Mr. Peter Dyck (Pembina): This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 9th Annual Back 40 Folk Festival in the town of Morden. The festival is a nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is to educate the Morden and Winkler area about folk music by exposing residents to folk music. Folk music is an enjoyable pursuit that conveys a healthy message for the community and family life, and to that end the festival aims to keep homemade music alive throughout the Pembina area.
During the all-day event, people were treated with the blues, a touch of Latino, a taste of Celtic, an immersion in Mennonite Circle Games and songwriters' workshops, just to name a few. An event such as the Back 40 Folk Festival does not occur without a committed core of volunteers and generous sponsors. I would therefore like to voice my congratulations to the board of directors and in particular its chair, Mr. Dave Stobbe, for their efforts in presenting another successful event.
I am especially pleased that our government, through the Department of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, is a proud sponsor of this ongoing festival. As well, many local businesses or organizations, including the Town of Morden, Morden Lions Club, Leisure Travel Vans and Triple E Canada, support the festival and make it possible. With the 10th anniversary already in the works, I encourage all my honourable colleagues to come out to the Pembina constituency next June and see a sampling of true rural hospitality and music. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, while edicts from the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) are becoming more and more commonplace, who apparently knows better than teachers, principals, superintendents and school boards, yesterday alone I raised the issue of the latest edict from the Department of Eduction, stating that school divisions and teachers are going to be required to expend $40 of their $50 for textbook materials from the Manitoba Textbook Bureau. This is only the last of a series of edicts, even though in this circumstance ordering from the Textbook Bureau at this time is more expensive, provides less flexibility and eventually means fewer classroom materials for students.
This heavy-handed approach has been seen in several different issues. God Save the Queen recently was the first of a series of edicts, completely out of touch of what is the reality in Manitoba schools. Number two, the Minister of Education feels that she knows more about discipline than principals when she issued an edict saying that Chris Millar needed to be made an example of. Number three, there is the exam scam in which we had a whole series of exams pronounced by the minister, and meanwhile teachers, principals, superintendents and school boards urged the minister to reconsider. It was not until much later that she actually did that.
Finally, we have the textbook scenario, which is a final example of another edict from the minister. The question is: is the minister finally going to learn to listen to those educators, those teachers and school boards, who perhaps know better than the Minister of Education? Save them some grief, Madam Speaker, consult first before you issue your edicts. That is our message to the Minister of Education.
Finally, one further question that Manitobans have is why the Minister of Education appears to have no respect for those educators, those trustees, superintendents, principals and teachers who she appears to have little respect and no time for. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr. Marcel Laurendeau (St. Norbert): Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in this House today and pay recognition to yet another step our government has taken in support--
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Madam Speaker: Order, please.
Mr. Laurendeau: Let me start again, Madam Speaker. It is a pleasure to rise in this House today and pay recognition to yet another step our government has taken in support of young Manitobans challenged with addiction. This morning I had the pleasure of participating, along with my colleagues the Minister of Health (Mr. Praznik) and the Minister of Family Service (Mrs. Mitchelson), in an announcement at the St. Norbert Foundation that establishes a residential treatment facility to help young solvent abusers aged 16 to 26 with priority placement for pregnant women. This commitment our government has made of $1.2 million to this program is another example of our dedication to ensuring all Manitobans are able to fully participate and benefit from the success of our province's experience on so many levels.
The St. Norbert Foundation has been an important part of my community for the past 25 years and has demonstrated the values that St. Norbert has become known for. The foundation, through its board of directors and its executive director, has proven its ability to assist Manitobans with a variety of challenges and has benefited our community. Today's announcement will mean that 20 beds will be available for solvent abusers and an additional 10 will be available for dependent children. Individuals will be given the vocational, intellectual, and communicative skills that are needed to succeed in society and will receive important parenting skills without having the family unit interrupted.
This morning, after the announcement, I had the opportunity to talk to one of the participants in the foundation program, and he spoke of how the facility was giving him renewed self-confidence and the skills to lead a fulfilling life. He told me that he was learning important parenting skills, skills such as emotional support that would ensure his children had a head start in life. This is just one story, and there are many more similar stories from those who are currently involved in the foundation and those who have been in the past. It is for that reason that I continue to be proud of the work of the St. Norbert Foundation, and I am particularly proud that our government has been able to work in partnership with the foundation for the betterment of Manitoba and all Manitobans.
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Madam Speaker, it is rather amusing to listen to members opposite from time to time take credit for the economic situation in the province of Manitoba. Indeed, they delude themselves about the causes of any economic expansion that we do appreciate in this province, assuming that their fiscal policy is some sort of critical factor in it. But this is not the case. In fact, there are some very major reasons why economic trends are what they are. But I want to ask members opposite, if the situation in Manitoba is so good, why are we nine out of 10 in job creation this year in Canada? The first five months, January to May of this year, we are second from the bottom, low man on the totem pole, and our rate of job creation was 1.1 percent so far this year, whereas Canada's was 3.0. Canada has three times the rate of job creation than Manitoba, and even in our sister province of Saskatchewan, the job creation was double what we have had in Manitoba, 2.4 percent compared to 1.1.
So the government should be concerned about this relatively weak employment growth that we have. They should be concerned about outward migration. They should be concerned about lagging real wages, and they should get real and realize that whatever economic growth we do have is a result of low interest rates on the one hand and a buoyant American economy on the other, which has a very positive impact on our exports, and thirdly, a relatively cheap Canadian dollar. Those are the real economic factors, not the fiscal policies of this government, Madam Speaker.
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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I just want to continue on from my question from earlier today. I think the Minister of Education (Mrs. McIntosh) intentionally ignores, I believe, what is a very important issue. The government is actually very firm in its position that all amalgamations of school divisions will be done on a volunteer basis. So, in essence, what we have is the government of the day saying that we will allow school divisions to grow, but we will not allow school divisions to get smaller. I think that does provide two levels of service, completely different, and I do not believe that it is fair. I have always been an advocate of reviewing the school divisions. I believe that the overall reduction is in fact necessary, but I also believe, as I made presentation to the Norrie commission, that you cannot have it both ways.
I believe that the government is, in fact, doing a disservice to a great number of Manitobans by not taking any sort of a stand or demonstrating any leadership on the whole way in which we administer education, public education in the province of Manitoba. As a result of that lack of leadership, what we see is many different inequities throughout the school divisions. It is unfortunate, because this is a government that has been now in power for the last decade, and still, unfortunately, chooses to show no leadership in addressing this very important issue which, unfortunately, will likely not get resolved in the near future because of the unwillingness of this government to recognize the need for change in that area. Thank you.
Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Sturgeon Creek): Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable member for Charleswood (Mrs. Driedger), that the composition of the Standing Committee on Public Utilities and Natural Resources for Tuesday, June 9, 1998, at 10 a.m. be amended as follows: the honourable member for Turtle Mountain (Mr. Tweed) for the honourable member for La Verendrye (Mr. Sveinson).
This change had been moved in the standing committee this morning, by leave, and is now being moved so that the records in the House will be accurately reflected.
Motion agreed to.