Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Sturgeon Creek): I am very pleased to take this opportunity to congratulate the Golden Gate Middle School Band for their fantastic showing at the Winnipeg Optimist Festival. In a very successful week of performances, all four Golden Gate Grades 7 and 8 concert and jazz bands received gold medal awards for their outstanding performances.
The placement of these bands goes a long way toward demonstrating that interest and enthusiasm about the arts is thriving in our public school system. At Golden Gate alone nearly 300 of 550 students are part of the school's band program. This is a testament to the excellent music programs our schools are able to offer students. Such programs would not be available were it not for the support of the commitment of the school staff, especially the music and band teachers.
I would like to wish all members of the band well as they go on to participate in the heritage band festival in Minneapolis. I am sure that they will represent their school and all Manitoba with pride. Notably, this is the seventh consecutive year that Golden Gate has received the gold trophy at the Winnipeg Optimist Band Festival. I would once again like to extend my congratulations to all members of the band and their tireless director. On behalf of all honourable members, good luck in Minneapolis. Thank you.
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, today we are looking at the prospect of fees being increased at Red River Community College by 10 percent a year for the next four years. These are large increases for the average Manitoba families, and they come on top of previous increases of 10 percent and 15 percent. Yet still we have a government which is incapable of providing a fee policy for Manitobans.
At universities, fee increases have risen by 169 percent in the 10 years of this government's office, a full 35 percent higher than the national average. University fees will increase 4 percent in arts and science at one university. They will be higher in professional faculties this year. Other universities are looking at increases of between 5 and 10 percent, and yet still we have a government which is incapable of producing a fee policy which it promised.
One consequence is that students have no predictability. They cannot estimate what their fees will be at the end of their course of study, and they are reluctant to enroll. Like students across the country, our students are graduating with excessive debt, and yet, shockingly, until this budget, this was the only province which had no debt relief program. Now, as the government gets close to an election, they have begun to reinstate the programs for students that Manitobans could count on 10 years ago: bursaries and debt relief.
So, Madam Speaker, at the end of the 20th Century in Manitoba, enrollments are falling in universities, enrollments in community colleges of high school students has not increased, and at the end of the 20th Century, while European societies are expanding the number of students in post-secondary education to 50 percent or even 60 percent and 70 percent, Manitoba under this government is going backwards into the millennium.
Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): It is my pleasure to rise in the House this afternoon and note the sporting achievement of the Winkler Flyers players and coaching staff. Through a combination of speed and physical play, the Winkler Flyers defeated the St. James Canadians and took their first Manitoba Junior Hockey League Turnball Cup since 1992. Despite losing the first game to the St. James Canadians, the team proceeded to dominate the four remaining games of the series and are now headed to Saskatchewan, playing the coveted Anavet Cup. They will return to Winkler to host Saskatchewan beginning April 21 to April 23.
With over 1,000 fans attending the games, many driving into Winnipeg from my area, the emotions and energy were very high. Fan support has been crucial to the Flyers' efforts, and the team president, Len Janzen, even noted that the games in Winnipeg felt like home games. I believe that Mr. Chris Pollack of the Winkler Flyers summed up his team's thoughts on the value of their fan support when he said after the victory, and I quote, we have the best fans in the league.
Madam Speaker, the players and coaches deserve a great deal of credit for their successful efforts. I am sure that behind every one of these boys' smiling faces is a smiling parent. On behalf of all honourable members, I would like to congratulate the Flyers for their victory and the St. James Canadians for their spirited playing. Although they did not win the Turnball Cup this year, they can be proud of themselves.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Madam Speaker, I rise to say a few words about the employment and unemployment situation in this province which the government likes to brag about. The fact is that if the Minister of Industry would take a hard look at the figures, he would find that one reason for the lower unemployment rate is because the labour force has shrunk in this province. Between March of 1997 and March of 1998 there was a significant drop in both seasonally adjusted figures and actual figures, and if he compares that with what has happened in Canada, he will see that the labour force in Canada as a whole is expanding but in Manitoba it has been shrinking, and of course that has been corroborated with evidence of increasing outward migration from this province. Also, these figures do not take into account the fact that we have a large native population that is unemployed. Manitoba has a high percentage of its population who are aboriginal, and there is a very, very high rate of unemployment among them. These people are not included in the figures and if they were, the true figures would be much higher than is represented in the last labour force survey.
The other point I would make, Madam Speaker, is employment growth. The employment growth in this province is not keeping pace with the Canadian rate of growth. In fact, we are just about at the bottom of the totem pole in regard to job creation. When we compare ourselves with our sister province of Saskatchewan, we find that Saskatchewan is almost three and a half to four times greater than Manitoba. In this period of time, the first three months of 1998 compared to '97, Saskatchewan increased the jobs by 3.6 percent compared to 0.9 percent for Manitoba.
My question to the minister then is: why is this? If we have such a great job market here, such a strong employment growth in this province, why are we doing so poorly compared to Canada and compared to the province of Saskatchewan?
Mr. Edward Helwer (Gimli): Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Winnipeg film makers Fred Maza and Joe Myles who are working on a film featuring the glory days of the Winnipeg Beach Dance Palace and also the Grand Beach Dance Pavilion. Many a Manitoban has fond memories of these popular dance halls which flourished during the 1920s and '30s on both sides of Lake Winnipeg and operated also into the 1950s.
The first dance hall was built in 1901 in Winnipeg Beach, and the Canadian Pacific Railway began offering passenger service to it. Soon thousands were taking the Moonlight Special nightly to kick up their heels at the dance hall. The Winnipeg Beach Dance Palace proved so popular that a larger version was built in 1924. Similarly, there was a market for the Grand Beach Dance Pavilion built by the Canadian Northern Railway in 1924. There were more than enough eager dance patrons to keep this new hall busy as well. Whether dancing or watching the big bands play or seeing the vaudeville performers put on their skits, there was plenty to keep everyone entertained.
I am also delighted to see that Mr. Maza and Mr. Myles have chosen to chronicle this wonderful period in Manitoba history in their documentary. They have been aided in their work by a research grant from the provincial Department of Culture, Heritage and Recreation, and their efforts are being sponsored by the Western Canada Pictorial Index. To date, Maza and Myles have interviewed more than 100 people, including dance hall patrons, entertainers, employees and railway workers. They hope to create a 90-minute to two-hour documentary which will feature historic footage, interviews, still photos and music of the day.
Once again, Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate Fred Maza and Joe Myles for their dedication to documenting Manitoba's past. I know that countless people will enjoy the fruits of their labour. Thank you.
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