LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF
Thursday,
November 3, 2005
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
Bill 202–The Good Samaritan Act
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): I move, seconded by the MLA for Inkster, that Bill 202, The Good Samaritan Act; Loi du bon samaritain, be now read a first time.
Motion presented.
Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this legislation is to provide protection for individuals who provide assistance in emergencies to limit the extent to which they can be held liable or sued for wrongdoing, except if the rescuer acted with gross negligence. The purpose of this legislation is to encourage more people to help others when there are emergencies.
Mr. Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]
Amending of The Architects Act
Mr. Ron Schuler (
On September 16, 2005, the
Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench revealed a significant conflict between The
Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act and The Architects Act.
Currently architects are
exempt from The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act, but engineers
are not exempt from The Architects Act.
This decision will have a
negative effect on the province's building and construction industries,
increase costs to municipalities and other levels of government, lead to a brain
drain, increase red tape and delay projects.
Previous to the ruling, a
choice existed between engaging architects or engineers to perform specified
work according to their disciplines while protecting the safety of the public
as guided by the Manitoba Building Code.
Over the last seven years,
the Manitoba Association of Architects (MAA) has rejected the two negotiated
solutions. Therefore, legislative change is the only reasonable and sustainable
solution.
Given that the ruling's
implementation date is immediate, we call on the government to take appropriate
steps in changing the legislation during the current session.
We petition the Legislative
Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To request the Premier (Mr.
Doer) to consider amending The Architects Act to provide engineers an exemption
similar to that enjoyed by the architects under The Engineering and
Geoscientific Professions Act.
Signed by Brent Sellers, Hugh
Williams, Christina Tokarz, Bryan Henry and many others.
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Provincial Electoral Reform
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
The background to this petition is as follows:
Whereas the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island recognize the need for reforming the electoral system.
Whereas the federal NDP Leader Jack Layton is demanding federal electoral reform and former NDP Leader Ed Broadbent has stated "Canadians want change. They want more not less democracy. It is imperative to reform our electoral system."
We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To request the Premier and the Manitoba
NDP to consider following the initiatives of other provinces and the federal
NDP by advocating change to the way MLAs are being elected in
To urge the Manitoba Legislative Assembly
to request that Elections Manitoba's Election Advisory Committee consider
establishing a majority supported reform proposal that would change
Signed by Esmeraldo Cenina, Jave Bantug and Enrico Serrano.
Mr. Speaker: In accordance with our Rule 132(6), when petitions are read they are deemed to be received by the House.
Water Testing
Mr.
Stuart Murray (Leader of the Official Opposition): Mr. Speaker, water from
My question is to the Premier. Did the scientists perform the tests? If so, where is the report and will he table that report today?
Hon.
Gary Doer (Premier): Mr. Speaker, the scientists at the time I made
the statement were on the lake, were in the lake, and they were under the lake,
some 22 scientists. Those results were submitted to the Canadian environmental
department. They were submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the lab in
The report is being compiled in the water
office of the President, the environmental office of the President. The
preliminary indications we had when we commented on it were that there were no
endangered or dangerous species in the lake, Mr. Speaker. There are some biota
issues that we believe have been successfully dealt with. There are two algae,
one of which is in
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we have wording
that we want to sign off with in legal form. It is being negotiated between
Mr. Murray: Well, Mr. Speaker, this Premier said on August 2, that was 13 days before the water started flowing, he said the following, and I will quote: "Part of the problem is what is in the lake and we do not know what is in the lake. I have always believed we should know and find out what is in the lake."
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I ask the Premier again, he seems to have
a lot of answers. Does the Premier know, and if he does know, will he table
today the results of the finding of the scientists in
Mr. Doer: First of all, the agreement
is between
One, Mr. Speaker, we have agreement that following the tests we will have mitigation to deal with the higher flows that are proposed by North Dakota next year if the water levels continue to rise. The mitigation that we are looking at is the ultraviolet filter or an advanced sand filter. We do not want to jeopardize those negotiations that have been agreed to be funded by the two national governments. We do not want to jeopardize that. So I would expect the member opposite would want us to respect that.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker,
there is the issue of taking an agreement that has been made by North Dakota,
Minnesota, Manitoba, Canada and the United States not to have an inlet from the
Missouri River system across the Continental Divide into Devils Lake as part of
a two-stage process. That is–[interjection] Well, the member
from Emerson has been spending the last couple of years saying
Mr. Murray: Well, Mr. Speaker, quite the
opposite. The member from
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr. Speaker: Order.
Mr. Murray: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The
issue simply is that this Premier spun a lot of rhetoric to Manitobans. He spun
a lot of rhetoric to Manitobans before the water started flowing. Manitobans
deserve to have that information because this Premier started making very
serious statements such as to the people of
So I would like to ask the Premier: Having made the political rhetoric statements to the people of Manitoba, can he simply back up his statements about how concerned he was to make sure that he had signed us in the water, under the water and on the water with respect to Devils Lake? Will he table the results?
Mr. Doer: Well, I just indicated in the
answer to my first question the general assessment that has taken place in
terms of alien species that would be problematic for Lake Winnipeg and the
An Honourable Member: So simply make it public. Make it public.
Mr. Doer: Well, as I said again in my
second answer, the test results were between the country of
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we will also be releasing that information with the desired mitigation process that has to go beyond the filter that was established in a very, very rudimentary way to deal with the findings of the scientists so that we can deal with proper mitigation, to deal with nutrient levels that are too high, phosphorus levels that are too high, the two algae and the two pathogens that we have to be concerned about.
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Thirdly, Mr. Speaker, we want to implement, through Ambassador McKenna, in legal form, the agreement we reached with Minnesota, North Dakota, Manitoba, Canada and United States not to build an inlet from the Missouri River, which we believed all along represented the greatest risk to water quality here in Manitoba with the definite species from the Missouri River system that would be problematic for Lake Winnipeg and dangerous for Lake Winnipeg.
Mr. Speaker, we feel that these measures
we put in place have reduced some of the risks to
Water Testing
Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): Mr. Speaker, on May 17
the Premier wrote in a commentary that appeared in the National Post, which I quote, "There would be huge
environmental and economic consequences in
I ask the Minister of Water Stewardship
what measures has his government taken to mitigate the damages to the economy
and to the environment as a result of this water flowing into
Hon. Steve Ashton (Minister of Water Stewardship): Mr. Speaker, there is nothing like a convert. The Member for Emerson consistently over the last number of years has taken a position that, quite frankly, is not far off the position of the state of North Dakota, and, in fact, consistently has put forward arguments that have, I believe, often undermined the real concern that this government and most Manitobans have expressed about Devils Lake. I think that is important to put on the record.
The second thing, Mr.
Speaker, is this summer, as part of an agreement between the
Mr. Penner: On May 17, the
Premier also stated that additional phosphorous from the outlet would create a
layer of algae several inches thick on internationally acclaimed beaches such
as Gimli,
Mr. Ashton: Again, Mr.
Speaker, I remind the member opposite who consistently has dismissed the
concerns about foreign biota that the key element is exactly what has been done
this summer. It is by having the scientific testing.
We are, indeed, assessing in terms of the foreign biota concerns. As was pointed out by the judge in the NAWS decision, again he opposed us going to court on these water issues. The real issue with foreign biota is even a small chance of contamination, you are going to have catastrophic results. That is why we are doing the testing, that is why we are part of this agreement and that is why we continue to push for the appropriate mitigation to deal with any of the test results. That is the responsible thing, something the member opposite is opposed.
Mr. Penner: Mr. Speaker,
all the court action and all the rhetoric from the minister so far has garnered
no results and has not protected the lake waters in
Mr. Ashton: Mr. Speaker,
the report is being finalized. It involved two scientists from
* (13:50)
I also want to put on the record that on
NAWS, and he again not only opposed the legal action, he came into this House
and read into the record an editorial from a newspaper in North Dakota urging a
boycott of, I think it was the province of Winnipeg. We, on NAWS, got a partial
injunction and a requirement that the state of
Transportation Infrastructure
Funding Sources
Mr. Cliff Cullen (
Hon. Ron Lemieux (Minister of Transportation and
Government Services): I am really pleased to see that the opposition
has recently found some interest in transportation in
Mr. Cullen: It is quite clear what the minister is not telling us. Mr. Speaker, vehicle registration fees have almost doubled since 1999. In committee the Minister responsible for MPI stated that these fees go right into general revenue. This is nothing more than another NDP backdoor tax. Will the Minister of Transportation and Government Services commit today to using this money to fix our highways?
Mr. Lemieux: Mr. Speaker,
we have an opposition who voted against the budget. We added an additional
almost $16 million into the Transportation budget. We have an opposition who
continually votes against any kinds of initiatives that look positive in any
way. If they look around the city and take a look at the northeast Perimeter,
take a look at the road going into Headingley, all the initiatives that we have
come forward with, continually they have been against every single initiative
that we have tried to propose and put forward, and that is who the public of
Manitoba see, against everything. They mothball everything. We are a building
party. We will continue to build better roads in
Mr. Cullen: Mr. Speaker, I think it is time to give Manitobans the facts. The Province collects $100 million from MPI, $155 million in gasoline tax, $80 million in motive fuel tax. That is a total of $335 million. Yesterday this Premier (Mr. Doer) told the House every cent in gasoline tax should go back into transportation infrastructure. If we refer to the 2004 Annual Report for the Department of Transportation and Government Services, it indicates that the Province spent only $187 million on roads. We simply ask: Can this minister explain the $150-million shortfall?
Mr. Lemieux: The member opposite wants to speak about the facts. You know, Mr. Speaker, since we have been government we have spent close to $60 million more, comparatively speaking, over the last five years than did their government in transportation. We are continually talking to the industry. We are looking at all kinds of new initiatives with regard to transportation and, as I mentioned before, there is the opposition who voted against our budget putting more money into transportation. So on one side they say you have to cut, cut, cut. The next day they are asking you have got to spend, spend, spend. Where do they stand?
When we asked them about
what kinds of initiatives they have they talk about initiatives like, well,
maybe you should take a look at toll booths. Maybe you should take a look at
raising other kinds of taxes. Where do they stand with regard to toll booths?
Where does the Conservative Party of Canada stand on putting more dollars into
the
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Chief Cardiologist Recruitment
Mrs. Heather Stefanson (Tuxedo): Mr. Speaker, in 2003 the Koshal cardiac care report was released, and the WRHA was told that it desperately needed to recruit a chief cardiologist. Yet, more than two years later that position is still vacant, and the WRHA has stated that they may not hire a chief cardiologist for another few years. I would like to ask the Minister of Health why he is dragging his heels on hiring a chief cardiologist in this province.
Hon. Tim Sale (Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that Dr. Menkis has been able to recruit additional cardiologists. When Dr. Koshal did his review there were 11. There are now, I believe it is 17 or 18. The report from Dr. Koshal suggested we needed another 10. I am informed that, by the summer of 2006 with the next graduating group of residents, we will have more than 21 cardiologists in the city. I am delighted with the work that Dr. Menkis has done in surgery in consolidating heart surgery at St. Boniface Hospital, a tertiary care, excellent hospital in our city, and I think that the member should just wait and be patient for another couple of weeks.
Mrs. Stefanson: Today. Make the announcement today then because Dr. Koshal has said, and I quote, "If they want to hire someone they can hire someone. It is a question of how much effort they want to put in."
In 2004 the WRHA said they were doing everything they could to recruit a chief cardiologist, yet in July of this year the WRHA said they may not hire a chief cardiologist for another few years. I ask the Minister of Health again why does he continue to compromise patient safety. When will he implement the recommendation of the Koshal report and hire a chief cardiologist?
Mr. Sale: I believe, Mr. Speaker, the
member asked a question about today's announcement of a new $1.6-million
state-of-the-art CT scanner for the hospital in
We also announced $340,000 in capital to
do 300 knees in the good town of
Mrs. Stefanson: Mr. Speaker, I do not know what part of chief cardiologist this minister does not understand, but we do not have one in the province right now. They made promises before. Again they have not met up to those promises and this is unacceptable.
I ask the Minister of Health again, as we are short five cardiologists for the WRHA, why has he failed to act on this recommendation. When will he hire a chief cardiologist? I am not talking about all the other things he is talking about. I am talking about a chief cardiologist. Where is it? When can we expect that position to be filled?
Mr. Sale: First of all, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health does not hire a chief cardiologist. The Minister of Health oversees a system in which the head of heart surgery, Dr. Menkis, hires a chief cardiologist to serve the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Dr. Menkis is in discussion with such a person, and we are very optimistic that there will be an announcement shortly.
Justice System
Conditional Sentencing
Mr. Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach): Mr. Speaker, on the eve of
another Justice ministers' meeting, where the minister now promises to again
shake his fist at Ottawa, we are reminded of the last ministers of Justice
meeting where he said he would go and he would work to abolish all conditional
sentences for drinking and driving causing death. After six years of talking
tough, he went to
Hon. Gord Mackintosh (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Mr. Speaker, the vivid imagination of the member opposite is worthy of note, but I remind the honourable member that the change to the national criminal laws of Canada can only come in one place and that is by change in the House of Commons that is introduced by the federal government.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been working with the federal government and, indeed, all of the provincial and territorial governments, including many Conservative governments, to bring about change. We have had successes and will continue to urge change particularly in the areas of firearms, meth production and the two-for-one credit, among others.
Mr. Goertzen: Mr. Speaker, the minister is practising revisionist history. He said on May 7, 2004, that he fully supported the efforts of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving to eliminate conditional sentences for impaired driving offences that result in serious injury or death and he would continue to press the government. That was before the conference last year. Then he went to the conference and he signed on to an agreement that does nothing to change the law. Those offences are still going to be available. He sold out Manitobans. He sold out the mothers against drinking and driving. Why should we believe him now when he caved the last time?
Mr. Mackintosh: I would strongly urge the member to do some research, Mr. Speaker. He should really be aware that MADD Canada is 100 percent fully supportive of the federal government's change to conditional sentences.
Mr. Speaker, on the issue of conditional
sentences the federal government has made a step forward. It is certainly not
perfect, but it is a change now. If members opposite were at the table there
would be no change in
Mr. Goertzen: When we are
at the table we will fight for victims, Mr. Speaker. That is what we will do.
Because this minister did not stand by his word there will be house arrest
sentences again available, and they will be given out in
Will the Minister of
Justice today assure this House that the next time this happens in
Mr. Mackintosh: Mr. Speaker, when the members opposite were at a table they cut at
least 16 benefits to victims of crime in this province and that is their
record. On the changes that are necessary from
Mr. Speaker, we have to make changes when it comes to the area of meth production and the bulk movement of ephedrine into and across this country. We have to make changes when it comes to impaired driving, moving to .05. We have to make changes to the two-for-one credit, and we have to strengthen the youth criminal justice law.
Gaming
Social and Economic Impacts
Mr. Ron Schuler (
Hon. Scott Smith (Minister of Intergovernmental
Affairs and Trade): Mr. Speaker, when we came into government in
1999, there was absolutely no program in place by the previous government
regarding responsible gaming in the
When we were introduced into government we knew that was a priority for Manitobans. We established the responsible gaming policy and that is working very well with AFM and many of the others in the community, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to work for Manitobans. The members opposite did not.
Mr. Schuler: Mr. Speaker,
now we learned that
Mr. Smith: Mr. Speaker, just to correct
the member, as he obviously gets confused with his numbers, this side of the
House had the Bostrom Report that was done. The only expansion that has gone
out is to assist First Nations communities throughout
Mr. Schuler: Mr. Speaker, even
Mr. Speaker, will this minister first read
his own documents and read the truth about what is happening in
Mr. Smith: Mr. Speaker, it is always
interesting to watch the member opposite try to push and pull the cart. It is
interesting to note that the expansion of gaming and the casinos that was done
through the nineties, at an overexpenditure of $100 million by the way, was
brought into the
Mr. Speaker, prior to the last previous election
we had the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Murray) basically saying it is a
no-brainer to look at how we can have some expansion in gaming in the province
of Manitoba with Assiniboia Downs and many others. We had the member from
Crocus Investment Fund
Public Inquiry
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Mr. Speaker: Order.
Mr. Lamoureux: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is very clear is that the Premier of our province has put the public interest behind his own personal, selfish, political interests in dealing with the whole Crocus fiasco. Over 33 000 Manitobans have lost in excess of $60 million, and this government is trying to override what is in the best interest of the public by not allowing for a public inquiry. I have a very simple question for the Premier. Why will the Premier not call a public inquiry? It is simple.
Hon. Greg Selinger (Minister of Finance): As I have indicated to the
House before, we amended The Auditor General's Act in 2001 to give very
specific powers to follow tax credit dollars wherever they go. That gave our
Auditor unique powers among all the auditors general of
Mr. Lamoureux: My question is again for the Premier. The Crocus board has approximately $5 million in liability insurance. There is a lawsuit that is out there that could see $150 million being tagged to the Crocus fiasco, Mr. Speaker. That means there are a lot of personal friends and appointments that this Premier made to the Crocus board that could end up going broke over this whole fiasco.
Mr. Speaker, the concern is: Is there going to be a bailout by this Premier and this government? Is there going to be some sort of a settlement in order to keep this whole issue quiet? I would like to get assurance from the Premier of this province that not a single tax dollar will be spent on the Crocus fiasco without there being, first and foremost, a public inquiry. Will he give us that assurance today?
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Mr. Selinger: Mr. Speaker, first of all, the member is just simply wrong in the facts. The only appointee in the previous Crocus board was a government official. We moved away from the practice of the previous government of appointing high level officials connected to Executive Council. We appointed a public servant with specific expertise in the commercial banking area. Under the new legislation, there is no government appointee to any labour-sponsored venture capital fund in this province. We have already said publicly that we will not claw back tax credits on any settlement that is done so that the people who have made the investments do not bear any additional risk. We will not claw that back. The federal government has now also agreed not to claw that back. We will let the class action lawsuit, the inquiry by the Manitoba Securities Commission, the RCMP investigation proceed and the Canadian revenue collection investigation proceed.
Mr. Lamoureux: Mr. Speaker, excuse me, we are talking about the MFL union buddies, and we know how close this Premier and this government are to some of those union leadership. These are the people who we are talking about.
My question is for the Premier. Manitobans have a right to know. I am challenging the Premier to assure this House, put very simply, very simply, and I am talking about his union buddies, not a single tax dollar will be spent on the Crocus fiasco, not a single dollar without there first being a public inquiry on this issue.
Mr. Selinger: Again, Mr. Speaker, there has been a very thorough Auditor General's report and investigation into the Crocus Fund, an investigation that is only possible under the broad powers we have provided in The Auditor General Act in this province, which are unique in the country. I can assure the member opposite that we have taken corrective measures in legislation last spring, and any further measures to shore up the ability of venture capital to meet the purposes for which it was intended in this province will be brought to the Legislature for appropriate discussion and debate, and Manitobans will be well-served by that legislation.
Flood Protection
Ice-Breaking Machine
Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): Mr. Speaker, my question is
to the Minister of Water Stewardship, and I ask this question on behalf of
residents of Selkirk, St. Andrews, St. Clements and
Hon. Steve Ashton (Minister of Water Stewardship): This has certainly been a challenging year for Manitobans and a very unusual year in terms of the extent of flooding both being province-wide and continuing into October.
One of the greatest areas, I think, of encouragement
was the degree to which we made progress in terms of dealing with the perennial
problem of ice-jamming. I want to thank the Member for Selkirk and also the
Minister of Education (Mr. Bjornson). I know that both have been very strong in
advocating for $140,000 for an ice-jamming committee to work with R.M.s,
hydrometric monitoring. But most encouraging is the Amphibex. We have committed
to purchasing an Amphibex, two thirds provincial money, one third
municipalities. I want to congratulate the municipalities and give the federal
government one more chance to be part of this solution of the perennial problem
of ice-jamming in
Growth Strategy
Mr. Gerald Hawranik (Lac du Bonnet): The Royal Bank of
Hon. Greg Selinger
(Minister of Finance): Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member opposite has
been preoccupied. He may have missed some of the solid reports coming out from
independent forecasters across the country. The
Mr. Hawranik: Mr. Speaker, even with that 3 percent
growth projected for this year we are still second lowest in
Mr. Selinger: Mr. Speaker, the member forgets that since 1999 there have been over 37 000 jobs created in the province. The annual growth in our economy in the last six years, the annual growth, is very close to $800 million a year which compares to $500 million a year during the period they were in office. Our growth of the economy has been 33 percent in the last six years. We have gone from $32 billion GDP to $42 billion GDP. This economy is growing because we are governing in partnership with all sectors of this economy.
Mr. Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.
Neighbourhood Watch District 6
Ms. Kerri Irvin-Ross (
The festive evening was organized by
members of the community in appreciation of the work done by the block captains
of Neighbourhood Watch District 6. The hundreds of residents who are block
captains act as the livelihood of the program by engaging in such activities as
delivering semi-annual newsletters and recruiting new members and volunteers to
help maintain the program. Among those in attendance was Deputy Mayor Gord
Steeves, Chief of Police Jack Ewatski, City Councillor Justin Swandel and
myself. We were all there to lend continued support and recognition of the
vital role this organization plays in keeping our communities safe. Door prizes
were donated by various
Mr. Speaker, Neighbourhood Watch programs promote co-operation between neighbours which is necessary for a vibrant and secure civic life. They also help develop the positive relationship between the police and the community and keep the lines of communication open between the public and government services. Their hard work is important both in contributing to a neighbourhood crime prevention strategy and guaranteeing that our communities remain healthy and safe. I would like to thank all the volunteers, especially all the block captains, for volunteering their time and experience to this important grass-roots program. Thank you.
Property Tax–Education Portion
Mr. Larry Maguire (Arthur-Virden): Manitobans are the highest taxed in Canada, whether it is a single-family earner of $30,000 or less or a double-earning family of $60,000 or less, but, Mr. Speaker, the situation that this government is faced with today is it does not know how to make the priority decisions that are required to alleviate the tax concerns of cash-strapped Manitobans.
* (14:20)
There is an area that if they had a heart
and a priority that they could reduce those taxes in, and that is in the area
of eliminating the education tax off residences and farmland in
Now, Mr. Speaker, they muddle around the edges, as we said with their Throne Speech, by reducing the taxation on farmland by 33 percent, 50 percent and, in this Throne Speech, increasing it to 60 percent. Yet, when I go out to talk to farmers in rural Manitoba who are suffering extensively from drought in '03, frost in '04, flood in '05 and to all of those community businesses that are suffering because of them having to close down as well, and I learned of more of those again last night, there is much concern in rural Manitoba and many auctions sales that will be held this fall yet.
This government, if it had a heart, could eliminate the education tax completely off of farmland and residences in Manitoba, as we said we would do in '03 and would have done by now if in government.
Mr. Speaker, there were funds available in
that budget to do it and this government did not make it a priority. Farmers
today are telling me that, even with the rebates, they are only seeing a 10
percent reduction in the taxation that they have to pay in
Flood Protection
Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): It is with great pleasure that I rise today to share with members news of the recent purchase of the Amphibex ice-breaking machine by this government, Mr. Speaker, joined with the City of Selkirk and the R.M.s of St. Andrews and St. Clements. These areas will enjoy an added measure of flood protection in the coming spring through the machine's proven capabilities for preventing and clearing ice jams. This machine is one of a broader strategy which includes additional monitoring and education.
Mr. Speaker, as members know, ice jams have been a reality in the Selkirk area for generations. They are the inevitable product of a slow-moving, shallow river in a northern climate. Ice as thick as four to five feet is not uncommon. As members know, our community has suffered property damage from ice jams in the past.
Mr. Speaker, we have listened to the
concerns of area residents who have raised this issue. Last spring we brought
the ice-breaker to
This versatile machine can also be used for clearing and restoring waterways, installing water pipes, cleaning wastewater treatment ponds and controlling vegetation, Mr. Speaker.
On behalf of my constituents, I know on
behalf of the Member for Gimli (Mr. Bjornson), I would like to thank the R.M.s
of St. Andrews and St. Clements and the City of
Addiction Gambling Rates
Mr. Ron Schuler (
Mr. Speaker, this is affecting our
families, and we see it as we go from household to household how many families
are affected by gambling in
Mr. Speaker, we also find out that in
other areas, for instance
In
In fact, even
Eastman Education Centre
Mr. Harry Schellenberg (Rossmere): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call the attention of all members to a historic announcement that was made recently by our provincial government that it will commit $1million in funding to the new Eastman Education Centre and Steinbach campus. In June, our Premier (Mr. Doer) was on hand with local dignitaries for the official sod-turning ceremony for the new Eastman Education Centre building, the first of many structures which are planned for this dynamic institution.
The Steinbach campus is to be more than a
mere university or college. It will be a learning commons that will include
post-secondary institutions, a new middle school, a cultural centre and
residential colleges as well as various support services. The Steinbach campus
will bring a wide range of post-secondary services to southeastern
Mr. Speaker, one of the key future tenants
of this learning commons will be the Steinbach campus of
Our government is pleased
to enter into a partnership with the local community and
(Fifth Day of Debate)
Mr. Speaker: Resume debate on the proposed motion of the honourable Member for The Maples (Mr. Aglugub) that the following address be presented to His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, and the proposed motion of the honourable Leader of the Official Opposition (Mr. Murray) in amendment thereto, and the proposed motion of the honourable Member for River Heights (Mr. Gerrard) in further amendment thereto, standing in the name of the honourable Member for Burrows (Mr. Martindale), who has 10 minutes remaining.
An Honourable Member: In conclusion–
An Honourable Member: Stand, done, stand.
Mr. Speaker: Cannot stand. You cannot stand it.
Okay. I have been informed the honourable Member for Burrows has concluded his comments, so we will move on to the opposition side.
Mr. Denis Rocan (Carman): Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of the great constituency of Carman, it is a privilege to rise today and respond to the Speech from the Throne.
I would like to begin by formally welcoming you back, Mr. Speaker. I know all honourable members appreciate your direction and guidance and we look forward to working in your presence over the coming weeks. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the table officers with their diligence during session and knowledge of the proceedings, the Sergeant-at-Arms and his staff for keeping with parliamentary tradition, those who work so hard in Hansard at getting our comments on the record and the gallery officers for ensuring the public is given every opportunity to come and watch House proceedings, such as Vince Greco here this afternoon.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our pages, and I am sure you will find your experience in the Manitoba Legislature most memorable. I would like to thank you in advance for all the work you will be doing to ensure House proceedings run as smoothly as possible.
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I would also like to take this time to
welcome our new legislative interns. I know how valuable your work is to our
researchers and honourable members and I am sure you will find your experience
over the coming months to be most rewarding. The internship program would not
be possible without the direction and support of your academic director, and I
would like to thank Professor Jean Friesen, former MLA, for once again taking
on this role and our rep on that same committee, the honourable Member for
Mr. Speaker, every year
at this time, we are presented with the Speech from the Throne. This was the
seventh such speech for the Doer government and it was one of empty and tired
rhetoric. The people of
These people are just beginning to get their feet off the ground, Mr. Speaker. They are looking for high quality, accessible post-secondary education. They are looking to purchase real estate; they are taking over their parents' farms and their parents' businesses. They seek employment. They are looking for opportunities, and in this Throne Speech we hear nothing, no incentives, no opportunity, nothing but the same tired platitudes that they have heard before.
Many of our young people of this province
are here because they were born here. In fact, they are carrying on a long
family tradition. Generations before them, their grandparents arrived here in
Will they remain here in
Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today
of opportunities. Young Manitobans will seize the opportunities provided to them
and they will turn them into something great. At a time of unprecedented
revenue, this government has failed again to show any recognition that a
thriving and competitive tax environment is essential to making
When they see statistics
like this, what they do not see is any incentive to stay here. Young people
also know about debt, Mr. Speaker. By this point in their lives, they probably
have some debt of their own, especially if they are attending a post-secondary
institution. What they do not want is more debt. They know that, with the NDP's
lack of fiscal responsibility, they will be simply inheriting this province's
massive $20-billion debt. Why would they choose to spend their first taxpaying
years trying to pay off this government's debt? They know that this debt
threatens the financial strength and future prosperity of our most beautiful
Then there is the issue of post-secondary
education, one of the highest priorities for many young Manitobans. In their
Throne Speech, the Doer government attempted to paint a rosy picture of
post-secondary education. They told the House that
Young people are also starting to get
their first taste of paying taxes under a NDP government. They are shocked, Mr.
Speaker, when they discover that on top of paying back their student loans,
taking on their first mortgages, paying their gas bills and fuelling their
cars, they are shocked to find out how little is left. They are even more
shocked and dismayed when they realize that their friends in
Furthermore, our young people are not enticed by the idea of paying education property tax on their residential property or on their farmland. It is a deterrent, Mr. Speaker. To many young Manitobans, it simply does not make sense to stay here in Manitoba and become property owners when they can go elsewhere, purchase land and save themselves thousands of dollars every year in education property taxes.
But let us not forget, Mr. Speaker, that
young people exist outside the borders of
However, Mr. Speaker, the problems facing rural young people do not stop with agriculture. Like all of us, they dread the day when they or a loved one may face a medical emergency, but depending on where they live they may not be able to access an emergency room for miles. This is because this government has quietly closed many, many rural emergency rooms and they continue to do it.
But it does not stop there. These same
people, the rural people of
This policy treats rural people like second-class citizens, and no Manitoban should have to stand for it. Young people will protest this government's policies by simply relocating, and we should not allow that to happen. Rural Manitobans are strong and hardworking individuals who are asking for the opportunity to succeed, and this government owes them at least that.
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This government cannot create or stop the rain. It cannot control BSE when it happens in another province, but it can control its response to the weather and its response to agricultural crises. It can put an end to its discriminatory ambulance transfer policies and it can properly staff and equip rural hospitals. It can increase slaughter capacity, as it has been asked to do so so many times before. Rural Manitobans are asking this Premier (Mr. Doer) and this government to step up to the plate and deliver a clear vision and an effective plan for sustaining rural communities and yet again this government has failed. Manitobans deserve so much better.
Another issue that should be of critical importance to all Manitobans is the environment. Young people today are concerned about the environment, Mr. Speaker, perhaps more than any other generation before them. They are right to be so concerned because they are the ones that will ultimately suffer or benefit from our actions today. I would be remiss if I did not applaud this government's actions on the St. Leon wind farm, which is a step in the right direction, I might add. However, there was absolutely no mention of any new measures this government plans to take with respect to the environmental policy. Nothing.
Great advances in science and technology
have increased our knowledge of the Earth and our ability to respect it and
preserve its resources. In
These are our young people. They are not
immobile. Many of them have education. They are motivated and ambitious and, as
much as they would like to remain here where they grew up, it simply does not
make any sense to them to do that. They will move elsewhere, Mr. Speaker,
depriving our province of a resource that cannot be replaced. But it is not
just our best and brightest that we are losing under this government. We are
losing the face of Manitobans. It is our responsibility as legislators and as
citizens of
In order to do this, a sound plan and a sound vision is necessary. This Throne Speech demonstrated that this NDP government was severely lacking in that department. I thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity once again to put these remarks on the record.
Mr. Harry Schellenberg
(Rossmere): Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to speak to the
2005 Throne Speech and speak in support of it. The Throne Speech continues the
vision and strategy that this government has promoted since 1999. This Throne
Speech has made commitments to combat crime, deliver better health care, clean
energy development and energy sales, also, a commitment to a
As a former teacher of many years, I would like to welcome the pages here and the interns. We are proud to have you here. You are honour students and I have read some of your resumés. They are excellent. Your volunteering and your academic record is superb. You are an excellent example of our youth today and we look forward to working with you.
Mr. Speaker, when I travel across the
province, Manitobans are very supportive of the good work of this government.
People feel that the government is making progress and is supporting families,
building communities and building a better
Mr. Conrad Santos, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair
In Steinbach, I made a
member's statement recently, or I made it today, and I commented on the Eastman
Education Centre and the Steinbach campus. We are doing good things in many
communities across this province. I also must mention Altona, and I was
recently in Boissevain, where I grew up, and many other places. They express
their satisfaction of the good work this government is doing. In fact, our
licence plate says, "Friendly Manitoba," and I experience a friendly
attitude when I go into these communities. Mr. Speaker, I get phone calls from
many constituents, not just in
Mr. Speaker, I have heard several people
from the opposition speak on debt. They are obsessed with debt. They have tried
to scare people about the debt in this province. The opposition is trying to
make a case that debt is growing. Actually, we are paying down the debt, and
our bond rating for various agencies is being upgraded. Our economy is growing.
Our economy is doing well. Let me just refer to an article in the Free Press, November 1, 2005. The
headline reads: "
The opposition is trying to say that they
know business and finance, and they have the business acumen. Several MLAs have
spoken here on debt. Well, Mr. Speaker, I think we all remember Grant Devine in
Of course, at the federal level we have the largest debt which was created during the Trudeau years, the Mulroney years and the early Chrétien years, which equalled $560 billion. We never hear them speak about the federal debt. The Mulroney share was more than half, which was $297 billion. We are still paying just over 20 cents on every dollar of federal government revenue towards debt. That is why we had to cut our programs. They cut back on the provinces, and we are left with these programs with no revenue.
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Official
Opposition (Mr. Murray) once worked for Brian Mulroney, so he should know all
about debt. Here in this Legislature, the Leader of the Official Opposition is
accusing others of creating debt when he was part of the Mulroney team that
saddled
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When I speak to people about waiting times
in health care, I always try, if I have time now, I always try to explain why
there are waiting times. It is because
Mr. Speaker, the provinces, and I would say provinces of all political stripes did quite well on their own. I think we are coming out of this mess and we are improving many, many various services to families and communities.
The Member for Burrows (Mr. Martindale)
recently made a member's statement about three political parties across
Crime is a social problem that we must all work on together, and it is something that we as a province, as a community, as individuals, should focus on. It is not just up to the police or the lawyers or courts, but the whole community must work together and face this challenge, and I am quite certain we can meet the challenge. I would just like to tell you a few things, what we have been doing to fight crime–[interjection]
Mr. Speaker, I hear the Member for
Steinbach (Mr. Goertzen) talking here. He is always talking about crime, but I
will just point out to him and everyone here what we have done. We have doubled
the Gang Prosecution Unit. We have
We have more police. Nine new Aboriginal
police officers will be stationed in northern
We have also done something in prevention.
I never hear anything from the Justice critic, the member from Steinbach, on
prevention. He always deals with a symptom, but there is such a thing as
dealing with prevention, dealing with the cause. Mr. Speaker, we have developed
a new Crime Prevention Fund. The government of
We have 50 Lighthouses across
We have Neighbourhoods Alive! safety
projects. A total of $400,000 is being directed at inner city community-driven
initiatives. This includes safety corridors for
So, Mr. Speaker, we have not stood still on this very issue. There is a challenge, but we are meeting the challenge.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to talk
about health for a minute. I would like to focus on what has been done in
northeast
Mr. Speaker, I hear them speak on health
care, continuously attacking our government's progress, you might say, but I
would like to just point out the Tory legacy for a few moments. As I first got
elected in 1993, the Tories wanted to close down the emergency ward in
Well, Mr. Speaker, there were rumblings in
northeast
You would think the
Tories would have learned from their maxims about hey, you do not close
hospitals, you do not close emergency wards, but they tried to privatize the
home care system and the people resisted. I was part of the coalition that
fought the home care privatization and the closing of the
Mr. Speaker, after they had the home care privatization fail, they had another issue that they dealt with or they tried to deal with.
An Honourable Member: What was that, Harry?
Mr. Schellenberg: The frozen food fiasco. They brought this frozen toast, this frozen food, into the personal care homes and institutions. People, of course, resisted. That is their legacy and I hear them get up in the Legislature criticizing health. Well, their legacy is shameful. They do not stand on higher moral grounds. They do not stand on higher moral grounds when it comes to debt, either.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say a
few things that we have done in health care. We have increased the number of
doctors licensed to practise in introducing special programs for
foreign-trained doctors. We have increased the medical college spaces and
provided special loan incentives for
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There are 235 more
doctors registered in
Mr. Speaker, we have been
building hospitals and renovating hospitals all across this province. I will
just give you some of them where we have made improvements:
Mr. Speaker, I could go on. As I go around the province, I feel from the people they appreciate the good work we have done.
The light is on. I guess that means I must quit. I just started. I have much more to say, but the opposition members can come to me later and I will fill them in. I thank you very much.
Mr. Cliff Cullen (
I do want to say I would like to welcome the Speaker back to the Chair. We had the opportunity to visit with the Speaker on a number of occasions over the summer, both myself and my family, and we certainly enjoyed his company.
I do, too, want to welcome the pages to the House. I look forward to having some fun over the next few–
Mr.
Deputy Speaker: Order,
please. The Member for
Mr. Cullen: I will start over then.
Well, thank you very much, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. Yes, it is a pleasure to be able to put some words on the record in
regard to the Speech from the Throne. We on this side of the House clearly view
that there is another missed opportunity on behalf of this current government.
There are so many more things that we feel can be done in the
I do want to welcome the Speaker back to the Chair. As I did mentioned, we had the opportunity to visit with the Speaker on a number of occasions over the summer, both myself and my family, and we certainly enjoyed his company.
I want to welcome the pages to the House as well. We look forward to their good work over the next few weeks and in the next session as well.
I know we do have a very interesting and eager group of interns on both sides of the House and we look forward to working with them. Hopefully, we can learn something from them and hopefully they can take some things home from us.
I do also want to welcome the staff here and any visitors that might be in the gallery today.
An Honourable Member: Not a one.
Mr. Cullen: It is pretty quiet.
I want to give you a perspective from the
constituents of
An Honourable Member: Up $3 billion.
Mr. Cullen: As my colleague from Steinbach points out, that is an increase of over $3 billion since this government took over in 1999.
What it means to Manitobans is that we have to pay interest on that debt to the tune of $767 million a year. So what it does is it has added a mortgage to all Manitobans and to future generations of Manitobans. It would be nice to say that we had an extra $767 million to put towards health care, put towards infrastructure, put towards agriculture and economic development, but, unfortunately, we are committed to spending that three quarters of a million dollars on interest. So the bottom line, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is that the debt of the province is increasing to the tune of $1.5 million per day, and it is a legacy this government continues to expand on.
Not only that, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, but we as Manitobans are now the highest taxed people in
When we look at some of
the economic growth in
I just want to refer back
to, it was a Chartered Accountants of Manitoba study that recently acknowledged
that
So there certainly are a lot of things that can be done in terms of the finances in the province here. I guess when we look at job growth, we were the ninth out of 10 provinces, so, certainly, that is not a very good statistic.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I do want to talk
about agriculture because it is very important to the constituents of
We really have a real issue with
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The unfortunate part, again, with this CAIS program, it is not a bankable commodity so that the producers cannot take it to their banker and say, "Here is what I am going to get." They have no guarantee of what they are going to receive even once they complete their forms. They have to pay their accountants $1,500, $2,000 to complete their forms, and even then when the accountants say that they expect there may be a payment, that is not necessarily the case. Those revisions are quite often made within the CAIS program, so those farmers really cannot bank on those types of programs. So really, fundamentally, that program has to be looked at to see what can be done to improve it.
We have had the opportunity, in regard to
the BSE situation, that the border is now open, so we are starting to move some
product across the line. The prices have increased for feeder cattle. So that
is a good sign. Unfortunately, we would like to see slaughter capacity here in
I know we are having the same issue in
Neepawa. There is a group there, a company there, that would like to develop,
so if we could just get the government onside to get some of this
infrastructure in place, we could move ahead and actually be slaughtering
animals in
It really speaks to the whole economic
development issue in
Hopefully, with the announcement in
biodiesel that was made, I am hoping that will start something in terms of that
particular venture in
Mr. Speaker, I do want to talk a little
bit about health care as well, how health care is very important to rural
Manitobans. If we look at health care in the Westman region in particular, we
certainly are facing our challenges. I know the government will rant and rave
about their new facility that they have built in
Mr. Speaker, just on the ambulance issue,
actually I had one of my constituents just last week was supposed to be shipped
from
But if the government
would just recognize the fundamental issue here. The fundamental issue is we do
not have doctors, we do not have nurses, we do not have lab technicians in
rural
So it is a very cascading effect, and I think this government has to take a view to recognize that it is an urgent issue and it has to be addressed. There has to be a plan in place to recruit doctors, nurses, lab and x-ray technicians. There has to be a plan in place to retain those doctors and nurses and lab and x-ray technicians. Some of these technical people, I know, are very important to the system too. For instance, in Glenboro this summer, we had a lab and x-ray technician who was injured. What happened was it resulted in the closure of the emergency facility in Glenboro for two months. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, we find this unacceptable.
Just recently, in Deloraine and Boissevain, we found a doctor shortage there. So those emergency facilities are also being closed. What it is now, it is impacting the doctors in Killarney. We are short of doctors in Killarney. But the doctors in Killarney are requested to cover those facilities as well. So what happens is it just expands through the region and we end up everyone being short of the doctors. So it is certainly a very important issue.
I think it is time that this government
put its ideology aside and had a look at the alternatives. There are a number
of things that can be done to end the wait lists in
So we know throwing money in the health care is not the answer. We think it is time to step back and have a look at how health care is delivered. We think that this government should have a look at how things are delivered to help Manitobans that are waiting and suffering in pain. My constituents are being forced to use their own money and to go out of province to seek treatment. Quite frankly, we find that offensive.
The other thing that has been done here
too is, even in
Mr. Speaker, I also want to talk a little
bit about education. As we know, education is important to all Manitobans and
to our future generations. It is important that we have programs in place to
educate our youth and, hopefully, the second thing, would have a good economy
to try to retain our youth here in
Well, I think when we
talk about education, one thing that comes to mind is the property tax, that
education is being funded by property taxes throughout
Mr. Speaker, I also want to talk a little
bit about some of the initiatives that we think will help rural
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So, Mr. Speaker, we are hoping that the
government will move ahead on this initiative. My biggest fear is if we do not
move ahead quickly on this initiative, this pool of money will look elsewhere,
whether it be another province or whether it will go to the
Another issue that is very important for
the people of
We know the EMO process is very, very slow. We have had people who have had claims in for close to six months now and those claims have not been resolved at this point in time. We are just starting to find some cheques coming in the mail now. So there are a lot of issues out there with the EMO process. We think it has to be sped up. We are not sure if it is a shortage of resources there, but certainly there are a lot of those claims are outstanding. So certainly we do need some work to be done in terms of the infrastructure and how it is handled through the EMO. Municipalities were dramatically affected by washed out culverts and roads. Again, they only get a portion of that funding back.
Just to talk a little bit about
infrastructure, clearly, in
There are so many other items that I would like to discuss. I know we have a lot of issues that we are going to be bringing forward to the government. Unfortunately, the Speech from the Throne does not address a lot of the issues that we would have hoped that it would have addressed, so I think you will see this side of the House voting against the Speech from the Throne.
With that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I thank you
for allowing me the time to express my views on behalf of the constituents of
Ms. Kerri Irvin-Ross (
You will have noticed that, in the Throne
Speech, it touches on every region and sector in
One of the primary goals is healthy
citizens. That is dealt with by health care, but also a continuum of care, care
that looks at prevention. I would like to begin with health care and what we
have done in health care to promote Manitobans. We have become part of the
national health strategy to measure the benchmarks for wait times in five
treatment areas: cancer care, heart treatment, diagnostic imaging, sight
restoration and joint replacement. But, Mr. Speaker, you must know that we have
also put a
I heard the member from
I heard the member talk about ambulances,
and I just want to put this in the record, that we are improving emergency
medical services in rural and northern
Healthy citizens is much more than health care. We need to talk about our prevention strategies. I am very proud to be part of the government that takes prevention seriously. I will only give you a few examples of what we do around prevention. One is the in motion strategy, which has been announced approximately a month ago, where we want to get, we want Manitobans to become physically fit, to practise and exercise daily for 20 to 30 minutes. This is going to help them emotionally and physically and psychologically.
We are going to look at
the basic needs for Manitobans, ensuring that they have affordable housing
available to them. This is done through different programs. The Affordable
Housing Initiative is one of them. Also a really important program that
supports healthy citizens is Neighbourhoods Alive! Neighbourhoods Alive! is an
important program that is throughout the
We look at poverty reduction strategies to
support Manitobans, and there are very many of them. Improvements to child
care. As you will know there have been announcements made about the increased
spaces for child care across
We also have, I am very proud of a
committee, the Healthy Child Committee of Cabinet, and through that committee
which represents different government departments but has also outreached into
the community again to support healthy citizens, through that program we have
created 26 parent-child centre coalitions across the province. Each of them
decide for themselves how they are going to support their communities in the
parent-child centres. I am very proud to say that we have two that have
started: one in General Byng School has begun, and there is also one at
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So, Mr. Speaker, that is just one example of what we are able to do when we listen to the community to provide support. There is another one, Triple P parenting. The Positive Parenting Program is also an initiative that has been started by this government, and what it does is it promotes caring relationships between parents and children and develops support systems, so if they are having issues or challenges, that they know where to go and get that support and will get it readily. I think this is very important to support families and, once again, healthy citizens.
We also have developed a better Income
Assistance program, and that has been through the National Child Benefit
Supplement being restored that has put $14 million annually back into the
pockets of low-income Manitobans. Also, the food allowance for Income Assistance
participants in northern
Now, we need to talk about the production and local use of goods and services. We have heard many announcements recently, and I am proud to say how these announcement have been developed to support the rural economy. There have been challenges in agriculture and we will admit there have been challenges. Acts of God have happened, but we have been able to identify positive proactive solutions that, again, come from the community, support them, will provide them with employment opportunities and, also, diversify the agriculture.
So we need to look at the clean energy
advantage. That is a very good example of what we have been able to do. The
announcement around biodiesel has been referred to, and that is going to
provide employment and clean air for Manitobans. It is very exciting. But we
have also been able to sell power to
In talking about rural
It is a very exciting time to be a part of
government, Mr. Speaker. Every morning I wake up and pinch myself. I cannot
believe that I have the privilege of representing
Neighbourhood stability is another important aspect of community economic development, and this really looks at what do you do in a community to make sure that it is a happy, healthy, safe and secure place to raise your children. You look at the revitalization of downtown. People will say that that is a really good example, and it is. As our Premier (Mr. Doer) likes to say, the building crane has returned.
We have some major construction that has
been completed, that has begun, and that is on the books to begin. The MTS
Centre is a huge cornerstone for us. It has brought people back into the
downtown. People have said that they are very pleased to see the economic
spin-offs from that initiative. I know that the Millennium Library will be
opening next week and that is a lot of excitement for people all over
There is also the Hydro building. I would
just like to take a few minutes and talk about this Hydro building and what
they are doing as far as a community economic development strategy. When they
tore down the existing buildings, they used–
An Honourable Member: It almost looked like a jail.
Ms. Irvin-Ross: My own members are not to heckle me. There are certain rules we have here.
An Honourable Member: You just got my attention.
Ms. Irvin-Ross: The member from Brandon East now has my attention. I appreciate that. I thought you were listening all along.
The Hydro building, what they have done as
they disassembled this building is they used it to reconstruct another building
and to re-establish an eco-network system. This is exciting. People were so
proud. What this has done is it has taken product from one building that would
have been hauled to the landfill. Instead of being hauled to the landfill was
used in the upper level of the Mountain Equipment Co-op for green associations
who are promoting health and green environmental strategies for
When you are talking about neighbourhood
stability, it is really important to talk about safety. Yes, we do support
enforcement. We have had more police officers, funding for more police officers
in
I am proud to say that we have one
Lighthouse in
I really want now to talk about another
third principle and that is skill development, that is training opportunities
that are being provided to all Manitobans. We have invested more money in vocational
training and that is helping to bring down the barriers as well. It is
exciting, it is very exciting, to see what we have been able to accomplish. We
continue to work with modernizing the post-secondary education. We need to look
and to celebrate the record of capital investments we have made to
post-secondary institutions. An example is the
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We need now to talk about, as I said, we
are a government that goes way beyond the Perimeter, we are a government that
looks at the needs of rural Manitoba and I have touched only on a few–[interjection] Yes, as my colleague from
Brandon East has reminded me, that the Assiniboine Community College is going
to be redeveloped at the Brandon Mental Health Centre. That is very exciting.
That touches on the education and training but also our support for rural
When our agriculture industry was going through a very difficult time, we stood shoulder to shoulder with them and to support them and to help come up with proactive solutions. I am proud to say that one of those solutions because of the financial hardships was to reduce the education tax on farmland by 50 percent, and now in this existing Throne Speech, another 10 percent–60 percent. I cannot go any further without saying we got two thumbs up from KAP for the work that they heard and our vision.
I am getting the signal and the light is blinking. I am not done, and I know that people are very, very disappointed. I have so much more to say. I guess I will be like Harry and encourage the opposition to meet with us at a later time, but I want to talk about that the Throne Speech represents a positive vision that builds on the strengths of all Manitobans. It builds on our capacity, our competency, our capital and also co-ordinates and communicates with partners that are all over the province. I am confident that this Throne Speech is a positive blueprint for the future of all of us. Thank you.
Mr. Glen Cummings (Ste. Rose): Mr. Speaker, first of all,
let me say a word of appreciation to the member from
Just let me put a personal story on the
record to show the government that they do not understand what is happening in
rural
The Minister of Agriculture (Ms. Wowchuk),
on a personal basis, I do not have any bone to pick with her, but she seems to
not have the ear of the leadership on her side of the House. She is part of
that leadership so she cannot avoid the responsibility for what has occurred in
rural
Mr. Speaker, it has been responded to, in part, by dealing with the issue of education taxes. We, in this House, believe that that problem should be solved once and for all, not that we need to get a cheque every year from the government. We are not about to be put onto a mailing list from the government, send a cheque in every fall if we apply. I think I heard one of the members of the government say, "Well, the farmers have not been applying yet for their tax rebate." That is because, in many cases, they have not had the money to pay the darn taxes, so they cannot apply to get the money back until they can present a paid receipt. That is how bad it is in some areas. That is why I can rightfully be incensed in this House about the government trying to gloss over what is happening outside of the perimeter.
The farmers hate the idea
of having to go cap in hand to government, but they hate even more the concept
that the provincial government, in many cases, will be the spokesman for the
agricultural community to
Mr. Speaker, let me put some numbers to what I am talking about. As this province goes further and further into debt under this administration, the annual interest payment is $750 million and rising annually; $750 million. Let us remember that that would be the cost of the expansion of the floodway every year paid for in cash.
Do you think that the farmers who are concerned because there is no support to build some of the drainage ditches that are growing up with stumps out there in rural Manitoba and will not take the water off the lands, do you think maybe they would appreciate a little bit of that? Nobody is opposed to the expansion of the floodway, but let us put in context, in real context, what the debt can do to this province. There are a few people in this Chamber who are old enough to remember what Trudeau did to this country. At the very time that the growth year over year to the federal treasury was over 17 percent, we spent 23 and 24 percent growth. Therefore, we were spending more than we could take in at the peak of the growth period in this country. That is what this province is doing. [interjection]
Mr. Speaker, the peanut gallery from the NDP caucus is trying to avoid the conversation about what debt does to the governments and to the people of any jurisdiction when we continually drive up the debt. We are still paying the debt from the seventies and the early eighties, and we have not come out from underneath that.
An Honourable Member: And the nineties.
Mr. Cummings: Somebody back here is saying, "What about your debt from the nineties?" What about the debt from the nineties? Paul Martin clawed back a half a billion dollars from the revenues to this province in transfer payments, a half a billion dollars that had to be made up out of the tax basis of this province which comes out to a net of $1 billion that this province had to absorb as a result of the policies of Paul Martin in Ottawa when he was the Finance Minister because he balanced the books of this country on the back of the provinces.
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Now we have a government in power in this
Chamber who wants to spend beyond the revenues that are coming in at the very
time when we have had the fastest growth in transfer payments from
We just heard a couple of members speak
about how the MTS Centre was building opportunity for downtown. I happen to
represent an area that has a huge percentage of cattle as part of the economy,
so I will dwell on that for a moment. I also have some significant grain
producers and a good part of my constituency, where the 1930s-style prices that
we are dealing with right now are driving the small farmers out of business,
and there is no action on the part of this government or the federal government
to deal with that. They have made up their mind. They are gone. They are
history. They are out of here. The fact is, my young farmers are saying: If I
could get out of here with a little dignity, I would gladly leave. What they
did this summer and the summer before in the cattle business, some of the young
farmers said: I can work in the oil fields. I will make sure the calves are on
the ground before I leave, and I will leave my wife to fix the fence, my
father-in-law to put up the hay, and I will go and try and make a living so I
can save the farm. That is the reality of what is going on out there. That is
why I say you cannot sit in
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am speaking very much about my own area today because I feel, obviously, somewhat passionate about what has occurred. We had three people working in the Ste. Rose ag rep office working full-time for the last couple of years with the cattlemen. What have we got now? We have got one. Reorganization. Bless this government. They centralized them into Dauphin. The cattle are around Ste. Rose, not Dauphin. So what are they going to do? Are they going to provide service? Are they going to send the service back to Ste. Rose on a part-time basis, or are they going to send the farmers to Dauphin? It does not make sense. There is nothing wrong with saying that the ag rep should also be part of a significant development office. Sure, they should. That was always the job of the ag reps. In fact, friends of mine, my generation, who went into the agricultural service sector, said that it was an unwritten law that if you were the ag rep in the community, you were also the lead development officer, and any ag rep who has not recognized that for the last 20 years was not doing his job.
Now we have the ag reps being spread out in a different way across the province. Ministers in this government are certainly entitled to reorganize, but it does not seem to be making sense. Neepawa now gets its ag rep service out of Hamiota. Take a look at a map. Any of you, take a look at a map. Do you think Steinbach should be getting its service out of Selkirk? That would be close, compared to what we are doing.
Let me spend another minute on
agricultural issues, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I have a lot of people in my area who
farm on the flatland along the edge of
Do those people have some call on the
public purse to say because we diverted as much water as we did through the
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it is a dilemma, and it has been a dilemma for a long time. But, when the agricultural community is under as much stress as it is, why is not the government leading the way out there and saying, "We know the stresses that are occurring in the industry. We are here to try and help ease those stresses and make it so that you can be productive within your community?"
We talk about tax relief. Why did the government add the school tax relief on to the Department of Agriculture budget? This is school tax relief. Why was it not put into the Education budget as reflecting the true cost of education? But, no, we have the Department of Agriculture out there saying "No, no, relax. We are putting money in the department. See, look here, the budget has not gone down; it has gone up. They put $20 million in there."
An Honourable Member: Are you worried about the tax cuts?
Mr. Cummings: Well, the member says, "Am I worried about a tax cut?" I am worried about honesty in government, and I am trying to reflect that this government is all about politics and not about solving the problems, and certainly not able to understand the realistic situation that agriculture is now in. If you tell my people that we have more money in the Department of Agriculture right now, they would laugh you out of the coffee shop. It is not true. When you are putting funding for education in the Department of Agriculture budget, you are misleading the public; you are misleading the farmers. You are taking them for a bunch of suckers, and you will pay the price at the polls.
The debt load that we are facing in this province combined with the pure, unadulterated, misleading approach that this government takes to dealing with agriculture, I have one other issue that is very close to home, in my home, in the home of the Member for Dauphin (Mr. Struthers), and that is about when, when, when are we going to get some slaughter capacity in this province.
Mr. Speaker in the Chair
We do not have one additional piece of
facility working in this province, Mr. Speaker. Not one.
* (16:00)
We are well past fighting over whether Rancher's Choice is properly located in Dauphin or whether or not the government supports it. Of course they do, and of course we do. There are members on this side of the House who bought shares, but why, why, why is not something moving forward? I talked to one of my ranchers the other day, well I should not say the other day, it was this past spring. I said "So how many cull cows have you got on hand?" This rancher is deeply involved in Rancher's Choice. He wants to make it go. He is trying to make it go, and I asked him how many cows has he got on hand. He has 100 cull cows that he had to get rid of this summer. I said, "Well, it will cost you a few bucks to feed them over the winter because Rancher's Choice is not done yet."
As I said, Rancher's Choice, even at this date, the 1st of November, to the best of my knowledge, has not turned one shovelful of dirt. That is not a problem with Rancher's Choice; it is a problem with support and direction from this government. They want to hide behind the fact that Rancher's Choice has not yet signed up enough cowmen. Rancher's Choice will have opportunities to buy thousands of head of cattle, but they are losing their opportunity today, and by contrast the company that wants to build in Neepawa is already test-marketing its product in Ontario, in Winnipeg, across Saskatchewan. They are test-marketing their label. The product is out there. The people want it. It is moving forward. They have the money for the investment.
The only thing this government has to do is indicate that there might be some support for infrastructure. That is government's role. Government can put money into infrastructure, and it can stand up and suggest and fully, with confidence, tell the public, "That is our role; we help with the infrastructure; we protect the environment; we make sure that the company which is producing this kind of waste can operate within the laws of the environment."
We are begging this government to go out there and sign an agreement of understanding with this company and assist Rancher's Choice in moving forward, either that or lower the cost of insurance on our semis because they are all going to be hauling our cattle into Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Having said that, also to acknowledge our new pages and the staff, the Clerk, Hansard, and so forth, for the efforts that they put into making this Chamber operate as effectively as it is, and I trust that our new pages will, in fact, enjoy the opportunity that has been provided to them. I know that their time here is very much valued from all members inside the Chamber, and, Mr. Speaker, as one speaker had indicated earlier these are just wonderful youth who have a lot going for them and, no doubt, demonstrate great leadership in their local schools where they are coming from. So I pay a special tribute to those individuals.
Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to talk about a few things in this particular Throne Speech. First and foremost, I would acknowledge that our Premier (Mr. Doer) is, in fact, a fairly smooth individual, an individual who has recognized the way in which government can manipulate a situation and remain somewhat untouched in terms of negative publicity and so forth.
I want to be able to comment on a couple of the issues that I felt that the government really needs to be held more accountable for, while at the same time touch base on a couple of other issues that I know are of critical importance to the constituents that I represent.
So let me start off by continuing on the question that I had asked earlier today in Question Period, that being the Crocus Fund. Mr. Speaker, this is a fund that had just a phenomenal, phenomenal opportunity back in the nineties when it was actually created. There were all sorts of things that were put into place to ensure that individual businesses throughout Manitoba would be provided the opportunity to not only get their businesses up and running, but to be able to really promote Manitoba and get the average person to be involved in this fund. It was a huge, huge success.
In my petition I made reference to the
actual numbers, Mr. Speaker, in excess of 33 000 Manitobans that have
actually invested in the Crocus Fund, which is a phenomenal number of people
when you really stop and look at it. A lot of these people for varying reasons
saw this fund as the right thing to be investing in. They felt good, whether it
was because of tax breaks, whether it was because they were investing in
It should have been able to provide opportunities, many more opportunities in the province. But we run into a problem in 2001, where there are issues that begin to surface. The provincial auditor has pointed out many of those issues. There were all sorts of red flags that were coming up, Mr. Speaker. We were disappointed that the government chose at the time to ignore those flags. As a result of ignoring those flags, Manitobans have lost out tremendously. Not only have the investors lost out, but also would-be companies in our province, to Manitobans as a whole, and it disappointments me. When you start to look at the opportunities that this government had to be able to look into it, to rectify the problem, I am disappointed that the government did not act when it was first made aware of the problems that were there.
I would suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, that this government was, in fact, negligent by not looking in and following up on those red flags. As a result of that negligence, those 33 000-plus investors lost in excess of $60 million. That is a huge amount of money and now who knows what else this government is prepared to do in order to save face on this issue. We truly believe that there is a need for a public inquiry. I sat in the opposition benches for years and heard the then-Leader of the Official Opposition, today's Premier (Mr. Doer), call for inquiries on all sorts of issues. I would argue that this is, indeed, an issue that does merit the need for an inquiry.
I understand why, at least I think I understand why, it is that the Premier is doing what he can to resist, and that is because a public inquiry will likely and, I believe, would clearly show that this government, was, in fact, negligent. To what degree? Well, that is something in which I believe Manitobans have a right to know. That is why we believe that this province would be better served by allowing that inquiry to take place and it has to be the Premier, Mr. Speaker, that initiates that inquiry. Because of that self-interest of preserving his political standing, we are not seeing that inquiry, even at the expense of what is in the best interests of Manitobans.
* (16:10)
I find that the government is going in the wrong direction and I do not know what it is going to take, but this government needs to recognize the real value of having that public inquiry. What we are asking the Premier to do at the very least is to give a commitment to the taxpayers of this province that under no circumstances whatsoever will another government dollar go toward the Crocus fiasco, not another dollar go, unless of course there is, at the very least, a commitment to a public inquiry. I believe that the reason why is because of the cozy relationship that this government has with the union, with some of the union elite of our province. That is the primary reason why I believe that the Premier thought if he just kind of closed his eyes that the issue would kind of dissipate, that it would not become a problem. I believe that that is what he was expecting. He rolled the dice on this issue and it did not turn out. Now we have the Crocus Fund and the Crocus Fund is going to end up to be no more. As a result, Manitobans in many different ways have lost out. That is the reason why I believe Manitobans have a right to know what actually has taken place.
Mr. Speaker, election laws are critically important to democracy. The government, a few years back in fact, changed the election laws and, I would argue, manipulated the election laws to the degree in which they knew that they would in fact have an advantage over every other political party inside this Chamber and beyond this Chamber. The government, the Premier and the backroom people that made the decisions knew that the changes were going to have a negative impact on all political parties except for one. That is the reason why they brought in the legislation in the way that they brought it in because it was not the Election Advisory Committee or the elections finances advisory committee that made the recommendation on that legislation. This was legislation that the Premier instituted, even though there was not a consensus at the Election Advisory Committee level.
What you need to do is you need to reflect
on what happens in Québec, on what happens in
Well, Mr. Speaker, this government has done things wrong in a very significant way in the changes that it has made to The Elections Finances Act. We look forward to seeing The Elections Act, The Elections Finances Act, that they talk about reintroducing or bringing into this Legislature. I can tell the government that I am going to go over that piece of legislation with a fine-toothed comb to find out just how this government again might be trying to manipulate the situation that is going to make our province even that much more undemocratic.
I can tell you, with the hearings that I have heard, that if you gave people a choice, they will tell you that they want an equal financial playing field more than anything else when it comes to electoral reform. They do not want one political party to be given an advantage over other political parties.
Well, Mr. Speaker, I bring up these two
issues because I believe that this is really a part of the core of the problem
that we have in
I believe this government is more in the
pockets of the union elite than any other government being in the pocket of
anything in provincial history in the
Electoral reform is something in which I and the Manitoba Liberal Party support and we will continue to advocate for that. I ask members of the governing party to recognize what individuals like Ed Broadbent, what individuals like Jack Layton, what I would suggest to you the party membership within the New Democrats are saying. They want to see electoral reform. If you knock on 100 doors you are going to find the issues that are most important are crime, health care and so forth. I will give that, but if you talk to the average person in the street, they will tell you that they expect electoral reform to take place if it means making our democracy healthier.
I truly believe that the membership of the New Democratic Party and the federal leadership of the New Democratic Party want to see that electoral reform, that the people that do not want to see it within the New Democratic Party in the province of Manitoba are those individuals that have a vested interest in preserving the status quo, Mr. Speaker. The reason why they have that vested interest is because they want power more than they want public interest being served. That is the reason why they oppose any sort of electoral reform.
This Premier has a wonderful opportunity; unlike other NDP leaders across this country, this Premier has an opportunity to ensure that there is electoral reform inside our province. He can do it. He can make it happen unless, of course, he is one of those individuals that believe the preservation of power is more important than what is in the public's best interest. If you provide Manitobans the opportunity through a referendum, I truly believe that they will vote in favour of electoral reform.
Look what happened in
* (16:20)
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to talk about two other issues that I thought were very, very important to touch base on. One is the issue of taxation, of money, of the overall economy. I am growing more and more concerned, as my constituents are, in regard to the spending habit of this government. We need to recognize that when they had taken office back in '98 and '99, that budget which was a PC budget which the NDP supported back then proposed to spend $6,045,000,000. In the most recent budget this government is proposing to spend $8,128,000,000.
Mr. Speaker, Manitobans cannot afford to see a government spend so recklessly that if, in fact, there was a change in power in Ottawa and there was a 10-percent cut in transfer payments that Manitoba could risk going bankrupt, that we would have to see massive borrowing or we would have to see massive tax increases because of government neglect in the way that it is spending money. It is a critically important issue and this government needs to come clean and start looking at how it is spending its money. You cannot spend that type of money in that short of a timeframe and expect that life is going to go on in a wonderful, colourful 3-D image well into the future. You need to be more responsible with the way you are spending tax dollars.
You have had opportunities to deal in a real way with issues that are important to Manitobans, issues like education and how education is being financed. You had an opportunity to be able to deal with how education is being financed and you have blown that opportunity. You have wasted that opportunity and it is so sad to see. As a result, Mr. Speaker, we do not know when that issue is going to be resolved. As the Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party has suggested in our amendment, reducing it on the farmland, funding of education to 80 percent is something that we need to be able to act upon. So that is a concern that my constituents, I believe, have and share with me.
Another concern that I believe we need to have a great deal more discussion on is the issue of crime. Manitobans as a whole, not only my constituents, are concerned about crime in our province. You know, if you were listening to the questions that were being posed by the Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party over the last few days, you will see that there is a genuine attempt to try to get to the causes of crime, Mr. Speaker, dealing with the causes of crime and what this government is doing to deal with those causes. When we talk about the impact of fetal alcohol syndrome and the impact that that is having on crime in our province, it is overwhelming. We see a department, as my leader has pointed out, that seems to be condoning the types of programs that are doing nothing to be able to address that issue. We need a government that is going to be more proactive at dealing with the causes of crime.
You know, I have had opportunity to canvass my constituents on crime. As I say, we can talk about the causes and the failure of this government in how it is has not been able to deal with those causes, but I can tell you that at the street level, when you knock on doors or you solicit opinion, you will find that there is a genuine lack of confidence in our judicial system. Our Minister of Justice (Mr. Mackintosh) and our Premier (Mr. Doer) have to share the responsibility.
One of the questions that I had asked my constituents was "Do you feel that our judges are doing a good job?" Would you believe over 90 percent of the individuals, over 90 percent of the residents that I represent, I believe, feel that that is not the case, Mr. Speaker. There is a lack of confidence and it goes beyond our judges. It goes to our Minister of Justice. We need stronger leadership from both the Premier and our courts on the issue of the crimes that are being committed.
I am going to share with the Premier some letters that have been provided to me, individuals who took the time to sign a letter indicating to this Premier and to our courts that they have lost confidence in our judicial system. That is an issue that needs to be dealt with and I will share those with the Premier sometime probably over the next week, in excess of 300, I believe it is likely over 350 homes in my constituency.
Do a multiplying factor. These homes are typically families where there are kids, a spouse and so forth. We are talking a significant percentage of people that, on the street level, feel that they do not have confidence in our judicial system, and there are things that the Minister of Justice can be doing.
There are things that he can be doing in
terms of supporting our Crowns, looking at some of the decisions that are
coming down and saying where the system has let us down, that maybe we should
be launching more appeals through the Crown's office. The Minister of Justice
does have a role in that area. We can talk. You know, I raised to the minister,
and I will try to give him a heads up because this is a question that I will
likely approach him on at some time over the next little while. I was in
Well, Mr. Speaker, this is the type of thing in which I believe the Minister of Justice needs to get his head out of the sand. He has been the Minister of Justice since 1999, and has proven one thing and one thing alone. That he has been an absolute failure at dealing with crime that the people at the door want the government to deal with. Totally. You know, look at the results. Whether it is automobile theft, child prostitution, gang activity, crystal meth, you name it, it is all on the increase in our province. Take a drive down, and I know he lives out in North End, or he is often in the North End, it can get awfully depressing very quick if you starting taking a drive and you find out that, look, there is a serious problem, and it is getting worse. It is not getting better.
We need to see action from the government, whether it is the ankle bracelets or being more proactive. Yet we have great organizations that are out there. I will cite Marymound as an organization, Mr. Speaker, that you could virtually quadruple its resources, and it probably still would not be able to meet the demands that are out there. There are children that are being taken out of homes and turned into prostitutes because this government has failed to be able to provide for adequate programs. Even individuals that have highly functional families have children that are leaving their homes and falling into this trap because this government has fallen behind in dealing with issues like the Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party has talked about, the causes of crime.
Mr. Speaker, these are the very real
issues that the residents, not only in North End Winnipeg but all Manitobans,
want to see this government deal with in a tangible way, and we have not seen
that. The good example with that would have been the ankle bracelets. Why do we
not have them in the province? Because I raised the issue, and the minister
thinks that there is only GPS. There is more than just GPS ankle bracelets that
are out there, and I will kind of give you that heads up. There is a question
coming on it. Find out. It is in
Mr. Speaker, one of the mistakes would be if I was not to comment on health care. Health care is a critically important issue. Always has been, always will be. We want to see a government that is going to spend smart on health care. It is more than just throwing money; it is spending smart. There are opportunities that will ensure that we can, in fact, spend a lot more money in areas that will allow for not only cost-savings, but will allow for better services to the clients of our health care.
* (16:30)
We all recognize the importance of health
care. I appreciate efforts of Jack Layton in supporting the Liberals on the
health care front, and my federal leader is fighting for a public health care
system. We, in the
Mr. Speaker: Order. The hour being 4:30, pursuant to Rule 45(3), I am
interrupting the proceedings in order to put the question on the motion of the
honourable Member for
Do members wish to have the subamendment read?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Mr. Speaker: Dispense?
Some Honourable Members: Dispense.
Mr. Speaker: Dispense.
THAT the Motion be amended
by deleting items (d), (l) and (n) in the amendment and by adding at the end of
item (z) the following words:
(aa) the government's
failure to commit to completely eliminate all education tax on farmland, and to
move to 80 percent provincial funding of education instead of the present level
of less than 60 percent;
(bb) the government's
failure to commit to legislate a legal right to timely access to quality health
care and to provide for an approach which implements this right;
(cc) the government's
failure to commit to the principle of accountability in the delivery of public
health care services in
(dd) the government's
failure to provide for and to deliver on a vision for its direction in health
care in Manitoba as exemplified by the closure of the maternity ward at
Victoria General Hospital without an adequate plan for the future;
(ee) the government's
failure to recognize the importance of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and the
government's failure to adequately provide for the critical need to diagnose
and treat this condition well and to reduce the incidents of FASD and crime in
Manitoba;
(ff) the government's
failure to adequately address the causes of crime;
(gg) the government's
failure to address poverty in
(hh) the government's failure to provide for an
adequate approach to drainage and water management in
(ii) the government's failure to recognize the urgent
need to contain the leakage of toxic metals and other chemicals from the very
large toxic waste tailings pile at Sherridon in northern Manitoba;
(jj) the government's failure to develop a plan to
restore the walleye (pickerel) fishery on
(kk) the government's
failure to deliver on their promise of establishing, in co-operation with the
federal government, the
(ll) the government's failure
to provide for an adequate plan to develop the tourism industry in
(mm) the government's
failure to work co-operatively with the Métis people of
(nn) the government's
failure to commit to a process leading to electoral reform and improved
democracy in
Mr. Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this subamendment?
Some Honourable Members: Agreed.
Some Honourable Members: No.
Voice Vote
Mr. Speaker: All those in favour of the subamendment, say yea.
Some Honourable Members: Yea.
Mr. Speaker: All those opposed to the subamendment, say nay.
Some Honourable Members: Nay.
Mr. Speaker: In my opinion, the Nays have it.
Mr. Lamoureux: Mr. Speaker, we would request if we might have a support to call for Yeas and Nays.
Mr. Speaker: A recorded vote having been requested, does the honourable member have support? If the honourable member has support we need four members. Please rise.
An Honourable Member: No.
Mr. Speaker: The honourable member does not have support.
An Honourable Member: On division.
Mr. Speaker: On division.
* * *
Mr. Speaker: We will now resume debate on the amendment. The last speaker was the opposition. It would be the government side.
Hon. Dave Chomiak (Minister of Energy, Science and Technology): Mr. Speaker, it would be my pleasure and honour to have the opportunity of speaking today in this Chamber about the Throne Speech and about a vision that has been laid out for this province very clearly, a building on the success and the successes in ventures that started in 1999.
This is a government that clearly has a vision and a direction of where this province should go and, in fact, reflects the aspirations and the needs of Manitobans in every geographic setting of this province, from the north to the south, from big city to a small hamlet, from east to west, and the opportunities to grow Manitoba together with all Manitobans is evident in this Throne Speech. I find it strange and disquieting that we have the members of the opposition forming a bloc, a bloc on the right, Mr. Speaker, to block–
An Honourable Member: Two blocs.
Mr. Chomiak: Two blocs to block what is a vision and a plan for all Manitobans. Members on the opposite side of the House have a position of opposition to every single initiative brought forward. Is it thought out? No. It becomes a reaction. When one reacts like Chicken Little from the falling sky, eventually the public stops listening, Mr. Speaker.
Let me talk about some of the initiatives brought forward in this Throne Speech that we will see rolled out in the next days, months and years ahead. Mr. Speaker, it is strange that during the discourse of Question Period over the past several weeks we have heard nary a question about the future of the province or about the Throne Speech. Rather, we have heard rhetoric, we have heard history, we have heard personal petty attacks on personality, which is something that I think is disquieting and disheartening that occurs during the course of this Legislature. Nonetheless, that was what has happened.
Has anyone on the opposition side talked
about the largest power sale in 20 years in the
Have members opposite, Mr. Speaker,
embraced the idea of biodiesel, of biodiesel clean energy, alternative markets
for all Manitobans that will see resources that are, perhaps not first-grade,
Canola oil or other products, flow into a renewable resource that will be used
in the transportation agriculture sector where, in fact, the vast majority of
costs relate to transportation? Are members in favour of having industries
spread around
Mr. Speaker, we have an opportunity in this province to have a significant impact on the lives of men and women across this province. We have an opportunity to develop in the North and to develop in a way, in partnership with First Nations, that has not happened in this province. There is an opportunity for us to grow and develop hydro and transmission capacity in the North that will see employment in the North, that will see training in the North, that would see opportunities for economic development in the North that have not occurred in such a quantity or in such a direct fashion at any time in the history of Manitoba through the development of clean electricity of which Manitoba has, hydro-produced. Ninety-eight percent of our electricity is hydro, clean, renewable energy.
Not only will we have an
opportunity to be an economic generator for the rest of Canada by spreading
around our clean, renewable resources, but we will also have an opportunity to
affect the lives of men and women in Manitoba who have never had an opportunity
over the past 100, 150 years to share in this growth and to share in this
wealth as Manitobans, together. We have that opportunity, Mr. Speaker. We have
that opportunity to grow this province and to grow this vision and to grow this
I think that members on
this side of the House are committed to that opportunity and, I think, even
further, Mr. Speaker, than most Manitobans are committed to this opportunity.
Most Manitobans, who work co-operatively, who share together, share the vision
of growing
I have not heard a word, a single word, Mr. Speaker, from members opposite on these matters. Not a word, and I suggest that one of the reasons that members opposite have coalesced into this small right wing, reactionary, Sterling Lyonesque type of opposition is because they are out of touch. They are out of touch with Manitobans. They are out of touch with the vision. They are out of touch with the economy. They are out of touch with today's both interest and directions that we need to grow and must grow as a province.
Mr. Speaker, there are initiatives in this Throne Speech that will help all Manitobans. I thought it passing strange, to quote a terminology often used by the former member, former Minister of Finance in the government of one Gary Filmon–he used to often use the word "passing strange"–that members opposite are not supportive of an initiative that will see the heating bills for residential customers in Manitoba smoothed out for a rate increase of only 6.3 percent. Roughly 200 000 Manitobans, 200 000 consumers, will see the impact of this smooth-out of these rates. Members opposite have chosen, and I suggest it is indicative of their stature in the Legislature and their stature across this province, to oppose that initiative, as they oppose every single action.
* (16:40)
Mr. Speaker, members
opposite make a lot of noise and make a lot of discussion about police officers
in the
Well, their voting record speaks louder than the "hoos" and the "hahs" that we hear from members opposite, whether it comes to crime, whether it comes to policing, whether it comes to health care, whether it comes to energy, whether it comes to the rural economy, whether it comes to First Nations. On every initiative, Mr. Speaker, they speak one word and they vote another way, consistently.
Mr. Speaker, let me talk about the future
of this province. We have an opportunity in this province, as I have said
earlier, to share some of the initiatives and share some of the wealth. It is
not just in hydro. It is not just in energy diversification, though we have a
role that we can play in the Canadian federation and have played in the
Canadian federation with respect to initiatives that will deal with
Mr. Speaker, there is a program in place, a tripartite agreement, federal government, provincial government and Manitoba Hydro, a $60-million program that is training hundreds of Manitobans to be employed not just within the hydro field or the hydro sector and the hydro sphere of trades and qualifications and employment. It is much broader than that.
There will be an opportunity for Manitobans to be trained to go to other jurisdictions, to come back, to spread the training around, to participate in economies all across this country. We are participating in that initiative, and members opposite have what to say about that initiative? Not only have they voted against those initiatives, but they have not had the intellectual or the visionary capacity to grasp this as crucial to the future of this province.
Mr. Speaker, I hesitate to even elaborate
in the area of health care because I think those words speak for themselves. I
note that we were visited by a former Minister of Health in this Chamber but 48
hours ago. The former Minister Don Orchard graced this Legislature recently by
visiting us and spending time in Question Period, spending time in the loge,
watching members opposite. I think it speaks volumes that the presence of Mr.
Orchard in the Chamber was perhaps a reminder to all members of the matters
that Mr. Orchard brought to this
As we talk about a
I am afraid, Mr. Speaker, that we are seeing a province that is growing, is expanding, has a vision, and being left behind is the opposition who are involved in all sorts of matters that relate to matters, shall I say, rather than applying their energies and applying their interest to the growth and to the expansion and to the well-being of all Manitobans.
I think that is
unfortunately a reality that we face, but our vision and our view of how
Within this Throne
Speech, we see the vision, the building blocks upon which the economy has grown
over the past six years beyond Canadian growth expectations, has created more
jobs or more opportunities in the private sector. One need not even look no
further, Mr. Speaker, than the talents of the communities that are thriving in
southern
One only needs to walk down the street and
see the enhanced activity in the city of
Mr. Speaker, this Throne Speech lays out for all Manitobans a direction, part of a building process that started in 1999, after the lean years, the very lean years from 1988 through to 1999 that I need not recount, because most Manitobans and, I daresay, members opposite are fully aware of the growth and stagnation that occurred. This government has tried to work with all Manitobans, every sector of the economy, not in a command fashion but, indeed, in a co-operative fashion working with all members of society, with all components of society, to build the economy, to build lives that are better for all Manitobans and to build a future that will have opportunities in employment, have opportunities in education, have opportunities in the arts and the culture, and to all Manitobans as we proceed to work with all Manitobans in developing.
I was very proud, Mr.
Speaker, to be able to attend the Bio conference in
* (16:50)
I was proud to be at a place where a
That just was not an exception. That was,
in fact, the norm that we see with
Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): First of all, Mr. Speaker, let me welcome you back to the Chamber. It is great to see you continuing as the presiding officer of this Chamber. I think you have done an absolute excellent job in the past, and we look forward to the same kind of performance in the future. Hopefully, you will be with us for many years. Some of us have been here many years.
Certainly, I also want to extend a hearty welcome to our new pages. I think you are going to find this a great experience. Certainly, you will see a lot of what seems to be dissension in this Chamber, but that is the nature of the debates as they go on. That is the way it has to be, because each of us has a role to play in this Chamber. Each of us must take care of our critic's responsibility. We cannot always agree with the government, but we do from time to time, as you will see, commend the government for actions taken on certain issues. So I welcome you here. I hope you enjoy your stay, and may this be a tremendous learning experience for you.
I also want to say to the staff here, many of us have been here, or at least I have been here for 18 years now, and it certainly has been a great honour and a pleasure to have associated with many of the staff that have been here almost as long as I have. Some of them, as a matter of fact, were here when I came here. I am looking at one of them now. Certainly, you have done a tremendous job of serving us as members, giving us the advice we need to make sure that we do our job correctly. We commend you for that, and we hope that you are here at least as long as I am. Or maybe we can retire together at some point in time. Certainly, a great job done, and I want to commend you for that and welcome you back to the Chamber.
I want to also say to members opposite
that as a government you have a very major role to play. It is not always an
easy role, to meet those demands of the general public. One of them is, of
course, to listen very carefully to the needs of Manitobans. That is a
challenge in itself. To those of you who have ministerial portfolios, you have
a management responsibility second to none in the
To the Minister of
Finance (Mr. Selinger) and others, I say your position is somewhat different. I
refer in large part to this matter because of what we have seen at the federal
level over the last two years. It is not a pretty sight when one has to
experience those kinds of situations, or listen to what has gone on in
But to you, sir, Minister of Finance, I say that you have an opportunity to portray this Chamber as to what it really is. It is a place where we look after, to the best of our abilities, to the needs of our constituents, and at the same time, look very carefully at how we can accommodate that from a tax point, the contribution of a taxpayer, as well as the kind of liability we want to place upon our young people, those that are just coming along and some of them that have not even been born yet.
Those liabilities are largely driven by deficits, and that has always been a concern to me. That is one of the reasons I came here in the first place. I saw the kind of borrowings that were–[interjection]–and I know that the Member for Elmwood (Mr. Maloway) is again concerned, Mr. Speaker, about what I am saying, but in all fairness, and in all honesty, I think I am portraying what we are all about, as members of the Legislature. I will get to you in a little while. So, if you are kind enough to allow me the comments, I will make them.
But to the Minister of Finance (Mr. Selinger), as I have said, your job is somewhat different than most in your caucus. Yours is the responsibility to make sure that the services are rendered that are required, in reality, to judge very carefully what the needs are and what the demands are. Sometimes the demands are not always the needs, and that is your job, to judge very carefully how much money you allow to put in place into the various departments. That is your job, and then to determine whether the needs are greater than the values of the revenues that you have coming in. Sometimes, Mr. Finance Minister, when the demands are higher than your revenues coming in, the best thing to do is then to levy what is currently required instead of passing on the liability to future generations. Therein lies our biggest problem.
To those of you that are on the government's side but in the back benches, you also have a significant role to play. I want to refer to an opportunity that is not offered very many people in this Chamber. That is, when the American consul came to this Chamber and said, "Would some of you like to join and accommodate or go to Washington and meet with some of the people in Washington, to Kansas and Missouri, to meet with some of the legislators over there, to get a feel for how they operate and what the issues are there?"
I know the member was thinking that I was being critical. I am not. I am talking about our jobs. Whether we as opposition, or you as backbenchers, we also have that role to play, that we do the diplomatic kind of thing from time to time, that we bring back advice and offer assistance to those that are the ministers, to our colleagues on the opposition, and try and present an atmosphere here of co-operation that presents reality. I think that is part of the biggest problem.
Those of us, my colleagues on this side of the House that are the opposition members, we have to judge very carefully what the answers of the ministers are when we ask them questions, whether they are real, or whether they are trying to be diversionary, to distract us from the reality of the debate. I think we need to really reflect. I am sorry that I will not be able to finish my comments today, but I will continue these comments tomorrow, because it reflects on the character of government. When government and ministers within their portfolios in answering questions to the opposition's queries try to answer in such a way that misleads, or distracts from reality, that, in my view, is not what we are here for. We should, I think, from time to time, reflect on that.
That is why I look at you again, Mr. Speaker, because you have so often warned us. When we use things that are misleading, and when we use strong language, you have warned us against that. I think all of us truly appreciate your guidance and your counsel when we do step over those bounds.
I think that all of us in this Chamber
were elected to do one thing. We came here with the intent to make things
better for the people of
Mr. Speaker: Order. When this matter is again before the House, the honourable member will have 20 minutes remaining.
The hour being 5 p.m., this House is adjourned and stands adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow (Friday).