he protested the Doer government's decision to close an outpatient pharmacy at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre by bringing several families of child cancer patients to the legislature to confront the health minister. He later called for changes to Manitoba's adult heart surgery program, after figures obtained through a freedom of information request showed an increasing number of fatalities. Gerrard wrote a Winnipeg Free Press column criticizing the Doer government for health-care delays in 2005, and later argued that personal health information should be made more easily accessible to patients and their families. He released a detailed document promoting change in Manitoba's health system in September 2007, highlighted by a call to make regional health authorities more accountable to citizens. Agriculture and environment Shortly after the 1999 election, Gerrard took part in an all-party delegation to Ottawa to lobby the federal government for a cash bailout for struggling western farmers. In early 2004, Gerrard wrote a guest column in the Winnipeg Free Press calling on the federal government to test every beef and dairy cow over thirty months for Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). This recommendation was made during a significant decline in the Canadian cattle market, after the discovery of a BSE-infected cow in Alberta caused the United States to block all Canadian cattle. Also in 2004, Gerrard accused the Doer government of undermining its water-quality legislation by reducing funds for key programs. Social issues Gerrard holds liberal views on social issues. He pressured the Doer government to legalize adoption rights for same-sex couples in 2001, one year before a comprehensive bill including adoption rights was passed by the legislature. Gerrard took part in the Winnipeg Harvest Poverty Challenge in late 2002, and attempted to live for a full week on only $20. The challenge was meant to draw attention to the difficulties faced by Manitoba's lowest-income residents, living on social assistance. In 2003, Gerrard supported calls for a provincial smoking ban in workplaces and enclosed public spaces. Other issues In early 2005, Gerrard wrote that the Doer government had not taken proper steps to regulate the province's burgeoning internet pharmaceutical industry. This industry was popular with American customers, and Gerrard's column was written at a time when the federal government was seeking to impose greater control over the sector. In April 2007, Gerrard introduced a private member's bill entitled the Apology Act, to make apologies inadmissible in court as