Survey Looking at Getting Around Becomes a Regional Focus

By Angelique Forest

A project initiated by the RM of Piney in partnership with Eco-West has spread throughout municipalities in the southeast to identify transportation challenges.

The idea to improve peoples lives by making getting around more accessible seems to have caught the interest of jurisdictions from the edge of the US border, as far east as the Ontario border, and to the outskirts of Winnipeg.

General transportation plus a focus on seniors and those with disabilities are all on the table once data is received through a survey that is being promoted by municipalities who have signed into the project. Only the Town of Niverville and the City of Steinbach have declined to participate.

Connie Gamble, the lead on the data collection for ridership data encourages everyone to respond to the sur- vey whether they feel they would use transit or not.

“Everyone travels to get somewhere, we’ve simply forgotten why public transportation is essential until we really need it!” said Gamble. “Some may want options to travel to sporting or entertainment events, or enjoy a social outing, some may need it to get to services not available locally, and others just need to get to work.”

“There is value and strength in working together. Small rural RMs have similar transportation challenges without a public regional transportation system and affordable options,” explained Gamble who feels a joint or regional project is more sustainable.

Over the years various municipalities have discussed the issue of transportation and some even acknowledged this topic as a quality-of-life issue.

The Southeast Regional Transporta- tion Initiative is supported by a collaborative partnership including TONS (Transportation Options Network for Seniors), the University of Manitoba - City Planning (Age Friendly Communities), municipal and First Nation leadership, local businesses, and EcoWest Canada with the RM of Piney as project lead.

Results of the survey will provide valuable information towards identifying the need for potential regional transportation solutions to connect nearby communities in the southeast for short and longer travel distances.

This data collection stage is expected to wrap up at the end of February so now is the time to visit rmofpiney. mb.ca/transit-plan and take a few minutes and fill out the survey. You can also reach out to your own municipality; some have it linked on their website or have alternative options for participants.

“For seasoned gardeners, seed saving is par for the course – a simple way of ensuring that our favourite or most successful foods and flowers can be planted again next year. Selecting seeds from fruits with favoured qualities, like sweetness or resistance to environmental conditions, such as disease or drought, will result in those qualities becoming dominant over time,” said Reeves. “Saving and sharing our seeds offers a safeguard against crop failure when we can turn to our successful neighbours to help us recover from the loss. Moreover, sharing seed from our favourite plants is undeniably fun and a great way to cultivate relationships with other community members.”

The Reimer family has been very generous in allowing us space for this library in their store. One concession they have asked of us is that the seeds we offer not be available in their store seed stand. When you bring your seeds in, we would appreciate you checking the seeds for sale to make sure we’re not in competition with the store.

The more people participating in the Community Seed Library, the more fun it will be! Some contributions from 2022 that were grown in 2021 and stay viable over a number of years have started our seed offerings for 2023. They are flat green beans, Hubbard, Guatemalan Blue and Sunshine Squash, okra, Parsnips, chilli peppers, yellow bell peppers, pie pumpkins, sesame seeds, heirloom tomatoes and more. Come on down and add and/or take from our collection.

The Woodmore Women’s Institute is planning an inperson seed exchange later in the year. Stay tuned for more details.

Brought to you by the Stuartburn Emerson-Franklin Local Food Initiative, initiativelocalfood@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.