LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF
Friday,
November 4,
2005
The House met at 10 a.m.
PRAYERS
Hon. Gord Mackintosh (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Family Services and Housing (Ms. Melnick), that Bill 3, The Enforcement of Canadian Judgments Act; Loi sur l'exécution des jugements canadiens, be now read a first time.
Motion presented.
Mr. Mackintosh: Mr.
Speaker, this bill will allow for the recognition and enforcement in
Mr. Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [Agreed]
Mr. Ron Schuler (
These are the reasons for this petition:
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 Shaun Beatty, Erick Cabaltera, Bertug Akintug and many, many others.
Mr. Speaker: In accordance with our Rule 132(6), when petitions are read they are deemed to be received by the House.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
The background to this petition is as follows:
The Manitoba Government was made aware of serious problems involving the Crocus Fund back in 2001.
As a direct result of the government ignoring the red flags back in 2001, over 33 000 Crocus investors lost over $60 million.
The relationship between some union leaders, the Premier (Mr. Doer) and the NDP seems to be the primary reason as for why the government ignored the red flags.
We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To request the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba to consider the need to seek clarification on why the government did not act on fixing the Crocus Fund back in 2001.
Signed by Celedonia Magat, Narcisa Asperin and Sonia Palta.
* (10:05)
Mr. Speaker: Committee Reports, Tabling of Reports. Order.
Mr. David Faurschou (
Mr. Speaker: Is there
leave to revert back to Petitions so the honourable member can read the
petition for the Member for
Mr. Faurschou: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. David
Faurschou (
These are the reasons for this petition:
Insulin pumps cost over $6,500.
The
cost of diabetes to the
Good blood sugar control reduces or eliminates kidney failure by 50 percent, blindness by 76 percent, nerve damage by 60 percent, cardiac disease by 35 percent and even amputations.
Diabetes is an epidemic in our province and will become an unprecedented drain on our struggling health care system if we do not take action now.
The benefit of having an insulin pump is it also allows persons living with this life-altering disease to obtain good sugar control and become much healthier, complication-free individuals.
We petition the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as follows:
To
request the Premier (Mr. Doer) of
Presented by Sharon Jack, Sandy Jack, Brian Korotash and many, many others.
Partnership
Agreement
Mr. Stuart Murray (Leader of the Official Opposition): Mr. Speaker, we know that Manitobans are languishing on waiting lists under this NDP government's health care system. The wait times for diagnostic tests in particular under this NDP government are skyrocketing. The Maples Surgical Centre has recently purchased an MRI scanner and is ready, willing and able to contract with this NDP government to relieve the stress on our health care system.
This, Mr. Speaker, is a debate about
putting ideology against patients. I would ask this Premier is he going to turn
his back on patients, or will he put his ideology aside and contract with
Maples Surgical Centre to provide timely access to care for patients in
Hon. Gary Doer (Premier): Mr. Speaker, the wait-lists for MRIs here in
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr. Speaker: Order.
Mr. Doer: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker. The wait-list for the MRI machines has gone from five to six months in
'99 for adults to 12 weeks currently. I say currently because the Pan Am Clinic
is now receiving and putting in an MRI machine that will reduce again by close
to 5000 patients the waiting lists for MRIs here.
Mr. Speaker, for children, the Health Sciences Centre children pediatric dedicated MRI that we put in has reduced the waiting time from 24 weeks to 11 weeks. I would point out that one of the most important parts of this is that for any individual who is in a life and death situation, not on an elective list for MRIs, but a life and death situation, MRIs are provided immediately for those patients through the health care system.
Mr. Murray: Mr. Speaker, this is the hallmark of this Doer NDP government, strive for mediocrity. The point is there should be zero wait-lists. That should be the goal, that is attainable.
The Maples Surgical Centre has purchased an MRI at no cost to taxpayers. The Premier has been given a golden opportunity to simply contract with the Maples Surgical Centre so the quality of life, the wait-lists that we see under this NDP government, are reduced to zero, Mr. Speaker. This MRI did not cost the government a single penny.
I ask the Premier if he will not agree to consider contracting with the Maples Surgical Centre to provide the necessary service to provide quality of life and reduce waiting lists to zero. It can be done if he just puts his ideology aside.
* (10:10)
Mr. Doer: Yes, I believe the last time we looked at numbers on another procedure, and I will bring out the facts, Mr. Speaker, that the procedure that was in competition with the Maples clinic was higher at the profit clinic than it was at the non-profit site. I would point out in terms of the so-called ideological issues that the member opposite is raising, that, yes, we have taken the Pan Am Clinic from private-profit and having clawback by the way of the national government into a non-profit system and have decreased waiting lists and increased procedures dramatically.
I also would point out that the Pan Am Clinic was utilized for us to negotiate a reduced price for cataracts that are still provided in a private clinic. So some of the ideological baggage that the member opposite is claiming right now belies the common-sense wait reduction strategies that have been in place with this government.
Mr. Murray: Common sense would say that if the private sector can build an MRI or put an MRI in here at no cost to taxpayers then that money, rather than purchasing a capital piece of equipment, can be used to purchase services, Mr. Speaker. That is common sense. Unfortunately, this Premier just does not get it.
I ask him very clearly today, Mr. Speaker.
The issue is that an MRI has been put into the Maples Surgical Centre at no
cost to taxpayers. That money could be used to purchase services. The
government could purchase services on behalf of
I ask him very simply will he consider, because in the past he has refused to even consider, proposals from the Maples Surgical Centre. Will he at least consider providing a quality of life for Manitobans and contract out with the Maples Surgical Centre? Will he do that to make sure that Manitobans get timely access to care and wait-lists go to zero, not the mediocrity that he strives for?
Mr. Doer: I know the member opposite is a surrogate for the Maples clinic but I am surprised that he is telling us that they are now a free medical clinic, that everybody can go in to the Maples clinic and get free medical services. That is remarkable, Mr. Speaker, because last time we did a comparison between the Maples clinic and, I believe, the Pan Am Clinic, there was a comparison of the procedure costs and the procedure costs were higher at Maples per patient. So the member opposite is asking us to spend Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, spend more, Tuesdays and Thursdays, tax less, so he is now going into the spend more. This is not inconsistent by the way. The per cost per patient number quoted last year is not inconsistent with the 1998 report that was conducted and completed by Gary Filmon's government on the extra cost of a two-tier system.
There are members of that
Cabinet that are sitting on your front benches that know about that report,
received that report and acted accordingly on that report. Mr. Speaker,
finally, I would like to say that the issue of Maples has not yet even gone to
the
* (10:15)
Partnership Agreement
Mrs. Heather Stefanson (Tuxedo): This government spent $3.5 million of taxpayers' money to install an MRI at the Pan Am Clinic. The MRI at Maples clinic has been purchased with no taxpayers' dollars, a prime opportunity, Mr. Speaker, for this government to partner with the private sector and save money for our health care system. Why does this minister insist on spending money on equipment when the private sector is willing to pick up the tab?
Hon. Tim Sale (Minister of Health): Mr. Speaker, heaven help the people of
So the first answer to the member opposite is check your facts and your economics. Secondly, Mr. Speaker, the machines are not even vaguely comparable. The machine that is rumoured to be at the Maples, although we have not seen it, is a small machine for peripheral use–
Mr. Speaker: Order.
Mrs. Stefanson: I do not
know what part of saving taxpayers $3.5 million that this government does not
understand and this minister does not understand. I mean, that is $3.5 million
more that can go into paying for more services for patients in
Mr. Sale: Mr. Speaker, it is baffling what the member is putting forward. The Maples has not approached us. They have not asked for us to do anything. They have not made a proposal. Therefore, we are not really in a position to even discuss with them what they might be offering.
Secondly, I was in
Government Commitment
Mr. Stuart Murray (Leader of the Official Opposition): Mr. Speaker,
Hon. Gary Doer (Premier): Mr. Speaker, I would refer the member opposite to the budget documents that indicate an allocation to the CAIS program of over $40 million, if my memory serves me correct, and he will note in the Speech from the Throne that there is an additional $12 million indicated and required for the CAIS income program for Manitoba. So right there the preamble from the member opposite is factually incorrect.
* (10:20)
Mr. Murray: Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that if this Premier would listen to rural Manitobans, that he has provided no leadership in that area at all. When the NDP are asked about serious questions, they continually point to programs that are producer paid. That is their solution. Two and a half years after the BSE crisis, this is the only livestock-producing province that does not have any additional slaughter capacity. When will this Premier show some leadership on this very important issue?
Mr. Doer: The Member for Minnedosa (Mrs. Rowat) was criticizing the ratio of investment that we were willing to make in the Rancher's Choice plant relative to the amount of the money we are investing in the ethanol plant in Minnedosa that is going up by 10 times, so here we are, and then the member, of course, from Emerson said we should not put any money into slaughter capacity, Mr. Speaker, and then he also said that we should be running a deficit.
Mr. Speaker, I would point out that some of the agricultural organizations have commented on the Speech from the Throne. There is lots of work, obviously, still to proceed with. I would point out that a considerable amount of money has been put in on flooding and flood issues that relate to the agricultural and rural communities in the last spring. I would also point out that we have reduced the education tax on farmland. We have gone from all the tax that was on farmland, with all those people who swaggered into coffee shops for 11 years and did nothing, we have reduced that farm tax by 60 percent going into next year's budget. We also, 11 years of neglect, we have put excessive moisture for crop coverage into the crop insurance program, something the members opposite never did.
Mr. Murray: You know, once
again, we hear this Premier strive for mediocrity. We understand that 60
percent has been eliminated off of farmlands. It should be 100 percent. That is
what Manitobans would say. It is very clear that, without meaningful support,
many farms are going to disappear off the
Mr. Doer: Well, Mr. Speaker, the member opposite will know that the BSE interest rate was lower than market and much lower for young farmers because of this situation. I would point out the KAP press release dealing with the positive parts of the Speech from the Throne and some of the legitimate challenges that are in the agricultural economy. I think we have had three successive years of horrible weather for producers, and it is creating a very serious situation in the farm economy. We had a drought in '03. We had the excessive moisture in '04, which was partially covered off by crop insurance measures, and excessive wet weather again in '05.
I would also point out, Mr. Speaker, that we are proceeding with producers, not on our own–[interjection] The member opposite talks about socialism, and they want a totally socialistic slaughter plant. We believe the producers and the government should be working together on a mixed ownership proposal for slaughter capacity to go along with the private sector development in potatoes, to go along with private sector development in hogs, to go along with private sector development in wind, to go along with private sector investments in ethanol. We are diversifying the agricultural economy.
* (10:25)
Slaughter Capacity
Mr. Glen Cummings (Ste. Rose): Mr. Speaker, what the Premier avoids mentioning is that when those industries, the potato industry and the hog industries, began to expand in this province there was government leadership. When are we going to get some leadership on slaughter capacity in this province?
Five years ago we had an announcement on ethanol. Now we have another announcement. Three years ago we had an announcement on Rancher's Choice for slaughter capacity. Now we have another announcement and still no capacity. We want to see something happen out there. I ask the Minister of Industry (Mr. Rondeau): What is he doing to provide some leadership so that these communities and the agricultural community can move forward?
Hon. Stan Struthers (Minister of Conservation): Unlike the doom and gloom that we hear from
across the way, our Minister of Agriculture (Ms. Wowchuk) has been working very
hard to increase the slaughter capacity in this province. Since 1999, we have
increased that slaughter capacity despite the doom and gloom from members
across the way. Our Minister of Agriculture has been working very hard with
local producers, not just in the Dauphin area but across the
Mr. Speaker: Order.
Mr. Cummings: Mr. Speaker, saying that we are working hard does not cut it anymore, three years since the concept of Rancher's Choice was put before the government. When will this government take the initiative to sit down with companies that want to invest in this province? There are companies looking to invest and expand capacity here. They need a recognition of their interest from this government to move forward. Agreements of understanding, infrastructure, all of the obvious things that used to happen in this province are not happening. When are they going to start doing something about it?
Mr. Struthers: Well, Mr. Speaker, just the other day in this very House, and my friend from Ste. Rose can check the Hansard if he likes, but our Minister of Agriculture (Ms. Wowchuk) informed him that she has met with the company to get set up in his own community of Neepawa. So it is fine for the member opposite to stand up and make those kinds of hot air statements in this House, but real action is being taken by our minister to increase slaughter capacity in this House, real action involving his own communities, involving communities in rural Manitoba that will produce fruitful results for ranchers in this province.
Further to that, Mr. Speaker, I would refer the member to the Brandon Sun yesterday in which cattle producers do not share the doom and gloom attitude that I see across the way. It says here–
Mr. Speaker: Order.
Water Testing
Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): Mr. Speaker, yesterday we asked for the test
results of
Hon. Steve Ashton (Minister of Water Stewardship): Mr. Speaker, in fact, as part of the agreement between the U.S. federal government, the Canadian federal government and the states of Minnesota, North Dakota and, of course, the Province of Manitoba, representatives of Manitoba Water Stewardship, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, North Dakota Game and Fish Department, North Dakota Department of Health, Spirit Lake Nation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Council on Environmental Quality did conduct a biota survey, something we have been calling for for some time, and it is a very positive development assessing risks that potentially could come from Devils Lake. So I am glad the member has finally woken up to the fact this work needed to be done and is being done.
* (10:30)
Government's Legal Costs
Mr. Penner: Mr. Speaker,
the
Would the minister tell this House today
exactly what cost the taxpayers of
Mr. Ashton: Let us put on
the record that this member and the Conservative caucus have opposed
Co-operative Agreement
Mr. Ron Schuler (
Hon. Gary Doer (Premier): The Minister of Labour (Ms. Allan) and her officials are dealing with the two organizations that were in dispute at court, but we are also dealing with the broader public interests. There are organizations that were not covered by the court case such as the interior design people. There are organizations dealing with construction. There are building codes and other issues that have to be dealt with. We are working on that legislation day and night. Part of that work is a constant consulting the broader industry. We are not going to be just as narrow as the engineers versus the architects with winner take all. We will be bringing in legislation that will be in the public interest.
Mr. Schuler: When will this minister realize this is more than a mere dispute?
It is potentially disastrous. According to the City of
Mr. Doer: Well, the member opposite is talking about the decision of the court and calling it disastrous in terms of the judge's decision. There is no question in our mind that the boom that we see in the building industry here in Manitoba, the boom that we now see in rebuilding downtown Winnipeg and all the projects that are going ahead, all the capital construction projects that are proceeding, some of which were opposed. I remember members opposite voted to a person against the new arena. Remember that? They voted against a new arena, and then they could not wait to get to the official opening of the new arena. We are going to bring in legislation to deal with the court decision because we are not going to let this boom stop. We are going to keep building this province, Mr. Speaker.
Housing Options (
Hon. Jon Gerrard (
Hon. Christine Melnick (Minister of Family Services
and Housing): Well, I cannot believe the audacity of the
member from
Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker,
what is clear is that crime in
When will the government change its policy so that hotels that have vulnerable social assistance recipients become places of support instead of places where people are forced to live in association with gambling and liquor and other problems?
Ms. Melnick: Mr. Speaker, what is abundantly clear is that the member from
Mr. Gerrard: Mr. Speaker, as the Brandon Sun investigation has made very clear, it is this government which is causing the problem instead of clearing it up. Why are all those empty shops there? Why is there so much crime there? It is because this government is not doing the right thing. The situation has deteriorated since they took over social assistance. This government continues to have policies which contribute to crime rather than helping people and supporting them. When will the government make changes so that vulnerable people can live in safe and supportive environments rather than having to live in gambling and liquor establishments?
Ms. Melnick: Well, again,
Mr. Speaker, the member has missed one of our flagship programs. It is a
success in urban areas in
Update
Ms. Marilyn Brick (St. Norbert): Mr. Speaker, on April 29 the Province of
Hon. Christine Melnick (Minister of Family Services
and Housing): Well, Mr. Speaker, not only were we the first
to sign a national child care agreement, we are the only jurisdiction in
This past week I was very pleased to
announce some $5.75 million for up to 3168 licensed spaces again throughout our
province. I announced a few days ago that 91 centres would be receiving annual
operating funding increases in
Mr. Speaker: Order.
* (10:40)
Closure
Mr. David Faurschou (
Mr. Speaker, when is this government going
to own up to its failure to sustain recycling here in the
Hon. Stan Struthers (Minister of Conservation): Mr. Speaker, we are in the process right now of arranging to meet with the Westman recyclers and talk about the problems they face. That is a very good recycling depot, a multi-stream recycling plant. They, like other recyclers in this province, are suffering for a number of reasons most of which are the market in corrugated cardboard that has fallen apart. Having said that, I am totally open to working with the Westman recyclers to make sure their program is good.
Future Status
Mr. David Faurschou (
Can the Minister of Conservation, now that he has admitted bankrupting the tire recycling program in the province, tell this House whether this now jeopardizes all of the recycling industry as well as the research industry based upon tire recycling in the province?
Hon. Stan Struthers (Minister of Conservation): This is very interesting, Mr. Speaker. A few
months ago this member was telling me just to throw some more money at the
whole problem, just throw more money, Mr. Minister. Earlier this week, in the
Mr. Speaker, we have worked diligently with our interim Tire Stewardship Board and our industry partners to come up with a much better model, long-term sustainable model for recycling tires in this province, and we are making a commitment to make sure that those tires do not end up in landfills.
Mr. Faurschou: Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the minister is getting his facts
but he is factually incorrect. This government has withdrawn almost a million
dollars of support from tire recycling here in the
Mr. Speaker, does the government expect the corporation to repay the $300,000 loan out of the $500,000 of funding announced yesterday?
Mr. Struthers: Mr. Speaker, we have provided money so that the tire recyclers in this province can collect the tires that municipalities are worried are collecting in their landfills. We are moving ahead in the whole recycling, not just tires, not just product stewardship. We are moving it all on to a much more solid, long-term foundation. We are using, I point out, the 80-20 ratio that was used by his government when they were in power as well. What we are making sure happens is that we are sticking to that 80-20 ratio, making sure that everybody pulls their weight to make sure that tires do not end up in landfills and that all kinds of products do not end up in landfills whether that be E-waste or hazardous waste or any of the products we produce.
Growth Strategy
Mr. Gerald Hawranik (Lac du Bonnet): Mr. Speaker, the facts are there in big, bold
letters for the Minister of Finance to see. Economic growth, employment growth
in
Why has the Minister of Finance failed to
create an economic climate in this province which will grow our economy in pace
with the rest of
Hon. Greg Selinger (Minister of Finance): Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member missed it this
morning when the new unemployment rate came out, and ours has dropped to 4.4
percent, the second-lowest in the country. Perhaps the member missed it last
year when 9500 private sector jobs were created in
Mr. Hawranik: Mr. Speaker,
it is interesting to note that the only two provinces in
I ask the Minister of Finance to abandon
the course that he has set for
Mr. Selinger: Unlike the members opposite when they were in government we actually do have a growth plan for this province, Mr. Speaker. We have a growth plan based on reinvesting in education. Members opposite used to think that if you left people ignorant that was the solution to economic growth. We have dramatically expanded college expansion opportunities. We have increased enrolment in post-secondary education. We have increased investment in venture capital within this province. We have increased research and development investment inside this province. We have built on our energy advantage inside this province. We are building safer communities, and we have a program of immigration that has exceeded 8000 newcomers to this province when they declined under the members opposite.
Mr. Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.
Mr. Tom Nevakshonoff (Interlake): Mr. Speaker, I rise to inform the members of
this Chamber that the month of November has been designated Diabetes Month by
the Canadian Diabetes Association. Diabetes is an incurable disease that over
two million Canadians suffer from. In 2001, approximately 63 000
Manitobans were living with diabetes. Approximately 6000 new cases are diagnosed
annually in
As Member for the Interlake, I am particularly aware of the problem that diabetes poses to the health of Manitobans. In my constituency and the community of Ashern, Lakeshore general hospital has a specialized dialysis unit with 10 machines in operation to serve the needs of this region. Of the 69 000 Manitobans living in the North, 50 percent are Aboriginal. The Aboriginal rate of people living with Type 2 diabetes is approximately four times higher than the rate of all other Manitobans.
Up to 90 percent of diabetes holders have Type 2 diabetes and scientists believe that a healthy diet, physical activity, weight control and stress reduction are the most effective ways to prevent this chronic disease and perhaps eliminate the suffering of thousands of Manitobans.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud that our
government recognizes the need for action. Recently the Health Minister and the
Healthy Living Minister announced a $6-million funding partnership with the
federal government to battle chronic disease illness in
I commend the Canadian Diabetes Association for their work in raising awareness. This organization funds research, provides service–
Mr. Speaker: Order. Does the honourable member have leave? [Agreed]
Mr. Nevakshonoff: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. The Canadian Diabetes Association funds research, provides
service, educates and advocates for those with diabetes. I would also like to
thank the many partners in the Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative and
commend them for their good work in fighting chronic disease in
Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): Mr. Speaker, we have heard much in this House
about the crumbling infrastructure of the
The reason I raise this question today,
Mr. Speaker, is we have a bridge at Letellier that is falling into the river.
It is a major artery across the Red River for the commerce east of the Red
River right up to the
There is room to construct the new bridge right beside the old bridge. You can leave the old bridge there and use that as a temporary crossing while you build the new one without touching the reserve. I know the minister has constantly given the reason as the reserve not negotiating access to the road, and, well, they do not need it. The design can be done in such a way or the access can be done in such a way that the bridge can be built without accessing or needing the reserve property.
Mr. Speaker, the financial well-being of
southeast
Mr. Andrew Swan (Minto): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House
about the great work being done by the Spence Neighbourhood Association to
improve housing opportunities. Eight new infill houses on
The Spence Neighbourhood Association is
proud that a diverse group of families and individuals have moved into these homes.
These new homes and homeowners are more good news for the
The Spence Neighbourhood Association is a
non-profit, community-driven organization that is working to improve housing,
safety, image, employment and health in the Spence Neighbourhood Association.
The association is supported by the highly successful Neighbourhoods Alive!
program which began in 1999. The Spence Neighbourhood Association is a model
community development group with an elected board and dedicated staff. The
funding for these eight homes came from the Winnipeg Housing and Homelessness
Initiative, a tripartite partnership between the Province, the federal
government, and the City of
Mr. Speaker, the Spence Neighbourhood Association does vital work in the community. We recognize the importance of the work that they do. In June our government announced that it is renewing the $500,000 annual core funding for the five Neighbourhoods Alive! districts for another five years and expanding Neighbourhoods Alive! to new neighbourhoods. Over the last five years this government has invested over $26.5 million, including $16.6 million to support almost 400 community projects and $9.9 million for the repair, rehabilitation or construction of over 1700 units of housing. The Spence Neighbourhood Association intends to build 10 more homes in this area next summer. These homes will continue to add stability to the area and raise property values.
Congratulations to the Spence Neighbourhood Association for making Spence a better place to live. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Larry Maguire (Arthur-Virden): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my
concern at the crisis in rural health care in
The Westman region has been suffering as a
result of chronic doctor shortages for more than a year, shortages that have
not been taken seriously by this government. I refer to the 17 doctors short in
the Assiniboine Regional Health Authority and at least 11 in
Mr. Speaker, this is also on top of the
fact that, in Deloraine particularly, it is a government that announced that
they wanted to have a cancer clinic there, and they have now allowed it to go
down to one doctor. Certainly they have not been able to retain and recruit
doctors, with the result that
Highway medicine is alive and well in
The NDP government failed to address the
crisis in rural
Ms. Marilyn Brick (St. Norbert): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about an important event that happened in my constituency of St. Norbert this past August. Mr. Pisiak, the caretaker of 21 Newdale, approached me with an idea to help educate the tenants of his block on the issues of home and train safety. The majority of his tenants, along with most of the tenants of the surrounding apartment blocks, are new Canadians. Hosting a community barbeque seemed an ideal opportunity to both welcome these Canadians to our neighbourhood and to stress the importance of staying safe around trains and in our homes.
With over a half-dozen schools along the CN rail line in St. Norbert, knowing how to remain safe around train tracks is imperative. The dangers of the tracks can be brought home all too quickly, and when Mr. Pisiak noticed a sharp rise in the number of children playing near the tracks and on the cars themselves, he approached me in order to help educate the public. With the school season starting up again, such an initiative assumed paramount importance.
With help from the local CN police, city police, Operation lifesaver, the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service, Marianna Banana the clown and a local karate club, not to mention the hot refreshments enjoyed by all, children and parents alike were able to learn about safety around the tracks in a fun, relaxing atmosphere. The day was a huge success with in excess of 250 people in attendance at the event.
* (11:00)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this
time to thank Mr. Pisiak and Bernadette McCann, the Immigrant and Refugee
Outreach Facilitator for
(Sixth 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, standing in the name of the honourable Member for Emerson (Mr. Penner), who has 20 minutes remaining.
Mr. Jack Penner (Emerson): It gives me a great pleasure to rise again on these important matters that we can bring to the Legislature at this time.
I want to take this opportunity to express my disappointment with the government and their inaction on the huge storm that went through the R.M. of Piney and flattened some 22 000 acres of valuable forest land. That 22 000 of valuable forest land, I am told by the industry and by the Conservation staff people, must be harvested before next spring. It is virtually impossible to harvest and move that amount of wood into the marketplace in an orderly manner if it is not accommodated by the allowance by the minister of highways to allow for the transportation of that wood down his roads.
Some people in southeast Manitoba are wondering why we have built roads at all in southeast Manitoba and why this minister would not allow, in a disaster situation, the movement of that product into the marketplace to at least provide the economic benefit of the storm to the people that could make use of the industry and the large employment that could take place if the minister would allow the transportation of the wood product. I fail to understand how a minister can sit there crassly and read his newspaper while this issue is being discussed. It is unbelievable that this kind of attitude is taken to a disaster as major as the one that has occurred in Sandilands.
Secondly, I want to say that this government also has refused to announce that there would be a disaster assistance program offered to the municipality. Oh, they told the people to make their applications and that the beginning of November was the deadline for the applications, but no answer has been given yet by government on any of these matters that have been requested time and time again by the municipalities and citizens' groups in that area that was so severely damaged, and the community of Sandilands, virtually all the trees in that community destroyed. The beauty of it is gone forever. This minister sits there and smiles like a Cheshire cat not wanting to respond to the request of the municipalities. I think that is unfortunate.
The same thing happened at
But all the other people that live in that Red River Valley, from Morris south and from Morris north on the west side through Rosenort and all that area, no response yet from this government to the huge amount of damage that was caused during that July storm and the huge flooding that took place. They sit there on their thumbs and act as if nothing has occurred.
If this kind of damage would have occurred
in the minister of highways' home town, I think he would have done something,
but nothing has happened. If this kind of damage would have happened in the
Minister of Water Stewardship's (Mr. Ashton) home town of
I want to, also today, raise the issue of
the agricultural disaster that is going on in this province, not just in the
Red River Valley, but in many other parts of the province of Manitoba. I have
never seen a government as blatantly, crassly ignoring the huge economic impact
to the Treasury of this province that will occur next year and the year
following because of the disasters of the last two years. I think it is time
that this government better take some action or else they are going to lose a
major portion of our young population in the rural areas. The jobs are gone.
The industries are closing. The service industries are closing and they are
laying off people. These people talk about the economic well-being of the
The
other issue that I find so interesting and so blatantly misleading by the
ministers and how they portray how Devils Lake was done, they have made a big
deal of sending two people out of the Water Stewardship Department to Devils
Lake to spend less than three days doing some dip netting and testing of water
in Devils Lake, two people. Then they talk about all the other jurisdictions
that have sent people down there. Well, I just finished talking this morning to
Mr. Dave Glatt, who is the head of the Department of Health in
I want to say, though, Mr. Speaker, that I
have in my possession, offered to me by the Health Department in North Dakota,
10 years of results of the testing done on exactly the stuff that this minister
has portrayed his department was looking for, 10 years of testing. I will give
these to the minister if he wants them. They are interesting reading, because
they certainly do not portray
The other one is, I want to raise another
study that was done on
* (11:10)
Then I want to exhibit the fifth document, which is the draft Devils Lake, North Dakota, Integrated Planning Report and Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 1, Main Report, Appendix 1, 2, and 3, February, 2002. Then I want to portray–and this one, by the way, I read the whole thing, and anybody, I challenge, should read this because it has a lot of information in it. It is Volume 2 of the Devils Lake, North Dakota, Integrated Planning Report and Environmental Impact Statement, February 2002.
Now, the reason I make reference to these is that if we want to have the Americans accept our scientific data and analysis on such matters as BSE, if we want them to accept them, then why are we so averse to accepting the environmental and scientific data that they are presenting to us as Manitobans at our will to examine and to study? We can examine them and we can go question them, as I have done time and time again, to ensure that these documents are not falsified.
I would say to you, Mr. Minister, you
would have done yourself a favour if you had had your department access this
information and refer to them in your comments. You might have saved the
An Honourable Member: The
member for
Mr. Penner: Mr. Speaker, I
find it interesting when a member of this Legislature does his homework, that
the minister, the member from Thompson, the Minister of Water Stewardship (Mr.
Ashton), sits there and blatantly accuses me of being the minister for
It would be nice to hear an honest portrayal, Mr. Speaker, of the
facts by the minister. It would be also nice to hear the minister say to the
people of
Whether we want to accept the content of
the lake is another matter, but this portrays, I believe accurately, what is in
the lake. It has been studied to death. I think it is time that we got on with
reality and dealt with matters that need to be dealt with; that is, we should
be sitting down with
I have a report in my possession that would indicate that the floodwaters could have been a foot lower on the Winnipeg dike if those two dams would have been in existence, as Lake of the Prairies was used to prevent the Assiniboine River from flooding and doing a major flood in that same year of 1997.
I think it is time that this minister do what he is charged to do, and that is build structures that will retain water in this province that will store water and prevent the kind of flooding that we have seen in the past. We have some very significant areas where we could store large amounts of water. Those waters could later on be used for industrial purposes, for irrigation purposes, for the economic development of our smaller rural communities and keep our young people at home. But this minister has no vision, and this government has no vision, no economic base, no sound base for using the kind of rhetoric that they have used on other jurisdictions. I think it really does not stand us, as Manitobans, in good stead when we sit here and attack our other jurisdictions, and then want to try and encourage them to come over here as tourists. Think about that.
I think it is about time that this
minister recognize the economic damage that he personally and his Premier (Mr.
Doer) have done to the economy of this province. Go ask your hotel industry:
Was there any growth in the occupancy of their hotels and motels in
I would like to conclude today by saying
that this government owes our young people an opportunity. It owes our young
people an opportunity to practise what we have practised in this province for
ages, and that is a chance to be food producers. Today, that opportunity has
been taken away. We have heard a lot of rhetoric, Mr. Speaker, from our
Minister of Agriculture (Ms. Wowchuk). Yet, when you really look at the
programs, they are not designed to encourage our young people to stay on our
farms. They are designed to cause people that know nothing about agriculture to
think that this government is paying a lot of attention to the agriculture
crisis. That is not so. That is incorrect. I would say that this government
should pay a lot of attention to what is happening in the rural areas of
An Honourable Member: A lot more attend universities.
Mr. Penner: Yes, you are right, and you know why? They are looking for other opportunities. They are looking for other options. They are going to leave the farm. Who is going to take over? I will tell you who is going to take over. This government is the biggest supporter of corporate farming than any government I have ever seen in the history of this province. This government is so adverse to helping the small entrepreneur stay in business, they are doing everything in their power to promote the corporate evolution of the agricultural industry in this province.
Statistics, Steve, do not lie. I should say the Minister of Water Stewardship (Mr. Ashton) should clearly know that statistics do not lie. Statistics show clearly the huge number of farms that have been incorporated over the last five, six years–large numbers. Why are they doing it? Why are they doing it?
An Honourable Member: For tax purposes.
Mr. Penner: He says, "For tax purposes." There is very little tax being paid on farms these days except for the property tax that he and his government are dumping on the farm community. The 33 percent assessment that is going to come into being next year will more than increase the tax take by the Province on education than the rebate that they are paying to the farmers. We have already done the numbers, and I am sure the minister and his government have also. So they are sitting there smiling. They gave them a 60 percent reduction for this coming year. Then, after that, what happens? We cut it all out, and the 33 percent assessment more than makes up the difference.
I say to you that this is the kind of dilemma that the agricultural community is facing today, and it is time that this government pay some real attention, because the economic difficulty that is out there is real and it affects our youngest people the hardest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
* (11:20)
Hon. Scott Smith (Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Trade): Good morning, Mr. Speaker. It is a pleasure to be back in session with my colleagues and all MLAs from our 57 different constituencies across the province. It is a pleasure to welcome our new pages that we have with us this session, and certainly, indeed, a real pleasure as I look across the floor, the member from Carman, it is always a pleasure, a gentleman, and a pleasure to be with all MLAs in the House.
Mr. Speaker, the Throne Speech that we had
introduced just a short time ago builds on our blocks we have had over the last
number of years in
Mr. Speaker, it has been quite evident in the Throne Speech and over the last period of time, certainly the problems we have been faced with this summer. Many members have mentioned the true disaster we have had throughout this province in the last 12 months, and it has been a problem that is, indeed, one that rivals the 1997 floods, both in claims and in damage, and, in fact, much more widespread geographical areas throughout the entire province. I would like to congratulate the staff that we have in EMO, the excellent job that they have done, obviously, in co-ordinating and managing this event.
Mr. Conrad Santos, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair
We have had nearly the same amount of
claims that we had in 1997, Mr. Speaker. In fact, those claims and the speed
and the way that EMO has executed dealing with people throughout all of
Mr. Speaker, we have had proactive
measures conducted by Water Stewardship, and we have had it done by
conservation in building permanent dikes in many communities along the Lake
Winnipeg basin and throughout other areas in the
Mr. Speaker, it was not
that long ago many people had heard about the expansion that we had been
looking at in
Mr. Speaker, the Throne Speech mentions preparing for emergencies. It is something that is critical. It is something that is on the top of the priority list for this government. It is something on the Premier's (Mr. Doer) priority list and every member on this side of the House. I would assume that all members in this House would agree that emergency preparedness is a priority and should be, certainly, after the events we have seen over the last five years or so. That is something we have made a priority.
Legislation was passed in 2002, Mr. Speaker, that did, in fact, require formal arrangements between regional health authorities, municipalities, and that again will be reviewed. When the pandemic consideration that is out there that is, certainly, highlighted in many of our local newspapers and on the lips of Manitobans and, in fact, people across Canada and North America, we know that, in fact, we do have to have comprehensive planning for doing that. That is being undertaken by all departments in the government and is certainly being co-ordinated by EMO and certainly being co-ordinated through Joel Kettner, our Chief Medical Officer here in the province, working with Canada and working with our closest neighbour in the United States. That is a priority.
The Winnipeg Floodway,
Mr. Speaker, as I had mentioned members opposite had quibbled about why we
should be doing this. They quibbled about why this is something that is
important for
Mr. Speaker, the members opposite talk
about philosophy and at times call this side of the House socialists. I can
tell you that Manitobans recognize when you have a balanced level of
government, when you have a government that is proactive in considering not
just one part of
I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, when we look at the action strategy and the seven priorities that we have set out and we have laid out over the last six years, we have moved well ahead, and the Throne Speech again recognizes that our Education First program is in fact working.
The member from Emerson just a short time
ago had said that there have been considerable problems in the farming industry
and our agriculture industry, and he is quite right, Mr. Speaker. Certainly,
commodity prices have sunk to some of the lowest levels in a long period of
time. We have had a lot of our farmers with excessive moisture, certainly
throughout this year, one of the largest mid-summer floods we have ever seen in
Certainly, I can tell you that when he had mentioned about expanding in the university enrolment and expanding in the post-secondary enrolment in the province of Manitoba, and having many children and youth and people that are in rural Manitoba attending our post secondary educations, it is not a negative. It is not something that is negative; it is affordable now. It is something that certainly many of our rural youth that do get a post-secondary education in fact do return to the farm. They do return to their communities, and certainly they have been diversified in the last period of time.
Education is never a negative, Mr.
Speaker. We have made it affordable. The post-secondary enrolment is up in the
Mr. Speaker, as we look
at basically
Mr. Speaker, the revitalization is evident in every neighbourhood, not only in the city of Winnipeg, but the city of Brandon, the growth in Brandon, really, which is the second largest city in the province of Manitoba, a very key city and a city that needs support. Again, when we take a little ride back in a history lesson, the member from Brandon East and myself sitting in City Council back in the nineties, '95, '96, '97, we saw the previous Filmon administration cut one of the most important economic engines that is in the city of Brandon, the Keystone Centre, down to zero funding. They stopped funding and committing to the Keystone Centre.
* (11:30)
Mr. Speaker, this
government over and over and over again has worked with the community. We have
worked with the management and the board at the Keystone Centre, millions and
millions of dollars committed by this government to expand what we see now
coming together as a beautiful facility at the Keystone Centre with
redevelopment there. The government before cut that. They cut the funding. They
like to talk about the Keystone Centre. They like to talk about other areas in
Now, the mothball party opposite certainly likes to talk about what they would like to see. On Monday, they talk about spending. On Tuesday, they talk about cutting, and on Wednesday, they talk about spending again.
Mr. Speaker, you know what? It is obvious the members opposite do not have a direction. I am not sure what happens in their caucus meetings, certainly of late, whether or not they are agreeing upon a direction that they should be headed or they are agreeing upon what they believe are priorities for Manitobans, but it strikes me very evident as I listen to members in the House on one hand talking about pushing the cart, the other one pulling it to hold it back.
Mr. Speaker, that is not balance. Balance is moving ahead in a sustainable way, as we have done, balancing our budget year over year over year after being elected in 1999, building Manitoba's economy and rural economy along with urban economy in a sustainable way.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you the first
priority on education first in our action plan is working. It is building
Mr. Speaker, you look at the community and
you look within a few-block radius of the building that we are speaking in here
today, the
The MTS Centre that members opposite had
really voted against, certainly, over prior years, and said it would never fly,
as the millionth person walks through the doors and the private investment is
evident, working together in partnership. You walk another couple of blocks
past that to
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you, as the member
from Brandon West, I am proud of the growth that we have seen in our capital
cities,
We go back to
Mr. Speaker, as a growth we have seen, certainly, the member from Brandon East recognized this as well, the amount of housing starts that we have seen in the community is a pretty good indication for Manitobans on confidence that they have in the economy, and year after year after year, from 2001 until this year, we have broke all records in the province of Manitoba, the highest housing starts, the largest volume in sales in Manitoba's history, and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country.
Mr. Speaker, we are a growth party and it
is evident. The members opposite want to complain about jobs and job creation
in
Mr. Speaker, our immigration policies have
been stellar. I can tell you over the last couple of years it has continued to
grow.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you, you know,
when you look at the business community in
AMM certainly, and the member, I believe, well, maybe he has not been to a meeting of AMM, but I have been to many meetings with AMM, and the member seems to be indicating–[interjection] Oh, he has not. I think he is saying he has not been to an AMM meeting. I can tell him, if he has not been, Mr. Speaker–
Point of Order
Mr. Deputy Speaker: A point of order is being raised. State the point of order, please.
Mr. Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach): Mr. Deputy Speaker, just for clarification, I have been at AMM meetings. I think the member is confused. I have talked about the growth in my community which is due to the good citizens of Steinbach, nothing to do with this government. I commend the community. I commend all the people in the Steinbach constituency. They should not take credit for something they have nothing to do with.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: A point of difference in facts is not a point of order.
* * *
Mr. Smith: Thank you very much,
Mr. Speaker. The member may want to come to
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you as we were speaking about the housing starts in Manitoba and the real estate sales in Manitoba and the value of people's housing in Manitoba and the positive that that has seen in all citizens throughout the province of Manitoba on capital growth for citizens and worth in Manitoba has been nothing but positive.
Mr. Speaker, when we look at some of the cuts that we have made, and done it in a sustainable way, we have done it with a balanced budget. Members opposite like to talk about tax cuts and cuts for business. I will remind the members opposite that it was this side of the House, the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, that made the first corporate cut in income tax since the Second World War. I know they want to talk about how it is not enough or it is not going far enough, but we have made that cut. We have taken 17 percent to 15 percent and now another commitment down to 14.5 percent, 14 percent by 2007.
Mr. Speaker, we are seeing building cranes
in
We will build
Mr. Speaker, Manitobans, I believe, have confidence in the New Democratic Party of Manitoba. It is for a good reason. We are on solid ground. We will continue to build this province.
* (11:40)
Mr. Jack Reimer (Southdale): It is always a pleasure to stand up and talk on the address to the Throne Speech. It is something that we have had the opportunity to do now quite a few times.
Before I start into the Throne Speech, I just wanted to congratulate the new pages that we have in the Chamber that do a lot of work for us and run around to the needs and, you know, some of the things that the members are always involved with. I hope I pronounce some of these names right. From the Winnipeg School Division we have Hemali Vyas with Grant Park High School; Monica De Castro from Kelvin High School; Nicholas Dupuis from the Gabrielle-Roy School; from Portage la Prairie we have Gillian Thornton; Ryan Foyle from Portage Collegiate; Chad Jacobson from the Gimli High School; and Alannah Hallas, West Kildonan Collegiate; and Daniel Winstanley from the Maples Collegiate.
So I just wanted to
congratulate them on their involvement with the pages. I think that it gives
them a tremendous opportunity and exposure to some of the goings-on of
government here in
We have heard this government come down with a Throne Speech, and I think the Throne Speech is usually regarded as a blueprint, if you want to call it, or some people call it a vision, a vision of what the government, the ruling government wants to bring forth in regard to their directions and their solutions of what they feel is important for the people of Manitoba and how they can address things. A lot of times it is looked forward to with anticipation, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and the reason for that is that you always look for something fresh, some new vision, the opportunity for Manitobans to have hope, you know, the role of the government to encourage progress and opportunity. You look to that Throne Speech and think of, well, where are we going to see this great unveiling through the Throne Speech?
Well, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I do not know whether we saw anything this time. We saw a lot of tired clichés. We saw a lot of relationships relating back to 1999. We heard that recurring throughout their speech. What happened in 1999? There was a change of government, but it seems that this government always looks back to the times and before as a way of bringing forth their points of view. In fact, in the Throne Speech it was mentioned 17 times "since 1999" they used in the Throne Speech.
You know, we could use
that as a benchmark, too, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because since 1999 the question
can be asked: Well, what happened to the debt in
We need the strength, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
in the private sector and in business to take the initiative to create jobs.
Those are the things that I think that we are lacking in this province in the
sense of the optimism that business brings forth. The ability for the
government to react to situations is slow; sometimes it is very costly in
effect. In fact, we are seeing that right now with the unfortunate loggerheads,
if you want to call it, between the architects and the engineers here in
As I mentioned, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that
we do see a tremendous amount of debt growth in this province. In fact, I think
the debt growth right now is growing at $1.5 million a day. It continues
to grow at a rate that is unacceptable. We are looking at a debt of almost $20 billion
here in the
So it is something that we have been
actively campaigning in the sense of trying to get the government to recognize
this, to look at how they can eliminate the debt, how they can increase the
opportunity for job growth. They were talking this morning about the fact that
unemployment has gone down here in
There have been stories circulating in
regard to the trades profession here in
We are not competitive. The First Minister
(Mr. Doer) was talking this morning about the growth and the new buildings and
this stuff, and the cranes are flying. He says "The cranes are flying in
* (11:50)
So, in relationship, it is still way too
expensive, but these are the things that this government will go out and
ballyhoo that they are doing all these great things. Who is going to pay for
it? Who is paying for it? The taxpayers. Who is paying for it? The ratepayers,
the people of
In the area of education, I know my colleagues are very interested to help me get a new school in my constituency and they should be concerned–
An Honourable Member: Who is paying for it?
Mr. Reimer: The government should be paying for that school. You see, that is
exactly the role of government. The role of government is to supply educational
needs here in the province. I am not degrading that. In fact, I would encourage
that. I would encourage that because there is a payoff, and when you have new
growth in new areas and new families going into the area–the Minister of
Intergovernmental Affairs (Mr. Smith) was talking about all the new housing
starts, tremendous amount of housing starts in my constituency, one of the
fastest growing areas in
One of the highest growth areas for new homes is in my constituency, but what is happening? This government does not look at the social infrastructure. It does not look at the fact that it needs new schools. It does not look at the fact that it needs new recreational facilities, but they can stand here and–in fact, Mr. Deputy Speaker, they are even part of that building boom in here because they are in joint partnership with some of the developers for the developing of that land in my constituency. So, I mean, they are trying to have it both ways and even eat the cake at the same time, but they do have to look at the fact that in certain areas of the city, especially the southeast area of the city, there was a tremendous amount of growth of new homes and yet they do not look at the proper facilities that should be put into place which is new schools or an expansion of schools.
It is not only in my constituency. I know the Member for River East is lobbying for the same thing, but even she cannot get it and she sits at the Cabinet bench to get these things addressed–
An Honourable Member:
Mr. Reimer:
So those are some of the things that this government has to look at very, very seriously. In fact, even the school trustees in the school division, in the Riel School Division, are becoming very, very frustrated with the fact that they cannot get the facilities in their area. I know that they have met with the minister. I have met with him numerous times, but there does not seem any type of movement towards trying to get a resolve on that problem.
In that Riel School Division, there are four Cabinet ministers that cover that area and not one of them can do anything for that area in regard to schools, not one. I mean there is ineffectiveness, if you want to talk about it, four Cabinet ministers in one school division and they cannot address the problem of having adequate schooling and facilities in that area. Now there is an ineffective approach to trying to get things in there done.
So, Mr. Speaker, you talk about lobbying and trying to get things done, it seems that the government has its own agenda, its own direction and a few of the people that are around the table are getting their way on decision-making and a lot of the areas of the province are being neglected and in the city of Winnipeg particularly. As an urban member, I know that we have a tremendous amount of problems with, and a growing number or gangs in certain areas of the city. It is something that has become very, very prevalent, the fact that drugs are becoming more prolific in the streets.
We have had the unfortunate incidence of
the death, of a shooting, which is very, very tragic, because of gang warfare.
It is something that I think that the people of
Mr. Speaker in the Chair
The Minister of Health (Mr. Sale) is
defending the fact that there are kits given out, crack kits, for the use of
drugs. These are all areas that are, I think, very, very concerning. We have
seen organized gangs come in under this government. The Hells Angels came into
Unfortunately, there is still gang activity. There are still young people getting caught up in drugs and gang activity. It is something that I think is becoming very, very evident and prevalent in the streets of Winnipeg, Brandon and a lot of other places here in Manitoba that this government does not take a serious look at. But they can make announcements and make press releases which do not really bring a solution to the problem.
We have advocated. The
critic for Justice has come out with a plan. It would mean the government
taking a cold, hard look at it and coming out with possibly their own plan that
is blueprinted off of ours and we would support that. I think that everybody is
in agreement that crime and some of the tragic things that happen, everybody
wants that eliminated from our streets. It is not a political thing; it is a
thing that all politicians would strive for. So, I mean, if there was a
willingness for the government to take our party's Justice critic, some of the
solutions that he has brought forth, adapt them, change them a little bit, and
we come out with a good, strong policy, it is good for government. It is good
for the people of
We have talked a lot
about health care here in
One of my responsibilities is critic for seniors. I get a chance to go to a fair amount of events and functions where seniors are at. More and more I get people telling me about the tremendous wait they have to wait for hip and knee replacements, for cataract surgery. I know that it is a real concern to a lot of seniors. The NDP says, "Well, we are addressing it." But, you know, the people on the street are not seeing the results. I think that is where the rubber hits the road. It is the people on the street that have got to say, "Yes, I got a phone call and I am now, instead of being two years on the waiting list, I am down to three months or something like that." Then they have something to stand up in this House and crow about. But to just say, "We are looking at it and we are putting the resources in it and the results are going to come about in three to four years," in the meantime that individual or that senior is suffering with knees or hips that are causing all kinds of problems. It is disgraceful. Also, even with cataract surgery that some of these seniors need, they cannot get coverage for. So it really–[interjection] Is that what they do?
* (12:00)
Oh, you know, one of the things, Mr. Speaker, that I have always had the privilege and the honour of doing, and it just seems to be a coincidence that I am always speaking after the Member for Elmwood (Mr. Maloway). I get so energized after the Member for Elmwood speaks because he comes forth with such far-ranging and far left ideology that it is quite enjoyable to come after him and even try to correct him because a lot of things that he says do need correcting because he does have a good memory and a long memory, and I will give him that credit. He can remember a lot of things that happened way back. When we talk 1999, he could go further back than that, but I am going to miss out on that this year.
This year, the roles are reversed because, I believe that in the speaking order the Member for Elmwood might be after me. So he will have the opportunity to try to correct the wonderful statements that I have put on record and, in fact, the timely phrases and comments that I know that he will maybe even embrace and take to heart and he will take these messages back to his caucus and his Cabinet colleagues and say, "You know, the Member for Southdale has some good ideas there. I think we should adopt them. I think so." I look forward to that because the Member for Elmwood is an honourable gentleman, and I am sure that he would recognize that some of the directions that I am suggesting do carry an awful lot of merit and truth. He would do it. I look forward to his reply to the Throne Speech because it is always a very strong indication.
I do want to talk a little bit, I mentioned briefly, about education. I think when you talk about education, you have got to talk about property taxes, school taxes on property. I mentioned earlier I am in a new area, I am in a growth area and a lot of new homes, some very, very nice homes in the constituency of Southdale, and one of the things that comes up in conversations with some of my constituents is the fact that they are sick and tired of paying so much school tax because of the value of their property. They feel it is totally unfair, it is unjustified, and the fact that well over half of their tax bill is an educational component.
I do not think anybody begrudges the fact that you need money for education, but they are saying, "Find a different way. Find a different way. Get it off my property so that my property tax bill is not so astronomically high that I have to look at possibly an alternative move or move out of the area," because they enjoy the area of Southdale. They enjoy the conveniences, some of the facilities. They are lacking in schooling, as I mentioned, a big problem. The Minister of Education (Mr. Bjornson) turns a blind eye to it. He will not address the situation. That is one of the things that myself, as the elected official in the area, will keep lobbying. He knows that too. Those are some of the things that you set up in your campaign and it gets you re-elected because of the inaction of this government. In a sense, they are contributing to my re-election and I thank them for that.
Mr. Speaker, those are some of the things that come to me. But, as I said earlier, the fact that the educational tax is still on property is a big concern to an awful lot of people in my constituency and the people there are very, very concerned about it.
Mr. Speaker, I know that there are a lot of other speakers that are wanting to speak on the Throne Speech, and it is something that everyone should have the opportunity to address because it not only gives them the opportunity to be pro or against the Throne Speech, but it is also an opportunity to address some of the things that are in their constituency out of concern, and these are some of the things that I think, as an elected official, we should address. I think we should be bringing forth in the Chamber the things that are of concern in our constituency. We should be talking about some of the things that we should be lobbying for in our constituency and we should be, at the same time, looking for change and for how we can make these things happen in our constituency.
So, Mr. Speaker, with those words, I thank you very much for having the opportunity to talk on this Throne Speech. I must point out at the same time as I wrap up that I will not be voting for this Throne Speech. I want the House to know how I am going to vote because that is a vote that I will take with pleasure in this House, against the Throne Speech. Thank you.
Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood): Mr. Speaker, I am very
pleased today to address the amendment to the Throne Speech, the Tory amendment
to the Throne Speech. I do note that the (a) in their amendment talks about the
government's failure to acknowledge the escalating debt of our province, now in
excess of $20 billion, and its failure to commit to comprehensive debt
reduction strategy. Yet I have heard members refer to the debt, speech after
speech, all week and not one of them have recognized that we have had credit
improvements. The bond rating agencies have assessed the entire picture,
Now, how could that be a problem? Do you
say that the bond rating agencies do not know what they are doing, that they do
not do a proper analysis of
Do you know that in the last five years, actually six years, this government has actually put $502 million, a half a billion dollars, toward that unfunded liability? That liability that was not recognized all the years that Gary Filmon was the Premier, all the years that Howard Pawley was the Premier, and other premiers going back many, many years. It is our government that could have kept ignoring the problem but we did not. We recognize it in the books, and we put a half a billion dollars and, you know, over 30 years, that liability will be paid down. That liability, which is at $3.4 billion, will be dissipated over a 30-year cycle and our children and grandchildren will be very happy that we recognized that.
You know, I really do not know where the Tory members are coming from on this one because, once again, they increased the debt roughly equal to, for a six-year period of the Tory rule compared to a six-year period of the Howard Pawley rule, the debt increase was almost identical, and neither government paid down anything and, all of a sudden, six years ago we come in and we have increased the debt and we paid down some of the debt. We took care of the unfunded liability that they did not pay any attention to. We got two bond rating improvements. You know, you should be recognizing that and so this is a bogus statement that you are making here. You ought to amend this resolution and remove (a) because it is false advertising on the part of the Tories.
* (12:10)
Now, let us just take a look at the rainy day fund. They like to talk about the rainy day fund that they set up a number of years ago. Well, back in 1996 there was $578 million in that rainy day fund, and then there was $565 and $427 and $264. Ah, in 1999, that year, think back, folks, 1999. All of a sudden the rainy day fund, which had been $578 million because of the sale of the telephone system, was dropped to $264 million. What happened in 1999 that would cause that rainy day fund to drop so drastically? Ah, it was an election, and all of a sudden the Tories spent like crazy. They sucked that rainy day fund down to $264 million. They almost wiped it out. And did one cent go towards the debt? Did one cent, Mr. Speaker, go towards the debt? Not at all.
Now, what has happened since then is that
the rainy day fund has been up and it has been down over the last six years.
But guess what? It is at $409 million now, and we did not have to sell the
telephone system or sell off assets to hide the money, to bank the money, to
get ready for an election. We got that $409 million fair and square, and we are
keeping it. But, you know, that rainy day fund could be higher.–[interjection] It could be higher, to
the Member for
The fact of the matter is that a government that stays in touch and connects with its voters and does reasonable, sensible measures is going to stay in power. That is why you stayed in power for 11 years, because your government of the day paid attention to the middle ground. While we painted you out as hackers and slashers, you were spending all this money that I just showed, right? You were the opposite in reality to what you were being portrayed, but you stayed connected to the public. So now we are the government that is connected to the public.
So you are concluding that, all of a sudden, if you hijack your leader, if you throw out the leader–you postponed Thanksgiving a bit here; you are going to carve up the leader tomorrow–somehow, if you get rid of that leader, things are going to improve. Maybe if you do not have a leader at all, things are going to be better, but, you know, you have just trained this one, you have just potty trained this leader, and now you are going to throw him out. Then you have to start over with a new one. You do not even have one in mind. This is not giving the public confidence that you are a government in waiting when you cannot even run your own caucus. When you are supposed to be doing your job, attacking us as the opposition, instead you are out attacking one another. This is not good. You know, I turn on the radio, and it is pretty shocking. I am scared to even go down and pick up the paper in the morning, now, or turn on the radio. I hear ghosts from the past, Jim Downey, on announcing he wants to run.
An Honourable Member: Don Orchard was there.
Mr. Maloway: Don Orchard showed up. He has not been here for a number of years.
But I do want to compliment CJOB and Vic Grant yesterday for running a full day of coverage on the Health Sciences Centre because, you know, this is the type of coverage that media should have been providing in the past. When we were opposition, the same thing happened, when you are in opposition, it happens. The opposition simply takes each bad example and trots it out as why the system is not working properly, tries to embarrass the government, and CJOB corrected that yesterday when they spent the entire day telling all the good things that are happening in the health care system at Health Sciences Centre.
I encourage them to move on to the
education system and take a look at that system, too, right? Let us look at the
positive side rather than just attack, attack, attack. I know it sells
newspapers and sells advertising. Now, to liven their program up because, I
guess, it was very interesting, very informative about how all the good health
care initiatives that we have in the province, but on the hour, every hour,
they would cut in to give us an update on the committee, on the big Tory
committee, as to who was in and who was off. The Member for
I honestly do not think they really know
what is going on, to be honest to the Member for
So I am saying to the members, you know, keep up the good work this weekend. We are very happy with the current leader over there, and, as far as I am concerned, he can stay for a lot longer. Of course, it is true that you are getting attention. You were not getting much press before, but you are sure getting it now, making this Throne Speech very difficult for us to get our points out there.
Now, I never heard much argument either, or comment, from the members opposite about the power sale. Here we have the largest half-a-billion-dollar power sale, largest power sale in 20 years, and where are they? No comments at all. It is as if they do not want to know about it. I think they can see the timing, too. You see, the negotiations are not going to occur till the fall of '06, I believe it is. Then, you know, when the contracts are signed, the bulldozers are going to start clearing the land for construction of the power dam in and about the early part of 2007. I think that has got them all spooked. I think that has got them all scared and they want to pretend that that is not so.
But the fact of the matter is that, while
it has been 20 years in the making, this is a fantastic story for the
The wind farms are
another good example of job creation in the south of
But that is a developing area that we have to put a lot more attention to. I think that there is at least a half dozen more good projects that can be developed in the wind power area, and all of these projects are projects that you have to do while the economy is good. We are not going to wait for a recession which has got to come. I am sure they are over there praying for a recession. I look at the great economic stats that come out, and the Conservative lines on these things are always negative. I mean, what exactly do they want? We show that we have practically the lowest unemployment rate in the country, or second lowest, and they do not like it. They thrive on bad news. The "Bad News Bears" over there. The good news they shrink away from. You know, if it is bad, it is good, and the good news, they shrink away from.
* (12:20)
In my limited amount of time left, I would like to deal with some of the members over there and their statements regarding debt. I can tell you that so far only the Member for Emerson (Mr. Penner) has actually made sense in his arguments to the extent that he has asked for a bridge to be built. I think it is going to be $20 million, something like that. He has asked for the bridge. But, at least, in the member's case, he recommends an increase in the sales tax to pay for it. Every election that we ran in an opposition, our leader insisted on having every promise costed out.
An Honourable Member: No way.
Mr. Maloway: Yes, every promise was costed out, so when the press asked him, "How much is that going to cost?" he said $15 million or $20 million, or whatever it was, and that is what the member from Devils Lake, Emerson has shown some responsibility here, because he said, "Build me the bridge, and I propose that all the Manitoba taxpayers should have an increase in their sales taxes." Very good thinking on his part. I think he is going to be the winner out of this one.
But let us look at some of those other members. Let us look at some of the irresponsible members over there. Let us look at the Finance critic because he has the most. He wants to know where did the $3 billion go. You know, as often as we tell him–I am going to go out and take pictures of these things and give him pictures. Maybe that will help.
The Member for Lac du
Bonnet (Mr. Hawranik) stands up every day in this House talking about the debt
and why it has to be reduced, and he fails to recognize that of the $3 billion
in the debt he has most of it. In Lac du Bonnet constituency, we spent $2.4
million for clean water and waste water treatment projects; $342,000 for a
waste water treatment project in the R.M. of Alexander; a half a million for
another waste water treatment project in Tyndall, Garson; $95,000 for a
clean-up of a water project in Beausejour. We built a new school and school
upgrades in Lac du Bonnet, and on and on. In health care we spent we spent
$11.3 million for the
So this is a member who wants to have it both ways. He wants to be able to have the benefit of all of the money that is being spent, the investments that are being spent, and, at the same time, he does not want to pay for it. That is totally irresponsible. Totally irresponsible.
We have other members. We
have the Member for
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr. Speaker: Order. The honourable Member for
Point of Order
Mr. David Faurschou (
Mr. Speaker: On the point
of order raised by the honourable Member for
* * *
Mr. Maloway: Mr. Speaker, the member should have told the CJOB reporter this. I do not care whether he tells me or not. I am simply relating to him what the CJOB reported yesterday. I was not reflecting at all on whether he was here in the House or not. This was a totally different issue. So he can raise all the points, I guess, that he wants, but to my mind it is not a point of order.
Now, Mr. Speaker, there are other members here. The Member for Ste. Rose (Mr. Cummings) has had major highway investments in Highway 16, Highway 68, Highway 5. I have not heard him make any speeches about that. How come we do not hear about that?
Well, he is here to talk about the debt. He wants to know why it is going up. Well, duh. It is going up, because we just paved Highway 16, Highway 68 and Highway 5.
An Honourable Member: You just admitted that the debt was going up. Thank you very much for that.
Mr. Maloway: Well, the Member for Steinbach (Mr. Goertzen), you know, says I admit the debt is going up. Of course, it is going up, but we are paying it down. We are paying it down; that is the point. That is the point.
Unlike you, we are actually paying the debt down. The reason the debt is going up is to build all these projects, a lot of which are in your constituency. I mean, how complicated is this for you to understand? When you spend the money, okay, you are increasing the long-term debt. You know, it is as simple as that.
So the members should be more responsible in dealing with the issue, and at least doing an accounting of how they would pay for all of these promises. They should do, maybe, an accounting to their leader or their caucus as to how many promises they can get away with before they have to give up some sort of an explanation as to what is going on.
Now, the fact of the matter is, Mr.
Speaker, that we have a lot of very good indicators in this province that bear
repeating. As I mentioned before, we have a Nominee Program that allows us to
bring new immigrants into
We
have done what they could not do in that we have increased the number of
doctors in
So we lost those 11 years under the Tories, and now we have to turn around–
An Honourable Member: The lost decade.
Mr. Maloway: The lost decade, exactly. The Member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton) refers to the lost decade, and that is certainly what it was.
When we took over in 1999, we had to start from scratch and increase the number of doctors, increase the number of nurses. After six years we are finally beginning to see the results of all that hard work. Once again, do they give us thanks for doing this? Do they say, "Oh, the government did what we could not do, what had to be done"? No. They are critical. They are saying, "Well, you are spending too much money in trying to solve the problem." That is what we are doing.
An Honourable Member: Nothing.
Mr. Maloway: That is terrific, but to listen to the opposition every day talk about how bad things are–you know, they are depressing the people in the province, which is why the public is not paying attention to them. [interjection]
Well, the Member for
Steinbach (Mr. Goertzen) is looking forward to tomorrow with a lot of
enthusiasm. You know, we all wish him well. We all wish him well tomorrow. We
know that maybe the picture will look a lot different on Monday. I mean, who
knows who is going to come back the leader over there? Maybe the Member for
Mr. Speaker: Order. When this matter is again before the House, the honourable Member for Elmwood (Mr. Maloway) will have five minutes remaining.
The hour being 12:30, this House is adjourned and stands adjourned until 1:30 p.m. on Monday.