The Gerrard Report

 During the day on Saturday June 11th, our River Heights team helped with a booth on Academy Road.  A lot of people came by.   The event was a success.  Thank you for all who helped make this a successful day. Some photos are below. 

 On June 11, in the morning, I attended the official launch of the new Physical Activity Centre at Kelvin High School.   Although it was completed previous to this, the official opening had been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, I am with Councillor John Orlikow at the Physical Activity Centre.  We learned that the centre is being well used and is helping students keep fit to be able to participate in sports and other activities.   

  On June 9, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced that the government would be funding 80% of the cost of replacement processors for those with Cochlear Implants.  Gladys Nielsen and I had worked hard for the last to years for advocate for this.  It was an important announcement for people with Cochlear implants.  When the processor stops working, it is imperative to have a replacement.  Because it is expensive, a number of people with Cochlear Implants would not have been able to afford this without this provincial funding.  

 June 6th to June 9th, Cindy Lamoureux and I were in Ottawa meeting with various Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries and participating in a recognition of Philippine Heritage Month. We thank Agnes Dunne for helping to arrange these meetings. Several photos are below. 

 On June 5, together with many other Liberals, I participated in the Pride Parade in Winnipeg.   Photos to come 

On June 4, Naomi and I were honoured to be able to attend Gaman: Honouring our Survivors Dinner.  This dinner honoured the survivors of the Japanese Canadians in Internment Camps during the Second World War.  The photo above is of the many survivors who attended the dinner.   

On June 4th, I was fortunate to be asked to speak as part of a Community Service of Thanksgiving for her Majesty's Reign.  The occasion was to recognize the 70 years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II - her Platinum Jubilee.  It was held in The Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist in Winnipeg.  We learned that this church was one of only two in the world which have a stained glass window featuring the Queen (shown in photo below).  My brief comments on the occasion are below:   We are here today to pay tribute to the longest reigning monarch in British history, and one of the longest reigning monarchs in the world. It is not just the length of her reign, but the quality of her time as monarch.    When measured by both length of time and quality of rule, Elizabeth II stands out and it is for this reason that we are here today on her Platinum Jubilee. I remember June 2, 1953, the day of her coronation.   My brother Chris was born a y...

On May 29 Naomi and I attended the screening of the Documentary "Unusual in Every Way" a film produced and directed by Yolande Papini-Pollock and Don Barnard and shown at the Rady Jewish Community Centre's Winnipeg International Jewish Film Festival.  It documents the difficulties in the life of Don Barnard, an Indigenous man living with a disability and affected by the intergenerational trauma of Indigenous people in Manitoba.  The film highlights the unusual friendship Don Barnard developed with Solly Dreman, an Israeli professor of clinical psychology and his wife Orly, and includes a visit by Don Barnard to Israel. 

  I was privileged to attend the first Black Manitoba Chamber of Commerce dinner on May 27th.  Congratulations to the founder and president Zita Somakoko (top above) and to all those who helped with ensuring the success of this inaugural event. 

 On May 26th, I was fortunate to be able to attend a zoom conference on the future of Airships.   Airships have some major advantages in terms of using less in the way of fossil fuels and in terms of being able to transport large loads efficiently as the slides below show.   The presentations at the Conference were very positive towards airships and demonstrated that in the next few years we can expect to hear a lot  more about the progress using airships.   Thanks are due to Barry Prentice of the University of Manitoba who was the prime organizer of this international conference.  It is to be noted that the first Airships to the Arctic Conference was held in 2002.  I was fortunate to attend that conference as well.   The two photos below, taken from a presentation at the conference, show 1) graphically the advantage in airships for large cargos and 2) a summary of the advantages of airships.