LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF
Friday,
February 28, 1992
The House met at 10 a.m.
Mr. Clerk (William
Remnant): It is my duty to inform the House that the
Speaker is unavoidably absent and, therefore, in accordance with the statutes,
I would call upon the Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Dacquay) to take the Chair.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE
PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTING
PETITIONS
Ms. Becky Barrett (
Mr. Daryl Reid
(Transcona): Madam Deputy Speaker, I beg to present the
petition of Wilf Betts, Adele Betts, Paul Danter and others requesting the
government show its strong commitment to dealing with child abuse by
considering restoring the Fight Back Against Child Abuse campaign.
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): Madam Deputy Speaker, I beg to present the
petition of Shannon Walesiak, Cindy Hamlin, Darren Solmundson and others
requesting the government show its strong commitment to dealing with child
abuse by considering restoring the Fight Back Against Child Abuse campaign.
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): I beg to
present the petition of M.L. Taronno, S. Gordon, Val Werier and others
requesting the government consider restoring the former full funding of
$700,000 to fight Dutch elm disease.
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): I beg to present the petition of Jean Hunter,
Stella LeJohn, Joan Rogers, and others requesting the government consider
restoring the former full funding of $700,000 to fight Dutch elm disease.
PRESENTING
REPORTS BY STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Mr. Bob Rose (Chairperson
of the Standing Committee on Economic Development): I beg to present the report of the Committee
on Economic Development.
Mr. Clerk (William
Remnant): Your Standing Committee on Economic
Development presents the following as their First Report.
Your committee met on Thursday, February
27, 1992, at 10 a.m., in Room 255 of the
Mr. Dale Smeltz, Chairperson, Mr. Ray
West, Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Ken Robinson, Vice‑President,
Finance, provided such information as was requested with respect to the
Auditor's Reports, the Consolidated Financial Statements and the business of
A.E. McKenzie Co. Ltd.
Your committee has considered the October
31, 1990 and 1991, Auditor's Reports and Consolidated Financial Statements and
the business of A.E. McKenzie Co. Ltd. and has adopted the same as presented.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
Mr. Rose: I move, seconded by the honourable member for
Niakwa (Mr. Reimer), that the report of the committee be received.
Motion agreed to.
TABLING OF
REPORTS
Hon. James Downey
(Minister responsible for The
Hon. Linda McIntosh
(Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs):
I
am pleased to table the report of The Trade Practices Inquiry Act, and I am
pleased to submit the report required under Section 114(4) of The Insurance
Act.
* (1005)
INTRODUCTION
OF BILLS
Bill 57‑The
Consumer Protection Amendment Act (2)
Mr. Jim Maloway
(Elmwood): I move, seconded by the member for Flin Flon
(Mr. Storie), that Bill 57, The Consumer Protection Amendment
Act (2) (Loi no 2 modifiant la Loi sur la protection du consommateur), be introduced
and that the same be now received and read a first time.
Motion presented.
Mr. Maloway: I am very pleased to introduce Bill 57 to deal
with a problem in this province with odometer rollbacks in used cars. I am sure
that all members in this House will agree that this is both a timely and
necessary bill and, over the past week in particular, it became widely known
that consumers had been at risk due to the actions of a few unscrupulous
salespeople.
This legislation has been requested by the
RCMP among others who want more power, both to prosecute those found tampering
with odometers of used cars and to make it clear that such activities will not
be tolerated in this province.
We know regrettably that the RCMP has said
that it is a widespread problem, and it will not go away by wishful thinking.
Point of
Order
Hon. James McCrae
(Acting Government House Leader): Madam
Deputy Speaker, I would hope the honourable member would remember the rule
about the introduction of bills that it is not the time for making a
speech. It is a time for a very brief
description of what the bill is. It has
gone beyond that limit already.
Madam Deputy Speaker: On the point of order, I would draw the
attention of the House to Rule No. 85.
It indeed is a point of order.
When a bill is introduced by a member upon motion for leave, the mover
of the motion may make such an explanation as will enable the House to
understand the purport of the bill, but the explanation is to be brief.
* * *
Mr. Maloway: In conclusion, I would like to encourage all
members to support the passage of the bill, and I look forward to the support
of quick passage and support from this government.
Motion agreed to.
ORAL
QUESTION PERIOD
Education
System
Funding
Formula
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): Madam Deputy Speaker, my question is to the
Minister of Education and Training.
Madam Deputy Speaker, another 50 teachers
face unemployment which is in addition to the 300 positions lost last year and
just adds to the 57,000 unemployed in this province. It is ironic that at the awards for
exceptional children that I attended the day before yesterday, of the eight
divisions receiving awards, more than half are going to have their funding cut
absolutely by this government and its formula.
Will the minister acknowledge the
difficulty with the formula, something the former minister would not do, and
the difficulty it is perpetrating on the
* (1010)
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Madam
Deputy Speaker, I would like to start by saying that we are very concerned
about the quality of education in this province, and that the funding formula
which has been instituted was in response to the fact that divisions had felt
the previous formula was not working.
The previous formula required a lot of patch‑ups, so in the
development of this new formula, stakeholders were in fact the ones who sat
around the table and did develop it; and, by and large, in this province, it is
working.
Funding
Formula
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): My supplementary
question for the Minister of Education and Training, Madam Deputy Speaker: Can the minister indicate in the first 60
days of this formula, which is already a failure in its first 60 days, what the
percentage increase is to St. Vital School Division versus the percentage
increase to private schools this year?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Madam
Deputy Speaker, we have not yet announced any funding for independent schools
in this province. I would like to remind
the honourable member that this government has provided a total 3 percent
increase in Education, which looks very good, compared to the 1 percent increase
offered in
Education
System
Funding
Formula
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): Madam Deputy Speaker, my final supplementary
to the same minister: Will the minister
consider taking some of the millions going to private schools, 11 percent last
year and probably 10 percent this year, and channelling that money into the
public school system to try to deal with the difficulties incurred by St.
Vital, Evergreen, Intermountain and the various school divisions which are
suffering under this funding model?
* (1015)
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister
of Education and Training): Madam Deputy
Speaker, I think it is very important for the member to know that we are
working together with school divisions to look at the issues which they are
facing at this time.
Cross-Cultural
Counselling Unit
Mr. George Hickes (Point
Douglas): Madam Deputy Speaker, my
question is for the Minister of Health (Mr. Orchard). The Cross‑Cultural Counselling Unit at
This pilot program was funded through the
Core Area Initiative for one year, but that funding runs out today. The cross‑cultural unit is now looking
for emergency bridge funding of less than $50,000 while they are searching for
new budget sources.
My question to the Minister of Health
is: Will he provide that bridge funding
so that the program can continue to provide community‑based, culturally
sensitive mental health services consistent with his government's stated
policies?
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Madam Deputy Speaker, about a year and a half
ago, or maybe it is two years ago now, I had the pleasure of being at
As I stand today, I do not have the
opportunity to provide any more information other than that we (a) are aware of
the problem, and (b) are undertaking discussions with
Mr. Hickes: Will the minister personally meet with the
people involved with the program so that he can gain a full understanding of
the services that are provided through this innovative program?
Mr. Orchard: Madam Deputy Speaker, I realize there is a
danger in having precrafted questions which have to be used, regardless of the
first answer. I indicated to my
honourable friend from Point Douglas that 18 months ago or two years ago, I do
not know exactly the date, I in fact met with a number of the people who were
volunteering to provide services in that program. My honourable friends in the opposition want
instant solutions to everything.
I have indicated to my honourable friend
that earlier this month the department was brought in to this discussion
because we were made aware at that time that the Core Area funding would be
ending and terminating without any opportunity apparently from Core Area
Initiative to continue with this pilot project funding. Those very discussions are ongoing right now
without resolution as I stand today.
Mr. Hickes: Madam Deputy Speaker, will the minister live
up to the commitments that his government has announced over and over to
community‑based mental health services and the provisions of services to
new Canadians in their language of origin by committing today to provide
funding for the program to continue? Yes or no?
Mr. Orchard: Madam Deputy Speaker, I realize that probably
in
My honourable friend must appreciate that
the government of
* (1020)
In terms of being brought into the
discussion earlier this month with the funding ending tomorrow, I believe, the
government is attempting to deal with the issue. I do not have a resolution. Madam Deputy Speaker, we have only been working
with
Conawapa
Dam Project
Renegotiation
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Madam
Deputy Speaker, yesterday the Finance minister (Mr. Manness) indicated that
change was a fact of life and that the Repap deal was being renegotiated
because of structural change in our midst and changing economic
conditions. Well, when
In light of the government's recognition
that things have to be renegotiated in changing times, will the Minister
responsible for Hydro now agree and now initiate negotiations with Ontario
Hydro with regard to renegotiating the contract on Conawapa?
Hon. James Downey
(Minister of Energy and Mines): Madam
Deputy Speaker, as has been indicated by the Manitoba Public Utilities Board,
the agreement that is signed between Manitoba Hydro and Ontario Hydro is good
for the people of
Repap
Manitoba Inc.
Environmental
Inspection
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): It is
obvious that the government is not prepared to take any initiative. They only respond when corporations demand
that they take initiatives.
On February 21, Madam Deputy Speaker, a
lawsuit was filed in the Court of Queen's Bench, The Pas, between Hendrickson
Mechanical & Structural Co. Ltd. and
Repap Enterprises Inc. and Repap
Can the minister responsible for the
environment tell this House today if a government environmental inspector was
on site at the time of the cleanup to, one, ensure that the cleanup was done
properly and two, that the government was getting value for the $3‑million
bill that it paid?
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Yes, Madam Deputy
Speaker, we worked very closely in designing the making sure that it was done correctly and to
standards. The second part of the
question, yes.
Bunker Tank
Relocation
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Madam
Deputy Speaker, can the Minister of Environment tell the House today if the
movement of the Bunker C tanks to a new location was paid for by this
government? At the time they were moved,
did they have on file a copy of a testing result which showed that the lines
going in and out of the tanks not to be leaking?
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): No, I cannot answer
specifically to that question, Madam Deputy Speaker. It only goes to demonstrate the enormous
amount of cleanup that has to be done at that site. The Bunker C for sloppy management practices
for the full history of that plant allowed, just simply from sloppy practices,
the pollution of an aquifer which we may never be able to clean up.
* (1025)
Recycling
Programs
Glass
Processing
Ms. Marianne Cerilli
(Radisson): Madam Deputy Speaker, my question is also for
the Minister of Environment.
Last week the government's Sustainable
Development initiative was criticized by the Chamber of Commerce as merely a
public relations tool. Today I have
another Chamber of Commerce report on the government's Waste Reduction and
Prevention initiative stating that once again there does not appear to be in
place a mechanism whereby targeted materials may be collected, recycled, and the
process funded.
My question for the minister is: Will he take action on the confusion
surrounding recycling of glass bottles, as this report states, and ensure that
recycled glass bottles do not just pile up or end up in landfill sites?
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Madam Deputy
Speaker, the member raises a point that is one of very considerable concern to
myself and to this government, because not only is the issue of recycling
important the issue of developing markets to deal with the recyclables. It is only within the last two or three weeks
that we have seen a very severe critique of the blue‑box program in
The concern that we are dealing with‑‑and
we have a program in place where we are waiting to deal with the City of
Ozone
Depleting Substances Act
Enforcement
Ms. Marianne Cerilli
(Radisson): Will the minister also respond to the
criticism in the report that the ozone‑depleting substance regulations
are largely symbolic, and immediately strengthen the enforcement mechanism to
go along with this act?
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Madam Deputy Speaker,
the member is now getting on very thin ice.
The regulations that the
Ms. Cerilli: See how all those refrigerators and air
conditioners are going to be collected.
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order.
Please put your question.
Recycling
Programs
Newspaper
Processing
Ms. Marianne Cerilli
(Radisson): Madam Deputy Speaker, will the government also
take action on its own report on the recycling of newspapers to ensure that
newspapers are properly recycled and do not also end up in the landfill as we
are currently seeing?
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Madam Deputy
Speaker, newsprint recycling is one of those issues where we keep expecting the
price to rise to $60 or $80 a ton just around the corner. Unfortunately, because of the world economy
and because of the impacts on demand and the type of print being able to be
recycled, we are approaching a real market growth as de‑inking plants
come on stream. We expect to see a new
de‑inking plant looking for newsprint within a very short period of time.
* (1030)
I put that on the table, Madam Deputy
Speaker, because the ability to recycle newsprint material in this province
will be there and will be in place as soon as we can access the markets. As I
stated earlier, we have a proposal on the table to work with the City of
Layoffs
Mr. Doug Martindale
(Burrows): Madam Deputy Speaker, a year ago the Minister
of Housing (Mr. Ernst) abolished 98 locally controlled housing authorities,
fired 600 volunteer board members, and now the axe is about to fall on 195 housing
staff who will be laid off.
Can the Minister of Housing tell the House
and tell those staff, assure the staff, that the process will be fair and
explain why people have to reapply for their own positions?
Hon. Jim Ernst (Minister
of Housing): Madam Deputy Speaker, the people of
Charleswood elected me to this House to effectively and efficiently manage
their affairs and spend their money as efficiently as possible. I think that fact has escaped some of the
members opposite in terms of dealing efficiently and effectively with the
taxpayers' money.
With respect to the Manitoba Housing
Authority, that is exactly what we were doing, spending their money efficiently
and effectively, a lot more so than was done in the past. We are not perfect here in this House in
terms of those kinds of programs, but we are working toward that, and we intend
to continue to work toward that.
Service
Contracting
Mr. Doug Martindale
(Burrows): Can the Minister of Housing then tell
Hon. Jim Ernst (Minister
of Housing): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am not familiar with
the exact circumstances of that issue.
If the member wants to provide me with the information, I will look into
it.
In general terms, Madam Deputy Speaker,
the expectation is that with the realignment and restructuring of the Manitoba
Housing Authority, the taxpayers of
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order, please.
Mr. Ernst: Madam Deputy Speaker, the taxpayers of
Mr. Martindale: Madam Deputy Speaker, paying a contractor $50
to replace a $1.19 fuse is not efficient, is not going to save this government
money.
Can the Minister of Housing explain how
contractors are going to provide the personal kind of service that staff and
former volunteer board members provided?
Do you realistically expect that they are going to check on senior
citizens, that anyone is going to take responsibility for them, especially in
small rural communities?
Mr. Ernst: Madam Deputy Speaker, under the
Health
Sciences Centre
Knee and
Hip Replacement Surgery
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): Madam Deputy Speaker, my question is for the
Minister of Health.
Patients in need of hip and knee surgery
continue to wait for their operations.
We have recently heard from a patient who has been confined to a
wheelchair for the last year because she is unable to have a knee operation and
she needs that operation now.
On January 14, the Minister of Health
called his quick response team into action and asked it to investigate the freeze
on knee and hip surgery which his department, through Health Sciences, has
placed for three months. Madam Deputy
Speaker, it is more than 43 days today.
Can the minister tell us why his quick
response team has not provided us with a report? If he has a report, can he table that in this
House today?
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Madam Deputy Speaker,
I have the report. I intend to release
it Monday pending the receipt of two more pieces of information that I thought
would be relevant for the discussion around the report.
Let me correct my honourable friend on one
small point. The Health Sciences Centre
made the decision to not proceed with any more elective surgery in either hip
or knee replacement, not the province. I
do not want my honourable friend to leave the wrong impression that we ordered
that. That decision was not ordered by
the province.
I know that my honourable friend will be
aware that already this year, in the first nine months of the year, the Health Sciences
Centre had undertaken the same volume of services as they did in the previous
12 months. I am also informed, for my
honourable friend's information, that any urgent or emergent replacements of
knees or hips are continuing at the Health Sciences Centre.
The specific case my honourable friend
referred to, if it was urgent or emergent, could be dealt with.
Mr. Cheema: Madam Deputy Speaker, the decision was by the
Health Sciences Centre. I will correct
that.
Can the minister tell us why he would not
release the report today so that we, as members of this Assembly, can also make
a judgment, because the patients are waiting and they are suffering, and it is
costing taxpayers more money to keep them in the hospital and in the community?
Mr. Orchard: Madam Deputy Speaker, I indicated to my
honourable friend that I hope to be able to release the report on Monday,
pending receipt of two additional pieces of information that I requested after
having received the report yesterday.
I realize my honourable friend is anxious
to have government's response. I will be
pleased to provide that for my honourable friend, but I do need two additional
pieces of information that I think he, as a critic, would be asking me
for. In anticipation of that, I want to
be fully informed so that I can more fully inform my honourable friend and
Manitobans in terms of the circumstance at the Health Sciences Centre.
Mr. Cheema: Madam Deputy Speaker, can the minister tell
us, or assure Manitobans who are waiting for this surgery, as of his initial
assessment from the report, can he at least assure us that the surgical
procedure will resume as of Monday?
Mr. Orchard: Madam Deputy Speaker, that assurance was given
by the Health Sciences Centre in announcing their decision, in that any
emergent or urgent surgeries in either hip replacement or knee replacement
would be ongoing. My understanding is
that those urgent and emergent procedures are ongoing.
As I indicated to my honourable friend in
my previous answer, should the circumstance that my honourable friend described
be deemed urgent or emergent, that surgical procedure could be undertaken
today.
* (1040)
Parkland
District
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (
Can the Minister of Housing explain why he
has decided to move the office to Roblin and how he expects to adequately meet
the needs of approximately 200 housing units in the
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order.
Hon. Jim Ernst (Minister
of Housing): Madam Deputy Speaker, the question of
districts for the Manitoba Housing Authority was looked at long and hard. In the
In doing that, there are about 600 units
overall in that
Ms. Wowchuk: Roblin also seems to be located in an area
that has an imaginary line around it for appointments and jobs.
Can the Minister of Housing tell this
House how many jobs will be lost in rural
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order, please. The question has been put.
Mr. Ernst: Madam Deputy Speaker, there were 98 housing
authorities in the
When you look at the fact that, in the
case of the Parkland West region,
Ms. Wowchuk: In light of the hardship of this decision,
the hardship which has been caused to the community of
Mr. Ernst: Madam Deputy Speaker, as I have indicated to
the member today, several days ago, in correspondence over a past period time,
the rationale for locating the office where it is proposed to be located is
extremely reasonable and the most efficient location within that district.
RCMP
Confiscated
Liquor Disposal
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): Madam Deputy Speaker, over the last few
years, the amount of liquor that is being confiscated by police forces in the
province has increased dramatically. I
have learned that the RCMP are about to pour some $25,000 worth of confiscated
liquor down the drain.
I want to ask the minister responsible for
the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (Mrs. McIntosh), can she tell this House
how much confiscated liquor and beer, the value of that liquor and beer in
total, is being poured down the drain?
How many taxpayers' dollars are being wasted by this current practice?
Hon. Linda McIntosh
(Minister charged with the administration of The Liquor Control Act): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will take that
question as advisement, check the figures, and get back to the member.
Liquor
Control Act
Confiscated
Liquor
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): There is another problem which police forces
have been raising with the minister for many months. Madam Deputy Speaker, my question is, given
that this minister has the right, under Section 147 of The Liquor Control Act,
to resell confiscated liquor, will this minister explain to the House why she
is allowing hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue from booze poured down
the drain disappear through this government's fingers? Is that efficiency?
Hon. James McCrae
(Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I
think the question is more an evidentiary matter, and not a matter for the
Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs (Mrs. McIntosh). I, too, will obtain some information about
this, and inform the honourable member.
Point of
Order
Mr. Storie: Madam Deputy Speaker, the minister responsible
for the Liquor Commission (Mrs. McIntosh) unquestionably has the authority to
resell unopened confiscated liquor. It
is not an evidentiary matter at all. It
is a matter of government policy. Are they going to allow hundreds of thousands
of dollars to be poured down the drain when they could resell this unopened
liquor? That is the question. It is not an evidentiary question at all.
Madam Deputy Speaker: The honourable member for Flin Flon does not
have a point of order. The question was
directed to the government, and the government may indeed decide which minister
shall respond to the question.
* * *
Mr. Storie: Madam Deputy Speaker, for the third time in a
week this minister has refused to respond‑‑
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order.
Does the honourable member for Flin Flon have a final supplementary
question?
Mr. Storie: My question is to the minister responsible for
the
Given that she has the power, will this
minister now put in place a policy that will collect revenue for the
Mr. McCrae: Madam Deputy Speaker, we will ascertain if
indeed, as the honourable member suggests, ministers of this government do have
such powers. That is not acknowledged by
me today, but we will look into the matter.
Dutch Elm
Disease
Government
Position
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Madam
Deputy Speaker, earlier this morning I presented, along with the representative
for Wolseley, a petition with respect to the funding for Dutch elm disease and
the restoration of that funding. Two
backbenchers, the member for Emerson (Mr. Penner) and the member for
I would like to ask the First
Minister: Is this the policy of the
government of the
* (1050)
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Without accepting any of the preamble of the
question from the Leader of the Liberal Party, obviously the program has been
in place to cut up and remove diseased trees, trees that are already diseased
and dying. I will look into the matter
and have the matter responded to by the Minister of Natural Resources (Mr.
Enns), under whose jurisdiction it does come so that he can engage in a full
discussion with the Leader of the Opposition.
I would say, Madam Deputy Speaker, that
this is an area in which the Leader of the Opposition should be debating the
issue when Estimates are brought forward on the expenditures of this province,
so that she can debate the authorities and the various rationales that are
presented with respect to Dutch elm disease and the money that is spent on the
removal of diseased trees.
Mrs. Carstairs: Madam Deputy Speaker, would the First
Minister tell us if he is in agreement with his colleagues on his back bench
that the money spent on Dutch elm disease is a lost cause?
Mr. Filmon: Madam Deputy Speaker, as I said earlier, I
accept none of the preamble of what the Leader of the Liberal Party has said.
Mrs. Carstairs: Madam Deputy Speaker, will the First Minister
undertake to have discussions with the members for Emerson (Mr. Penner) and
Mr. Filmon: Madam Deputy Speaker, last time she said it was
a lost cause; then she says it is a waste of money. She changes her story every time she stands
up.
I invite the Leader of the Liberal Party
(Mrs. Carstairs) to debate this issue in Estimates of the Department of Natural
Resources where she can obtain, from the Minister of Natural Resources (Mr.
Enns), all of the rationale and all of the explanation as to what money is
being spent with respect to Dutch elm disease.
Federal
Budget
Impact
Cultural Programs
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Madam Deputy Speaker, the recent federal
budget proposed many cuts which are going to affect Manitobans. Amongst these are the Cultural Industries
Development Fund, cut by $600,000; Telecom
I would like to ask the Minister of
Culture, Heritage and Citizenship (Mrs. Mitchelson), before she threw her
support behind this Mulroney budget, did she determine the impact of these
severe cuts on the
Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson
(Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship): Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to make it
abundantly clear in this House today that this government has supported our
cultural industries in a very major and significant way. We will continue to support our cultural
industries and our cultural institutions in the
Ms. Friesen: Madam Deputy Speaker, to the same minister, I
would like to ask: Has she determined
the impact for
Mrs. Mitchelson: Madam Deputy Speaker, we will, over a period
of time, be analyzing the impacts of what the federal budget has done to
culture in our province. As I indicated
in my first answer, our commitment is strong.
We believe and support our cultural industries. We believe and support our cultural
institutions and we will continue to do so.
Property
Rights Proposal
Legal
Opinion
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Has the minister asked for a legal opinion on
the implication for
Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson (Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship):