Good day,
I would like to thank all members who attended our Annual General Meeting on Oct. 15, 2015. We had a tremendous turnout in Winnipeg as well as Thompson, Flin Flon, Snow Lake and The Pas. I feel that the evening was full of positive energy and support, given that we had just recently received an 88% strike mandate from our Central Table members.
Since we only had one constitutional change to debate, we took the opportunity to bring in a couple of guest speakers to share with you some of the things that MAHCP is involved in outside of bargaining and collective agreement enforcement.
Kevin Rebeck, President of the Manitoba Federation of Labour spoke to us about how governments, both Federal and Provincial, play a critical role in how our Health system works here in Manitoba. He was frank and unapologetic about his views, but the quote that I really took away from the evening was “find a candidate whose values you share and support that person.”
Andrea Kwasnicki from the Manitoba/Nunavut region of the Canadian Diabetes Association also spoke to us about how important we all are to Manitobans living with Diabetes. In case you are unaware, we came to have this relationship with the CDA following an extensive research and interview process with a number of similar organizations a few years ago. The Executive Council of the day decided that the CDA best fit our goals of community involvement and getting our name out in the public eye. I am proud to continue with this relationship as it continues to pay dividends for both organizations.
Finally we had an incredible number of prizes to give away and I had a great time taking over the role of “Vanna White” for the first time. It was fantastic to see the happy faces coming up to claim the prizes.
It was a tremendous evening of information sharing, solidarity and more than a few laughs. If you were there, I would like to also mention that everyone I have spoken with agrees that O Canada will from now on be sung with no musical track. LRO Walter McDowell stepped up in a pinch to lead us in song and I believe has started a tradition that will hopefully go on for years to come.
In Solidarity,
Bob Moroz
President, MAHCP
