Manitoba Hansard — 1 March 2022 (Sitting 15A, 42nd Legislature, 4th Session)

42-4-15a

Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)

Fourth Session – Forty-Second Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba DEBATES and PROCEEDINGS Official Report (Hansard) Published under the authority of The Honourable Myrna Driedger Speaker Vol. LXXVI No.15A - 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 1, 2022 ISSN 0542-5492

MANITOBA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Forty-Second Legislature Member Constituency Political Affiliation ALTOMARE, Nello Transcona NDP ASAGWARA, Uzoma Union Station NDP BRAR, Diljeet Burrows NDP BUSHIE, Ian Keewatinook NDP CLARKE, Eileen, Hon. Agassiz PC COX, Cathy Kildonan-River East PC CULLEN, Cliff, Hon. Spruce Woods PC DRIEDGER, Myrna, Hon. Roblin PC EICHLER, Ralph Lakeside PC EWASKO, Wayne, Hon. Lac du Bonnet PC FIELDING, Scott, Hon. Kirkfield Park PC FONTAINE, Nahanni St. Johns NDP FRIESEN, Cameron, Hon. Morden-Winkler PC GERRARD, Jon, Hon. River Heights Lib. GOERTZEN, Kelvin, Hon. Steinbach PC GORDON, Audrey, Hon.

Southdale PC GUENTER, Josh Borderland PC GUILLEMARD, Sarah, Hon. Fort Richmond PC HELWER, Reg, Hon. Brandon West PC ISLEIFSON, Len Brandon East PC JOHNSON, Derek, Hon. Interlake-Gimli PC JOHNSTON, Scott, Hon. Assiniboia PC KINEW, Wab Fort Rouge NDP LAGASSÉ, Bob Dawson Trail PC LAGIMODIERE, Alan, Hon. Selkirk PC LAMONT, Dougald St. Boniface Lib. LAMOUREUX, Cindy Tyndall Park Lib.

LATHLIN, Amanda The Pas-Kameesak NDP LINDSEY, Tom Flin Flon NDP MALOWAY, Jim Elmwood NDP MARCELINO, Malaya Notre Dame NDP MARTIN, Shannon McPhillips PC MICHALESKI, Brad Dauphin PC MICKLEFIELD, Andrew Rossmere PC MORLEY-LECOMTE, Janice Seine River PC MOSES, Jamie St. Vital NDP NAYLOR, Lisa Wolseley NDP NESBITT, Greg Riding Mountain PC PEDERSEN, Blaine Midland PC PIWNIUK, Doyle, Hon. Turtle Mountain PC REYES, Jon, Hon. Waverley PC SALA, Adrien St. James NDP SANDHU, Mintu The Maples NDP SCHULER, Ron Springfield-Ritchot PC SMITH, Andrew, Hon.

Lagimodière PC SMITH, Bernadette Point Douglas NDP SMOOK, Dennis La Vérendrye PC SQUIRES, Rochelle, Hon. Riel PC STEFANSON, Heather, Hon. Tuxedo PC TEITSMA, James Radisson PC WASYLIW, Mark Fort Garry NDP WHARTON, Jeff, Hon. Red River North PC WIEBE, Matt Concordia NDP WISHART, Ian Portage la Prairie PC WOWCHUK, Rick Swan River PC Vacant Fort Whyte Vacant Thompson

305 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA Tuesday, March 1, 2022 The House met at 10 a.m. Madam Speaker: O Eternal and Almighty God, from Whom all power and wisdom come, we are assembled here before Thee to frame such laws as may tend to the welfare and prosperity of our province. Grant, O merciful God, we pray Thee, that we may desire only that which is in accordance with Thy will, that we may seek it with wisdom and know it with certainty and accomplish it perfectly for the glory and honour of Thy name and for the welfare of all our people. Amen. Welcome back, everybody. Would you please remain standing.

House Business Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): Could you please canvass the House for leave to include an Indigenous land acknowledgement as part of our daily proceedings immediately follow - ing the prayer, with this practice to remain in place by leave until it is adopted as part of the rules of the House? And please note for all members that the land acknowledgement will use the wording that has been previously agreed to by all parties.

Madam Speaker: Is there leave to include an Indigenous land acknowledgement as part of our daily proceedings immediately following the prayer, with this practice to remain in place by leave until it is adopted as part of the rules of the House? Note that the land acknowledgement will use wording agreed to by all parties. Is there leave? [Agreed] * * * Madam Speaker: We acknowledge we are gathered on Treaty 1 territory and that Manitoba is located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Anishininewuk, Dakota Oyate, Denesuline and Nehethowuk nations.

We acknowl - edge Manitoba is located on the Homeland of the Red River Métis. We acknowl edge northern Manitoba includes lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit. We respect the spirit and intent of treaties and treaty making and remain committed to working in part nership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in the spirit of truth, recon ciliation and collaboration. Please be seated. For the information of the House, on February 25th, 2022, I received a letter signed by the two House leaders and the member for River Heights (Mr. Gerrard).

The letter announced that the Sessional Order enabling our hybrid virtual sittings, passed by the House on October 7, 2020, and subsequently amended on December 3rd, 2020, May 18, 2021, November 19, 2020, and December 1st, 2 021, has been extended by agreement from March 10th, 2022, to April 4th, 2022. This means that until April 4th, 2022, members may still participate in sittings of the House and committees virtually, as well as in person. House Business Mr. Goertzen: Thank you, again, Madam Speaker. I have multi-part leave request for the House. Could you please canvass the House for leave to: (

a) set aside private members' business this morning, as well as routine proceedings and government business this afternoon; (

b) to allow the House to consider the following business today, in this order: (1) a motion to appoint the Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House; (2) a motion to appoint a Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House; (3) condolence motions for former MLAs in the following order: Danielle Adams, Bonnie Korzeniowski, Kenneth George Dillen, with the understanding that during these tributes members will each be able to speak for up to 20 minutes; and (

c) for the House to s it today from 10 a.m. until it recesses at 12:30 p.m., then resume sitting at 1:30 p.m., and for the House to rise only after all members wishing to speak to the condolence motions have done so. Madam Speaker: Is there leave to: (

a) to set aside private me mbers' business this morning, as well as routine proceedings and government business this afternoon; (

b) to allow the House to consider the following business today, in this order: (1) a motion to appoint the Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of Committees of the Whole; (2) a motion to appoint a Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole;

306 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 (3) condolence motions for former MLAs in the fol - lowing order: Danielle Adams, Bonnie Korzeniowski, Kenneth George Dillen, with the understanding that during these tr ibutes members will each be able to speak for up to 20 minutes; and (

c) for the House to sit today from 10 a.m. until it recesses at 12:30 p.m., then resume sitting at 1:30 p.m., and then to rise when all members wishing to speak to the condolence motions have done so. Is there leave? [Agreed] GOVERNMENT MOTIONS Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Government House Leader): I move, seconded by the First Minister, that Andrew Micklefield, member for the electoral district–division of Rossmere, be Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House. Motion agreed to. Mr.

Goertzen: Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the First Minister, that Brad Michaleski, member for the electoral division for Dauphin, be Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House. Motion agreed to. MOTIONS OF CONDOLENCE Madam Speaker: We will move now to con dolence motions. Danielle Adams Hon.

Heather Stefanson (Premier): I move, seconded by the Leader of the Opposition, this House convey to the family of the late Danielle Lynn Adams, who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, its sincere sympathy in their bereave - ment and its appreciation of her devotion to the duty in a useful life of active com munity and public service, and that Madam Speaker be requ ested to forward a copy of this resolution to the family. Motion presented. * (10:10) Mrs.

Stefanson: Madam Speaker, today we pay tribute to our colleague and friend, Danielle Adams, a wife, a mother, a strong advocate for northern Manitoba, who was ta ken from us far too soon. On behalf of our gov ernment and the entire Progressive Conservative caucus, I wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to Danielle's husband, Bill, sons Nic and Joe, and her entire family during this very difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with you today and always. To the Leader of the Opposi tion and the entire NDP caucus, I want to express our deepest sympathies to each and every one of you.

Friends in politics can often feel like extended family, and I know that Danielle was a dear friend to many of our NDP colleagues throughout Manitoba. Danielle Adams was a young woman who cared deeply about her com munity. After moving to Thompson at age 11 with her mother and young brother, she quickly adopted northern Manitoba as her home, developing lifelong friendships and a passion for her community. She worked hard at various jobs in Thompson, including at McDonald' s and The Burntwood Hotel, before becoming the assist ant to Member of Parliament Niki Ashton in 2008.

Like so many aspiring MLAs, Danielle felt a call to political service because of her passion for Thompson and its citizens. For years she served on the boards of the Thompson Children's World Daycare, the Thompson Ski Club, and the Thompson Labour Committ ee, learning about the issues that matter to northern Manitobans. After many years of community involve- ment and political advocacy, Danielle made history in 2019 by becoming the first woman to represent Thompson in the Manitoba Legis lative Assembly.

Over the last two years as an MLA, Danielle brought her wealth of com munity ex perience to her role as critic for child care, housing, dis ability and poverty issues. Madam Speaker, I was the Minister of Families during Danielle's first year as MLA and critic. During that year, I spent many hours fielding her questions in the House and answering her letters advocating for her constituents and for others in Manitoba on those very issues. Danielle and I may not have agreed on every - thing to do with polic y, but I always admired her unwavering dedication to the people of Thompson.

I also knew that we shared the same goal: safe, healthy and prosperous com munities for northern Manitoba families. Madam Speaker, we all know why we do this job as an MLA. We do this job so we can make a difference in the lives of Manitobans. During her life, Danielle made a profound difference in the lives of Manitobans in Thompson and throughout northern Manitoba. She leaves behind a lasting legacy we can all admire. On behalf of the entire gov ernment and the Progressive Conservative caucus, I want to again extend my sincere con dolences to Danielle' s family

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 307 and friends and the entire NDP caucus during this very difficult time. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Mr. Wab Kinew (Leader of the Official Opposition): I want to begin by acknowl edging Danielle's family, who is here with us today. Her mom, Jody, and her partner John; dad, Don; and stepmom, Stacey; her brother Tim and his wife Candace; and her lifelong friend Lori and Lori's family; and , of course , the ones who would make Danielle's face light up every single time she spoke about them, Bill and Nic and, of course, Joe, following along at home.

I want to send my condol ence to you all and to our colleagues who bear this loss, and I also want to thank you. I want to thank you for sharing Dani with us during her time here on earth because we are all better for it. And I want to say the same to my colleagues. You know, there 's many sides to Danielle that I would like to share at this time. There was a young Danielle, just a kid at a federal campaign rally in 1988 where she was pulled up on stage by the NDP leaders' tour, and not only did they bring her up on stage but they put a microphone in her hand.

And so the four- or five-year-old Danielle got on the mic and told the thousands of Albertans in attendance: You need to vote for Ed Broadbent. There was a Danielle who loved Halloween costumes, and I 'm not just talking about Halloween costumes for herself. I mean, Danielle got themed costumes together for all of her friends, and for Bill to go out dressed up together. One year it might be Marvel comic characters, another year it 's Disney princesses and Danielle was Snow White. In fact, I'm told that her and Bill even dressed up in costumes to go to their wedding social together. They went as Link and Zelda.

And there was a Danielle who was an organizer for Niki Ashton in the 2015 federal election campaign and, even at nine months pregnant, would still go out and canvass six hours a day 'til finally the campaign manager ordered –had to order her –to stop. Sure enough, Danielle gave birth, or she went into labour on E-day and gave birth the following day. And it is true that she raised her kids on the campaign trail. Nic was brought by Danielle on the train to Churchill in the 2019 election campaign to go canvassing with her, and I know that was a fond, fond memory for Danielle.

I had a chance to visit Danielle's husband Bill and many of their long -time friends after the service in Thompson in December. There were many laughs and fond memories being shared. It was really quite strik- ing. At one point in the evening, I asked the assembled people if they knew that Danielle would be an MLA when they were growing up, and they shouted to interrupt me to say: Yes. If anyone in their crew at R.D. Parker Collegiate was going to grow up to be an MLA, they knew that it would have been Danielle. But I can also share that her road to becoming an MLA was not without its hiccups.

In the lead- up to the 2019 prov incial election campaign, I went to Thompson to have her campaign office launch, to launch her provincial campaign. And so we 're doing the office christening, if you will, and there was some cooking going on inside, and I'm not going to say who was cooking. But just as Danielle and I were giving our big rah-rah speeches, the smoke detectors went off and the fire alarms started going, like –so loud you can't even think, right? These fire alarms were just screaming. And so the big rah- rah speeches get interrupted. All the volunteers and supporters pour out onto the sidewalk.

We' ve got dozens of people on this Thompson sidewalk outside of this office, and then what happens next? Well, of course, it starts to rain. So there must have been, like, a little rain cloud just over top of us there. And the fire trucks pull up, and, you know, now the sirens are blasting out over top of the fire alarms. So Danielle and I, we jus t quietly moved away, and I think Dani said, why don't we go knock on some doors right now? But Danielle had a good sense of humour like that and she had, like, a built -in sense of optimism.

Because when people would tease her about that office opening and, you know, just try and have a chuckle about it, Danielle would say: Well, it was better that way; it meant that more people came to my office launch. And that 's what she was like, right, always positive, always with a good sense of humour. That led to her election night 2019 victory which was, I'm sure, a high point for Dani. She celebrated it with many of the people who are here in the gallery today with her supporters, with her friends, with her family. * (10:20)

308 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 But I want to tell you that that victory was beyond a personal win for Danielle. It meant something bigger. And I say that because Danielle grew up facing many challenges and barriers, and what inspir- ed me about her career –one of the many things that inspired me about Danielle –is that she came from those beginnings, and became an MLA, so that as an MLA she could go back and talk to little girls and boys and children in the same situations that she was in when she was younger and tell them: I did it, so can you. You can reach your dreams.

You want to be an MLA? I came from you are–from where you are, and I accomplished it. So don't let anything hold you back. And that means something, and that's something we should always be proud of about Danielle. We all know t hat Danielle was a dedi cated con- stituency politician. I talked about the canvassing. Canvassing wasn't just in Thompson. She knocked on doors in Nisichawayasihk, in Wabowden and many other areas in the con stituency as an MLA, with her CAs and long-time friends, Clayton and Destiny.

She always reached out and advocated for her communities, commu nities like York Factory and Tataskweyak. Late night calls and emails, she 's always raising issues with me. And at so many caucus meeting and party conventi ons, she would speak up and she would ask: What about the North? What about child care? What about my constituents? In fact, whenever we 'd have a caucus retreat, Danielle would book an extra day before and an extra day after so she could set up meetings with more child-care centres in the area, with more anti -poverty organizations, with more local housing initiatives.

Of course, she did all the fundraising, member - ship sales, constituency association work that all of us have to do, but I think her f avourite part of being an MLA might have been the school visits as part of I Love to Read Month, when she'd get to spend some time reading to the children. I'll explain why that's so significant in a second. But I think I just want to pause here to say that there was no part of the job of being MLA that Danielle didn't excel at, because of her hard work and determination and her drive to succeed, and I'm sure anyone watching her politically would have seen that.

But do you know how hard she pushed herself to be able to do those things? Now, I 'm not sure how many people know this, but Danielle had a learning disability, and it 's something that she struggled with since she was in elementary school. You may have heard her speak in the Chamber here, you may have heard her tear a strip off the gov ernment out there in the hallway, but do you know about the hours she spent practising her questions for QP? Do you know about the countless drafts that she worked and reworked and reworked before she ever stood up in this Chamber?

Do you know about the endless experiments with font size and spacing and layout on a page until she finally found a formula that worked for her speaking notes? Do you know about the face call–FaceTime calls with her mom Jody after every single speech or statement or question or even petition here in the Chamber where they would dissect her performance so that she could improve the next time she stood up in this hallowed hall? And do you know why she set a goal to improve at speaking in this Chamber?

And she talked about this, it wasn 't because she was worried about embarrassing herself or about her ego or about her pride. She worked so hard at speaking in this C hamber because she wanted to make damn sure that the people she represented had their stories come through clearly in this Chamber. That 's how dedicated Danielle was to the people of Manitoba, and she exemplified it in her work and actions. Danielle had many plans for the future. She wanted to bring a bill on child care to the Chamber. She and Bill had just bought a new house this past summer. She wanted to take Nic and Joe to Disneyland.

And yes, she was apparently already planning next year 's Halloween costumes, and that 's why this is so tragic. Danielle was taken from us before she could do many of those things, and as I 've thought about her loss, I've reflected on this: we all know that Danielle could have been the MLA for Thompson for 30 years if she wanted to, and she never had the opportunity to do so. But did she show us how great her potential was? Did we get to see how bright her future could have become?

Did that little girl from humble beginnings who overcame barriers to become a strong woman and leader make the most of her time here on earth? Yes. Absolutely, yes, she did. She made the most of her time here on earth by raising a family, by serving the people of Manitoba and by taking a seat right here in the Legislature. And here in the Legislature is a place where Danielle 's name and her words will live on forever in the permanent record of our great province.

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 309 And so to close, I want to share some of Dani 's words from that record. These are from the inaugural speech, the first speech that she ever gave here in this Chamber. And I quote: I was shown from an early age that if some thing isn 't right and people aren' t being treated fairly just because of who they are, you have a duty to stand up and help fight to change it. These early lessons shaped who I was and helped me become the adult and the parent I am today.

I 'd like to thank my family, my husband William Morris who encour- ages and believes in me, my two sons who inspire and drive me to help make Manitoba the best province it can be. I want all children to be able to be their best selves. End quote. Danielle Adams, you left us far too soon, but while you were with us you did show us your best self. Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I want to begin, as others have, by offering my sincere sympathy to the family of Danielle Adams and all of her friends.

There are memories that you always remember, that you can never forget, and I will always remember, sadly, the call that I received from the member for St. Johns (Ms. Fontaine). I was pulling off the grounds of the Legislature and I could hear the emo- tion in her voice, and I pulled over and said to her, whatever it is you need to tell me, just take whatever time you need. And she told me the tragic news, and I could tell from that discussion what a loss it was, not only for the member for St. Johns, but for the entire NDP caucus and for this Assembly.

Madam Speaker, I am grateful that you helped ac- commodate the family to be here today. Thank you for your office–for allowing that to happen. In this place, unfor tunately, people often see when they see us on TV or when they 're hearing us speak in other forums, they just hear the discord that happens between us. They hear the arguments that happen between MLAs.

What they never see, and I've been witness to in the 19 years I've been able to be in this Assembly, is the times when we celebrate the births of children between other members; when we pray for each other; when we hear about an illness or a cancer diagnosis; and tragically, but thankfully not often, when we have a sitting member who leaves us. I remember , as a younger MLA , when Oscar Lathlin passed away and how this As sembly came together, and now, today, we do it again.

Danielle and I , in some ways , shared a bit of a similar path in that we were both political staffers before we made the jump into elected office. And that has–that's not an unusual path. There 's others in this Assembly who've done the same thing. But it does give you a unique perspective, and often when that is the path it's something that, you know, you've had an interest in for the majority of your life. And I appre ciate the Leader of the Op position sharing some of those remembrances for Danielle and how she was engaged early in her life in political activities.

You often come with a certain level of spirit and partisanship when you've come out of the political staff world into elected life. * (10:30) I remember after my first question–which, in my mind, I thought was a strong question, but probably was filled with hyperbole and other things–Gary Doer walking across the House and coming over to speak to me in the seat that Danielle –that we memor ialize today, but that I sat in at one point in my political career–and saying that that was a very spirited question, and it's good to see that sort of energy in the House.

And I remember that after Danielle's question– first question–and I had the opportunity to go over to her and say words that were very similar. It was a very spirited question, and it 's great to see that energy in the House. COVID robbed us of a lot of things, Madam Speaker, over the last couple of years. And one of the things it had robbed us as MLAs of is the opportunity to be together.

This is the first time in almost two years when all MLAs are able to come into this House, but because we weren 't able to over the last couple of years, we weren't able to get to know each other, or to be together in the way that we often were before, and for new MLAs, it robbed us of some of that interaction.

We saw a lot of them virtually, but didn 't get a chance to see them all personally, and that is, I think, a loss for all of us because again, even though we often have disagreements and discord, some of the best moments are when we have the op portunity to speak to each other as individuals and not as politicians to learn about each other. The member for St.

Johns did share for me–share with me at one point some of the issues that the member–the Leader of the Op position raised regarding some of the challenges that Danielle had, and it actually surprised me when I learned it because she was so good at asking questions. And now I hear some of the background and she did such a good job,

310 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 but it only speaks to how seriously she took her job and how well she wanted to represent her constituents, Madam Speaker. Her words will always be on the record. Her name will always be part of this Asse mbly. It is one of the great things of this Legislature, in that you stay on in history long after you move on to another place, either on this world or off this world. And her children should be very proud of that. That legacy will live on. I know that northern MLAs–and I've learnt this in my time in the Legislature –face a special challenge.

Not only in repre senting their vast con stituency and constituents who are often in really small com mu- nities distant from each other, but they face the travel requirements of coming down to Winnipeg, which can be as daunting as going to Ottawa if you're a Member of Parliament. For those of us who don't live in the city, but are closer by, we don 't face those same challenges, and I always have a very special appreciation for those MLAs from the North on all sides of the House who take that on, and take that on with such passion, as obviously Danielle did.

And it takes a special kind of passion when you have a young family. I know that, raising my son through the entire time of politics, but I didn't face the same challenges of the distance that Danielle and other northern MLAs do, and it's–great admiration for that. And it speaks to how clearly they saw the importance of their job. But all of those thing s will live on in her family and in her children: the memory of the work that she has done here; the passion that she demonstrated for her constituents and for politics.

So today, I think we all speak as–not as New Democrats or as Liberals, not even as MLAs, but as human beings when we say that we come together as a family, as one united family to support the family of Danielle and her friends. And we put aside everything else because nothing else matters at this moment. This Assembly is better for Danielle having been here and Manitoba is less for her not being here any longer. Mr. Tom Lindsey (Flin Flon): Certainly, today is an emotional day for many of us in this Chamber, as it is for Danielle's family.

Danielle was only with us in the Chamber for a short period, but she left a mark on each and every one of us. And certainly, I think I can speak for all our northern MLAs when–she was more than just a colleague. She became like a sister to us all. The first time I think I really got to know Danielle was I was up in Thompson on my way further north, and she knew I was going to come so she said: Well, let's meet at the restaurant and have supper and we can talk about plans and how we're going to interact. So I said, sure.

She brought Nic and Joe, bec ause as a young mother, doing this job already took so much time away from her family. So she brought them to supper with us, and it was really quite an amazing thing to see Nic interact with his mother and with his brother so that we could talk busi ness while he looked after his brother, basically. That really speaks to a level of parenting that Danielle and Bill should be commended for. Lots of kids these days don' t seem to have that sense of family and sense of looking out for each other.

I believe Danielle probably developed that sense from her parents, because I understand her mother was heavily involved, once upon a time. But to get a sense of Danielle, look at the people that responded at her very untimely death. There was leaders of Indigenous communities that she had an impact on their lives, and they knew that she was there to represent everyone in her constituency.

While she may have been the first female MLA to come from the Thompson constituency, she worked for 10 years prior to being elected herself with Niki Ashton and already had that reputation in a lot of those communities, that she was there to represent them, that she would speak for them, that she would do whatever she could to be the person they needed to represent them. And Wab has spoken about the work that she put in, in this Chamber, to be prepared for question period and to be prepared for giving speeches.

And it was a level of work and dedi cation that really should have shamed some of the rest of us that didn't put that level into–that we didn't have to. We could speak. She made it look natural by the amount of work she put in. One of the first places that I really saw Danielle shine as Danielle was when we were in Estimates together for the first time. She didn't like getting non- answers to her questions because her questions were important questions for the people of her constituency. And she would push to make sure she got an answer, even if it was an answer she didn't like.

But she certainly didn 't stand for non- answers. And she was able to do that because she knew what she wanted to talk about. She knew what she believed in.

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 311 She knew what the people she represented needed to hear, needed to have asked and wanted to have answers. So, for me, that was really where she shone– was Danielle Adams fighting for her constituents. Others probably knew her longer and perhaps knew her better than I did. But certainly, from our northern caucus colleagues, she was a spark that ignited the rest of us. Wab talked about getting messages. We would get late-night messages: Hey, we should write a letter. Hey, what do you think about setting up a meeting?

We should meet with such-and- such a minister to discuss this issue. Because many of the issues that she fought about in her constituency were the same issues that the rest of us in the North wer e fighting for and about. And I can tell you that we certainly miss that spark with our northern caucus right now, because we don't send each other those messages at any time of the day or night, when an idea pops into us.

And maybe we need to, just for nothing else than to honour her memory. * (10:40) I'd spoke to some people in Thompson that knew Danielle much longer than me, particularly in the political end of things, people like Niki Ashton and the great respect that she had for Danielle and Danielle's ability. Dr. Gordon Landriault, her –who worked with Niki as well but who's famous for being out on the campaign trails, and the respect that he had for Danielle and her abilities. Rod Murphy told me that the first time he campaigned with her, in Wabowden, Danielle had a unique ability to connect with people.

It wasn 't just a politician showing up on the door, it was someone that was there to listen, and people imme diately under - stood that she approached this differently than many other politicians. It was that connection to people and their issues that really got her elected, and would have continued to get her elected for as long as she wanted to be. I can 't imagine how she managed to balance family and politics coming from the North. The amount of time that she had to spend away from family, parti cularly with young children, but somehow between her, Bill, they managed to make it work.

And it's a tribute to Danielle but also to Bill and also to Nic and Joe that they managed to make it work. They figured out how to make it work. They figured out how they could share her with us so that she could be the voice that she became, and we really owe them a debt of gratitude, because while Danielle made sacrifices to be here, so did they, and we certainly appreciate that and thank you. Danielle will be missed by everyone in this Chamber, parti cularly people that became close friends with her during her short time here.

I mean, she only got elected in 2019, and certainly it was a different time to be in politics, to be in this Chamber, that restricted, really, how much interaction people had with each other. But through all of that, Danielle managed to stand out in the crowd and be someone that we could all know and respect. I want to really thank, again, family for being here with us today to share this time with us, and really, hopefully, some solace, know ing the effect that Danielle had on all of us here, but also on the people of Manitoba. So, thank you. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon.

Rochelle Squires (Minister of Families): I would like to join the Premier (Mrs. Stefanson), the Leader of the Official Opposition (Mr. Kinew) and all members of this House in the condol ence motion for Danielle Adams, and share a few words in regards to the loss of our former colleague, a woman who will, among other things, go down in the history books and always be r emembered as the first MLA –the first woman MLA for the city of Thompson. Madam Speaker, we all come to this place carrying different perspectives, different roles and different functions to carry out.

But first and foremost, we come to this place as peopl e. We come here as men, as women, as non-binary individuals. We come as wives and husbands, mothers, fathers, friends and community members. We come here, fun damentally, because we be- lieve in building a better commu nity and we are led by a passion to serve–admittedly, I never had the op- portunity of getting to know Danielle well, and with her and I being placed in the roles that are by their very nature adversarial.

But in the short time that I did work with Danielle, I know that she exemplified all the qualities the public is right to look for when choosing their representative. She had an exemplary passion for her work and her com munity, and was deeply committed to advancing, among many other things but not least of all, access to child care, making it more affordable and accessible for all families in our province, not just in

312 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 her community of Thompson, but everywhere in this wonderful province. The passion she demonstrated for children was undoubtedly strengthened and nurtured by he r–the love she had for her own children, Nic and Joe, and to them I want to express my deepest sympathies for the loss of your wonderful mother. I would also like to express my sympathies to her husband Bill and to all her family that are here today.

Thank you for being here today to share this moment with us and thank you more im portantly for sharing your beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister and loved one with the province of Manitoba. The province is undoubtedly enriched because of her contributions. Danielle Adams will be remembered as someone who firmly stood for what she believed in, and for all her work as the first woman MLA of Thompson. In closing, I would also like to offer my condol - ences to my friends across the way.

Being in a caucus is a very exclusive privilege, one that forms bonds and ties people together in very unique and extra ordinary ways, and I have no doubt that Danielle touched every person in that caucus and not only became a colleague, but a friend. And to those of you who are mourning her loss today, I express my deepest condol ences. Danielle's work and her legacy will live on, and the contributions that she made to our wonderful province will be remembered forever. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Mr. Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface): In this pandemic there have been so many losses, and it never gets easier.

There's no getting used to it. And Danielle 's de ath came as a terrible shock. I have to say, I 've been haunted by her loss because one moment she was there sittin g next to me in the Legislature and the next moment she was gone. And that is the cruelty and fragility of life: that one moment someone who is so vibrant and so alive is suddenly gone and leaves so many behind to grieve for her. And it's said that grief is a kind of love for the people we've lost, and heartache is not just an expression, it 's real pain.

And this pandemic has made these losses harder, and losses hurt more because we can't be with the ones we love, and the connections to care for one anothe r have been frayed by everything from divisions to the fact that we can 't be together and look each other in the eye, or provide comfort through a simple embrace, or have someone wipe away the tear from our cheek. And we spent most of the time for the las t year separated and away from one another, and because the stress and fear and anxiety of never knowing what comes next, it 's made every thing that much more difficult.

And the others have mentioned a lot of the time we spend in this Chamber is spent theatrically. There's an artifice to what we do. We put on a face to meet the faces that we meet, but Danielle was not like that. She was open. She was authentic. She didn' t put on airs. She was humble. She believed what she believed and she stood up for it, and she wore her heart on her sleeve. And the memory I have of her isn' t from this Chamber. We were standing in line at the Dairy Queen on St. Anne's Road. It might have been after the election in 2019.

It was a hot day in summer, or maybe fall, I guess, warmer than usual and my kids were hungry for ice cream. And I had my head in the clouds, and Danielle turned around and said hi, she was standing right in front of me. She was casual. She was open. She was friendly. We talked about our families. * (10:50) We talked a little about Thompson and the North. And she was there with her friend that lived nearby, who she was staying with, which is just another example of her humility.

And it was one of those perfect Winnipeg fall evenings, when the sky is clear like crystal, and the warm is air and sweet and we were just another couple of Manitoba parents, eating ice cream with some kids in tow. And Danielle was so young. She had so much more life ahead of her. And if grief is another kind of love, then it may be that the grief we feel is in proportion to the time we 've lost with our loved one, the time we won't have. And that's the pain of it: the pain of carrying on with loss. But it is never loss alone because what Danielle– what defined Danielle was not her lo ss, but her life.

And her life, like any life, was defined by who and what she loved, the space she filled, the love she put out into the world; her love for her family, her friends, her community, her colleagues and her cause. There are losses that seem unfathomable, and on behalf of the Manitoba Liberals, our hearts go out to her husband, her children, her family, her NDP col - leagues, and all who knew her. And we hope that we can lighten the burden of your grief by sharing it.

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 313 To Danielle, wherever yo u are, may your heart and spirit be at rest. Mr. Brad Michaleski (Dauphin): Again, I'll be–like others, I'd like to join and add my condol ences to the family of Danielle Adams. And I know she –I didn't have a–I didn 't know her very well, but I most certainly can relate to what it 's like to be a represen - tative in this House and having to travel the distances that she had to. And I think it was mentioned here, earlier, how difficult it is to hold, really, essentially, a double life.

And, where you have your family and friends, your community and all your support networks in one area of the province, and you come to this place, and you have a whole completely different political family. You just don't have the same–there's a disconnection. And in that regard, Danielle, she made that commit - ment. And I will say, as much as she did to represent Thompson, it is very much–and I don't mean this in a bad way–but it's really about Team Adams and Team Danielle.

And I ap preciate the family being here because this is an extra ordinary tragedy for a young woman who came into this place to represent that region, and I know it 's a tre mendous commitment for the family and her friends, and what I witnessed in the short time that she was here, she was tenacious. She was scrappy, and that 's what, you know, Thompson–that' s what I recall from the MLA from Thompson who most certainly, you know, fought for her constituency, fought in her critic roles, and you could see that she was extremely passionate about a number of issues that affected the North and across Manitoba.

But, you know, it is a unique –it's unique when you get outside of this place and you get further north, there's extra ordinary challenges in that area of the province. And I can–again, I can attest to that. When you're four hours away, five hours away, six hours away, it is an extremely hard and lonely job. And it 's difficult to come into this place and have your say. Because, again, it's a large area.

And, again, Danielle would have done a lot of door knocking and, by all accounts, you know, she was very active in the com - munity, very active with her family, and it 's difficult to–and I think the word was used, balance. And how do you balance that? And, obviously, Danielle was a remarkable young lady and she served her community very well, and her family should be extraordinarily proud of the accom- plishment of being elected to this House, and, again, she served with honour, from what I know, and it was a difficult and not an easy job, but she handled it extremely, extremely well. Thank you very much. Ms.

Amanda Lathlin (The Pas-Kameesak): I first met Danielle when she was the CA for Niki Ashton. The one thing that stood out for me the most, if anyone in this room knows Gordon Landriault, Mr. NDP in The Pas, her patience dealing with him. He was hard of hearing or didn't listen at all. And we would be on the campaign trail in the truck, and Gord would be like, what? huh? –you know, and Danielle would calmly, every time, repeat herself. And I would listen and go, wow, how can she do that? So that was the one thing that stood out.

Even before I met her in person, I knew her voice over that damn speakerphone all the time while we were on the trail, and she was looking after things at home in the constituency office for Niki Ashton. And another time we would hang out, of course, would be on that campaign trail. We were in Fisher River Cree Nation. All of us gathered in the parking lot and Danielle came out of her vehicle. And it was a hot summer day–or it was warm, anyway.

She came up to me and she was wearing shorts, dressed for the summer, and I looked down and I started smiling because she was wearing dark green socks with sandals, and I was smi ling and I was thinking, gee, I thought my dad was the only one who wore socks with sandals. So aside from this fashion faux pas, I was smiling at her socks. It was an endearing moment, and then I looked up; and there 's Danielle still strategizing serious and barking orders at me and I looked up at her–oh, okay, okay, we're serious. We're serious, you know. And her seriousness was some thing that her and I always laughed about.

She was always on– always on–like, I swear to goodness that she would probably be advocating in her sleep, too, as well. She–even just sitting around having a beer, or just sitting in caucus sharing lunch, or in each other 's office, it was always work, work, work, busi ness, business, business. And I think we were in a caucus retreat in Dauphin trying to have a meal with her. She was the first person I called when I got into town: Where are you? Let 's meet up. We met downstairs, and again, work, work, work.

I was trying to enjoy a beer and I was like, pushed her beer in front of her, and I said, you know, let's enjoy, let's chill. You know, and she was like, oh, okay, all right. You know, and that was her way of chilling, you know, just talking

314 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 about her family. And that 's what –one thing we always talked about, was our families. When she was elected as an MLA, I was so proud of her. It was like a natural move for her to do. It was natural. I worked wi th her a lot with casework. She was very knowled geable in the justice system. I thought it was pretty cool that she came from a back- ground of Legal Aid. I thought that was pr etty cool, and she was always there. * (11:00) Okay.

So when she made her natural transition to politics, she may have been a rookie being elected, but she was no rookie when it came to terms of knowing our issues in northern Manitoba. She was no rookie in knowing the hardships that us northerners have to do without–I mean, have to cope with. And she showed me pictures of her house. She showed me pictures of the house, even though she–before she bought it. And I think we were planning a two -day housewarming party. Told her to get my room ready for me. Like I said, she was always available. Late night talks, late night texts.

Even if she wasn't available, it's because she was busy tending to her lovely sons, but she would call me later on in the night. She was a true friend, always made time for me, truly knew what was going on in my life. She accepted me. I will miss her as a sister. I will miss her as a friend. I 'll miss her checking up on me when I would disappear for a while. She'll probably be the only person I would take the call from. So, with this, I just want to thank Bill and her sons, Nic and Joe, for lending us your mom. Her work is done here. And we 're going to continue on your mother's work and her advocacy.

I just want to say kinanâskomitin, thank you for sharing your mother with us and being so generous. Your mother was a good woman. Miigwech. Mr. James Teitsma (Radisson): First, I want to extend condolences to the family of Danielle Adams. I'm grateful that so many of them could join us today, that they could be here in person. I can imagine it 's very difficult to again remember so poignantly the loss of Danielle, but I also believe that these kinds of days can be healing as part of the grieving process.

It's my prayer that Danielle 's family will be sustained, that they will receive grace from their rest of their family, from friends, from neighbours, from everybody who know them. That her sons, Joe and Nic, will always be confident that Danielle loved them–that their mom loved them very much and was very proud of them. So my prayer is also for Joe and Nic, that they can grow up, that they can be the best kind of persons that they can be.

I want to extend condol ences to all of Danielle 's friends, also, and that includes many of our colleagues here in this House, especially my NDP colleagues, and I offer my condolences to all of you. It isn't supposed to be like this. Danielle's passing was much sooner than anyone could expect. And her passing, I think, reminds us that life is short, it 's fragile, and it's precious. Every day is a gift. Danielle's passing reminds us to live our own lives knowing that each day could, in fact, be our last. We don't often get to know in advance when our time on this earth is up.

So, like Danielle, w e need to be dedi cated to building strong relationships, to reaching out to friends and families–members to make sure that they know that we love them, and that they know and they're confident that we'd be there for them and want what's best for them. And from what I' m hearing today, I'm confident that Bill and Joe and Nic and all the rest of her family knew that about Danielle. They knew that she was kind. They knew that she cared about them. We need to do that so that when our own life ends and when our days are complete, a final assessment is: well done. Well done.

So we're here, today, commemorating Danielle 's life because she served in this House as an MLA. I think that is important. In that way , her legacy will continue. We'll remember her strength. We'll remem- ber her passion. We 'll remember her advocacy for Manitobans dealing with dis abilities. We remember her advocacy for Manitobans looking for child care for their children. We 'll remember her advocacy for the North and for Thompson. So like all of us here in this Chamber, she was an MLA. But she wa s so much more than that.

And I would go so far as to say that being an MLA was certainly not the most im portant thing in he r life. I think more important than that was that she was wife to her husband, Bill; that she was mother to her sons Joe and Nic; and that she was daughter to her mom, Jody, and John; that she was daughter to her dad, Don, and Stacey; that she was sister to her brother Tim – Candace–that she was friend to so, so many people. And that I'm just grateful that we all got to experience some time with her here.

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 315 As her colleague, I am personally grateful to have known her and I 'm proud of her record in this Chamber. I'm proud of her accom plishments and her achievements. And, once again, I'll end with condolences to the family, and with hope for the future that they can go forward confident in Danielle 's legacy, in her love, that they can take comfort in that and that they can receive grace. Thank you. Mr.

Ian Bushie (Keewatinook): It gives me great honour and great pleasure to be able to say a few words about my colleague, my co- worker, and most importantly, my friend, Danielle. We shared an office bank, and her office was directly next to mine, and on a regular basis when we would come in there would always be the opening comment in the morning, a closing comment at the end of the day, and then we 'd have those discussions throughout the day.

And one of the things that really stood out –because we both got elected to th is Chamber at the same time, but we're also both not new to politics–one of the things that we realized, and I talked with Danielle about, was being in this role. It's a lifestyle. It's not so much a job, it 's a lifestyle, and it's something that you bring forth every day. And becoming an MLA –and you shouldn' t be somebody else's definition of an MLA. You shouldn't be somebody else 's definition of who you are. Be yourself and truly define who you are. And Danielle did that. Danielle did that in the most r espectful way possible.

She brought forth exactly what she wanted to do with a respectful way, to everybody. And sometimes that got to be very difficult. I'd like to thank members opposite, also, that joined us while we did this. And when we did that I shared the word innocent, now, in describing Danielle because she brought an innocence to this role. She brought an innocence to the idea of what she wanted to do. And that's a fantastic trait to have. Sometimes, it was just simply about asking the question, why can't we do this?

And then try and figure out all kinds of ways to get things done to best serve her family, her constituents and the people of northern Manitoba and Thompson. And that was some thing I absolutely admired from Danielle. * (11:10) It was very difficult sometimes to look past the frustrations and feel like you can 't get anywhere, but Danielle always had that fight. When COVID came and we switched a lot of members to Zoom, it was mentioned earlier that she was very cognizant about a learning dis ability. And until she said that, I didn 't even realize she had one like that.

Because that 's just how natural she was, and how passionate she was about issues she had. So she would regularly ask, and I'm sure her mom can attest, she regularly asked us, she regularly asked me, how did that look? How did my question look? How did my speech look? And I just kept telling her it looked fantastic. And you could see the comfort level–and she was more comfortable on Zoom some days–it was just going through and hammering the questions, including to members opposite and to the ministers that she directed her questions to, she was getting more and more comfortable.

And when she talked about learning dis ability, I just said, I don 't see that. And it was some thing that was in her mind, but she was very good and very passionate about–I don't want to say hiding that, but overcoming that and dealing with that, to make herself a better person. And sometimes that's a very difficult thing, when you have to be able to admit potential shortcomings or potential issues that you have, and it makes you very self-conscious. But she overcame all of that, and I was very pressed–very impressed by what she brought to this table.

So I'm not here to mourn her loss, and I don't think we should all mourn her loss; we should celebrate her life and her contributions that she brought forth to all of us. When–I truly believe, when somebody passes away and they leave this world, they continue on in a spirit world and the y're forever remembered. And they'll always be remembered, until the last person ever speaks their name. And Danielle' s name will forever be spoken, so she will never be forgotten. She will always be remembered.

And including–and I say this to her family, to her partner, Nic, her son–I mean, her partner Bill, her sons Nic, Joe, to be able to do what you bring to this table, and what you have–your mother and your partner are going to be remembered. And you'll see that for gen- erations to come. When her sons grow up to have their own children, you will see those comments, and you'll say, that's just like your mom. That 's just like your grandmother, that's just like your great -granny. And

316 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 that's the repre sentation and that' s the influence that you'll see in Danielle. While her time here on earth may have been short, it was very influential. And she was able to have that influence over all of us and over everybody. And it 's a rare thing. It's a rare thing to be able to have that kind of influence and that kind of impact on people's lives, and it's people all over, all walks of life. We're very diverse here in Manitoba, and Danielle was very good at represen ting and advo- cating for that diversity that we have.

As an Indigenous person, and my constituen cy is largely Indigenous, it 's–sometimes it 's difficult for a non - Indigenous person to go into those com munities and have that kind of back- and-forth and be able to say: Yes, I'm here for you. I want to be with you. I want to stand with you, not beside you–not in front of you, but beside you. So Danielle had that ability.

The con stituency of Thompson also has a large Indigenous representation, and Danielle had that ability to get in there and talk to the com munities and talk to the people about the issues that are arising, in wherever it may be in that vast riding. So that's a gift, one of many gifts that she shared.

There's a lot of things and a lot of –when I say innocence that she brought to this, and it was mentioned about Danielle and Halloween and special events and special days and things like that too, and if I can just kind of make light of something, I still–and I will now make an effort to watch Harry Potter, because she kept talking about that so much. So I will do that, and I pledge that to my friend to be able to do that. But those are the kind of things that she talked about, and to her sons, and to her partner, many, many conversations and many instances that came up.

No matter what the issue may have been, a lot of the reference were these two words that I 'll always remember that she wo uld say: my boys. My boys this, my boys that. And that just shows the kind of family and the kind of person that she was. And it was mentioned earlier too about being able to travel across the province to represent a northern constituency and the sacrifice that is made, so I thank you, I thank her partner and her children and her extended family for the sacrifices you made to be able to allow Danielle to come with us, to share Danielle with us.

That has made me, personally, and I know it's made everyone in this room, a better person. I had the privilege to travel to Thompson, which Danielle would have loved. Danielle would 've loved for all of us to travel to Thompson, and that was a goal that she had: I want to have meetings in Thompson, I want to have assemblies in Thompson, I want everybody to come up there and see exactly what life is like in the North, and what life is like in Thompson.

So I've been there a couple times, including for her service, and I was privileged and honoured on behalf of not only myself, but my family, my commu- nity and Indigenous people, to be able to present the family with a star blanket. When Danielle had passed, that's some thing that just resonated with me imme - diately to be able to do. And I've been privileged and honoured in my life to be gifted with a number of star blankets over my time, including being able to now share those with other people, with other families, and the comfort that you only have to exper ience to go through.

So we had that quilt made, and that blanket was made by an elder in my community, and it was made in these colours–it was made in these colours because we all know those are Danielle's favourite colours. So that gift that I presented, at the time we presented it to her mother, and now it 's being passed on to her children. Take comfort in that. When you feel that you're so lonesome you can 't stand it, cover yourself in that blanket. Think about your mother, your partner, your sister, your daughter and know that she 's with you. I know she's with us here right now today.

I know she's with us in spirit, and she 'll be with us forever. Her influence will be felt all the time. As I said earlier, that influence that Danielle has will go on forever. And time –they say time heals all wounds, but over time it just creates a different kind of love. So when I say you' ll see that influence of Danielle over time, you will see that. And you will take that with a –with laughter. When Danielle 's grandchildren and her great -grandchildren are there, and one of them does some thing that imme diately reminds you of Danielle, and you 'll take that with laughter, and you'll know that she's there.

So, in my final words, I would again just like to thank her partner, her children, her family, for sharing Danielle with all of us. For me, personally, knowing Danielle has made me a better person, and I'll always be grateful for that. Miigwech.

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 317 Mrs. Cathy Cox (Kildonan-River East): It is with deep and profound sadness that I rise today to remem- ber, recognize and celebrate the life of our friend and colleague Danielle Adams, who was tragically taken from her family, her friends and this world much too soon. I want to extend my pe rsonal and heartfelt con - dolences to Danielle's family who are joining us today in the gallery.

There are no words that any of us can say that will ease your suffering, but I want to share with you from the bottom of my heart how much we respected and ap preciated Danielle, not only as a colleague, but also as a friend. To Nic and Joe, you were the world to your mom. You were the centre of her life, and she was so proud of both of you. There is nothing greater or stronger than a mother 's love, and I know that you will hold that love in your hearts forever. Bill, all of us in the Chamber grieve the loss of Danielle with you.

She left this world much too soon, but will always be remembered as a mom, a daughter, a friend and a strong advocate for her community. * (11:20) Yesterday I reached out to Niki Ashton to learn more of Danielle 's life. She told me of the lifelong friendship that she and Danielle shared, a friendship that started out as two childhood friends who grew up together in Thompson and la ter developed into political colleagues. Niki described Danielle as vibrant, positive and outgoing. She remembered her as someone who loved being and working for people and helping people.

And like many of us here in the Chamber, Danielle gained valuable p olitical ex per- ience while working as an assistant to Niki Ashton for nearly 10 years. Danielle was passionate about helping others, and so it was inevitable that she had aspirations to serve her com munity in an even greater capacity as an MLA. And wi th the roles reversed, Niki helped Danielle with her nomination, and then rolled up her sleeves to help Danielle become the very first female Member of the Legis lative Assembly in history to represent the constituency of Thompson.

Madam Speaker, Dani, as she was affectionately known in Thompson, was the firm believer that women belonged in leadership roles, and so it is so fitting that Danielle was the very first MLA to represent Thompson. I understand that Danielle had a huge heart, and that was obvious from listening to her speak in the Chamber, that she was so passionate about serving her constituency and her constituents. She took such pride in her community and was an enormous advocate for women, child care, housing issues and bel ieved so strongly in gender equality.

I understand that she even served as the chair of the local daycare long before she even had children of her own. And while her time here as a M ember of the Manitoba Legis lative Assembly was unfor tunately much too short, Danielle will always be remembered by all of her colleagues and the family she represented as a strong and dedi cated advocate who devoted her life to helping others. Heaven has welcomed another angel, Madam Speaker. Soar high, and soar proud, Danielle, until we meet again. Ms.

Cindy Lamoureux (Tyndall Park): Madam Speaker, I didn't have the opportunity to get to know Danielle as much as I would have liked to because of the pandemic and working from home as much as we have over the last couple of years, but after hearing so much about her political upbringing, her need for organization and her love of Harry Potter, I suspect that we would have had a lot in common and enjoyed each other's company. What I do know is Danielle was an incred ibly passionate woman who fought tooth and nail for her constituents and who loved those around her very much.

I 'm inspired by how dedi cated she was as a mother because politics does not always make this easy. I greatly admire the balance that she constantly sought to have to be able to carry that political side of her as well as that family side of her. Madam Speaker, Danielle was not afraid to come into these Chambers and share what her con stituents were relaying to her. She shared this information with this government, and when the government disagreed, I think this is where Danielle shone the brightest. She fought back. She was scrappy and tenacious. Danielle never folded or caved.

She stood up informed and proud, providing facts and representation of the con- stituents of Thompson. Danielle and I had the op portunity to work together in holding this government accountable with child care. When I reflect on this portfolio, two specific nights of online late -night com mittees that were sitting 'til midnight come to mind. And together, Danielle and I had the oppor tunity to ask questions

318 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 and talk with many child -care workers and parents who have children in child care. It was evident that Danielle was in credibly passionate and motivated to make a difference, and I believe that she did. I think Danielle had a huge impact in many lives in many different, positive ways in politics and beyond. You know, Madam Speaker, I remember I was at home when I found out the news that Danielle had tragically passed away. That evening, I got together with a friend of mine who also knew her, and we were both in complete shock of what had happened.

We sort of just sat there digesting the news. For days that followed, I was having many re - flections of her. Specifically, for some reason, I kept imagining every morning, when I was getting ready for work, that she would have been doing the same. The loss of Danielle came as such a shock, and feels really close to home, because all of us here have some- thing in common with her, with respect to being one 57 MLAs here in Manitoba. And this tragedy really puts into perspective that we never know what is going to happen.

And it 's a reminder for all of us here, through share with each other, and I'm speaking personally, Madam Speaker, of how much I respect and admire everyone in these Chambers, for the roles that they play and the service that they provide for Manitobans and our province. Madam Speaker, Danielle still has –had so much life to live. And what I do know is she left a legacy. And I want to extend my sincerest condolences to her friends and colleagues and to her family. She was an amazing mom, partner, daughter, sister, and she left a wonderful impact on this earth. Thank you. Mrs.

Bernadette Sm ith (Point Douglas): Danielle meant many different things to many different people. To everyone who knew her, she was a fiercely prin - cipled person who had so much love. She always did everything she could to make life better for those in need. When Danielle and I were in Tataskweyak this past summer at a youth gathering, it was evident how much respect Danielle had from that com munity and the other chiefs that were there supporting, as there was a suicide crisis going on. She was so nervous.

She had shared that this was one of the first times that she would be up speaking in front of them, and she asked if we could talk outside a little bit. When she went up, it was so natural for her. And after, we had a little giggle and told her, nobody knew you we re nervous. She nailed it, and she was like, I was so nervous. But she was such a great speaker, and I 'm going to miss her. I had the pleasure of meeting her wonderful husband as I was going up to Tataskweyak.

Bill was waiting in the driveway of their ne w home, ready to load my car with water that Danielle had purchased, to help with the youth gathering. And that 's the kind of person Danielle was. She gave of herself. Her family that she came from taught her that value, and it was evident that she was als o instilling it in her children. It was clear for anyone to see how much Danielle loved her community. I'd gone up for the powwow as well, and Danielle, you know, came out. And those roads weren't the nicest roads. When I went up, there was lots of potholes. It was very mucky.

I was actually scared driving on those roads, and she had drove those roads many times, and I was so nervous when I got there. Like, I was just white -knuckling it the whole time. It had been raining, and we were laughing because she said, I drive those roads all the time. And, you know, it was natural for her to–and such a, you know, hard road. I thought, man, I don' t know how she does this all the time, to go and visit all of these different communities. But that's who she was.

She wanted to make sure that she connected with the communities that she represented, that she brought their voices forward, and that the youth knew that they could aspire to be in the Manitoba L egislature, just like she did. Tataskweyak Cree Nation Chief Doreen Spence shared the last message Danielle had sent to her was asking how the com munity was doing. There was so much crisis going up–going on up there. They had so many suicides. They had a COVID outbreak, and the youth were struggling, and she always made time to check up on them.

That 's one of the special qualities Danielle had that made her such a loving mother, such a loving person, and such a loving friend: that same quality as a powe rful and tireless advocate that she had for her communities, for those who were vulner- able and for the people that she had never even met. * (11:30) Danielle was genuine. Danielle was a leader. Danielle was on your side when you needed her. You could tell from talking to her that she got involved in politics for the right reasons, because she wanted to

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 319 make a difference. She wanted to make sure that the things that she had gone through no other person would have to go through, and she brought that fierce voice here. Danielle was never ambitious for any kind of per- sonal gain through politics. She became an MLA for one reason, and that was to make a positive difference, and to inspire others from the North to actually come and be a politician, and know that they could make a difference, and that they could also do it. She cared so much about affordable child care.

She knew how hard it was for her mom to raise her and her brother, and she knew that parents deserve the support and the resources that they needed to get their kids into daycare. Danielle was strongly motivated by the thought of children and families in need of support that wasn't there for them, but could be created, and she certainly was fighting for that each and every day that she was in here. She was passionate about building up and im - proving our emergency shelter system.

Danielle knew how im portant it was, no matter who or where a person is from, or what their circum stances are, they should have a barrier-free, safe place to live. She also knew how important it was that vulner - able people could access the shelter system, that they have detailed and comprehensive support so that they too could find permanent housing once leaving the shelter system. As a vocal and unapologetic feminist, Danielle felt just as strongly about fighting on behalf of other women and gender diverse people against the violence and injustice they so often faced.

The harder points in her life led her to be an advocate for others, and she used her position and her voice to speak for those who could not. Danielle felt so strongly about these things be - cause she ex perienced real hardship in her life. She was raised by a single mother and relied on the shelter system at one point i n her own life. She was humble, intelligent, hard-working, fierce. She started working–her working life at McDonald' s and The Burntwood Hotel in Thompson.

All of this provided such a powerful variety of perspective and foun- dational life ex perience that made her such an exceptional MLA, and truly an advocate and leader for her constituency that was so needed. To me, Danielle was a respected colleague, a powerful ally. She was fighting for those who didn' t have a voice, and s he was a dear friend. She and I shared a pride in wher e we came from. We also shared many similar experiences and challenges in our life. That 's a great part of why we came such fast friends.

Our offices in the Legislature were right across each other, and often she would come into my office and go over questions with me or ask me to read her speeches. I, too, never knew she had a learning dis - ability because she was such a natural, and coming from, you know, the political world, I remember being on executive with her and just how, you know, passionate she was for politics, and always asking the hard questions, and not–never being afraid to ask them and to push for better for all people in Manitoba.

She will live a legacy –or she will leave a legacy in this place, and I am better to have been a friend–to have been her friend. To Danielle 's family who are here today with us, I offer you my deepest and my condolences. I also promise you that I will carry on her advocacy and bring that strong voice and continue to work for what Danielle stood for and standing up for those who couldn't. I want to say rest in power to Danielle. Until we meet again, miigwech, and thank you so much to her family for sharing her with us.

Such a great, you know, sacrifice in politics and being away from your family, so we thank you for sharing Danielle with us, and she 'll always be in our hearts and she 'll have a legacy here. Miigwech. MLA Malaya Marcelino (Notre Dame): It's a true honour to be able to speak about the life and contribu- tions of my dear friend Danielle Adams today. After only a handful of months as a newly elected NDP MLA, Danielle said to me over the phone one time, you know, Malaya, you 're my MLA bestie. An MLA bestie–I laughed.

I don't think those two words have ever been put together like that perhaps across the whole Commonwealth of parliamentarians. What do you mean, I asked. She explained that her best friends up in Thompson, her childhood friends, had asked her what her co- workers would like–were like, and who do you get along with down there? And she said that everyone in caucus was awesome, but that I was her MLA bestie, that I was awesome and that she could relate to me easily, and that we prioritized fighting for so many of the same things for the communities that we represent.

320 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 We both were new MLAs and both moms to two young boys. We even have sons the same age, her youngest and my oldest, and that both of them liked Ninjago, and all the things that little boys dream of and concern themselves with. How that one funny turn of phrase, MLA bestie , that Danielle used to describe me, it meant a lot to me then. And since she 's passed on, it 's meant to me – meant even more to me now. That one memory has caused me great comfort these past few months that I've been experiencing grief.

And that opennes s with her feelings was one of the best things about Danielle. She let the folks that she loved and cared about know exactly how she felt about them and how and why she appre ciated them. There was nothing left unsaid. Her heart was full to bursting with friendship, generosity and concern for the welfare of others, whether it was a lifelong friend, her family, a new co-worker like me, or a constituent or other com munity members that needed help with an issue. Danielle made time for you, she never made you feel rushed and she would listen to what you had to say.

She had a way about her that made folks feel cared for because she was never in a hurry and took all the time you needed to listen. Losing Danielle this way has hit our NDP family hard. You see, Danielle has been an active part of the NDP for most of her life. Danielle had many roles in the party. She was a mainstay at NDP prov incial council for years, on executive council, and she was heading a working group looking into barriers for women and gender non-conforming folks running for office, and she served on the party 's finance commit- tee.

Long before she was an MLA, long before she was a constituency assistant for 10 years for the feder- al riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, she was an NDP campaign volunteer since she was 15 years old. Long-time Thompson NDP activist Blair Hudson said that he never knew of a more committed teenager for the party. She could always be counted on to work elections, from office work, photocopying, stapling, to delivering flyers and then eventually canvassing. For a long time Danielle worked as a waitress at The Burntwood Hotel in Thompson. This was hard work.

She was on her feet all day and all night, but she never missed on working on elections and was considered a lucky charm to campaigns because her candidate would always win. Blair Hudson recalled the pure joy and happiness that Danielle felt every time her candidate would win. But all the work that she did for the NDP was never for her own glory. It was always for the bigger picture goals.

Blair Hudson would go on to eventually be Danielle's 2019 election campaign manager. * (11:40) What she was most proud of during the nomin- ation and campaign was that she made it out to every outlying com munity in the Thompson constituency multiple times, save for one: Nelson House, Anishinaasik [phonetic]; Split Lake, Tataskweyak; York Landing; Gillam; Wabowden; Fox Lake; War Lake; Churchill; Thicket Portage; Pikwitonei. This was a difficult feat. There had been no NDP presence here for four years, and she had to re -esta- blish those ties. These communities are not easy to get to.

Depending on the com munity, Danielle had to travel by boat, by ferry or by rail. For many years as a federal MP assistant, she was known as the face of the federal NDP because there were many meetings and speeches, in many com munities, that she had to represent MP Ashton. But since Danielle 's own election, over the two years, despite the limitations brought on by the pandemic, Danielle really grew into that job and was a fierce represen tative and advocate for her communities.

Her imme diate con stituency priorities were to esta blish and strengthen ties to outlying communities and fight for paved roads, and weather roads. All who knew her know of her passion and exper- tise on the subject matter of accessible, affordable and quality non-profit child care. She was so committed to child care for her com munity that one time, Danielle volunteered to serve as surety to the b ank for a loan that the local child -care centre needed.

She was so committed to seeing universal, accessible, affordable, quality non-profit child care across the province that during the early days of the COVID pandemic, she spearheaded an NDP child-care caucus policy project to confer with child-care directors across the province that consulted the nation 's top economist and child-care experts –including Pierre Fortin, Gordon Cleveland, Susan Prentice, Jane Beach and Kathleen Flanagan–to deliver a fully costed plan, a five -year plan that identified the weaknesses and strengths of our current Manitoba child-care system, what pitfalls to avoid of the much- lauded Quebec expansion, and the infrastructure dollars needed, the training dollars needed and the wage sector increases that are needed to get this child-care rollout done right.

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 321 And that was all done even before there was even a promise of federal funding. Danielle was pushing to do it anyway, with or without federal funding. Danielle was pushing to do it because it was the right thing to do for women, for children, for families facing poverty and for the economy. Another policy area close to her heart was the fight for a living minimum wage. Danielle did not have an easy life. She knew what it meant to work all day and all night on your feet and then not have much to live on at the end of the day.

From child- care assistants to serving personnel, Danielle was fighting for women like her to have a decent shot at getting through life. One of her recent policy research areas involved improvements to EIA that would allow clients to make meaningful steps towards working or taking on part-time work, and not to be penalized for these earnest efforts. Danielle was a smart lady. I remember one time when we were at a caucus retreat in Dauphin and I was part of a small caucus group that toured com munity non-profit organizations with Danielle.

We were there to check in with these groups and to hear their concerns, and over the next two days, we visited the Dauphin adult learning centre staff, we met with intimate partner violence counsellors, child- care directors, housing shelter co-ordinators. Danielle listened to all their questions and griev - ances, and one by one, she had responses and sugges- tions that these folks sincerely ap preciated. All the while, in comparison, I was just struggling to get up to speed, to even try to understand their concerns.

I remember one of the adult educators said, this is the first time that they 'd actually ever learned something or heard some thing they could actually use from a visiting politician. Now, that was Danielle: whip - smart, experienced, realistic and a real people person. I think that I will carry with me for a very long time that sense of loss and regret that she was not able to carry out these goals that she worked so hard for, when she could have seen these researched ideas implemented, because she was so young, so energetic, so compassionate and talented.

But that regret and loss that I carry is but a p ale shadow of grief that I know that you carry, that Danielle's family carries. To Danielle's family, I feel like I know you be - cause of how much she spoke of you, and because of how much she integrated her family life with her work life. I've lost count of how many times that, during Zoom meetings with the nation' s top economists, Danielle would abruptly interject, no, Joe, you cannot have another frozen yogurt tube. You' ve already had three and it's not even lunchtime. I was like, what is a frozen yogurt tube?

Or how she 'd check her calendar for an availability for our next meeting, but that she would have to work around Nic's band performance, or Nic's orthodontist appointments, and how she'd always tell me all the stories about Nic's best friend. She would tell me that her mother -in-law, Pearl [phonetic], was her saviour, a goddess, a rock star, the best mother -in-law in the history of all mother -in- laws. Pearl [phonetic], if you're listening on TV, she told me how selfless you are, how smart and lov ing you are, how you would kill her if she ever included you in the MLA annual family photo.

How well you took–take care of Nic and Joe, how there was no way on God's green earth that she could 've ever done this job and left the kids for weeks at a time without you. She shared with me stories about her dad, Don, how it wasn't always this way, but that all is well now, and that she trusted you with her sons and looked forward to those visits. She told me stories of her brother, Tim, growing up in Thompson, and about your work life in Alberta. One of the last –very last con versations we had was about Bill and how grateful she was to be in such a loving and healthy relationship with you.

And Jody, Danielle 's mom, you were like a touchstone for her. She ad ored you, and the easy relationship that you had was one of the best things in her life. She relied on your judgment and on your support. She looked up to you and was so proud of the path that your life took. You were the single biggest role model in her l ife. She watched and learned how you overcame adversity and how you gave back to the community.

She told us all, once, in a caucus meeting, that watching and learning from you, how you overcame adversity to then get educated, get a law degree, and give b ack to the com munity, was the single biggest inspiration to her to help others who were down, because she knows that with a little bit of support, these same folks can also overcome serious obstacles and give back to the com munity that once helped them. There, I told you, even though I've never met you, I feel like I 've known you because I 've seen you through Danielle 's eyes.

I am very sorry for your irreplaceable loss, for our irreplaceable loss, but she

322 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 didn't leave us with nothing. She left us with wonderful, loving memories because of how she made us feel so appreciated while she was here. For me, and for the rest of the caucus, she left us with a ' verable'– veritable, very important to-do list and priorities. And, most im portantly, she taught us how to see these issues and priorities through a northerner's eyes. The very first few times I had met her, I saw her in caucus meetings when we first got elected, and she had this way of interjecting and making space in a friendly way with her elbows.

Without any kind of background explanation, she would just launch into these names of these northern com munities and northern personalities in whatever discussion we were having. Communities I had never heard of due to my ongoing, untreated perimeter itis, Danielle would bring up every time.

Names like Colleen and Helga would come up in conver sation, and later I learned that Colleen was the Thompson mayor, Colleen Smook, and that Helga was Helga Bryant, the chief executive officer of the northern he alth author ity region. * (11:50) In government or in opposition, when we see that there's a crisis in health -care staffing, in soaring 'intirmate' partner violence rates, in housing shortages, in insufficient mental health supports, adult illiteracy– you name it–you can bet your bet your bottom dollar that these shortages and crises are far more entrenched and far more pronounced in the North, in rural and remote areas that don 't hardly get any attention.

Danielle taught me to look to these regions fi rst and not last–or worse, not at all –when planning stake - holder meetings and crafting solutions for these pressing issues. Danielle taught me to ap preciate the differences in the North and to account for those differences. And, of course, with the way that she died, I read that as an indictment itself on the neglect that northern, rural and remote areas have faced for a long time when it comes to health care, emergency supports, infrastructure and infrastructure maintenance, among other things.

And if our caucus has been quiet up to date on these issues, it's been out of grief and not because we don't plan on doing anything about it. We will not be able to turn our eyes away from it now or ever again. For the stories and infor mation I have shared today about Danielle, I 'd like to thank Tim Johnson, NDP party secretary; Angela Reeves, NDP director of legislative affairs; and Blair Hudson, long -time Thompson NDP activist and union representative, for taking the time to discuss Danielle 's con tributions with me to the NDP, to our caucus's legislative agenda and Thompson constituency priorities.

Thank you to Danielle's family for coming all the way to share this special day remembering this irreplaceable friend of ours, and thank you to Madam Speaker, and to your office for making these very im- portant travel arrangements to ensure that Danielle 's family can travel safely. Thank you. Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, a wave of shock and disbelief swept over me when I heard of Danielle 's death. It was tragic, on Highway 6 between Thompson and Grand Rapids.

It's a stretch of highway that I have travelled on many, many times, often twice a year going up to Thompson when I was the Leader of the Liberal Party. She died far too young, leaving behind her husband Bill and two boys, Nic and Joe, and many, many other family and friends. Though we were not in the same party, I admired and respected Danielle. She spoke with passion on early learning and child care, on poverty, on behalf of those with dis abilities and on housing issues.

These are issues on which I have personally been deeply concerned with during the period I 've been elected, both as a Member of Parliament and as a member of this Legislature. They 're issues to which we need better answers than we have achieved to date. Danielle is owed recognition for standing for those in need in Manitoba and, particularly, for those who live in the North. I didn 't know until today that Danielle had a learning disability. She did remark ably, considering what she had to overcome to be an MLA and to do well as an MLA as she did.

Many years ago, I learned an im portant lesson from a mentor of mine. I was studying and doing research in London, England, and my supervisor, a Professor Soothill, was a well-known and internation- ally recognized scientist. He had dyslexia, a learning disability. He explained to me when I arrived how it was almost impossible for him to read words in a book and that he had got through school, including medical school, by paying very close attention when his teachers taught in class. That was essentially the only way he could learn. He could never read quickly enough.

It was onerous, laborious and very, very slow when he read. He couldn' t read quickly e nough to keep up.

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 323 Interestingly, he had done so well that he was appointed to be on the admissions selection committee for Oxford Uni versity. And each time the selection committee took in student applications and he was involved reviewing them, he scanned the applications very carefully searching for students with learning disabilities because he knew that if they had made it that far to apply to Oxford Uni versity, that they 'd overcome extraordinary obstacles and that they deserved unreserved ly to be admitted to Oxford University to study.

It was an im portant lesson that people with disabilities–in this case learning dis abil- ities–can often do extraordinary things and come over extraordinary obstacles. We have to thank Danielle, especially, for her contributions and showing us what can be done even when you have a learning disability. It is a sad and inadequately recog nized fact that one of the risks of being a Member of Parliament or a member of a prov incial legislature is a ca r accident. As elected individuals we tend to travel a lot to reach and meet with people all over the province.

For those who represent rural and remote areas the risks are greater, for the time spent travelling is substantial. When I was a Member of P arliament, within the first year that I was there, in 1994, Gaston Péloquin, a Member of Parliament for Brome-Missisquoi, died in a car accident travelling between Ottawa and his con- stituency. It was a shock and a forceful reminder then of the hazards of the open roads to elected members of parliament or legislatures. Danielle 's death is a shocking reminder of this.

Since the 1990s, the hours we're in the Legislature have improved, but the weather is no better and many of the roads are no less dangerous . It is im portant, I believe, in Danielle 's legacy, that there is a careful look at how we can make Manitoba 's roads safer, whether it is the roads them selves or the clearing of roads, or the alerts we are able to give drivers travelling on roads when conditions are difficult. As a person who has travelled many kilometres on Manitoba roads, I can see areas where im prove- ments in the notification of driving condi tions on roads could be a significant help.

On a recent visit to Onanole, Brandon and Killarney, for example, there was much that was good on the provincial website, but I think it could be improved. Perhaps we can find a change or an improvement that could possibly prevent the death of people like Danielle in the future. We need to do this. Perhaps, even as another example, the recent multi-vehicle accident on Highway 1 west of Brandon involving as many as 25 large trucks and cars could have been prevented. We were in Brandon the day before. The highway was extremely slick and icy after a freezing rain and it left a layer of ice on the road.

I hope that all of us as MLAs can put an effort into making our roads safer. It would be good not only to save lives, to save the damage and destruction of vehicles and, interestingly, to reduc e the cost of vehicle insurance. Let us work together to do this in the memory of Danielle. I offer con dolences to family and friends, from myself and my wife Naomi, and to the members of the NDP caucus who have suffered a tragic loss of a close friend. Together in the Chamber we have lost someone very special and we will always remember this loss. * (12:00) Thank you for the opportunity to speak and say a few words.

Merci. Miigwech. Ms. Nahanni Fontaine (Official Opposition House Leader): I'm seeking leave of the House not to recess until all the condolence motions are completed for our colleague, Danielle Adams. Madam Speaker: Is there leave to not see the clock until all of the con dolence comments for Danielle Adams have been heard? [Agreed] Mr. Nello Altomare (Transcona): Thank you, Madam Speaker, for allowing me to put a few words on the record for my dear colleague, Danielle Adams. I want to thank her family for being here today.

It's an emotional day; an emotional day because it 's just not part of the natural order of things. I will tell you, I want to thank every member and every member that will speak going forward for your words that you've put on the record. These are im portant words because we know as MLAs our jobs become perilous. I remember the first time I came back to the House, Madam Speaker, I ran into the member from Spruce Woods. We were both speechless –didn't say very much to each other because we know that the passion that we put into our work repre senting our communities has a cost.

And I can tell you each and every person in this Chamber knows that that cost is family time, but boy do we ever get the returns when people in our com munity are very ap preciative of what we do here in this House. Danielle exe mplified that every minute she was here.

324 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 I want to tell her mom and dad, on behalf on the people of Transcona, who have a lot in common with the people from Thompson –scrappy part of town, working class, have to scratch and claw for every little bit to ma ke it–that Danielle and I, we kind of were attracted to each other because of our backgrounds. I will say that Danielle would use me to be her heckler. She would say, member from Transcona, let them know this –right in my ear –and so, of course, I would do that. But that was Danielle.

Took every possible op- portunity to make sure that her point got across, not only for the people she represented but for the causes that she was passionate about that we heard from the member from Notre Dame, the member fro m Flin Flon, the member from The Pas -Kameesak, the member from Keewatinook, who put words on the record that really exemplified exactly what Danielle was about.

We served on committees together, and now that service, just like the member from Notre Dam e said, will carry us forward in the important work that we do as MLAs in this House, not only to represent our con- stituents, but to represent each and every one –each and every Manitoban. As I wrap up my comments, I just want to say to Danielle's family that this emotional day is part of the healing process. It is my sincere hope that we've added to your healing process. I encourage you to continue to reach out to us when needed.

And I would just want to leave you with these few words from Richard Hall that have been ringing in my head since the fateful day in early December: that one of these mornings, it won't be very long, you will look for me and I will be there. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Mr. Jamie Moses (St. Vital): Well, Danielle, we miss you. I miss you. You' re a friend to me; you 're a friend to all of my colleagues in caucus, a friend to this Legislature, and I miss you; we all miss you. We miss you as part of our team. We miss your advocacy. And I know the family–your family–misses you even more than any of us.

One of the things that really gets to me about the tragic loss of Danielle, my friend, is that my youngest and–my oldest and Danielle 's youngest are the same age; they're both in grade 1, and for me to think about that, think about how I go home to my kids every night and to think about that loss for Danielle and her family is almost too much to bear. So, my heartfelt condolences on behalf of myself, my family, my caucus, goes out to you, family. My love, the same love that Danielle would bring home every night to you, I'm now giving to you on behalf of myself, my family, my caucus.

What I want to talk about is my friend Danielle, the Danielle that I got to know before either of us were elected, when we spent time volunteering with the party, with the NDP. And as we were in meetings, working together side by side, I got to understand some qualities of Danielle that I'd like to share. First, I'd like to talk about Danielle's curiosity and her optimism with dealing with situations. I cannot count the number of times that I heard Danielle say, well, can we try this, or, can we try that? Maybe this would work for us in the North. It could be different than you guys in Winnipeg.

And that curiosity, that o ptimism, is some thing that carried–it was a quality that Danielle carried on in every aspect of her life, in every aspect that she was working on. And I was so fond of hearing about that curiosity, hearing about that optimism that she brought to every situation. And that curiosity, that optimism, is what fed into her and allowed her to be such a passionate advocate for her com munity.

There wasn 't a day or a meeting that would go by without Danielle bringing up how does this affect the North, how does t his affect and help the people of Thompson, how does this help to make their lives better, people that I –that she represented. And that not only showed that she went into this business of becoming a politician, becoming an MLA, not for herself, but for he r community, for her family, for her neighbourhood, for Thompson and for the North.

And I am so proud and consider myself lucky to have worked with a person like Danielle who could always find ways to put herself last and her community and her constituents first. I often looked to her when I was thinking and con- sidering plans of how –of talking to her and would reach to her and say, how would this work in the North? This idea might work in the city, but how would it work in the North for your constituents?

And she was a wonderful person to bounce ideas off of because she would always be able to provide that perspective of the North–the voices of the North, and that's one of the things that we all, in this Legislature, miss today is that strong voice for the North. The last quality I want to talk about Danielle is her brilliant humour that many of us and our

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 325 colleagues in caucus know about.

Whether it 's us in the Chamber here and Danielle making a crack about some science fiction book or a quote f rom a fantasy movie or novel that she had written –read, whether it was making some reference to Hitchhikers ' Guide to the Galaxy or Harry Potter or something else, Danielle always found a way, no matter what situation it was or tense conversation or debate, to find a narrow little window there to lighten the mood, to add some humour into a situation. * (12:10) Whether it was a heated debate in the Legislature here, and she would just lean over and make a little crack that would just kind of put a smile on your face and remember that we're all here to make the lives of ourselves, of our friends and colleagues, but most im- portantly, of all Manitobans, better.

Danielle found a way to do that in small ways, with each one of us as individuals, but she also found ways to do that as an MLA, to make Manitoba, to make her part of Manitoba and Thompson, a better place. She did that in small ways and in big ways. Not only am I better for this, not only is our –my team better for this, but we're all in Manitoba better for having Danielle in our lives. I consider myself lucky for have had knowing her.

And I'll just finish by saying that that unbridled optimism and curiosity that Danielle had, that humour that she brought into situations and that advocacy, that passionate advocacy that she had for her community, are not gone with Danielle. All of us here today who are hearing this, who are witnesses to this, who are a witness to her life and everything she–that she brought to it, and all of you, her family and fri ends, are now carrying this with us in our lives ahead. And we don't carry this with us just in our memory.

We also carry this through our action, and our caucus is committed to acting and being advocates the same way Danielle was, for her com munity, for the North and for the people of Manitoba. We will carry this with us in our hearts, in our memories, and we will carry this forward in our actions. Thank you so much to the family of Danielle for sharing her, in her life, with all of us. Mr. Matt Wiebe (Concordia): I'd like to offer my condolences to the family. I want to thank you for making the difficult journey to come here today to join us.

I know it's a difficult day for you, but I also think it's an im portant day for you but also for us as colleagues of Danielle to have this time to recog nize her, her accomplishments, her dreams, her concerns, her advocacy here in this House, but also just to remember her and to have some time to put some words on the record for this place and for all time about what she meant to so many of us. So thank you for putting yourselves out there to come here and to join us.

I also want to extend my condol ences to the people of Thompson and to the people of the North who are feeling this very acutely, as well, r ight now. This is a loss for them, as well, for an advocate and for a daughter of the North, of somebody who cared very deeply for the place she was from and believed very much in that place.

And likewise to our northern caucus, our members of the Legislature who represent the North, simply because I know that their love and passion for the North was met –matched by Danielle, and as we' ve heard many times, there were many times that they would come together to talk about those issues, advocat e together, and so, for them, I know this is a loss as well.

We lost an amazing advocate for the North, somebody who I've known, come to know and heard many times from so many people, somebody who had tenacity, who was unafraid and fearless in her advo - cacy, never wanted to give up a moment, if she could– that she could take to represent her constituency and the issues of the North, and also somebody, of course, who had so much potential, that was just getting started, just begin ning to see her potential through. And I know how difficult that is, as a new MLA, as a young MLA, to come here and to give so much of yourself.

But she did that, and she was willing to do that all the time. She was also such a unique voice in this House. It's been mentioned that she was the fi rst MLA – female MLA from Thompson, but she was also a young woman and a family person, so somebody who was bringing that voice as a young mother to this Legislature, and a young mother from the North. I think that was her strength. I think that was her drive. You know, I found most connection with Danielle when we were talking about our families. It's been mentioned: Harry Potter.

I was reading Harry Potter to my kids and I could turn to her to be the–she would always give me sort of the expanded lore. But she–it was that family focus, that family first that I think it was a true indication of who she was at heart: somebody who cared about her family and cared about her constituents' families. You know, we –she spent so much time talking about the storie s of the people of the North and

326 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 advocating for them, and so now we can tell her story and we can use her story to advocate for the North. And, you know, I just spent some time up in Thompson. I drove those roads. I spent some time with the people who knew her, and you know, amazing salt-of-the-earth people. That's who Danielle was, a salt -of-the-earth person. And, you know, we want to continue to advocate for her. So I just want to thank the family for going– taking this journey with us today. As I said, I know how difficult it can be–or I can only imagine, I should say–how difficult it is.

But I think it' s important that all of us have this opportunity. So thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing Danielle with us, and we will continue her legacy in this place, as we go forward. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Mr. Diljeet Brar (Burrows): We are gathered here today to pay tribute to our colleague, Danielle Adams. Danielle Adams was a hard -working, sincere, honest, daring, bold, energetic person with values and vision. She always stood strong for her constituents and every thing they deserve. She left us physic ally and left a void that can never be filled.

However, she also left so many thoughts and dreams to make Manitoba better. It 's our mo ral duty to make those dreams come true. Even today, I can hear her voice and energy on display during the question period in this Chamber, and I'm sure you all can. I feel her here, right now not physically, but spiritually, motivating all of us to do our job to the full potential. I have witnessed her looking at issues and oppor- tunities with her northern lens. She was passionate to make northern Manitoba's–Manitobans' lives better.

I remember, she wanted me to visit Thompson to meet her constituents of East Indian origin along with her so she can understand their issues better. COVID -19 didn't let us make that happen. Sorry, Danielle. Danielle was one of a few fortunate people who get an oppor tunity to serve Manitobans in this Legislature. Danielle was a common Manitoban who started her career as a team member at McDonald's in Thompson. She walked through a few other jobs, including constituency assist ant to MP Niki Ashton. That's where she got a chance to understand social - political needs of the people she worked with.

Within just 11 years in this role, she made it to Manitoba Legislature in 2019. Her victory created history and she became the first female MLA in the region. Although Danielle didn't get a chance to serve too long in the Legislature, she made a big difference in a short time. She spoke loud and clear to address poverty, child -care issues and issues related to families. Apart from her professional life she was a loving daughter, wife and mom.

I want to say thanks to he r mom, Jody, and dad, Donald, to raise such a wonderful daughter. * (12:20) Family and friends Tim, Bill, Nic and Joe, you are blessed to have her for all those years before she left for her heavenly abode. I feel your pain. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Please accept my deepest condolences. Danielle will live in our thoughts forever. RIP, Sister Dani. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Ms. Lisa Naylor (Wolseley): Danielle Lynn Adams was born on September 24th, 1983, and died far too young, on December 9th, 2021. She celebrated her 38th birthday with us at a caucus retreat in Brandon.

I have a photo of Danielle grinning ear to ear that afternoon when we surprised her with a bright orange–NDP orange–birthday cake. And that smile is how I will always remember her. It is my honour to speak about her today as part of this day of condolence motions. Danielle was elected as the Thompson MLA on September 10th, 2019, making history –as we 've heard–as the first female MLA elected in the region. She was sworn in on September 27th, 2019.

In the first few months after being elected, Danielle stood in the Legislature or spoke in commit- tee addressing many of the issues which Thompson elected–for which Thompson elected her. She pursued affordable housing for northern Manitoba and quality, accessible child -care across the province. She went after reduced child-care subsidies and compliance for licensing, asking the gov ernment how frequently child-care centres were inspected and addressing de- partmental vacancies. She addressed issues for people with dis abilities, particularly the increases in abuse and cases of abuse and neglect.

She spoke about the impact on northern residents when the dialysis machine was removed from Flin Flon and highlighted additional health -care needs in northern Manitoba, including physician recruitment. She asked for an inquiry into the death of the northern resident who had

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 327 to wait 12 hours for Lifeflight, and she expressed concern that privatizing of services ha d cost someone's life. This is just a glimpse into the work Danielle did here in the Legislature on behalf of her constituency and all Manitobans, during our very short first session, immediately after she was sworn in. When we returned for the start of the second session of the 42nd Legislature, Danielle made her first speech in response to the Throne Speech.

On that day, November 26th, 2019, Danielle started her speech with land acknowl edgements, both of Treaty 1 territory where the Legislature is located and Treaty 5 territory where she lived and served. She came in here and she recog nized the traditional land of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake Cree nation, Fox Lake Cree nation and York Factory Cree nation. She also thanked all of the people from Churchill, Fox Lake, Gillam, Pikwitonei, War Lake, I lford, York Landing, Split Lake, Nelson House, Thompson, Wabowden and Thicket Portage, who sent her here to represent them.

She thanked her election team and her extended family and her husband, Bill, and her sons, Nic and Joe. And I remember she mentioned that Nicholas had travelled with her to Churchill by train during the campaign. And I remember that because I was listening to her speech and thinking how I could walk the circumference of my entire urban constituency in about two and a half hours on an ambitious day. But I was wondering how many hours Danielle had to travel to ensure that she spent time meeting people and hearing their needs in every corner of her co nstit- uency.

I loved that that was important to her and how seriously she took her responsibilities. I didn't know Danielle personally before we were elected together, but I do remember listening to her on that day and feeling like she was going to be an amazing MLA. Danielle shared with this House what it meant for her to grow up with a single mother who was motivated to upgrade her education to make a good life for Danielle and her brother. She also shared her observations and learnings from her mom about privilege and who had access to services.

She explained how people sometimes helped her mom access programs and made sure she had the support she needed, but her mom noticed that not everyone got the same support, so she began to address those inequities in her own work and activism and made sure her children saw the world the way she had observed it. Danielle had a powerful role model in her mom and shared with us that she had been taught it was her duty to stand up for anyone not being treated fairly and to work for change. We all saw her live out that sense of duty with passion every day that she served as an MLA.

Listening to Danielle 's first speech, I remember being inspired and knowing that this was someone I was looking forward to knowing better. I'm going to read some of her words into the record again, taken from her speech that day. I am a proud socialist. I believe that governments need to be leaders. I believe that no one should be punished for being poor. I believe housing, food, health care and education are human rights and should be treated as such. These seem like such simple and straight forward ideas, values of equity and human rights that everyone should be able to get behind.

But, sadly, that is not the case and Danielle never ceased fighting for these values until the last day she served. When it came to the pandemic response, Danielle had no shortage of work as the official opposi tion critic for child care, housing, dis ability and poverty matters. Outside of health care these were some of the most critical issues for Manitobans over the past two years. Danielle did her research, listened to con stit- uents, consulted with colleagues and subject area experts.

She advocated for child- care worker PPE, disability suppor ts, public transit costs for EIA recipients, rapid testing for northern teachers and vaccine accessibility. During the Third Session of the 42nd Legislature, Danielle frequently spoke about the gaps in northern health care, including nurse vacancy rates, funding cuts to home care and the need for safe con sumption sites. I didn't get to know Danielle as much as I might have if the pandemic hadn't sent us all home, and there were much fewer opportunities to meet in person over the next many months.

We were also usually paired with each other as the House team member, so if Danielle had to be out to take a call or speak to media that she was –would check that I was in the House, even on Zoom and vice versa. Our text exchanges mostly focused on scheduling needs and then filling each other in on im portant missed moments along with a few opinionated observations of things that had happened when the other was out of the House, and quite a few little laughing emojis along the way.

328 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA March 1, 2022 I so wish we had spent more time together in the same room, but I am grateful that we did hang out a lot at our caucus retreat last fall. Danielle made me laugh and we 've had –Amanda's talked about this today–but the rest of us are kicking back, relaxing after a long day of meetings. Danielle still just wanted to talk policy, identify which problems we needed to focus on next, and the only way I could get her to talk about anything besides how to change the world was to ask about her family or her latest board game obsession.

And Danielle worked hard, but she had so much joy for living, too. The last time I saw her was on a Zoom screen as she helped to plan our caucus holiday party. True to form, Danielle thought it would be super fun to bring a bunch of her board games down to the city for a full afternoon of game playing and she was overruled by maybe one person on the committee, but we all shared a good laugh at her enthusiasm and with more time, I am certain, she would have recruited all of us into one of her favourite pastimes. In closing, I want to say to Danielle 's family, thank you for sharing her with us.

Nothing can make you feel better about her being gone, so I'm not going to try. But I do want you to know that even though I didn't know her as well as some of my c olleagues did, even I knew that the most im portant part of her life was her time with Bill and Joe and Nic. I know she loved all of her family greatly and that her ability to love so openly and honestly translated into genuine love for her constituency and love of the work of trying to make things better for people every single day. Her contributions to our team and to this province will be felt and missed for years to come. Thank you. Mr.

Adrien Sala (St. James): I'm grateful to have an opportunity today to share some words in honour of our good friend and colleague, Danielle Adams. * (12:30) I still think about the day we learned about the tragic accident. We received a call. Wab let us know about what had happened. And I remember sitting in a parking lot and speaking with colleagues and learning–talking about the news and going quite numb thinking about what her loss meant, not only for us as a caucus but of course, more im portantly, to her family and those that loved her. And it took a long time to have that numbness go away.

And it took probably a solid month until I was able to really think about Danielle without, frankly, losing it. And that's because we developed some really close–a really close connection in our time together here in the Leg. A lot' s already been said today about Danielle, and I've been grateful to hear some amazing stories about her, a lot of stories I hadn't heard. It's also been wonderful to hear folks across the way share their perspectives on Danielle and to hear us celebrate her in the way we have.

As I said, I was lucky to get to know her pretty well, thanks to us being seatmates right there as newly elected MLAs . And we were both brand new, of course, and were very encouraging to each other. Danielle was in credibly caring. She knew as a new MLA–she could feel my anxiety when we'd get up in QP or delivering a speech, and she always was there to provide encouragi ng words, to show that caring side. And we supported each other and that support extended far beyond our time as seatmates and went right until the end, until she left us.

She had a–and I learned when I was sitting beside her that she was not only caring, she also had a very serious side, as some have commented on–a very, serious competitive side to her. And it was so clear to me from the moment that I met her about –that she really loved politics in the way many can 't even understand. She was so deeply pa ssionate about this political world we're in and I know that –I could just feel just how happy she was to have become an MLA. She made it. This was where she wanted to be. She really, really was just so in credibly happy to be here and to be doing what she loved.

She had an incredible personality. Danielle loved to laugh. She loved to make people laugh. And I 'll really miss that about her. She also had–my colleague from Keewatinook described an innocence to her, and I'd say that that came through to me as a purity. Danielle was always seeing things much more clearly than it seemed others could. She understood what was important and was always able to cut right through to what we really should be focused on and what we should really be concerned about. And that was often about social justice, human rights, when ensuring people had what they needed to live good lives.

As many shared today, she was brave. Danielle came in here with a learning dis ability, and I know from sitting beside her that she did struggle in those initial–that initial time when we came in here in this Chamber. But I saw her work through that and I saw her find strategies, develop ways of getting better and I saw her improve day after day. And I was just so

March 1, 2022 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA 329 incredibly blown away b y that tenacity that she showed and that willingness to take that challenge on, and to ultimately become very, very good at the job she was here to do. Danielle wore her values on her sleeve. She wore her values on her sleeve. She was always focused on justice for those who couldn't get access to it. She was always focused on fairness, making sure that people were treated fairly. She fought for equity and she fought for inclusion.

She always wore those values on her sleeve and always, always would be fight ing for those values day in and day out. And you know, as many know here, Danielle cared very deeply about working families, and I think that stemmed from her own experiences as somebody who had faced the challenges that working families face. She understood those challenges and she cared in a way that many can't because she understood those difficulties that working families face in this province. And that passion for working families came through in many ways.

It not only came through here in QP an d in debate, but it also came through in the policies she was focused on. Others have spoken a bit about, you know, her policy interests, but she took that very seriously. She spent an inordinate amount of time studying child-care policy. She was deeply interested in housing policy, in ensuring that Manitobans who couldn't afford to access the housing they need were able to access it and under standing the policy instruments that we needed to look at changing in order for that housing to be provided.

She was also deeply interested in EIA reform and identifying the problems that we curre

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Collection	Manitoba — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	42-4-15a
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Volume / chapter	42nd 4th hansardpdf 15a.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
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