LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF
Monday, December 7, 1992
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTING PETITIONS
Ms. Avis Gray (Crescentwood): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present thepetition of Mona
Yvon, Tanis Finney, Darlene Jackson and others,urging the government of
Mr. Speaker: I have
reviewed the petition of the honourablemember for
To the Legislature of the
WHEREAS each year smoke from stubble burning descends
uponthe
WHEREAS the Parents Support Group of Children with Asthma
haslong criticized the harmful effects of stubble burning; and
WHEREAS the smoke caused from stubble burning is not
healthyfor the general public and tends to aggravate the problems ofasthma
sufferers and people with chronic lung problems; and
WHEREAS alternative practices to stubble burning
arenecessitated by the fact that the smoke can place some people inlife‑threatening
situations; and
WHEREAS the 1987 Clean Environment Commission Report
onPublic Hearings, "Investigation of Smoke Problems fromAgriculture Crop
Residue and Peatland Burning," contained therecommendation that a review
of the crop residue burningsituation be conducted in five years' time,
including are‑examination of the necessity for legislated regulatory
control.
THEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray that the
LegislativeAssembly will urge the government of
TABLING OF REPORTS
Hon. Albert Driedger (Minister of Highways and
Transportation):Mr.
Speaker, I would like to table the Annual Report for the year1991‑92 for
the Department of Highways and Transportation.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
Bill 11‑The
Regional Waste Management Authorities,
The Municipal Amendment
andConsequential Amendments Act
Hon. Leonard Derkach (Minister of Rural Development): Mr.Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister
of Agriculture (Mr.
Motion agreed to.
Introduction of Guests
Mr. Speaker: Prior to
Oral Questions, may I direct the attentionof honourable members to the
Speaker's Gallery, where we havewith us this afternoon, His Excellency Ignatius
Olisemeka, theHigh Commissioner of
On behalf of all members, I would like to welcome you
herethis afternoon, sir.
Also with us this afternoon we have seated in the
publicgallery, thirty Grade 5 students from the
Also from the
On behalf of all members, I would like to welcome you
herethis afternoon.
ORAL QUESTION PERIOD
Core Area Agreement
Federal Participation
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Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, myquestion is to the
Premier. During the election of 1990,
thePremier promised during that campaign to renegotiate an innercity core
tripartite agreement to build upon the successes of thepast two
agreements. Subsequent to that date in
1990, theMinister of Urban Affairs agreed after the election to extend thedate
of the second Core. Since that time we
have heard varyingcomments of optimism, cautious optimism and concern from
theprovincial government about the success of the renegotiationswith the
federal Conservative government on the Core AreaAgreement.
Mr. Speaker, in 1991 the Premier himself, who was meeting
atthat time again with the Prime Minister, said the matter ofrenewal with the
federal government for urban revitalizationcontinues to be a matter of
discussion between the two parties.Again Thursday the Premier was meeting with
the Prime Minister,and as we understand that was also a matter of discussion
betweenthe two Conservative leaders, the provincial Conservative Premierand the
federal Prime Minister.
I would like to ask the Premier today in light of the
needfor a third Core Area Agreement, a need that we believe waspassed in terms
of extending the date, has the Premier secured atripartite agreement to
revitalize and continue to revitalize notonly the physical part of the Core
Area Agreement but the humancomponents of our Core Area Agreement?
Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of theOpposition is
quite right in saying that was a subject that Icovered with the Prime Minister
on Thursday. In fact, in thediscussion I
indicated to him that this had been a matter thathad been open in discussion
for more than two years between ourtwo governments. It is a matter that we believe is very,
veryimportant to the city of
We as a province have made our commitment. In fact, we haveeven indicated to the city
that we would go with a bilateralagreement with the City of
Mr. Doer: Mr.
Speaker, I hope that the federal government comesthrough. I think all Manitobans would not want to see
us leftwith a bilateral greement. In
fact, I am quite surprised thePremier would make that statement in the House
today, knowingthat the federal government will read his comments and feel
nottoo compelled to follow through on this tripartite agreement.They have just
potentially saved themselves $35 million overthree years.
Mr. Speaker, the government chose to extend the 1991 date,and
they announced that right after the provincial election inOctober 1990. We thought at that time that was a
negotiatingerror on the part of the province, that they had allowed thefederal
government not only to offload by extending the date butthey allowed the
federal government to be removed from theculminating deadline of the closing of
the Core Area components.
I ask the Premier:
Now that it was his strategy to extendthe date and his strategy now to
say that they are willing to gowith a bilateral agreement, how does he intend
to lever thefederal government so that we can get a third Core Area
Agreementand that we can get federal money that is absolutely required forthe
inner city of this province, the inner city of
Mr. Filmon: Mr.
Speaker, there are two things to that question;one is that the Leader of the
Opposition is anticipating orassuming that the agreement would be on the same
terms andconditions and with the same programs and priorities as
previousagreements, and I think that our Minister of Urban Affairs (Mr.Ernst)
has already indicated that such would not be the case. Soa mere continuation of the previous program
is not what we arelooking for.
Secondly, with respect to issues such as going
itbilaterally, the reality is that the federal government has doneas it did in
renewing the agreement with the previous NDPgovernment, offered reprofiled
money and not new money. We havesome
concerns about the fact that the previous governmentaccepted reprofiled money
as opposed to getting new money. Wehave
said that if that is all that is on the table, we obviouslydo not need the
federal government in it. They have already
gotthat money committed through EIC, through Pathways and otherprograms. We are looking for new money, and that is why
webelieve that it is irrelevant to the bargaining to say that weare committed,
along with the city, and we will not let the citydown if the feds do not come
in with new money.
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Core Area Agreement
Government Priorities
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, the CoreArea Agreement has
received international awards for the trainingcomponent of the program, for the
Infill Housing Programs, forthe kind of human programs that are contained
within the CoreArea Agreement.
I would like to ask the Premier today, the human
investmentthat was featured in both Core I and Core II, the humaninvestment in
people as well as the physical investments thattook place in Core I and II, the
Forks being one of the notableones in Core II‑‑are the human
dimensions and human investmentsnot contained as priorities of the provincial
government in athird revitalized Core Agreement? Can we know from thegovernment today, what
are the actual priorities of thisgovernment?
Would they have allowed the federal government toextend the
agreement? They have allowed the federal
governmentnot to participate in the third agreement; we have no new
federalmoney, as we did in Core I and Core II.
What are the prioritiesof this provincial government, and why are we not
succeeding interms of a Core III with the federal Conservative government?
Hon. Jim Ernst (Minister of Urban Affairs): Mr. Speaker,certainly the human elements, as
the Leader refers to them,contained in past Core Area Agreements have been
successful inlarge part. Things such as
the core area training program and soon, I have had an opportunity to be there
to see the kind ofpeople who have graduated from those programs, to see
thebenefits that the programs have brought to those individuals. Wewould want to see those kinds of things
continue in a futureagreement.
We are, Mr. Speaker, not tied to any specifics at the
moment,because I have publicly committed the government to hold publichearings
along with the mayor and hopefully Mr. Epp or whomeveris the senior member of
the federal government in order to hearwhat the people of the core area want,
what they see as theirpriorities, what they see as the successful programs that
werecontained in the Core Area Agreement of the past and what newideas have
come forward. We have some new ideas
ourselves, andwe will be unveiling those at the same time so that people havean
opportunity to comment on those very excellent programs thatwe have had in the
past and on the new ideas that we will bebringing forward in the future.
Chris Davis
Wheelchair Purchase
Ms. Judy Wasylycia‑Leis (
My question to the Minister of Health is, what is his
delay?He has known about this situation for five months. Why not giveChris assurances today that the
department will purchase thewheelchair, so that at least one aspect of the
community carerequirements of Chris Davis are met and he is cared for?
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Hon. Donald Orchard (Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, myhonourable friend makes the
case that all we have to do ispurchase a wheelchair, one of 10 in
Mr. Speaker, my honourable friend further alleges that
Ipersonally knew of the individual circumstance for five months.I did not,
because in many circumstances the Department ofHealth, working with other
ministries, attempts to findappropriate community placements for individuals for
whomhospital care would be an inappropriate location. Thisindividual is one of those.
Mr. Speaker, what we are attempting to do, and this has
beenan ongoing process, is to find the most appropriate communityplacement for
living to assure that the medical needs which arenot simple medical needs are
able to be met for this individualso that placement in other than an acute care
hospital can assurethe individual's safety.
Mr. Speaker, my statement to Chris today was, the issue
cameto light on Friday because the supplier of the specializedwheelchair
announced on their own initiative that they werepulling the chair by five
o'clock on Friday. I suggested thatwas
an inappropriate time line for the supplier to undertakebecause we expect,
through co‑operation between the departmentsand with Chris, to resolve
this problem, Sir.
Ms. Wasylycia‑Leis: Mr. Speaker, the impossible was morepossible
several years ago.
I would like to ask the Minister of Health how it waspossible
for this government several years ago to purchase asimilar wheelchair for
someone with similar needs to that ofChris Davis, that person now living and
doing very well in Fokushousing.
Why is it harder now, after this government's health
carereform initiative, to move towards cost‑effective community‑basedcare
than post his announced plan of action?
Mr. Orchard: Again,
Mr. Speaker, I do not know of what similarwheelchair‑‑because it is
my understanding that this wheelchairis one of 10 of the new model. It is not, as my honourablefriend alleges,
the one that we purchased two years ago.
Let me explain for my honourable friend how the
ministryworks, and this is not unusual because this is a similar processthat
has taken place for a number of years.
We provide modifiedwheelchairs, motorized in the case where needed,
where mobilityis impossible without a motorized wheelchair. Depending on thecircumstance of the individual's
need, those wheelchairs aremodified and modified quite significantly.
Mr. Speaker, that opportunity exists for this
individual.The specialized wheelchair, yes, is one that would meet hisneeds,
but there are also programs for modifying wheelchairs toalso accommodate that
need. Overriding that, the wheelchair
isnot the only issue. What is needed to
be determined and providedis a safe placement for this individual that will
meet theindividual's medical needs with assurance that they will not
becompromised. That is the process that
has been ongoing in termsof stabilizing the individual, assessing medical needs
andplanning for safe placement other than in a hospital.
Service Co‑ordination
Ms. Judy Wasylycia‑Leis (
Hon. Donald Orchard (Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, as usual,my honourable friend
considerably stretches her facts. Let
usdeal with some of the special needs individuals that were therein 1988 when
this government came into office. Let us
considerthe head injured, on their desk in 1988 when we took
overgovernment. What is the solution
today?‑‑a special wing in
Let us deal with another issue of the young disabled,
Mr.Speaker. What we are doing is working
with a number ofproponents in the health care community for the provision
ofyoung disabled placements in the community to meet specialmedical needs, more
appropriately met in specialized facilities.
Mr. Speaker, my honourable friend says there has been
nothinggoing on. The only thing that has
not been going on is myhonourable friend's understanding of significant change
in thehealth care system under this government.
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Investigation
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs (Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.Speaker, my question is to the Minister
responsible for ManitobaHydro.
I think everyone in this House is relieved that there was
noloss of life or serious injury as a result of the explosion lastFriday. I would like to know from the minister if he
can tell usif this incident is being investigated by Hydro officials or hashe
directed an impartial independent authority to examine whathappened and to make
public their report.
Hon. James
I can inform the House that we are extremely fortunate,
allManitobans, that there was not any loss of life or limb, or infact any
injuries. We are extremely thankful for
that. As well,Mr. Speaker, there is a
full investigation being carried out byWorkplace Safety and Health, as well as
Manitoba Hydro. At thispoint, we are
trying to work to co-ordinate all activities asthey relate to that issue.
It is my understanding as well, the Fire
Commissioner'sOffice has it under full investigation. I want to take thisopportunity, if the member
does not mind, to acknowledge the hardwork and effort of all the people,
individuals and agencies thatparticipated and helped on Friday with people who
foundthemselves under the stress of the extreme incident. I canassure the member that it is being fully
investigated.
Compensation
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs (Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.Speaker, there is a serious question about
insurance that hasbeen raised for those businesses and, more importantly,
theindividuals who have been affected, nearby homeowners andtenants, some of
whom have no dwelling whatsoever to live in.Processing of all of those claims
will obviously take some time.
Can the minister give us any information today with
respectto interim compensation, particularly for those people who haveimmediate
needs such as window replacement and in some casesalternate accommodations?
Hon. James Downey (Minister responsible for The
As far as interim arrangements are concerned, I am
preparedto work with other agencies that are involved in government tomake sure
that there is in fact support provided.
There is amunicipal responsibility as well, as it relates to that. To whatamount Family Services are involved, I
am not sure, but we areworking to try and co-ordinate some support.
Mr. Speaker, there is, of course, until all the
investigationwork is done, some question as to who in fact was responsible ina
legal manner as to the accident. Until
the full investigationis done, I cannot respond any further on that.
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr.
Speaker, can the minister tell us if thedepartment will be working with
claimants in order to ensure thatthose claims are made as rapidly as possible
and that they aresettled as quickly as possible?
Mr. Downey: Mr.
Speaker, again, it is a matter of making sureindividuals are accommodated to
the best way possible. I want toassure
the member that we are prepared to co‑operate and workwith all agencies
that will in fact try to accommodateindividuals during this difficult time.
As far as insurance claims and settlement, there has to
be alot of work done as to the responsibility as to who in fact
wasresponsible. The investigation, I am
sure, will clarify a lot ofthose details.
The Pas,
Justice System Backlog
Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): Mr. Speaker, my question isdirected to the
Minister of Justice.
Over a year ago, when the AJI report was released by
theMinister of Justice, he stated that there was nothing that he wasworking
harder on. The St. Theresa Point Youth
Court receivedfunding after a press conference in our office here not all
thatlong ago. Later on, the Hollow Water
Healing Circle alsoreceived some funds, as have a few other joint projects with
thefederal government, including the Swampy Cree tribal justiceproject and the
Island Lake Tribal Council family violenceproject. Since then, almost nothing has happened, Mr.
Speaker.
My question is:
Since there are over 300 court casesoutstanding in The Pas, with delays
of up to nine months now, aswe are speaking here today, will the minister now
hire a secondCrown attorney who is familiar with things like healing circlesand
other aboriginal justice systems to clear up the backlog thatis in The Pas?
Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Justice and Attorney
General):Mr.
Speaker, I thank the honourable member for raising thisquestion, because he
should be advised that the Department ofJustice is in the process of hiring a
second prosecutor in ThePas. There has
been a delay, and that delay is occasioned by thedesire of the Department of
Justice, if possible, to hirelocally.
That creates some challenges for us.
We are dealingwith that, and that prosecutor will be in place
shortly. In themeantime, we are dealing
with the situation as best we canthrough the use of
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Aboriginal Justice
System
Program Funding
Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): Mr. Speaker, I would also like toask a
question to the same minister.
Given that the year is almost over now, will the
ministerrelease the complete list of all projects that have been fundedfrom the
AJI budget that was set aside for the fiscal year '92‑93?
Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Justice and Attorney
General):Mr.
Speaker, the Department of Justice is working very closelywith some aboriginal
communities in this province through theauspices of the Aboriginal Court Worker
Advisory Committee. Thatadvisory
committee has membership representing the Assembly of
The honourable member will know that just over a week ago
Iattended a native justice round table discussion in
Mr. Lathlin: Mr.
Speaker, I still say that we should have a listof those projects that have been
funded through the AJI budgetfor '92‑93.
Aboriginal Justice
Inquiry
Recommendation Analysis
Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The Pas): My third question is again to theMinister of Justice,
Mr. Speaker, and that is, the department hasbeen doing analysis on the AJI
recommendations; I want to ask theminister if he is prepared to release that
departmental analysisof all that was done on the recommendations of the report
so thatManitobans can see for themselves why so many of thoserecommendations
have either been dismissed or are not implementedor are being shelved and for
whatever reason.
Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Justice and Attorney
General):Many
of the recommendations in the Aboriginal Justice Inquiryflow from the key
recommendation that there be separate andsovereign systems of government for
aboriginal people. That isnot a
recommendation that we are in a position to accept sotherefore a number of the
recommendations in the justice inquiryare not able to be acted upon.
As I was saying in my last question, this was a matter
thatwas debated between the Assembly of First Nations Grand ChiefMercredi and
myself just over a week ago. Obviously
Grand ChiefMercredi, like the honourable member, will continue to putforward
the concept of separate sovereign systems of governmentwhich include separate
sovereign justice systems for aboriginalpeople.
As I said to Ovide Mercredi, I will say to the
honourablemember, we can debate that until we are both very, very old andin the
meantime we will not have done anything.
That is not goodenough, because the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry says that
too, andthere is general agreement that where we can work co‑operativelywith
communities we should indeed be doing that.
That isprecisely what we are doing.
The discussion of political will came up, the issue
ofpolitical will to create better systems of justice. Thepolitical will has to come not only from
provincial governmentsand the federal government but also from aboriginal
communities.The honourable member's community is one of those communitiesthat
has demonstrated it has political will and has moved withthe government to‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order,
please.
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Emilio Garcia
Parole Review
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Mr. Speaker, my question is for theMinister
of Justice. It is ironic hearing the
minister'scomments this morning that the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry alsostated
that aboriginal people represent a disproportionate amountof people who were
incarcerated because many cannot pay fines andhave trouble understanding the
justice system.
We have learned that Emilio Garcia, a lawyer in the city
of
Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Justice and Attorney
General): Iam not sure how the honourable member's, the
two parts of hisquestion tie together.
We did not need an Aboriginal JusticeInquiry to tell us that there were
a disproportionate number ofaboriginal people involved in our justice
system. The honourablemember should have
known that long before the Aboriginal JusticeInquiry. The members on this side of the House
certainly knewthat.
The justice inquiry did provide some useful advice
togovernment and to aboriginal communities, but surely for thehonourable member
to tell us that he did not know about thatbefore the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry
says something that israther disturbing about him and the members on his side
of theHouse. The honourable member asks
about a specific case. Ishall conduct some
inquiries and ascertain some information forthe honourable member on that case.
Mr. Chomiak: Mr.
Speaker, my supplementary to the sameminister.
Talk about a sovereign system‑‑how is it thisindividual got
out when the rules on parole that any of us areaware of‑‑it is
totally contrary to rules on parole to be outafter three months on a 64‑month
sentence. The minimum rulesthat we are
apprised of are one‑sixth of your sentence before youget out on day
parole, and how did this individual get out?
Talkabout a sovereign system.
Mr. McCrae: The
reason for my taking notice of the honourablemember's question is I want to
ensure that the information thehonourable member is bringing forward is
correct. We havecertainly seen plenty of
examples‑‑not as many times from thehonourable member as from some
of his colleagues who occupy thefront benches‑‑of incorrect
information being brought forward.Certainly three months on a 64‑month
sentence does deserve to belooked into and that is exactly what I told the
honourable memberI would do.
Mr. Chomiak: Mr.
Speaker, I am wondering if the minister canalso apprise the House whether or
not there is an ongoinginvestigation as to the $3 million that is still
outstanding interms of this trust fraud in light of the fact that the
LawSociety is concerned that some of that money may have been movedout of the
country.
Mr. McCrae: My
understanding is that when this kind of mattercomes forward every member of the
legal profession in thisprovince is extremely concerned for various reasons and
all ofthem very good reasons. On that question,
I will take thatquestion as notice as well.
Universities
Tuition Fees
Mr. Reg Alcock (Osborne): Mr. Speaker, I have a question for theMinister
of Education. Since this government took
office, feesat the
I would like to know from the Minister of Education, what
isthis year's policy on student fees?
Are they intending to holdthe line at all?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Education and Training): Mr.Speaker, I have some laryngitis and so I am
going to try andanswer the member's question as well as I can, and I hope that
hewill be able to hear me.
I think that it is very important for the member
tounderstand that we also have great concern around the issue ofstudent tuition
fees. We are in the process now of going
throughour budget cycle in the Department of Education as a departmentin
government. We are making every effort
to take intoconsideration issues relating to university funding and theimpact
on student tuition.
Mr. Alcock: Mr.
Speaker, the policy to date has been to transferthe cost of universities off
the general revenues onto the debtloads of students. I would like to ask the minister: Will sherecommend through the Universities
Grants Commission to theuniversities that they hold university fee increases
this year tothe cost of inflation?
Mrs. Vodrey: Mr.
Speaker, the issue again of student tuition hasbeen of concern to this
government. We have made every attemptto
assist students, where tuition fees have risen, to make surethat those students
then have available to them student aid whichmay be of assistance to them to
allow them to continue in theireducational process.
Mr. Speaker, that is correct. The government has allowed thestudents to
pick up on their debt load with its inability to fundthe university.
Student Financial
Assistance
Mr. Reg Alcock (Osborne):
Mr. Speaker, I would ask the ministerif she can report to the House what
progress she has made in herdiscussions with the federal government,
discussions she wasquite proud of in Estimates last year, and whether or not
she hasbeen able to encourage them or get them to increase basic supportrates
for students.
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Education and Training): Mr.Speaker, as the member knows, I have had
two face‑to‑facemeetings with the federal minister
responsible. I have alsocommunicated by
letter to him. I have met with the
studentpresidents from
In addition, Mr. Speaker, the Council of Ministers
ofEducation from across
Manitoba Public
Insurance Corporation
No-Fault Insurance
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Mr. Speaker, I have a questionfor the
Minister responsible for MPIC.
Mr. Speaker, this minister has acknowledged that
Autopacrates could increase by as much as 90 percent in the next sevenyears. The previous NDP government asked Judge
Kopstein torecommend ways to reduce Autopac costs. The major recommendationof Judge Kopstein is
in the report, and I will read that onemajor recommendation: In my opinion, the inclination of a pureno‑fault
automobile insurance system is the issue which requiresmost urgent
consideration by the government of the province of
Mr. Speaker, my question to the minister is: Why has theminister refused to act on this
recommendation, which he has hadover four years, in order to really bring
Autopac costs down?
Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister charged with the administration
ofThe Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act): Mr. Speaker,obviously, the member has been
reading with some interestarticles that he saw in today's paper.
The fact is, Mr. Speaker, that we have been looking
verycarefully at the cost containment in terms of the total cost tothe people
of the province. Over the last three
years, since wesaw the 28 percent that his previous government imposed on
thepeople of this province, the cost increases in the corporationhave not been
that dramatic. The fact is that there is
a trendbeginning to develop again in personal injury costs that we needto
examine.
Public Utilities Board
Process
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Mr. Speaker, I want to be veryspecific with
this minister about costs.
Will this minister confirm that when the group
representingAutopac brokers and agents raised the matter of limiting agencyfees
and commissions with the MPIC, the corporation told them
Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister charged with the administration
ofThe Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act): Mr. Speaker, Iam not sure if I even followed
the member's question, but I donot think I have any knowledge of whereof he is
speaking.
Mr. Leonard Evans: The
minister asked me to repeat thatquestion, my second question. Well, Mr. Speaker, it is obviousthat they
were asked to follow the proper procedure, and thiscabinet was prepared to
abort the proper procedure.
Agents' Fees
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Mr. Speaker, my last questionto the minister
is: Will the minister now reconsider
hisposition, in light of his acknowledgement of rapid increases inthe future as
well as those in the past? Will this
ministerreconsider his position on agency fees and allow Autopac toproceed to
cap agency or broker fees to 3 percent now instead ofallowing them to rise to
nearly 10 percent? Let us have
someaction now. Let us save a million
dollars right now.
Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister charged with the administration
ofThe Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act): Mr. Speaker, inthe incorporation of the
changes of Autopac 2000, as I have saidto the member several times, there will
be a dramatic change inthe way the corporation does business and the way that
they dobusiness with their agents as well as the public.
Mr. Speaker, in putting together that proposal that has
beentaking place for over the last three and a half years, it hasbeen one of
the primary focuses of the corporation to movetowards these cyclical
renewals. Why would you now decide
thatin the middle of those discussions, you should all of a suddenchange
direction?
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Labour Force Development
Government Initiatives
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, over 70,000 Manitobansare now
dependent upon social assistance. The
vast majority ofthose families want and need training and retraining, but we
havea government in
I want to ask the Minister of Education: Will she tell theHouse when she will sign
that agreement with
Mr. Speaker: Order,
please. The honourable member has put
herquestion.
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Education and Training): Mr.Speaker, we have been working on the
signing of theCanada‑Manitoba Labour Force Development Agreement. We are, Ibelieve, very close to making sure
that the interests ofManitobans are now represented in that agreement, and I
expect tobe looking at signing it very shortly.
Consultations
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, I would like to askthe minister
to change the policy that she announced in thisHouse last Thursday, when she
said that she would not consult anyfurther with the labour movement or with
education until aftershe had signed that agreement. I want to give her theopportunity to retract
that.
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Education and Training): Mr.Speaker, I believe the member has
misconstrued any remarks made.
We have in fact met and are very willing to consult
withbusiness, with industry and with labour to make sure that theirinterests
are represented and most particularly, Mr. Speaker, tomake sure that their
interests are represented in the formationof any boards which then will flow
from the signing of thatagreement.
Crop Insurance Review
Report Release
Mr. John Plohman (Dauphin): Mr. Speaker, I have a question forthe
Minister of Agriculture.
The crop insurance review was undertaken last year, after
ageneral concern that was expressed throughout the province aboutinequities in
crop insurance, crop insurance distortions invarious areas of the
province. The minister undertook a
reviewwith a committee that was appointed that travelled throughout theprovince
and provided him with a report that he received lastJune. That is over five months ago. Since June, this ministerhas not released that
report, despite repeated requests that havebeen made by myself and many others
for this report.
I want to ask the minister: Why will he not release the cropinsurance
review report that was undertaken? What
is he hiding?
Hon. Glen Findlay (Minister of Agriculture): Mr. Speaker, we arehiding nothing. We had a very open process of 10 people
goingaround and hearing input from producers and agribusiness people,whoever
wanted to come forward and make some comment to the CropInsurance Commission.
On behalf of the board of directors of Manitoba CropInsurance
and the minister and the federal minister, all threeparties are reviewing
it. Many of the aspects in the review
arenow being implemented by the Crop Insurance Corporation, and theboard is
reviewing the final details in order to be able torelease the document. It will be released before too long. Theboard is reviewing and acting as fast as
they can on many of theinitiatives in the report.
Mr. Plohman: Mr.
Speaker, this is incredible. How can
thisminister say he is implementing this report when farmers, theKeystone
Agricultural Producers, the committee members themselvesare asking this
minister to release it? When will he
releasethat report?
Mr. Findlay: Mr.
Speaker, the farmers of
Mr. Plohman: Mr.
Speaker, in doing all kinds of things insecret, is it not a fact that this
minister is hiding this reportbecause he has been proven wrong in basing GRIP
completely on thebasis of crop insurance, and the distortions that were in
cropinsurance are magnified many times in GRIP because of it?
Mr. Findlay: That
member is saying revenue insurance is no goodfor the farmers of
That member does not want
Mr. Speaker: The time
for Oral Questions has expired.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS
Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister responsible for Sport): Leave torevert to ministerial statements,
please?
Mr. Speaker: Does the
honourable minister have leave to revertto ministerial statements?
Some Honourable Members:
Leave.
Mr. Speaker: It is
agreed.
Mr. Stefanson: Mr.
Speaker, I have a ministerial statement tocirculate.
I am honoured to rise before the House today to salute
themany Manitobans who contributed to the city of
As well documented through the media,
*
(1420)
These special community-minded and
community-spiritedcitizens, who pooled their skills and abilities and devoted
theirtime and energies for the better part of two years, and incertain
individual cases longer, are to be duly recognized fortheir contribution to
what will result in long‑term benefits toManitoba.
While the ultimate decision still rests with the Pan
AmericanSports Organization, it is generally felt endorsement from theCanadian
Olympic Association was the biggest challenge towardsecuring the games.
In proceeding now with what I feel will be another
successfulbid, the investment we will make to hosting the games in 1999will
create 2,000 full‑time jobs, add $136 million to the
Mr. Speaker, both the Premier (Mr. Filmon) and I had
theprivilege of being in
I would ask all members to join me in congratulating
thosededicated volunteers who served on the 1999 Pan American GamesBid
Committee and in offering encouragement and support to thehost bid committee
and the Canadian Olympic Association towardsecuring the endorsement of the Pan
American Sports Organizationfor Winnipeg as the host of the 1999 Pan American
Games.
Thank you.
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Yes, responding to theministerial statement
that we reverted back to, Mr. Speaker, Iwould like to congratulate the
delegation on behalf of the cityof
Mr. Speaker, the minister has mentioned the volunteers
whohave worked actively on behalf of the
Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to a couple of othervolunteers
who I think it is very important today to remember inthis ministerial
statement. One is Jim Daly, who led the
1967Pan American Games and the tremendous voluntary activity in 1967in
I also think that Art Mauro deserves a tremendous amount
ofcredit, because the hosting of the Grey Cup last year withcommunity
volunteers, when you compare that with the hosting ofthe Grey Cup in Toronto
last week, I am sure made the differenceof the one vote in terms of the voting
delegates, and I think weowe some gratitude to those people who were involved.
I know also that we were seized with this responsibility
in1987. I know that Minister Desjardins
visited down toIndianapolis with the former deputy mayor, now the
Ministerresponsible for Sport, in 1987 in terms of the initial lobby.
I also recall, Mr. Speaker, that former minister of
SportParasiuk had to deal with some of the capital concepts of hostingthe Pan
American Games, and I want to bring to the attention ofmembers opposite, one of
the capital considerations that he hadbefore him and that I would ask the
government to consider. Oneof his
criteria for contributing with the Sports Federation andthe province in
contribution with the city and the federalgovernment was to ensure that all the
sports facilities that willbe left behind, all the investment that will be left
behind foramateur sports and community quality of life will be spreadevenly
throughout our Manitoba communities and not be justrelegated to one area of the
city or another. I would raise thiswith
the minister now, because it will be an issue that we willbe watching for to
ensure the kind of fairness that we asked forthe federal government last week
is the kind of fairness that wesee with facilities that are required in the Pan
American Games.
I would also raise one other issue‑‑and I
mean this very seriously‑‑to the government, because I do congratulate
them ontheir successful activity in getting this bid. I want to saythat not only to the Minister of
Sport but to the Premier (Mr.Filmon) and all others who were involved in the
bid presentationthis weekend.