LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF
Monday, April 11, 1994
The House met at 8 p.m.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
(continued)
THRONE SPEECH DEBATE
(Second Day of Debate)
Mr. Speaker:
Resuming debate, debate standing in the name of the honourable member
for
Ms. Becky Barrett (
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to spend the last few minutes of my time talking about
some of the other issues that were raised in the throne speech. On page 7 the throne speech talks about
social justice and our traditional values of sharing and fairness, and the
social safety net is one of the most important distinguishing features of our
Canadian way of life. Again, no one on
this side of the House would disagree with those fine‑sounding
words. Where we disagree is in the
inability or unwillingness of this provincial government to act on those high‑sounding,
fine‑sounding phrases.
Most
particularly, the Speech from the Throne goes on to say: At the same time, there is a growing recognition
in our province and across the country that some of the component programs of
the social services and social safety net are flawed and can, and I quote here,
"increase the vulnerability and dependency of people instead of helping
them overcome their difficulties."
Mr.
Speaker, I was trained as a social worker, and I know that one of the major
components of social work theory for at least 25 years now has been a concept
called blaming the victim. I think this
phrase and a couple of others in the Speech from the Throne in this area typify
almost better than anything else I have ever heard, blaming the victim.
The
interesting thing about this concept is that‑‑and the Speech from
the Throne goes on to say that the "initiatives will strengthen the incentives
to work, remove some disincentives, and increase work expectations and economic
independence for employable welfare recipients."
Again,
this statement in the Speech from the Throne in the context of high
unemployment, fewer jobs in the province of Manitoba than ever before, cutbacks
to social assistance programs such as Single Parent Job Access training, New
Careers, ACCESS programs, cutbacks in child care that mean that a parent can
only now have two weeks of grace once they leave university to get a summer job
or if they have been laid off from their job‑‑it used to be two
months; now it is two weeks. In this
economic climate, Mr. Speaker, who can find a job in two weeks? This is a mean‑spirited Conservative
government, which I have said before.
The
other thing I would like to say about this is that it is not only this
provincial Conservative government that is mean spirited and preaching the old‑style
conservatism, it is the newly elected federal Liberal government. This newly elected federal Liberal government
campaigned all last year and certainly in the election campaign itself on their
red book, which talked about how greater equality of social conditions would be
engendered by a federal Liberal government.
Once
it came into power, the Liberal government has instituted a new book called
Keeping the Promise, which I find interesting, because what they are doing is
negating the promise of their election campaign. Instead of greater equality of social
conditions, the new book talks about the elimination of disincentives to work,
which should be a key element of a reformed social security system.
* (2005)
Now
I ask you: What is the difference
between the Liberal elimination of disincentives to work and the Conservative
strengthening of incentives to work and removing some of the disincentives? Nothing.
It is exactly the same idea.
What
both of these concepts say, their underlying theory is that people choose not
to work, that it is only because people are lazy, there are disincentives to
work, there are not enough expectations‑‑[interjection] Well, Mr.
Speaker, I have their attention. I have
the attention of both right‑wing parties in this Legislature.
Mr.
Speaker, if we were living in a society, in an economy, as we were 25 years
ago, which was expanding, where there were all kinds of job opportunities and
there was still a large social assistance roll, then I could perhaps understand
the concept that maybe people were choosing not to work, but for any person in
the province of Manitoba or the country of Canada today to say either directly
or indirectly that people are choosing not to work is beneath contempt. I think that the Liberals federally and the
Conservatives provincially have a great deal to answer for to the people of
Manitoba and Canada, and believe me, certainly in the province of Manitoba, the
Liberals will answer very shortly.
Again,
Mr. Speaker, in the little red book, and I am not referring to the little red
book of Mao Tse‑tung, but to the little red book of the Liberals in the
last federal election, they talked about Medicare being one of Canada's
proudest achievements. In their Keeping
the Promise, the second book, the updated version, there is a question, if the
insured core services of Medicare have become too broad.
Now,
that sounds to me very similar to what is actually happening in the
Finally,
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about the North American Free Trade
Agreement. In the Speech from the
Throne, it talks about all kinds of economic opportunities, and members on the
government side have talked about NAFTA and how wonderful it is and that kind
of thing. In 1988 John Turner wrapped
himself in a Canadian flag and said the Free Trade Agreement was the fight of
his life. What did they do? They had an opportunity in the Senate of this
country to defeat the Free Trade Agreement, and they chose not to do it. They said that they would only renegotiate
NAFTA and would not pass it if it was in its present form. The Chretien Liberals, what did they do? One of the first things they did when they
were in government, they passed it with virtually no changes. In their red book in the election campaign,
they said they would cancel it if there were not major changes. In the red book too, they say how
* (2010)
No
wonder the member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans) is a bit concerned about
the possibility of McKenzie Seeds being privatized. The Minister responsible for McKenzie Seeds
said, waved six conditions Friday in the House, six conditions that have to be
met in order for McKenzie Seeds to be privatized.
We
on this side of the House know what six conditions mean to this
government. It means capitulation and
caving in to private multinational corporate interests without any kind of
sense of the responsibility to the people of
Mr.
Speaker, I know I do not have very many minutes left. I would like to talk about a couple of other
items in this Speech from the Throne.
There is one comment about Child and Family Services on page 8: The government renews its commitment to
supporting the family and the importance of family responsibility. It says:
New approaches will be introduced in Child and Family Services to
emphasize that responsibility.
Now,
I am really looking forward in the Estimates or in any legislation that might
be tabled as to what specifically these new approaches will be, after we have
had an elimination of volunteer boards for Child and Family Services, a
reduction in services, we have Filmon Fridays for Child and Family Services
workers so the children who are taken into care on Thursday night are often not
dealt with until Tuesday morning of the following week. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the
International Year of the Family.
Mr.
Speaker, in closing I would like to say, many of my caucus colleagues have and will
be discussing other elements of this Speech from the Throne and they will be
going into more detail as to the problems with the Speech from the Throne.
I
just would like to end by saying that this has been a disappointing Speech from
the Throne for me and for my caucus colleagues.
I will be honest with you, we did not have very high expectations to
begin with, but we have been disappointed, the people of
The
people of
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Hon. Glen Findlay (Minister of
Highways and Transportation): Mr. Speaker, it is
indeed a pleasure to rise and make a few comments on this, the throne speech
for the fifth session of the 35th sitting of this Legislature. I think it goes back through a lot of
history, a lot of the people who have sat here over the course of the time.
Mr.
Speaker, I wish you the wisdom of Solomon in dealing with the affairs of the
House that are going to go on over the next number of months, I guess it is
fair to say, at least a hundred days. I
will say one thing in terms of the first couple of days of the House. Things are relatively calm and quiet, so I
will give you credit for keeping it that way.
I
would certainly like to welcome the six new Pages, whose experience of the next
few months will be something they will remember for the rest of their
lives. I hope that they do not get too
disillusioned by some of the banter that goes back and forth in this House but
is part of the democratic process whether we like it or not.
I
would like to welcome the five new members to the House, all of whom are here
for their first time. I wish them well
in their process of trying to represent their constituents here. They do not necessarily think the same way I
do, but I wish them the best anyway.
Mr.
Speaker, one of the more significant events that is happening this year is that
this is the International Year of the Family, 1994. It is a recognition of one of the most
important frameworks of our whole society, the family unit. I think we will all pay tribute to the
International Year of the Family as the days of 1994 go by.
* (2015)
I
think if we look at some of the problems we have in society, particularly with
youth crime and lack of jobs and maybe questionable education, I think the role
of the family is in trying to overcome some of those problems, to help young
people get educated, get adjusted to society, and I guess we will call it
follow the straight and narrow, obey the laws of the land. The family plays a very large role in that.
My
own personal belief is that in some cases our families have failed those young
people in terms of giving that direction and getting them involved and started
in society. I think it is good at this
point in time when some of those issues are more important now than they have
ever been that we pay attention to the family, not only the existing family,
but the broader family unit that we now know of today. It is middle‑aged and older people who
are trying to help young people who have run into some of the wrong ways of
life to get adjusted and be a contributor to society as a whole.
In
terms of paying tribute to people of significance, I would like to spend a few
minutes just paying tribute to a couple of citizens of Springfield, one a very
young citizen, a 13‑year‑old young girl who is now known as
Canada's top junior rhythmic gymnast.
Andrea Sellen, thirteen years of age, started into rhythmic gymnastics
three years ago, and now she is a world‑class athlete, as I said earlier,
recognized as
That
young girl, to see her perform is amazing.
The time and effort that she puts in to accomplish what she is doing and
her parents and her family are to be recognized. I might say, in that case, her grandparents also
are playing a role in helping her travel to her events and get her
education. For your information, she is
a Grade 8 student at Springfield Junior High and a world‑class athlete at
that age.
Another
one I would like to pay attention to is a lady who served the
So,
Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to Edna Holland, who received the
Order of the
As
we move through this session, certainly the Speech from the Throne highlighted
the main objective of this government and that is jobs, to create an
environment where jobs can be created in this society, and I hear the
opposition critics talking about jobs, jobs, and I always find it striking
strange that the opposition will not accept the fact that we are going through
change in this society, change in the country, global change.
Things
are not going to stay the way they were.
We have gone through evolution of change for the last 127 years in this
country, and that change will not stop.
I think it is fair to say that, if you sit back and look at the last 30
years, it would be a fairly obvious statement that change was only going to
accelerate. It is because mankind has a
brain between his ears and he is trying to do things better, faster, more
efficiently. In this society of global
competition, it is being able to produce the best quality products for the
consumer at the lowest price and supply the service that goes with it. That is the kind of change that is not going
to stop.
I
hear over there always about we want it to stay the way it was, take it back to
the way it was. It is totally
unrealistic. When I hear the NDP
governments or the Liberal governments across this country talk, those who are
in power, whether it is the five Liberal governments in the East or the three
NDP governments from
I
was a little surprised today that somebody from the opposition did not raise a
question about the announcement this morning by the customer service centre of
CP Rail. I mean, you always ask for
jobs, and when jobs come, you go quiet.
If you really believed that you want jobs, you would recognize those
people that are creating the jobs. It is
the private sector, and it is happening regularly. Yes, some jobs come to an end; yes, people
rationalize‑‑they have to for cost control. At the same time there are many new jobs
being created, and the Speech from the Throne talks about 6,000 net new
jobs. That is fairly positive; in
general, that is very positive.
* (2020)
Mr.
Speaker, we recognize that people do not like the uncertainty of change. It is difficult to adjust to that, but we are
trying to create an environment through education that people can become
trained in their formative years and then retrained as time goes by. Those opportunities exist out there. Anybody in the private sector that I have
talked to is very supportive of trying to help people. If there is a dislocation from the job, help
them get reoriented back into another job with that company or elsewhere. They are not mean spirited, as I hear people
across the way say.
The
jobs of the future are going to be created by the private sector, particularly
the small‑business sector of the private sector. They are the motivators of jobs. Governments are not going to create jobs in
the future. All we can create is an
atmosphere in which jobs can be created here.
I
have heard lots of comments across the way about our trade activities. How has
(Mr.
Marcel Laurendeau, Acting Speaker, in the Chair)
You
have to export. You have to have access
to those markets, and access means two‑way trade. We have been competitive in this province,
and we will continue to be competitive in this province. [interjection]
For
the member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans), I want to tell him that we
have free trade in agricultural products with the
The
member for Brandon East, all he does with his rhetoric is fuel these people in the
He
said, after I talked to him for about five or 10 minutes giving my side and how
we have a willing buyer down there, we have quality products and if they are
going to run their pasta mills they have to have durum from somewhere‑‑he
says, everything you have told me is quite opposite to what I am hearing from
my senators from the northern states.
Exactly right, and as long as we on this side of the border fuel that
opportunity for them, we are going to expect more and more of that kind of
rhetoric.
So
the member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans), now that I am on his case, I
guess I might say that I was really shocked last Friday when he made the
comments he did about McKenzie Seeds. He
asked the question in this House. The
minister responsible gave him the six criteria on which anything would be
entered into on McKenzie Seeds. I go
home at night and I watch the member for Brandon East on television; he has not
even listened to the answer. He is still
giving the same negative rhetoric that the jobs will go to
The
member for Brandon East does a complete disservice to the residents of
* (2025)
I
think the member for Brandon‑‑particularly to Ray West, who ran as
businessman of the year, that was an unreprehensible attack. I cannot believe that the member for Brandon
East (Mr. Leonard Evans) would do that to that member. You may have your ideology, but when you are
given the answer in the House, why would you go out to
I
say to the member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans), you may think that
fearmongering sells politically. I would
ask him to look at the polls. At 22
percent you might wonder if it really does sell. All you do is scare people
unnecessarily. If you look at the track
record of that company and many more in
I
think it is very unfortunate that that member would have done what he did last
Friday. I would think he did himself
some political damage in the way he attacked relentlessly without listening to
the answers.
That
member also took a shot at GWE locating jobs in
The
announcement today by Canadian Pacific is moving in the same direction, more
jobs in the telecommunication area.
Unitel is moving towards 400 jobs in the
The
member opposite obviously thinks government is the only one that creates jobs
by so many funny mechanisms. It does not
work. He has tried it, and it does not
work. It has not worked anywhere in this
country. The real jobs of the future are
in the private sector.
It
is funny that every time somebody tries an initiative in this province the NDP
is particularly opposed to it, whether it is hog operations, whether it is
Louisiana‑Pacific.
Is
the member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans) going to stand up for Ayerst and
the PMU business creating hundreds and hundreds of jobs across
I
think the member for Brandon East needs to get up and speak right after I sit
down.
* (2030)
Mr.
Acting Speaker, there is another issue that I would like to put some comments
on the record on, and this is the issue of grain movement that has happened in
western
Both
railroads, CN and CP, are going to have about 14,000 cars in their rolling
stock. They have both leased around
3,000 cars‑‑I think one of them is 4,000 cars‑‑to
achieve that 28,000 in total. The whole
episode started way back last summer when we had the massive floods down in
United States of the Mississippi, caused the barge movement down the
Mississippi to halt, actually stopped a lot of rail movement, too. Then there was a built‑up demand for
movement of grain commodities to the southern states, and they used up all the
cars available.
Secondly,
there was a tremendous loss of the corn crop because of the flooding down in
the
As
this started to develop, there was not a big movement of board crops of wheat
and barley initially, but there was a tremendous movement of the nonboard
crops: the peas, the canola, and the
lentils. For those crops, when they go
into
At
the same time, there was a growing demand in the
The
railroads responded as fast as they could, but they could not get a hold of the
lease cars they wanted because they were in use in the
The
expectation is we will have more special crops moving to the European market‑‑a
big surge last year in canola and peas.
Again, it takes longer to move those crops because of their nonpooling
capacity in the terminals at the Lakehead.
So,
although it is easy to criticize the railroads for not having got the job done,
you had all those factors that happen with the movement of the crop, plus we
had a strike on the West Coast for some two weeks, plus we had a slowdown in
January and February because of the very cold weather, plus the Lakehead is
still not open because of the thick ice, so you can see why we have a backlog
of grain movement. They believe they
have enough cars, and if the system runs efficiently between now and the end of
July, the end of the crop year, they believe they will catch up with the orders
that they have in front of them.
There
is no question that probably some sales were lost because there is just no way
to fulfill it in this crop year, but the railroads, I can say from my
discussion with them, are very committed to catching up, and one has to
recognize the constraints that they faced over the past few months going way
back to August of last year.
Certainly
another thing that I would like to make a few comments on is the overall role
of
As
we look forward to the future, there is no question that there will be more
integration between those various commodities of moving freight, in particular,
in road, rail and air.
I
was really pleased to see that in the infrastructure program Route 90 will be
upgraded to some fair extent because we must have access to that airport with
an RTAC route, and that is Route 90. If
it is upgraded right from the Perimeter to the north and right from the
Perimeter to the south over the next few years, with the inner motoring centre
along there and all the trucking companies along Route 90, it increases our
capacity to attract businesses to this city and this province that have to move
freight in and out, and anybody who is accessing export markets must have
access to move commodities in and out.
In
terms of the jobs created in that sector in the
As
we look ahead, and this is
Add
to that another 7,000 to 8,000 in what is called urban transit and intercity
bus, in other words, taxis and those kinds of activities.
The
other area of job creation in the transport sector is the employment of
transport equipment manufacturing where we have in this province right now
around 7,500 jobs in transport equipment manufacturing, which is projected by
the university to grow to about 10,500 jobs by the year 2000, again to produce
commodities primarily which go into export from this country.
Another
area of significant interest certainly right now in this new information age is
the electronic highway. I have had the
opportunity to talk to many people who are pretty key in that communications
sector, and I asked here and there, what is the concept of electronic highway,
the information highway that we see talked about a fair extent now.
I
certainly appreciate that the federal Liberals are showing some interest in
that particular concept. What it is
really is an integration of all the means of communication we now have, whether
it is by fiberoptic cable, by copper wire, by coaxial cable, by satellite, by
microwave‑‑all those various networks working together to transmit
information.
Whether
it is involving business transmission or whether it is personal transmission,
certainly the information highway will play a key role in terms of distance
education in future, delivery of medical services, particularly to communities
outside the major cities, and it will help to decrease the cost of educational
and health care services.
Certainly
two announcements that have happened in the last two to three weeks in
TR
Labs are located in
Another
announcement that happened just last week was by Stentor announcing the beacon
initiative. It is a conceptual view of
the future, saying that as the information highway develops we expect as a
whole to be a network of networks. In
other words, no matter whether it is Stentor that has the transmission system
or whether it is private companies or cable television companies that have the
network, the overall information highway will be a conglomeration of all of
those networks working in some co‑operative way to help deliver
communications globally, nationally, for business, education, health care and
whatever other users there might be for the system.
* (2040)
Certainly
they talk in terms of equal access for all citizens, and that has been key in
communications. Certainly the mission of
the Manitoba Telephone System is to supply the basic telephone network to all
citizens of the province and Stentor talking in terms of equal access.
It
is critical because it allows jobs that in the past had to be, like the member
for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans) would like to believe today, in the big
population centres, no longer has to be.
Jobs
in telemarketing and telecommunications can be located anywhere. As long as you are at the end of a single
line, then you can communicate with the world.
And that is really what the role of the information highway will be in
the future, an ability to communicate from anywhere to anywhere in a top‑quality,
high‑calibre fashion.
As
we move through this session, there will be lots and lots of talk beyond the
job in question into the economic sector.
There is no question that all governments in this country‑‑I
think it is fair to say in all the western world‑‑are facing the
crunch of having to control the expenses.
We sit in this country right now with a total combined debt of $661
billion. That is a rather substantive
pile of money to have to pay back to somebody.
It increased by some $66 billion last year between the federal
government and the provinces. The
federal government has a budget now, and they are going to increase that this
fiscal year by another $40 billion.
Our
future in terms of our credit rating is certainly going to be suspect if we continue
on that path. It has been interesting to
watch the NDP governments of
The
Liberal governments have always talked that way in the last year, must be more
fiscally responsible, maybe not because governments absolutely want to do it
because it is not popular with the electorate in a general sense. It is more popular to offer people things,
but the reality is we have to be more responsible of what we do in government
just as business does. Like any member
over there will realize, if they spend more than they take in in their
household, there is trouble down the road.
You do that in your business, somebody knocks on your door and says we
are going to pull the string on you. Do
we want that to happen to us as a province or as a country? I think not.
Certainly,
in terms of analyses that have been done, and I point particularly to one that
was done by the Dominion Bond Rating Service.
I would like to read from their comments that
So,
clearly, they have identified that overexpenditures of the NDP years have
weakened the province's fiscal capacity, and the strong control of the deficit
by our Minister of Finance over the last six years has been a very positive
move towards [interjection] What I hear across the benches from the NDP is they
have not changed their thinking from the '80s when they did exactly what was
wrong for the long‑term interests of the province.
When
you look at this as the International Year of the Family, I would suggest that
you think about the debt you are passing on to your children and your
grandchildren and their children, because it will not get paid off in the next
four generations. This issue that we
must spend, spend, spend and listen to every interest group and spend, that has
to come to an end. I would like to hear
the first responsible question come from across the floor about the financial
capacity of this province. It is always
spend, spend, spend, never any respect to the control that must be brought on
by government. Every government in this
country is forced to follow that theme.
There is no other choice. Mr.
Acting Speaker, I am going to be interested in the next period of time to see
whether anybody on the opposition side is able to understand the reality we
live with.
I
would just also like to point to a viewpoint in the Minnedosa Tribune. This is for the good of the Liberals, and I
would read from it. The provincial
Liberals have come out of the blocks fairly softly. A recent poll of the local coffee shops
reveal that the majority of people do not remember the name of the Liberal
Party Leader. So out there in rural
As
we move into the budget in this province, I would like to see those members
start to understand that reality and start to recognize what government must
do. I also would like to hear them start
talking about what their platform might be in the future. All we have heard is negativism, negativism
coming across the way, nothing positive, nothing to build on the future. It is just spend, spend, spend and negative
on everything that anybody is doing out in society where the real jobs are created.
Mr.
Acting Speaker, with those few comments I would like to thank you for this
opportunity, and I look forward to a very productive session as we move through
the next number of days.
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East):
Mr. Acting Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Speaker and wish
him the very best for a very positive session.
I
also want to take this opportunity to congratulate all the new members. I think they may find it a rather frustrating
place at times, and they may find it also a little exasperating, especially
when you get half‑truths yelled at you from the other side.
Nevertheless,
I believe that being a public representative is indeed a high calling and
generally the people of
(Mr.
Speaker in the Chair)
Having
said that, I can say that I would be among the first to say that it is discouraging
at times, particularly when decorum gets out of hand in the Legislature, or
when one in the opposition in our particular type of system feels very
frustrated.
You
are either in or you are out in our parliamentary system. If you are in, you have all the power, you
pull all the strings, you make the decisions.
We in opposition, or whoever is in opposition, has the responsibility of
being critical, of keeping government on its toes, of being ever vigilant. You are seen to be a very negative force all
the time. I guess it is not the best way
to be portrayed, but that is the British parliamentary system that we have
inherited.
If
people across the way in the government think I have been negative or we have
been negative on this side, I would only refer you to speeches made in this
House and statements made in the public when the Conservative Party in
The
fact is, if you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. We say, maybe it is a good time to call an
election and let the people of all the constituencies, including my own, make a
decision as to who they want to have to represent them in the next few years.
* (2050)
As
a matter of fact, the
An Honourable Member:
Before seeding.
Mr. Leonard Evans:
Right, before seeding even. The
people of
Mr.
Speaker, we have had about eight months I guess since we were in here last, and
people out there do not understand why we have been away from this Assembly so
long. They feel that we have a
responsibility, if you are on the government side, to bring in the laws and to
provide the budgets for debate by the whole House and for us to do our
criticism and so on.
Where
have we been? Well, we have not been
here. We have been in our
constituencies. We have been
communicating with our constituents, and maybe that is the one advantage of not
being in the House. You have more
opportunity to be closer to your constituents.
I
can tell you, members on this side have gotten an earful about the unhappiness
of the people of
One
example, this one lady who lives in Lions Manor has to have a supply of oxygen
just to live and yet she has been refused home care. She does not have the strength to make her
own bed and the people in the home were telling me: Why is this woman not entitled to home
care? She has been denied home care
after a serious heart operation.
Then
there was another case a few months ago.
I ran into this lady who lived in another seniors apartment in downtown
That
just boggles my mind. That boggles my
mind that we have a home care system that is supposed to look after the
elderly, the people who are handicapped and so on. I figure once you hit a hundred years of age
you should be entitled to home care, no questions asked. [interjection] Yes,
anyone a hundred years or over should be entitled to home care for sure. In fact, I would say‑‑[interjection]
I am just joking‑‑anyone who is in need of home care should be
getting home care, but that is not happening. [interjection] You were not
listening. I have just told you the lady
who lives in another seniors apartment who has to go around with oxygen, and
she cannot make her bed, and the neighbours say she should have home care and she
is not getting home care.
Well,
you know there are all kinds of horror stories about the inadequacies of the
home care system. Incidentally, Mr.
Speaker, this home care program was established back in the Schreyer years. It was extended in the Schreyer years to
become the best home care program to be found anywhere in
You
go to another area, you go to nursing homes, and people have come to see me to
say they do not understand why the government is turning the clock back on
nursing homes. You know, back in the
Schreyer years, in 1973, we put nursing homes under the medicare system. It did not used to be before that.
What
happened before that is you as an individual paid the entire shot, and you
would pay and continue to pay until you used up all your savings. Normally the person would sell their house;
that would all be spent. The value of
their house would be spent, all their savings would be gone, then when they had
nothing left, they went onto welfare, and they were kept on welfare in the
nursing homes of this province.
But
in 1973 we put it under medicare and said that a portion of nursing home
service is indeed room and board, and there should be a payment for that. At that time it was set at $4.50, but the
balance would be considered as being in a hospital and would be covered by the
medicare system. Well, that is a system
we have had ever since. What has
happened in the past year the nursing home rates have gone up so high, Mr.
Speaker, that many people are finding it difficult to manage in the nursing
homes.
I
am talking particularly about those who have got just the basic old age
pension, and I think they are paying, what is it, $26.50 a day to be
there. At that level we have determined
that there is very, very little left for those individuals, very few dollars
left for those people to pay for all their personal effects, to pay for
batteries for hearing aids, to pay for clothing. That all has to come out.
In
fact, I wish I had it with me. I have a
sheet issued by the Health Services Commission as to what the residents of a
nursing home are responsible for. They
are responsible for many items, and they do not have it. And do you know what? The irony of it is these people can qualify
for welfare. These people have so little
left that they have applied to the welfare office, the provincial assistance
office, and they obtained supplementary
welfare‑‑
An Honourable Member:
It is your own policy.
Mr. Leonard Evans:
What do you mean, our policy? The
fact is, this government has socked it to the poor people that they have
insufficient funds to maintain themselves. [interjection]
Well,
you can laugh about it, but I will tell you the people out there ain't
laughing. They are not laughing; they
are damned mad. They are damned mad. You can smirk and call me names or whatever
you want to do. I do not care. It does not bother me. I do not care, but the fact is that people
out there are upset with the atrocious increase in nursing home rates. So here is another example of erosion of a
health care system that was put in by the Schreyer NDP government.
Then
there is another example in Pharmacare.
Again, senior citizens and people who use a lot of medicine because of
their health condition are very, very upset about the increase in the
deductible and the decrease in the percentage that the government will
pay. So what the government is doing,
Mr. Speaker, is making it more difficult for people to afford to buy
prescription medicine. We are talking
about medicine prescribed by their doctors.
The
fact is that medicine can be seen as a method of prevention. It is a method of keeping people out of
hospitals, out of nursing homes. If they
follow their doctor's orders and take the medicine that presumably is going to
help cope with the illness, then they can stay out of medical institutions, but
when you make it more difficult to purchase, when you put more of the costs,
when you transfer the costs to them‑‑and I am thinking particularly
about those who have serious illness and the elderly who buy thousands of
dollars of drugs a year, that it is costing them an awful lot more and is
discouraging them from presumably buying the medicines they should be. So there is no question that it has a
negative effect on people who should be buying prescription medicine according
to their doctor.
I
can tell you various cases of this, and I raised some in the past in this
House, where people have been hurt by these increases in the deductibles and
particularly by the decreases in the amount that the government will reimburse
Manitobans. So that is another concern
that people have out there.
Then
they are concerned about the elimination of the rural dental program, and even
the former minister said he was sorry about that. That was a very good program. For the life of me, we are going backward, because,
Mr. Speaker, as a society, I venture to guess that we are going to be paying
more for dental care in the future. If
you do not look after the children's teeth when they are young, they can have
more problems, more expense in the future.
Unfortunately, many people cannot afford to go to dentists. Unfortunately, some are some distance from
dentists. I venture to say, and I have
been told this by a lot of people, that the care will not be given to many
children, many hundreds and perhaps thousands of children in this province that
used to have good service in the rural dental program.
* (2100)
You
know, even Sterling Lyon did not get rid of the rural dental program for
children. He did not get rid of it. He changed it a bit, but he did not get rid
of it. He was the Premier who said he
wanted to engage in acute, protracted restraint. Indeed, he did cut back, but he did not
eliminate the rural dental program.
Then
there is the whole question of cutbacks to hospitals and insufficient hospital staffing. You get all kinds of horror stories. I get letters, I get phone calls about people
who are unhappy because there is not the nursing staff available.
One
person told me just two days ago in Brandon, and I do not want to reveal any
names, but this person has someone very close to him who is a nurse in an
operating room‑‑O.R., the operating room‑‑and it is her
opinion that they are so rushed off their feet that there is going to be a
tragedy there one of these days, because they do not have enough nursing staff
in the operating room. I am not an
expert, I am not there, but that is what they told me.
At
any rate, Mr. Speaker, that is another area.
In fact, you talk about other kinds of staffing, you have cases, I was
told that one woman in Brandon went to visit her friend in the hospital in the
room, the floor was so dirty, so sticky, they did not have enough staff to
clean it, she got a pail of hot water and went down on her hands and knees and
cleaned the floor herself.
Then
there is the case of waiting lists for surgery.
There are serious cases where people are waiting and waiting. I had one individual who has been waiting for
heart surgery and he is getting progressively weaker. He says he does not know how he is going to
manage. His doctor says, the reason he
cannot have the operation, he is still on the list, is that there are
insufficient dollars for those kinds of operations. That is what his doctor tells him, that is
what the specialist tells him, so who am I to argue with a specialist in this
field? But that is another serious
problem that has been presented to me by my constituents.
Then
on the other hand, we get very dismayed about the cutbacks to programs to help
people who are on welfare, to get them off of welfare and into the job
market. I am to be the first one to
admit that there are not enough jobs out there and, even if you trained
someone, that does not mean they will necessarily get a job. Nevertheless, there were some very fine
programs designed to help people who are disadvantaged.
One
of the very best was New Careers, so here is the New Careers program. The government says, on the one hand, and it
talks about it in its throne speech, about providing training for welfare
people to get them off of welfare, and here is one major program, New Careers,
that was cut back. Even in the city of
The
fact is that the program is being decimated, not only in
The
fact is that we have had recent high levels of unemployment, and surely one way
to help people to get off of welfare is to train them. This was an excellent program. Not only did you scale it back but you are
reversing the so‑called decentralization that you boasted about in the past.
Mr.
Speaker, there are other examples. This
government, a couple of years ago, cut out the northern youth employment
program which was of some assistance to young people in northern
Mr.
Speaker, among other groups, I met with the pre‑employment program people
in
Mr.
Speaker, there are a lot of reasons why people are unhappy with this government
out there, and they would love to have an opportunity to have an election right
here and now.
An Honourable Member:
Would you, Len?
Mr. Leonard Evans:
Yes. You have not been here, but
I said 10‑15 minutes ago that I would like to have an election, put my
job on the line and let everyone else put their job on the line. I am quite prepared right here and now. Call it today. Call it tomorrow morning.
At
any rate, Mr. Speaker, we have been listening to all this talk about
decentralization and especially about telecommunications and all that and so
on. I wonder why the minister can sit in
his seat and allow at least 15 technical jobs transferred from
MTS
and the government had the option of keeping one in
Mr.
Speaker, I had been much maligned about my position on McKenzie Seeds. My position on McKenzie Seeds is the same
position that I had 25 years ago when their predecessors, when the Weir
Conservative government, passed a cabinet motion which said that they would
either sell or liquidate the company. In
fact, I happen to have a copy of a memo back to November of 1967 which says,
pursuant to the cabinet decision of November 3, McKenzie Seeds will be sold or
liquidated.
* (2110)
It
goes on to say, it asks the Minister of Industry‑‑[interjection]
The point is, Mr. Speaker, at that time, the acting chair of the board, who was
also given the responsibility to find a buyer, stated it should be appreciated
that the sale could cause the eventual removal of the company's operations for
Manitoba. [interjection] Okay, it is 1994, but the economics of the business
are the same. Obviously, the members‑‑[interjection]
Just sit down and listen for a moment, just listen, listen, listen.
The
economics of the business is such that it dictates the most profitable location
for a private company would be in the centre of a market, because it is a
market‑oriented business. Their
market‑‑[interjection] Well, just listen. Eighty percent of the market is in central
Now
the best way therefore to keep them in
An Honourable Member:
Yes, you took an awful lot of cheap shots at Great‑West, you know.
Mr. Leonard Evans:
Mr. Speaker, those cheap shots, I said this earlier that the press
misrepresented what I had said. I have
no problem with what I said in this House or on television, none
whatsoever. I will repeat it, and I
stand by that.
Mr.
Speaker, the fact is that in 1979 and in 1980, '81, a previous Conservative
government put it up for sale coast to coast, advertised in the financial
papers coast to coast even though Sterling Lyon said in '77 that a Conservative
government would never sell McKenzie Seeds.
That was a front page story. At
any rate, Bob Banman, a former minister, came to
If
that refinancing package had not been in place, the company would not exist
today. It is as simple as that. You can sneer, you can laugh, but do a hard
analysis of it and you will see. It
would not exist today. We saved it back
in '69‑70, and we saved it again in 1982.
I have a sincere great fear that any partnership‑‑you may be
well‑meaning‑‑but I say the economics lead me to fear that
the company could be put in jeopardy if it is in a minority position. It would seem to me that is the way you are
heading, because if you are not in a minority position you do not need to demand
any conditions about keeping it in
Mr.
Speaker, I have worked to keep those jobs in Brandon long before some members were
in this House, long before they ever thought of politics, and I have no problem
in calling an election and letting the member for Arthur‑Virden (Mr.
Downey) run against me any time, right now, in Brandon East. [interjection]
Come on, if Jim wants to run against me in Brandon East on this issue, I invite
him to do so.
At
any rate, Mr. Speaker‑‑[interjection] Well, you can misconstrue
statements and you can make statements and allege them to me that I never
made. Do what you wish. I feel flattered that I am getting so much
attention from the opposite side. You
know, there are a few others around here too.
At
any rate, Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the people in my constituency are
particularly upset about health care, as I said. They are particularly upset about the loss of
jobs at MTS, and the workers are very unhappy.
I kid you not. They have had
meetings, not even with the union, they have had meetings on their own. They are so upset about it. I kid you not.
An Honourable Member:
How do you know, Leonard?
Mr. Leonard Evans:
How do I know? Because I have had
dozens of phone calls, that is how I know.
Many, many times, and many, many meetings. Many, many.
Come on with me, come on, we will have a meeting this weekend in
At
any rate, they are very concerned about the loss of MTS jobs in
Mr.
Speaker, the fact is that generally speaking this economy of ours has not done
well for the last many years, and I would be the first one to say that we are
not an economic island to ourselves. We
are part of the national economy, and that has obviously a bearing on our
economic health.
(Mr.
Marcel Laurendeau, Acting Speaker, in the Chair)
But
the fact is that we were told when this government was in opposition, when the
Conservative Party was in opposition, that great things would happen. Well, they were going to eliminate, not
reduce, but eliminate the payroll tax.
Well, they were going to reduce the debt. The payroll tax is still here, and how much
does it bring in? It brings in a lot of
money, Mr. Acting Speaker.
The
levy for health and education, I just got the nine‑month figure, is $142
million, and that is only nine months.
Well, it is still there, is it not?
I can get you speeches from Hansard from the Premier (Mr. Filmon), from
the former Minister of Finance, that said, we will eliminate, not reduce, the
number of companies who pay for it.
Listen,
you have been in government all these years since 1988 and it is still
there. It is still there. It is bringing in more money today, I think,
than ever. So this government has not
lived up to its expectations, to its promises.
Likewise,
it said it was going to reduce the debt.
Well, per capita debt in
* (2120)
The
unemployment rate continues to be very high.
The actual rate this March was 10.7 percent, higher than last year, 9.8 percent,
considerably higher than last year. The
sad part of it is, Mr. Acting Speaker, that the forecast that we get from the
banks and the other forecasting agencies are for unemployment to remain high. The Toronto Dominion Bank in its latest March
1994 projection projects
The
number of jobs today, as my Leader said earlier on, is fewer than when this
government was elected. If you were
going to do all these great things, encouraging private investment and so on,
which is the source of jobs, where are they?
Why are the jobs not here? In
1988 there were 494,000 jobs. By 1993,
and these are annual averages, we have dropped to 490,000. So there are fewer people working today than
in 1988. In fact, if you take the first
three months of this year, the latest data that we got, we are down to
476,000. So there is no sign of jobs
increasing, and that is why we lose a lot of people.
We
have lost thousands of people during this government's regime, and that is the
reason why our population growth is extremely slow. Here are charts showing the rates of growth
since 1988, and they show a very, very low population growth compared to what
happened prior to '88, and the reason for that is the loss on interprovincial
migration. It is not a change in the
birth rate. It is the interprovincial
migration loss. Why do we lose people to
other provinces? Simply because there
are not enough jobs here. Where are they
going? They are going to Ontario,
Alberta and British Columbia.
Then
there are other signs of a very weak economy.
Our weekly wages paid to Manitobans, on average we ranked nine out of
10. We are just about the last of the 10
provinces. Retail trade last year, we
were eight out of 10.
An Honourable Member:
What is the cost of buying a house here versus Toronto?
Mr. Leonard Evans:
Well, talking about houses, yes, there is no question, but that is not
the point I am making. I am talking
about the increase in weekly wages. [interjection] No, no, we are talking about
the increase in weekly wages.
As
a matter of fact, if you want to talk about housing, that is a very pitiful
situation. You know, we used to have
housing starts‑‑well, back in '87 we had 8,174 starts. But we really reached a low point. By 1991 we had dropped to 1,950. Even now we are only about‑‑in
fact, for 1993 they estimate it was about 2,425 compared to 8,000 prior to this
government taking office. There is just
no significant new housing construction taking place in this province for
various reasons, but one of which is the fact that the population is not
growing.
You
know, this government always brags about how its fiscal policy is attracting
capital investment into the province.
Well, Mr. Acting Speaker, if one were to look at the figures issued by
Statistics Canada on the intentions of investment spending this year, they will
find that private capital investment spending is going to be negative. It is going to be 4.8 percent less than it
was last year. In fact, if you can see
this chart, we are the last of the 10 provinces. We are right at the bottom. We are negative. So I say, if you have such great fiscal
policies, if you have got such a great taxation regime, why is it that we are
not getting private capital investment?
Why is it going down the hill, going down the tube? It is negative. [interjection] Well, it
is. It is negative.
In
fact, Mr. Acting Speaker, if you go back, and you can go back through the
years, since 1988, the dark bars are private investment, and it is a pretty
pitiful situation since this government has been in office. It is one, two, four years, it is negative;
'89, '91 and '94 are negative, oh yeah, and 1990.
The
two years that it was positive, it was only 2.5 percent one year and 1.9
percent the other year, very, very pitiful.
The other sad fact is that for this year, and the Minister of Industry
(Mr. Downey) should listen to this, the forecast projected by Stats Canada,
which does the survey of all businesses, of all manufacturers, among others,
shows that manufacturing investment is going to be down by 15.7 percent. Why?
Why is manufacturing investment down by 15.7 percent? In fact, we have negative figures right
across the board. We have them in mining
communities, utilities, agriculture and so on.
The
fact is‑‑[interjection] Well, you know, you want to make light of
this, fine, but this was the key. This
was supposedly the key of the taxation and fiscal policy of this
government. We were going to attract
private investment because, if you bring in investment, you create the basis
for jobs. So that is correct. That is an obvious observation, but the fact
is, we are not getting the investment and we are not getting the jobs. Again, people of Manitoba have every right to
be very upset and disappointed with the performance of this government.
As
my Leader said, the only growth industries‑‑[interjection] One
minute, half a minute? The only growth
industries we have in this province regrettably are welfare and gambling, and
that indeed is a tragedy. It is a tragedy
that this government has not made job creation a priority. It is a tragedy that this government has
failed. It is a tragedy that we have so
many people in poverty, the biggest percentage of people in poverty of any
province in Canada, and a large part of that is due to the failure of the
economic policies of the government.
Thank
you very much.
Mr. Ben Sveinson (La Verendrye):
Mr. Acting Speaker, I am honoured to speak today on our government's
throne speech. First, I would like to
welcome back all members of the Legislature and especially those who are with
us for the first time: the honourable
members for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski), Rossmere (Mr. Schellenberg), Osborne
(Ms. McCormick), St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh) and Rupertsland (Mr. Robinson).
I
ask them to follow the example, or perhaps set the example set by the past
member for The Maples, Mr. Gulzar Cheema, who put forward constructive
criticism and suggestions. I would ask
all opposition members to try this and truly, truly represent their constituencies
and the people of Manitoba.
A
special welcome to our new Pages‑‑you have an interesting task
ahead of you, and I hope you will find it to be a real learning experience.
I
would also like to welcome the new legislative interns. I know this will also be a learning
experience for them, and I thank them for the time and effort in advance.
I
believe, Mr. Acting Speaker, that the throne speech is an excellent road map or
blueprint of the direction this government intends to take over the coming
months. I will find it clearly marks
where this government stands on the issues, something our friends across the
floor might want to follow instead of the silliness they espouse each day.
We
would like to tell the people of Manitoba where we stand, but we also make them
a part of that process.
I
want to start off today by discussing some of the areas in the throne speech
that have already been announced. I am
referring to the announcements of the parents' forum on education. This was announced on Friday by Education
minister Clayton Manness.
I
welcome this initiative because it makes parents a central part of improving
the education system. [interjection] No, it is not. Again, we have to get our facts straight, and
it has not been six years. Thank you.
As
the throne speech pointed out, our top priority must continue to be jobs and
economic growth. I will speak more about
that later, but I think it is important to mention it here as well.
In
order to make jobs and economic growth a priority we must also address where
the education system is going. The
reality is, the workforce is changing rapidly.
Who would have known 10 or 15 years ago that such a dramatic shift would
be taking place?
* (2130)
During
the 1970s we saw a change in the workplace that was driven by the advance of
the computer age. That electronic age
has evolved into something more. The
coming of the electronic highway requires us to be prepared. Otherwise, it will pass us by. I am happy to say that Manitoba is well on its
way to becoming a leader and innovator in the electronic information highway.
We
are already seeing companies set up in Manitoba that will create employment and
marketing opportunities as they continue to grow. The types of jobs that will be created will
require different skills. That is why we
are working now to ensure our children will be able to compete in this changing
workplace. This is one area where the
parents will help us draft a blueprint for education.
As
part of that, the government must also look at uniform standards of achievement
and improved teacher training. There is
also a pressing need for our universities and colleges to examine their role in
education to ensure they are prepared for the changing requirements of the job
markets. That means apprenticeship
programs must also be updated.
Our
country is spending more on education than most countries in the world, but on
academic tests we continue to fare poorly against some of those countries. We need to examine the reasons for that and
find a solution.
(Mr.
Speaker in the Chair)
This
government has also announced its intentions to implement recommendations
contained in the report of the University Review Commission. The commission was chaired by the former
Premier Duff Roblin.
Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased that our government is also planning immediate action to
strengthen and expand the distance education opportunities for all
Manitobans. Clearly, we are faced with
unique challenges in Manitoba, and we must ensure that those who are in remote
areas do not suffer just because they live far from a facility.
This
government is also continuing to help women by continuing efforts to encourage
them to seek nontraditional fields of study and occupation.
I
should also mention here that this government is also in support of the
International Year of the Family. We do
more than just support it though. We are
taking action to help improve the quality of life for Manitoba families.
Mr.
Speaker, this government has worked closely with rural and agricultural
communities. I am pleased to say that
will continue and be further enhanced in months ahead.
Now
that the long and difficult negotiations on the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade are completed, we should see a great improvement in the agricultural
sector. The GATT talks left so much
uncertainty in the world that it depressed the prices for our producers and
jeopardized their markets. GATT sets out
some new rules, and that will mean we in Canada and here in Manitoba will have
to work closely in the coming months to adjust the way our farm safety net
programs work.
We
can and will work with producers to fight protectionist measures brought
forward from time to time in the United States. We also note the tremendous increase in
agricultural products exported to the United States since the Free Trade
Agreement was signed.
Mr.
Speaker, I commend the farming community for the tremendous increase in hog
production here in Manitoba, and indeed especially in my constituency. The increase in hog production has doubled in
the last decades. If people really knew
the jobs, the literally thousands of jobs, that will mean and does mean in our
society, it would be good if they did realize it.
There
are from time to time hog operations that have to be looked at to ensure that
environmental guidelines are being met.
Good farming practices are ensured by the act, and a board to receive
legitimate complaints is in operation.
Manitobans
will continue to benefit under initiatives from this government. Along with the federal government we are
pleased to take part in the program to improve our infrastructure. As members of this House know, Premier Filmon
and the members of this government have called on Ottawa for some time to
become a partner in this type of program.
The benefits of this program are immense. Rural Manitoba will receive in the area of
$60 million. So far about $20 million of
that money has been announced. There are
still dozens of projects to be awarded, ranging from street and road repairs to
building sewage facilities and other projects vital to our smaller communities.
An Honourable Member:
More good ones coming.
Mr. Sveinson:
More good ones coming.
There
are a number of smaller communities that will be installing, enlarging lagoons
and sewer systems that will allow them to grow both residentially and also
allow them to go after businesses or create businesses who could not move in
because of water and sewage capacities.
Lorette, Ste. Anne, Landmark, Whitemouth are just some of those
communities. They will be benefiting
from some of the ones that we have already announced.
As
a part of that infrastructure program we are also pleased to work with Centra Gas
to establish natural gas service to 23 communities. What pleases me about this project is that it
will help improve the quality of life for rural Manitobans by giving them a
cheaper, cleaner source of energy. It
will also have long‑term benefits for the province and those communities,
like enhanced business possibilities.
We
all know that the cost of living in Manitoba is among the lowest in
Canada. We also know the work ethic of
Manitobans is second to none. That is
why I am confident that these two factors will lead to more businesses setting
up shop in rural Manitoba, creating jobs, thus giving a boost to our economy.
The
philosophy of creating a climate that is attracted to business will continue to
lead us out of the recession that has gripped our country for so long. Our agri‑food companies will benefit
from the natural gas service and help them continue to grow and become major
players in that global marketplace.
Mr.
Speaker, while I am discussing the rural economy I must also praise what this
government is doing in the area of mining.
The throne speech mentions that this government will be assisting and
encouraging exploration and development in the mining and petroleum industries. We are actively seeking new projects.
I
was pleased with the announcement last month of the largest mining claim in
Manitoba's history. The Rhonda Mining
Corporation of Calgary has filed more than 4,000 claims covering the southeast
area of the province. That area goes
from Winnipeg south to the U.S. border and all the way east to the boundary
with Ontario. There are actually some
other claims even outside that area which goes farther out into the area around
Whitemouth‑Seven Sisters area.
This
news was one of the most exciting things to hit the industry in some time. It was also very exciting for the people who
live in those areas. Just the thought of
the exploration was one thing and looking at the possibilities of a company
spending on exploration between $5 million and $10 million over the next several
years, just thinking about that alone adds jobs in the different
communities. Whether it is cafes,
restaurants, stores, trucking outfits carrying different materials, it is
endless the different jobs it can create.
* (2140)
Mr.
Speaker, this news was one of the most exciting things to hit this
industry. The company says fingerprints
in southeastern Manitoba show there could be diamonds, gold and other base
metals found in these areas, but there was a negative side to this thing that
was shown through the media. They were
saying something to the effect that it was not found yet. Nobody said anything that there were any
mines found or any diamonds found. It
was simply the exploration, but there was quite a to‑do on radio and in
the newspapers that indeed the minister had announced and was literally saying
that there would be diamonds there and the mines would be opened up. That was not it at all, and it was not even
said that way, but it is quite incredible the negative sides that some people
can take. It seems to come from across
the way a considerable part of that time.
Mr.
Speaker, I would also say that I have always known the yellow brick road led to
La Verendrye, and we do not need to give away any red ruby slippers to
encourage development. All the NDP would
do is scare off companies with threats of increased taxation like putting the
payroll tax back. I think I heard
something about that today. The Liberals
would not know enough to look for new companies for exploration.
The
reason we are seeing an interest in Manitoba is because of the things that this
government is doing to encourage exploration.
Mining companies can deduct 150 percent of their exploration
expenditures. That means we are
encouraging them to spend more of their money in this province. Further to that, new mines are not required
to pay the mining tax until their profits equal the money they actually spend
on the development. Just think of the
spin‑off benefits to small‑business owners in this province and to
those people who receive jobs as a result of new business and investment.
I
would also like to point out that it was encouraging to see the recent opening
of the gold mine in Lynn Lake and the two new gold developments in the
North. There has also been recent news
about other mineral deposits in our province.
This I would say is a sure sign that the long drought in the mining
industry is coming to an end. That
improvement in the industry is also a signal that the economy is improving.
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to mention some of the environmental initiatives
containing this government's throne speech.
Our plans are to continue what we set out years ago to lead all
provinces in the principles and practices of sustainable development. We are not interested in leading for the sake
of being first. We are doing it because
it is the right thing to do.
I
am looking forward to the introduction of the sustainable development act,
which will be the first of its kind anywhere in North America. The Manitoba Round Table on Environment and
the Economy is the driving force behind this initiative, which will be a model
for others to follow and perhaps even improve.
Since
we are on the topic of leaders and followers, when it comes to the environment,
I want to mention the provincial Liberals, who are not even in the picture.
Our
government's efforts to get our environmental side agreement to the NAFTA
accord and Manitoba's centre for sustainable development should have made
Manitoba the obvious choice for the headquarters of the North American
Commission on Environmental Co‑operation.
The federal Liberals decided otherwise and, as Sheila Copps was quoted,
the decision was made for political reasons.
The
honourable Leader of the third party did not think it was important to stand up
for Manitoba and instead acted like an apologist for his federal cousins. The Liberal Leader, the Leader of the third
party, was quoted as saying, this was possibly five to 10 jobs for Manitoba.
[interjection] Thirty? I am corrected,
no big deal. It is unfortunate that the
Manitoba Liberal Leader decided to act like a turtle on this issue,
frankly. His constituents really
deserved better.
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to draw your attention to the topic of tourism. As all members of this House know, the
constituency of La Verendrye is one of the most beautiful areas of our fine
province. Many visitors come to this
area every year, and tourism is a significant industry in my area. The success which Manitoba has had in
attracting visitors is a direct result of this government's aggressive efforts
at promotion of Manitoba. Our
government's campaign is continuing to improve Manitoba as a major vacation
destination. We are attracting people
from all over North America to visit Manitoba and enjoying everything it has to
offer.
As
proof of this success of our government strategy, the number of American
visitors to Manitoba is four times the national average and last year the
number of international visitors increased by 25.5 percent.
Our
government is also committed to ensuring that the resources are available to
help tourism businesses to expand. We
have provided assistance to Whiteshell Resort to winterize their cottages and
cabins and extend their seasons. The
extension of those seasons I will talk about a little bit farther on and why it
will help in the Whiteshell area especially, and that simply is the increased
usage of snowmobiles all over our area and into the United States, into Ontario
and Saskatchewan and so on, and they are coming up here. It is nice to see.
In
addition, new walking and hiking trails will be added to the Jessica Lake area
to add to an already successful tourist area.
You could jog down these trails also.
As the government announced this winter, Manitoba will be pursuing a
very significant program of snowmobile trail improvements and expansion. This will bring in more and more tourists
from the south, east and west of us.
The
Can‑Am International meet is an outstanding event yearly. For the last three years, I have worked with
people from the Whiteshell each year in putting on the Can‑Am
International Trail event. It is truly
an international event. People from the
United States come down to the Whiteshell into West Hawk, Falcon, Rennie
area. They travel the trails throughout
our Whiteshell area and this year we added some into Ontario. Eventually those trails will be over most of
Manitoba. Just think of the more time
involved for those tourists, stopping in to all the different towns throughout
rural Manitoba. It is an exciting
thing. I must say that the group was
very nice again to me this year. Each
year they are very nice. [interjection]
They did. Polaris was again, and
their representative was very nice to me.
They gave me a real top quality machine, and I thanked them very much
for that.
An Honourable Member:
How much is it worth?
Mr. Sveinson:
Offhand I am not sure of the exact cost of that machine, but they were
very nice and I thanked them for it.
The
establishment of this trail improvement fund will increase the enjoyment of
trails for snowmobilers throughout this province and will certainly contribute
to a large number of visitors to our province.
* (2150)
Mr.
Speaker, I want to assure all my constituents that as their representative I
will continue to work to ensure that our tourist facilities are first
class. However, I must say that it would
not be possible without the support of many people and organizations in my area
who share this goal with me. I have to
thank the West Hawk and Falcon Lake business association, the Whiteshell
cottages association, the Whiteshell Provincial Park staff, the organizers of
the Can‑Am International, the local government officials in all the
different areas from the Ritchot municipality, the town of St. Adolphe,
Landmark, the UVD of Landmark, the R.M. of Tache, the beautiful town of
Lorette, the beautiful town of Ste. Anne, the R.M. of Ste. Anne, the R.M. of
Whitemouth and the LGD of Reynold.
Actually,
just for the members' interest, in the last year‑‑and for many
members here who might wonder and have mentioned a few times the different
areas in my constituency. I have a very
large constituency, and last year I put on in the neighbourhood of 50,000 miles
in my constituency. I was seeing the
people throughout my constituency, and all the different organizations that I
have just mentioned are people that I am working with.
The
local government officials in all the areas that I have mentioned and the business
associations and residents work hard to provide a friendly setting for all
visitors to our area. We all have to
look forward to a successful summer and a round of golf on many golf courses in
La Verendrye. [interjection] I swing a club now and then.
As
well, I will continue to work on the promotion of PR207 as Dawson Trail or the
Dawson Road. Once again the
municipalities, towns and businesses are gearing up to make this a real tourist
attraction. The Dawson Trail has major
significance in Manitoba's history since it was the old land and water route
between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.
A
trip down the Dawson Trail brings visitors to many beautiful scenes and
attractions, such as Falcon Lake, areas in the Richer area, the village of Ste.
Anne, Dufresne, Lorette. If you take a
little jaunt off around Richer, off to Giroux, you will run into the home of
Philip's Magical Paradise, which features the magic of Winnipeggers Dean
Gunnarson and Doug Henning. [interjection] No, no. I said it features the magic of, but it was
built for a young fellow, Philip, who was into the magic field, if you will,
and was very good friends with Dean Gunnarson and Doug Henning. That itself too is a tourism draw, and it is
in a small town called Giroux.
These
attractions and the accomplishments I have highlighted here are only a sampling
of what La Verendrye has to offer, and this government will continue to promote
Manitoba tourism and provide support to our valuable tourism industry.
I
hope that the members of this House will have the opportunity to visit this
beautiful part of this province this summer. [interjection] The honourable
member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux) I think is trying to egg me into a golf
match or something.
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to express to this House my concerns about the increase
in youth crime and violence. My
constituents have also expressed their fears surrounding this problem. However, I would like to commend this
government, especially the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Rosemary Vodrey,
for the consultative approach to this problem.
I
am very pleased that a wise cross section of Manitobans were given the
opportunity to express their feelings and discuss some of the problems and
possible solutions at the summit on youth crime and violence this last
fall. The Minister of Justice has
reflected wisely upon the views expressed at this summit and provided a
progressive nine‑point plan that I feel will help in reversing this
disturbing trend.
I
would like to stress immediately that I believe that preventative programs
should be the first choice for combatting youth crime and violence. This means that communities must help support
law enforcement officials and schools in their effort to prevent youth crimes.
In
addition, it is important to recognize that most, and I say most, young people
are upstanding and understanding members of their communities and that we are
speaking only about a small segment of the youth.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster):
I am still waiting for you to talk about the boot camps.
Mr. Sveinson:
The member for Inkster was lost.
He was not sure where I was.
However, for those young people who violate the law‑‑[interjection]
You are right. However, for those young
people who violate the law and do so repeatedly, we must have tougher
consequences. Mr. Speaker, I believe
that our young people are fully rational, and when presented with a serious
deterrent to violent and criminal behaviour, they will recognize the consequence
of their action and change their way.
Therefore, I feel that a toughening of the Young Offenders Act is an
important step in stopping youth crime.
Another
important step in dealing with youth crime is the concept of boot‑‑the
honourable member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux) is not listening. He was asking me about boot camp, and I am
into it now‑‑and wilderness camps for young people who come in
conflict with the law.
I
have already gone on record as a wholehearted supporter of boot camps for young
offenders, and I feel strongly that they can have a positive impact on some of
these young people.
Mr.
Speaker, I have seen the results of giving young people discipline and
structure in this sort of setting. I
believe that the idea of boot camps and wilderness camps works, and I would
even welcome a facility in my constituency.
I believe that the approaches that the public put forth in the youth
crime summit will be very helpful in correcting the trend of increased youth
crime.
The
solutions which this government is now aggressively pursuing were
democratically arrived at in consultation with the public. However, the community involvement which
determines our strategy to arrest youth crime must also involve the
implementation of these recommendations.
It is imperative that the community get behind the government's
efforts. I urge parents, educators, the
police and especially the media to join us in our efforts.
An Honourable Member:
The media has a responsibility in this area.
Mr. Sveinson:
Very strong. Mr. Speaker, clearly
we have established the framework for continued growth and prosperity for
Manitoba.
Mr. Speaker:
When this matter is again before the House, the honourable member for La
Verendrye (Mr. Sveinson) will have six minutes remaining.
The
hour being 10 p.m., this House is now adjourned and stands adjourned until 1:30
p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday).