View From the Legislature

Over the past few months, many things have changed. And now with summer, undoubtedly the travel and vacation plans that many Manitoba families had made are being disrupted as well. Manitobans are now able to travel to Western Canada and a portion of Ontario without the requirement to quarantine on return, which will allow for previously planned vacations or visits to these parts of Canada to go ahead. But, with the border to the United States remaining closed, the many visits that happen by Manitobans to that country are mostly on hold.

These disruptions have touched my family as well, as plans to be in Michigan this July have been cancelled. But what it has caused us to do is something we have talked about for many years and now have become much more intentional about. We as a family are now working through a list of places in Manitoba that we have often talked about visiting but have not had the chance to do so. Of course, long before this year, Travel Manitoba has been encouraging provincial residents to explore Manitoba and have an extensive list of provincial attractions on their website at www.travelmanitoba.com. If you are reworking your holiday plans, this is a great place to start.

As Manitobans stay a bit closer to home this summer than they may have otherwise planned, whether visiting provincial parks or signature attractions, they will have the opportunity along the way to stop at local restaurants and shops. These businesses have seen significant disruption over the past several weeks and any support that Manitobans can provide them will be important. In addition, while most Manitoba communities have had to postpone the local fairs and festivals they host annually in the summer, almost all have some type of unique attraction or historical significance to see and visit.

This summer was supposed to be about celebrating Manitoba’s 150th birthday. As part of that celebration, there were unique activities planned throughout the province and a strong encouragement for Manitobans to visit places of the province they had not seen before. That may, for entirely different reasons than 150 celebrations, happen more now than could have been expected. It is not as anyone would have planned but in every difficult and unplanned situation there are things that we can look for as a positive. The chance to intentionally explore and visit Manitoba is one of those opportunities that families can take to both create memories and learn about the place that they call home.

For those that are taking time this summer to travel, whether that is to other parts of Canada or right here in Manitoba, we hope you have a safe trip and a wonderful time of making memories.