The Gerrard Report

Sunday April 3, Naomi and I attended a fundraiser for Ukraine which was a performance by Manitoba's Ukrainian performing community at Winnipeg's Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre.  The event was packed (sold out), and featured amazing dancing and singing.   

  On Thursday March 24 th  I had an opportunity to ask a question and to speak on a resolution focused on the need to address surgical backlogs in Manitoba.  My Question:  Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):  Mr. Deputy Speaker, the question I have relates to the wait-list of 168,000 provided by doctors. The gov­ern­ment seems to provide numbers, which, if you can believe them, are lower than this.      Is there a problem in the way that the gov­ern­ment provides its numbers? Or where is the discrepancy?       What–why are the gov­ern­ment not provi­ding accurate numbers, if that's the case? [I was not given an answer] My Speech on the Resolution on Surgical Backlogs  Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):   Mr. Deputy Speaker,  wait-lists and backlogs are far too long and far too high. Doctors Manitoba reports we have 168,000 Manitobans waiting for diag­nos­tic or surgic...

 In 2014, the Manitoba Legislature passed into law a bill which would restrict the use of cosmetic pesticides in Manitoba.   Similar legislation was already in place in Quebec and Ontario.  It was passed in part because people in Manitoba wanted to reduce the exposure of children to pesticides which have been demonstrated to have toxic effects on children who are exposed to them.  This year, the Conservative government brought in Bill 22 which will roll back these restrictions and will allow much more widespread use of these cosmetic pesticides in Manitoba. On Wednesday March 23rd, I had the opportunity to ack questions about the government's bill and then to ask questions on the bill.  My questions to the Minister on Bill 22 Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):   My ques­tion is specific: Will the pesticides be banned within the grounds of the Assiniboine zoo? Mr. Wharton:   I would also like to thank the member from River Heights, a...

On Wednesday March 23 I spoke on Epilepsy Awareness Day in response to a  Ministerial Statement,  My comments are below:  Mr. Gerrard:   Madam Speaker, much greater awareness of epilepsy is badly needed. There has been much progress in the treatment of epilepsy in recent years, including major advances in imaging tech­niques to understand the focus of epileptic seizures and in the surgical treatment of epilepsy.       Lillian Moore, when she was 15, had such brain surgery performed by Dr. Demitre Serletis at the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg. Dr. Demitre Serletis was leading a team to treat children with epilepsy and used a novel Zeiss Kinevo 900 neuro microscope to see the area of concern very clearly so that the surgical procedure could be made easier. It was reported in April 2019 that Lillian had been seizure‑free for almost a year.       Last year, December the 2nd, I was at a Doctors Manitoba A...

Tuesday March 22, I spoke in the Legislature on Farm Safety Week.  My comments are below (from Hansard) Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):  Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to begin my comments on farm safety week by–with a big thank you to the keystone agri­cul­ture producers for their efforts over many years to improve farm safety. The KAP (Keystone Agricultural Producers) organi­zation is to be complimented for these efforts and to be applauded for making an im­por­tant con­tri­bu­tion to the safety of farmers through­out Manitoba.       The MLA, in his reso­lu­tion–the MLA for Dauphin - says that agri­cul­ture is one of the most dangerous industries in Canada. It doesn't necessarily have to be this way. In fact, it is improving and, yet, the MLA for Dauphin also comments that in his area the proportion of farms with a farm safety plan is low.       Indeed, I've heard from another source that the proportion of ...

On Thursday March 17, I asked the Minister of Health to tell us the adjustments which are being made to shorten the lengthening wait times in Winnipeg’s hospital Emergency Rooms. Increase in ER Wait Times - Request for Reduction Plan Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights ):  Mr. Deputy Speaker, on October 2017, the Conservatives began imple­men­ting hospital transformation to reduce pa­tient wait times. Then the longest wait most patients could expect at the Health Sciences Centre emergency room was 3.6 hours.       The plan was to dramatically reduce wait times, but instead it dramatically lengthened them. By January last year, 2021, the wait time had increased to 6.4 hours and this January to 9.5 hours. Similar increases have occurred at Grace and St. Boniface emergency rooms.       Wait times are going in the wrong direction.       What adjustments are the gov­ern...

On Thursday, March 17, I spoke in the Manitoba Legislature to pay tribute to Health-Care and Social Workers in Manitoba. Tribute to Health‑Care and Social Workers Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):  Mr. Deputy Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the incredible efforts health‑care and social workers have made in Manitoba during the COVID‑19 pandemic.       Health‑care aides, nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, laboratory technicians and those in many other allied health professions: we thank you. We know that some of you are feeling exhausted, overworked and tired, in part from often being man­dated to work a double shift when you came to work only one.       We know that working conditions in health care in Manitoba are often far from ideal. Dr. Jillian Horton, a Winnipeg physician, described this when she said, and I quote: I work in a place w...

  On Thursday March 17, I spoke about the Festival of Colours – Holi – celebrated in India. Holi Festival of Colours Mr. Gerrard:   Mr. Deputy Speaker, I join other MLAs in recognizing Holi, the festival of colours. It's a festival celebrated each spring across all of India. It's a festival which features bold, beautiful and vibrant colours.       Where we live, in Winnipeg, our land is still white with snow, the dark brown and black trunks and branches of trees stand stark and alone, without leaves. We need and we welcome this festival because it is a harbinger of spring, a promise that it won't be long before the colours can break through in the flowers which will grow in our yards and public spaces, in­cluding in front of our Legislature, and the blossoms and leaves which will adorn the lilac, oak, elm, maple, ash, hazel and so many other trees. This year, the winter has been particularly cold and long and, more than ever, we yearn fo...

On the afternoon of Wednesday March 16, I introduced amendments to Bill 10, which would provide for accommodating for the needs of individuals with disabilities when important meetings of corporations, condominiums, cooperatives, credit unions and caisses populaires are held.   David Kron had pointed out at committee stage that this was badly needed in this act. Below are my remarks in making the report stage amendment.   However, the report stage amendment was not supported by the Conservative government of Heather Stefanson, so it did not pass.  As noted in the Hansard record, when the government MLAs said no to passing this bill, I asked for a recorded vote.  For this I needed NDP support, but the NDP did not support this so there was not a recorded vote.   As I point out in my remarks at Third reading of the bill – below the remarks to introduce the report stage amendment, the Conservative government decision was most unfortunate.  I hope...