Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Sturgeon Creek): Madam Speaker, I would like to share with the members some recent announcements.
First, more than 450 high-tech manufacturing jobs and engineering jobs are being created by Vansco Electronics as part of an $11.3 expansion project assisted by this government. Vansco designs and manufactures innovative custom electronic components for off-road vehicles. About 75 percent of the company's business is in agricultural electronics for equipment manufacturers.
Another company, Motor Coach Industries, a new luxury bus prototype, cruised into our city last week carrying the promise of new jobs and up to $39 million in additional investment at the local plant by the year 2000. The totally redesigned intercity coach named Renaissance caps five years of product development assisted by more than $10 million from Canada and Manitoba governments. These are two new good-news stories for our province's booming manufacturing sector. Companies are recognizing the benefit of doing business in our province.
Our government has provided Manitobans with the longest-running tax freeze on major taxes in recent history. We have won national and international approval and built a momentum of fiscal responsibility across this province. We have brought spending under control without increasing taxes in order to protect our vital services and revitalize our economy. This is why companies are coming to Manitoba. They know that this is one of the best provinces in the country to do business. I thank all my colleagues on this side of the House who are working to allow this to happen. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, last week I had the pleasure of attending, together with the Premier (Mr. Filmon) and the Minister of Health (Mr. McCrae), the hundredth anniversary, A Century of Caring for the Victorian Order of Nurses. Just to quote from their document, the Victorian Order of Nurses is part of the history of Canada, of its expansion and development and of its changing ideals through two World Wars, a Great Depression and the introduction of new medical technologies. As the century draws to a close, VON remains a Canadian treasure, and I would echo those words not just in Canada but in Manitoba where VON has carried the bulk, for example, of our home care work in the community, has done an excellent job doing so and is the acknowledged leader in that area.
One of the strengths of VON, up until recently, was its nonprofit nature, and one of the strengths of VON was the fact it was able to deliver these services on a nonprofit basis for the benefit of all Manitobans. Unfortunately, VON has been forced now to set up a profit-making component of its operation on the direction, I believe, of the government to compete against the privatization of home care. I ask the minister and I ask all members of the Manitoba public to consider the strengths of VON and the strengths are the people, the hundreds of nurses who deliver the care on a daily basis who are run off their feet literally undertaking that care and who do so in a nonprofit way and who do so dedicated to patients and the people of Manitoba.
I ask all members of this Chamber to reflect upon that, to reflect upon VON and its hundred years of service and, Madam Speaker, to reflect upon VON as part of a nonprofit care-giving sector that has delivered and hopefully in the future will deliver nonprofit care to all the people of Manitoba.
Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Madam Speaker, the Pembina Valley Language/Education for Adults, a community-based learning centre program in my constituency was presented with the Lieutenant Governor's medal for literacy in Manitoba at a ceremony this past Friday evening. In making the presentation, Lieutenant Governor Yvon Dumont noted that the unique coalition of community and government organizations gives learners in the area the opportunity to enhance skills that create independence, build self-esteem, increase employability and facilitate access to other training and education.
The program was initiated in 1984 in response to the English as a Second Language needs of Kanadiad [phonetic] in the area. Kanadiad [phonetic], whose first language is low German, are Mennonite people who left Canada from the 1920s to the 1940s for South and Central America. A number have since returned. The program has since expanded to include immigrants from Bosnia, Chile, Russia, Lebanon, China and El Salvador as well as Canadian-born students. The program now also includes family, literacy and workplace language training. Approximately 250 to 300 learners have participated annually in programs held in Altona, Lowe Farm, Morris, Winkler, Plum Coulee and Morden.
The program has been recognized nationally as The National Literacy Secretariat Human Resources Development Canada. The award established in 1990 by the late George Johnson, M.D., former Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, is intended to recognize exceptional achievement of an individual group or project that has made a significant contribution in the field of literacy in Manitoba. I would like to extend my congratulations on behalf of all members to the Pembina Valley Language/Education for Adults for their receipt of this most deserved award. Thank you.
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the organizers of yesterday's symposium on public education at Tec Voc High School, the Winnipeg Free Press, the Manitoba Association of Community Educators, and in particular the students and staff of Tec Voc High School and their communication program that provided street interviews, telephone links and video services for the evening. It is my understanding that the sponsors are interested in continuing this kind of discussion, and I would encourage them to do so.
I was especially struck by the street interviews with the support for our public system, its diversity, its egalitarian nature, its service to our community, as well as the support for expanding the extensive links between schools and their communities across Manitoba. I was equally struck by the inability of the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) to provide from her department straightforward, documented educational information, whether it be on class size in elementary school, class size in secondary school, or the changes over eight years in public school funding, or the meaning of changes in the last eight years in the Department of Education budget.
Madam Speaker, it does no one any service in Manitoba to misconstrue what ought to be basic public education. The government has expended close to $1 million almost every year for an educational information system. It has even done pilot projects, but there has been no government publication of commonly acceptable educational statistics and information that would enable serious debate on educational issues across the province. I would like to urge the government today, as I have on many occasions now, to follow the example of other provinces and in particular that of Saskatchewan to provide educational information, educational statistics, and educational indicators that Manitobans can commonly accept and will enable citizens to participate fully in the debate on the place of public education in Manitoba's future.
Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Madam Speaker, I would like to use the brief time I am allowed for this member's statement to talk about a subject that is becoming more and more important to me as I learn more, and that is the subject of literacy. Recently it is becoming more and more clear to me the strong connection between illiteracy and crime involvement, and for that reason I have had a strong interest in literacy programs. That caused me to attend the Springfield family literacy program that opened up in Dugald, Manitoba, in the constituency of the minister in charge of MTS. It was a pleasure to attend out there at their opening ceremonies where they are opening up a family literacy program.
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In addition, I recently attended the think-tank round table sponsored by Literacy Partners of Manitoba, held at their offices, and the guest speaker was Jim Page. Mr. Page is the executive director of the Literacy Secretariat for the federal government. He talked a great deal about the international adult literacy survey and the information that I gleaned from this round table I think would be useful to all members, and I would encourage all members to obtain a copy of that survey and review it. One of the things that I learned is that literacy should be seen as a continuum, not as a person being either literate or illiterate. There are different levels of literacy, and also I learned that unless you continue to use your literacy skills they are quickly lost, so I hope this is an issue that all members will address and concern themselves with.