine Rivers.  Winnipeg has a proportion of the sewage going into pipes which combine the removal of sewage with the drainage of rainwater,  The result is that when it rains there is an overflow of sewage into our rivers.  This is not a good situation.   In December 2015, the City of Winnipeg presented a master plan to the province in which several options were spelled out for addressing this problem.  These options, costing between $830 million and $4 billion vary from a partial to a full separation of sewage and rainwater.  The City is now waiting for a letter from the Province as to which option the Province will mandate.    However, in the 16 months since the election of the Pallister government no such letter has been sent.  Today I called on the Pallister government to end the...

It was an honour to participate in the Torch of Dignity relay on Monday this week.  This event is organized by Manitobans for Human Rights, an organization which promotes human rights for all Manitobans