LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF
Friday,
April 23, 1993
The House met at 10 a.m.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE
PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTING
PETITIONS
Mr. Doug Martindale
(Burrows): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the petition of
Marlene Antonio, Linda Smith, Frances Spooner and others requesting the
Minister of Family Services (Mr. Gilleshammer) to consider restoring funding of
the student social allowance program.
* * *
Mr. Gregory Dewar
(Selkirk): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the petition of
Susan Comeau, Doran Reid, Diane Reid and others requesting the Family Services
minister (Mr. Gilleshammer) consider restoring funding for friendship centres
in
* * *
Ms. Marianne Cerilli
(Radisson): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand and
present the petition for Fiona Muldrew, Carol Popiel, Lorraine Moore and others
requesting the Minister of Family Services (Mr. Gilleshammer) consider
restoring the funding for the student social allowance program.
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the petition of
Darla Tenold, Susan Banks, Allison Dewar and others requesting the Minister of
Family Services (Mr. Gilleshammer) consider restoring funding of the student
social allowance program.
Mr. Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the
honourable member (Mr. Hickes). It
complies with the privileges and the practices of the House and complies with
the rules (by leave). Is it the will of the House to have the petition
read? Does he want it read? [agreed]
Mr. Clerk (William
Remnant): The petition of the undersigned citizens of
the
WHEREAS the United Nations has declared
1993 the International Year of the World's Indigenous People with the theme,
"Indigenous People: a new
partnership"; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has
totally discontinued funding to all friendship centres; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has
stated that these cuts mirror the federal cuts; and
WHEREAS the elimination of all funding to
friendship centres will result in the loss of many jobs as well as the services
and programs provided, such as:
assistance to the elderly, the homeless, youth programming, the socially
disadvantaged, families in crisis, education, recreation and cultural
programming, housing relocation, fine options, counselling, court assistance,
advocacy;
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray
that the Legislative Assembly of
Mr. Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the
honourable member (Ms. Wowchuk). It
complies with the privileges and the practices of the House and complies with
the rules. Is it the will of the House
to have the petition read? [agreed]
Mr. Clerk: The petition of the undersigned citizens of
the
WHEREAS the United Nations has declared
1993 the International Year of the World's Indigenous People with the theme,
"Indigenous People: a new
partnership"; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has
totally discontinued funding to all friendship centres; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has
stated that these cuts mirror the federal cuts; and
WHEREAS the elimination of all funding to
friendship centres will result in the loss of many jobs as well as the services
and programs provided, such as:
assistance to the elderly, the homeless, youth programming, the socially
disadvantaged, families in crisis, education, recreation and cultural
programming, housing relocation, fine options, counselling, court assistance,
advocacy;
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray
that the Legislative Assembly of
Mr. Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the
honourable member (Mr. Martindale). It
complies with the privileges and the practices of the House and complies with
the rules. Is it the will of the House
to have the petition read? [agreed]
Mr. Clerk: The petition of the undersigned citizens of
the
WHEREAS the United Nations has declared
1993 the International Year of the World's Indigenous People with the theme,
"Indigenous People: a new
partnership"; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has
totally discontinued funding to all friendship centres; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has
stated that these cuts mirror the federal cuts; and
WHEREAS the elimination of all funding to
friendship centres will result in the loss of many jobs as well as the services
and programs provided, such as:
assistance to the elderly, the homeless, youth programming, the socially
disadvantaged, families in crisis, education, recreation and cultural
programming, housing relocation, fine options, counselling, court assistance,
advocacy;
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray
that the Legislative Assembly of
* (1005)
Introduction
of Guests
Mr. Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, may I direct the
attention of honourable members to the Speaker's Gallery, where we have with us
today His Excellency Tajeddine Baddou, who is the Ambassador of
On behalf of all honourable members, I
would like to welcome you here this afternoon.
Also with us this afternoon, we have the
Honourable Penny Priddy, Minister of Women's Equality from the government of
I would like to welcome you here this
afternoon.
Now we have from the St. Adolphe School
forty‑two Grades 7 and 8 students under the direction of Ms. Lois
Quesnel. This school is located in the
constituency of the honourable member for La Verendrye (Mr. Sveinson).
Also this afternoon from the Applied
Linguistics Centre, we have 36 students under the direction of Ms. Ruth
Klippenstein and Ms. Greta Gibson. This
school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for St. James
(Mr. Edwards).
On behalf of all honourable members, I
would like to welcome you here this afternoon.
ORAL
QUESTION PERIOD
Core Area
Agreement
Renewal
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, my question is to the First
Minister.
In 1990, the Premier in the election
campaign committed himself and his government to renewing a third tripartite
agreement, the Core Area Agreement for the city of
In December of this year, we asked the
Premier again after the minibudget came out, and the Premier agreed with us
that the minibudget from the federal Conservatives was full of holes for
The Premier again said he would raise it
with the Prime Minister. In fact, it was
on his public agenda when he met with Prime Minister Mulroney in early
December.
My question to the Premier is: In the budget next week, on Monday, can we
expect to have the renewal of the Core Area Agreement for the people of
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, of course, the member knows full
well that if matters of public policy were to be raised prior to the budget,
obviously that could create an issue for the budget, and so I would not know
whether or not it is in the budget because I would not have knowledge of the
contents of that budget. In fact,
anybody who would have knowledge of the contents of that budget could jeopardize
its approval process, so I could not give him an answer to that.
What I can say is that we have had some
encouraging indications of an interest on the part of the new lead minister for
* (1010)
Mr. Doer: Mr. Speaker, the Premier well knows that
federal‑provincial agreements are announced all the time outside of the
federal budget. In fact, the last
renewed Core Area Agreement‑‑[interjection] Well, the Premier
commented about its lack of inclusion in the minibudget on December 3, 1992,
and the Premier then said that he would raise it with the Prime Minister.
I want to ask the Premier: When can we expect a new Core Area Agreement
for the city of
We have been waiting for two years since
the Premier promised it. It is an
internationally renowned program that has trained thousands of Manitobans in
the inner city, has renewed many parts of our physical structure in the inner
city. It has received international
awards.
When can we expect the Premier to fulfill
the promise that he made to the people of
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, the member asked if it was going
to be in the budget of next Monday. I
answered that question specifically, and then he responds that it could be
announced even outside of the budget.
That is precisely why we have the three
ministers who will be responsible ultimately for the negotiation and the
drafting of such agreement working. We
have the three levels of government headed by Mayor Susan Thompson, the
Minister of Urban Affairs (Mr. Ernst) and Mr. Charlie Mayer, who is the lead
minister for the
They have been working on it. They met as recently as last week, I believe
it was‑‑it might have been the week before‑‑and
progress is being made. So I say to him
that we are more optimistic today than we were in December, Mr. Speaker.
Training
Programs
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): The federal Conservative government has
systematically cut back on their training commitments to the
The provincial government has also reduced
its commitment to access programs in its own budget this year, Mr. Speaker, and
I would like to ask the Premier whether the new Core Agreement will include
increased training and development programs for people in the inner city, for
people across
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Given that all of the elements of the agreement
are currently under negotiation amongst all three levels of government, I can
only say that the Leader of the Opposition will have to wait until the
agreement is negotiated and finalized to find the answer to that.
Children's
Advocate
Minister's
Clarification
Mr. Doug Martindale
(Burrows): Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Premier.
Yesterday, the Minister of Family Services
(Mr. Gilleshammer) is quoted as saying that the Children's Advocate speaks on
behalf of individual children. I would like
the Minister of Family Services to reread the Children's Advocate bill, which
says that the duties of the Children's Advocate are to advise the minister on
matters relating to the welfare and interest of children and services relating
to children, to review and investigate complaints that he or she receives
relating to children and relating to services provided to children, plural.
I would like to ask the Premier to clarify
this statement by his minister, that the Children's Advocate investigates complaints
regarding individuals in spite of the fact that the act refers to children in
general. Would the Premier clarify,
please?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, that obviously would be a
question of clarification that should be addressed to the person who made the
statement, and he may want to do that in due course.
But I will say that it is interesting that
the members opposite argue that the Child Advocate would somehow not be
independent and spent hours and hours and days and months debating a bill
saying that the Child Advocate would not be independent, and now that we have
the first public action of the Child Advocate demonstrating clearly the
independence, that is not recognized or acknowledged by the member opposite.
Recommendations
Mr. Doug Martindale
(Burrows): Could the Premier explain to me then, please,
why he is criticizing our position when the Children's Advocate printed a
letter making a recommendation to the minister which the Legislative Assembly
was totally unaware of until we obtained a copy of this letter, in spite of the
fact that I asked the minister in Estimates if he had made any recommendations,
and the minister refused to answer the question?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, we do have an opportunity to get
advice from people from a wide variety of sources. The Child Advocate obviously did not address
the issue as to how it could be that
Perhaps the Child Advocate would want to
address some of those issues and would want to look at the policies of New
Democrats in government and the lack of support, perhaps, that they provide for
their children.
* (1015)
Proclamation
of Bill
Mr. Doug Martindale
(Burrows): Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell the House
when his government plans to proclaim, by Order‑in‑Council, the
Children's Advocate bill?
The Children's Advocate needs the mandated
authority to carry out his mandated duties, and he needs to have the act in
place to back up his authority to carry out investigations.
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, I will take that question as
notice on behalf of the minister.
Taxicab
Board
Government
Confidence
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
My question to the Minister of Highways
and Transportation (Mr. Driedger): Does
he have confidence in the current board, in particular in Mr. Norquay, when
there is an onus, there is a responsibility that the public's interest does
have to be best served and you have to see co‑operation? How can we see that there is co‑operation
when we have a bill of this nature that has been introduced‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member has put his question.
Hon. Albert Driedger
(Minister of Highways and Transportation): Mr. Speaker, I had asked the member
yesterday to have a little bit of patience.
Within the half hour I will be giving second reading to the bill, and I
will be giving additional information to the members of the House in terms of
what we are trying to accomplish with the bill.
I want to assure members of this House, as
well as the people in the taxicab industry, that this legislation that we are
proposing, if there are areas that are going to be of concern in terms of how
the industry is run, I am prepared to discuss that further. However, the cost‑recovery aspect of it
is something that I am not prepared to have any give on.
At the present time we recover only 50
percent of the costs of running the taxicab industry. We are going to full cost recovery on that. Part of the legislation will allow that to
happen, and that is one area where I am not going to compromise on.
Bill 24
Amendments
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Can the minister tell me: Will the minister be looking at introducing
amendments to Bill 24?
Point of
Order
Hon. Clayton Manness
(Government House Leader): Mr. Speaker, I would
indicate to you that I will be calling the bill that the minister referred to
in Orders of the Day. Indeed, if there
are rules that we are trying to follow, I would say that already asking the minister
to indicate whether or not he is going to bring amendments down, when indeed
the minister has not even put second reading on the record, I say is highly out
of order and I would ask the member to withdraw the question.
Mr. Speaker: On the point of order raised by the
honourable government House leader, he has indeed informed the House now that
they will be calling that said bill this afternoon after Question Period, so
therefore the honourable member's question is out of order. The honourable member may rephrase his
question if he so wishes.
Legal
Notice
Government
Policy
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member has put his
question. Order, please. You have put your question.
Hon. Albert Driedger
(Minister of Highways and Transportation): Mr. Speaker, I hate to belabour this, but
I find it ironic that we are trying to debate the bill before we have even
given second reading on the thing. I
mean, we went at this yesterday and did the same thing, and that is basically‑‑he
is taking issues out of the bill before I have given second reading.
I have asked him, have a little
patience. You know, I have an open mind
to some of the issues in here, if there are major concerns. If he will listen and read my first answer, I
think that should clarify it for him.
* (1020)
Legislation
Consultation
Government
Policy
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Hon. Albert Driedger
(Minister of Highways and Transportation): Mr. Speaker, I do not know which boards
have more meetings and consultations than the Taxicab Board has had over the
last three or four years in trying to resolve some difficult issues in
there. How the member can stand here and
say there has been no consultation‑‑I have great difficulty with
that.
Government
Spending
Ms. Marianne Cerilli
(Radisson): Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by
congratulating the
Environment
department for its work and recognition today.
It should be congratulated on ozone‑depleting substances. I have congratulated before and recognized
the work in this area, and I would just hope that eliminating the division that
deals with this program is not going to disrupt the successful start in this
area.
I hope that the same close desire for
change and foresight will be applied by this government in dealing with water. We have just learned that this government is
subsidizing a huge irrigation zone in southern
Why, for the Minister of Environment, are
we spending $62 million on the Assiniboine Diversion if there is water
available closer to this region that is being used for irrigation?
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Mr. Speaker, if the
member knows where that $62 million is I would like to meet with her. If she knows something I do not know I want
to talk to her.
Mr. Speaker, this is indeed serious. The fact is that while there are obviously
lots of discussions and proposals in front of the government, there are
certainly no decisions that have been made.
The fact is that the proposals to become involved in the
Discussions, I am sure, will rage long and
loud at that juncture, and I would invite the member and others who are
concerned to marshal their arguments to be presented in that forum.
Ms. Cerilli: Mr. Speaker, the $62 million is subsidy,
taxpayers' money from various levels of government that is going to the
Why are we spending this kind of money and
why do we have the Agassiz Irrigation Project being used first for irrigation
instead of drinking water as the priority use if we are spending money on the
Assiniboine Diversion? Why is this water
not being used for drinking water?
Mr. Cummings: Mr. Speaker, there are always a number of
options to any proposal or program that is put forward. I would assume that the member is very
cognizant of the fact that the Winkler aquifer, for example, could be force fed
or recharged, if you will, to try and enhance its capacity, but one of the
concerns we have is that any recharge other than by the natural process that
normally occurs is that recharge could contaminate that aquifer through spring
runoff that could contain contaminants that would be virtually impossible to
remove from an aquifer.
These are the kinds of problems and
debates that enter into where a community gets its potable water from, how its
future growth will be either possible or restricted.
I would invite the member again to make
sure that those arguments are brought forward at the commission.
Government
Subsidies
Ms. Marianne Cerilli
(Radisson): It is good to see the minister acknowledging
problems with contaminated runoff water, but I would ask the minister: I think it is $2.8 million for the
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Mr. Speaker, again,
there are programs and proposals that are put forward and requests that
government become involved in the process, but any of this has to be recognized
as proposals. Definite commitment of
dollars is far from being consummated in terms of diversion or in terms of
accumulation of dollars in the future.
I can tell you that we are not hiding
anything in Clayton's sock, Mr. Speaker.
Frankly, these things have to be very carefully reviewed, and
environmental concerns are primary.
* (1025)
Clean
Environment Commission Hearings
Selkirk
Involvement
Mr. Gregory Dewar
(Selkirk): My questions are for the Minister of
Environment.
Studies have indicated that Selkirk will
be negatively affected by the Assiniboine Diversion project, and given the
major problem Selkirk has in terms of water quality, my question to the
minister is: Why was Selkirk not
included in the Clean Environment Commission hearings? Why were we shut out from voicing our
concerns on this issue?
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Mr. Speaker, there is
no reason in the world why Selkirk cannot be involved in the presentations at
the Clean Environment Commission. Every
community at one point or another can make an argument that they should be
involved in the process.
The Clean Environment Commission chose
what they thought were the appropriate areas for discussion, and quite often
there may be disagreement over that. It
is quite legitimate that if that community feels that an additional site should
be chosen for a hearing, they put that request forward. But the commission has reviewed this, and
they have decided that the locations which they are using would be the
appropriate ones. If the member or the
community has other advice, let us hear it.
Mr. Dewar: Mr. Speaker, that is small consolation to the
community of Selkirk.
Department
of Environment
Mr. Gregory Dewar
(Selkirk): Is the Minister of Environment still
committed to ensuring that the City of
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): Mr. Speaker, my
hearing device does not work, and I was unable to pick up the first part of
that member's question. If I could ask
him‑‑
Mr. Speaker: We will ask him to repeat it. The honourable member for Selkirk, kindly
repeat your question, please.
Mr. Dewar: On behalf of the citizens of Selkirk, Mr.
Speaker, I am just asking the Minister of Environment if his department is
still committed to ensuring that the City of
Mr. Cummings: Yes, Mr. Speaker, that is an important
question and one which we have been dealing with on an ongoing basis for the
last three years, including the water quality study that was done and released
by the Department of Environment.
I want to tell you, that is the direction
in which the city is moving, where they have been asked for proposals on how
they will develop the ability to provide that treatment.
Again, we recognize the problem and the
severity of the problem. The balance
will have to be struck, along with the capability of the taxpayers of the city
to put those dollars into infrastructure.
We believe that long‑range water quality objectives that we have
set and the requirements that this puts on the City of
Red/Assiniboine
Rivers Water Quality
Government
Improvement Plans
Mr. Gregory Dewar
(Selkirk): Mr. Speaker, that is the same answer he has
been giving me for the last couple of years in this House, but what plans does
this minister have to improve the water quality of the Red and the
Hon. Glen Cummings
(Minister of Environment): First of all, Mr.
Speaker, I think the member is ignoring the fact that it requires a little bit
of previous planning to commit several million dollars on behalf of either the
City or the
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, the water quality
of the Assiniboine and any potential impacts that has on the city of
If that is the case, then we are quite
prepared to hear those arguments.
* (1030)
Taxicab Industry
Government
Consultation
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): My question is for the Minister of Highways.
Mr. Speaker, this minister has introduced
a bill which will expand the powers of the Taxi Board. This expansion in power was done without
consultation with all stakeholders. It
appears from this bill that the new Taxi Board will give drivers more
uncertainty for their rights and their responsibilities.
Can the Minister of Highways tell this
House if he has done any consultation with the taxi owners and drivers board?
Hon. Albert Driedger
(Minister of Highways and Transportation): Mr. Speaker, I personally have not had
the consultation with the industry. I
have a Taxicab Board that basically adjudicates the responsibilities of the
taxi industry. There has been ongoing
discussion with them.
As we move forward with this bill,
obviously it is drawing a lot of attention, and there will be a lot of
discussion. I am prepared to entertain
that kind of discussion.
Mr. Cheema: Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Highways give
assurance to us before he brings in any amendment if he would meet with the
taxi industry now and try to have a reasonable solution to this major problem?
Mr. Driedger: Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the Taxicab Board
is to basically administrate the responsibilities of the taxicab industry. I have had the confidence in that board and
in the chairman over the last three, four years.
The one assurance I will give the member
is that as this bill comes forward, as we debate this bill, if there are areas
of major concern, we will take and address them to the best of our ability.
Taxicab
Board
Removal of
Chairperson
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): Mr. Speaker, I do not have to tell the
Minister of Highways what happened with the Tuxedo Taxi. The issue is very serious.
This chairperson has been a major source
of irritation for a large section of my community, and this board chairperson
has been causing them problems for the last five years, and he is not sending a
good message.
Can the Minister of Highways now remove
this chairperson from this board and try to resolve this problem?
Hon. Albert Driedger
(Minister of Highways and Transportation): Mr. Speaker, no, I have confidence in the
chairman. If I did not, I would have
removed him already. I believe that the
chairman has been relatively sincere in terms of trying to address all aspects
of the problems in the taxicab industry, and I am prepared to debate that
further as we go through the bill.
Job Loss Government
Action
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): Mr. Speaker, we are advised that another 41
people have been laid off at
Can the Premier advise the House what
progress has been made to provide for the transition of these people and the
services they offer to programs in the community? What programs are being offered as a result
of the loss of these jobs and these services in the community?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, because I know a great deal of
work is being done by the Urban Hospital Council and the Minister of Health
(Mr. Orchard) in all of these matters and because I know the member would want
me to give a full and complete answer for that question, I will take that as
notice on behalf of the Minister of Health.
Health
Community Services
Layoffs/Program
Cuts
Mr. Dave Chomiak
(Kildonan): My supplementary, Mr. Speaker: Will the
Premier review the minister's comments in the House yesterday when he said, all
of those reports are coming in three, four, five and six months and then the
community services will be in place?
Will he also ask the minister, if he takes as notice or he is prepared
to answer today, why are they laying off all these people and shutting down
programs, presumably, when these agencies have not even reported the results of
what they are doing to the minister or to the Health Reform committee?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, you see, the member is putting
presumptions which may be beneficial to his attempting to create an issue‑‑for
instance, among other things, the reforms that are involved and the
opportunities for more efficiency in the use of beds involved; for instance,
that preoperative care will be provided on an outpatient basis. So that changes the number of beds allocated
for particular purposes as part of what is being done.
So I do not want to get into the detail of
it, because it is an issue, obviously, that the Minister of Health (Mr.
Orchard) should be charged with the responsibility to talk about publicly and
to debate with the member. So, again, I
will take his question, the substance of his question, as notice on behalf of
the Minister of Health.
Education
System
School
Dropout Rate
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, for the last two days, the
Minister of Education has tried to evade any discussion of dropout rates in
My question to the minister today, as it
has been in the past, is: Does the
minister accept this number for
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr.
Speaker, the member has obviously forgotten the answers that I have given her
over the past few days. She has referred
to studies by Statistics Canada, and I have said to her that there are many
studies in the area of dropout rates, some of which attribute a dropout rate of
30 to 33 percent.
Mr. Speaker, in our department we have
been looking at the graduation rates of students. The graduation rates, the most recent
numbers, indicate 73 percent. I gave her
yesterday, therefore, based on the graduation rates, a dropout rate, if you use
that statistic, of 27 percent in
However, Mr. Speaker, as I have said to
the member, please let us discuss exactly the meaning of dropout, because we
know that some young people do leave school for a certain period of time, then
they reintegrate into the system and they do successfully complete a high
school degree.
Ms. Friesen: Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I gave the minister
the name of the study. Today, I gave her
the definition of dropout when I read it out in quotations. I do not know how I can make it any simpler
for this minister.
I want to ask the minister, could she
explain why that Statistics
Mrs. Vodrey: Mr. Speaker, again, I have said to the member,
she has offered one definition of the issue of dropout. We in
This government established that branch last
year, and this government puts $10 million into that branch. That branch focuses on the issues of students
at risk so that we are doing something very concretely to assist young people
to remain in school and complete their high school education.
Social
Allowance Cutbacks
Impact on
School Dropout Rate
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, could the minister then tell the
House again, because I really enjoy her explanation of this one, what will be
the impact on the dropout rate of forcing 1,200 students on social allowance
out of the classroom and onto the streets?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr.
Speaker, as the Minister of Family Services (Mr. Gilleshammer) has explained a
number of times, there were some very difficult decisions.
We did offer assistance to students on
social assistance. It was the only
program in
Carter
Report
Government
Position
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (
Barley growers may go to spring seeding
not knowing how their export barley will be marketed. They are concerned about the future of the
Canadian Wheat Board.
I want to ask the minister if he has
finally taken a position on the Carter report.
Will he finally stand up with
Hon. Glen Findlay
(Minister of Agriculture): Mr. Speaker, the
farmers of
Some questions are being raised about
whether we are penetrating the American market to the maximum possible extent
and getting the maximum return at the farm gate for our farmers, and I want to
see our farmers get the maximum return at the farm gate.
I would like to remind the member what is
really happening in the barley industry.
Over the course of the last 10 years, we have seen the costs at the farm
gate go up for such things as freight, elevation, cleaning, transportation to
Meanwhile, the value the farmer is getting
at the farm gate has gone from less than $3 down to about $1.70. So you see our costs doubling at the farm
gate and our revenues coming down.
I think it is very fair to ask whoever is
marketing our barley that they maximize the return for the farmer. Otherwise, he is going to be driven out of
business with this kind of arithmetic that is going on in the overall grain
industry.
* (1040)
Plebiscite
Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (
I want to ask the minister if he is
prepared to stand with