Conservative MP Absent From a Child Poverty Forum in Southwestern Manitoba.
Are hungry kids a priority for the Harper government? by Larry Powell The forum (for the riding of Dauphin - Swan River - Neepawa) was sponsored by the Mission and Services Committee of the Neepawa United Church. It drew about 80 people to the church on Wednesday. But only four of the five candidates (see below) took part in the debate - Ray Piché (Liberal), Kate Storey (Green Party), Inky Mark (Ind.) and Laverne Lewycky (NDP) . The 5th candidate, the sitting Conservative MP for the area, Robert Sopuck (represented by the empty chair on the right), did not attend. His office manager in Neepawa, Christine Waddell, said he was in Inglis, a small community in the western part of the riding for the evening. She did not elaborate. But she did explain that a campaign worker was mistaken when he told forum organizers earlier that Mr. Sopuck would, in fact be there. Piché , the Liberal candidate, said the MP's absence showed “disrespect” for the rest of the candidates
Comments
Reading the grim message of what we can expect,
(Save lake or live by 'open-air sewer',Wpg Free Press,24 Feb.) I must ask, "Has Lake Winnipeg gone beyond the tipping point, and now,is it too late to recover?"
Science has long identified the source of the problems with the Lake and many other Canadian lakes and waters experiencing massive
eutrophication. For more than 40 years, study after study, arrived at a consensus: over-fertilization of our fresh waters.
In 1974,co-author of "The Algal Bowl," scientist John R. Vallentyne predicted that we would be living with an environmental disaster he called the algal bowl by the year 2000. Just as the Dust Bowl of the
1930s was created by misusing western farmland,he forecast that continued misuse of lakes would lead to water degradation. To-day, waters suffer from our ignorance and denial. His predictions have
been realized.
Science tells us Lake recovery is costly and takes time. Having failed to heed the warnings,the most cost effective approach now is to reduce
inputs and wait for decades, for the symptoms of eutrophication to subside.
The old adage"a gram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure", fits Lake Winnipeg's algae problems perfectly. It is a hard lesson to learn.
It is clear that governments have ignored this basic principle of Water Stewardship for many years in the pursuit of narrow economic interests.
Lake Winnipeg has become a horrid reminder of devastation, that we are
leaving our children and their children to bear alone.