Picture this a safe world for children
It's not very often that you find a piece in the newspaper that is not depressing and full of bad news. This piece was a delight to read. Uplifting, rather than the number of stabbings in the city today. This little one is going to grow up to be something else and it would be something to watch.
UStudents express rights on mosaic
ROOBA Salar is only 11, but she’s set herself some big goals for the future.
“I want to be a doctor. I want to make a record. I want to make something new to change this world.”
Well, the Pembina Trails Human Rights Project is a fine place to start. Urooba, a Grade 6 student at Beaumont School, is one of 13,000 kids in the Pembina Trails School Division who are building a giant mosaic at Investors Group Field. Each student was given a blank piece of paper and asked to visually represent a human right from the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. Some examples include the right to an opinion, the right to education, the right to clean drinking water and nutritious food, the right to protection and freedom from war.
Together, their individual artworks will form the Human Rights Logo, a symbol that is both a hand and a dove. The public is invited to view the completed mosaic at the stadium today from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Urooba, who was born in Pakistan and moved to Canada when she was four years old, believes everyone has the right to a safe home. She drew a picture of a smiling family in front of a house. She added her panel to the mosaic Wednesday afternoon.
“In Pakistan, a bunch of people were pulled away from their family and they didn’t have much food and homes and stuff,” she tells me. “I feel kinda bad about that, so I put that in my tile.”
She’s already passionate about social justice and has an excellent role model. Her second cousin is none other than Malala Yousefzai, the 17-year-old Pakistani activist for female education and youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. Urooba says she had actually read Malala’s books before her father told her they were related. “I was really interested in her, and when I found out she was my cousin, I got so excited. My dad invited her and her dad to come to our house — but then she couldn’t come because she had something in school. But her dad came and signed both my books, and I showed my friends and it was really cool.”
Urooba has spoken to the inspirational young woman on the phone. She told Malala all about her hobbies and, of course, they talked about school. Urooba lights up when she talks about Malala’s activism — and the fact she survived what could have easily been a fatal gunshot wound to the head by a Taliban gunman.
I ask Urooba how it makes her feel that girls her age aren’t allowed to go to school in some parts of the world.
“I feel really bad for them because I love school,” she says. “If I couldn’t go to school, I’d still sneak in. I’d dress up like a boy. I’d do anything to go to school.”
Bravery is in her DNA, it seems.
Education is just one basic right, which is outlined by the Convention of the Rights of the Child, too many children are denied in this world. Children are sold into slavery. They are forced to pick up guns and kill as child soldiers. Their childhoods are stolen from them.
It’s too easy to think human rights abuses against children are tragic things that happen somewhere far away. But children here at home also go without basic rights, such as safe housing and adequate nutrition, due to a complex web of socioeconomic factors. The project Pembina Trails schools are participating in is not only very cool — 15,125 panels will be placed on the turf at Investors Group Field by the end of the day today — it’s also a call to action.
At least, that’s what Cameron Cross is hoping for. Cross is the visual art consultant for the Pembina Trails School Division, and he came up with the idea for a large-scale art installation three years ago. The division partnered with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and, with support from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Investors Group Field, the piece is now a reality. The CMHR will display 99 of the panels in an exhibit at a later date.
“I’ve always thought that Canada doesn’t like looking in the mirror. We like pointing our fingers, especially at the Americans,” Cross says. “But it’s good for all of us to look in the mirror — as individuals, as a society, as schools, to say ‘what we can do better and how we can better understand human rights in our own city and country.’ And how can we help inspire and educate others? Hopefully, that’s what this (project) will do.”
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FIGHTING FOR THIER STREETS
Groups unite to patrol North End
By Alexandra Paul
THE storming of an alleged crack house last week was the first foray of a new urban movement dubbed Taking Back the Streets.
Initial media reports portrayed the May 26 event as an isolated attempt to rescue an addict reported missing by her family and thought to be living in a suspected drug den.
But extensive interviews by the Free Press show four community groups are teaming up to start regular patrols in the toughest parts of the North End. They aim to be peaceful but, as seen during the showdown when women pushed a front door off its broken hinges, emotions can erupt easily.
The incident at a reputed crack shack started with a march by women with drums, singing Ojibway songs, some pushing baby strollers. Strangers joined the throng; neighbours surreptitiously signalled the locations of crack shacks.
All of it along a two-kilometre radius in a public search for Shanastene McLeod, 25, reported missing the previous week.
Significantly, the march took place even though police reported McLeod didn’t want to return home.
A loose affiliation of four groups plans further action. There’s the Bear Clan, a twodecade- old dormant citizen patrol revived this winter. It’s about to roll out weekly street patrols.
There’s Winnipeg’s nascent chapter of the American Indian Movement, a 1980s-era movement that was revived recently. It’s riding a renaissance of indigenous culture as a force of urban healing.
There’s the Crazy Indians, a group of ex-con and ex-gang members that works with the homeless in the core area.
Finally, there’s the Keewatin Otchitchak (Northern Crane) Traditional Women’s Singers, a well-known grassroots group that sings and drums at indigenous rights demonstrations.
“Take Back the Streets is this new splinter group but again, it seems to me to be a real healthy way to bring the community together,” said James Favel, a trucker who revived the Bear Clan patrols in the wake of the slaying of Tina Fontaine, a teen whose body was pulled from the Red River last August.
“We’re planning on doing walks through the community weekly.
“We plan to have community patrols, big bunches of well-meaning citizens walking through our communities saying to everyone else: ‘We’re here. We care, and we’re going to see this through,’ ” Favel said.
The patrols were already in the works but the recent incident fuelled the movement, he said.
“It was crazy,” Favel said. “I mean we picked up at least 30 people within a two-kilometre radius as we were walking. We had like 60 people at Aberdeen (Avenue) and by the time we got to Boyd (Avenue), we were almost a 100. That’s significant,” Favel said.
“It shows our community is in need, and this is a real plausible response to that. People are embracing it,” Favel said.
This kind of urban intervention was once common, when the women’s movement peaked 30 years ago, noted Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, which advocates for female prisoners.
“We haven’t heard much of that happening for an awfully long time,” said Pate, who is also the human rights chairwoman at the College of Law for University of Saskatchewan.
“Everything I’ve heard about, it was nonviolent, supportive. It was about trying to support a young woman who was at risk. I think that’s something we should be applauding,” Pate said.
Winnipeg police Chief Devon Clunis agreed the Bear Clan patrol is a good start.
“No, not taking down doors... I’m saying in terms of, whether you’re canvassing that’s a whole different story about how you go about that. But certainly there’s always a safe way... doing it in a legal fashion.\
“We’re saying that we can’t be the solution to every single problem but once the community gets fully engaged, they’ll start partnering with us. I think that’s great for the community to start doing this,” Clunis told reporters at a community cleanup in the North End Friday.
He said the patrols complement police action.
“I think when the community sees not only their community working, but that the public outside of the community cares, they’ll feel that strong culture of safety and caring that we’re talking about in our city.”
Sel Burrows, a longtime activist in Point Douglas who runs a phone line residents call to anonymously report crime, said he supports the Bear Clan.
“It is so empowering to us to see others taking on the challenge. And they’ll do things differently than us, and there’s no need for everybody to do it the same way, but they are making a clear statement that the aboriginal community does not accept violence against women, does not accept criminal behaviour,” Burrows said.
The shift from peaceful protest to mob rule was razor-thin for a few minutes on May 26.
In an act of desperation caught by news cameras, three women rushed in, pushing down the door of the suspected crack house at the beginning of the drumming.
The vigilante act almost tipped the march off its footing.
Organizers said police helped them restore peace and calm the crowd.
The march moved on, drumming outside two other suspected crack shacks until the woman who was the focus of the attempted rescue emerged to talk to her family. She said she wanted to be left alone.
As of Friday, the woman was still with her boyfriend, the alleged drug dealer, her aunt, Jackie Traverse, said.
“The intention was that the drums, the music would fill McLeod’s heart and she’d remember where she came from, that she’d want to come home,” Traverse said.
Traverse is a practical activist, despite her spiritual-sounding words. “I thought, maybe my niece just needs us to rescue her, in the way we know how. Then someone got mad and kicked the door. That was beyond my control. I don’t condone that,” Traverse said. “Drumming is intended to plant a seed.”
Powered by TECNAVIACopyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 01/06/2015
discriminated against because of her sex, including her pregnancy
Myrrhanda Novak, a university spokeswoman, said the institution denies discriminating against Damianakos. “The University of Manitoba is committed to maintaining a respectful work and learning environment for all, including for employees who go on and return from maternity and/or parental leaves,” she said.
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Rights commission sides against U of M
School denies alleged discrimination
By Kevin Rollason
THE Manitoba Human Rights Commission alleges the University of Manitoba engaged in discrimination in a case involving the school’s former senior legal counsel.
The MHRC has taken up the cause of Peggy Damianakos, who claims she was effectively demoted while she was on maternity leave with her third child, starting in 2009.
“The commission strongly feels discrimination has occurred,” Azim Jiwa, the MHRC’s executive director, said Monday. “It is definitely a situation where discrimination has occurred.”
Damianakos was hired by the university as a legal adviser in 1999, and by 2002 had been promoted to general counsel with an annual salary of $105,000.
As general counsel, Damianakos provided counsel to the university’s senior administration. As well, Damianakos was in charge of the university’s Legal Services office including hiring and all financial matters.
She was on one-year maternity leave starting in December 2004, followed by another one-year leave starting in April 2007.
Damianakos went on her third maternity leave in October 2009, but a few months before she was to return in October 2010, she was told her department and two others, the Access and Privacy Office and Equity Office, had been merged and while she was still general counsel, she now reported to a new director of legal services instead of to the vice-president (administration).
She filed a human rights complaint on May 11, 2011, claiming she had been discriminated against because of her sex, including her pregnancy, and family status as the parent of young children.
Last month, a MHRC adjudicator, in a 19-page written decision, turfed a challenge by the university to have the case dropped because the institution believed it had made a “reasonable settlement offer” when it proposed paying Damianakos a settlement of $212,000 in compensation for lost wages and $15,000 in general damages for “injury to dignity, feelings or self-respect.”
But the university refused Damianakos’s request to be reinstated in her job as general counsel or to pay exemplary damages as punishment for “any malice or recklessness” with the matter.
The university has filed an application for a judicial review of the adjudicator’s decision, effectively putting the hearing, which had been scheduled this summer on, hold.
Damianakos could not be reached for comment.
Copyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 05/05/2015
School denies alleged discrimination
By Kevin Rollason
THE Manitoba Human Rights Commission alleges the University of Manitoba engaged in discrimination in a case involving the school’s former senior legal counsel.
The MHRC has taken up the cause of Peggy Damianakos, who claims she was effectively demoted while she was on maternity leave with her third child, starting in 2009.
“The commission strongly feels discrimination has occurred,” Azim Jiwa, the MHRC’s executive director, said Monday. “It is definitely a situation where discrimination has occurred.”
Damianakos was hired by the university as a legal adviser in 1999, and by 2002 had been promoted to general counsel with an annual salary of $105,000.
As general counsel, Damianakos provided counsel to the university’s senior administration. As well, Damianakos was in charge of the university’s Legal Services office including hiring and all financial matters.
She was on one-year maternity leave starting in December 2004, followed by another one-year leave starting in April 2007.
Damianakos went on her third maternity leave in October 2009, but a few months before she was to return in October 2010, she was told her department and two others, the Access and Privacy Office and Equity Office, had been merged and while she was still general counsel, she now reported to a new director of legal services instead of to the vice-president (administration).
She filed a human rights complaint on May 11, 2011, claiming she had been discriminated against because of her sex, including her pregnancy, and family status as the parent of young children.
Last month, a MHRC adjudicator, in a 19-page written decision, turfed a challenge by the university to have the case dropped because the institution believed it had made a “reasonable settlement offer” when it proposed paying Damianakos a settlement of $212,000 in compensation for lost wages and $15,000 in general damages for “injury to dignity, feelings or self-respect.”
But the university refused Damianakos’s request to be reinstated in her job as general counsel or to pay exemplary damages as punishment for “any malice or recklessness” with the matter.
The university has filed an application for a judicial review of the adjudicator’s decision, effectively putting the hearing, which had been scheduled this summer on, hold.
Damianakos could not be reached for comment.
Copyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 05/05/2015
children experiencing unimaginable trauma, fear, grief and loss.
Wards of the state are human beings, too
The rights of the child
By Melanie Janzen
THERE has been a lot of media attention recently on violent attacks on youth in care, emergency hotel placements for children and the systemic failures of our child and family welfare system.
These are tragic, traumatic and important events the public needs to know about. However — sadly and almost inconceivably — these tragedies represent only the tip of the much greater iceberg; that is, the media reports we hear represent only a tiny fraction of the number of children in care, and are emblematic of a much greater systemic problem. In other words, there are 10,673 children whose stories have not made the headlines, yet, these children — their numbers roughly representative of the population of Winkler — remain a faceless and nameless group of human beings whose circumstances are largely ignored.
As the Free Press reported ( A vow to end hotel placements, April 2), the number of children in care has increased by 400 since last year. These faceless figures represent real children; human beings who are experiencing unimaginable trauma, fear, grief and loss.
Having worked in the public school system as both a teacher and a learning support teacher, I have worked with many children in care, some who stayed with us for just days, others who were “lucky” enough to be in longer-term foster placements stayed with us for years. It is these everyday stories of trauma that do not get reported.
Like the despair and fear of a six-year-old girl, “Stacey,” being dropped off at our school in November with her school supplies and her cherished Beanie Baby in a Safeway bag. She meekly asked about her sister, but her teacher didn’t know who or where her sister was. There was no academic file for this terrified girl, we did not know what she liked or how to comfort her, and although the teacher and staff did their best to care for her, they were inadequate substitutes for her family. There are 10,672 more stories like this, and sadly each of these children experiences these traumatic transitions often more than once.
Care, according to philosopher Nel Noddings, is the most basic form of an encounter between people, a universal human characteristic, and what she argues should be the foundation of our approach to schooling. But our schools (and CFS, for that matter) are overwhelmed with children in care. It is ironic that these lost children are called “children in care,” not because the individuals who meet them and are charged with caring for them don’t care for them (in my experiences, teachers and social workers do their best to care for these children), but the system is structured in a way that does not exemplify or practise care.
Our province has a badly outdated mode of structuring a response to the needs of children (in both CFS and in the education systems). For example, the model of care that is used is one based simply on that of protection, an inadequate response to a greater social problem. Whereas, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified in 1989 by every nation in the world except two, delineates a much more comprehensive notion of care and represents the minimum standard for the treatment of children. The UN convention includes articles that illustrate child protection such as a right to life, to protection from abductions, violence and neglect, and a right to quality health care and a good standard of living.
The convention, however, also stipulates the rights of the child beyond just protection and includes rights that are codified as child provisions (such as access to good quality education, health care, leisure activities), and as child participation (including having a say in decisions that affect them, access to information that is important to their health and well-being, and their right to religious practices and freedom of expression).
Professor emeritus Michael Freeman, who specializes in human rights at the University of Essex, explains the focus of the convention shifts the way we think of children and care, transferring the emphasis from protection to child autonomy, from nurturance to that of self-determination, and from welfare to justice.
In Manitoba and in Canada, we are a long way from structuring services for children in frameworks of child autonomy, self-determination and justice. Stacey and the 10,672 other children in care remain situated as objects in an outmoded system charged with fixing a social problem, with little consideration or attention given to the rights of the child. We must take collective responsibility for our province’s (and nation’s) children, demand better from our politicians, and insist on a reconsideration of our responses to children in care as something as reflective of the UN convention.
Melanie Janzen is an assistant professor in the education faculty at the University of Manitoba and a former learning support teacher in Seven Oaks School Division.
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Copyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 07/04/2015
donors have not always been investigated
Sperm donor mentally ill, couple alleges in lawsuit
By Diana Mehta
ANGELA Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson thought they were opting for a highly educated man with an “impressive health history” when they selected a donor from a U.S.-based sperm bank to start their family.
It was only years after the birth of their son the Port Hope, Ont., couple learned they hadn’t been told their donor was a schizophrenic college dropout with a criminal record, they allege in a lawsuit filed in a Georgia court last week.
The couple are now seeking damages for pain, suffering and financial losses as they allege Xytex Corp. engaged in fraud, misrepresentation, negligence and battery, among other claims.
When reached for comment Monday, Collins said she wasn’t ready to speak publicly on the suit, but her lawyer said the legal action was an important one.
“The case is significant because I believe both fertility clinics and the sperm banks and everyone associated with the industry requires accountability and regulation,” San Franciscobased lawyer Nancy Hersh said.
“It would have been very easy for Xytex to have conducted an investigation in order to confirm the representations that they were making about this donor. It took our clients five to 10 minutes, once they were accidentally given his identity, to demonstrate to themselves that what Xytex has said about him was not true.”
Collins and Hanson filed the suit to help provide accountability in the industry, prevent a similar situation for others, and establish a “medical monitoring fund” for their child because he has an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, Hersh said.
The Canadian couple isn’t the only one affected by the situation, Hersh added. The suit states the donor appears to have fathered 36 children, and Hersh said she had at least 15 other clients who may be joining the lawsuit.
Xytex said it “absolutely denies any assertion that it failed to comply with the highest standards for testing.”
“Xytex is reviewing and investigating the allegations asserted,” it said in a statement. “Recipients are provided access to a comprehensive list of the genetic and infectious diseases for which donated specimens are tested.”
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
— The Canadian Press
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Copyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 07/04/2015
By Diana Mehta
ANGELA Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson thought they were opting for a highly educated man with an “impressive health history” when they selected a donor from a U.S.-based sperm bank to start their family.
It was only years after the birth of their son the Port Hope, Ont., couple learned they hadn’t been told their donor was a schizophrenic college dropout with a criminal record, they allege in a lawsuit filed in a Georgia court last week.
The couple are now seeking damages for pain, suffering and financial losses as they allege Xytex Corp. engaged in fraud, misrepresentation, negligence and battery, among other claims.
When reached for comment Monday, Collins said she wasn’t ready to speak publicly on the suit, but her lawyer said the legal action was an important one.
“The case is significant because I believe both fertility clinics and the sperm banks and everyone associated with the industry requires accountability and regulation,” San Franciscobased lawyer Nancy Hersh said.
“It would have been very easy for Xytex to have conducted an investigation in order to confirm the representations that they were making about this donor. It took our clients five to 10 minutes, once they were accidentally given his identity, to demonstrate to themselves that what Xytex has said about him was not true.”
Collins and Hanson filed the suit to help provide accountability in the industry, prevent a similar situation for others, and establish a “medical monitoring fund” for their child because he has an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, Hersh said.
The Canadian couple isn’t the only one affected by the situation, Hersh added. The suit states the donor appears to have fathered 36 children, and Hersh said she had at least 15 other clients who may be joining the lawsuit.
Xytex said it “absolutely denies any assertion that it failed to comply with the highest standards for testing.”
“Xytex is reviewing and investigating the allegations asserted,” it said in a statement. “Recipients are provided access to a comprehensive list of the genetic and infectious diseases for which donated specimens are tested.”
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
— The Canadian Press
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Copyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 07/04/2015
Cruickshank had no intention of preventing this merger.
Merger hijacked by anti-gay members
Status quo for Assiniboine, Access credit unions
By Geoff Kirbyson
DON Cruickshank had no intention of being at the centre of a firestorm — but he ended up there anyway.
The Access Credit Union member wanted to inform fellow Winkler residents about the support the Assiniboine Credit Union has given to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community over the years. So, he posted a message on his Facebook page in advance of Wednesday night’s vote on the proposed merger between Access and Assiniboine, a marriage that would have created the largest financial co-operative in Manitoba.
His intention wasn’t to lead a charge, but he did hope the merger would be voted down.
It was. Access members voted 63.5 per cent in favour of the merger, short of the two-thirds majority needed to give it the green light.
“My intent was to have information out there so that people in Winkler could make an informed decision. ‘Hey guys, here’s the info. I just found this out. You probably didn’t know it and maybe it makes a difference to you. It does to me.’ I posted it and it exploded,” he said.
“Credit unions are supposed to reflect the values of their members. They do that by giving back to the community. Assiniboine has a little bit of a different value system than I do. For my credit union to support my values, then my values need to be aligned with theirs.”
Cruickshank’s actions blindsided Larry Davey. The CEO of Access, the sixth-largest credit union in the province, said he was shocked to hear about Cruickshank’s anti-gay posting because the meeting featured an open discussion and such issues were never brought up.
“It was a little bit surprising,” he said.
A resident of Winkler for the past three years, Davey said he hasn’t come across people with those views since he moved from Winnipeg.
“I certainly can’t side with the individual. I think it’s thrown off our board and our staff a little bit,” he said. “I think it’s important to realize that we’re in 17 communities across southern Manitoba and to have the credit union represented by one individual in one community is difficult.”
Assiniboine Credit Union members voted 95 per cent in favour of the merger. It’s still possible for the merger to surface again if one or more Access members asks for a special meeting to deal with it. Such a meeting must be held within 30 days of the request.
Davey said he’s optimistic that will happen.
“There have been a number of members who were disappointed by the outcome. Some didn’t come out to vote. Unfortunately, we were competing against a Jets game that night,” he said.
Margaret Day, chairwoman of Assiniboine, expressed disappointment that Access members voted against the merger, but she wasn’t going to apologize for any support it has provided to the LGBT community over the years.
“We had such excitement between the two credit unions about the merger resulting in a very strong credit union for our communities, better services to our members and lots of opportunities for our staff,” she said. “We felt by coming together we would be able to broaden our community building. We still look forward to that, hopefully.”
Day said Assiniboine is proud to be a diverse and inclusive organization in everything it does, ranging from sponsorship to hiring policies.
“It makes sense to support those communities. They represent a part of our membership. Diversity is one of the positive things about our community. We don’t apologize for that,” she said.
Jonathan Niemczak, president of Pride Winnipeg, a non-profit organization focused on bringing awareness to the LGBT community, said intolerant views tend to be more prevalent in rural areas than in Winnipeg. Still, Cruickshank’s actions puzzled him.
“I find it very odd. I don’t know why you would dictate a business decision over something like this. If you’re going to start tearing down companies that support the LGBT community, you’re going to have to become self-sufficient. It’s becoming the norm,” he said. Numerous studies have shown the growing strength of “pink” dollars. Niemczak said LGBT people tend to be highly educated, have more disposable income, travel more and spend more when they travel than heterosexuals.
“In terms of an investment, it makes sense to go after that market,” he said. “Today, when LGBT individuals see companies that support them, they develop immediate brand loyalty. Assiniboine Credit Union has been a huge supporter of the LGBT community, I’m sure they have a large customer base that is LGBT.”
Cruickshank said the reaction to his Facebook post was swift. “There are those who agree (Assiniboine’s values) don’t line up with their values. Some of them would have voted differently (had they known). Then there are people who disagree with my thoughts and they let me know. That’s OK,” he said.
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Powered by TECNAVIACopyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 25/04/2015
government gag orders should be removed
This literary piece in the paper relates to the government accommodating a gag order placed by the Province of Manitoba because of by-laws. Would you not think that the information should be released so the general public had more of an inside view of how they would like to vote during this period. I believe that the simple and mundane information that is held in abeyance should be of knowledge to the voting public.
Election law creates ‘cone of silence’
NDP, bureaucrats interpret act too closely: experts
By Bruce Owen
MANITOBA has one of the most restrictive laws in Canada that prohibits the
government and its agencies from releasing even the most banal information.
Analysts say the legislated gag order on government advertising during the
current byelection restricts the NDP from showing it can govern, a month after
a divisive leadership battle.
Due to the advertising blackout, the government has issued only four news
releases in the past week: one on cautious driving, two on the spring flood
watch, and an announcement the restriction to spread manure on fields had been
lifted.
The law is so restrictive, the government can’t even post comments on Twitter.
Other provinces, such Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland and Labrador, have no such law.
Saskatchewan comes closest to the Manitoba Election Finances Act. That province
prohibits government ministries from publishing information in the constituency
in which a byelection is held.
The difference is that Manitoba’s law prevents the government from talking
about itself in the entire province.
It also restricts Crown agencies, from Manitoba Hydro to the Winnipeg Regional
Health Authority, from discussing their work, however trivial or non-political.
For example, the government couldn’t answer when conservation officers will
start enforcing the smoking ban on provincial park beaches.
The exception is for an advertisement or a publication that is required by law
or required at that time, such as the issuance of a government tender; or if it
relates to public health or safety, such as flood outlooks.
The ban started March 20 when Premier Greg Selinger called the byelection for
The Pas for April 21. Selinger waited almost a year to call the byelection.
Political author Chris Adams said he believes the government is being too
conservative in its interpretation of the law. “I think there’s a sense of
skittishness in the bureaucracy right now,” Adams said.
“I would think if I’m a mid-level manager and I’ve been asked to give
information, and I received a stern memo saying ‘Do not do this during a
byelection,’ I would feel not as an NDP supporter, but just as somebody who’s
feeling the culture of government right now, I would default to the careful
position.”
The act was introduced in 1983 by former NDP premier Howard Pawley to make
election campaign financing more democratic. It was rewritten by the NDP in
2012.
The ban on government advertising during a byelection period remains intact.
“It’s black-letter law,” said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political
science at the University of Manitoba. “That’s one of the problems with it.”
“It’s meant to have a certain amount of precision, but on the other hand, I
don’t think the spirit of the law is such that you can’t ever communicate about
anything,” he said.
Thomas and Adams added the act’s strict interpretation further undermines the
government’s credibility.
“They are exceedingly jittery about what the law allows,” Thomas said. “This
trickles down to the staff, and they will block the freedom-of-information
process.”
One reason for that skittishness is that the NDP has been found to have
violated the advertising ban three times in the past few years, including an
earlier version of the act. The three violations were the results of complaints
from the Progressive Conservatives.
There is no penalty other than embarrassment.
While Elections Manitoba is responsible for the act, spokeswoman Alison
Mitchell said it does not advise government on how to interpret the act. Nor
does the government seek the advice of Elections Manitoba.
Manitoba election commissioner Bill Bowles deals with complaints.
The NDP’s last violation was during the 2014 byelections in Morris and
Arthur-Virden, when it advertised a gathering at the legislative building to
mark the 98th anniversary of women’s suffrage.
Bowles declined to be interviewed.
Adams said what’s damaging the NDP is that the ban, however well-intentioned,
prevents the government from legitimately discussing its activities.
“During the leadership race, there was a whole lot of non-decision-making going
on, where decisions were being deferred, meetings with ministers were being put
on hold,” he said. “I think this is part of this work-culture problem that’s
nagging at the government right now.”
Adams said the three violations of the advertising ban had more to do with
ribbon-cutting events, not the release of basic information such as cancer
statistics or yoga programs.
“It is unfair to cut ribbons during an election, but to not provide
health-related information or program-related information seems to be… overly
careful,” he said.
The government is releasing cabinet orders and new legislative regulations
almost daily, but it can’t directly answer media questions about them.
“I don’t think when they drafted the law they intended a complete cone of
silence on government,” Thomas said. “Presumably, straightforward explanations,
factual explanations, shouldn’t be disallowed.”
[email protected]
The premier’s office has closed the door on information during the
current byelection in The Pas.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
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a child's loss of proper daycare based on discrimination
This article depicts the unjust treatment of a child's right for proper care in today's society. The right of proper care of a child should not be removed because of the sexual orientation of the parents. To what right or business does any establishment have to deny proper care of children. The only concern the daycare should have in this matter is whether the children are cared for properly, not to any extent, the sexual habits or orientation of the parents.
Parents say daycare discriminated
Lesbian couple denied spot for infant daughter
By Chinta Puxley
MANITOBA’S attorney general says he is outraged by allegations a lesbian couple was denied a Winnipeg daycare spot for their baby girl because of their sexual orientation.
James Allum said no one in this day and age should be denied service on those grounds.
“I’m outraged that anyone would be denied access to child care on the basis of discrimination based on sexual orientation,” he said Thursday. “That’s simply outrageous. It’s as simple as that.”
Agata Durkalec and her partner, Kate Taylor, say they are filing a human rights complaint after they say they were denied a Winnipeg daycare spot for their baby girl because of their sexual orientation.
The couple moved to Winnipeg from Ontario recently and began looking for a daycare for their 10-month-old daughter.
They thought they were in luck when they found an opening at a home daycare, but allege the daycare operator withdrew the offer in writing when she found out they are lesbians.
“My heart goes out to both of you but I know where my families stand on the subject, therefore it would not be a good fit,” the woman allegedly wrote to Durkalec. “I hope everything works out for you and your family.”
The Canadian Press was unable to reach the daycare operator to comment on the couple’s complaint.
Durkalec said she was stunned. It would be illegal for a hair salon to deny service based on sexual orientation and an unlicenced home daycare should be no different, she said.
“This is a much more critical service, providing child care,” she said. “They should be held to the same human rights standards as anyone else.”
The couple picked up papers from the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and will be filing a complaint, Durkalec said.
Although they are no longer interested in putting their daughter in the home daycare, Durkalec said it should be made clear any discrimination based on sexual orientation is wrong.
“What would be better would be more education and clarity so that queer and trans families don’t experience discrimination at any home daycare in Manitoba,” she said.
Neither Allum, nor anyone from the provincial government, would comment on whether unlicensed home daycares are subject to the same anti-discrimination laws as other businesses.
Allum said the allegations would be best handled by the human rights commission.
It’s a grey area that should go under a spotlight, Taylor said. Daycare spots are so difficult to find, many parents have to find unlicensed ones, she said.
“It’s not a choice,” she said. “If it is a grey zone then that’s a conversation that needs to be had.”
— The Canadian Press
Kate Taylor (left) and partner Agata Durkalec are filing a human rights complaint.
DAVID LIPNOWSKI / THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Lesbian couple denied spot for infant daughter
By Chinta Puxley
MANITOBA’S attorney general says he is outraged by allegations a lesbian couple was denied a Winnipeg daycare spot for their baby girl because of their sexual orientation.
James Allum said no one in this day and age should be denied service on those grounds.
“I’m outraged that anyone would be denied access to child care on the basis of discrimination based on sexual orientation,” he said Thursday. “That’s simply outrageous. It’s as simple as that.”
Agata Durkalec and her partner, Kate Taylor, say they are filing a human rights complaint after they say they were denied a Winnipeg daycare spot for their baby girl because of their sexual orientation.
The couple moved to Winnipeg from Ontario recently and began looking for a daycare for their 10-month-old daughter.
They thought they were in luck when they found an opening at a home daycare, but allege the daycare operator withdrew the offer in writing when she found out they are lesbians.
“My heart goes out to both of you but I know where my families stand on the subject, therefore it would not be a good fit,” the woman allegedly wrote to Durkalec. “I hope everything works out for you and your family.”
The Canadian Press was unable to reach the daycare operator to comment on the couple’s complaint.
Durkalec said she was stunned. It would be illegal for a hair salon to deny service based on sexual orientation and an unlicenced home daycare should be no different, she said.
“This is a much more critical service, providing child care,” she said. “They should be held to the same human rights standards as anyone else.”
The couple picked up papers from the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and will be filing a complaint, Durkalec said.
Although they are no longer interested in putting their daughter in the home daycare, Durkalec said it should be made clear any discrimination based on sexual orientation is wrong.
“What would be better would be more education and clarity so that queer and trans families don’t experience discrimination at any home daycare in Manitoba,” she said.
Neither Allum, nor anyone from the provincial government, would comment on whether unlicensed home daycares are subject to the same anti-discrimination laws as other businesses.
Allum said the allegations would be best handled by the human rights commission.
It’s a grey area that should go under a spotlight, Taylor said. Daycare spots are so difficult to find, many parents have to find unlicensed ones, she said.
“It’s not a choice,” she said. “If it is a grey zone then that’s a conversation that needs to be had.”
— The Canadian Press
Kate Taylor (left) and partner Agata Durkalec are filing a human rights complaint.
DAVID LIPNOWSKI / THE CANADIAN PRESS
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