You will see that there is a change on the masthead of this month’s Lifestyles 55. We have added the label, “Manitoba”.
As most of our dedicated readers will know, we have always tried to include northern and rural Manitoba stories and features along with the Winnipeg content, but it was done in an ad hoc way without a plan.
That has changed. I feel strongly that the strength of Manitoba is in its cohesion as a united province and that we need to have a strong united voice. We are not a collection of disassociated communities. “Perimeter vision”, which exists both ways, is limiting and harmful to our collective future. Every part of this province produces amazing people with incredible skills, and it is in this diversity that we find our strength.
Everywhere I go in my travels, I run into Manitobans who are or who have made a mark on the wider world. Everything thing I have done on the national scene shows Manitobans pulling above our weight, coming to the front of the line, being respected and making contributions that outstrip those from other places. Manitobans shine in all communities, wherever they settle. This is recognized. When the topic arises, we laugh and say it is something in the water, but wherever it comes from, we make a difference.
I believe we are shaped by our environment. In this amazing province, there is a vast diversity of conditions, both physical and psychological. In the north, we have the adventurer, the intrepid types who love to overcome the challenges of weather and isolation, and this includes both Indigenous folks and newcomers.
In the south, we have the those who husband the land, the folks who have had to be industrious and creative to grow our food, raise our livestock, and live with the land which can be giving and unforgiving both. This breeds a certain ingenuity that grows generation by generation.
In the City, we have had to learn to build integrated relationships from the many diverse peoples that have moved here over the past 150 years. We have melded and blossomed, learning from each other, creating new communities that have talents that are still growing.
We have a very creative an intelligent city-dwelling Indigenous population that is just beginning to come into its own, practicing and disseminating its many talents to the 21st century world.
All this diversity makes us strong, but only if we come together in understanding and collaboration to put all the talents to work for the future. To be successful requires communication to learn and understand each other, to share our success, our concerns, our challenges and to draw on each other to make life better for all.
Pegasus Publications is a tiny publisher, but we know it is up to us to try and make a difference. Others are listening and if all things go well, we will be able accelerate this initiative to the benefit of all. We are not there yet, but I don’t believe in waiting for fate to happen. So we have begun.
In this issue, you will see a new financial feature from Tom Hyde in Portage La Prairie who has some wonderful advice from his many years of working in the insurance industry in rural Manitoba. You will also continue to hear from Winnipeg’s Romel Dhalla, whose experiences are similar but based on a different market. Gabrielle Swan will keep us up to date on the transformational changes in The Pas, and Doyle Piwniuk, the MLA from Turtle Mountain, will bring us detailed d reports on what is happening in that vital southwest corner. His analysis in this issue of the critical changes to rural development and populations is insightful and useful in our understanding. Also, he reveals some of the amazing companies that are springing out of our rural roots.
This is just the beginning. We will be gradually expanding our circulation to take in more communities both in print and digitally. We are looking for more input from all over so if you have a story to tell, a need to share (and I don’t care what your political stripe is), I would love to hear from you.
Call me at 204 940 2716 or email me at [email protected].
