Posted by Nick Aroutzidis on Aug 31, 2018
September 6, 2018: DG. Jim Schlattman, “District Governor's visit”, our President Paul Roulston will introduce, our speaker.

Head Table:  Our President Paul Roulston, invites, all major chairpersons, to join him at the head table.
 
Today at Rotary: A large turnout today with many guests-- another compliment to our program committee. Today's speaker was the Honourable  Dr. Jane Philapott, Minister of Indigenous Services. Prior to Minister Philapott's speech, we heard announcements from Rob Ritz on the Dragonboat Races, including the fact he owes beers to a number of Rotarians ! Rotoract Rebecca Price brought us up to date on happenings in her club, and Rodrigo brought us up to date on his travels ( he works 6 months and travels 6 months, and "yes he is single" ).
 
Guess speaker the Honourable Dr Jane Philpott MP Minister of Indigenous Affairs introduced by Rev Brian Lapierre (Rt) and flanked by the Honourable John Nater MP (Lt)
 
Bryan Lapierre introduced our speaker who is the eldest daughter of former Rotarian Wally Little. Her roots began in nearby Atwood, and before entering politics, Jane was a medical doctor for 20 years. She is a strong advocate for refugees, and is enjoying the day to day services she is providing for the indigenous people of Canada. She highlighted the gaps between the average Canadian and the Indigenous people, and pointed out that she has a great appetite for reconciliation.
 
She broke her talk down into the following 5 areas-- here are some the salient points:
 
1.CHILD WELL BEING: --our country has some 11,000 children under foster care --10,000 OF THEM ARE INDIGENOUS CHILDREN ! Lisa, a mother of 4, has had each of her children taken from her because it was believed that Lisa could not be a good mother due to economic conditions. Jane's ministry believes that poverty should not be a reason children are taken from their mothers. Her ministry has worked hard to re-unite Lisa with her last child.
 
2.EDUCATION: --education got us into this mess, and education will get us out of this mess. The residential school system produced a loss of culture, dignity, and people. Lack of funding and control by their own has produced a 44% graduation rate compared to 88% in the rest of our nation. Alberta is providing an example to other 1st Nations by combining 4 different reserves to form their own school board so that they can design their own curriculum and provide their own funding and control.
 
3. HEALTH:--Indigenous people are not receiving the health care we enjoy. In fact in Labrador, the Inuits there have a rate of TB that is 300x greater than the rest of the country. Jane's ministry is now providing the tools to these people in the way of nurses and equipment that will help diagnose and treat those afflicted with TB.
 
4. INFRASTRUCTURE:--housing and lack of clean water are huge challenges facing Jane's ministry. 22 people living in a 2 bedroom home, and 4/5 families sharing one house is not uncommon. Her ministry has designed equipment to provide clean water but it is faced with getting the equipment to many of the remote communities.
 
5. ECONOMIC PROSPERITY:--some Canadians are questioning the proposed federal funding to close the GAPS between indigenous people and the rest of Canadians. Research has shown that if we can close the gap, there will be a $36 billion benefit to our economy. Dr. Philapott closed by pointing out that dissimilar people can share living together in peace and harmony.
 
Questions from Rotarians expanded on the need to remove the Indian Act that denies rights for indigenous people, to find ways to provide needed services in a less expensive manner, and the need to solve indigenous issues for those off reserves in our larger cities.
 
In conclusion, a very powerful message delivered in an excellent manner by the Honourable Dr. Jane Philapott, Minister of Indigenous Services for Canada. Charlene Gordon thanked our speaker on behalf of the club.
 
SCRIBE: Wilhelm Zitrone
 
Margaret Price from Rotaract talking about a Mentorship mixer program their club is starting Sept 20. Introduced by Rotarian Arlene Pol.
 
 
Rodigo a past NGE member revisiting and updating the club on his activities.
 
 
Guests:  Today we welcomed: Emma Carruthers – Stratford, Helen Mussell – Stratford, Rodrigo Mohr - Rotaract Club of Torreon Mexico, Irene Moore – Stratford, John Nater – MP, Darell Brightwell, Randy Pettapiece – MPP, Hayid Braye, Audrey Little, Carolyn Lapier – Stratford, Laura Pogson - FCRC , Kel Pera – Stratford, Amanda Martin – Stratford, Rebecca Price - Stratford Rotaract Club
 
Draw: The draw prize today was donated by Pat Redshaw (Jo-Anne Hood Tidman ) and was won by Jo-Anne Hood Tidman.
 
Make-ups: no report
 
September’s Attendance Committee: Steve Rae (I/C), John Hood Tidman, Ken Nesbitt, Berny Nymeyer, Gordon Sherwin, Harry Brightwell, Ian Fisher, John Fisher.
 
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