These deaths were far from the family’s choice. Economic instability or political persecution in home countries, mixed with the U.S. and Canada’s unsupportive and often oppressive immigration systems, force the hands of migrants seeking asylum. When people are refused entry or refused humane conditions upon entry, gambling on death becomes a risk that migrants are willing to take.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of social interaction and has been especially hard for older adults. Organizations catering to older adults have had to meet the challenge.
In the early parts of January, Premier Heather Stefanson was dragged through the mud for claiming Manitobans should fend for themselves through COVID-19. “This virus is running throughout our community and it’s up to Manitobans to look after themselves,” Stefanson said. For me, this quote evoked an eerily dystopian image of apocalypse survivors fighting for resources in a libertarian hellscape as their overlord looked on in her ivory tower. Stefanson has thrown equitable health policy out of the window for the health of the economy, and the most vulnerable will serve as the sacrificial lambs by which the divinity of her pragmatic policies rest on.
High school students across Manitoba walked out of class last Monday to demand improved COVID-19 safety measures as in-person learning resumes.
Aleeza Gerstein and Lauren Kelly, assistant professors at the University of Manitoba, are spearheading investigations into the challenges faced by early learning and child-care centres (ELCC) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Niki Ashton, NDP MP for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, echoed some Manitoba First Nations’ calls for military support on reserves overwhelmed by rising COVID-19 cases.
The Manitoba NDP released a statement Jan. 10 calling on the PC government to adopt “measures to make schools safer and ease the burden of at-home learning” on families, and proposed five solutions the provincial government could implement to help families manage the delay to in-person learning.
Ottawa will be sending 140 million rapid tests to provincial and territorial governments to assist with overwhelmed PCR testing capacities nationwide.
The new Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO) began operations last week, with the first research project underway after over 10 years of development. The CMO is led by a team of University of Manitoba researchers including scientific director David Barber, board of directors chair Gary Stern and chief scientists Feiyue Wang and C.J. Mundy.
Healthcare For All, a coalition made up of 15 grassroots organizations, called for Manitoba’s health-care program to be expanded to include international students, migrant workers, refugees and undocumented people at a press conference last Thursday.