Dawson Trail Dispatch
Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!
Southeast Woman Seeks Manitoba Green Party Leadership
Janine Gibson
Submitted photo
By Dan Guetre Following the announcement that the Green Party of Manitoba’s (GPM) leadership contest is now underway, one rural woman who lives south of Steinbach is throwing her hat in the ring. Janine Gibson, a mother and grandmother, is co-founder of her solar powered co-op farm in part of what inspired her desire to become a GPM Leadership candidate. According to her bio, Gibson tries to live and work with nature which has in turn led to protecting ecosystem health through work with local and national communities.
Additionally, she has played a role with the International Organic Inspectors Association include serving as their President, a peer evaluator, and trainer. If it involves “organics” or environmental accountability in Manitoba, Gibson has or is still involved with the organizations. Her decision to seek the leadership did not come to her on a whim. “Having been asked to consider leadership, after many years of membership and activity locally and nationally as an environmental activist, I felt compelled to work with my colleagues to promote communication and team development in supporting our Green values across Manitoba,” explained Gibson. Gibson has also served as the GPM candidate in La Verendrye and Steinbach several times in the past complimenting her long tenure as a member of the party. Timing could be right for her leadership bid as Gibson believes the movement is strengthening. “More and more Manitobans want to live authentically from the values for social and environmental justice they hold dear,” she added. “Living and speaking our truth through sharing Green values at election opportunities continues our community team building and is always empowering for diversity, personally and collectively.” Gibson likes what she sees when the GPM policies are respected and even adopted.
“We are glad when individuals and other parties find inspiration in our policies and we will continue to challenge the status quo to prioritize environmental and social justice for health,” she explained. Within the GPM party, Gibson is confident she can add some key skills to lead the party if the membership chooses her. “I bring a great deal of experience in building and working in teams to develop policy alternatives and see them implemented, through my work in organic agriculture,” said Gibson. “Experience in communication, team building and determination are key requirements for this role.” Gibson added, “Having lived and worked collaboratively for many years, I welcome the opportunity to work collegially with the other candidates for leadership to build our movement in Manitoba.” Gibson is one of four candidates vying for the leadership of the GPM. The three other candidates are from Winnipeg. The leadership contest was triggered when long-time leader James Beddome announced he was stepping down. Anyone can join the GPM. If you do so before February 24, members are eligible to vote in the leadership race online or by mail from the 13 to the 23 of March with the new leader announced at the March 26 AGM.
Niverville’s Got Thin Ice By Angelique Forest In mid-January the Town of Niverville issued a notice warning its residents to stay off the ice formed on the pond located at Hampton Park.
The pond, which is used by residents and locals to skate, is no longer safe due to thin ice caused by water that’s being pumped through to the water treatment plant. This resulted in the
ice melting from the bottom up. The Town promises to inform the community when it is safe to venture onto the frozen pond, but currently it is a potential danger.
February 2023
17
Little Steps for Growth Welcome to all my readers, I hope that you are all having a great winter. I recently heard some folks complaining that a polar vortex was coming and about how it was going to be so cold and snowy. This may be true and it may come to pass but why complain about something that has not even happened yet, if at all. What does it accomplish by not enjoying this moment while we are having beautifully warm winter weather? Even if the colder weather were to arrive and you had chosen to wait and complain about it at that time... why? We’ve had an awesome winter where the temperatures have been mild to the point of melting and there have been very little storms to prevent us from dangerous travel, so why complain about a little bit of colder weather now? Maybe I just have a bit of a different mindset but I do try to look at the less-than-desirable situations as opportunities to grow, problems as challenges to overcome and learn from. This is not a mindset that I’ve been born with, while God may have given it to me in creation, I can attest that my environment and life experiences have more than done their best to squash any such positivity. I do have good news for all my readers, if you do desire to have a more positive outlook in life, there a numerous books and online sites that can help you to take those steps (sometimes very tiny steps) forward. Much like how you’d eat an elephant (one bite at a time) the road to a new mindset is taken by little bits of progress, even when we find ourselves slipping up and making errors we can always go back and keep on working at it. I’m confident that as we work on ourselves we will one day soon look back, nay glance back, and realize that we’ve covered a great distance from where we’d started. Just remember, we will never be perfect and that is okay but we can always strive for a better life and a positive existence that touches those around us in a memorable fashion. Keep working at it, even when the world seems dark and full of despair, keep working at being the light that shines. You never know when the light that you’ve become will be the light that someone is desperately searching for, the light that they are in need of seeing. Even if you never see the results of how your life will touch others, rest assured, your light will and does touch others. Keep shining, I’m proud of you. Until next time, take care and keep your world spinning.