Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the member for Radisson (Ms. Cerilli),

WHEREAS racism is multifaceted and it affects the perpetrators and victims, in fact, all segments of society; and

WHEREAS racism remains a serious problem in society; and

WHEREAS racism is the direct result of a lack of understanding of other people, other cultures, other lands; and

WHEREAS our community continues to become more diverse as people from all over the world come to call Manitoba their home; and

WHEREAS tensions between diverse groups often arise as a result of a lack of understanding and ignorance for those who are different from themselves; and

WHEREAS it is prudent and effective to circumvent such tensions by creating a sense of communication and understanding between distinct groups through education; and

WHEREAS Manitobans need to be educated on the causes and social dynamics of racism if we are all to make this a better place to raise our children; and

WHEREAS it is the education of youth in the community that may be the most effective method for developing such understanding and communication.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba urge the Minister of Education to consider introducing multicultural curriculum components to the existing educational system which will examine the contributions of all groups that have had and continue to have a role in shaping the character of Manitoba and Canada, in order to make the educational system more inclusive and to foster a sense of understanding and appreciation among all groups in society; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Assembly urge the provincial government to consider developing curriculum components dealing with the causes and social dynamics of racism, in pursuit of its elimination.

Motion presented.

Mr. Hickes: Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to this resolution, because I think it is long overdue when you look at some of the events that have taken place over the years and some of the events that I am sure we will continue to see in the future.

If you look at the Multicultural Education Policy and under The Manitoba Multiculturalism Act, it says in there that there should be opportunities for education for children in the schools. It says, whereas the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba is committed to the promotion of racial harmony--and I am sure that is what they mean, is that the opportunity to get the proper education for all students and for all citizens in the province of Manitoba--and under the Multicultural Education Policy, the Annual Report '95-96 under the Multiculturalism Secretariat, it states all students, regardless of race, colour, gender, language, culture, heritage, religion, ethnicity, physical capability, have the right to equal and meaningful roles in Canadian society.

I think and I know that when you look back at the histories and what has happened, where a lot of racist incidents have taken place and the people who are making racist and hateful remarks and actions, a lot of it is because they do not understand and appreciate another's cultures and values. There are a lot of individuals, they stay within their own circle, their own friends. They do not get the exposure, and they do not get the education opportunities in the school.

If you look at Winnipeg School Division No. 1 right now, they have a lot of good policies going on. They have a lot of good opportunities, and there is definitely a connection between racism and lack of multicultural education in the schools. That is why I am really pleased that Winnipeg School Division No. 1 is trying to address that through different programs. For instance, Winnipeg School Division No. 1 had a race relations officer, and the officer is assigned to those duties and tasks, but since the departure of the race relations officer, the work has been taken over by Prince Charles Education Resource Centre, and the office was always a very committed organization, but now that has been handed over, and there is some feeling of some of the parents and some of the students that this will have a negative impact. The parents have organized and are very involved and trying to continue the work and efforts of the race relations office. You have to give a lot of credit to those parents and to those organizations that have picked up that challenge. It will be very hard for them, but I am sure that with the support and commitment of the parents and the community that they will succeed to a certain extent.

But I also feel very strongly that governments have a very important role to play, because governments have the opportunity to encourage divisions to introduce education opportunities and to introduce the curriculum dealing with racism. Winnipeg School Division No.1 has set an example to do that, and I would encourage the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) and the Minister of Culture (Mr. Gilleshammer) to get together and to try and encourage all school divisions to have racism education from kindergarten right to Grade 12, so that way people would continue their education and continue getting the knowledge and appreciation of different values.

For instance, on Monday, June 22, 1992, there was a committee and a lady from the Immigrant Women's Association of Manitoba gave a brief presentation. Her name was Miss Lena Anderson, and she thanked the Minister of Family Services, Bonnie Mitchelson, for bringing this forward. In part of her speech she said that it is very important that we have multiculturalism education: We feel that multiculturalism education should be an integral part of the school system from kindergarten to Grade 12, and that is the spokesperson of the Immigrant Women's Association, so I am sure they know what they speak of.

When I say that, we only have to look at a few articles that I have pulled out of papers just to show an example of why all citizens of Manitoba should have the opportunity, and it should be very important that all people have the education to make choices, so they are not making choices through ignorance or not understanding of what they speak.

For instance, an article of Saturday, January 8, 1994, says: Aboriginal students on Winnipeg campuses face acts of racism as brutal as any found in the poverty-stricken inner city, say those who witness this every day. Anything that you will find the core area you are going to find here as well.

That was said by Florence Bruyere, native students' advisor at the University of Manitoba. Aboriginal students are constantly bombarded with racist acts, she said, from death threats spray-painted on elevator walls to insensitivity from professors.

It is very interesting. One of her comments, she says, as the economy worsens, so do the incidents of racism. I think she is right on because, if you look at when the economy is down, people get pretty hateful and they want to take it out on someone else. You look at what is happening in our province. A lot of the issues even related to crime, that has to be associated with poverty.

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Also, another article from Tuesday, March 19, 1996, and here it is a family that was falsely accused. The exact words were: Natives shop and steal from an inner-city store, says the manager, who makes no apologies for wrongly suspecting a native family of theft. They shop here and they steal here, but we have nothing against them; they support us.

It goes on to say, the parents and the family were speaking: They signal us out because of our colour; there were white people going in and out. People who are prejudiced like that should not be working in a public place.

It goes on to say, the spokesperson for the Manitoba Metis Federation, Robert Chartrand, wants to know why it was only the Metis family was stopped and why no apology was offered when the search proved futile. Unfortunately, subtle incidents of racism leave victims with little recourse, said Don Bailey, president of the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties.

In all these other stories that I am going to quote because I want to put it on record, it shows that people who are fulfilling these kinds of acts that are very racist in nature is because they do not have an understanding or an appreciation of the different cultures that make up Manitoba. I think it is crucial that we have education policies and education programs, like the person from Lena Anderson stated, from kindergarten to Grade 12.

There is another article. This is taken from Saturday, March 11, 1995: Those neo-Nazis could be out in full force this summer, spreading their hate, and antiracists groups meeting in Winnipeg this weekend say they are organizing to thwart their efforts. In addition to stepping up their campaign of hate-mongering, intimidation and recruitment of new members, Loewen [phonetic] said he has received information that neo-Nazis are trying to organize a regional summit in Manitoba.

Is this the kind of activity we want in our province? I do not think so. I do think anyone in this House would stand up and say, yes, we condone that or, yes, I support those kinds of activities.

It goes on to state, from Alan Dutton [phonetic], who is executive director of Vancouver-based Canadian Anti-Racism Education Research Society. He says here: Obviously, we have a serious problem of racism in Canada. Not only in Manitoba, it is right across Canada.

Here is an article from another store that wrongfully accused a doctor of shoplifting. It says: A University of Manitoba professor claims an employee of a local Superstore humiliated him, called him "Blackie" and banned him from the store over an empty box of children's medication.

Why--there is kind of a bad word in here, but I will not use it--why should somebody treat me like that, said the medical doctor who specializes in children's medical research, this thing is really based on racism. He goes on to say, they think they can get away with anything. In the hospital, in pediatrics, I can get bottles of Tempra, why would I steal Tempra from the Superstore? It goes on: The incident marks the second time in as many years that Superstore employees have been accused of making racial remarks towards customers.

Another article, here it says, root out racism; antihate groups urge major purge of military.

I am sure that individuals in this Chamber have seen these articles and read these articles, but they continue year after year after year. There are quotes from 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996. I think that it is time we try to eliminate it, stop it, or if we could even slow it down until the children are given the education. Hopefully, the government will introduce education opportunities in the school system so the generation that is getting these kinds of educational opportunities will increase their knowledge and hopefully will change the racism attitudes and some of the actions that we have seen.

Some of the actions of the government you have to question, for instance, the Multiculturalism Secretariat created by the government in 1994. It was absorbed into the office of the Department of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, and the funding was distributed to MGAC. It has been reduced to less than a third of its original budget of $1.3 million in 1989. Also, when you look at the office, it was the office of the Multiculturalism Secretariat at Arlington Street and Sargent Avenue. Very shortly after it was absorbed into the Culture, Heritage and Citizenship department at 213 Notre Dame, they closed the office down. It is no longer there. That office was there to try and help with the education and the promotion of multiculturalism in the province of Manitoba. What I found out is that it is closed. What they are going to do with it, I do not know.

I think we all have to work together. Hopefully, we will get support on this resolution and hopefully we will encourage all school divisions, not only School Division 1, but all school divisions.

For instance, when you look at words and acts of racism, some very, very highly educated individuals have crossed that line. If you think back to April 30, the remarks of two Reform members of Parliament, those were blatant racist remarks. At that time, I wrote a letter to their leader to ask him to at least withdraw those comments. What they said at that time, they said according to Mr. Ringma, it is acceptable to fire, or as he put it, move to the back of the shop any member of a visible minority or a homosexual if the presence of that individual offended a bigoted customer. Now, is this Canada we are living in? I hope that was an isolated incident and I hope that we can help eliminate some of those actions, but I think we all have to work together.

I hope we get the support of all members of this House, and I am sure that the government, in their wisdom, would like to do the right thing and would like to encourage and promote valuable education in our school system. When you have the education opportunities, especially when you start at kindergarten right to Grade 12, that will hopefully build a strong foundation for individuals in those classrooms that will make them strong citizens and productive citizens, and hopefully will stop and eliminate racism in Manitoba. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Hon. Jim Ernst (Government House Leader): Madam Speaker, I wonder if I might have a moment for House business. Bill 25 was referred to committee for tomorrow morning. I gather there are some complications, so we would like to withdraw that bill from committee tomorrow morning.

Madam Speaker: Bill 25 to be withdrawn from the Standing Committee on Economic Development for Tuesday morning, October 8.

Mr. Ernst: Madam Speaker, also Bill 54 was referred to the Committee on Municipal Affairs for Thursday morning at nine o'clock, and I gather there are also some complications associated with that. So that committee will be cancelled.

An Honourable Member: The whole committee.

Mr. Ernst: The whole committee.

Madam Speaker: The Committee on Municipal Affairs previously scheduled for Thursday, October 10, 9 a.m., will be cancelled.

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I want to thank the honourable member for his remarks and for his obvious sincerity on this subject matter. It is refreshing to see a resolution come forward that I believe absolutely does have a genuine support by the member proposing it. So I commend him for bringing forward this issue.

I do believe that we are addressing many of his concerns in the school system now, and I would just like to take a minute to go through and discuss some of the points which he has raised because they are valid, and I think they are worthy of being brought forward in the Chamber for discussion.

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The member expresses a concern about racism and has provided some anecdotal evidence as to the kinds of circumstances that people have had to endure or situations in which they found themselves here in Manitoba, and those are things that we must work to help educate our citizenry against so that we do not have a continued escalation of this type of attitude. I believe absolutely, Madam Speaker, that, if we could instill in each school child a sense of the worth of the individual human spirit, we could dilute in many cases and eliminate in some cases the kind of mentality that leads to bias, prejudice, bigotry and hatred against other people by virtue of their physical characteristics.

If we looked at the worth of the individual human spirit, then we would not see any physical characteristics. We would not be concerned with any particular ancestral lineage, and we would look to the value of that person and that person's contribution in isolation from those other factors. I know from my own background, which is a mixture of different racial backgrounds, as are most people in Canada, and I look back, and I see that my parents have indicated to me, that I have a lot of Irish, I have a lot of Scottish, I have some Micmac and I have some French in my background. One only has to look at the warring clans in Scotland and what the Scottish clans did in terms of their relationships with each other and the hatred that was fostered between clans and the wars and the killing that went on because you belong to one clan instead of another and a whole society was built upon these warring factions. That is one part of my ancestry.

If you look at the Irish, I think I only need to say look at the Irish from whom I have partly descended and the very bitter, bitter hatred that exists between various factions of the Irish people and carried over, I might add, to North America where the term, shanty Irish, was used to denigrate and ostracize whole sections of immigrants to this country because they were Irish and so on. I think every group that came to this country could indicate the experiences they have had because of their ethnicity, because of their ancestry, where they have at one time or another been ostracized by virtue of their ancestry or their lineage.

Words come to mind that are derogatory terms that I do not care to use in this Chamber even by way of example, but Italians, Ukrainians, Chinese people, they have all had derogatory terms used about them so abundantly that I think just by saying Italian you can know what the derogatory term is that has been applied to them. So these points of bigotry and prejudice have entered our society unfortunately in such abundance that we all know the insulting terminology that has been applied to them. I think that is unfortunate at best and very, very hurtful at worst, and I say hurtful in the deepest sense of the word that the hurt goes very deep and can fill the person with grief and do terrible things to one's self image, desires, goals and aspirations.

My mother always told me when I first met a person to pretend that I was blind upon first meeting the person so that I would not see if they were ugly or beautiful or fat or thin or old or young or black or yellow or white or red or crippled or whole, that if I pretended I were a blind person I would not be able to see those things, and I would have to judge the person on the worth of the individual human spirit. I have tried to do that through my life.

In later years I have become aware of a different approach which is a different approach to dealing with racism which is to notice absolutely the difference and either acknowledge the diversity and not be troubled by it or on an even larger scale to hold it up as a reason for reaching out to those people. Affirmative action rose out of this, a second kind of approach to dealing with racism and bigotry which is to say to go that extra mile, to look and to notice that the person is different and then go that extra mile or whatever distance one needs to go to bring that individual in.

Whatever approach is taken, both of those approaches should get back ultimately to the worth of the individual human spirit. I think prejudice goes way beyond the very pertinent, very important examples the member for Point Douglas (Mr. Hickes) gave which are sort of blatant abuses of the human spirit by calling attention to people in a negative way for no reason other than their physical characteristics, race or cultural background.

That is a very terrible thing, but there are more subtle forms of bigotry and prejudice as well that I think we also have to guard our children against and that is within like-groups, within like-communities where there are their own hierarchal struggles where you have--and again I will use my Irish background as the example--two groups of Christians, should be the same cultural background, the same racial background, hating each other to the point of killing each other because they are arguing over certain differences in doctrine within the same faith that they both hold. You will see these prejudices occurring not just within the Christian community, as I pointed out in Ireland, but you will see them in other religious groups as well, where the orthodox in one religion do not speak to the liberal in the other religion and where the lines of prejudice and hatred are so tight and so strong that families could be split apart, and this is very, very harmful. Israel has been working very hard to cope with all of these kinds of pressures in Israel in terms of the various different groups of people who come, to make sure that the worth of the individual human spirit is always upheld in all that we do.

I say to the member that we must do both: We must take a look at the blatant racism which is obvious, that most of us would decry, and we also have to take a look at the subtleties, the subtle little putdowns that people do not even know they are doing that hurt.

I was quite hurt, to use an example here in the House, when the member for Radisson (Ms. Cerilli) called out some time ago that on this side of the House all she could see were old white guys. Without her recognizing inherent in that statement the very kind of prejudice that, had we been young black females, would have been the cause for great distress, but because--[interjection] Well, I am not an old white guy to the member for Burrows. I am a middle-aged, white woman, and I am not completely white, but let us leave that at that. I am just saying we have to be aware of the subtleties as well as the blatancies, and we have to recognize that if we are looking at the worth of the individual human spirit, and if we did that consistently in all our dealings with all people, there would be no prejudice, bigotry, hatred or racism. We would know and love people because of what is in them, or would dislike people because of what is in them, based only what is in them, not what they are in terms of the body that wraps them or the culture from which they are descended.

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We have taken a look at the blatant racism that is so obvious that most people of any conscience would abhor. We are addressing that system-wide. You will see new curriculum coming into the schools that in terms of our aboriginal people for example, the culture will be permeating not just for the aboriginal students but for the nonaboriginal students too who must learn to know and understand our native peoples, who did, after all, occupy these lands for many years before the rest of us who were immigrants came.

Our new history curriculum, you will see, will deal with pre-European Canadian history, which will then talk about the lives of the aboriginal peoples here prior to the Europeans coming, and help nonaboriginal students gain a better understanding of how Canada developed and how the people who live here have adapted and adjusted to each other, or how they have not adjusted to each other as time has gone on.

Inclusiveness in curriculum, inclusiveness in school practices, is extremely important. Inclusiveness by gender, inclusiveness by race, inclusiveness by culture, inclusiveness by language or by country of origin are very important, and we do say that we have to have this permeating the system. It is not good enough to say tomorrow at two o'clock we are going to sit down and for an hour learn about why being racist is bad. That is not good enough. It is important that in all that happens in the classroom, the staff, the board, the people who are interacting with the students, all work to ensure that every child feels included and not excluded by virtue of anything except their worth as an individual human spirit.

Schools can play a very critical role in fostering that. I think it is important to understand that the basis of any person being able to go out in the world and be free from the disease of bigotry and racism and hatred that they first have to have the ability for critical thinking, for knowledge, for understanding of the global village in which we live, for an understanding of society in its purest form, a society being that gathering together of a group of people to mutually support and uphold each other. A society works best when all individuals in it understand the worth of all the other individuals in it, and students need to learn that a society that functions on that kind of thinking will succeed better than a society that is built upon divisiveness, hatred, bigotry, both obvious and subtle.

I think we ourselves, in looking at the school system and training teachers to enter the system, have to also take a look at the Faculty of Education and make sure that as people go through the faculty they understand that inclusiveness means that schools must be welcoming, must be safe, must provide relevant learning opportunities for all students, must have supports that meet the needs of students, and sometimes their needs will be a special need associated with race. That need must be there understood and supported. We do have curriculum and school practices sensitive to gender issues, to multiculturalism, to antiracism, and we do need to have that permeate.

I believe that we have been embarking down those routes that the member for Point Douglas (Mr. Hickes) has raised. I commend him for raising them, because I think it is important that we stand and reaffirm in this House on a fairly regular basis that we are committed to promoting healthy attitudes towards people who may not be the same as the person that is adopting the attitude.

Again, Madam Speaker, with those few comments, I will thank the member, indicate I believe that we are doing what he was asking and thank him for his very sincere approach to this issue.

Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Madam Speaker, I would like to take a few minutes to talk about this very important subject, and I would like to bring a very positive note as to some things that are going on in schools, antiracism campaigns that are going on.

In particular, I of course talk about a subject I have talked about before, The Maples Collegiate Unity Group. The mission of this group, the unity group, is dedicated to educating others on the evils of racism. Through open forums, panel discussions, displays, contests, major events and a home page on the Internet, they are accomplishing this task.

For nearly a year of work they have created an antiracist environment in Maples Collegiate, and they hope to continue it in the future. The genesis of this project was two years ago. The Maples Collegiate sponsors an annual leadership group. With the leadership group, of course, one of the tasks they do is identify problems in their school, and one of the problems was racism. So, as a result of the identification of that problem, they formed the Unity Group, and some of the events that this group has sponsored is The Maples Collegiate Unity called Harmony Through Diversity.

On April 17, 1996, Maples Collegiate hosted the antiracism-multicultural education day with speakers, entertainment and food. The writing and art contest winners can be viewed on the home page on the Internet, and I will give one sample of the type of writing that was done for this day. This is a poem by Ramona Bhan called Cry of Our Nation: Our nation cries out desperately/For all the youths like you and me/Live your life and be happy/For we are the future leaders and proud to be. Our nation's cry echoes loud and clear/For all the adults in the world out there/Protect your children show them the way/Let them know that tomorrow is their day. Our nation cries, begs mercilessly/To us, to live in peace and harmony/Stop the racism, prejudice and judging/But share in the peace and keep on loving!

This is an example of the type of writing that was done for the Harmony Through Diversity Day. Some of the other titles are Anti-Racism Day by Joseph Martiniano; Racism by Jessica Nguyen; Racism Has Hurt! Hurts! Will Hurt? by Berna Masangkay; and Love Isn't a Color, It's An Emotion by Seeta Brar. The last title is a story about a Muslim girl who falls in love with an African boy and the trials and tribulations they have from trying to carry that relation forward. So this is the type of work that is going on in our school. I have to congratulate their teacher, leader, Chuck Duboff, who has worked with this Unity Group, and I say worked with because this group is a very strong group that has done a great deal of work. For example, on the Harmony Through Diversity Day, they had such speakers as Evelyn Hecht from the Jewish community; Joan Lloyd from the black community; Marivel Taruc from the Filipino community; Mohinder Singh from the Sikh community, and Beatrice Mathias from the native community.

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In addition to the speakers, the students got an opportunity to view movies which dealt with the subject, such titles as Mississippi Burning, Racism Sucks, Higher Learning, Schindler's List, Malcolm X and School Ties.

So, as you can see, in Maples Collegiate, antiracism education--no one is waiting for a curriculum. They are going ahead, and the students have identified it as a problem. They are working on it. I think members of the Legislature who were here on May 29, 1996, saw 250 students who marched all the way from Maples Collegiate, the nine kilometres, to the Legislative Building to demonstrate against racism. Of course, they were met here. I believe the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) and the member for River Heights (Mr. Radcliffe) and myself congratulated the students for the work they have been doing and for their march drawing attention to the cause.

So I congratulate the member for Point Douglas (Mr. Hickes) for bringing this resolution on a very important subject, and I want to say that regardless of what happens in the curriculum, students, teachers will take ownership of this issue, a very important issue, and continue to address it.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Ms. Marianne Cerilli (Radisson): I am also really pleased to see this resolution, and it was interesting to listen to the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) and to the member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski) talk a little bit about some of the things that they are aware of that are going on in the school system with regard to cross cultural education or antiracist education, human rights education.

I know that when you talk to students or when students are surveyed, racism continues to be an issue that they identify that is a concern and a problem for them, and I would concur, especially after hearing a lot of the incidents that were recorded as read by the member for Point Douglas when he put forward this resolution, that it is also something that is affecting adults. I was just speaking earlier on Bill 33 about how we often look to the education system as a way of resolving social problems and economic problems like racism and recognizing that the education system does serve that social function, trying to develop the kind of society that is inclusive and nonelitist and nondiscriminatory that we want to try and create.

I must raise some concern, though, that the effects of the cuts in our public schools, some $47 million over the last couple of years, are having an effect on the kinds of programs that we are talking about developing, when there are fewer teachers--there are now over 500 fewer teachers in our schools than there were when this government took office, and it is the kind of attention to issues like racism and human rights that is going to get pushed down in the agenda perhaps as teachers try and just deal more and more with basics, with the basic courses.

There has to be, I think, a recognition that the cuts in education are going to affect and exacerbate problems like racism in the schools and then in the community. It would be interesting to know how those teacher cuts have affected the number of visible minority teachers in the school system, the number of aboriginal teachers or nonwhite teachers in the school system. That would, I think, speak to this resolution or be important when considering this resolution because we know that one of the best ways for students to develop an understanding and appreciation for people who are different from themselves is to have to deal with those people on a day-to-day basis, whether that is going to be their co-students and classmates or whether that is going to be the teachers and administrators in their school system and in their school, so I think that is an important consideration.

I think that what we want to see is the government take some leadership and show some leadership, and the minister has said that they are looking at including sections dealing with human rights and issues like racism in history and social studies curriculums. It can be worked into science curriculums in dealing with anthropology-type issues or literature and English courses. A creative teacher can work different topics into subjects right across the board. In the past, I think, we have left it up to the interests of the individual teachers, and oftentimes teachers will have to bring in expertise and a point of view that they may not have.

I want to point out, when this minister has talked about what is happening in her department, she failed to mention that this government has cut the Human Rights Commission's education function. It was the Human Rights Commission that did a lot of work in the schools and was the resource that teachers could call on to come and do activities and provide materials for classroom work or extracurricular kinds of projects like the member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski) was speaking of.

I think that we want to ensure that students are going to learn how to deal both with individual instances of racism and discrimination or with systemic discrimination. I think that the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) in her comments talked a lot about the hurt of individual kinds of incidents, but I think we all know that there are very systemic and structural examples of racism. I find that is the kind of racism that we as legislators and as representatives of the public, especially in government, have the obligation to try and weed out.

I heard just the other day of an example in the area of housing where certain managements of housing will ensure when they have applications for housing that all the native applicants for housing are put in the same apartment block. That kind of systemic and structural segregation and racism are the kinds of things we are talking about, when rules and the application of rules or procedures end up having a kind of consequence that segregates or discriminates or elevates one group over the other. I think that we know that some of the policies, the economic policies and social policies brought forward by this government, have done that time after time. It may not be something that is in the design, I do not know, but it does occur. I know that some of those instances have been brought up in the House here from time to time.

I wanted to make mention, as I was bringing up my file to speak on Bill 33, I noticed that in there was a report the Manitoba Intercultural Council which also--we might want to make note, this government has cut off at the knees in many ways. But in 1987, so it is almost 10 years old, they made a presentation to the Manitoba High School Review Panel that had some 44 recommendations for antiracist policies, multicultural-sensitive policies for the school system. In this report there is an appendix that is a policy discussion paper on multicultural education. There is also an appendix that is the Intercultural Council's response to education multicultural policy. There is an inventory of human rights teaching materials in this report. There is the Canadian Human Rights Foundation theme, What are Human Rights? There is the Manitoba Intercultural Council's recommendations regarding amendments to Section 79 of The Public Schools Act. So I am interested in seeing how many of these recommendations have been implemented by this government, some 44 in all.

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It talks about how the purpose of education ought to foster individual self-fulfillment and provide each young person with the opportunity to achieve the promise that is in them to develop to their full potential in their own style and to their own limit. It has recommendations that deal with policy issues in the schools, recommendations that deal with teacher education, that deal with school curriculum, that deal with the availability and development of materials and resources. It has recommendations for programs and services that are needed or to be offered in schools to deal with both incidences as they arise or, for example, another thing that is becoming popular in schools which is develop a code of conduct and a very specific agreed-upon set of rules for how issues such as racism are going to be dealt with in that school. So the students buy in and participate in the development of those kinds of rules and then they know what to expect. I think those are the kinds of things that we want to see developed, and I think those are some of the things the member for Point Douglas (Mr. Hickes) has in mind when he brings forward a resolution such as this.

I know that from my point of view, dealing with racism or sexism or ageism is at the fundamental essence of my political point of view. I think we have to recognize the relationship between racism and the economic disparity that is growing in our community and how racism has been used in an economic stratification sense, that we know that certain segments of our community are far more disadvantaged, and we cannot only look at racism in terms of hurt feelings and being offended. It is a bread and butter, meat and potatoes issue, and it often means the difference between people being able to practice in their field of training with the immigrant credential issue or being able to have to live a life in our country, in Canada, where they are not able to practise because their credentials are not recognized here and they end up, I think at a cost to us all, of not really being able to contribute to the fullest that they could. If we could change some of those kinds of systemic barriers that are racist that still exist in our own society and community and in our own way of dealing with regulations on such matters as immigration.

I want to end my remarks now and give the members opposite a chance to close debate with support for this resolution, because it sounds like, from listening to the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh), that she does support this, that she believes that it is being proposed by the member for Point Douglas in a very sincere and hopeful way. So I am wanting to end my remarks a little bit early for an opportunity for one of the other government members to rise and close debate and support and pass this resolution. Thank you.

Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): Madam Speaker, I too wish to thank the member for Point Douglas (Mr. Hickes) for bringing up this resolution. Certainly, as he indicated in his remarks before, the fact that we should do more, I believe in a resolution that is as important as this one that certainly until we live in that perfect world, we always need to continue to do more. The whole area of dealing with racism is something that we are all very sensitive to.

Madam Speaker, I would just like to reiterate some of my own experiences with that. In fact, in our family we had the opportunity and the privilege to have foster children. Certainly they came with another background, a different nationality, their culture was different, and the hurtful responses that were thrown at them and the hurtful words that were thrown towards us were things that one does not like to experience. So certainly there are things that we need to continue to do in our education of children, of adults, and certainly not something that we want to make an excuse for when these words are thrown out which are hurtful to others.

I believe that the place to start is within the home. You and I have that responsibility of teaching and training our own children to respect each other. We are all created as equals and so it is important that we instill that respect in our children and in the people whom we come in contact with.

Certainly, as we mingle in groups and we talk, it is also our responsibility that when some of these hurtful words are thrown out that we correct one another and that we do this on an ongoing basis.

Starting in the home is the place to start. Certainly, as we educate our children, we need to be responsive to that within our own schools. I believe that we are making an effort and we are continuing to make an effort in the teaching and the training of our children. Teachers who are the teachers of our children do go to in-services. They go to professional development days and have had numerous occasions where they have dealt with issues of this nature. We need to continue to do this and are doing this, and I believe that as the minister has indicated, this is one of the priorities that we are looking at and are continuing to work with.

In 1984, Manitoba Education and Training initiated the development of multicultural education policies and initiatives. The position of multicultural education consultant was created in that year and, in 1993-94, the multicultural education consultant was expanded to include English as a Second Language. Certainly, Madam Speaker, the ESL program as we know it today is something that I have been made quite aware of because we have used it quite extensively within our own school division. We have the opportunity of also having many families move into the area who come with a different ethnic background but bring with them expertise in different areas of work that they are involved with and, yet, though, they do not come with the English language, and so we have a responsibility to teach them and to give them an opportunity to learn it. So we are continuing to help to give these people the opportunity to learn the language so that they can in fact continue to contribute to our society and become a part of it.

Then in May of 1992, Manitoba Education and Training released the Multicultural Education, A Policy for the 1990s. This document provided a conceptual framework for multicultural education in Manitoba. Many resources, documents, teacher in-services and sessions on a variety of subjects support and strengthen multicultural and intercultural education in the schools.

For example, both the English and the French language instructional resources units emphasize the acquisition of learning resources which are relevant and free from bias. In addition, professional development of teachers, librarians and library technicians have been conducted in the area of racism, discrimination and prejudice.

Madam Speaker, we need to on an ongoing basis continue to encourage our teachers, those who have this responsibility, to continue to teach our children and to be examples for them. School divisions are encouraged to develop relevant policies in support of multiculturalism and antiracism. The member opposite was talking about Winnipeg School Division No. 1. St. James School Division has formal policies. St. Vital and Seven Oaks have drafted policies. River East and Transcona-Springfield School Divisions have committees working on policies and plans. I believe that it is important that we continue to stress this and that the boards and administration have the responsibilities of carrying through on these responsibilities.

There are many other policies and activities at both school and divisional levels which are important. Examples include student codes of conduct, conflict resolution programs, cultural activities and an emphasis on tolerance and understanding all in-school activities. Most of us have been on the playgrounds and have had the opportunity to witness young people as they play with each other. We need to continue to instill in them the importance of tolerance for one another. I know the member opposite was speaking about some of the things that are happening within the inner city; certainly, we are all concerned and aware of what is taking place. What can we do to help them? I believe that we need to continue to do our very best in helping them to deal with the situations that they are involved with from day to day.

The Foundation for Excellence released in 1995 described a curriculum development process, program and course details and the elements which will be integrated into all curriculum--

Madam Speaker: Order, please. When this matter is again before the House, the honourable member for Pembina (Mr. Dyck) will have eight minutes remaining.

The hour being 5:30 p.m., this House is adjourned and stands adjourned until 1:30 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday).