On March 15 the Progressive Conservative party (PC) dropped Manitoba’s mask mandate. The PCs are facing what looks to be an inevitable demise come next provincial election and it appears the party is finding it increasingly futile to play along with public health measures it so clearly resents. The result may culminate in yet another self-destructive attempt at returning to pre-COVID life. We’ve been here before, and it didn’t end well.
During last year’s third wave of COVID-19, Heather Stefanson claimed Manitoba’s health-care system could handle dozens more critically ill cases five days after a top health official discussed the possibility of out-of-province ICU patient transfers.
Though the path to a successful career in politics is not the same for all, especially for women who have additional gender-based barriers, it is important that we encourage strong women who are active community leaders. Though progress is slow, we need to start and continue breaking the constructs that have oppressed women. Let this be a reminder that International Women’s Day is not a meaningless reason to congratulate the female figures of your life. Rather let’s make it a daily goal to empower women and offer our authentic support for them so that they can achieve their vision of a more equitable world.
Inflation has affected all Manitobans over the past several months. Whether you have watched your rent skyrocket or experienced sticker shock at the grocery store, you may be wondering how to keep ahead of expenses while prices keep going up.
As the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC) continues to lag behind Manitoba’s New Democratic Party (NDP) in province-wide polling, the Fort Whyte byelection could not have come at a better time for the traditionally conservative electoral division. The riding, which has remained vacant since the resignation of former premier Brian Pallister, is set to hold its election on March 22.
After the federal government legislated the use of the Emergencies Act — legislation that allows the government to have significant temporary powers to freeze the bank accounts and credit cards of protesters or arrest them — on Feb. 14, the protests were on track to end. Despite Conservative pushback on Parliament Hill, “freedom” protests in Ottawa were rapidly cleared and the use of such temporary powers came to an end on Feb. 23. But Winnipeg protesters were one of the exceptions. After receiving a lenient police deadline to end their occupation across the street of the Manitoba Legislative Building, protesters moved to a nearby location in Memorial Park. This lack of dedicated action from the police department suggests the “freedom convoy” extends beyond unvaccinated individuals and appeals to public servants like Winnipeg’s police force.
The board will be aimed at “fostering strong economic growth, attracting investment, promoting trade and creating high-quality
jobs for Manitobans.”
These deaths were far from the family’s choice. Economic instability or political persecution in home countries, mixed with the U.S. and Canada’s unsupportive and often oppressive immigration systems, force the hands of migrants seeking asylum. When people are refused entry or refused humane conditions upon entry, gambling on death becomes a risk that migrants are willing to take.
In the early parts of January, Premier Heather Stefanson was dragged through the mud for claiming Manitobans should fend for themselves through COVID-19. “This virus is running throughout our community and it’s up to Manitobans to look after themselves,” Stefanson said. For me, this quote evoked an eerily dystopian image of apocalypse survivors fighting for resources in a libertarian hellscape as their overlord looked on in her ivory tower. Stefanson has thrown equitable health policy out of the window for the health of the economy, and the most vulnerable will serve as the sacrificial lambs by which the divinity of her pragmatic policies rest on.
Aleeza Gerstein and Lauren Kelly, assistant professors at the University of Manitoba, are spearheading investigations into the challenges faced by early learning and child-care centres (ELCC) during the COVID-19 pandemic.