The Acting Chairperson (Mr. Edward Helwer): Will the Committee of Supply please come to order. This section of the Committee of Supply has been dealing with the Estimates of the Department of Education and Training. Would the minister's staff please enter the Chamber.
We are on Resolution 16.4. Support to Schools (a) Schools Finance (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits.
Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): The staff who are here today have all been here before. Do they need introduction again or are they--okay.
I have, for tabling, copies of some documents that were requested earlier. One is to all superintendents, all school divisions, districts, chairs and boards of trustees. It is about the Criminal Code offences and teachers who have been charged. The other is chairs, boards of trustees, superintendents, all school divisions, et cetera. Again, on the similar topic regarding the reporting of people who have been charged or convicted. So I have three copies of each, and I leave them with the Clerk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): I had left a question with the minister's staff with respect to some financing questions, whether or not there had been any capital requests come to the minister's department from the Transcona-Springfield School Division with respect to the vocational program at Murdoch MacKay Collegiate. I am not sure whether the minister has that information here with her today, but perhaps she can bring us up to date on that issue.
Mrs. McIntosh: Indeed, the member had asked that just prior to conclusion yesterday. The PSF people are not here with us today, but they did provide this information for the member.
Five-year capital plans submitted to the Public Schools Finance Board by the Transcona-Springfield School Division for the past two years have not identified nor have they requested any facility requirements for vocational programming at Murdoch MacKay. In the 1999 to year 2000 five-year capital plan which was recently submitted by that school division, they identified and prioritized the requirement of a classroom in the metal labs program for the year 2000. This request along with all the other requests from school divisions around Manitoba will be subject to the PSFB's normal assessment and its normal prioritization processes.
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The Public Schools Finance Board staff, Mr. Chairman--I have just been informed that staff is available from the PSFB. If we do require them, they can be brought in, but in the meantime I indicate that that staff will be meeting with school division officials in the next several months to discuss not just this topic but the other capital requests from Transcona.
So, in short, this is the first year there has been a request, and the request is for the 1999-2000 year and is in the process of being examined, assessed. There is no answer at this point that can be provided.
Mr. Reid: I thank the minister for that answer. It is my understanding that the Public Schools Finance Board people will likely be meeting with the Transcona-Springfield School Division representatives at the end of this week or perhaps early next week to deal with the issues that I have been raising here with the minister.
I know the minister says that she has her staff available, but I do not have any other questions in that area, and I hope that the meetings that the two parties are having very shortly will be fruitful and that we can move forward with the resolution of the problems that I have identified here with the minister over the course of the last week and a half with respect to the Springfield school problem, an overcrowding situation, and also with respect to the upgrading of the Transcona Collegiate institute, because I know it is important to both communities that those programs take place, not only for the safety of the students, but also to make sure that their learning is done in the best possible environment for them and to allow them to be creative in their own ways as young people in our communities.
So I thank the minister for the answers that she has provided.
The Acting Chairperson (Mr. Helwer): Item 16.5. Training and Continuing Education (a) Management Services (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $485,900--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $222,500--pass; (3) Advanced Education and Training Assistance $1,182,100--pass.
Item 16.5.(b) Labour Market Support Services (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $447,800--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $148,700--pass.
Item 16.5.(c) Adult Literacy and Continuing Education (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $328,400--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $101,300--pass; (3) Grants $1,074,500--pass.
Item 16.5.(d) Youth Programs (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $1,252,200--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $391,200--pass; (3) CareerStart $2,480,800--pass; (4) Youth Community Partnerships $4,325,000--pass; (5) Partners for Careers $300,000--pass; (6) Less: Recoverable from Rural and Urban Economic Development Initiatives ($3,900,000)--pass; (7) Less: Recoverable from Northern Affairs ($200,000)--pass.
Item 16.5.(e) Workforce 2000 (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $377,200--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $95,700,000--pass; (3) Training Support $1,400,000--pass.
Item 16.5.(f) Stevenson Aviation Centre (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $337,500--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $869,800--pass.
Item 16.5.(g) Apprenticeship (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $1,464,100--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $486,100--pass; (3) Training Support $1,000,000--pass.
Item 16.5.(h) Employment and Training Services (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $3,137,800--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $1,200,900--pass; (3) Training Support $4,300,600--pass; (4) Making Welfare Work $4,850,300--pass; (5) Less: Recoverable from Family Services ($600,000)--pass.
Item 16.5.(j) Canada-Manitoba Labour Market Development Agreement (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $5,226,000--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $433,000--pass; (3) Training Support $48,662,000--pass.
This is under 16.4.(a) Schools Finance (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $789,800--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $152,700--pass; (3) Property Assessment $2,090,400--pass.
Item 16.4.(b) Education Administration Services (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $1,199,600--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $435,100--pass.
Item 16.4.(c) Schools Information System (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $300,400--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $506,500--pass.
Item 16.4.(d) Schools Grants (1) Operating Grants $569,914,800--pass; (2) General Support Grants $19,198,600--pass.
Item 16.4.(e) Other Grants $2,051,000--pass.
Item 16.4.(f) Teachers' Retirement Allowances Fund $67,272,900--pass.
Item 16.4.(g) Manitoba Education, Research and Learning Information Networks $513,300--pass.
Resolution 16.4: RESOLVED that there be granted to Her Majesty a sum not exceeding $664,425,100 for Education and Training, Support to Schools, for the fiscal year ending 31st of March, 1999.
Resolution 16.5: RESOLVED that there be granted to Her Majesty a sum not exceeding $81,881,400 for Education and Training, Training and Continuing Education, for the fiscal year ending the 31st day of March, 1999.
Item 16.6. Support for Post-Secondary Education (a) Council on Post-Secondary Education (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $614,300--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $248,500--pass.
Item 16.6.(b) Universities Grants (1) Operating Grants $214,365,600--pass; (2) Faculty of Management $889,000--pass.
Item 16.6.(c) Community Colleges Grant (1) Operating Grants $55,651,300--pass; (2) Inter-Universities North $822,100--pass.
Item 16.6.(d) Post-Secondary Strategic Initiatives Fund $1,000,000--pass.
Item 16.6.(e) Access Programs $6,484,700--pass.
Item 16.6.(f) Student Financial Assistance (1) Salaries and Employee Benefits $1,431,500--pass; (2) Other Expenditures $629,900--pass; (3) Loans and Bursaries $6,191,600--pass; (4) Interest Relief $1,100,000--pass; (5) Debt Reduction $480,000--pass; (6) Scholarship and Bursaries Initiative $5,000,000--pass; (7) Manitoba Learning Tax Credit $15,000,000--pass.
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Resolution 16.6: RESOLVED that there be granted to Her Majesty a sum not exceeding $309,908,500 for Education and Training, Support for Post-Secondary Education, for the fiscal year ending the 31st day of March 31, 1999--pass.
Item 16.7. Expenditures Related to Capital (a) School Divisions $23,687,600--pass.
Item 16.7.(b) Universities $11,340,000--pass.
Item 16.7.(c) Community Colleges $2,245,600--pass.
Item 16.7.(d) Less: Recoverable from Capital Initiatives ($2,400,000)--pass.
Resolution 16.7: RESOLVED that there be granted to Her Majesty a sum not exceeding $34,873,200 for Education and Training, Expenditures Related to Capital, for the fiscal year ending 31st day of March, 1999--pass.
The last item to be considered for the Estimates of the Department of Education and Training is Minister's Salary. At this point, we request that the minister's staff leave the table for the consideration of this item.
Item 16.1. Administration and Finance (a) Minister's Salary $26,300.
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Mr. Chairman, we have been here many hours in Estimates. There are never enough hours in Estimates. I would not like to leave on the record the indication that we had not wanted to look at the many areas that had to be passed over very quickly in Estimates this time. Hope springs eternal that we will at some point have the time to look at all sections of the department in equal amount. I want to thank the minister's staff for the many hours that they have put in, not only in the Chamber, but in waiting for attendance at the Chamber. I would like to thank the minister for the many materials that she has tabled, often with great, timely ability to table them, but I also want to remind her that there are several documents that remain untabled that were promised. So we look forward to receiving those at a later date.
I think, to conclude, my colleague from Transcona has a final question.
Mr. Reid: I have a question for the minister. It is a letter that I received from a young lady in my constituency, Patricia Sawicki, with respect to the Bachelor of Education program and Educational Assistant Diploma program at the University of Winnipeg, where she graduated. It is my understanding that that program has been expanded. This young lady had registered for the four-year program, and that program has now been expanded to a five-year program. She is presently working full time and going to school part time as a mature student. She was only allowed to take 24 credit hours a year. Now this program has been expanded to the five-year program, which puts her at great disadvantage. It is my plan to send a letter over to the minister today with respect to this issue, so the minister can see the detail that Ms. Sawicki has written to me on.
I am not sure if the minister has the information available with respect to the program expansion, but I am just wondering: was there any consideration given to those students that were currently enrolled in the program that perhaps they could have been grandparented in the sense that they had already had enrollment in the program before it was expanded to the five-year program so that they would not have been put at a disadvantage with respect to their education?
I do not know whether the minister is able to answer that question here today, but I will give her the opportunity to comment on it and perhaps come back with some further research when I do write to her later today.
Mrs. McIntosh: Just for clarification, you are talking about the Bachelor of Education program at the University of Winnipeg. No?
Mr. Reid: Ms. Sawicki was writing to me in regard to changes to the Bachelor of Education program, and she had worked as an educational assistant for six years. In June '95 she graduated with an Educational Assistant Diploma program at the University of Winnipeg. Now she has been involved in the program for some time obviously as a mature student, but while she was in the middle of her training, the program was expanded from four years to five years.
Mrs. McIntosh: I will follow up on what the member said, just a short comment. The faculties of Education for the degree program in education are moving to 150 credit hours as opposed to the 120 they were, and that was at the request of the Board of Teacher Education and Certification. That request was put to the ministry some years ago by BOTEC, and subsequently the University of Manitoba moved arbitrarily to the 150 credit hours.
Mr. Marcel Laurendeau, Chairperson, in the Chair
The department asked the University of Manitoba to wait and not move to 150 credit hours until we could examine the BOTEC proposal more closely, and, as a result, the vice-president of McGill University, Dr. Shapiro, was brought in to do an analysis of that. He interviewed a whole series of people, did consultations, a cross-country examination, saw that many provinces were moving to 150 credit hours, examined the BOTEC proposal, and recommended that the province here do the same thing. Subsequently, the province accepted that recommendation, and the 150 credit hours has been accepted with I think it is 24 of those hours to be practicum, practice teaching, on the job, in the classroom, basically a year of practice teaching as opposed to six weeks or so.
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I am not familiar with the teaching assistant qualifications. I am sure they would tie in as being done in some way with the Faculty of Education, but that is some background on the five years in the Education department, and I am certainly pleased to discuss that with the member.
I will look for the letter. You say one is coming. It should probably spell out some of the intricacies, and I will have staff examine that and then speak to the member about it.
Mr. Chairperson: Shall the item pass--pass.
Resolution 16.1: RESOLVED that there be granted to Her Majesty a sum not exceeding $4,116,100 for Education and Training, Administration and Finance, for the fiscal year ending the 31st day of March, 1999.
This concludes the Department of Education and Training. We will now be moving on to the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. Shall we briefly recess to allow the ministers and critics the opportunity to prepare for the commencement of the next set of Estimates?
An Honourable Member: Our critic is here.
Mr. Chairperson: The critic is here, okay. We will just wait for the minister to come in then.