LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF
Friday,
March 20, 1992
The House met at 10 a.m.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE
PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTING
PETITIONS
Ms. Judy Wasylycia‑Leis
(
TABLING OF
REPORTS
Hon. Clayton Manness
(Minister of Finance): Mr. Speaker, I would
just like to table the Quarterly Report of the Manitoba Liquor Control
Commission, Nine Months, April to December 31, 1961; and
Also, in accordance with the provisions of
Rule 65(6.1): Sequence for the consideration of Estimates of the various government
departments.
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 Ste. Anne School, fifty Grades 5 and 6 students. They are under the direction of Margaret
Wyllie. This school is located in the
constituency of the honourable member for La Verendrye (Mr. Sveinson).
On behalf of all honourable members, I
welcome you here this morning.
ORAL
QUESTION PERIOD
Economic
Growth
All-Party
Task Force
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, over the last eight days, we have
had an excellent debate in this Chamber with the 56 members participating on a
debate on the budget and the economy in the
There has also been a strong consensus in
the speeches across all parties, Mr. Speaker, on the crisis
In fact, even two days ago in this
Chamber, the member for Rossmere (Mr. Neufeld), a former member of the Treasury
Board, said and I quote: "We have
to start putting party politics to the side and start contributing in a much
more positive, unpolitical, apolitical fashion in terms of how we get Manitoba out
of this rut." It was an excellent
speech. I did not agree with many
things, but I do agree with some things in his speech, Mr. Speaker, but there
have been many speeches in this Chamber and many good ideas.
I would ask the Premier today whether he
will now agree to have an all‑party task force to deal with the economic
crisis
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): I am delighted to hear the helpful attitude
from the prince of darkness opposite, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. I would remind the honourable First Minister that
we refer to all honourable members as honourable members.
Mr. Filmon: Well, Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is,
this is the ultimate all‑party committee.
We come here every day hoping to hear positive contributions. I am going to speak a little bit about that
in my contribution to the budget speech later this morning.
I am going to compare the attitude of the
Leader of the Opposition and his desire, his intense desire to paint everything
as black as possible, to put the worst possible cast on everything that is
going on day after day versus some of the positive contributions of members of
the Liberal Party. We will compare the
attitude and the approach. We will see
whether there is any real sincerity behind the comments that are made this morning
and the last day of debate after he has had an opportunity to make some
positive contributions and failed miserably, but in a death‑bed
conversion, comes this morning on the last day of debate on the budget with
some sort of new attitude.
We will talk about that a little later,
but I say to him, this is his opportunity every day. Make your positive suggestions. Make your positive contributions. We will welcome them and we will embrace
them.
* (1005)
Mr. Doer: I would note that we have been proposing this
idea for month after month after month as the economy slips down and down and
down, Mr. Speaker. Even members of his
own bench are talking about the economic crisis we are in.
I would ask the Premier in light of the
fact that many of the examples he uses in his own budget are from previous
governments, in terms of Unisys and other ideas‑‑and there is
nothing wrong with putting those in his own budget‑‑in light of the
fact that the government has rightfully, I believe, created a task force to deal
with the Constitution on two separate occasions, an all‑party task force
to work together, I would ask the Premier: Why is it more important, why is it
a higher priority to create an all‑party task force to deal with the
Constitution and not have an all‑party task force to deal with the
economic challenges we have in this province?
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, because in the conventional way
there is no all‑party mechanism on the Constitution normally, but in this
House we have an all‑party meeting daily.
On the Estimates everyday, we meet in party together in this
Assembly. Every new session, we have
eight days on the budget speech in which all members of this Legislature can
make their positive contributions.
Throughout the course of any session, we have 240 hours talking about
the priorities and the essential elements of government in this province. We are the only province in this country that
spends that amount of time that allows the opposition to make positive
contributions.
We wait for those positive
contributions. We wait for anything
other than negative gloom, doom, negative, negative, negative. That is all we get from the New Democratic
Party. That is the all‑party contribution we get from New Democrats, and we
await their positive contribution everyday that we come here.
Mr. Doer: Mr. Speaker, we have suggested for months that
we create an all‑party committee dealing with the economy. We have suggested for years that the
government have an economic summit with business, labour and government. All these ideas are rejected by the Premier
(Mr. Filmon). The Premier likes to pretend
that everything is okay; he likes to pretend that everything is fine in this
province.
The member for Rossmere (Mr. Neufeld) also
said that we must work together, we should work together in this deteriorating economy. It is very serious, and all members in this
Chamber, notwithstanding our rhetoric, acknowledge the fact that there is a
very serious situation in this province.
I again offer to the Premier an opportunity beyond just the question‑and‑answer
period which he knows is an adversarial forum.
I would ask the Premier: Why is he afraid to have an all‑party
committee when his own budget had many economic examples which had come out of
many previous governments as examples of excellence in our economy? Unisys and other projects were examples of
excellence for
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that
this government has been very open in ensuring that all elements of the
community were represented in some of the major economic initiatives, ones that
the members opposite are criticizing.
The Economic Innovation and Technology
Council, a bill which is before this Assembly, has representatives from
organized labour as part of that whole solution, has representatives from all
elements of the community, from the rural community, from the farm community,
from small business, from high technology, from resource extraction areas, from
processing, manufacturing, all of those areas included in that. The round table has representation from
labour, from environmental groups, from resource groups, from so many groups.
An Honourable Member: Save it for your speech.
Mr. Filmon: There you are, you see. They ask a question and then they become
insulting when an answer is given. The
fact of the matter is that this partisan group‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Point of
Order
Mr. Steve Ashton
(Opposition House Leader): Mr. Speaker, on a point
of order. The rules are very clear that
answers should relate to matters raised.
I know the Premier (Mr. Filmon) is anxious to get into his speech later
on the budget, but he was asked a very specific question about our proposal for
an all‑party committee. I would
ask that you remind him of that and ask him to bring his comments to order.
Mr. Speaker: On the point of order raised, I remind the honourable
First Minister to deal with the question raised.
* * *
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that I
have responded and members opposite refuse to hear.
* (1010)
We have an all‑party committee that
sits every day in this Chamber, 57 members from three different parties that
devote 240 hours to the debate of the priorities of this government, economic
and every other priority, that sits every year and debates for eight straight
days the budget of this government, all of the economic priorities, an
opportunity for positive contribution by all members opposite.
We have not seen any positive
contribution. We have seen negativism;
we have seen doom and gloom, and that is all we get from members opposite. If they cannot contribute any more than that,
Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is, their words are empty.
Health
Care System
Bed
Closures
Ms. Judy Wasylycia‑Leis
(
Patients are worried; hospital workers are
anxious; and now the doctors of
The Manitoba Medical Association has documented
6,000 to 7,000 Manitobans waiting for surgery, eye surgery, cardiovascular surgery,
orthopedic surgery, and in a letter sent yesterday to the Minister of Health,
the Manitoba Medical Association has also indicated that patients are forced to
wait months for CAT scans, MRIs and ultrasound diagnostic imaging.
I want to ask the minister in the
interests of uncertainty among patients and alarm being expressed by the
doctors: Will the minister finally
inform this House and all Manitobans about the total number of beds being cut,
the jobs being lost, services being reduced as a result of this government's‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The question has been put.
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, of course,
I cannot give my honourable friend that answer because that is a process that
the Urban Hospital Council, other informed groups, are participating in to
change fundamentally our health care system.
But one thing I can guarantee my honourable friend, it will not be 2,000
to 3,000 beds, as it is in
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that we are going
to have individual groups, including the MMA, the union representing the
doctors, offering advice and critique of how we approach, but I simply want to
remind my honourable friend that the recent spate of letters from that source on
waiting lists is at the same time before the arbitration board, where their
demands are beyond belief, and maybe there is an attachment.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: I would like to table this letter from the MMA,
since they have asked to be consulted by this government, and this minister has
refused to listen, to consult‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Question, please.
Health
Sciences Centre
Operating
Budget
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(St. Johns): How much, Mr. Speaker, is the Health Sciences
Centre‑‑which has just spent two days trying to address the
uncertainty and cutback directives from this government without thorough
briefing material and consultation by this government and this minister‑‑receiving
from this government? Is it 5 percent,
or is it less?
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, the overall increase to health
care is 5.7 percent. The increase is $101
million year over year; $53 million of that is an increase to the hospitals
alone. Of that $53 million, there will
be increases approximating 4 percent to 5 percent at each of our hospitals in
addition to the access those hospitals have to other innovative funds to allow
them to reshape their programs internally.
Mr. Speaker, I simply want to remind my
honourable friend the New Democratic Party Health critic that in
* (1015)
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, I am asking a straightforward question. I think we deserve clear answers to‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Question, please.
Ms. Wasylycia‑Leis:
Specifically, how much, what percentage increase
in their budget is the Health Sciences Centre receiving from this
government? How many beds are they being
asked to cut? How many jobs will be lost
at our largest hospital in the
Mr. Orchard: Mr. Speaker, government is not asking the
Health Sciences Centre to respond to any of those specific questions. The
government is asking the Health Sciences Centre, as we have asked every hospital,
to adhere to the policy put in place in 1987 by the New Democrats, this Health
critic around cabinet, which said when they cut 119 beds unilaterally out of
the system, I might remind you, that they shall operate within budget, that they
shall not have a deficit.
Each year hospitals ask for an
increase. Each year government provides
them with an increase. The Health
Sciences Centre will receive the lion's share of the $53‑million increase
to hospitals. It is less than what they
have asked for and that is why the Health Sciences Centre, as they have done
every year, will determine what they do to operate within that NDP policy of no
deficit with a funding of approximately $270 million.
Point of
Order
Mr. Steve Ashton
(Opposition House Leader): Mr. Speaker, it seems
that Fridays are becoming something of a tradition in this Chamber, and certain
members of government become particularly sensitive on Fridays. I just heard the Minister of Health call the
member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans), across the floor, a coward, which
is unparliamentary, Mr. Speaker.
Beyond that, I am wondering if we might
ask that we have some order in the House and we not stoop to that kind of
personal insult, Mr. Speaker, that we just heard from the Minister of Health.
Mr. Orchard: Mr. Speaker, I apologize to the member for
Mr. Speaker: I would like to thank the honourable Minister
of Health.
Mr. Orchard: . . . in referring to his absence of public presence
in 1987‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Point of
Order
Mr. Leonard Evans
(Brandon East): On a point of order, the minister is making
allegations that are totally without foundation in fact. He has no information. I asked him‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
On the first point of order raised, the
honourable Minister of Health has withdrawn those remarks.
Mr. Orchard: Mr. Speaker, to the same point of order
brought forward by my honourable friend, the senior cabinet minister in 1987,
when 29 beds were unilaterally cut from the
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. On that, there was no point of order.
Point of
Order
Mr. Ashton: Yes, Mr. Speaker, the word "cowardly"
does appear on our list in Beauchesne as having caused intervention in the past. If the minister was going to withdraw that
comment, it should be an unconditional withdrawal, as has been demanded of other
members; in fact, as the member for Flin Flon (Mr. Storie) withdrew last
week. I would like to ask you, Mr.
Speaker, to rule on whether in fact the minister has withdrawn that, so we can
get back to the proper business of this House, not cheap personal insults.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. On that point of order raised, I had already ruled
that the honourable Minister of Health had withdrawn that remark. On that point of order, I had ruled that that
point of order had been looked after.
On the second point of order, I had ruled
that the honourable member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans) did not have a
point of order.
Now, on with Question Period.
* (1020)
RCMP
Uniform
Government
Position
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr. Speaker,
when I got to my office this morning, I received an electronic message from the
Premier, for which I thank him. In that,
he said: "I invite you to join us
in observing this significant day," and he was referring to the
celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination tomorrow, "which serves to rekindle an awareness of our
rights and responsibilities as members of society."
I am pleased to see the members of the
government are wearing pins, as are most members on the other side as well.
My question is to the Premier. Both the Premier and the Minister of Justice
(Mr. McCrae) are on the record, not in this House but at public meetings and in
public statements, as stating that the wearing of turbans in the RCMP is a mark
of respect for the religious observances of the Sikhs.
Can the Premier tell this House how he
reconciles that belief with that of one of his backbenchers, the member for
Rossmere (Mr. Neufeld), who stated in this House on Tuesday, March 17, that
such a position compromised the RCMP for the sake of a few votes?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is, above
all, under the freedom of speech in this country that is awarded to each of us
by virtue of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we are entitled to our own
opinions and our own views.
If the member has a desire to take issue
with the individual opinions of any member of this Chamber on either side, she
is entitled to do that. I am responsible
for my opinion. My government sets its
policy, and we abide by those things. It
is very simple.
Mrs. Carstairs: I thank the Premier for that statement.
Charter of
Rights and Freedoms
Government
Support
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): The Premier
is entering very delicate negotiations which will indeed impact on the
definition of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which guarantees the right to
practise your religious faith and was the basis for the decision by the RCMP to
change their uniforms.
What assurance do we have from the Premier
that he will engage in a defence of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as per the
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, I would say to this that the member
knows that I am on the record and always have been on the record saying that we
support and defend totally the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Absolutely no question about it. That is the position of this First Minister;
that is the position of this government.
It has never varied, and it will not vary in any negotiations,
discussions that we have on the Constitution or anything else.
That is the assurance that I give her, and
that is the assurance that she can see by virtue of the actions of this government
and this First Minister.
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, my final question to the First Minister: Can the First Minister tell this House that
if the member for The Maples (Mr. Cheema) should choose to wear a turban on the
celebration of a religious holiday or, for that matter, for any day in this
House, such an action would not meet with disapproval with members of his back
bench?
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, the matter is a totally
hypothetical question, and I would assume that that matter is not in order in this
Chamber.
Judicial
System
Circuit
Court
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): Mr. Speaker, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry
report that this government has been in possession of now for many months says
that the situation involving aboriginal people in the justice system has deteriorated
rather than improved in the recent past.
It goes on to say that the delivery of justice to aboriginal people in aboriginal
communities through the provincial circuit court system is inequitable and inadequate. It is a system characterized by delay in an
era of colonialism.
One could only categorize the Minister of
Justice's (Mr. McCrae) response to my colleague the member for Rupertsland (Mr.
Harper) as paternalistic, as condescending, yesterday, when the member for
Rupertsland asked the minister to categorically deny that this government had
any intention of creating a two‑tiered system which would relegate
northern Manitobans to second‑class status when it comes to delivery of
justice.
Will the minister stand up in this House
today and categorically deny that that is the government's intention?
Hon. James McCrae
(Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Yes, indeed, Mr. Speaker.
* (1025)
Mr. Storie: Mr. Speaker, in October and again in
February, I wrote to the Minister of Justice.
Can the Minister of Justice explain why the circuit court system was
suspended for four months to the communities of Leaf Rapids and
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The question has been put.
Mr. McCrae: Mr. Speaker, in his first question, the
honourable member referred to aspects of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry which
identified shortcomings in the justice system in remote areas of
I am hopeful to be bringing forward soon
major improvements to the justice system in remote areas as well as in other
areas of
Mr. Storie: Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Justice
explain why a court party attending in
Mr. McCrae: The type of system that will be created has
not been finally determined, because we have not had the opportunity to include
in discussions about that the leadership of the aboriginal community.
There have been improvements made in the
justice system thus far since this government came to office. I remind the honourable member that out of
the many, many years that he and his colleagues were in office in this
province, it was during those years, to a large extent, some of these
difficulties arose. This government does
not want to be part of the problem as the previous government was. This government wants to make improvements. We desperately want to make improvements to
the justice system where improvements are required. We acknowledge that.
The honourable member is attempting, I
assume, to be helpful here. He can be
helpful by attempting to persuade aboriginal leadership to join us in solving
these problems.
Independent
Schools
Funding
Formula
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister
of Education.
Yesterday, the minister said I would be
interested in funding for the independent school in my constituency. I am interested in funding for all schools in
all constituencies, even St. John's‑Ravenscourt located in the minister's
constituency that is going to get 9 percent this year while public schools are
laying off teachers in her constituency.
Mr. Speaker, will the minister not
reconsider her position, given its inherent unfairness?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr. Speaker,
this government is interested in quality education for all students in
Mr. Chomiak: Mr. Speaker, can the minister indicate whether
she will be breaking the agreement signed by this government with the independent
schools with respect to the increase that is automatically going to be given
and that the independent schools' chairperson agrees is going to be 9 percent
this year?
Mrs. Vodrey: Mr. Speaker, the agreement which the member
refers to, which yesterday he claimed was confidential, in fact has never been
a confidential agreement and has been spoken about in the time since it was
signed, but that letter of agreement is in fact an agreement between this
government and the Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools.
Now, the effect of breaking that agreement
would be very serious to the taxpayers of this province because it is a phased‑in
funding amount, and it is only funding relating to operating costs.
Mr. Chomiak: My final supplementary to the same
minister: Will the minister consider in
her talks with the private schools that she says she is going to have, that she
tells them about the financial situation of the government and that they
consider taking the same increase in funding that the public school system has
been forced to take this year by this government?
* (1030)
Mrs. Vodrey: Mr. Speaker, I have met with the independent schools,
as I have met with school divisions across this province, in the range of
almost 20 school divisions, to examine their particular issues as it relates to
our new funding formula, but in our opinion, this is an agreement.
Health
Care System
Bed
Closures
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister
of Health.
Recent news stories on the proposed
closure and realignment of hospital beds in
Can the minister today at least give us a
time frame when he will make the announcement about these proposed bed
closures?
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, what we have
this year is no different than any other year where budget requests are made of
the hospitals and government through the process of deciding where our
priorities are in spending, makes decisions on the funding increase to
respective departments. This year, the government again decided to provide
health care in hospitals, in particular, with a much more significant increase than
other departments of government.
We did that because (a) we did not raise
taxes for the fifth budget in a row; (b) we do not believe, as others believe
and other political philosophies particularly the New Democrats', that you can
pave your way to future prosperity by borrowing against tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, what is going on this year is
an exercise that with an approximate 5 percent increase to hospitals, how they will
arrange their programming. Some of the
programming will not be in the hospital environment as happened in
I suspect that as hospitals deal with
their budgets, liaise with an increased home‑care budget to provide more
community services, an increased personal care home budget to provide more long‑term
care, that there will be changes in the hospital program. The patient will be provided with budget for
care in the most appropriate location, and that is the exercise hospitals right
now are going through‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Community-Based
Health Care
Government
Initiatives
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): Can the minister tell us what other
alternative methods of community care are being considered other than the home
care services, because as the news media is telling us, 300 beds are going to
be closed? Patients want to know how
they are going to be served in the long run.
It is a major issue, Mr. Speaker.
We are asking for simple information.
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): With all due respect,
the media is speculating on rumours brought to this House by honourable members
in the opposition.
Mr. Speaker, as I explained in
Health
Care System
Labour
Adjustment Strategy
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): Mr. Speaker, we were simply asking for
information. Can the minister tell us in
view of all these reports and the health care reform, what kind of planning does
he have for the health care workers who are going to be displaced by some of
the major changes? What kind of labour planning
does he have to retrain them so that they can work in the community level?
Hon. Donald Orchard
(Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, let me deal with that issue
exactly as it is being dealt with in
What I can tell my honourable friend is
that in the circumstance of
GRIP
Program
Notification
Deadline
Mr. John Plohman
(Dauphin): Mr. Speaker, clearly this Minister of
Agriculture has missed the deadline for informing farmers of changes to
GRIP. Clause 37 is explicit, and I
quote: Changes must be mailed to the
farmers by March 15 prior to the contract year for which the changes are first
to come into effect.
This violation or this breaking of the
contract by the Minister of Agriculture, breaking of an agreement, is a fundamental
breach, Mr. Speaker, of the contract by government, and therefore removes any
obligation on the part of the farmer to remain in the program if coverage
levels or premium levels are altered in a detrimental way to the farmers.
Can this Minister of Agriculture explain
to this House on what legal basis he and his spokespersons in Crop Insurance
are going around saying that the government has no obligation to announce
changes by March 15 even though it is in the contract?
Hon. Glen Findlay
(Minister of Agriculture): Mr. Speaker, I want to
inform the member that the Crop Insurance Corporation, on March 12 of 1992,
sent to farmers amendments to the contract for revenue insurance. That is prior to March 15.
Legal
Opinion Request
Mr. John Plohman
(Dauphin): Mr. Speaker, this has not been sent to the
farmers by March 15.
Will the minister table a legal opinion,
instead of trying to alter history here today because his spokespersons have
said the opposite, that either confirms his statements or rejects them? Do we
have a fundamental breach or do we not?
Hon. Glen Findlay
(Minister of Agriculture): Mr. Speaker, this program
has undergone a fair level of evolution.
As I told the member a few days ago, particularly
I can tell the member that neither
Mr. Speaker, I want to remind you that
amendments were mailed to the producers in a letter of March 12, 1992.
Premium
Levels
Mr. John Plohman
(Dauphin): Mr. Speaker, revision is history from this
minister.
Will this minister now announce today, to
remove the uncertainty, that there will be no reduction in coverage levels and
no increase in premiums for the coming year, or does he believe that contracts
are only for farmers and not for arrogant governments?
Hon. Glen Findlay
(Minister of Agriculture): Mr. Speaker, the attempt
in
As I told the member the other day,
Mr. Speaker, that is the condition under
which farmers need protection, if they have a poor crop. I can guarantee him that
Highway
Maintenance
Responsibility
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (
Last year we saw devastating cuts to the Highways
budget, cuts of $9 million. The bridge
program was cut, a tremendous offloading onto municipalities.
How can the minister support an additional
cut this year of a million dollars to the highways maintenance which will
impact again on municipalities, and they are going to have to pick up extra
costs‑‑more offloading onto municipalities?
* (1040)
Hon. Albert Driedger
(Minister of Highways and Transportation): Mr. Speaker, I was not quite sure whether
I caught the total question. I want to
indicate that if the member wants to take the time to look at what happened in
my budget for this year, I think the rural people are going to be well served.
The bridge program has been returned. There has been an increase in the grant‑in‑aid
programs that I have with the local municipalities. My capital program is $103 million for this year. I do not know where she gets the idea that
there is further offloading, Mr. Speaker.
We are trying to recover from that.
Regional
Development Corporations
Funding
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member has put her question.
Hon. Leonard Derkach
(Minister of Rural Development): Mr. Speaker,
I guess I am happy to say that over the last year, there have been several
initiatives introduced by this government to indeed help rural communities to
not only survive, but to revitalize rural communities.
Mr. Speaker, I point to a program like the
rural Grow Bonds Program, which has been introduced some months ago, has been taken
up by many communities. In addressing
some of the municipal functions and attending some of the local meetings in rural
communities, I have to tell you that Manitobans are very excited about the
rural Grow Bonds Program and the fact that it could be a very key instrument in
revitalizing our rural economy.
In the next short while, we will be
announcing other programs which will generate other forms of assistance to
rural communities to help them grow and prosper in this province.
Mrs. Wowchuk: Mr. Speaker, I wish the people in rural Grow
Bonds every bit of success.
Mr. Speaker: Question, please.
Rural
Development
Government
Initiatives
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (
Hon. Leonard Derkach
(Minister of Rural Development): Mr. Speaker,
I have to tell you that Manitobans, and especially rural Manitobans, are
getting somewhat tired of the gloom‑and‑doom philosophy of the NDP.
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about programs
like the Grow Bonds Program, the program that is going to be announced with
regard to revenues from Video Lottery Terminals, when we look at what we have
done for the rural economy in terms of the support we have given through the
GRIP program, Manitobans indeed are looking positively toward renewed growth in
our rural economy. The negativism that
we are hearing from the other side is just not accepted in rural
Mr. Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.
Nonpolitical Statements
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable member for