It was a beautiful morning as I walked to my community centre to cast my vote. Earlier, I had dropped my kids off at school then ran an errand before making my way to the polls. There are some days when the benefits of being self-employed, with a flexible schedule, greatly outweigh the insecurity that also comes along with being your own boss. To offset this lack of security, I try to minimize my costs, take time to do some research and plan for the future. By writing this blog over the past weeks I've been able to research and reflect on more election issues than I normally would.

Although the focus of this blog was on childcare and education, I did look at other issues and campaign promises with more than a passing interest, once I began doing research for my posts. The thing that struck me the most, was the number of election promises made with no real explanation of how they would be paid for. I realize this happens in every election. Parties attempt to entice people to vote for them with promises that may popular, but not necessarily affordable.

One of the big issues this election was Bipole III and the extra billion dollars it will cost to have it run according to current plans. An extra billion dollars, added to all the other promised spending alarms me. In these turbulent economic times, consumers have been bombarded with messages of fiscal restraint and responsibility. We've been told to reduce our debt before interest rates rise and our debt burden becomes unmanageable. The effect of these messages has been coloring every election promise I've heard. Can we really afford everything we were promised?

I love the idea of more childcare and preschool spaces. I love the idea of limiting class sizes, from kindergarten to Grade 3, to 20 students. I'll feel more comfortable when a budget is presented, outlining how we can afford the new spending while reducing our provincial debt. Consumers are being urged to practice fiscal responsibility -- governments should practice it too.

Thanks for stopping by.

One thing I noticed the NDP election platform is promising, is limiting class sizes to 20 students for kindergarten through Grade 3.

This could have several consequences: more teachers and teaching assistants would have to be hired, as the number of classes in each grade will grow; schools may not have the facilities to add another class; If they have split existing classes to meet the new cap requirements, children may be forced to transfer to different schools which have room to accommodate them. As a result, some parents and children may be upset at the way the new smaller classes are determined and divided.

Overall, costs will increase due to the hiring of more staff, and upgrading of facilities. The NDP say that $20 million will be needed annually for teacher, and $85 million will be spent in schools capital once the plan is fully implemented. This would be a five-year plan that would begin next year.

When my son started going to school, we monitored his schoolwork and attitude. In addition to having discussions with his teacher, these allowed us to evaluate his school experience. When it came to evaluating the school as a whole, I was initially quite naive. The teachers were friendly and attentive, and the kids seemed generally happy. Later, I realized that I was basing my evaluation of the school on my decades-old experience as a student.

My wife had a different point of view. She had worked in a number of schools and taught students from Grade 1 through to high school. Around the time our first son was entering Grade 1, she had a job at a newer school in Lindenwoods. Aside from the physical building being much newer, the resources the school had were enviable to say the least -- Smartboards in every classroom, including kindergarten, updated computer lab, great student support, and an incredible library among other things. Additionally, the parent community were great fundraisers and added thousands of dollars to the school budget. It almost seemed like a private school, without the large tuition fees. With the "Schools of Choice" program, I wouldn't be surprised if it had a long list of students from out of catchment area waiting to get in.

Children allow you to vicariously relive parts of your own childhood. You're able to revisit those moments in your past that correspond to your own child's experiences. Personally, this hit home when our oldest child was ready to start school.

I recalled my Grade 1 experience -- there was no kindergarten on the reserve where I grew up. The school bus would take me to the far end of the community, to the Grade 1 building. It wasn't until years later that a large centralized school was built, a school that could hold all the students; a school with a gymnasium, a science lab and other amenities that most of us take for granted. However, a funny thing happened after Grade 1 -- my parents moved me to another school.

The new school was outside of our community, located on a nearby Canadian Forces radar base. For six-year-old me, it was a big change. An anxiety-inducing change that I didn't understand at first. Decades later, I was surprised to find myself transferring my own son between schools for similar reasons.

Now that my kids are in school all day, our needs for regular childcare have dropped considerably. We still have our long-time sitter come by on in-service days, and other days when the kids are not in school. She's been with us for about five years so it's nice for the kids to see her occasionally, and the help allows me to get some work done.

These days we really feel the need for some kind of childcare during the summer holidays. We are lucky that my wife works in the public education system, so she has the summers off too. This means we don't need childcare everyday. However, it seems like a full-time job entertaining two young boys. As a result, my wife often feels a little run down after a couple of weeks of "holidays."

But what if you can't take two months off in the summer? What do you do with your children then? Line up as many summer camps as you can afford? Hope that the grandparents or other relatives can help out? Hire a neighborhood teen as a sitter?

Childcare and early education in Manitoba is a work in progress, that will require the help of the federal government to move it along. More childcare spaces, better facilities and more trained professionals are only part of the solution. Income tax reform is another piece. The provincial parties may be able to improve the situation but federal co-operation is needed for more meaningful improvement.

At the provincial level, more facilities and child care workers, along with early education professionals is a good start. This would go a long way toward reducing waiting lists for daycare spots. Locating these daycare spaces close to elementary schools and creating more preschool/nursery school spaces with a curriculum that ties into the public school program is a great idea. Better incentives for corporate support of childcare would be beneficial. Increased corporate involvement may speed the implementation of a more comprehensive childcare program.

After spending some time on the website of the Green Party, I couldn't find anything specific about their plans for childcare. (http://greenparty.mb.ca/platform ) It does get a passing mention in their platform point about "Housing for All," where some types of new and converted housing will be integrated with community space for childcare. They also talk about their support for youth programs, especially at the community centre level. This may result in some extra childcare programming, as many community centres offer this service.

The lack of specifics is disappointing yet, in a sense, understandable -- the Green Party is fairly young in Manitoba. Some of the other ideas the party puts forward, such as the "universal basic income," may allow some parents to leave the workforce for longer periods in order to raise their children. However, I don't think society is ready to embrace that idea of tax reform and income redistribution yet.

The Liberal Party platform sounds  promising. It's entitled, "Strong Families, Healthy Communities."(http://mlp.manitobaliberals.ca/09/09/ndp-fails-to-deliver-daycare-spaces-liberals-promise-plan-to-do-better/) Let's take a closer look at their plan for childcare.

The Liberals feel that there should be more daycare spots now and that existing waiting times for a spot are unacceptable. They are touting a five-year universal plan and are pledging to spend $45 million to implement it. This plan also commits to increasing the number of early childhood education spaces and hiring more childcare professionals. Also promised is early screening for learning disabilities so that children can be paired with the appropriate support when they are in class.

Today, let's take a look at the Progressive Conservative Party's platform and childcare.

The major promise the Conservatives are making about childcare is the introduction of the Manitoba Universal Child Care Benefit. The benefit, $100 a month for each child, would begin at age six and continue to age 12. This is a provincial extension to the current federal Universal Child Care Benefit, which ends at age six.

Like the federal Conservatives, the provincial Conservative approach is to put more money in family pockets, via benefits and tax reductions, and let families decide how to spend it. They acknowledge that many families use daycare services and as such, they are committed to maintaining the current growth of daycare spaces to reach 6,500 spaces by 2013.

Today I would like to look at some things currently offered in the way of childcare by the governing NDP, and what they are promising if re-elected.  

As her maternity leave was drawing to a close, my wife and I started looking into childcare options. We checked listings in the Yellow Pages, newspapers and explored daycares that were in our neighborhood. In hindsight, we started looking late. Probably too late to secure a spot in the daycare of our choice. One thing I don't recall doing was checking with the provincial government to see if they had any resources that would help us with our search.

I am self-employed, and have been for the last 16 years. Like many self-employed people, I tended to work too much. After all, if I wasn't working, I wasn't earning anything. Newly married, with a mortgage and other bills to pay, I definitely felt the need to earn as much as I could. This crazy schedule was easier to stick to until my wife and I had our first child.   

It is said that having children is a life-altering event. Until you have one of your own, you cannot fully appreciate just how life-altering a new baby really is. Nine months of anticipation do not prepare you for the changes you will experience. I'm not going to discuss all the challenges and responsibilities that new parents face. I'll leave that to the experts. Instead, I would like to talk about my family's experiences with childcare and education, and how the current election may affect these areas.

While I was self-employed, my wife was working part time as a teacher when our first child was born. Between extended periods of excitement and anxiety over becoming a first time parent, I came to some sobering realizations. Chief among them was that as our expenses were increasing -- while preparing our home for our first child -- our income was decreasing. A year of paid maternity leave is a wonderful thing but financially it can be trying. I appreciate why many parents have to return to work before the year is up.

To borrow a phrase from the movie Field of Dreams, if you build it they will come. In 2007 there were 200 advance polls available over seven days. In this election, 300 polls were opened across the province for eight days. Voting was also made easier, allowing you to select from among the candidates in your riding at any location.

This resulted in about 78,600 Manitobans casting their ballots in advance compared to 42,775 advance votes cast in the 2007 election. If you haven't voted yet in this provincial election, today is your final opportunity. Unfortunately, a good number of our neighbours won't be joining you.

A study by Probe Research http://news.probe-research.com/2011/10/younger-disadvantaged-manitobans-less.html indicates seven-in-10 Manitobans say they are "very certain" they will vote this election. An additional 12 per cent of people who responded to the survey say they are "somewhat certain" to mark their choice as well. Probe says one in 10 Manitobans may or not vote, while six per cent are absolutely certain they will not cast a ballot.

With just hours to go before we know which party will form Manitoba's next government a bulletin to Air Canada employees has called attention to a troubling issue for this province. On Sept. 23 the airline told its flight crews staying overnight in Winnipeg they would no longer be lodging at a downtown hotel because of concerns for their safety. They would now stay at a hotel close to the airport.

Latest available statistics for 2009 show crimes against persons in the city's downtown on the increase. There is no denying some Winnipeggers believe a good deal of this trend is linked to greater numbers of panhandlers, homeless people and the intoxicated who many times happen to be aboriginal.

Following news of the move a company spokesperson was quoted in a statement as saying, "We are acting out of an abundance of caution after conducting a security assessment with both local law enforcement officials in Winnipeg and our own security people."

This weekend marks the final stretch for Manitoba's 40th provincial election campaign.

Candidates are out doing whatever it takes to garner favour with the voters, while the organization that tallies the votes is ramping up for the final day on Tuesday, Oct. 4. What many voters don't realize is the election is already underway at numerous advance polls across the province.

This year Elections Manitoba extended the reach of its advance polls to an unprecedented level --- 300 stations opened for business last Saturday. That's 100 more compared to the last provincial election. The number of voting days was also raised to nine. Hours of voting have also been extended, with the polls at some major locations open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Polls on Oct. 4 will open at 7 a.m., an hour earlier than last election.

In 1991, I was producing a late evening television newscast when the station manager phoned the control room just as we were about to go to air. He told me the month-long strike by Manitoba nurses was ending and to get this information to the news reader pronto. 

My journalism training tells me to always check the accuracy of news tips, even if the tip is courtesy of the person who signs my news director paycheck. This resulted in a quick and testy telephone exchange about why I was asking. It concluded when the station manager blurted out, "If you don't get this on air tonight you'll have ink on your hands tomorrow" and hung up.

I was nearly sacked the next day but ultimately what stuck with me was how the manager, who wouldn't reveal he had insider knowledge because he was on the board of a local hospital, desperately wanted to get the jump on the printed press.

I've been thinking a lot about Marshall McLuhan lately. The Canadian-born academic and leading thinker on media not only coined the phrase, The Medium is the Message, he also gave us such rich quotes as, "Politics offers yesterday's answers to today's questions" and "I may be wrong, but I'm never in doubt".

This year marks the 100th anniversary of McLuhan's birth. Although he was born in Edmonton, McLuhan spent most of his formative years in Winnipeg attending elementary and high school as well as graduating from the University of Manitoba. It seems a city that idolizes professional sports franchises, celebrities in entertainment and the business elite, has yet to show significant interest in this fact.

On Friday Manitoba's four main party leaders brushed up against McLuhan's universe during their only broadly-televised debate of the 2011 campaign.

The debate was carried live on local television and radio, streamed on web-based and mobile platforms and archived for later viewing. It was written about online, including major media websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter, and was undoubtedly the subject of some texting between political operatives.

It's not every election I get a surprise from outside the carefully-scripted universe of the party campaigns. But this Manitoba Election there's a "BOLD" economic idea being directed towards voter attention.

The idea is to support Manitoba's creative industries, those usually identified in upper case as Arts and Culture. Granted, we've heard many times from arts and culture organizations about the number of persons they employ, the dollars generated through spinoffs such as tourism and the ongoing legacy of their public projects. What's new this time is the group beating the drum is the business cheering section of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

On Wednesday, the Chamber called on the provincial parties to "further enhance and build the creative industries in Manitoba by encouraging creative planning principles and the development of a creative campus".

This week network television debuted a new season of situation comedies, dramatic series and reality shows.  On Monday night, while some of my friends and millions of other viewers were checking out Ashton Kutcher on "Two and a Half Men", I was transfixed by two other men from Canada's past.

CBC Television was airing "John A: Birth of a Country", a dramatization of this country's 19th Century pre-Confederation struggle to establish its identity as more than a group of British North American colonies. 

For most, it's hardly must-see viewing, but for this history junky it was a ripping yarn featuring Canada's first prime minister, the charismatic and hard-drinking John A. MacDonald of the Conservative Party and his political nemesis, Liberal George Brown, an anti-slavery crusader and founder of what eventually became the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Every Saturday morning I tune into CBC Radio's "The House" to hear about what's happening in Canadian politics.  This weekend, new host Evan Solomon talked to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty about how jobs would be the focus of the newest session of Parliament.

Concerns were raised about the continuing recession in the U.S. and President Obama's proposal for a buy-American provision to bolster an economic recovery. Unfortunately, buy American would be bad for Canadian exports.

The deepening likelihood of European debt defaults was also discussed as a threat to our economy. The finance minister admitted such an event would introduce a large shock to our system.

When you have an older home you're always dealing with the spending decisions of previous owners, much like every government that takes office. This week our kitchen sink began leaking. We discovered the previous owners never replaced a section of old pipe that connected the more modern pipes leading to the basement because it was hidden behind a wall and hard to get at. 

It was a messy, expensive repair, but this aging infrastructure reminded me of another problem facing Manitoba: we've got a lot of older people in this province and their numbers are growing faster than the number of younger people.

Back in 2004 when Premier Greg Selinger was the NDP's finance minister he co-authored a report http://ceric.ca/cjcd/archives/v3-n2/article1.pdf that noted, "Between 1996 and 2002, the number of people (in Manitoba) aged 55 and older grew by 6.4 per cent, while the number of people aged 15 to 54 grew by only 1.5 per cent".

He goes on to note how growth in the number of older Manitobans will continue to outpace the growth of those younger. Manitoba is not alone in this. 

I'm assuming you are reading this because you are interested in what I have to say about the economy and employment in Manitoba as issues in the provincial election. In the interest of disclosure I'll tell you I'm no expert on the economy, although I have done many stories about economic issues. Nevertheless, like you, I have plenty of experience with staying employed during my career. 

Like many people in other industries, I've seen my pay go up as I gained increased job responsibility and had it come down either due to inflation or reduced hours. I've dealt with budget cuts, been locked out because of a labour dispute and punted because of changes that didn't include me.

I've collected employment insurance, taken government-sponsored courses to broaden my resume and spoken to a variety of counsellors hoping to convince me that anyone should be glad to have me as an employee.

I've been to numerous job interviews of all shapes and sizes and been hired many times based on my skills, depth of experience and personal merit. I've also had my applications for jobs go into some dark hole where the answer to what happened has never emerged.

Wow. I think that one word sums up my experience of election night. I was very fortunate to be one of the invited guests in the CBC's reaction room. I am a huge fan of Marcy Markusa, so to be allowed to work with her for over three hours and watch how a live show is produced was a privilege. Alex Freedman, resplendent in a gorgeous tie, was the guy in charge of social media and did an excellent job. Terry McLeod was on the other side of the studio with a panel of commentators. I finally met Pam, the excellent coordinator of these blogs. I got to lean on a table with David Northcott and chat with other people I read about in the paper or hear on the radio. I met the amazing young people who participated in the tweetup with Larry Updike a while back and heard their jubilation as Kevin Chief was voted in. All in all, I was like a star-struck teenager. My only regret is that I didn't get to meet Ismaila Alfa, who is also one of my favourite radio personalities.

What to say about the election itself? We all went in expecting a neck-and-neck horserace and instead, aside from a couple of close ridings, the whole thing was decided in 40 minutes. As somebody remarked on Twitter, this looked like an extremely expensive and complicated by-election for the Interlake. Every single NDP cabinet minister who ran for re-election got in. The NDP was given an unprecedented fourth term and a huge majority. I hope they use it wisely and govern for all Manitobans, as I heard Premier Selinger promise on the radio this morning.

I was thrilled to see that James Beddome got over 20 per cent of the vote in Wolseley, definitely a landmark. My own Green candidate, Alon Weinberg, did not garner as much support but came in third place, more than respectable in a neighbourhood that routinely sends a Conservative to Parliament, a New Democrat to the legislature and Ross Eadie, who defies pigeonholing, to city council. It was only right and proper that Jon Gerrard held on to his seat, but I'm sure a leadership review is coming up as the Liberals ponder their future in Manitoba (and their financial prospects on failing to receive 10 per cent of the abysmally low vote).

Hugh McFadyen's resignation was swift but not unexpected. The reaction room was shocked but most of us were not surprised. A few PC supporters said that he should have stayed on to build a strong opposition party that could do better in the next election. Others said that he should resign but maybe not on the night. My own opinion, which I was fortunate enough to air at the 2:42:50 mark or so into the broadcast, was that he was wise to pull out before the knives came out.

This is my final blog of this series, and I thank all my readers for staying with me through it all. It's been a great ride, and I hope to speak to you again someday on our wonderful national broadcaster!

Election day is always exciting, or at least I find it so. I imagine that the candidates themselves find it more nerve-wracking than anything else. It's such a long day --- the polls open early in the morning and when they close 13 hours later, the counting begins. Their lives for the next four years will be determined by those industrious people in the returning office.

I live in the electoral division of St. Johns (not sure what happened to the apostrophe!). Here is a link to its map:

http://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/election/voters/edMaps/145.pdf

The riding stretches from Kildonan Park to St. John's Park, from the Red River to the railway track. It encompasses the big houses on Scotia and the little ones on McAdam. It is north of the true North End, south of the new developments beyond Kildonan Park. No McMansions, no slums, although Wikipedia says that 35 per cent of the riding population is categorized as low income. It boasts houses with neat squares of green lawn, punctuated by the odd low-rise apartment house, a beloved and well-used public library, a community centre. There are synagogues, churches, supermarkets and little corner stores. People take walks at night.

Tomorrow is the big day -- when all the effort, promises, hopes and dreams will finally come to their culmination, and either Greg Selinger or Hugh McFadyen will be premier of Manitoba. The Greens may see their first MLA and the Liberals may bid farewell to their last one. Regardless of the outcome, at least one party is sure to head into a wrenching leadership review process. The signs will be trashed, the combatants will lick their wounds, and life will go on.

But before all that can happen, the voters of Manitoba must speak. We have apparently been visiting the advance polls in much larger numbers than in 2007, which speaks well for all the efforts to promote democracy here. It would appear that most voters have already made up their minds, or if they haven't by now, they are unlikely to vote, which is unfortunate. Still, a quick recap.

One of the main ways in which Canadians differentiate themselves from their unfortunate cousins to the south is the Canada Health Act -- the social contract that commits to provide health care to every Canadian, regardless of their age, health or employment status.

An interesting peculiarity of our federation is that, while the Canada Health Act covers all of Canada, the actual delivery of health care services is a provincial responsibility. This means that the federal government and the provinces have to sit down on a regular basis and negotiate the so-called National Health Care Accord. In essence, it boils down to a balancing act between the amount of money the provinces can extract from the federal level and the federal willingness to disburse that money. Of course, it all comes from the same place -- our taxes. There is some concern about our ability to continue to fund universal health care at the level we currently enjoy, and various ideas are being bandied about.

Do you know the feeling that everything is conspiring to make you think about something? I recently had one of those days -- Monday, Sept. 26. On this day, I found that the CBC was pushing me very hard to write about rural health issues, every time I turned on the radio.

First I heard Dr. Brian Goldman, on White Coat Black Art, talking to a rural doctor in B.C. (and the health authority which is tearing its hair out trying to replace him while he's away). Then I heard Marilyn Maki on Radio Noon interviewing the chair of the Assiniboine Municipal Health Committee (which represents 54 municipalities in western Manitoba) about a postcard campaign they are running. I have not been able to find an official text for these postcards, unfortunately. The best I could do was a blurry photograph on the discoverwestman.com website.

Saturday night I heard a speaker at my synagogue. He was not talking about health care. He was talking about the future of the Jewish community in Canada and elsewhere. He was very funny and articulate and had many shocking, entertaining and interesting things to say, most of which are not relevant to this blog.

One of the most enlightening, to me, was the statement: "I like working for the Jewish community because at age 45 I'm considered young."

He talked about how younger people, not students but young professionals in their late-20s and early-30s, are not taken seriously or allowed into the inner circles of power in the community. As he put it, they are made to sit at the kids' table and discuss youth issues, but not participate in any kind of real decision making. I have no doubt that other ethnic and religious communities are no different --- the baby boomers have the power firmly in their hands and have no intention of sharing it anytime soon.

While I like to poke fun at the Green Party, young and sexy as they are, I do have a soft spot for them. I am happy that they have released their platform and that it does, in fact, contain a reference to health care. While the other parties have said many worthy things about reducing wait times and improving access to care in hospitals and in the community, the Green Party has given us the key to true health care. Quoting from their platform:

Yes to preventative health care. We can stretch the health dollars with more nurse
practitioners, actively encourage fitness, and reduce chronic illness with natural foods and
common sense.

Today, a blog about life instead of death. The province of Manitoba is opening a new birthing centre in Winnipeg. The interesting thing about it is that it is not part of a hospital, or even very close to a hospital.

It will be run by the Women's Health Clinic through a contract with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, and staffed by provincially-regulated and licensed midwives. It is across the street from an ambulance station in case something goes wrong and is accessible only to women who have been carefully screened to make sure their pregnancies are very low-risk. In fact, these are women who would likely have a home birth, with all the inconvenience to their families that that entails, if the birth centre weren't available.

On Friday afternoon I went to a funeral. I have gone to too many, this year. The last one I went to was for a grandfather in his late 70s, a sad loss to his family and friends. But this one was nothing less than a tragedy, a heartbreaker of the first order. A mother in her 40s, leaving teenage children. Her younger son is in my son's grade. That's the fourth one my community has lost in the past 18 months -- two of them in the same grade of the same school. A veritable epidemic of young women, taken all too soon, by the same disease. Why?

There are a lot of people out there who rail against the preeminent position of breast cancer research among all the other diseases of our affluent society. There is a real problem with pink-washing; there is a real need for research money for other cancers.

Colorectal and prostate cancers, as well as skin cancers of various kinds, are on the rise. Heart disease kills more women than breast cancer. But this is the disease that robs us of young mothers. Nobody, to my admittedly limited knowledge, writes children's books called "My Mommy Has Heart Disease".

So ... my kids started school and promptly came home with lice. All together now: eeeeew. I shouldn't complain too much. We've been doing daycare/school for over 15 years now, and this is our first time. But it's a pretty overwhelming experience to put it mildly.

We went out and got the shampoo, thoroughly poisoned all our scalps, did many loads of laundry and banished the beloved stuffies to a plastic bag. Now we are at the stage of picking nits. It's a long and arduous process with plenty of time for thinking about things. The school has asked us to have the kids' heads checked by a doctor before they come back. Last year the lice were incredibly persistent.

And this is where my family's tale of woe becomes relevant for this blog: I can't get a doctor's appointment for my kids.

I'm a mom, a writer, an educator and a former research scientist. I've been living in Winnipeg since 1994, so this place is near and dear to my heart. Lest you think that that is for lack of comparison, I was born in Israel, grew up partly in the United States, spent my 20s in the Netherlands and still, Manitoba is one of my favourite places. I hope it is yours, too.

In this blog, I will mostly be talking about health care but I will probably not be able to resist making excursions in other directions. We have all experienced the worry of wait times, hallway medicine and the de facto two-tier system that exists when the Mayo Clinic is only a quick drive away for those who can afford it. Should Manitoba allow more private clinics, again for those who can afford them? What do the politicians have to say about it? What about mental health issues?

Election day, here's hoping that we all got out and cast our votes. I was seeing that the vote percentage in PEI yesterday was somewhere around 70%. While I don't expect Manitoba to follow suit I hope we can at least come close. With the closest races in Manitoba in 10 years as reported by CBC it will be interesting to see if the NDP stronghold that we call Manitoba will come to an end.

I myself cannot say who I am rooting for but can say that I hope the party has their infrastructure plans in place. Thats a misleading comment since the current minister and Premier have their plan in place. Is it working well?, Just take a drive around the province and see for yourself. Is there a viable alternative to what is in place, not from what I saw on the campaign trails.

So the election is in the last hours or its campaign. Still no real mention of infrastructure and not a lot of real campaign promises. If there were promises they are nothing that we haven't already heard. It will be interesting to see how things turn out, hopefully we all get out to cast a vote.
 
As for infrastructure it was a virtual non event this election, I anticipated more discussion but in today's busy world for everyone its hard to focus on one issue when there are so many that need attention. Just because I've been discussing infrastructure problems in the province doesn't mean that medicare, crime and any other issues shouldn't be at the forefront of the election campaigns.

Being in profession I'm in makes me a real advocate of extra attention to the crime problems plaguing in Manitoba. Long wait times in the emergency rooms across the province and a justice system that gives six years in jail to a murderer should be issues at the front of the line and I recognize that. Crumbling infrastructure in Manitoba is an issue I'm sure it's just not up there with the big cats that do really need the attention and from what I can tell they have been getting.
 

Well its getting close, only four days to the election and by all accounts we are hearing that the advanced polls are doing well. Like I normally do, I struck up a conversation the other day with a guy from Brandon. I haven't been on the No. 1 Highway east of Brandon for a long time but he was saying that it has been under construction for a good part of the summer. I commend the government for keeping repairs going forward from place to place but I still feel that problem areas have not been tended nearly enough. Have they even been identified?

We bought a new vehicle lately and we were driving it home on the first day that we had it. We were about 10 miles north of Boissevain when I noticed the first squeaks coming from the passenger side sliding door (ya ya we got a van, haha). So I pulled over and stopped to get out and close the door tighter, thinking maybe that was the problem. It seemed to work for the first mile or two until it started squeaking again and my only conclusion was that I should slow down and drive Highway 10 a bit slower so the vehicle stays in one piece.

One week, the provincial players have one week to heed the call to the municipalities and their demands for infrastructure money. Sounds like what I've been saying all this time and it's only now making its way into the election discussion.

It's clear that the NDP and the Conservatives are still shying away from the virtual money pit that is our current infrastructure scenario. Premier Selinger says that he is already giving $239 million to the municipalities for their projects. That's all fine and dandy but I invite the premier to come and drive on some of the roads that I have to drive on. It's safe to say that he is not aware, I dare say that none of the party leaders are aware of the appalling conditions that are prevalent in their own province.
 

I wasn't watching the debate on TV the other night but I read about it and the previous debates. I can't understand how all the backstabbing and attacks are going to attract people to vote for any given party. When promises are made that don't often differ from previous promises, I am always astonished at the levels of attention the parties get from these debates. It's ideas that will get the attention of the people --- the candidate that can stand out and come up with the new ideas and not the same old party promises that were cut and pasted from campaigns past. Of course it would be naive to think that new ideas would come to fruition over a term but at least someone is thinking.
 
By now it's clear that there are lots of ideas out there from the party leaders. They have pretty much spelled out what they are about and what they stand for. Has infrastructure even made the list? The Liberals have made some small references to infrastructure but nothing worth noting.
 

Lately I have been navigating the various infrastructure websites and I have been able to uncover some great facts. If you are interested in looking at the federal site I have added it here. http://www.buildingcanada-chantierscanada.gc.ca/regions/mb/mb-eng.html

On there you will see the many ways that the provinces can get access to money for their infrastructure and maintenance. You can even see what allocations have been made for each municipality across the province. The numbers are vastly different from community to community so I can only assume that their specific allocations are made on the basis of population base and need.

I had a discussion with an older fellow the other day at the coffee shop in Cartwright. We were talking about the United States and he was making reference to a trip that he had recently taken. Being in the profession I'm in, the discussion was not so much about infrastructure but more so about enforcement of speed limits on their highways.

He made reference to how people were caught down there after having gone through one end of the highway toll booth and speeding to the other end. The speed could be calculated based on how much time between the booths. Very smart I thought but my other thought was that of the toll booth itself.

I was in Neepawa this past weekend so thus, on the highway again. It was a pleasure to see that renovation of Highway 10 north of Brandon is in full swing. It's going to be great when that's done. A little bit of positive in an otherwise negative topic. "Harsh words" (as a valued reader pointed out) about our crumbling roads.

I can understand that there are many great things about our province because I am from here. I am very loyal to my province but this blog is not to identify what is good and great about our province but rather to identify where our government needs to focus some, not all, but some attention.

So as I navigate through the various party sites and try to keep up with their ideas and promises, I can't help but think that the absence of infrastructure issues means that it's just not an issue that has been identified. It needs to be.

I was driving south of Boissevain the other night to the International Peace Gardens and couldn't help but think of how embarrassing it is for us Manitobans -- and Canadians as a whole -- that international travelers' first impressions of Canada are forged by having to drive on our highways. They must be thinking that they are really in the back nine as they drive on Highway 10 after driving their own highways in the United states.

When I submitted an opinion to CBC a while back about the embarrassing conditions of our provincial and municipal roads I was surprised to hear back and even more so to be afforded the opportunity to blog and stir up conversation, maybe even some debate about this very topic and how it fits into our upcoming election.

I chose to make infrastructure my issue in the hopes of confronting its apparent absence in any election discussion so far. By my account, provincial infrastructure appears to be a topic that has not made the radar in this election.

Could it be that our infrastructure is in such dismal condition that no one wants to touch it?

"The past is history, the future is a mystery and today is a gift. That is why we call it the present." (source unknown)

Today I will be sharing my thoughts with the person called a refugee. A few years ago I was working on a cover letter with my wife. As she wrote, she described me as a refugee. I stopped her and expressed that I didn't consider myself a refugee any longer, if in fact I ever did consider myself one at all. At that time I had been in Canada four years. Did I still have struggles? Yes. But I was not going to limit myself to those struggles and that's what I felt calling myself a "refugee" was doing. 

In this society there's a stigma that surrounds the word "refugee". To many it describes a person who is lesser than -- uneducated, unskilled, poor, unable to contribute.  I am no less than any other man. My life experience is different but my life is of no less value. What I had, I still have. What I was, I still am. Before the war happened, I was educated to be a teacher. While my diploma may have been destroyed, and my life torn apart, I am still a teacher. I am a person who can contribute to this society in a meaningful way. And that is why I resist being reduced to a label.

Since August I started to spend every Tuesday afternoon from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. with a mentor to learn more about employment in Manitoba and doing research about service providers for newcomers in Manitoba and how those services can be helpful and useful for refugees coming to live in Manitoba.

I would like to recognize how much I am amazed by what I am discovering -- the number of wonderful services providers for newcomers in Manitoba with a clear mandate of helping refugees or immigrants to start a new life. 

Almost a week to go before election day, and God willing by next week we will know which political party will lead our province. It is my hope that whatever political party that will be elected, to remember some of the concerns we were able to share through this blog. As explained from the beginning by CBC, "This is an opportunity for ordinary people to be heard." We have been asked to choose an issue we believe in passionately.

I choose employment reflective of refugees' skills, not because I believe I am a specialist on the issue, but because of my own experience from when I arrived in Manitoba as a refugee and started looking for employment. I also choose this issue to talk about because of the increasing number of refugees we continue to welcome in Manitoba, who are willing to work and becoming contributing members of our province, and above all it's because I believe it's one of the solutions regarding permanent and stable employment.

Yesterday I was doing a presentation regarding refugees' realities in Manitoba at a wonderful high school in Winnipeg, where you find our youth with an amazing passion regarding human rights and social justice. Before starting my presentation, I had the opportunity of asking students what they know about immigrants and refugees. A lot of responses came up and among those answers, one of them took my attention, and here is the answer: "There is no difference between a refugee and an immigrant, all of them are coming from outside of Canada to come and start a new and better life in Canada."

This student was about half right, and when I asked her about where she learned about it, here is her answer: "My uncle. In fact my uncle thinks they are coming to Canada, if not to take our jobs, then to depend on the taxpayer." How important it is to educate our citizens about not just refugees but also immigrants who are coming in our province, to educate about the wealth they are bringing to our province?

Reducing crime in our province has been the centre of our 2011 election.

Each political leader has been talking about it and each of them is proposing his solution. Very noble vision, but unfortunately deeper and more global causes of crime in our province are less discussed. I am convinced that it's important to talk about the cause and maybe from there we can also learn about how to prevent it.

One of the reasons I believe crime continues to be around us is because of poverty, caused by unemployment. It's sad to say this but unfortunately it has been proven and reported by Radio Canada, the poorest in our country continue to be refugees. http://www.radiocanada.ca/regions/Manitoba/dossiers/detail.asp?Pk_Dossiers_regionaux=362&Pk_Dossiers_regionaux_page=641&VCh=20110921

According to Radio Canada, 91 per cent of refugee households in Manitoba lived below the poverty line. We should have the courage of asking ourselves, why is this? And no matter whatever answer we may have, we should have also the courage to recognize that, when a group of people with the same background are going through the same suffering and that suffering is keeping them dependent generation after generation, then there is a problem.

It will take great effort from multiple organizations to ensure successful outcomes for refugee employment in Manitoba.

One of my best quotes comes from Alfred Sauvy, who said: "There is no human problem that cannot be solved, since the solution is within us."

Some time it's easy to talk about issues, problems and asking others -- politicians -- to try to fix it. This week I would like to share some ideas that I believe can also empower not only refugees, but also newcomer's employment in Manitoba.

Before writing about what I am proposing, I would like to recognize the wonderful effort made so far by a number of non-profit organizations dealing with the employment of newcomers. By no means should I assume that any one person or organization is capable of addressing and fixing the economic challenges faced by refugees.

Employment reflective of a refugee's skill is essential to solve a refugee's unemployment challenge. Manitoba became home to 15,000 newcomers in 2010. Among them, an average of 1,000 were able to be accepted by the province on humanitarian grounds and those are former refugees.

As believed by Jim Carr, executive director of the Manitoba Business Council, in April 2011: " ...thanks to a progressive and highly successful immigration policy, Manitoba is growing at about the rate of 15,000 newcomers a year; therefore more houses are built and more citizens are paying taxes."

For this to continue to happen I think it's imperative to see the refugee newcomers as contributing members of Manitoba

I came to Manitoba in 2005 as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with the hope of starting a new and better life. I had a degree in education and dreamed of becoming a teacher, but I was not given the opportunity to teach in the war-torn and oppressive Congo.

I maintained this dream and after my arrival in Manitoba, I was certain that it would become a reality. However, quickly I found out that this would not be the case.

Two months after my arrival, I went to one of the school divisions seeking employment as a teacher and remembered being told "you can't" because I did not have Canadian experience.

I decided to go and become a teaching assistant and it was there that I learned that I could not teach because I did not have my papers with me in Canada (diploma, etc.). This is a reality that many refugees face after fleeing from a war-torn country.

As a way to celebrate the end of the Manitoba election, and because I figured it would be more entertaining than another post-election rant, I decided to compile a list of my top five favorite items released since the writ was dropped. Enjoy!

5. Videos encouraging/shaming Manitobans into voting: There was a slew of videos produced as part of social media campaign VoteAnyWay with Manitoba personalities pleading with youth to cast their ballots, with the hope of spurring on high voter turnout in the election. Though some were kind of generic and unlikely to inspire anyone to make their way to a polling station, the videos were an interesting idea on the part of VoteAnyWay organizers. After all, who could say no to Fred Penner telling you to vote?

4. Videos hoping that making Manitobans laugh will make them vote: Manitobans may soon forget who won in their riding of who they voted for but no one will forget these words from Gail Asper's infamous vote rap anytime soon:

"Voting stations will be open, and it my heart I'm hopin'/ that you'll get up off your butts and vote any way/I hear students always chatter that their vote just doesn't matter/But if youth vote multiplies/Then your power grows in size!"

3. NDP attack ad: Being forced to sit through attack ad after attack ad is probably the most irritating part of an election. Fortunately, at least one ad from the NDP that featured a mock job interview with Hugh McFadyen to be premier of Manitoba, where they turn down his application, came with a memorable punch line: "Nice suit, though."

2. Election memes: I always love a good meme and this election produced a few great ones (pictured here on the Winnipeg Sun's website). One shows a picture of Hugh McFadyen's floating head and reads, "even I'm tired of Ian Rabb's face", which I predict is poking fun at PC campaign ads run in the Fort Garry-Riverview riding. Another mocks an incident where Premier Greg Selinger was pictured with local hip-hop group Winnipeg's Most: "Are you in some kind of boy's club? Let's all get a picture together!"

1.Pop culture questions: To take a break from their regular, more "hard hitting" election coverage, the Winnipeg Free Press asked each provincial party leader a series of pop culture questions. The answers: priceless. My favourite? Hugh McFadyen's answer to his party's stance on the Kardashians:

"We would want to take a balanced approach with the Kardashians and ensure the appropriate measure of fiscal restraint with protecting frontline services."

Like most Manitobans, I've been eagerly waiting for the end of the Manitoba election. Not with excitement, like how I wait for Christmas to come each year, but more like the way I wait for the end of a long, boring movie that is 30 minutes too long.

But at least it appears the election will go out with some zeal, as a poll released Friday shows the NDP and Tories were still neck-in-neck with just days left on the campaign trail.

A poll completed by the Winnipeg Free Press/Probe Research found that NDP are leading with 46 per cent of decided voters, with the Tories in a close second with 43 per cent of the vote.

For many students, this year's election will be the first provincial election they've been able to vote in, if not the first election they're ever been able to cast a ballot . As many first time voters will tell you, determining which party best represents you can be daunting. Combing through the barrage of election coverage is no easy task, often leaving voters with an information overload and still without any idea who they should vote for.

Fortunately, there's ManitobaElection.ca. The website, created by Kyle Geske and Jody Gillis along with friends Andrew Burton and Ken Harasym as part of Open Democracy Manitoba, streamlines media coverage and information about election into a concise, one-stop site, making it easy for voters to keep up with the election. The group was behind the highly-popular WinnipegElection.ca, so if you were one of the close to 45,000 Winnipeggers that enjoyed that site before the civic election last October, their latest project has a similar feel.

Lately I've been trying to come up with an adequate definition for what a student issue is. Typically, student issues --- or at least university student issues --- are pegged as tuition fees, student aid, student housing, and basically anything that affects their education and overall university experience.

Yet I wonder if that definition is too limited. As a student, it's not as if your nose is glued to a book all the time and the world outside campus ceases to exist to you. Health care, infrastructure, the economy, along with a myriad of other issues affect students just as much as a Manitoban who isn't in school.

Couldn't these all be claimed as student issues too?

With this blog I've tried to avoid sounding like the apathetic voice of the student vote (I've already voted, FYI), but in the remaining days before Oct. 4, I can't shake a feeling of boredom I have with this election. 

As part of my job, and as somewhat of a political junkie, I've been following election and pre-election news closely for months. Maybe I'm just not grasping the full scope of the issues being presented, I thought. I must be missing something. How can I find the provincial election blasé when I'm the news editor of a weekly publication?

With only a week until election day, Manitobans almost made it through the provincial election without some frivolous scandal that draws voters' focus away from campaign issues and on to trivial accusations.

Then a grainy photo of Manitoba NDP leader Greg Selinger posing with hip hop group Winnipeg's Most appeared, along with accusations that Selinger is friendly with criminals and that the photo is somehow proof of the NDP's failure to address crime in the province.

CBC did confirm that some of the people Selinger posed with do have criminal records and connections with street gangs, which would be relevant if the photo was of Selinger participating in criminal activity. But it's not. It's a photo of him posing with an award-winning local hip-hop group that is nominated for another six awards at this year's Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards, along with fellow hip hop artists from the Heatbag record label. If anything, it shows that he supports local aboriginal musicians.

Now that I'm in my fourth year of studies at the University of Manitoba, I've pretty much lost hope that I'll ever see rapid transit extended to the Fort Garry campus in the south end of the city. With close to 70 per cent of University of Manitoba students relying on public transit to get to and from campus, rapid transit has been popular topic of discussion among students, but has not seen much attention during the provincial election.

This changed last week following a hefty campaign pledge from Liberal leader Jon Gerrard. Gerrard promised $44 million to the City of Winnipeg to speed up rapid transit construction, as well as annual funding for the city to complete the extension of the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor to the University of Manitoba.

With the addition of 50 advanced polling locations it may be the easiest Manitoba provincial election to vote in ever.

As with every election in Canada it seems, Elections Manitoba has placed extra emphasis on making it simple for youth to vote. Advanced polling stations will be located at both the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg, which will also be open on election day, Oct. 4, an hour early at 7 a.m. Several voting stations have been set up in malls as well to capture the attention of young voters.

In first weeks of the campaign, the Liberals and NDP have both made some hefty promises for post-secondary education. Both may be great news for students struggling to pay for their education, but both parties have failed to provide some pretty significant details on the implications of their million-dollar announcements.

The Manitoba NDP has pledged to cap tuition increases at the rate of inflation and give universities a five per cent increase in funding in each of the next three years. Expanding student aid eligibility is another large part of their platform, as they've also promised to remove personal income and vehicles from eligibility criteria for Manitoba student loans.

Capping tuition increases at inflation may save students from coping with massive hikes to the cost of their education, a pressing issue in light of a recent Statistics Canada report that revealed tuition fee hikes are eclipsing increases in the typical cost of living across the country.  This also seems like a reasonable alternative to the tuition freeze of the 2000s, which some critics have argued left universities inadequately funded.

If you were looking for the "young and sexy" party in this year's provincial election, look no further than the Manitoba Green Party.

At least, that's what provincial leader James Beddome touted in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press this week.

But what edge does youth give a party during an election, and will it be enough to sway young voters -- the obvious target of a "young and sexy" campaign?

Though they've never won a seat in the legislature, the Greens have a kind of optimism and boldness that only youth can provide. And young blood is something they have plenty of. At 27, Beddome is the youngest provincial leader running for office, and there was a noticeably younger crowd and roster of candidates attending the campaign's launch last Wednesday.

Following in the footsteps of the federal election last spring, the Manitoba provincial election has seen another wave of emphasis on getting youth to the polls. Yet with only three weeks until Election Day, I'm still somewhat skeptical of whether a population that often steers clear of the ballot box will cast their votes this time around.
 
University of Manitoba political science professors Jared Wesley and Andrea Rounce launched the U2011: Understanding the Manitoba Election project well ahead of the provincial election campaign. In an effort to curb low voter turnout, which dipped below 60 per cent in the 2003 and 2007 elections, the project has hosted the "Café Politiques" discussion series to connect Manitobans with experts on a vast range of provincial issues.
 
Another component of U2011 is the VoteAnyWay initiative, which focuses on engaging Manitoba's youth population, with a video contest and a series of PSAs from prominent Manitobans on the importance of youth casting their ballots. This includes Gail Asper's now-infamous vote rap on the steps of the legislature, which I hope would be enough to get even the most apathetic electorate to make their way to a polling station.