Talking Allergies

We need your support! Posted with permission from Nanci Boni.

On April 29, 2008 Gord Mackintosh enacted legislation requiring all licensed day care centers in the Province of Manitoba to develop "policies to meet the needs of children who have diagnosed anapylaxis". Krista Wiebe and I have been invited to meet with Assistant Deputy Minister of Family Services, Carolyn Loeppky to discuss the legislative framework and implementation. To view the Province’s media release regarding this legislation visit MAIN’s blog at www.anaphylaxismanitoba.blogspot.com

Just today (Friday May 9th) we received a call from Erin Selby informing us she will be introducing Bill 232 – The Public Schools Amendment Act (Anaphylaxis Policies) to the Legislative Assembly on Monday, May 12th just prior to Question Period at 1:30 PM. After being introduced, Bill 232 will still have to go through an extensive legislative process including first reading, second reading, committee, concurrence and third reading and finally royal assent.

Members of MAIN are invited to attend in the Gallery which is a seating area for the public at the Manitoba Legislative Building. MAIN will be introduced at this time by Ms. Selby and it would be great to have representation from our group to show our support for Bill 232. If you are able to attend please let me know as soon as possible. We need to provide a list of names of people who wish to attend to provide for security purposes. As this is only the initial introduction of Bill 232 it will not take very long.

Nancy Boni
Manitoba Anaphylaxis Information Network (MAIN)
mainmanitoba@shaw.ca

Please show your support of MAIN and this bill.
Margaret

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adult son allergic to peanuts, most tree nuts, eggs and penicillin.

Wow, that's great!
Not much notice though...is that the way they usually do things?
I hope you have a great turn out.
Keep us posted.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees

MH,

Is there anyone you want us e-mailing letters to? (This was done with considerable effect in B.C., even though not all of us are from that province.)

If yes, if you put up the skeleton of such a letter, along with an e-mail add. and/or fax number, it gets better response.

Thanks, Gwen

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Unfortunately, Nancy was only notified on Friday and sent out a mailing to the members of MAIN as soon as she could. I don't know if there is a "normal" as far as advance notice . . .not much to benchmark based on!

Margaret

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adult son allergic to peanuts, most tree nuts, eggs and penicillin.

Do you know how it went? Was there many supporters?

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees

We only got three days notice that it was happening in BC, and it was just fluke that we got notice at all...

Here is the website we set up - it would be really easy to modify it to reflect what you need in Manitoba. If you private message me, I will put you in touch with the person who set it up and maybe we can modify it for you. We called ourselves "PACT" which stands for Protect Allergic Children Today. Gwen helped us come up with the name, and helped us all the way through the process, and let us have a section of the forum. A lot of it was very hard, because none of us had ever been involved with politics, so it was a huge learning curve, but we can certainly try and make it easier for you.

http://www.pactbc.org/

We did not get legislation, we got a Ministerial Order, which is a step below.

Erin Selby, MLA from Southdale introduced Bill 232 – The Public Schools Amendment Act (Anaphylaxis Policies) to the Legislative Assembly on Monday, May 12th. Bill 232 did not pass prior to the end of the session in mid June. It will be reintroduced in the fall session and it is expected to be passed once it goes through the required steps.

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Nancy,
Manitoba Anaphylaxis Information Network
mainmanitoba@shaw.ca
Daughter 22 yrs allergies to peanuts,nuts,sunfower,sesame,banana,kiwi,soy,fish,seafood,mustard,mushrooms & horses, cold induced urticaria

Here's hoping it gets pased this time. Honestly, how can someone not support legislation that makes schools safer for children?

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees

I have great news from our Advocacy Committee for families dealing with life threatening allergies.

On Monday October 6, 2008 Bill 232 - The Public Schools Amendment Act (Anaphylaxis Policies) will be presented for a final vote during the Manitoba Legislative Assembly session.

Erin Selby, MLA for Southdale introduced Bill 232 in May of this year. It did not make it through all the steps prior to the end of the Legislative Assembly session in mid June.

Bill 232 was reintroduced in the fall session, has gone through the committee stage so is ready to go through the remaining steps. The majority of the MLAs have expressed support for this Bill throughout the legislative process so it is expected to pass.

MAIN members are welcome to attend the session in the Gallery on Monday Oct 6, 2008 between 3:00 and 5:00pm. If you are interested in attending, please let me know in advance as we need to provide a list of names for security. Send an email to mainmanitoba@shaw.ca

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Nancy,
Manitoba Anaphylaxis Information Network
mainmanitoba@shaw.ca
Daughter 22 yrs allergies to peanuts,nuts,sunfower,sesame,banana,kiwi,soy,fish,seafood,mustard,mushrooms & horses, cold induced urticaria

An update on the vote on Bill 232 - The Public Schools Amendment Act (Anaphylaxis Policies).

The vote may take place as early as 2:30 pm on Monday Oct 6, 2008.

Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can add your name to the list for security.

Send an email to mainmanitoba@shaw.ca

Nancy Boni
Manitoba Anaphylaxis Information Network (MAIN)
mainmanitoba@shaw.ca

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Nancy,
Manitoba Anaphylaxis Information Network
mainmanitoba@shaw.ca
Daughter 22 yrs allergies to peanuts,nuts,sunfower,sesame,banana,kiwi,soy,fish,seafood,mustard,mushrooms & horses, cold induced urticaria

An update from Nancy: The bill passed on Oct. 6th!

Congratulations to MAIN, and MLA Erin Selby who "championed" this bill.

This makes Manitoba the second province in Canada to pass a schools anaphylaxis law, with B.C. also having strong policy under its ministerial order.

Nancy has now posted on her blog: http://www.anaphylaxismanitoba.blogspot.com/

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

That is fantastic!!
Here's hoping that some day all Canadian children have the same right to be safe at school.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees

MAIN is pleased to announce that Bill 232 - The Public Schools Amendment Act (Anaphylaxis Policy) was passed into law by our Manitoba Legislative Assembly on Oct 6, 2008. This Bill requires that “ Each school board must develop an anaphylaxis policy to meet the needs of pupils who have diagnosed anaphylaxis.” On Oct 9. 2008 this legislation was given Royal Assent. This makes Manitoba the second province to have a law to protect students with life-threatening allergies.

Manitoba’s Bill 232 was first presented by Erin Selby(MLA for Southdale) as a Private Member’s Bill on May 12, 2008 in the Manitoba Legislature. We sincerely appreciate Ms. Selby and her staff for listening to our concerns and assisting in advocating for support from our provincial government.

Over the past decade we have seen continuous progress in our Manitoba schools with regard to the development of health care plans that strive to reduce the risks for our children. Our expectation is that this new law will lead to greater consistency throughout all schools in this province. All students need to feel safe at school and parents need to feel confident that their children will be taken care of while at school.

A variety of resources have been developed in our province to assist schools in the planning for the special needs of the allergic students. United Referral and Intake System (URIS) produced “Children with Known Risk of Anaphylaxis” as a guideline to be used by schools when implementing programs to support these students. This year each school was provided with a copy of “Anaphylaxis in Schools & Other Settings” a guide produced by the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

In response to the growing numbers of children diagnosed with life threatening allergies a Ministerial Directive on Anaphylaxis Policy was issued on May 8, 2002 by three Ministries; Education, Training and Youth, Family Services and Housing, and Health. All school divisions and licensed child care facilities were expected to have anaphylaxis policies in place by June 2004. This Directive recommended that policies should follow the guidelines provided in the URIS Policy and Procedure Manual, June 1999. Also available as a resource for schools and parents is The Canadian School Boards Association: Anaphylaxis: a Handbook for School Board.

Developing a plan requires a team approach including the parents, the allergic student, school administrators and staff all who are assigned specific responsibilities. Success of a plan is contingent on support from the whole school community including fellow students and their parents.

The following are links to some helpful resources

www.cdnsba.org/publications/anaphylaxis.php

www.allergyinschools.org.uk/index.html

www.allergysafecommunities.ca

www.foodallergy.org

Call if you would like any additional information or assistance in working with your school.

Nancy Boni
Manitoba Anaphylaxis Information Network (MAIN)
mainmanitoba@shaw.ca
204-654-2676

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Nancy,
Manitoba Anaphylaxis Information Network
mainmanitoba@shaw.ca
Daughter 22 yrs allergies to peanuts,nuts,sunfower,sesame,banana,kiwi,soy,fish,seafood,mustard,mushrooms & horses, cold induced urticaria

I am so glad that Manitoba Passed Bill 232! I hope that all of the other provinces will take a look at there schools and ask themselves why they shouldn't provide their students with the same rights and protections.

I would hate for even one child to die and for the schools and the parents to think, "If only we had made the same changes these provinces have made..."

I want to thank for all of your hard work Nancy. PLease pass my thanks along to all of those who worked with you on this.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees

Hi Nancy,

Congrats again - well done!

And thanks for putting up the links and info for fellow Manitobans.

Gwen

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin