WINNIPEG — There are those who might describe Christine Melnick, LEFT, Manitoba’s minister of water stewardship, as a Zionist.

Melnick has visited Israel – both as part of official missions and on
her own – four or five times over the past few years. And she is so
impressed with the Jewish state’s accomplishments that she has
persuaded her cabinet colleagues to come up with $250,000 for the
University of Manitoba to send masters and doctoral students to Israel
for a year at a time to research water management.

The funding will be given out in 10 annual $25,000 scholarships.

“These important new scholarships will support scholarly development in a range of areas, including nanotechnology, water conservation and water reuse,” Melnick said. “Today’s students are tomorrow’s leading voices on water protection, and these scholarships will give our young people a unique international experience as they complete their studies.”

The new scholarship program, to be administered in partnership with the Jewish National Fund of Canada, will allow the Manitoba students to study at Israeli educational institutions such as the Weizmann Institute of Science.

“We worked out the funding with our Israeli partners,” Melnick said. “Each student will be in Israel for one calendar year. We wanted to be sure that the student could afford decent housing and food, and be able to go out to a movie now and then.”

The grad students would be paired with Israeli host families, to help out with their expenses and to make their stay more enjoyable.

It was while Melnick was on her most recent visit to Israel – a personal journey – in January 2007 that she learned a lot about Israel’s record of water stewardship research. While speaking for the provincial government at the most recent JNF Negev Gala in June, she related how Rami Kleinmann, who was the JNF shaliach for Canada at the time, took her around to different Israeli water research projects.

“I was impressed that Israel has this entire infrastructure based on water stewardship,” she said. “We have plenty of water in Manitoba, but we don’t do a good job of managing it. We have a lot we can learn from Israel about water stewardship. Why reinvent the wheel when we can learn from Israel’s expertise?”

The successful applicants for the program, Melnick noted, have to commit to working in Manitoba for two to three years after their return. “We will have positions for them in the Department of Water Stewardship, where they can apply their new-found knowledge. We expect that there may be quite a demand for their services.”

Melnick said that she is not aware of any other government or university in Canada with a similar relationship with Israel. The first scholarship candidate will be announced at the upcoming international symposium on water management scheduled to take place in Winnipeg in August.  

Melnick noted that the symposium and the new scholarships build on a partnership between the Jewish National Fund and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives in the interchange of agricultural and food-production technology.