Manitoba

Manitoba is in the middle of Canada and is known as the "Keystone" province. It is home for 1,300,000 people (about the same population as the city of Calgary). Manitoba's two largest cities are Winnipeg and Brandon. It is the home province for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Winnipeg Jets.  I have called Manitoba my home for nearly two decades and it has certainly served me well. 

Manitoba has an incredible number of beautiful lakes. You can travel an hour from Brandon and end up at a different lake every time. Many Manitobans are cabin owners and they often say, "going to the lake", which lake is never included in the announcement, and it is always a mystery to me. 

Manitoba has 82 hospitals and I have always appreciated the way they utilize their smaller rural hospitals.  Minnedosa & District Hospital is thirty minutes from Brandon. They have doctors that continue to perform small surgeries, among other services. Dr Rocha the ophthalmologist from Brandon, travels to Minnedosa to do cataract surgery.  Neepawa Health Centre has ten doctors, 35 acute care beds, and offers emergency care, surgery, obstetrics and chemotherapy.  Plans are to build a new hospital in Neepawa that will be four times the size of the current hospital and offer more services such as dialysis. 

Manitoba's number one export is "Medicaments". in 2021 it exported over $2.2 billion in medicaments which are inclusive of vitamins, vaccines and over the counter medications.  A company out of Winnipeg is the largest manufacture in Canada for over-the-counter medications. Other exports from Manitoba are of course grains like canola and soybeans as well as pork and beef.  

Since the war in Ukraine started a year ago, 12,400 Ukrainians have arrived in Manitoba.  Per capita, Manitoba has received the largest number of Ukrainians in Canada.  Apparently, 50 Ukrainians would arrive per day for a very long period of time.  When they arrived they were met at the airport, taken to a nice hotel, assistance was provided to complete any paperwork that was required or any other needs they may of had. In the summer the government arranged a special camp for the kids and they have certainly extended a warm welcome.  

Peguis First Nation was the first Indigenous group in Manitoba and the third in Canada, to officially take control of their own child welfare under federal legislation.  In Manitoba there are approximately 12,000 children in Child and Family Services and 90% are indigenous.     

Manitoba is certainly a curling province.  It is evident by the number of wild card rinks that were in the Scotties and the Brier from Manitoba.  I have to admit, in the past, I have not been a fan of Jennifer Jones, not sure why, she has never offended me. This year when I watched Jennifer with those three young curlers, it made me think very differently about her.  I can't even imagine what those girls must have learned by being on her rink.  She was a quiet mentor for them, and I assume that was her plan to help the young potential curlers before she retires, whenever she plans to do that is also a mystery. 

Jennifer has won the World's four times, the Scotties six times

I am a gapper, even though I don't live in Saskatchewan anymore, my heart is still in Saskatchewan.  I realize as an adult, that I grew up in a very generous and caring community.  So many things about Saskatchewan make me proud to say I was born there.  For instance, I know very little about football, but I love the Roughriders, just like so many people from Saskatchewan do.   

Saskatchewan is so proud to be the home province of Sandra Schmirler and her rink of Jan, Joan and Marcia.  Sandra took the curling world by a storm and in her short life she was a true ambassador of the sport.  She married Shannon England in June 1996.  They welcomed two daughters Sarah, in September of 1997 and Jenna, in June of 1999.  Shortly after Jenna's birth, Sandra was diagnosed with Cancer and even though she put up a courageous fight she died in her sleep on March 2, 2000, at the age of 36. The whole country mourned her death. The Sandra Schmirler Foundation was created by Sandra's friends and teammates.  It was to be a living legacy to honor Sandra.  Millions of dollars have been raised to help babies born prematurely or critically ill with life-saving equipment given to NICUs in every province and territories. This legacy lives on to save babies born too soon, too small and too sick. 

Schmirler the Curler

Every province has its struggles, and Manitoba is no different. An annual report has found that Manitoba remains the worst province in the country for child poverty, with one in five children living in poverty. At a rate of 20.68%, the staggering number of Manitoba children that are poor is 64,670.  Which is 13,357 more than the entire population of Brandon.  Another disturbing statistic is the fact that Manitoba has the highest child hunger rate in Canada, which is only understandable with the high poverty rate. One in three children go to school in Canada without breakfast.  Every school in Brandon has a breakfast program accessible to every student that attends that school. I have heard that some children in Brandon eat at the school breakfast program, meet their parents at the "Helping Hands" soup kitchen for lunch and their evening meal will come from a food basket from the Samaritan house.  This all plays out in the final statistics.  For several years now Manitoba has the lowest math and science score in Canada.  They are second lowest in the reading score.  It is understandable that children can't learn if they are hungry and insecure.  I wish I could wave my magic wand and at the very least make it better for the children, they are victims in what may be poor decisions made by adults.  

Recently, on the news they announced that there is 400+ homeless in Brandon and 1200+ in Winnipeg.  The population of Winnipeg is 841,000 and Brandon is 51,000.  If Brandon was the same size as Winnipeg and our homelessness was accordingly, it would be the home for 6,600 homeless people.  I do understand there are factors, such as the homeless are transient and several of them have moved from Winnipeg to Brandon.  But clearly Brandon has a real homeless problem. It makes me wonder what would the total number of homeless be in the province when you factored in every community.  I realize a good portion of homelessness is caused by drug use.  Which is another uncontrolled problem that plagues the province and country.  Offering resources to help those who need to "Get clean" seems to be next to impossible for reasons I don't understand.  

Manitoba has moved into the second highest province with increasing prices, following Ontario and sits as having the sixth highest income tax at 17.4%. 

I believe it goes without saying "the country seems to be in a mess".  Even with my rose-colored glasses on I have little to offer.  It is evident the way things are set up now, it's not working.  The line "if you keep doing the same thing you will get the same results", is really evident with the problems.  Money is not the answer, to me action is the answer.  I have never liked it when I have been told "there is nothing you can do about it, that is the way it is".  I just want to say "well, just watch me".  

                                     

This post is full of the good, the bad and the ugly.  I believe that knowledge is power and that you can't fix what you don't know.  Clearly, I am a trivia person and finding the facts for this post was interesting for me.  Some of the findings were disturbing but I want to be informed.  Many of us feel powerless over the magnitude of the problems.  My hope is that maybe someone, somewhere, can make a difference.  We will all be there to cheer them on when they do.  

As you sit and read this blog, I am hoping you are thinking about the great things about your province.  It may not be your birth province; it may be the one you have adopted like me.  Each province in Canada is unique and beautiful in its own way. All to often, we can get caught up in the bad things about where we live and forget about the good.  The prairies are a beautiful place to live, albeit cold and snowy right now. Take a look outside and smile at what you love about where you live. I hope by doing that it will be the start of a good day for you, everyone deserves to have a good day.