LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF
Monday,
March 9, 1992
The House met at 1:30
p.m.
PRAYERS
Message
Mr. Speaker: Prior to going into Orders of the Day, I have
a message from Her Majesty the Queen, the Head of the Commonwealth.
On this Commonwealth Day, I ask you to
remember that we share this world with many other living things. The Earth is a gift to all of us, whoever we
are, wherever we live. We have but one
planet and all life on it is interdependent.
Our Commonwealth is a partnership of 50
nations, and we are responsible for one‑third of this planet. We all share the task of ensuring that our
world will remain fit for life and capable of sustaining us and those who will
come after us.
For too long, our natural environment has
been taken for granted. It is now only
too evident that we have to take serious steps to make certain that we cause no
further destruction nor permanently degrade the very natural resources on which
we depend. For example, unless we take
action now to halt the rise in global temperatures, rising sea levels will
threaten the very existence of several islands and low‑lying Commonwealth
countries.
The United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development will be held later this year to draw attention to
the many environmental problems that we have either inherited or created for
ourselves. At this conference, and in
many other ways, Commonwealth countries can make significant contributions.
Together we represent a wide variety of climatic landscape and ecological
conditions, and we are at all levels of economic and social development. The Commonwealth can truly be described as a
cross section of the contemporary world.
Democratic governments reflect the will of
their people. In our system, the views
of the individual can be translated into government action, so it is possible
for everyone to make a contribution, however large or small, to ensure the
future health and vitality of the natural world around us. Bringing about the necessary changes will not
be easy, particularly if it involves restraints and sacrifices, but it must be
done, and we can all help in one way or another, individually or collectively.
The living world is a God‑given
heritage, and we have to be more responsible in our stewardship of it. We all need air to breathe, water to drink
and food to eat, but we must be careful, not selfish or greedy, about the way
we exploit scarce natural resources and about the demands we make on the natural
environment. Gradually we are waking up
to the challenges, but we especially need the rising generations to help us
take the right decisions and actions now.
I ask the young people of the Commonwealth
to make themselves aware of the critical problems and issues. There is no time to spare. It is our future that is at stake.
Signed, this 9th day of March, 1992, Her
Majesty, the Queen.
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ROUTINE
PROCEEDINGS
Mr. Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the
honourable member, and it complies with the privileges and practices of the
House and complies with the rules. Is it
the will of the House to have the petition read?
The petition of the undersigned citizens
of the
THAT child abuse is a crime abhorred by
all good citizens of our society, but nonetheless it exists in today's world;
and
It is the responsibility of the government
to recognize and deal with this most vicious of crimes; and
Programs like the Fight Back Against Child
Abuse campaign raise public awareness and necessary funds to deal with the
crime; and
The decision to terminate the Fight Back
Against Child Abuse campaign will hamper the efforts of all good citizens to
help abused children.
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray
that the Legislature of the
I
have reviewed the petition of the honourable member, and it complies with the
privileges and practices of the House and complies with the rules. Is it the will of the House to have the
petition read?
The petition of the undersigned citizens
of the
THAT child abuse is a crime abhorred by
all good citizens of our society, but nonetheless it exists in today's world;
and
It is the responsibility of the government
to recognize and deal with this most vicious of crimes; and
Programs like the Fight Back Against Child
Abuse campaign raise public awareness and necessary funds to deal with the
crime; and
The decision to terminate the Fight Back
Against Child Abuse campaign will hamper the efforts of all good citizens to
help abused children.
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray
that the Legislature of the
PRESENTING
REPORTS BY STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Mrs. Louise Dacquay
(Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Law Amendments): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the First
Report of the Committee on Law Amendments.
Mr. Clerk (William
Remnant): Your Standing Committee on Law Amendments
presents the following as its First Report.
Your committee met on Thursday, March 5,
1992, at 7 p.m. in Room 255 of the
Your committee heard representation on
Bill 5, The Manitoba Advisory Council on the Status of Women Amendment Act; Loi
modifiant la Loi sur le Conseil consultatif manitobain de la situation de la
femme, as follows:
Jean Altemeyer ‑ ChoicesJenny
Robinson ‑
Written Submissions:
Hazel M. Blennerhasset ‑ Executive
Director, Women'sPost Treatment Centre Inc.Gwen Parker ‑ Executive
Secretary,
Your committee has considered:
Bill 5‑The Manitoba Advisory Council
on the Status of Women Amendment Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur le Conseil
consultatif manitobain de la situation de la femme
Bill 7‑The Real Property Amendment
Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur les biens reels
Bill 8‑The Garnishment Amendment
Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur la saisie‑arret
Bill 46‑The Jury Amendment Act; Loi
modifiant la Loi sur les jures
and has agreed to report the same without
amendment.
Mrs. Dacquay: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the
honourable member for La Verendrye (Mr. Sveinson), that the report of the
committee be received.
Motion agreed to.
MINISTERIAL
STATEMENTS AND TABLING OF REPORTS
Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson
(Minister responsible for the Status of Women): Mr. Speaker, I have indeed the great pleasure
and honour of tabling Speaking to the Future, A Statement of Government Policy
on the Status of Aboriginal Women in
I also have a statement for the House,
with copies.
Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, March 8, 1992, the
world celebrated the 81st Annual International Women's Day. Around the globe, men and women gathered in
celebration of the achievements of women.
Just an hour ago, in this
Over the past decade or so, more women
have moved into the work force. They
have entered a wide variety of nontraditional occupations and have excelled. Canadians recently celebrated with astronaut
Roberta Bondar and with Olympic gold medalist, skier Kerrin Lee‑Gartner. These women achieved their goals and
ambitions through hard work and dedication, just as other Canadian women do
every day. Again, it is the individual
and personal victories that have measured women's progress over the years.
Improvements to social and family
services, child daycare, employee benefits, maternity and paternity packages,
as well as more flexible working arrangements, Affirmative Action initiatives
and educational opportunities have enabled women to enter, compete and succeed
in the workplace. Yes, Mr. Speaker,
women have made great progress and will continue to dedicate themselves to
promoting equality in the legal, political, cultural and economic realms.
Despite our gains, however, we have much
to do. One of the areas of greatest
concern to me and to our government is the issue of domestic violence and
violence against women. Our government
has taken a strong stand on this issue.
We will not tolerate violence against women. We initiated the Domestic Violence Review,
which involved a consultative process and resulted in a report which detailed
recommendations to our government.
* (1340)
We look forward later today to unanimous
support for our government's resolution to make
The Manitoba Women's Directorate has
compiled and released a national listing of violence prevention materials that
will prove to be a very effective educational support tool in schools across
the country. The Manitoba Advisory
Council on the Status of Women has also undertaken a number of initiatives in
keeping with its mandate to represent
Unfortunately, our government and its
departments and community agencies cannot alone change harmful and destructive
attitudes and values. Manitobans must
work together to foster healthy and positive attitudes and values that will
ensure all women live lives free of fear, anger and violence.
Violence against women is a serious
societal problem that must be addressed by educators, employers, groups and
organizations, the media, professional associations, women and men, by all
segments of our society. Working
together we can make a difference. We
must make a difference, and we must bring about change.
Mr. Speaker, I want to underscore the fact
that issues related to education, child care, health and welfare and violence
against women are not solely women's issues, nor are issues related to finance,
business, the economy and political process solely men's issues. We must each take equal responsibility for
issues and concerns that affect us.
Our government cannot sit in isolation and
single‑handedly bring about economic prosperity, change social values and
attitudes, establish equality, eradicate violence and end poverty. As citizens of
In celebrating International Women's Day,
we are recognizing women's achievements and progress, and have underscored the
necessity of vigilance and determination in meeting the challenges that the future
surely holds.
Mr. Speaker, in recognition of
International Women's Day and to underscore our government's commitment to the
women of Manitoba, today at 11 a.m., the Honourable Jim Downey, the Minister of
Native Affairs, and I had the pleasure of introducing Speaking to the Future, A
Statement of Government Policy on the Status of Aboriginal Women in
Manitoba. The establishment of this
policy is an achievement in itself, and aboriginal women are to be commended
for their participation in the policy‑making process.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge
the important role aboriginal women played during the policy exploration phase
and in its development. Over 200
aboriginal women participated in the provincial forum, five regional meetings
and numerous local and individual meetings which were held throughout
As I have already noted, the establishment
of our government's policy on aboriginal women was not accomplished in
isolation. It was done, in large part,
with the help and input from groups and individuals from across the
province. Through this policy, our
government acknowledges the aspirations of aboriginal women in
The government of
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The government further recognizes this
partnership is the cornerstone in successfully developing provincial policies,
programs and services. This policy shall
encompass those provincial programs, services and activities within provincial
authority and jurisdiction. Recognizing
that economic independence remains an important goal for aboriginal women, the
government of
Aboriginal women, including those who live
in remote and isolated areas, have the right to access and benefit fully from
provincial programs, services and activities along with all
Government will focus its own resources in
two main areas: those that have shown positive results for aboriginal women;
and those that demonstrate untapped potential for aboriginal women's presence,
benefit and contributions. As we
celebrate past achievements, we must also consider the future of all women in
Ms. Becky Barrett (
I would like to add another congratulatory
message to the astronaut Roberta Bondar and Olympic gold medalist Kerrin Lee‑Gartner,
and that is Connie Laliberte, from
Mr. Speaker, I will be brief in my
comments. There is a great deal of
content and thought‑provoking comments made by the minister, and I will
very briefly speak to just a couple of them. We talked about the domestic violence review
and the resolution to make
Two‑thirds of the women over the age
of 65 are poor. Over half of the people
living in poverty, who are increasing daily, are women with children. Women still make up less than half of the
major jobs in many of the major job categories in this province. Women are still paid less than 70 cents for
every dollar that men earn, on average.
We have come a long way, but we have an enormously long way to go. We on this side of the House look forward,
with a great deal of interest and not a little skepticism, to the actual
implementation of some of the concepts that this government has shared with us
over the last several International Women's Days and in other ministerial
statements and discussions in this House.
We will be looking forward to the actual
implementation of the recommendations in the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. We will be looking forward to the actual
programs and policies that will be resulting from the Pedlar commission. We look forward, as women who work in
government, to the actual implementation of the Hay report‑(TO BE
VERIFIED)‑ recommendations. We
look forward to the actual implementation of the policies as first brought
forward today on the status of aboriginal women in
We have shared our concerns many times
with the government over their lack of follow‑through, their lack of
programs that actually respond to the needs that they address. We will be looking forward to discussing
those concerns and those issues in great detail, and I am confident that we
will have a much better idea of the government's actual commitment to women and
children and violence and equality when we see the budget.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
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Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.
Speaker, I rise on the comments the minister has put on the record on the
celebration of International Women's Day, the day of bread and roses.
Mr. Speaker, the government made an
announcement today with regard to a policy.
I have no difficulty with the policy as such, but I have a great deal of
difficulty with a policy which is announced with great fanfare and which has no
performance guarantee attached to it‑‑none.
They said they wanted to develop a
partnership to develop provincial policies, programs and services. This is the same government that has turned
down an independent aboriginal justice system.
That is the most fundamental policy need of aboriginal women as well as
aboriginal men. They said they wanted to
help aboriginal women achieve economic independence by creating equality of
opportunity. The way to ensure equality
of opportunity is through educational programming, and yet this is the
government that has cut ACCESS programs.
This is the government who has sat by and watched while the
They said they want to ensure that
aboriginal women have access to provincial services and programs. Well, I was hoping today that maybe we would
see an announcement about some money for some safe houses and some shelters in
remote aboriginal communities, but that tragically was not announced today.
Mr. Speaker, words are cheap. They cost nothing except the paper they are
printed on. The community requirement is
for programming initiative, and programming initiative was not announced today,
sadly. I see nothing in this wonderful
announcement, with all of its fanfare, that is going to ensure that one
aboriginal woman would be better off tomorrow than she is today.
While I would have liked to have joined in
this announcement today congratulating the government, I cannot congratulate a
government that has only rhetoric and not action to offer.
Hon. Eric Stefanson
(Minister responsible for Sport): Mr.
Speaker, I have a ministerial statement as well.
Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure
that I rise before the members today, on this day, as we are honouring
International Women's Day, and on behalf of the province and citizens of
Manitoba, extend congratulations to five Manitoban women: Connie Laliberte and her Fort Rouge rink of
Laurie Allen, Cathy Gauthier, Janet Arnott and Arlene MacLeod, on winning the
Scott Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's curling championship in Halifax
this past weekend.
I am certain, Mr. Speaker, those who
followed the rink's progress throughout the week, and all who watched Saturday
afternoon's nationally televised final, will agree that
It was in 1984 that another
I want to ask all members to join me in
extending congratulations to the Laliberte rink and in extending best wishes to
Connie, Laurie, Cathy, Janet and Arlene as they represent
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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Mr. Leonard Evans
(Brandon East): It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the
official opposition, to join with the minister in congratulating this great
team that has just won the Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's
curling championship in
Regardless, as the minister indicated,
Connie and her team will be in
Again, Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the
team, and we certainly wish them the very best in the upcoming world event in
Mr. Reg Alcock
(Osborne): Mr. Speaker, I would like to join with the
members from the other two parties in congratulating the rink. It seems that
I would also like to join with the House
in extending our congratulations to Connie and Laurie, Cathy, Janet and
Arlene. I would also point out that two
other champion teams came home yesterday, and that was the men's and women's
rinks from the deaf curling championships that won both the men's and the
women's. I would like to add their names
to the list of people who we are congratulating today. Thank you very much.
INTRODUCTION
OF BILLS
Bill 36‑The
Health Care Records Act
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(
Motion presented.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, this bill reflects our changing
health care system. Nowhere is such
change more apparent or more necessary than when it comes to patient rights and
self‑determination among health care consumers. Bill 36 is in the spirit of that consumer
movement and consistent with health care reform. It provides for a legislative mechanism to
enable health care consumers to have access to their own medical records and it
proposes to enshrine the principle of confidentiality in law. The bill can only mean, in our view, better
informed health care consumers, more openness and trust between patients and
health care providers and a higher quality and more effective health care
system.
Motion agreed to.
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Bill 56‑The
Public Health Amendment Act (2)
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(
Motion presented.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, Bill 56 recognizes mandatory
reporting of adverse reactions to vaccinations and calls for information on
both the benefits and the risks of vaccinations to be provided. This bill accepts that immunization has been
a factor leading to reduction of many diseases but recognizes the evidence
linking vaccinations with disability and death in some healthy infants.
Like Bill 36, Bill 56 proposes to ensure
that active involvement by consumers in our health care system leads to more
informed consent, decision making and enhanced quality of health care
services. For both Bills 36 and 56, I
acknowledge the hard work of the health care consumer's rights committee of
MARL, Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties, and other organizations, as
well as the efforts of a former colleague Jay Cowan, who was our health care
critic and who did most of the work involving the drafting and consulting
around these bills. I hope these bills
form the basis for all‑party collaboration and co‑operation in this
important policy area. Thank you.
Motion agreed to.
Introduction
of Guests
Mr. Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, may I direct the
attention of all members to the gallery, where we have with us this afternoon
47 visitors from
On behalf of all the members, I welcome
you here this afternoon.
ORAL
QUESTION PERIOD
Cross-Border
Shopping
Government
Action
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): On February 21 in this Chamber, the Premier
said to questions that were asked on the issue of cross‑border shopping
that thousands of jobs have been removed from Manitoba's retail operations and
put into operations on the other side of the border where they do not pay
taxes, where they do not support our medicare or anything else. You cannot have it both ways, Mr.
Speaker. Yet, on Friday, it appears that
his own ministers in government want to have it both ways. They are calling work going out of the
country, south of the border a, quote, win‑win situation.
I ask the Premier, what action is he going
to take to ensure that his leadership and his words in this Chamber will be
followed through by his own ministers so that taxes will remain in Manitoba, so
that medicare will be supported in Canada and that we will not try to have it
both ways, as the Premier indicated we could not?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition
brings forward an interesting point of view.
When between eight and 10 jobs are created by a new company in
competition with Canada Post, offering services out of Winnipeg‑‑eight
to 10 additional jobs in Winnipeg‑‑he takes the position that this
is not good, that these are not jobs that should be supporting our
economy. He is out there only because
they are unionized jobs at Canada Post, taking his typical position that only union
jobs are valid jobs in this economy.
Here you have a new company with eight to
10 new jobs in Winnipeg, saving the taxpayers of Manitoba, I might say, $20,000
in a fiscal year and creating eight to 10 additional jobs, he says those are
not valid jobs and that there is a problem with them. I say, shame on the Leader of the Opposition
for taking sides as to whether or not unionized jobs are better than other jobs
in the economy. We will support having
jobs in the economy in
Manitoba‑U.S.
Trade Deficit
Government
Strategy
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, in 1988, prior to free trade, a
position supported by the Premier, the deficit of trade in
Will the Premier tell the people of
Manitoba, in light of his conflicting rhetoric every day, what he is going to
do about the $500‑million increase in deficit of trade with this province
and the United States so that we can get Manitobans working again? What is he
going to do about the $500‑million change since he has been in
government?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition,
like Rip Van Winkle, has obviously been sleeping for a long, long time. He does not recognize that there is a
recession out there and that 80 percent of the exports from
He does not want to recognize that. He is not aware of these patterns throughout
the world. Hopefully, somebody will
inform him about the things that are happening out there so that he will not
ask questions of this nature that ignore the reality of what is happening
throughout the world.
Mr. Doer: Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the First Minister
of this province would trivialize a $500‑million increase in deficit of
trade, not with
I would ask the Premier to tell Manitobans
and advise Manitobans, what is his government going to do to reverse the
situation with a $500‑million change in the balance of trade with the
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, firstly, again, the Leader of
the Opposition does not recognize that same pattern is reflective of the entire
pattern of trade between
The fact of the matter is that, unlike the
previous NDP government that raised taxes and made this province uncompetitive,
what we are doing is keeping taxes down and making this province more
competitive so that organizations and operations such as Versatile are now able
to get an entire two‑wheel drive tractor operation here so that there
will be more sales to the United States and to all of our trading partners, as
there will be with many of our corporations who are now becoming more
competitive because we have kept taxes down for four straight years.
Community
Colleges
Funding
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, every Manitoban knows that
education is the basis for our economic recovery, yet this Minister of
Education has refused to commit herself to even restore the more than 10
percent cuts her government made to community colleges last year. The reason is now clear.
Mr. Speaker, we have learned today that
the Minister of Education is this year requesting additional cuts of $4.6
million, amounting to a further 8 percent decrease in support for community
colleges.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the
minister what, in her mind, can possibly justify this further attack on
community colleges?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr.
Speaker, I will remind the member that the information regarding funding for
community colleges will be released when the budget is released this Wednesday
in this House.
Ms. Friesen: Mr. Speaker, we have seen the numbers.
Will the minister explain to the House why
she proposes a 57 percent increase for departmental administrative purposes and
yet believes that our community colleges and their programs, with their long
waiting list, must be cut even further?
* (1410)
Mrs. Vodrey: Mr. Speaker, I will simply remind the member
again that the initiatives relating to community colleges will be revealed on
Wednesday of this week when the budget has been revealed.
Post-Secondary
Education
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, will the minister change the
course of her predecessor, the privatization of post‑secondary
education? Will she go back to Treasury
Board and demand that these funds for post‑secondary education, for
community colleges, for young Manitobans who have nowhere else to go‑‑will
she restore those funds?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr.
Speaker, I think it is important again for me to remind my honourable friend of
the commitment of this government to education for all Manitobans and education
in the post‑secondary level, access to training programs at our community
colleges. Our commitment to those community colleges will be seen on Wednesday
when our budget is tabled in this House.
Child Care
Centres
Funding
Formula
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): My
question is to the Minister of Family Services.
It is unfortunate that the minister has been neglected in the same way
that our children are being neglected.
Can the Minister of Family Services tell
us with‑‑
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Is that a confession?
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, the Premier of the province, in
his usual north‑end street‑fighting style‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, it is clear that our child care
centres are suffering. They are
suffering as a result of a recession which has required many parents to
withdraw their children because they have no job, and therefore, they have no
monies to pay for fees.
We also know that they are suffering as a
direct result of actions taken by this minister. As of last July, he restructured the way in
which child care centres are funded. Can
the minister stand in the House today and tell this House how many child care
centres in the province receive less dollars than they received prior to his
restructuring proposals?
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): I
welcome the opportunity to respond to that question on the daycare
centres. This government has put a
substantial amount of new dollars into daycare in
The restructuring we did last year was to
put more dollars into subsidies and less into grants for those centres, but by
the amount of money that we increased our funding to daycare last year, centres
had the ability, if they followed the provincial standards, to increase their
funding by some 2 percent. The variable
that perhaps the member does not understand is that that amount of income is
dependent on the fact that those spaces are full. We do have centres at this time with spaces
that are not occupied, but I would mention to the member that some of them have
had to draw on their surpluses to tide them through, and some have had to make
adjustments in their staffing complement.
During this time, no centres have closed,
and I noted a comment made today that some centres have had to tighten their
belts. I say to the member, it is the
same belt tightening that small businesses and individuals across this province
have done. In meeting with the executive of the MCCA just last week, one of the
positive things that came out of it was a very good working relationship that
exists between the government, the daycare directorate and the MCCA.
Staff
Layoffs
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): The
minister knows full well that centres have received far less in operating
grants, from a couple of hundred dollars up to $24,000 less for our
children. Can the minister tell the
House today how many trained staff have been laid off in child care centres
across this province because of his and his government's unwillingness to
ensure that there is 100 percent trained staff at centres?
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Mr.
Speaker, I indicated in my previous answer that the grants to the centres were
reduced but that the subsidies were dramatically increased and that in our view
of daycare‑‑and I thought shared by the Leader of the Liberal Party
from statements that she had made previously‑‑that funding should
go to individuals, to children, to families.
That was the direction that we took and one that she is on record of
supporting.
In respect to the trained staff, this
province has the highest standards for daycare training and staffing throughout
Mrs. Carstairs: In other words, inferior‑quality
training is acceptable to this Minister of Family Services.
Subsidized
Space
Allocation
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs (Leader
of the Second Opposition): Mr. Speaker, the
Liberal Party is on record as saying‑‑
An Honourable Member: Anything.
Mrs. Carstairs: Well, it is better than nothing.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party in
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Well, Mr.
Speaker, it is difficult to follow policy that is being created by the Liberal
Party moment by moment. We have
certainly, self‑admittedly, some vacancies in the daycare centres and
daycares at this time. We have agreed
not to license any more positions in those centres until later in this year.
There are a number of reasons why we do
have some vacancies. There is a recession in place. There has been a dramatic increase in the
number of licensed spaces. We will be
monitoring how the uptake goes and monitoring the situation, and we have agreed
with the MCCA to review this some time in June of this year.
Aboriginal
Women
Program Accessibility
Ms. Becky Barrett (
One of the eight platform statements in
this policy was, aboriginal women, including those who live in remote and
isolated areas, have the right to access and benefit fully from provincial
programs, services and activities along with all
How, in the light of this flip‑flop,
can
* (1420)
Hon. James Downey
(Minister responsible for Native Affairs): Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that
question and their interest in the policy which has received general acceptance
from the aboriginal women of this province after two years of hard work.
I take this opportunity to say that I am
extremely disappointed in the Leader of the Liberal Party (Mrs. Carstairs) in
the negative approach of after two years of hard work from the aboriginal community
and in putting this policy forward.
Dealing specifically with it, I really am
putting forward that not necessarily speaking of the aboriginal women in
isolated remote communities where in fact it is not possible to deliver a
provincial program. Whether it is the
remote North or anywhere else, one has to say it as it is, and one does not
want to try to mislead. There are other
parts of the province where programs are not available as they would be in the
North, so that is what I want to bring forward to the member.
Ms. Barrett: Then the principle perhaps should have been‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. This is not a time for debate.
ACCESS
Program
Ms. Becky Barrett (