ON Sept. 12, 1977, the Carnegie Council on Children concluded that “The single greatest harm to children is poverty.” I believe this to be an apt description of the greatest threat to the education of a large number of children in Manitoba.

It remains worrisome that, even with the demise of Bill 64 (the Education Modernization Act), the most serious matters facing education are still off the table, and particularly so when it comes to the issue of child poverty, which presents probably the biggest challenge to any government wanting to achieve meaningful and lasting school change.

It’s the end of September. Children and young people are back at school for another year. This includes the children of the poor. The schools know who they are by now. They know they’ll have to pay special attention to these young people because they face challenges most of their other students do not.

Teachers will lie awake at night trying to think of new ways to mitigate the educational consequences for these children. They need help with this formidable task.

I agree with those who say this is an era of matriarchs.

The appointment of Inuk leader Mary Simon as Canada’s 30th Governor General is a vital step toward recognizing the significance of Indigenous peoples in Canada’s past, present and now future. A northerner with decades of experience and a woman grounded in culture, she represents a true shift in Canada, and beyond.

We are all celebrating. Earlier this month, the first ever woman, and LGBTTQ+, became Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer. And now Roseanne Archibald is the first-ever woman to be Assembly of First Nations national chief.

These paradigm shifts give me hope, especially after a Canada Day unlike any other. There were fewer fireworks and less flag-waving. Orange shirts certainly outnumbered red ones. The nation took pause to reflect on the disturbing discovery of more than 1,000 unmarked graves, many related to children who have revealed themselves long after their deaths at residential schools.