Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Madam Speaker, this morning I had the pleasure to attend, along with the Minister of Rural Development (Mr. Derkach) and Mayor John Krahn, the announcement of a second Grow Bond issue for Elias Woodworking and Manufacturing Limited.
I remember when in 1983 a new manufacturer of custom-made furniture, cabinet doors, mouldings and other wood products opened its doors in Winkler's industrial park. Growing public recognition of their quality products, a willingness to tackle new markets, and an approximately $400,000 Province of Manitoba Grow Bond, resulted in a 6,000 square foot addition to their facility several years ago. However, the management team knew that further growth was necessary and achievable.
The Manitoba Grow Bonds Program is a proud supporter of Elias Woodworking, and I have every confidence that we have not seen the last expansion of this family business. Elias Woodworking does much more than produce diverse and quality products. They provide diverse and quality employment and opportunities for approximately 70 individuals.
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I wonder if I might ask for the co-operation of all honourable members who are carrying on private conversations to do so either very quietly or outside the Chamber so that the honourable member for Pembina may be heard.
Mr. Dyck: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I understand that the proposed $1.6-million expansion of 40,000 square feet will add another 40 additional jobs. Elias Woodworking and businesses like this are the future of rural Manitoba. By diversifying the products we offer and adding value to them before they reach the customer, we ensure a strong and balanced economy. Our government is proud to play a role in bringing local investors together with community-based industries.
I would like to conclude by offering my congratulations on behalf of all honourable members to the management team of John, Ralph and Doug Fehr, as well as Trevor Wiebe and Angela Loewen. I very much look forward to the anticipated ribbon-cutting of the expanded project in December of this year. Thank you.
Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, today, May 12, 1998, marks the 128th anniversary of our province. On May 12, 1870, the Manitoba Act created the province of Manitoba, and on May 12, 1966, Manitoba's official flag was dedicated and unfurled for the first time. Subsequently, Premier Howard Pawley designated May 12 as Manitoba Day.
Yet, today, we do well to remember our larger history, to remember the aboriginal members of this Legislature and aboriginal people throughout our province who have had at least 12,000 years of Manitoba history of which many of us know very little. We might share in this history through formal study or perhaps by hearing aboriginal elders and joining in celebrations. We might imaginatively recreate the past, viewing it through the mind's eye. We might today as well dwell on the ways in which the present can reconstruct the past and recast our history, living in the present and with an awareness of the ways in which colonialism and racism have distorted aboriginal traditions and history.
We have a duty to cut through these distortions, re-vision the past and take a clearer, fairer, more honest and respectful version to our schools and universities. We have the same duty to ethnic groups and immigrants who have come to our province to make better lives for themselves and their children and who, at the same time, have made a better province for all Manitobans. Because of all our people, Manitobans can boast of economic prosperity, social diversity and cultural richness.
A year ago the defining moment in our history was the flood of the century, an event that tied us to the past, to 1826 and 1950 and other years lost to the past because they took place before our records were written down.
As we celebrate our birthday, we are really celebrating Manitoba people, remembering the past, living in the present and dreaming the future. We are linked together through time and space, living our stories, formulating the myths that tell us who we are.
Mrs. Shirley Render (St. Vital): Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship (Mrs. Vodrey), it is my privilege to ask all honourable members to join me today in observing Manitoba Day, the 128th birthday of the province of Manitoba.
A key element of Manitoba's 128 years of success has been our acceptance of immigrants and a profound respect for their ability to contribute to the advancement and enhancement of the quality of life in the province.
Earlier this morning, this tradition of acceptance was again demonstrated in a special Citizenship Court honouring Manitoba Day. Thirty-nine men and women were sworn in as Canadian citizens, allowing them to follow in the footsteps of countless other immigrants who have come to Canada and to Manitoba in search of a new beginning.
Later this evening, the Manitoba Legislative Building will be the site of the 1998 Prix Manitoba Award for heritage. This prestigious award will be presented to several Manitobans who have distinguished themselves by making outstanding contributions to the preservation, promotion and exploration of our province's heritage.
Madam Speaker, in recognition of Manitoba's 128th birthday, I ask honourable members of this House to join the minister and me in wishing the people of Manitoba a very happy Manitoba Day.
Mr. Conrad Santos (Broadway): Madam Speaker, yesterday, May 11, 1998, millions and millions of Filipino voters participated in a general election. There were 17,000 positions contested and over a hundred thousand candidates at all levels of government, from the local village up to the highest office in the land.
The population of the Philippines is twice the number of people in the entire of Canada, and they occupy only a territory no bigger than Prince Edward Island.
The election was of great interest here in Manitoba because of many Filipino-Canadians who settled here in our province, and therefore they sent a Free Press correspondent, Dan Lett, to the Philippines who had written so many thoughtful columns about the election situation in the Philippines.
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Regrettably, there might have been occasional few sporadic acts of violence in the pre-election period, but the election day itself was done in a peaceful and orderly manner. This is evidence to the maturing democracy in the Philippines which today, 1998, achieved its 100th year of existence as an independent country.
Of all the Filipinos who are eligible to vote, each voter has a direct vote over their own president. They can have a say who will their president be. We therefore congratulate everyone who participated by running for office and for exercising their privilege of voting in that country, in the Philippines. Thank you.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize the efforts of the ESL students at Sisler High School on the occasion of their third annual Dessert Theatre. The production was a great success, and I congratulate the students on a job well done. The Dessert Theatre gives students of many different ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to foster unity by working with each other in order to produce their cultural presentation.
I would also like to recognize in particular the efforts of Mrs. Carole Grier, the ESL department head at Sisler High School, for her role in working with the students to make Dessert Theatre a success and something that the community can be rightly proud of. Thank you.
Madam Speaker: For clarification for the honourable member for Transcona (Mr. Reid), today's rotation for members' statements was two for government, two for the official opposition and one for the independent members. Wednesday is the day that the official opposition has three member's statements.