With no significant pandemic developments this week, the province largely turns its attention to announcements in several other sectors including highways, agriculture, and disability services.

One of the most significant for Neepawa and area is the announcement of the formation of the Immigrant Advisory Council to serve as an expert panel to recommend improvements to our current immigration policies and programs. It will be co-chaired by Jon Reyes, Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Minister, and Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and current Chair of the World Refugee & Migration Council. The council will consist of individuals in various immigration-adjacent sectors, from people who have experienced the provincial nominee program firsthand to representatives from business and academia.

The council will also, Stefanson says, include urban, regional, and Francophone representation. Neepawa is specifically named as a region outside of Winnipeg with significant immigrant settlement.

Already considered a pioneer in immigration with its provincial nominee program, the province will be looking at focusing on different areas of the labour market which need people with specific skills to grow further.
 
"We don't just want to recover from COVID-19,” says Stefanson of this strategy. “We want to unlock Manitoba's true economic potential."

Don Walmsley, Executive Director of Neepawa & Area Settlement Services, is optimistic about the council as long as it meets those representation goals from sectors across the province. We will be sitting down with him in the next few weeks to discuss the implementation of the council and how the results will affect us in the Neepawa area.

We also receive a weekly COVID-19 and vaccine update from Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, and Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead, Vaccine Implementation Task Force. Dr. Roussin reiterates the new rules that went into effect on February 15th, and cautions people that individual businesses and facilities may have their own regulations still in effect. Dr. Reimer shares some recent studies about the effectiveness of the vaccine against a cross-section of variants and the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of infection with the omicron variant against subsequent infection with other variants.