Mrs. Shirley Render (St. Vital): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to have the opportunity today to pay tribute to the Women of Distinction honoured last night at the YM-YWCA Women of Distinction Awards Dinner.
The winners of last night's awards were Tina Hildebrandt, who has over the past 30 years provided safe and loving foster care to 82 children; Dennice Leahey, senior vice-president and general manager of the Royal Bank of Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario and Nunavut. Dennice Leahey has used her corporate leadership to spearhead many projects benefiting the community, including aboriginal people, individuals with disabilities and women.
The third winner, Mary Pankiw, is a former educator. She works to promote awareness and raise public perception of seniors' needs. Mary Scott is a leading advocate for women who has, since her retirement, played a pivotal role in the formation of the United Nations Platform for Action Committee Manitoba and chairs the Information Technology Committee. The final winner was Leslie Spillett, a longtime proponent of aboriginal culture and cross-cultural awareness issues. As general manager for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, she has worked tirelessly to ensure the workers' rights were respected as well as developing training programs such as English as a Second Language.
Also each year the Gerry Hammond Memorial Award of Promise is given. This award was established to honour Gerry Hammond's many accomplishments throughout a long and distinguished career in politics, volunteerism and her ongoing support of women. I am pleased to say that Arlene Kent, an honour student at Balmoral Hall, was the winner.
So please join me, colleagues, in wishing all of the winners and nominees continued success in their future endeavours.
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, on July 1, 1996, the federal government proclaimed the Canada Transportation Act. This act broke virtually every promise and statement the Liberals had made during the previous decade. On the issue of rail lines, subsidies were ended. Railways were given the right to abandon any line they wanted to without any public approval.
The major railways wasted no time in taking advantage of their new powers. The next day, notices were filed by CN in The Toronto Globe and Mail stating that the Sherridon lines, Cowan, Winnipegosis and Steep Rock lines in Manitoba would be put up for scrap or sale. A major fight was launched to save the Sherridon line.
My colleagues, the members from Flin Flon, The Pas, Thompson and Rupertsland played a major role in the successful effort which resulted in OmniTRAX purchasing the Sherridon line and the Bay Line from The Pas north to Churchill. Sadly, attempts to save the Cowan, Winnipegosis and Steep Rock lines have not been successful. CN has started to tear up the lines on the Steep Rock line. Attempts to negotiate a short line for Winnipegosis have failed, and the Cowan sub line that people are negotiating on is facing difficulties because CN is maintaining crucial parts of the line that are necessary for short lines to operate.
Now CN has given notice that they want to tear up the Irwood sub from north of Swan River to Birch River by July 6. This will have a major implication for farmers and producers in the area. Already, Manitoba producers are paying heavily for the loss of the Crow rate benefit which was eliminated by the Liberals.
Unlike Saskatchewan, this Conservative government in Manitoba has been silent on rail line abandonment. As a result, they have given CN and CPR the green light to go ahead despite the cost to producers and municipalities, and I urge this government to get their act together and start standing up for Manitobans.
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Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): Madam Speaker, I want to note to all members of this House two pieces of tremendous news reported in the newspapers this past week. Firstly, thanks to our government's continuing commitment to the concept of living within one's means, balancing our budget and paying down our debt, the province of Manitoba has received an upgrade to its financial rating from Moody's Investors Service. Previously, Manitoba had been rated A-1 stable, but prompted by our strong and diversified economy Moody's has rated Manitoba an A-1 positive.
Secondly, as reported in today's Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba has emerged as a growth leader in job creation, according to the chief economist at Nesbitt Burns. The help-wanted index for our province rose to a Canada-wide high of 157 in April, up from 152 last month. As a result, our unemployment rate remains at 5.2 percent.
Today, more Manitobans are working than ever before, and more individuals and businesses are recognizing Manitoba's economy for what it is: healthy and strong. This increasing recognition is resulting in more investment and more employment opportunities. So I firmly believe that as we approach the new millennium Manitobans will find that our government, through strong, progressive policies, has made our province the best place to live, to work, to invest and to raise a family. Thank you.
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Madam Speaker, I would like to make a statement with reference to the Brandon General Hospital, and not only the current crisis, but what has been happening over the last few years because I have seen, very sadly, a decline in the ability of Brandon General Hospital as a regional facility to offer the quality services that we all want to see it achieve and provide.
We have a crisis developing tomorrow, and I appreciate the Minister of Health (Mr. Praznik) is concerned about it. He wants to do the right thing; I know that. Nevertheless, this has been a situation that has been developing for well over a year. There has been a shortage of pediatricians. We have known that there was a need for four; we only had two. Then the two of course eventually withdrew their services for on call. So, as a result of the lack of that backup, the family doctors do not want to be involved in delivering children because they believe it is unsafe, according to their statement.
I know that the government is making an effort to obtain pediatric services by advertising and so on, but the fact is tomorrow we have a crisis. It looks, according to the minister, that we have some form of strike action, and it seems to me that it is incumbent on this government, on the minister, to do something. At least this is what the people who have contacted me want. They want some action. The expectant mothers do not understand this. They do not understand this. [interjection] Well, the member for Brandon West (Mr. McCrae) should talk to some of the people about their concerns.
But, Madam Speaker, beyond this--if I could conclude--I am concerned about the loss of other specialists, the pending loss of other doctors, including obstetricians, who I understand may be leaving. Of course, there is trouble with equipment declining, and the building itself is in very bad shape. So it is very, very sad that the Brandon General Hospital, as a true important regional centre, has deteriorated to the extent that it has.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I want to just take the opportunity to follow up on a couple of Question Periods, where I posed to the Minister of Justice (Mr. Toews) questions with respect to the need for a judicial review.
Earlier today in Question Period the Leader of the New Democratic Party talked about the need for an operational review of the Crowns office. I think that what we do need and what Manitobans need to see is some sort of an independent judicial review that takes a look at the different components of our judicial system. I respect the need for that judicial system and its independence, but I also believe very firmly that there needs to be a higher sense of public accountability even for this independence with respect to the judicial review.
So I stand up today just to suggest that, primarily because of the question that was being posed earlier about the operational review of the Crowns office. I think there is a much greater need, and that is an independent review of our judicial system.
I think there are many different ways in which Manitobans could be better served by getting those that have the expertise to sit down, take a look at what the problems are that we are facing in courts procedurally--because perception is important. I think more and more Manitobans are losing confidence in our judicial system, and this is something which can restore that confidence, which would be to the benefit of all Manitobans. Thank you.