The Flood of 2011 and Property values around Lake Manitoba

Last year people around Lake Manitoba were assured by the NDP government that property values around Lake Manitoba would not fall.  This year, in the real world, we have seen a tremendous fall in the value of many properties.  Today, I asked questions about this in question period.  The questions are below:

1) Last year on May 30th, 2011, the then Minister of Agriculture, now the Minister of Finance, said that the government was not concerned about a possible loss of property values after the Lake Manitoba flood.  He said with respect to the flood "the lessons that we have learned in the past is that property values don't depreciate."  The Minister could not have been more wrong with respect to the Lake Manitoba flood.  I ask the Minister of Finance to admit that he was wrong last May to those around Lake Manitoba who have suffered so terribly because of the loss in the value of their properties?

2) There are real people living around Lake Manitoba, people like Darrel and Dee Dee Armstrong who have worked hard their whole lives farming and in developing an incredible community at Big Point.  They have seen tremendous loss in the value of their properties, but they have been told that loss in property value is "not a component of the Lake Manitoba Financial Assistance Plan Program and thus we cannot estimate nor pay any loss of property value."  Why has the government not got any plan to deal with the loss of property value around Lake Manitoba?

3) Mr. Speaker, instead of helping people, the government has created a nightmare for too many people around Lake Manitoba.  Sadly, the government's programs were never designed to help people, they were actually designed to say "NO we can't help you."  This is because, right from the start, the government has made the wrong assumptions.  I ask the Minister of Finance, when are you going to start trying to help people who have been devastated by the flood of 2011, instead of putting up every conceivable delay, every conceivable barrier and every conceivable obstruction?

I will be posting the answers, given by Steve Ashton (the Minister of Finance apparently did not want to reply), on Monday when they are available from Hansard.

The Westland Foundation and Glen McCabe:  The focus at this week's breakfast for the Westland Foundation Wednesday morning was education and the importance of the post-secondary education scholarships provided by the Westland Foundation.

Speakers included Dushant Persaud, Superintendent of Schools for the North District of Winnipeg One, who emphasized that for those living in poverty in inner Winnipeg, that “education is the way out”. Stephanie Forsyth President and CEO of the Red River College talked of how education empowers students. Jennifer Rattray of the University of Winnipeg emphasized that “nothing breaks the back of poverty more than education”

And then Dr. Glen McCabe, a Psychologist at the University of Manitoba gave the Keynote Address.

He talked of his early life where part of his survival was anti-social behavior. He lived in a world encapsulated with struggle and pain. But storytelling which was a part of his family’s identity was important to learning and to the healing and emotional strengthening of people in his community. As he grew and learned, he has become a standard bearer in the struggle for people in the inner parts of Winnipeg to grow and do well.

He looks to the success of post-secondary educated people. He talked of three things that are like a beacon of light - Healing, a sense of safety and a feeling of optimism for the future, and the importance of instilling in people these three things. He talked of the importance of greeting people, of showing respect and of having empathy with people - connecting at an emotional level. He emphasized that “empathy is meaningless unless you care”, and of the importance of caring. His message was strong. Glen clearly relates to the difficulties of growing up in inner Winnipeg and the need for better understanding and better assistance for youth in this area so that they too can grow up and do well.

Congratulations to John Prystanski and his team at the Westland Foundation for a well organized event and for the work that the Foundation does in helping young people.