LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF
Friday,
March 13, 1992
The House met at 10 a.m.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE
PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTING
PETITIONS
Mr. Daryl Reid
(Transcona): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the petition of
Bev Funk, Mike Poirier, Claudia McIvor and others requesting the Minister of
Justice (Mr. McCrae) to call upon the Parliament of
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the petition of
Joan Lloyd, Grace Parson, Elaine Shenback and others requesting the Minister of
Justice call upon the Parliament of
Mr. Clif Evans
(Interlake): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the petition of
Winelda N. Gardner, Fatima Costa Soares, Rieta Hildebrand and others requesting
the Minister of Justice to call upon the Parliament of Canada to amend the
Criminal Code to prevent the release of individuals where there is a
substantial likelihood of further family violence.
MINISTERIAL
STATEMENT
Hon. James McCrae
(Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs): Mr. Speaker, I have a statement for the
House.
Mr.
Speaker, for the information of honourable members, I would like to table
copies of a summary of the multilateral constitutional review process which
federal and provincial ministers agreed to in
The
agreement provides for, first, a time frame for discussion which aims at a
consensus by the end of May. This is not
much time, but it is twice as much or more as an April 15 deadline would have
meant.
Second,
a commitment that no government will take unilateral actions during this
period. This means the federal
government will not be tabling its own response to the Dobbie‑Beaudoin
report, at least for now.
* (1005)
Third,
a ground‑breaking step for First Nations.
While reserving the right to meet on a government‑to‑government
basis, the ministers invited aboriginal representatives to be full participants
in the agreed upon constitutional review process, and they have accepted.
Fourth,
a balanced mix of ministerial and official discussions and public reporting of
progress to ensure that elected representatives keep a close eye on the process
and the public is kept informed.
Fifth,
provisions for First Ministers' discussions later in the process when the
needed groundwork has been done.
The
process agreement was supported unanimously by the Government of
I
believe it is accurate to say there was complete agreement that a return to the
table by our colleagues from
Mr.
Speaker, yesterday's ministers' meeting was also a useful forum for reminding
the Government of Canada and the larger provinces that the aspirations of the
smaller provinces need to be addressed as well.
The first question at yesterday's press conference was on the need to
strengthen the equalization provisions in Section 36. That too was a notable precedent and one
which I hope will not be overlooked or forgotten in
Thank
you very much.
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the
ministerial statement made by the Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs
in the
First
of all, all members of this Chamber want to work toward a renewed and united
We
were a little concerned with the lack of progress at the meeting. The meeting generally achieved a delay of a
couple of weeks‑‑that is important, I would say, a couple of weeks‑‑and
an important agreement on aboriginal participation, but apparently spent very
little time talking about the substance and the content of our disagreements
across this country. Mr. Speaker,
certainly substance is going to be very important as we move along on the issues
that are facing Canadians in a renewed
Looking
at the points that have been raised by the Minister responsible for
Constitutional Affairs (Mr. McCrae) in his statement today, his first point
that the deadline has been moved from April 15 to the end of May‑‑that
is only 10 weeks away, Mr. Speaker. That
is not a lot of time to deal with the various visions and to articulate the
various proposals that have come forward from many public sessions and hearings
across the country dealing with their sense of
I
know that people are happy to move the Prime Minister off his former deadline
to a new deadline, but I suggest that the people of
On
the second point, the minister's note that unilateral action should not be
taken by any government and certainly the federal government should not be
tabling a response, I would note again that the Quebec Assembly did table a
response to the Dobbie‑Beaudoin report, and they have to some degree
disagreed with many of the sections of that report formally in their
Legislature.
* (1010)
On
the third point, of groundbreaking news for First Nations, we applaud the
ministers responsible for that issue. We
noted that Premiers Rae and Ghiz and ministers of other provinces were working
very hard to get aboriginal participation, and we applaud
It
was one of the weaknesses of the last process.
All of us who were in
The
mix of people, Mr. Speaker‑‑we applaud that process and the
ultimate First Ministers' meeting, with the groundwork being done‑‑of
course is important.
Today
we would also like to say that we have offered before and we will offer today
our co‑operation with the government, with the government ministers, with
all parties in this Chamber and all members in this Legislature. We have not yet had a meeting of the all‑party
task force since the Dobbie‑Beaudoin report has been tabled. We have not yet met on the issue of even
process which ultimately will be impacted on all of us in this Legislature
potentially as the months and weeks tick away toward the date that the
ministers have agreed to.
I
again offer to the First Minister (Mr. Filmon) our co‑operation with you
and our ability to work in a consensus way with you, and the offer we made to
you two weeks ago stands today.
Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.
Speaker, I thank the Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs (Mr.
McCrae) for presenting this report to us today and to indicate that I too share
some concerns, as I think the government shares concerns, about the time frame
that we have been squeezed into and the lack of time even by the end of May to
perhaps come up with some kind of consensual position in that space of time.
However,
I am and remain concerned about the lack of presence of
I
am also concerned by early news reports, and I hope that the minister can clarify
this, that some provinces were opposed to the full participation of our
aboriginal peoples and that only
Finally,
Mr. Speaker, I think we must realize and recognize that there cannot be a
position that does not have the participation of the
* (1015)
INTRODUCTION
OF BILLS
Bill 54‑The
Consumer Protection Amendment Act
Mr. Jim Maloway
(Elmwood): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the member
for Concordia (Mr. Doer), that Bill 54, The Consumer Protection Amendment Act
(Loi sur la protection du consommateur), be introduced and that the same be now
received and read a first time.
Motion presented.
Mr. Maloway: Mr. Speaker, this bill is designed to protect
and limit security deposits on large items purchased in this province. Over the past number of years, Manitobans
have placed deposits on goods and never received these goods. Approximately 16 Manitobans lost at least
$53,000 when a
The
bill will only affect large purchases and require deposits of over $500 to be
held in trust. Sellers will be
prohibited from requiring deposits of more than 20 percent, and holding
deposits to 20 percent of the purchase price will limit the potential loss for
the consumer while still providing small businesses with the protection that
they require.
In
the case of the sunroom builder, consumers were enticed by offers of discounts
to pay the entire amount up front in an effort to save 10 percent. This bill would prevent that. Companies should
not have to rely on consumers' deposits to operate their companies. Businesses should have enough working capital
through lines of credit at the bank and credits with their suppliers.
Mr.
Speaker, in addition, currently consumers have deposits held in trust when they
buy houses in this province. Why should
they not have the same protection for large consumer items?
Motion agreed to.
Introduction
of Guests
Mr. Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, may I direct the
attention of honourable members to the gallery, where we have with us this
morning from the Red River Community College 60 students. They are under the direction of Gayle
Ross. This school is located in the
constituency of the honourable member for
On
behalf of all honourable members, I welcome you here this morning.
ORAL
QUESTION PERIOD
Health
Care System
Staff
Layoffs
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, we have been raising the issue
of our economy throughout the last number of weeks since the session has been
called. My question is to the minister
responsible for the Economic Development Board of Cabinet, the Premier.
Yesterday,
after repeated questions in this Chamber and after repeated comments in the
media, we had the head of the Health Sciences Centre confirm that they are
looking at a staff reduction of between 300 and 500 employees, and not all
these people can be picked out through reduction; therefore, there would be
some layoffs.
I
would ask the Premier, can he articulate or outline to the people of
* (1020)
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, I would say firstly that this
government has given a 5.7 percent increase to the health care budget in this
province, a very substantial increase of over $100 million more than last year
despite the difficult circumstances we face.
I believe that translates into more money for hospitals to the tune of
about a 5 percent increase overall to hospital budgets. That is three times the rate of inflation.
I
have given him comparisons to the havoc that has been wreaked in
Today
I would like to refer him to an article that indicates what
That,
Mr. Speaker, is what happens when you get New Democratic policies wreaking
havoc on the health care system. They closed beds in
Mr. Doer: Mr. Speaker, I thank the Premier for again not
answering the question in the Chamber.
If the Premier thinks that 300 to 500 positions being lost at one
hospital is insignificant, well, just continue to trivialize the economic
plight and plight of patients in this province.
The
Premier is now head of the Economic Board of Cabinet. Its secretariat now gets
some close to $900,000 in this new budget.
We know the secretariat is very good at providing pool sound and pool
lights and flags and public relations kinds of gimmicks for any announcement
the government is going to make. What we want to know is does it have any
analytical capacity at all in terms of the economic impact of decisions this
government is making on the people of
I
would ask the Premier again a very simple question. Given the fact that this secretariat answers
to him‑‑this $850,000 secretariat now answers to him‑‑how
many jobs are going to be lost in the health care field with the decisions that
have been made by this government, and what is the economic impact on
Manitobans?
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, to begin with, we regard all
areas of employment in this province as being important to us. That is why we increased expenditures in
health care by 5.7 percent, three times the rate of inflation which should
allow hospitals and health care units in this province to employ the people
that they ought to in order to do their job.
The
fact of the matter is this Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) talks about pool
sound and pool light. He is so concerned
with his 10‑second clip that he is a better expert on the media than the
people sitting up there. He is the one
who in the 1990 election campaign debate was out there throwing off his jacket
and showing people around him how tough he is.
He is the one who is so concerned with his image and his media
presentation that he hires experts from outside the province to coach him on
how he should deliver his lines in a debate, how he should dress and all of
those things.
Mr.
Speaker, this Leader of the Opposition is a disgrace. He is knocking an attempt to bring together
all of the resources of government to put them behind the most important thing
that we do in government, and that is to attract investment and job creation, a
co‑ordinating function that is being provided by the Economic Development
Board that has been lauded by people such as Apotex and many others, saying
that we are doing a better job than most provinces in the country in attracting
investment right now.
Mr. Doer: If I thought taking off my jacket was going to
bother the Premier so much, I may have thought twice. He is still worried about it two years later.
With
all those Tory youth outside picketing away in front of the debate site, it was
tough to get through those people, I remember.
Mr.
Speaker, for the second time in a row, the Premier did not answer the question
on how many jobs will be lost in the health care field‑‑a very
simple question.
Mr.
Speaker, a further question to the First Minister: In Brandon today, and the chief of medical
staff probably put it more accurately than anyone in this Chamber could, Dr.
William Meyer said, the provincial government is not being honest with the
people. He went on to say, the people
and public of
I
ask the Premier: Will he just put the
facts on the table about how many jobs will be lost, and what will the impact
be on patients so that we could have a debate on the basis of the facts, not on
the basis of the Premier foaming away at the mouth instead of talking about any
facts in terms of the people of
Mr. Filmon: The fact of the matter is that our budget will
provide for a number of increases of jobs in health care because it provides
for construction of new facilities such as personal care homes, large increases
to home care which will provide employment for more people in those areas that
are providing service to the people of
Mr.
Speaker, what I object to from the Leader of the Opposition is not the fact
that he took his jacket off in the debate, it is the fact that he is always
such a phony, Mr. Speaker. He‑‑
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Point of
Order
. Jerry Storie (Acting
Opposition House Leader): I think the people
of
Mr. Speaker: What is the point, please?
Mr. Storie: Mr. Speaker, our rules prohibit that kind of
personal attack. The First Minister is
engaging in a kind of personal warfare to avoid answering very serious
questions. What the people of
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member does not have a point
of order.
* * *
* (1025)
Mr. Filmon: Mr Speaker, I will apologize to the Leader of
Opposition (Mr. Doer) for calling him a phony.
The fact of the matter is that the shallowness of his approach to this
budget and to government in general is not unnoticed by the public, and when it
comes to honesty, the public still remember the NDP shredding files so that the
public could not really know what was going on at MPIC, could not judge whether
or not honest answers were being given by their ministers. The public has not forgotten. The fact of the matter is that‑‑
Mr. Storie: Would the First Minister quit lying?
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. I would ask the honourable member for Flin
Flon to withdraw those comments. The
honourable member for Flin Flon has the floor.
Mr. Storie: Mr. Speaker, this is a matter of
principle. The First Minister put on
record something that clearly‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. I have asked the honourable member for Flin
Flon to withdraw his remarks.
Mr. Storie: Mr. Speaker, I am asking for some fairness.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. I am asking the honourable member for Flin
Flon to withdraw his comments, please.
Mr. Storie: Mr Speaker, I am prepared to withdraw those
remarks‑‑
Mr. Speaker: I would like to thank the honourable member
for Flin Flon. Unqualified.
Point of
Order
Hon. Clayton Manness
(Government House Leader): Mr Speaker, I did not
hear the withdrawal from the member. It
was a conditional withdrawal. To a
government House leader, it is a very serious matter. I ask the member to provide an unqualified
withdrawal of the remarks that he made.
He has offended the responsibility, indeed the rights and the dignity of
all members of this House, and I have not heard an unconditional withdrawal
from that member. I ask you to call for
that.
Mr. Speaker: On the same point of order.
Mr. Doer: Mr. Speaker is the arbiter of these
decisions. Mr. Speaker has accepted the
statement from the member from Flin Flon.
The matter is closed; we should proceed with Question Period.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. On the point of order raised, the honourable
member for Flin Flon did withdraw, and I did accept the honourable member's
withdrawal.
* (1030)
* * *
Mr. Filmon: The fact of the matter is, this government, in
this budget, has increased health care funding by 5.7 percent, has passed along
to the hospitals of this province more than a 5 percent increase, and that
includes increases to Brandon General Hospital and every other hospital in this
province.
No
matter how the New Democrats want to portray that, that is a record that far
exceeds any other New Democratic administration, and I have already read what
they are doing in
Health
Sciences Centre
Operating
Room Closure
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(St. Johns): Mr. Speaker, while we are on the topic of
honesty, let us ask about this government's record and the fact that we have
doctors and health care professionals in this province now saying this
government is not honest with the people of
Mr.
Speaker, we have learned from the Health Sciences Centre that the facility
cannot meet the 160‑bed target imposed by this government without looking
at closing one or more of its eight operating rooms. I want to ask: Is the minister prepared to accept the likely
outcome at the Health Sciences Centre of closed operating rooms, and will he
tell all Manitobans how much longer they will have to wait for necessary
surgery?
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, my
honourable friend and, indeed, the Health Sciences Centre are going to be dealing
with a budget increase of 5 percent this year, below what they requested, but
significantly above the inflation rate, as has been indicated by the Premier
(Mr. Filmon) this morning.
Let
us put a little context into the issue, since my honourable friend wants to,
from the comfortable position of opposition, suggest more spending, but in the
reality of government where New Democrats are in government, they ask for more
management, as is happening in
More
importantly, let us put into context what New Democrats do when they are in
office in this province. Let us revisit
1987‑88, the infamous year when my honourable friends, the critic, the
Leader, ordered the closing, unilaterally without consultation and discussion,
of hospital beds in
What
it was, Mr. Speaker‑‑and I want to tell you what the figures were‑‑inflation
was 4.2 percent; revenue growth was 19.2 percent; and they gave 7 percent to
the Health‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Bed
Closures
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: Is the 160‑bed reduction at the Health
Sciences Centre based on rated beds, which would mean about a 15 percent
reduction, or is it in addition to the 61 summer bed closings that were
extended to March 31 of this year, which would mean a total of 221 beds being
cut or about 20 percent of all set‑up beds at the Health Sciences Centre?
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, over the
next budget year and the next budget year, over a two‑year program, those
answers will emerge. There is no
question that as in
That
kind of reform process is exactly what my honourable friend advocates. That will be part of the reform system that
is ongoing in
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, if all of these bed cuts and budget
reduction targets are part of a thought‑out long‑term health care
reform plan, why is the whole process shrouded in such secrecy? Why is it so hard to get straight answers
from this minister? Why can you not‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Mr. Orchard: Mr. Speaker, I want to deal with secrecy, lack
of consultation, underhanded tactics in government, because my honourable
friend in cabinet knew all about them.
That is exactly what they did when they unilaterally, without consultation
for budgetary reasons, ordered the closure of some 119 beds in the health care
system without consultation in Brandon, and then the guru for Brandon East, the
lead cabinet minister, went underground and disappeared for the next eight
weeks so he did not have to answer for the decisions of that government.
Mr.
Speaker, that happened, and I want to give some figures to my honourable friend
for Brandon East. While he, as minister,
was cutting beds in
Who
is treating health care appropriately, the member for Brandon East who disappeared,
went underground and AWOL, or this government?
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable Minister of Health, the
honourable member for Brandon East‑‑if the honourable members want
to carry on this conversation, you can do so outside the Chamber. The rest of us want to carry on with Question
Period. The honourable member for Osborne has the floor. Order, please. Are we going to get on with
this or not?
Seven Oaks
Centre for Youth
Closure
Mr. Reg Alcock
(Osborne): Mr. Speaker, for the four years that I have
been in this Chamber, I have been calling on the government to close the Seven
Oaks Centre for Youth. The concerns I
felt about that facility, as someone who ran it for two years some years ago,
are best expressed by Ms. Colleen Suche in her report on the independent review
of reporting procedures in children's residential care facilities, in which she
states that children with destructive, violent behaviour who have a history of
gang or cult involvement and known sexual offenders are placed with some of the
most vulnerable children in the system.
Now,
I would ask the Minister of Family Services if he has done as Ms. Suche has
recommended and created an independent board to immediately take over the
management of that facility and begin work to close it.
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Mr.
Speaker, the member will recall, I am sure, that the Ombudsman has recently
done a review of Seven Oaks Centre and has brought some recommendations to
government, which government is acting upon.
We also have the Suche report which was brought before us in recent
weeks, and at the present time, we are dealing with that within our department.
Mr. Alcock: Mr. Speaker, can the minister explain why his
consultant says about his new system that the system seems to have lost sight
of the fact that it exists to protect children?
Mr. Gilleshammer: I want to assure the member‑‑and
he did reference the fact that he was a part of the system during the 1980s,
and I dare say, probably no employee of government during the 1980s had a
greater opportunity to make an impact on the child welfare system in
* (1040)
When
I made some announcements last June, we were the only people, I think, who were
talking about reform. We are bringing in
a Child Advocate. We have legislation
that is going to be tabled in this House in the near future. We have put in place a process to have a
management system, an automated system.
We are bringing in other legislation as well to improve the service that
vulnerable children in
Child
Advocate
Reporting
Process
Mr. Reg Alcock
(Osborne): I am glad the minister referenced the Child
Advocate. We have been concerned that
the minister wants to have the Child Advocate reporting to the minister. Will he implement the recommendation by Ms.
Suche that the children's advocate report directly to the Legislature, not to
the minister?
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Mr.
Speaker, the legislation that I refer to is on the Order Paper today. We will be tabling it in the Legislature next
week and look forward to the debate and the member's input on that legislation.
Economic
Growth
Employment
Creation Strategy
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): Mr. Speaker, in the government news release
dated March 11, issued with the budget, the Minister of Finance said the budget
calls for renewal of optimism. Several days before the budget was released, 32
jobs at Catelli moved because of free trade and other reasons. The day the budget was delivered, 450 jobs in
The Pas were being lost, people were being laid off. The day after, lumber merchants said there were
50 jobs at stake in the
Mr.
Speaker, when is the Minister of Finance and when is this government going to
get beyond PR exercises and public relations efforts and get to work in
creating employment for the 52,000 people who are unemployed and the hundreds
of people whose jobs are still in jeopardy because of the inaction of this
government?
Hon. Clayton Manness
(Minister of Finance): Mr. Speaker, I
listened carefully to the member's preamble.
I reject most of it, particularly one element where he says that 250
jobs were lost in The Pas region. [interjection] At where?
An Honourable Member: Layoffs.
Mr. Manness: Layoffs.
Mr. Speaker, I cannot help the fact that there was an explosion in the
pulp mill last week. I would say that
this was an act of God, and I was told by Repap that there are quick attempts
to try and rectify that situation.
I
am certain there is a difference in philosophical approach to the way we go to
government. I can tell you that tax
increases during the former administration totalled $820 million; increased
retail sales tax from 5 percent to 7 percent by the government previously; they
introduced an increased payroll tax, 2.25 percent of payroll, $230 million
attack on the disposable income of businesses and indeed of individuals;
personal net income tax and surtax of $230 million, an attack on disposable
income of individuals; increased corporation income tax from 15 percent to 17
percent.
Mr.
Speaker, if the member, as I said yesterday, wants to look at some of the
reasons and the problems as to why there is a slowdown in the economy not only
in
We
have done the right thing. We are
following the right path. The members
opposite, their path would lead to ruin.
Government
Strategy
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): If the government is following the right path,
why are businesses failing? Why do we
have the highest unemployment‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Question.
Mr. Storie: Mr. Speaker, the same budget is being called a
failure by business and industry, economists at the
Can
the minister indicate whether he is prepared to change or revamp some of the
programs he claims are being put in place to spur a recovery when the
economists at the
Hon. Clayton Manness
(Minister of Finance): Mr. Speaker, I will
take my lead as to the reaction certainly not from the opposition in this House
and certainly not from economists, particularly at the
Mr.
Speaker, I too am trained. My discipline
is in economics. I listen to the
feedback coming from others and I can tell you and members opposite that in the
five years that I have brought down budgets, my office has had the least number
of calls this time around as far as negative reaction. I can count the negative reaction on one
hand.
It
says to me, given the muted attempts by members opposite in their questions and
indeed their representation on the Budget Debate, that this budget, given the
circumstances, given the lack of revenue growth that the province has, given
the fact that we have tried to increase spending in the manner we have within
the social envelopes, Mr. Speaker, that this budget was balanced and fair under
the circumstances and has been well received by Manitobans.
Small
Business
Government
Initiatives
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Industry,
Trade and Tourism or the Minister of Finance explain why after cutting some
$700,000 from the Manitoba Research Council and after learning that the federal
government is about to change the mandate of the National Research Centre and
eliminate support for particularly the manufacturing sector but small business
as well, can the minister explain why the government has made no moves to
either support small businesses through its own initiatives or urge the federal
government not to abandon the manufacturing sector in the
Hon. Eric Stefanson
(Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): I
have to clarify some of the things that the honourable member mentioned.
When
this issue in terms of the institute for medical biodiagnostics first surfaced,
we received some concern, certainly from the opposition parties‑‑the
Liberal Party issued a press release at the time‑‑and we indicated
that all of the indications were that in fact it was going to be located here
in
I
would hope that most of the members, certainly the honourable member for Flin
Flon, should realize that there is an existing facility at the building on
If
the honourable member has taken the time to read the budget, which I hope he
has, he will notice that the Manitoba Research Council funding is going from
some $2 million to some $2.75 million to meet the very needs of our
manufacturing and business community here in
Inner-City
Renewal
Government
Commitment
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, this evening we are going to see
the last graduating class in the Core Area Initiative, one of the most
important and successful of all Core Area Initiative programs which provided
training, jobs and indeed new hope to many thousands of families in the city of
I
would like to ask the Minister of Urban Affairs to explain to the House why,
when the City of
Hon. Jim Ernst (Minister
of Urban Affairs): Mr. Speaker, the member for Wolseley is
incorrect in her preamble. We have for
the past number of months been attempting to negotiate an agreement with the
City of
We
hope that within the next little while that we are able to conclude a
satisfactory agreement, one that is satisfactory to us and to our two partners.
Core Area
Initiative
Education
Programs
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, in view of the absence of any
program now, I would like to ask the Minister of Education who is advising the
displaced core area families to apply to community colleges, whether she is
directing Red River Community College, for example, to expand its affirmative
action, its youth pre‑employment programs, the life skills and the
language programs which were crucial to the success of the Core Area Initiative
programs.
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr.
Speaker, I am very pleased that my colleague the honourable member in charge of
Urban Affairs will be looking forward to negotiating where possible a new
agreement, and then I will be happy to deal with the community colleges and
their programming.
* (1050)
Core Area
Initiative
Education
Programs
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, to the
Minister of Education then, will she tell the House what she is prepared to do
now at community colleges for students who no longer have the Core Area
Initiative, who no longer can get into community college programs? What is she going to do for those displaced
people in the inner city now?
Hon. Jim Ernst (Minister
of Urban Affairs): Mr. Speaker, the question of education for
disadvantaged people in the inner city has been well treated through this
government's tenure and the tenure of the previous government through the two
Core Area Initiative programs.
Most
Core Area Initiative programs were not mutually exclusive to any
government. It was started under the
Sterling Lyon government; it was continued under the former Howard Pawley
government‑‑unlike like some of the statements that have been
coming from the members opposite of recent times, that they were the soul
saviours of the inner city.
Mr.
Speaker, in terms of a new agreement, we are I believe very close to reaching a
new agreement. In addition to that, we
have taken existing core funds in order to extend the Core Area Initiative
training program for another two months until we can finalize this current
agreement. No one is going to be left in
the lurch.
Clean
Environment Commission
Funding
Mr. Paul Edwards (St.
James): Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of
Environment. The Minister of Environment
himself has said on many occasions, sustainable development is a philosophy
that is supposed to permeate all levels of governmental activity and
governmental decision making.
Unfortunately,
we have seen a fact that has been recognized by the Chamber of Commerce
recently, that this government appears to believe that sustainable development
is a term that can be assigned to an institute, a cabinet committee and then
forgotten. The hallmark of sustainable
development is assessing the environmental impact.
My
question for the Minister of Environment is:
Can he explain the cuts to the CEC, the Clean Environment Commission,
given the major water diversion plan supported by this Minister of Natural Resources
(Mr. Enns) that is going to be coming before that commission? Can he explain how the cuts to the CEC have
anything to do with sustainable development?