Cranberry Portage is home to one of the most extraordinary people in this riding. And now the rest of Manitoba knows it too.
Mary-Ann Playford has received the 2026 Lieutenant Governor's Community Leadership Award for the North and there is no one more deserving of that recognition.
For years, Mary-Ann has poured her heart into the Cranberry Portage Museum. She did not just volunteer there. She built it personally creating every single exhibit, curating every collection, and preserving the stories of northern life from the 1930s through the 1950s, right inside the walls of the historic Canadian National Railway station.
When you walk through those doors, you are not just visiting a museum. You are stepping into a world that Mary-Ann kept alive for this community, for our children, and for every generation that comes after us.
What moves me most about Mary-Ann is her resilience. Even after losing her hearing, she never stopped showing up. She still greets every visitor. She still leads every tour. For the past 25 years, she has served as curator, archivist, educator, and fundraiser all without pay.
That is not dedication. That is love — for a community, for a history, for a place.
Mary-Ann — Churchill–Keewatinook Aski is proud of you. Cranberry Portage is proud of you. And I am honoured to be the MP of a riding that is home to people like you.
I also want to commit something publicly: I am planning a visit to Cranberry Portage — and I intend to walk through that museum with Mary-Ann herself. Her work deserves to be experienced, not just celebrated from a distance.
Congratulations, Mary-Ann. This one is long overdue. 🏆