The Gerrard Report

Monday October 4th, I joined many others at the Oedena circle at the Forks to remember the Indigenous women and girls who are missing or who have been murdered.  

 On October 1st, there was a rally at the Manitoba Legislature to again emphasize the importance of acting urgently to help people in Afghanistan, particularly those who are brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces , children, mothers, fathers and cousins of members of Winnipeg's Afghan community. The stories of what is happening in Afghanistan are disturbing.   There is an urgent need to help individuals in desperate straits to come to Canada.   Ariana Yaftali, Terry Duguid, Karen Gordon, Dougald Lamont and myself were among those who spoke.  

 On September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Naomi and I joined thousands of Manitobans in a march from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to St. John's Park where there was a large gathering and a Powwow. 

 On September 25th, I joined other members of Ryder's team to raise funds for the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba.  As Ryder's mother, Rachel said "The Cerebral Palsy Association has become so important to our family."  Indeed, the Association has supported many, many families in our province. 

 On August 28th, at the Manitoba Legislature there was a rally to raise awareness of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.  I listened to many stories from those in the Afghan community in Winnipeg about the difficult and dangerous situation of their relatives in Afghanistan, and I said I would do what I could to help.  

During the federal election, I was campaigning with many of our Liberal federal candidates.  The result was disappointing in that it was not a Liberal majority, but it is good to know that with a Liberal minority government that many of the initiatives which have begun - including efforts to have major national support for childcare, efforts to effectively address climate change, efforts to move forward on reconciliation will continue.   Below, Naomi and I are in Niverville with Trevor Kirczenow and his team.  In the photo below I was in Neepawa with Kevin Carlson While in Neepawa, I also had a chance to see a bridge badly damaged in a recent flood. 

  This summer drought ravaged much of Manitoba, and it was felt particularly in the Interlake.  On July 21, I had the opportunity to go to the Interlake area and to visit with farmers.  I saw the drought conditions first hand, and heard many stories from affected farmers.  It was a dire situation which left many farmers with no choice but to sell of part, or sometimes all, of there herds.  Together with our caucus team, Dougald Lamont and Cindy Lamoureux we have continued to stay in touch with produced around Manitoba and have advocated on behalf of farmers with federal and provincial ministers of Agriculture.   The federal government is providing $500 million to go toward helping drought affected farmers in western Canada.  The province has announced part of the specific (federal-provincial cost shared program), but we are still waiting for the announcement of financial support so that farmers can rebuild their herds after having been forced to s...

As part of our journey to understand the heritage of First Nations people, in August, Naomi and I visited the Aisinai'pi National Historic Site.  Here, along the Milk River in Southern Alberta is one of the largest concentrations of rock art on the Great Plains of North America.  Katyoississtisi, the Sweet Pine Hills which were and are sacred to the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) People, can be seen just to the south across the border in Montana.  The Aisinai'pi National Historic site is a sacred landscape with special significance to First Nations people, specifically the Siksikaitsitapi.  There are spectacular sandstone formations along the Milk River.  We walked the Matapiiksi (Hoodoo) Trail to see these formations, and took a special guided tour to see a number of petroglyphs and pictographs (the writing on stone).  Some of the these date to the last three hundred years.  Others could be as old as 3,500 years old.  A few photos from our visit are...

In August, we were fortunate to be able to visit our son Charles in British Columbia and to join the Artists' week of the General Mountaineering Camp put on by the Alpine Club of Canada.   A few photos from our trip our below. a warm up hike on Castle Mountain With family on a new suspension bridge near Golden  Painting on a ridge near Rodger's Pass Climbing a peak near camp with Charles's help There was lots of opportunity to see ptarmigan and mountain goats At camp inside the tent painting with artist in residence Patti Dyment Practicing our skills on a glacier Climbing Mount Mahoskus involved a lot of time on a glacier