LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF
Monday, February 17, 1992
The House met at 1:30
p.m.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
Point of Order
Hon. James Downey
(Deputy Premier): Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I rise to advise you and members of the House
that the Premier (Mr. Filmon) will be absent from the House today.
As
you know, the Premier puts the highest priority on the attendance in this
House, particularly on this day as we resume this session of the
Legislature. He has asked me to convey that
it was only the most extraordinary circumstances that prevented his attendance
today.
Unfortunately, the Premier underwent surgery on Saturday, February 15,
1992, at the
Thank you.
Mr.
Speaker: I would like to thank the
honourable acting Premier. The
honourable member does not have a point of order. I would like to thank the
honourable acting First Minister for bringing that to the attention of the
House. I am sure I speak on behalf of
all honourable members when we wish the honourable First Minister (Mr. Filmon)
a speedy recovery.
PRESENTING PETITIONS
Mr. Oscar Lathlin (The
Pas): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the petition of
The Pas Health Complex Incorporated praying for the passing of an act to amend
The Pas Health Complex Incorporation Act.
PRESENTING REPORTS BY STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Mr. Leonard Evans
(Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the Second
Report of the Committee on Public Accounts.
Mr.
Clerk (William Remnant): Your
Standing Committee on Public Accounts presents the following as its Second
Report.
Your
committee met on Tuesday, December 17, 1991, at 10 a.m. in Room 254 of the
On
January 27, 1992, your committee accepted the resignations of Mrs. Render and
Messrs. Rose and Carr, and elected Messrs. Connery, Laurendeau and Lamoureux to
replace them.
Your
committee received all information desired by any member from the Minister of
Finance (Mr. Manness), staff from the Department of Finance, Mr. Fred Jackson,
Provincial Auditor, Ms. Carol Bellringer, Assistant Provincial Auditor, Mr.
Stan Puchniak, Assistant Deputy Minister, Taxation Division, and from Mr. Eric
Rosenhek, Provincial Comptroller.
Information was provided with respect to the receipts, expenditures and
other matters pertaining to the business of the province. The fullest opportunity was accorded to all members
of the committee to examine vouchers or any documents called for, and no
restriction was placed upon the line of examination.
Your
committee finds that the receipts and expenditures of the monies have been
carefully set forth and all monies accounted for.
Your
committee has considered the Provincial Auditor's Report and Volumes 1 and 2 of
the Public Accounts for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1991, and has adopted
the same as presented. Your committee also reports that it has considered
matters relating to the Special Audit of the Taxation Division of the
Department of Finance.
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Mr.
Leonard Evans: I move, seconded by
the honourable member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman), that the report of the
committee be received.
Motion
agreed to.
TABLING OF REPORTS
Hon. Darren Praznik
(Minister responsible for and charged with the administration of The Civil
Service Act): I would like to table the Annual Report of
the Civil Service Commission for 1990‑91.
Hon.
Glen Cummings (Minister of Environment): Mr. Speaker, I would like to table the Annual
Report for the year 1990‑91 of The Clean Environment Commission.
Mr.
Speaker: I am pleased to table the
Annual Report on the Elections Finances Act covering the period January 1,
1990, to December 31, 1990.
Announcement
Mr. Speaker: I must inform the House that James Gordon
Carr, the honourable member for Crescentwood, resigned his seat in the House
effective January 27, 1992.
I am
therefore tabling his resignation and my letter to the Lieutenant‑Governor‑in‑Council
advising the vacancy thus created in the membership of the House.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
Bill 24‑The Post-Adoption Registry Act
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): I move, seconded
by the honourable member for The Maples (Mr. Cheema), that Bill 24, The Post‑Adoption
Registry Act; Loi sur le Bureau d'enregistrement postadoption, be introduced
and that the same be now received and be read a first time.
Motion
presented.
Mrs. Carstairs: The purpose of this
bill is really quite simple. The Post‑Adoption
Act that we presently have in the
They
can be given access to records of siblings who are still with their birth
parents; however, they cannot be given access at the present moment to those
siblings who have also been adopted. This would give them the opportunity to
also be in touch with those of the same birth parents but who, in fact, have
been adopted.
Motion
agreed to.
Bill 32‑The Immigration Consultants Registry Act
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Motion
presented.
Mr. Lamoureux: Mr. Speaker, it was
just under a year ago where we had seen an excellent example of how immigrants
or would‑be immigrants are exploited, and we believe that this bill is a
positive step that, if the government chose to adopt it, would go a long way in
sending a very strong message to would‑be immigration consultants that
Motion
agreed to.
Bill 31‑The Municipal Amendment Act
Mr. Neil Gaudry (St.
Boniface): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the member
for St. James (Mr. Edwards), that Bill 31, The Municipal Amendment Act; Loi
modifiant la Loi sur les municipalites, be introduced and that the same be now
received and read a first time.
Motion
presented.
Mr. Gaudry: Mr. Speaker, this
bill corrects a serious flaw which was inserted into The Municipal Act in the
last session. This bill will delete the
word "consecutive," making the residence requirement for eligibility
for elected office in summer resort municipalities two months in any year.
As a
result of the government's addition, which brought the residency requirement to
two consecutive months, only 8 percent of the population of Victoria Beach are
eligible to run for municipal office, while most taxes are collected from those
disqualified.
In
the interest of basic democratic principle, this flaw must be corrected, as
this bill will do.
Motion
agreed to.
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Bill 16‑The Health Care Directives Act
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the
honourable member for
Motion
presented.
Mr. Cheema: Mr. Speaker, this
bill, so‑called living will, will legalize the wishes of a dying person
made while competent and will give effect to the patient's right to self‑determination
and right to refuse care.
This
bill is based on the recommendation from the Manitoba Law Reform Commission,
and it will provide a mechanism to enforce the rights of patients when they are
no longer competent to speak for themselves.
Thank you.
Motion
agreed to.
Mr. Paul Edwards (St.
James): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the member
for Osborne (Mr. Alcock), that Bill 30, The City of Winnipeg Amendment Act; Loi
modifiant la Loi sur la Ville de
Motion
presented.
Mr. Edwards: This bill will re‑establish
the Winnipeg Police Commission, which was dismantled by City Council in 1986
because of reduced responsibilities or perceived reduced responsibilities of that
commission. It will help the
This
bill, as I have said, will re‑establish the police commission. By establishing it in statute, the commission
will be mandatory and, it is our hope and our submission, will help secure the
respect of the police force, not just for the community but for the police
force itself. This is a commission whose
day has come again, Mr. Speaker. I
recommend it to all members of the House for speedy passage.
Motion
agreed to.
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Bill 23‑The Private Training Accountability Act
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.
Speaker, I move, seconded by the member for Osborne (Mr. Alcock), that Bill 23,
The Private Training Accountability Act; Loi sur l'obligation redditionnelle en
matiere de formation privee, be introduced and that the same be now received
and read a first time.
Motion
presented.
Mrs. Carstairs: I think we are all,
in this House, in agreement that training opportunities must be made more and
more available to not only our young people but people who find themselves
unemployed.
Unfortunately, we are putting more and more money into training programs,
but there is no adequate mechanism for adjudicating those programs. We do not have criteria which is clearly
enunciated for funding, we do not have standards for curriculum, and we do not
have a system for reporting the expenditures, nor do we have a follow‑up.
This
bill will provide the wherewithal by which young people who are trained will
know that they are adequately trained, and the government will know that their
money has been spent to a good endeavour.
Motion
agreed to.
Bill 17‑The Patient Records Access and Confidentiality
Act
Mr. Gulzar Cheema (The
Maples): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the member
for St. James (Mr. Edwards), that Bill 17, The Patient Records Access and
Confidentiality Act; Loi sur l'acces aux dossiers des malades et leur
confidentialite, be introduced and that the same be now received and read for
the first time.
Motion
presented.
Mr. Cheema: This bill will
entrench the right of all patients to access their medical records, a matter
which is still in dispute in
Motion
agreed to.
Introduction of Guests
Mr. Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, may I direct the
attention of honourable members to the gallery, where we have with us this
afternoon from the
On
behalf of all honourable members, I welcome you here this afternoon.
ORAL QUESTION PERIOD
Goods and Services
Tax Harmonization
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, we on this side would like to
pass on our comments to the Premier (Mr. Filmon), pass on our regards for a
healthy recovery and successful operation that is taking place today in
Mr.
Speaker, in the last provincial election, we were told very clearly that there
would not be a harmonization of the GST and the PST in the
In
the last budget, the government stated it was going to study the issue of
harmonization with the GST and PST, then it promised us it was going to release
the results of that study, but then after the
I
would ask the Minister of Finance very directly: Are they considering the harmonization of the
GST with the PST in the
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance):
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has his chronology fairly
accurate. Let me say that certainly the
full report was not provided of what it was the Premier (Mr. Filmon) was
responding to in question.
Let
me indicate very specifically to the question.
The government at this point in time is not reviewing harmonization. It
has not since the Premier announced, I believe, almost a year ago now that‑‑not
a year ago, let us say, eight months ago, that we were not actively considering
harmonization. That was restated before
we rose last session; it was restated again last fall. The government, at this point in time, is not
actively considering harmonization.
Mr.
Doer: Mr. Speaker, during the last
budget, after the government said in the last election that it was not
considering harmonizing the GST and the PST at this particular time, in the
last budget that the Minister of Finance tabled, he stated that he is having
his officials carefully study the full implications of harmonizing the sales
tax. Surely the government agrees that
it is the public's right to know what is in those studies that of course have
been paid for by taxpayers' money, in the studies that have been implemented by
the Minister of Finance in his own budget.
Given the government has the results of the implications of the study on
the harmonization of the GST with the PST, will the Minister of Finance agree
today to table that study in the Legislature so that the debate in the province
can be full and accurate with all the facts that the government has produced
before us for this debate?
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Mr.
Manness Mr. Speaker, we said we
would study the issue. We did not say
that there would be a study as such prepared.
Oh, there is a big difference, and I can say in all honesty that we
studied the issue in great detail.
Again, what was reflected was this, and I have spelled this out for the
Member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard Evans) on several occasions. Again I will recite for the record, namely,
this: Whereas the member for Osborne
(Mr. Alcock) seems to think there is hundreds of millions of dollars available,
if indeed we are to harmonize, I am here standing, saying that, if the
government were to harmonize, if the government were to now apply the
provincial sales tax to services and were to adopt the tax credit system in
place by the federal government, there would be basically a net wash to the
province. There would be no additional
revenues whatsoever, Mr. Speaker.
That
is what I have said over and over again.
That is what I stand here and say today, but more importantly, to answer
the question for the member, harmonization is not under active consideration
today, and indeed I would expect it will not be under consideration tomorrow
either.
Mr.
Doer: I guess that begs the
question: What about the day after? We have had four different positions from the
government to date, and that is only over the last 18 months.
Impact Manufacturing Industry
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Finally, the government has stated, the
Premier (Mr. Filmon) stated in this Chamber last year, that the federal
Conservative GST would have a positive impact on the manufacturing sector in
this province.
Many
of us who have talked to people working the manufacturing sector think that the
Premier is all wrong on this issue, and given the fact that the Minister of
Finance has these studies and has these reports, and given that the
Manufacturing Association of
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance): Mr. Speaker, let me make it plain for anybody
who wants to hear. The GST is not a
provincial tax. It is a federal tax. The studies associated with the impact on the
provincial economy with the implementation of the GST in January of 1991, indeed
the expectation of negative impact, was in the realm of one and a half
percent. Those were not our numbers;
those were the federal government's.
There were only two models to try and predict those. Those were the Conference Board of Canada and
the internal model of the Department of Finance. That was their estimate.
Nobody, there is not a province in
Mr.
Speaker, I fully believe that was the negative impact on our province. It represented several hundreds of millions
of dollars, and indeed that is one of the reasons that the
Mr.
Doer: A little reminiscent of the
comments of the Minister of Finance without the studies of Michael Wilson when
he said that the GST would be revenue neutral.
Economic Growth
Employment Creation Strategy
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): I have a new question to the Minister of
Finance. We have had the largest
increase in the unemployment rate of any province in
Mr.
Speaker, last year the Premier said and the government said very boldly that
they would step aside and let the private sector be the engine of the
Unfortunately, that single‑engine strategy has been a failure in
the
My
question to the Minister of Finance is:
What action is his government going to take to get people working again
and get people off the welfare lines of
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Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance): I find it interesting that the Leader of the
NDP in
Mr.
Speaker, first of all, and I remind him that
What
I could not help but detect was that every NDP provincial Premier said in
essence that they did not believe in mindless make‑work projects that
could destroy the confidence if badly placed.
At least Premier Rae, Premier Harcourt, and also Premier Romanow‑‑all
of them said that. Also, they said that
every NDP government said the fight on deficit control and reduction must be
maintained.
I am
interested to know whether or not the Leader of the NDP party in
Mr.
Doer: Mr. Speaker, I also note that
the Premier talked about keeping out the partisan rhetoric around the table,
and we must work today, we must start today, Canadians had their fill of
hopeful rhetoric. Well, Manitobans have
had their fill of hopeful rhetoric from this government over the last l8
months.
We
have always called on the capital investment in the
I would
ask the Minister of Finance: Is the
government going to stick with its ideologically extreme policies of just
stepping aside during the time of the recession, or is this government going to
work in partnership with people to get people working again and get our economy
moving again in the
Mr.
Manness: Mr. Speaker, the member's
facts are wrong; they are in error. If
he wants to compare capital spending in
In
Highways, last year, we increased capital spending from $102 million to $106 million;
in Government Services, we maintained capital spending; in Housing, we
maintained capital spending; in Health we increased capital spending
significantly; in Education we also maintained capital spending.
Mr.
Speaker, we, as one province in this nation, have done something that is most
difficult to do during a time of restraint, and that is to maintain the level
of capital expenditure. We are proud of
that, because when one looks around at how the other provinces, particularly
NDP provinces, will be addressing their deficit over the years to come, one
will notice that the first attack, the first line to be attacked, is the
capital side.
That
has not happened in this province, and it will not happen in the next budget
either.
Mr.
Doer: I refer the Minister of
Finance to the two budgets he has tabled over the last two years in the
Chamber. The facts speak very clearly
for themselves.
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Budget
Employment Creation Strategy
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): My question again is to the Minister of
Finance.
Mr.
Speaker, this Minister of Finance had to find another $25 million for social
assistance because of the absolutely disastrous policies of the Conservative
government in
I
would ask this Minister of Finance: Has
he seen the wisdom of his ways to be failing?
Will he have a much better budget to keep people working rather than
having the highest increase in welfare of anyplace in
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance):
Well, Mr. Speaker, I am reminded that a significant reason for that
increase, of course, was the increased benefits that we have provided as
compared to other provinces. A
significant reason and portion of that increase is the benefits. Certainly the volume increase is significant
in itself.
Let
me point out that we have provided extremely significant increases in benefits
also through that period of time, Mr. Speaker.
Let me also point out that our base was a little bit lower vis‑a‑vis
other provinces. I can indicate to the
member that I had an opportunity to talk with my counterpart, the Minister of
Finance from
Mr.
Speaker, the matter that the member brings forward certainly is not isolated to
Goods and Services Tax
Harmonization
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.
Speaker, my question is to the Deputy Premier.
The
position of this government on harmonization is about as clear as mud. It reminds me of the old song: first you say you will and then you
won't. Mr. Speaker, we had the Premier
of this province say on February 12, we will have to consider it. We had the Minister of Industry, Trade and
Tourism on the 14th of February say, well, Mr. Mazankowski asked us to look at
it, so we have an obligation to do so.
Well, when did they start their review and when did they finish their
review, if he is in fact going to defend his Minister of Finance?
Hon.
James Downey (Deputy Premier): Mr.
Speaker, I think the Minister of Finance, in his comments, has answered the
question which has been put by the member of the New Democratic Party.
Our
position has not changed, as has been indicated by the Minister of Finance.
Goods and Services Tax
Harmonization
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr. Speaker,
would the Deputy Premier like to tell us if he has told the Premier of the
province that the government backbenchers and cabinet ministers assembled have
changed their minds?
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance):
Mr. Speaker, I will try and make it very clear for the Leader of the
Liberal Party, who has great difficulty‑‑very difficult.
I
received a request from the federal government, over the signature of the
Deputy Prime Minister, asking our province‑‑and I believe the
letter went out to all other provinces‑‑to consider a method of
harmonization, not the traditional harmonization, where we were going to apply
provincial sales tax in harmony across all goods and all services, but indeed
one small element to try and deal with a very real problem in this
country. It is called cross‑border
shopping. It is impacting the
constituents and indeed the businesses of each and every one of us in this
House. It would come as not a great
revelation to you, Mr. Speaker, that this was an issue that was discussed at
the First Ministers' Conference.
The
federal government sent to us a letter asking us to consider a proposal that
might deal with this problem. It was on
that wish of the federal government, indeed of the provinces, to try and deal
with this that the Premier made a comment dealing with harmonization. That should not be confused with the
harmonization issue that was discussed in this House, in this province and all
across
We are talking about a very serious matter to
our businesses and indeed our constituents, and that is cross‑border
shopping. I think the members opposite, if they wanted to do justice on a
public policy issue, with respect to that issue, could try and shed more light
rather than more darkness on that particular issue.
Mrs.
Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, for further
clarification, has the Minister of Finance now written to the Deputy Prime
Minister and to the Minister of Revenue, Mr. Jelinek, and informed them that
there will not be under any circumstances harmonization of the PST and the GST
in the
Mr.
Manness: Mr. Speaker, I do not have
to write that letter. I will be writing
a letter. I met with my officials this
morning, but I do not need to write that letter, because that was not what was
requested by Mr. Mazankowski. He never
did request that. Total harmonization, goods and services, was not requested by
the federal government. They know that
is a nonstarter. They were told by First
Ministers that that was a nonstarter across this country. The request that came forward from Mr.
Mazankowski did not even ask for that.
It asked to consider whether or not there was a willingness to take the
good side of the goods and services tax and apply the provincial sales tax at
the border.
The
members can try and muddy it up to make it appear like the provincial
government is harmonizing, but I am here standing to tell you that is not the
case. We will not be harmonizing the
goods and services tax.
Free Trade Agreement
Abrogation
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Deputy
First Minister.
Manitobans listened with interest to the comments from the Finance
minister about the need to control the deficit, about the concern for the
57,000 people who are unemployed.
Manitobans want more than concern.
They want a government that is prepared to act on their behalf.
Since 1989, this government has supported the Free Trade Agreement, an
agreement which has cost
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please.
Mr.
Storie: Mr. Speaker, my question to
the Deputy Premier (Mr.
Hon.
James Downey (Deputy Premier): I am
not going to in any way accept the information which the member for Flin Flon
(Mr. Storie) puts on the table or puts before this Legislature, Mr.
Speaker. There have been times when it
has been less than accurate, where it has come from.
Let
me as well say that there are a number of things that one could point to that
have caused difficulties in the economy. Number one, Mr. Speaker, we are facing
an international and national recession which is impacting on everyone. If the member for Flin Flon does not see
that, then I think he should come alive to the greater happenings that are taking
place in all of
It
should be pointed out as well that, within the manufacturing sector in
North American Free Trade Agreement
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians and Manitobans
realize that the problems that we have created for our economy are going to be compounded
if we join the North American free trade agreement.
My
question is to the minister responsible for Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr.
Stefanson). Given that on July 16, 1991,
the government tabled a set of conditions which would have to be met before we
agreed to enter the negotiations with
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please. The question has been put.
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Hon.
Eric Stefanson (Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): The honourable
member is correct that we opposed a North American free trade agreement unless
the six fundamental conditions are met.
We have no clear indication on some of them. To date there is progress being made in two
fundamental areas, the review of labour standards and the review of
environmental standards, but the federal government clearly knows our position
as a province. It has been made clear back in July of '91 and in federal‑provincial
ministerial meetings ever since, and we will continue to stand by that
position, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Storie: Mr. Speaker, will the
minister do two things? Will the
minister please indicate to this House which of the studies and reports from
the federal government he is prepared to table today, and will he guarantee the
people of Manitoba, if the six conditions are not met, Manitoba will not now,
nor will it ever, support a free trade agreement between the United States,
Mexico and Canada?
Mr.
Stefanson: Mr. Speaker, I think we
have made that position perfectly clear in this House back in July when we
introduced it, and we have done it consistently. We have said we do not support a North
American free trade agreement unless those six very important conditions are
met. I have to indicate to you that, as
a result of our position, it certainly stimulated some support and interest
from other provinces across
GATT Negotiations
Supply Management Proposal
Mr. John Plohman
(Dauphin): This Minister of Agriculture's agenda is
gradually becoming increasingly clear, much to the alarm of many producers in
On
January 26, Mr. Speaker, he publicly proposed that the method of payment of the
Crow be changed to appease other countries at GATT, and he did that on the
I
ask this minister: Will he now stand up
for
Hon.
Glen Findlay (Minister of Agriculture):
Mr. Speaker, the member put about six questions on the agenda for this
afternoon.
I
would like to first off tell the member that he is categorically wrong when he
says that I refused unconditionally to support supply management. I want the member to clearly understand the
complexity of agriculture in
Wheat makes up 28 percent of cash receipts at the farm gate; cattle 16
percent; hogs 12 percent; supply management 11 percent; oilseeds 9 percent;
coarse grain 6 percent. Because of the
international trade war, the grains, oilseeds and red meat sector have been
severely hurt in the
As a
result, about two years ago we as a Province of Manitoba took a position that
at the GATT round of negotiations, which were clearly needed to help relieve
the impact of the grain trade war on the grain and oilseed producers, that we
would take a balanced position to the table that all trade distorting subsidies
must be reduced, or eliminated preferably, and that we must clarify and
strengthen Article 11.
That
is the position that
Mr.
Plohman: Mr. Speaker, the minister
is all over the map on this issue, trying to skate through. I want to table a copy of the proposal and
the agreement that was signed by all of the Ministers of Agriculture, with the
exception of
I
want to ask this minister if he is saying by refusing to sign this document
that in fact he is admitting that he wants to destroy the supply managed farms
in this province, because that is exactly what will happen if the tariffication
proposal is accepted. Is he for that
tariffication proposal or against it as it is constituted now?
Mr.
Findlay: Mr. Speaker, that member
continually tries to misinterpret what is going on.
That
declaration that he refers to, as I said in my previous answer, did not relate
to the balanced position that we take as a
All
ministers underlined the critical need to work together with industry in
fostering Canada's balanced position and received assurance from the federal
government that every effort we undertake to achieve a successful conclusion to
the GATT negotiations, Mr. Speaker. All
ministers support the balanced position; all ministers supported this
communique, which is a position that
Mr.
Plohman: Will this minister come
clean and tell this House whether in fact this balanced approach that he talks
about includes the clarification proposal that is currently on‑‑
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please.
Point of Order
Hon. Clayton Manness
(Government House Leader): Just because the
member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman) got the hide beat off him in the response by
the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Findlay), I would ask him to follow the rules
of the House and as you said, Mr. Speaker, before Christmas, there was no need,
indeed it is against the rules, for preamble again on a supplementary.
Mr.
Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): Mr. Speaker, I realize it is our first day
back and that there may be some extra give‑and‑take which is above
and beyond the rules, but I do believe, if the Finance Minister had been
listening, the statements that were made by the member for Dauphin were in
response to what perhaps I should have raised on parliamentary language a few
moments ago when the minister attempted to suggest that the member was
deliberately trying to mislead this House. In fact, the member for Dauphin has
been placing the facts in the House, and it is the minister who is trying to
debate the indefensible actions of this government.
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please. On the point of order raised, I would ask the
member for Dauphin to kindly put your question now please.
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* *
Mr.
Plohman: Mr. Speaker, I know the
minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) was troubled by their position‑‑
Mr.
Speaker: Question, please.
Mr.
Plohman: Is this minister's so‑called
balanced position inclusive of the tariffication proposal that is currently at
the GATT talks at this time, and in the absence of the strengthening of Article
11, is that the balanced position that this minister is supporting?
Mr.
Findlay: Mr. Speaker, what we have
in front of us internationally is a Dunkel proposal, simply a proposal, a text
for further discussion. We are not
totally satisfied with the reduction in trade‑distorting subsidies, but
we think it is a better than no deal. In
the interest of the other side of the issue with regard to Article 11‑‑
Some
Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please.
Mr.
Findlay: Mr. Speaker, if the member
would let me finish, as we go to the table, we are saying the reduction in
trade‑distorting subsidies is barely adequate.
On
the other side of the question with regard to Article 11, although Dunkel did
not mention Article 11, we believe that Article 11 must be strengthened and
clarified, and clarification would mean allowing us to continue to operate
supply and management in the country because it does not create trade‑distorting
subsidies, so that is the argument we take to the table. It is two‑pronged: stay with the trade‑distorting subsidy
reduction, and continue to work for clarification of strengthening the Article
11 because it is not trade distorted, and that is
Some
Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Dauphin (Mr.
Plohman) and the honourable Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Findlay), you have had
ample opportunity to put your question and get your answers. Now there are other members here who are
going to ask their question.
Budget
Employment Retraining Programs
Mr. Reg Alcock
(Osborne): Mr. Speaker, I watched the First Ministers'
Conference on the economy with some interest last week, and I was pleased to
see the First Minister calling for an enhancement of the training and
retraining programs in this country. I
think it is a positive step and one that is long overdue. It is one that we should have begun in this
province a couple of years ago, but I am wondering how it squares with a
provincial budget proposed by this Finance Minister that cut community colleges
by 6.6 percent, cut Post‑secondary Career Development and Continuing Ed
by 11.6 percent, and Special Skills Training by 13.7 percent.
How
does a $4‑million cut in retraining square with the nice words that were
stated earlier or last week, the Minister of Finance?
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance): Mr. Speaker, one thing First Ministers did
agree upon, if not publicly, certainly privately, was that every government
program needed to be re‑evaluated, that indeed for the best money spent,
taxpayer dollars spent and indeed the return for it, every government program
needed to be evaluated and certainly Education and Training did also.
In
last year's budget, we took a look at the programming being offered within our
community colleges, and we sensed that there should be evaluations and reviews
being done and changes made. That was
done.
This
year's budget will now reintroduce a new degree of funding in post‑secondary
education toward the aims and objectives.
Mr.
Speaker, sometimes, unfortunately, government has to make difficult
decisions. Sometimes they have to undo
the former activity to rebuild. That is
what we have done over the course of last year's budget and the budget that we
will be bringing down in March.
*
(1420)
Community Colleges
Enrollment
Mr. Reg Alcock
(Osborne): Mr. Speaker, people are out of jobs
today. This year is when they need those
opportunities. When they cannot find
work, they need a chance to skill build, and they are being denied it. There has been a 7.9 percent decrease in
enrollment at
Is
the Minister of Finance committing today to see that those positions, those
opportunities, are reinstated?
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance):
Mr. Speaker, I hope the new found vigour of the member for Osborne
continues throughout this session. I am
glad to see him back.
Mr.
Speaker, let me also say in response to the member's question, numbers in
themselves, 7.9 and numbers in themselves do not address the quality of
education, do not address the target as to whether or not training is occurring
in those areas that are of the greatest potential economic impact. All of that now has been done over the course
of the past year, and I can assure the member that the Minister of Education
and Training (Mrs. Vodrey) will be making announcements in due course that
respond to his question.
Mr.
Alcock: Mr. Speaker, I agree with
the Minister of Finance.
Some
Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please.
Mr.
Alcock: I was agreeing with his
comment on my renewed vigour.
Mr.
Speaker, the problem is, people are unemployed today. People need opportunities
today.
I
would ask the minister if he could tell the House today, how many new positions
are we going to see at those facilities now?
Mr.
Manness: Mr. Speaker, I will not
answer that question other than to say several or many, but that will be
announced by the Minister of Education and Training in due course at the
appropriate time.
Manufacturing Industry
Employment Statistics
Mr. Leonard Evans
(Brandon East): Mr. Speaker, I have a question either for the
Minister of Finance or perhaps the Minister of Industry.
The
government likes to brag about new industries for
Can
this minister explain to the House why
Hon.
Eric Stefanson (Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): Once again, as
happens far too often, members of the opposition are very selective in terms of
choosing economic indicators. I think we
discussed in this House, there are some 13 economic indicators. Manitoba fares among the best in some, above
the national average in some, and obviously in some cases we do fare poorer
than the rest of Canada, but in the same sector that the honourable member
refers to, it is interesting to note that, on the employment side of
manufacturing, Manitoba has maintained the current level of 54,0000, the same
job level as a year ago, at the time frame that the honourable member has
referred to.
So
while granted there has been some slippage on the shipment side in terms of
jobs for
Mr.
Leonard Evans: The fact is, most of
the indicators show
Mr.
Speaker, how can this minister be so complacent, even on this issue? He bandies about numbers of jobs. On that, my question is, how can the minister
be so complacent when the number of jobs has declined? If he looks at last month, in December, we
had 56,000 people working. This month of
January, there are only 54,000. We have
lost 2,000 jobs. How can he be
complacent about this?
Mr.
Stefanson: I have to take exception
to that suggestion. This minister is not complacent, and this government is not
complacent at all when it comes to jobs or the economy of
The
Conference Board of Canada, which his party, the opposition party, often likes
to refer to, is projecting the economy of
I
can assure you, Mr. Speaker, this minister, this government is not complacent
when it comes to our economy.
Mr.
Leonard Evans: Well then, will this
minister be prepared to tell this House what he expects the manufacturing
sector to do in this province in 1992? I
ask that because the Canadian Manufacturers' Association has issued a forecast
that
Mr.
Stefanson: I have to indicate, and I
am not so sure that members across the way have taken the opportunity to do
this, but I have had the opportunity to meet with all sectors in our economy,
all the various manufacturing groups, through various discussions over the last
year, Mr. Speaker, when it came to issues such as North American free trade,
and I can assure you that they support what this government is doing in terms
of the economy of Manitoba, in terms of creating a positive economic climate.
We
hear nothing but talk about competitiveness.
This government is three years ahead of every other provincial
government in
Economic Growth
Northern Programs
Mr. Steve Ashton
(Thompson): Mr. Speaker, we talk a lot in the Chamber
about statistics, but one thing we cannot measure is the hurt that is taking
place in this province, the hurt that is taking place particularly in areas
such as northern
My
question to the Minister of Finance is:
What hope can he give to the people of northern
Hon.
James Downey (Minister of Northern Affairs): I think it is time that the members of the
opposition came clean on what their position really is when it comes to
economic development. This government
has proposed through the proper environmental process, through the Public
Utility Board, the development of another major hydro project in the northern
part of
I
ask the members, are they going to get onside to help the economic development
as it relates to the development of northern
Mr.
Speaker: The time for Oral Questions
has expired.
MATTER OF URGENT PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.
Speaker, I move, seconded by the member for Osborne (Mr. Alcock), that under
Rule 27 the ordinary business of this House be set aside to discuss a matter of
urgent public importance, namely the imminent harmonization of the PST and the
GST.
Mr.
Speaker: Before determining whether
the motion meets the requirements of our Rule 27, the honourable Leader of the
second opposition party will have five minutes to state her case for urgency of
debate on this matter. A spokesperson
for each of the other parties will also have five minutes to address the
position of their party respecting the urgency of this matter.
*
(1430)
Mrs.
Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, we submitted
this matter for urgent public importance in the hopes that we would get some
clarification today in Question Period.
Unfortunately, all we did was to get more confusion as to exactly where
this government sits on this issue‑‑we are not going to review, we
are just going to study. I have to tell
you that if my students told me they were going to study for an examination
without reviewing the material, then I would have said they were not going to
be very prepared to write an examination.
Mr.
Speaker, there are two reasons, as you well know, for introducing a matter for
urgent public debate. One is that there
is in fact not another opportunity in which to debate this matter. We are finished with the throne speech, we
are dealing primarily and fundamentally with bills, and bills must address in
their debate the subject matter of that particular piece of legislation. Therefore, we have no opportunity to debate
this issue. There is also an urgency
because we are of the firm belief, particularly after listening to the mishmash
of today, that some of these plans of the federal government are going to find
their way into the provincial budget.
This
will be our only opportunity to debate that matter in order to give our input
to the Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) as to the feelings not only of
opposition members, but indeed of all Manitobans with respect to the
harmonization of these two taxes.
We
believe that this subject matter is of grave importance for Manitobans. The Premier (Mr. Filmon) himself has said
they cannot bear any more tax. We all
know that and yet estimates in
Mr.
Speaker, if we do not debate this clearly, we have no opportunity to prevent
the government from doing something which we believe to be truly in the worst
interests of Manitoban citizens. We beg
you today to give due consideration to this debate.
Mr.
Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by saying that
one of the first conditions that has to be met with any matter of urgent public
importance is as to whether there is another opportunity immediately available
to members to discuss the matter that is being put forward as being of urgent
importance. I would say that if we were
doing the appropriate thing right now and hearing the Minister of Finance (Mr.
Manness) bring in a budget that is badly needed to deal with the desperate
state of the Manitoba economy, we would be able to discuss matters such as
this, but the government has not brought in such a budget, and has no
intention, I am sure, of bringing in any such budget.[interjection]
I
realize the Minister of Finance is sensitive‑‑and so he should be‑‑with
record levels of unemployment in this province, the highest increase in
unemployment of any province in the country.
One of the reasons we should be dealing with the budget now rather than
in whatever length of time the minister is going to sit back and deal with this
matter. But we are denied that
opportunity and I must say that this, I feel, is an urgent matter. It is not that it is the most urgent matter,
but you cannot deal with other potential matters.
In
fact, we may have a motion in regard to the more general need for debate on the
economy, which we feel is important, but I think whenever you are dealing with
something that could be as destructive to the Manitoba economy as an increase,
a change here, to many goods, which will be brought in by potential
harmonization, I believe that is indeed urgent.
I believe that it is important for this House to be debating now the true
policy of this government‑‑a Premier who on a daily basis has been
flip‑flopping on this particular matter.
We
know the only thing that has been stopping this government from bringing in the
harmonization has been opinion polls saying that people do not want it. We want to be able to say in this House‑‑and
for that reason support the motion before us‑‑to the Premier, to
the government ministers assembled, to the government caucus, that we want them
to say unequivocally, no flip‑flopping, no harmonization, no provincial
version of the GST, no further devastations to the Manitoba economy brought in
by these kind of Tory policies.
That
is why I would think that it would be in everbody's interest, and perhaps even
for the government members, to support this matter. Because it might be a little bit easier
since, I hope you will indulge me, that I can refer to the fact that the
Premier (Mr. Filmon) is not present today.
I know that is not our normal practice, but we have somewhat diverted
from that, but since the Premier is not here, they could get up on their feet
with a little less concern perhaps about their positions in Cabinet or hopeful
potential positions and say clearly on the public record, no harmonization of
the provincial sales tax with the GST.
No, Mr. Premier, no, no, no, as indeed every member of the opposition
will be saying, if this government gives us the opportunity to debate it, as
they should, as an urgent matter today.
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Government House Leader):
Mr. Speaker, I am hoping that you will see fit to rule this request for
emergency debate out of order so it does not proceed.
If I
ever heard of somebody putting an argument that defeats their own argument, it
was particularly the Leader of the Liberal Party (Mrs. Carstairs). She talks about "imminent." I said clearly in Question Period, the
government is not contemplating harmonization.
Let me make it even clearer. I
said there are no government plans, imminent or otherwise, to harmonize.
I
think that what is so tragic here is that you have desperate politics at
play. You have a situation where
opposition parties sense that the only one issue that they can hit a government
with today is taxation issues. We are
all aware of the unpopularity of the goods and services tax. We are all aware of the unpopularity that the
federal government, in particular, is suffering as a result of bringing in that
tax, so of course they, meaning the opposition, are trying to piggyback on that
attack and trying to paint this government as if we were supporters.
Mr.
Speaker, harmonization is a taxation matter not, and I will say it again, not
under active consideration within our government, but let me say, cross‑border
shopping is and remains a great concern to many of our constituents and to many
of the businesses, and indeed public dialogue, I would say, must proceed on
this issue. It has to occur.
However, these are matters, in my view, that should be part of a budget
debate and, as our budget will be forthcoming in March, let me say,
particularly to the House leader of the New Democratic Party, we will be
bringing down the first provincial budget in the country. We are probably the only province that will
be bringing down a March budget. My only
fear is that we may even bring it down before the federal budget.
There is not another province that is so far along their decision making
as this government, so let him not stand and rail against this government for
not being prepared or ready, because it is‑‑it is.
Nevertheless, taxation issues are budgetary matters, so if at that time
the government addresses cross‑border shopping, Mr. Speaker, that is the
time when the debate should ensue, not today, because harmonization is not at
issue, because the provincial government is not contemplating and indeed is not
studying harmonization.
Mr.
Speaker, there will be many opportunities over the course of the next few
weeks, even before the budget, to address this and all other issues, but let us
be very candid. The opposition of course
is desperate, and they are trying to deal with the taxation. Well, they are desperate because of NDP
taxes. That is why they are desperate.
Mr.
Speaker: I would like to thank all
honourable members for their advice on this matter.
As
honourable members are aware, there are two conditions that must be met. I did receive the notice on this matter as
required by our Rule 27. Our rules and
practices and Beauchesne's set out the two conditions required in order for a
matter of urgent public importance to proceed.
They are that the subject matter must be so pressing that the ordinary
opportunity for debate will not allow it to be brought on early enough, and it
must be shown that the public interest will suffer if the matter is not given
immediate attention.
There are no relevant items on the Order Paper, and the next known
opportunity for a general financial discussion is the Budget Debate, which may
not be held for some time. Therefore, it
is my opinion that there are no other ordinary opportunities in the near future
to debate the issue of harmonization of the provincial and federal sales
tax. However, I do not believe that this
matter is so pressing that it must be debated today. I am therefore ruling it out of order.
*
(1440)
Mr.
Kevin Lamoureux (Second Opposition House Leader): Mr. Speaker, with respect, I have to
challenge your ruling.
Mr.
Speaker: The ruling of the Chair has
been challenged. Shall the ruling of the
Chair be sustained? All those in favour,
please say yea.
Some
Honourable Members: Yea.
Mr.
Speaker: All those opposed, please
say nay.
Some
Honourable Members: Nay.
Mr.
Speaker: In my opinion, the Yeas
have it.
Mr.
Lamoureux: Yeas and Nays, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker: Call in the members.
A STANDING VOTE was taken, the result being as follows:
Yeas
Connery, Cummings, Dacquay, Derkach, Downey, Ducharme, Enns,
Ernst, Findlay, Gilleshammer, Helwer, Laurendeau, Manness, McAlpine, McCrae,
McIntosh, Mitchelson, Neufeld, Orchard, Penner, Praznik, Reimer, Render, Rose,
Stefanson, Sveinson, Vodrey.
Nays
Alcock, Ashton, Barrett, Carstairs, Cerilli, Cheema,
Chomiak, Dewar, Doer, Edwards, Evans (Brandon East), Evans (Interlake),
Friesen, Gaudry, Hickes, Lamoureux, Lathlin, Maloway, Martindale, Plohman,
Reid,
Mr. Clerk (William
Remnant): Yeas 27, Nays 25.
Mr.
Speaker: The ruling of the Chair has
been sustained.
*
(1510)
MATTER OF URGENT PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): Mr. Speaker, I rise on a matter of urgent public
importance. I move, seconded by the
member for The Pas (Mr. Lathlin), that under Rule 27 the ordinary business of
the House be set aside to discuss a matter of urgent public importance, namely
the economic crisis facing our province and the 57,000 unemployed people in the
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Flin Flon (Mr.
Storie), obviously, because he does not have the original text in front of him,
has handwritten a motion‑‑[interjection] Order, please‑‑has
handwritten a text which is not exactly the same as the motion which was tabled
in my chamber this morning.
Because I did see this, I am asking the honourable member for Flin Flon
if he would like to ask the House to rescind the motion that you just proposed
to the House and to move forward with the one that you did not.
Mr.
Storie: I appreciate being given
that opportunity. I will acknowledge
adding a postamble onto the original motion, and if that was out of order, Mr.
Speaker, I would ask leave of the House to support the original motion, given
that it is essentially the same as the one that I verbally provided to the
House.
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable member for Flin Flon have
leave to rescind the motion which he has already proposed to the House? Is there leave of the House?
Some
Honourable Members: Leave.
Mr.
Speaker: Leave. It is agreed.
Mr.
Storie: Thank you, Mr. Speaker‑‑an
inauspicious start to what I hope members opposite will consider a serious
topic.
When
I introduced the motion before the House, I added the words, Mr. Speaker,
because of the concern of the 57,000 Manitobans who are unemployed. If adding 57,000 people's concern to my
motion made it out of order, then I regret that I added those words, but the
fact of the matter is that the challenge before you is to decide whether in
fact the motion is consistent with our rules that are required before we can
consider an emergency debate. Clearly,
notice was provided.
Mr.
Speaker, the other two questions which we have to address are the questions of
whether the issue before us is pressing and whether there are other
opportunities for sufficient debate. You
ruled earlier that on a similar motion concerning the harmonization of the GST
that there were no opportunities before the House for debating motions like
this. As we know, if we look at the
Order Paper, there is nothing on the Order Paper which would allow us to debate
the serious economic crisis facing the
I
add that the interest of the public will suffer. That is another condition which is attached
to the question of whether in fact an emergency debate should proceed.
The
fact is that in January of this year, 14,000 individual Manitobans lost their
jobs. So to the question of whether this
is pressing, whether this is urgent and whether the public will suffer if this
debate does not proceed, I think the answer is clearly yes. We cannot wait till March 6 to find out that
another 14,000 people have been left unemployed by a government who has no
economic agenda whatsoever.
Mr.
Speaker, the economic circumstances in our province are dismal, to say the
least. We heard this afternoon the
Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) suggesting that this was the same in all
provinces. Well, the 57,000 unemployed,
the tens of thousands of people who are currently on social assistance in this
province do not live in other provinces.
They want this government to react.
Mr. Speaker, we need this debate.
We must debate the crisis that the
*
(1520)
There are things the government can do.
An emergency debate, a debate of this kind, may force this government to
live up to its responsibility to the people of
Mr.
Speaker, there is no doubt that the plight which faces the manufacturing sector
is creating a significant and, I guess, deteriorating situation. The fact is that the
We
need some additional incentives, we need some additional action, we need some
additional options to be put forward to the people of
Mr.
Speaker: Before determining whether
the motion meets the requirements of our Rule 27, I would like to advise all
honourable members of Rule 27(2): A
member making a motion under sub‑rule (1) may explain his arguments in
favour of his motion in not more than five minutes, and one member from each of
the other parties in the House may state the position of his party with respect
to the motion in not more than five minutes.
Mr.
Kevin Lamoureux (Second Opposition House Leader): Mr. Speaker, we support any type of emergency
debate that would allow us, as an opposition party, to relay a very strong
message to the government of the day in the crisis that
After all, Mr. Speaker, in the next couple of weeks, what is on the
agenda is 12 or 14 bills that were introduced at first reading six weeks
ago. We have an opportunity here to
provide each and every member of this Chamber an opportunity to stand up and to
put forward good ideas in terms of how we can get the
Once
the budget has been presented, far too often it is too hard to reverse any
decisions. This is an opportunity, which
we can have, to have genuine input, and I know the Minister of Health (Mr.
Orchard) would like to hear every member of this Chamber stand up, and I hope the
Minister of Health will vote on the right side on this particular MUPI. I look forward to what the Minister of Health
and other ministers have to say about the economy, and what they have to say to
the Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) and the Premier (Mr. Filmon), in terms of
the direction of our economy, that we have to start putting party politics to
the side and start contributing in a much more positive unpolitical, apolitical
fashion in terms of how we can get Manitoba out of this rut and that includes
things like job creation that will see capital infrastructures expanded upon
and so forth.
To
conclude, I would like to say that we would like to see this particular MUPI
proceed for today, even though, in accordance with the rules, we had to give it
leave. I do encourage you, Mr. Speaker,
to give it serious consideration and to come back and allow the debate to
continue. Thank you.
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Government House Leader): Mr. Speaker, the economy is not robust, that
goes without saying, but neither is it dismal.
As a matter of fact, the only thing dismal I have seen today is the
entry of the emergency debate by the member for Flin Flon (Mr. Storie), a
veteran of 10‑plus years in this House introducing an emergency debate in
that fashion.
The
government acknowledges that there probably is some opportunity over the course
of the next three weeks, before the budget comes down, when there may be some
certain issues that are debated. Let me
say, Mr. Speaker, this may or may not be one of them, and I will give you my
view shortly, but other than to tell you the budget is coming down soon. It is coming down, as I said earlier, as the
first province in Canada‑‑it is coming out before any other
province‑‑in March, and for the members opposite to say that the
government does not have any other business before it is unfair.
Indeed, members opposite made certain commitments, extracted certain
commitments out of the government that we would come back in session in the
proper time. We thought that would be
the middle of February. We knew there
might be some difficult times, and I have asked as recently as today, House
leaders opposite, to try and put our best efforts forward to deal in a
productive way with the bills that are coming forward, and I believe that will
occur.
I
can indicate to the Liberal House leader, as I did earlier on, because I take
some offence to his remarks, that indeed over the course of this week the
government will introduce yet another 12 to 18 bills. Hopefully, with the leave of members opposite,
we will be able to read them for second reading and they will be debated as
soon as next week.
Mr.
Speaker, the government is prepared to accept a debate on the economy indeed if
you so allow it. In my view, it is
certainly outside of the rules. Indeed,
I would think that you would want to make sure that indeed if we do engage in
debate on the present state of the economy of the province of Manitoba, you
will want to make sure that it is not precedent setting, that indeed any
further requests that come either in this session or in time to come will fall
strictly within your interpretation of the rules. Never before, to my understanding, has the
economy been debated before a budget, a budget which is going to come down in
such short fashion.
* (1530)
Mr.
Speaker, I would just like to quote something that one Premier said last week,
Premier Rae. He said this, and I am
paraphrasing, so it is not an exact quote, but he said words to the effect,
there is consensus among governments that there must be controlling of
expenses. He says there is consensus
that we should have lower interest rates, real interest rates, and consensus
that there should be a lower Canadian dollar, but he said something more important
than that. He sat in front of all
assembled, indeed the nation. He said,
we come here looking for no conspiracies, no miracles.
Mr.
Speaker, I am hoping that will be the essence of what I hear from the
opposition benches, because all I have heard to date is that the official
opposition is against GATT. They are
against exports with the
I am
hoping what they are not for is just a significant increase in the deficit,
because every provincial Premier of every political stripe has said that that
is not the solution to our problems, that so far kick‑starting the
economy‑‑Mr. Speaker, I hardly heard the term when I met with the
Premiers, because they know that there is no such thing as the quick fix. Anybody who loves this country and believes
in the future of its economy knows that there is no such thing as the quick
fix.
Mr.
Speaker, I will sit down and say that our party looks forward to the
debate. Hopefully, you will allow it,
because there are stories to tell. There
are messages to provide. I am hoping the
members opposite will not use the conspiracy theory and will not look for the
miracle theory but indeed will be prepared to offer solutions that are
workable.
Speaker's Ruling
Mr. Speaker: I would like to thank all honourable members
for their advice on this matter that notice required under our subrule 27(1)
was received.
As
members are aware, the two conditions required for a matter of urgent public
importance to proceed are: the subject
matter must be so pressing that the opportunity for debate would not allow it
to be brought on early enough; and it must be shown that the public interest
will suffer if the matter is not given immediate attention.
In
my judgment there will not be any opportunity to have a general debate on the
state of the
In
spite of all this, it appears there is a willingness on the part of members to
debate this matter today.
I
will then put the question to the House.
Shall the debate proceed?
Some
Honourable Members: Agreed.
Mr.
Speaker: It is agreed.
Mr.
Storie: Mr. Speaker, I want to first
thank the Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) for at least acknowledging in this
House that debating this issue, the economic crisis‑‑certainly a
term that I am prepared to use‑‑is worthy of debate and that it is
a serious issue for the people of
We
can no longer wait for some magical recovery to occur. We cannot sit idly by as the manufacturing
base and our agricultural base are torn from under the people of
They
were not elected to act as apologists for the federal government. They were not elected to act as doormats for
American politicians looking to increase their market. They were not elected to ignore the real
poverty, the real trauma that is being inflicted on Manitobans from every part,
from every region of this province. Mr.
Speaker, they have an obligation to at least attempt to deal with some of the
outstanding problems which confront our economy.
I
want to start by talking about the Free Trade Agreement. This government could
take a position. They could demand from
the federal government some sort of objective analysis of what the implications
of the first two years and a little bit of the Free Trade Agreement have been
on this province.
I
see the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr. Stefanson) listening. I hope he will continue to listen, because
the statistics which are being generated by the Conference Board of Canada, by
Statistics Canada, by other independent groups assessing the impact of the Free
Trade Agreement are staggering.
Since June of 1989, the manufacturing sector in
The
facts are that in terms of percentage change in manufacturing jobs the
following percentages apply: in food,
22.8 percent of the manufacturing food processing jobs have disappeared from
Canada; 26.9 percent of the rubber and plastic jobs have disappeared from
Canada; 38.5 percent of the leather jobs; 28.2 percent of the textiles; 29.5
percent of the apparel; 34.2 percent of the wood product jobs; 32 percent of
the jobs in furniture and fixtures have disappeared across the country;
machinery 31 percent; electrical and electronic 26 percent. Mr. Speaker, I have a list of some two dozen
different sectors. Not one of them shows
a growth in manufacturing, shipment, or a growth in jobs because of the Free
Trade Agreement. We are losing because
of the Free Trade Agreement.
Mr.
Speaker, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr. Stefanson) and the
government have suggested that somehow the free trade agreement with
I
want to read for the minister's edification a report from the Ottawa Citizen
which says, secret papers show
That
sounds like a line from critics of the proposed Canada‑U.S.‑Mexico
trade deal, but it is the overwhelming picture that emerges from recently
declassified federal government documents.
We
are getting another snow job, and all I am asking the government to do, and I
think all we can realistically expect the government to do, is to be open and
above board with the people of Manitoba about the facts. To date, the
Mr.
Speaker, it is not good enough for the government of
In
the last year and a half, Mr. Speaker, the full‑time employment in
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It
is difficult for opposition members to be particularly helpful when the
government refuses to divulge any information. Either it does not have it, or
it will not get it, or it is not prepared to share that kind of information
with members of the opposition and the people of
Yes,
there have to be some interim solutions.
There has to be something that we can do collectively. Mr. Speaker, we do not have to watch daily or
monthly as our unemployment rate continues to rise. We should not have to subject the people of
the city of
In
northern
Mr.
Speaker, it does not seem to faze on the Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) or
the Deputy Premier (Mr. Downey) or the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism
(Mr. Stefanson) that we have the highest record of bankruptcies in the history
of the province, the highest record of bankruptcies.
(Mrs. Louise Dacquay,
Deputy Speaker, in the Chair)
Madam Deputy Speaker, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism is
going to stand up and give us some fictitious number about the number of
bankruptcies versus something else. We
have the highest number of bankruptcies ever, end of quote.
The
record number of people who are moving from the unemployed, the lines of the
unemployed, to the lines of those seeking social assistance and supporting our
food banks, continues to grow. This is
truly the subject of an emergency debate.
If we wait another month, as the Minister of Finance was suggesting, to
see the Estimates of spending for departments, or wait for a provincial budget,
it will be too late for thousands and thousands and thousands of other
Manitobans, other Manitobans who are going to lose their jobs, other Manitobans
whose businesses are going to be out of business, other Manitobans who have
lost their life savings and their homes and their businesses. It will be too late.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) and the
Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr. Stefanson) may not know the
meaning of the word crisis, but if you ask any of the 57,000 people who are
unemployed, they will tell you what a crisis is. If you ask any of the previously employed
people who are on the social assistance lines or at the food banks, they will
tell you what a crisis is. This is a
crisis, and we cannot have the government apparently walking around blindfolded
sitting on its hands, saying there is no problem and even if there was we could
not do anything about it.
Madam Deputy Speaker, it is just not good enough. It is just not good enough. It is not good enough for the people in
northern
Madam
Deputy Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member's time has expired.
Hon.
Eric Stefanson (Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): Madam Deputy Speaker,
I too welcome the opportunity to discuss
When
we first took office in 1988 our No. 1 priority was to work towards improving
what we called the economic climate for existing and potential businesses here
in our province to create jobs here in
Economic climate is a very important issue, Madam Deputy Speaker. I want to very briefly give some history
before I talk about the direction that we are heading as a government. I want to give a little bit of
background. I am watching the clock
already, because 10 minutes is not enough time to do justice to this very
important issue, but I will give as much information as I can.
In
1988, we inherited a situation:
extremely high taxes; high deficits; in my opinion, government out of
control, whether it was Autopac, MTX, Workers Compensation, as well as some
unfair legislation that was being proposed.
In fact, very briefly I want to give you the record of tax increases
under the NDP administration from 1982 to 1987.
This makes very interesting reading, Madam Deputy Speaker: increased retail sales tax from 5 percent to
7 percent; introduced and increased payroll tax to 2.25 percent of payroll;
introduced personal net income tax and surtax; increased corporation income tax
from 15 percent to 17 percent; increased corporation capital tax from .2
percent to .3 percent; increased gasoline tax; increased diesel fuel tax;
increased railway fuel tax; introduced a land transfer tax; increased tobacco
tax‑‑total tax increases to the taxpayers of Manitoba of some $820
million.
What
did we do when we took power, Madam Deputy Speaker? We not only held the line on personal income
taxes, but we reduced personal income taxes.
We increased the threshold on the payroll tax so that now some 70
percent of businesses in our province no longer pay that particular tax. Recently we have reduced workers compensation
rates. We dealt with an important piece
of labour legislation, the final offer selection, which was repealed by our
government.
On
the expenditure side, we did not only talk; we led by example. We controlled our expenditures. The four budgets that have been brought down
by our Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) have had the lowest or the second
lowest expenditure increases of any government in all of
That
sets the stage for the kind of background, the kind of policies and situations
we inherited and what we have done, as a government, towards improving the
economic climate, because you get out and you talk to any Manitoban, to any
Manitoban trying to do business in this province. The single biggest impediment has been
taxes. We have addressed that issue, and
we will continue to do so along with the kinds of pledges our Premier gave
during the Throne Speech Debate that we do not support any increases in
personal income taxes.
Now,
Madam Deputy Speaker, we have moved on to Phase 2 to becoming much more
aggressive on the economic front. We
have done that in many ways. One, we
have done it structurally, by setting up a new structure in government, an
economic development board, by setting up an Economic Innovation and Technology
Council with the private sector, and creating a common secretariat so for the
first time government can pull together all of the policies and programs of all
of the departments that affect economic development here in our province. That forum will allow the opportunity to do
just that.
I
want to talk about
We
have many strengths to build on. We have
competitive wages and a quality labour force.
We have competitive occupancy costs.
We have high‑quality, reasonably priced hydro. We have among the lowest employee turnover
rates in all of
Madam Deputy Speaker, those are just some of the strengths and some of
the things that Manitobans can build on if governments create the proper kind
of playing field and proper climate for them to work within.
We
do have some weaknesses and we do have some impediments that we have to
address. Some of them are within our
control and some are totally outside of our control. It is no secret to anybody we are coming through
a recession, a recession that has affected not only all of
We
have been affected by other issues outside of our control when you talk about
exports in the manufacturing. The high
value of the Canadian dollar has certainly been an impediment in terms of the
exports for
Another issue that affects
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I
now want to talk about moving off the structural changes that we have made
within government to some of the programs. Members across the way like to say
we are a hands‑off government, that we do not get involved in some
aspects of developing business here in our province. Certainly, when we took government we had
some of the traditional financial programs to provide assistance to
We
set up the Crocus fund, which I know we have the support from across the way,
an employee ownership fund that will allow employees the opportunity to buy
into businesses. When those businesses
are being shut down or looking to be relocated for various reasons, employees
here in our province, through the Crocus fund that we set up last year, will
have the opportunity to buy right into those companies.
We
have set up another program in terms of dealing with rural infrastructure in
terms of the funds that will be coming from the VLTs throughout rural
I
want to touch on some success stories instead of the doom and gloom. Whenever there is the slightest bit of bad
news, we hear about it from across the way, Madam Deputy Speaker. The good news they never like to talk about,
whether it is Royal Trust and the 200 jobs, whether it is UPS and the 500 jobs,
whether it is Trimel out in Steinbach, whether it is Western Glove, whether it
is Inco and their expansion, whether it is HBM&S, whether it is Canadair at
Portage la Prairie or Medix coming from England, or 3M expansion in Morden, or
Apotex development here in our province.
Those are some of the developments, and as our Minister of Finance (Mr.
Manness) pointed out earlier today, in terms of our spending on capital
projects and infrastructure, we have maintained the levels in our Highways
department and in our Government Services and in our Housing.
Very
recently our Minister of Urban Affairs (Mr. Ernst) announced a joint initiative
with the City of
I
realize time is running short, but what I want to conclude with is two
points. Many modern economists suggest
that one of the single most important economic attributes today is attitude.
Attitude about yourself, your family, your community, whatever it might be, can
be contagious. I think certainly, as a
Manitoban, I am proud of the opportunities that lie ahead for this province.
The
Conference Board of Canada is predicting higher than average growth for the
I
have confidence, Madam Deputy Speaker, Manitobans are the generators of wealth,
not governments, as some other people believe, and if we provide the proper
climate, the level playing field, I have the confidence in Manitobans that they
can compete with anybody, anyplace in the world, and our government is committed
to creating that kind of level playing field.
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Reg
Alcock (Osborne): An interesting
opportunity‑‑in fact, I wonder‑‑or not, I have not had
an opportunity to check, but if indeed, as the Finance minister (Mr. Manness)
has said, this is the first opportunity for the first time that this House has
ever debated a budget before it came down, or debated the economy of the
province before it came down, I would have to say that it is long overdue. I think it is exactly the kind of opportunity
we want in this House, is to spend some time looking at where the strength is,
where the opportunities are in the province, where we can build and help people
get out of the terrible mess that they are facing right now.
I want to just step back from the specifics
for a moment and talk a little bit about some of the concerns that bring me to
some of the conclusions that I have. I
started shortly after I became Finance minister to spend a lot of time
reviewing‑‑ Finance critic, that is right. Excuse me.
As was pointed out, I imagine a number of people have breathed a sigh of
relief. I wanted to try to understand
for myself what was going on in this province.
I am not an economist, but I do have some economics in my background,
and I had an opportunity to draw upon the resources of a large number of very
skilled people in looking at what is the position of this province. How does it fare in this country?
I
have built huge data bases that pull on the Stats Canada information just to
try to understand, before I launch into the political debate, before we decide
whether or not the NDP strategy or the Liberal strategy or the Conservative
strategy is the best one, to try to clear away some of that and look at what is
the real information.
What
I find is that‑‑I go back to 1961, because that is the period that
Stats Canada goes back to with consistent GDP information‑‑from
that time to this, the province of Manitoba has been in decline relative to the
rest of Canada, that our share of the national wealth has been growing steadily
smaller, relative to the rest of this country, despite the fact that we have a
well‑trained labour force, despite the fact that I support many of the
statistics that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr. Stefanson) put
on the record. All of those things are
true, but nonetheless we have been slowly, year over year, falling further and
further behind.
There have been some bright spots:
In the mid‑60s, in the early to mid‑70s and in the early to
mid‑80s. Those are three times
since 1961 where this province began to recover a bit and this province began
to gain a bit, when it began to grow relative to the rest of this country. It is interesting how in those three periods
the major events that were taking place were heavy, heavy capital investment in
the northern part of this province. Each time it presented us with an
opportunity, and I think each time we let go of that opportunity.
Heavy, heavy investment in the northern part of this province built an
economic activity into the southern part of this province that brought people
back, that built the basic jobs, that built the acquisition of wealth in this
province, but each time when that heavy investment tailed off, when those dams
were built and those mines were sunk, the overall basic jobs began to drop
again, the overall acquisition of wealth began to drop again.
Once
one steps outside of this province, one quickly becomes aware of the fact that
this is a very, very small province in a very, very large world. We are impacted daily by decisions that are
made in other countries, in other parts of the globe, and our ability to sort
of wall ourselves in and pretend that the rest of the world does not exist has
been gone for some time. We are foolish
to pretend that it has not.
The
problem is what do we do in this little tiny economy, some $23 billion in GNP,
some $5 billion in government expenditure?
What do we do to better position the people who live here for that
competition with the rest of the world?
I think we can learn something from some of the work that has been done
around this country and frankly throughout the industrialized world.
There
are three things that come up over and over and over again when you look at
trying to prepare yourself for improving your competitive position. You have to push capital. You have to push investment. You have to push investment in your province
if you are going to build the kind of infrastructure that allows you to
compete. You have to push the training
of your labour force. You have to give
people the kind of skills and retraining that allows them to be competitive in
today's world, and you have to be active in the creation of competitive
products.
Now
the thing that I worry about, I look at the nature of the structure of this
economy, and I note that in 1975 agriculture accounted for nearly 9 percent of
the economic wealth in this province.
Today it is down to 4.7 percent.
If you add in the heavy industry spinoffs to agriculture, it only gets
up to 6 percent. I am reminded of
something that was discussed in this House before Christmas, and that is that
as the situation in the Ukraine changes and as they get the Ukraine on‑stream
and producing the kind of grains and wheat and support for the world that it
did back in the 1890s, that many of our markets that have been traditional in
this last 20 years may simply dry up.
Manufacturing in this province was 13.6 percent of the economy in
1975. It is 10.8 today. Transportation, one of the things that
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Goods production overall in this province has gone down. Not only has it gone down in relative size in
the economy, but there have been big changes in the nature of mining and
agriculture that have meant that it has been able to support a smaller and
smaller labour force. I think one piece
of advice that I would have for this government is to broaden your view, to
begin to look at the cities in this province, because one of the things that
this administration has been marked with is a lack of attention to the city of
Winnipeg which is a very considerable part of the economic engine in this province
and one that is showing growth. I think
a great many of the policies of this government to date have not facilitated
the kind of growth in this city that we could otherwise see. I think that in that regard, I am saddened in
a sense when we stand up today and we say, well, you did not do this, but you
did not do that, and there is this huge sort of ongoing debate that never
really takes us any place.
In
1988, you know, we stood up and said, there is a problem coming, we are going
to be in a depression. That was repeated
around this House. In 1988 we said
things like, we have got to start paying attention to the people who live and
work in this province if we are going into a slowdown, if people are going to
be unemployed. I do not fault this government
entirely for the economic conditions in this province. There is a worldwide recession, although not
completely worldwide. There are
countries, industrialized countries in this world that are doing just
fine. I do agree with some of the comments
of the member for Flin Flon (Mr. Storie), that there are great questions to be
raised about how closely we have tied ourselves to the economy directly with
the south of us and what their agendas are for this particular country.
An
Honourable Member: They are
there. That is where our trade is.
Mr.
Alcock: Madam Deputy Speaker, that
is where our trade was, but our manufacturing base is not built on that
alone. The problem that arose when we
looked at the way in which the economy in this province was falling back, was
sliding, was that we said, what happens to all of those people?
You
know, there is an interesting thing that is taking place throughout the
industrialized world. Twenty percent of
the population of the industrialized world is doing very well, thank you very
much. They have had a net increase of
nearly 18 percent in their individual wealth.
The bottom 50 percent are doing very badly. They have fallen off. They have had a net loss in real wealth in
this last 10 years. The single unifying
thing, the single thing that contributes to that is the economies begin to
fracture between skills. People who have
got high education, a high skill level, are doing very well. People that do not, are not.
There is an opportunity. When the
economy slows down, when people go onto unemployment, when people go onto
welfare, we have an opportunity to provide some direct support for them, and we
have not done that. We have failed that. The federal government failed us when they
talked about doing it under the Free Trade Agreement with the labour adjustment
strategy, and, frankly, this government has failed us in not providing that at
a time in advance of this slowdown, that would have built a cushion, that would
have allowed people when they could not work here to build their skill level so
that they would be more employable.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I think that one of the things that this
government has to consider‑‑
Madam
Deputy Speaker: The honourable
member's time has expired.
Mr. Gary
Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Deputy Speaker, indeed I want to first
of all thank members of all political parties for agreeing to this debate in
the Chamber. It obviously makes sense,
Madam Deputy Speaker, but sense does not always play a part of some of the
decisions we collectively make in this Chamber.
There is absolutely no question that anywhere we go in this province,
any community, any kitchen table, any plant, any farm, the economy and our
situation in that economy is the No. 1 concern, and I think it was useful today
to agree to a debate to have some input on the economic situation in the
province and in the country.
Hopefully, as the cabinet and the government of the day continues its
debate internally on the decisions it has to make, these discussions today will
be useful in terms of a reversal of the economic strategy and the extreme
ideology of members opposite and to a more balanced approach on the economy
where peoples' jobs and job opportunities will be the No. 1 priority and not
the Conservative ideological agenda that is clearly the hallmark of their last
budget.
I
noted that for the last year and a half members opposite, including today, have
been using terms like "coming through the recession" or "will
soon be over" or "that we are the best place to come out of the
recession." I can cite you chapter
and verse in November of 1990 with the Premier (Mr. Filmon) and the Minister of
Finance (Mr. Manness) where they said:
We are just around the corner from economic recovery, hallelujah, happy
days are here again.
That
was the basis of their budget last year and all these false hopes that were
raised for Manitobans have been devastated by the reality that we are facing in
our province today.
Madam Deputy Speaker, members opposite also like to use the term that
this is a "world‑wide recession." The member for Osborne (Mr. Alcock) has
pointed out that it is not a universally impacted recession in the industrial
world. I would suggest to members opposite
that if they look for a correlation of what countries are suffering the most in
general terms from the recession and what countries are having the most
economic decline and having the greatest difficulty maintaining jobs, they will
find that they are countries and jurisdictions that are being run by
conservative governments in the world.
The
highest increase in unemployment in the average industrial nations in the last
month was in Great Britain‑‑the Thatcher‑Major agenda.
If
you look at what is happening in the United States, again a conservative party,
a Republican Party in the United States, the soul mates and ideological mates
of the members opposite, again they are suffering tremendous decline in their
economic situation, and we may see some of the results in some of the primary
results tomorrow of our friends to the south of us. We certainly saw some change with
If
we look in
Again, a sort of laissez faire or Adam Smith or corporate agenda of
members opposite, and they are not working because people are not working. Look through the average industrial nations,
the countries that are taking a more balanced approach, the more co‑operative
approach, a more consensus approach, are doing much better on economic growth,
on private sector investment, on public sector investment, on debt and on jobs
and maintaining jobs and job opportunities in the future.
You
can look at those numbers because, yes, there is a bottom line and you will
find the countries and jurisdictions that are working in a consensus way and
not relying on only one engine of the economy but relying on a number of
engines of the economy are doing much better in relative terms.
Madam
Deputy Speaker, the question was raised about trade, and some members opposite
said that we were against this and were against that. I think it is a fair question: What are we in favour of? We have always been opposed to a corporate
trade agenda that is a fortress North American agenda. The member for Pembina (Mr. Orchard) laughs
as he loses 200 jobs at a Tupper plant in his own community under free trade
with the
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We
have been opposed to a policy that says resources and energy from
Yes,
we support GATT and we support the negotiations that are going on in GATT. That means that during those Dunkel reports
on GATT we do not say that because we believe in a balanced approach we are not
going to push for changes on the orderly marketing boards. If you surrender those issues before the
negotiations are done, I suggest that is why
Look
at the European trade agreement. That is
a model, Madam Deputy Speaker, I think, for the whole world, where they are
looking at removing some of the tariffs but at the same time there is a balance
between capital and the free flow of capital and goods and the standards for
people. In the European trade agreement
we are getting chapters and verses of a social charter that deals with
employment and even deals with regional issues in
I
suggest to members opposite there are two visions of trade in this world: a
multilateral vision of trade that includes going to the highest common
denominator and improving the standard and quality of life for everybody or
going to the lowest common denominator because a few people of Wall Street and
Bay Street and a few others want to have energy from Canada, cheap labour from
Mexico and markets in the United States and that is the trap members opposite
are following. That is, unfortunately,
the lot that they are leaving Manitobans in their pursuit of this Conservative
ideological agenda and a corporate trade policy rather than a people's
multilateral trade policy in this world.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the Premier (Mr. Filmon) in his stand‑aside
policy, takes a different sort of strategy to
Everything he says that
Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, we reject totally the step‑aside
and stand‑aside policy of the government.
We believe in a balanced approach to the economy and I do make one
suggestion to members opposite: to
reverse their policies on the economy, to throw out their ideology that is not
working, and to have a balanced approach on every decision they make in the
budget‑‑
Madam
Deputy Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member's time has expired.
Hon.
Donald Orchard (Minister of Health):
Madam Deputy Speaker, it was indeed interesting to hear the Leader of
the Opposition (Mr. Doer) give us his ideas on how he would govern differently
and, you know, I did not hear one single idea come from the member, the Leader
of the New Democratic Party, who wants someday to be Premier of the
province. We never heard one changed
policy.
We
heard a bunch of phraseology about abandoning an ideology but not one single
idea on what a new trade arrangement with the United States would look like,
not one single idea on what he meant by abandoning our economic
philosophy. So therefore I can only
conclude that my honourable friend is a typical New Democrat, wherein he
believes that the solution to
The
reason I say that is that I did not hear a single new idea from the New
Democrats, not one. I listened to two
speakers and we will listen to the rest this afternoon, and all we will hear is
spend, spend, spend.
I
want to take my honourable friends back to May 1991, the Province of Ontario,
and here is what, the treasurer, Mr. Laughren of the Province of Ontario, said
when they brought in a budget with a deficit of $9.7 billion in the Province of
Ontario. He said in May 1991, some scant
eight months ago, I think it is important for people to understand that this
year we had a choice to make, to fight the deficit or fight the recession, and
we are proud to be fighting the recession.
That is what they said in May of 1991.
Madam Deputy Speaker, Premier Rae argued that when other governments are
walking away because they say they cannot afford it, it is not fiscally
responsible. Premier Rae went on to say,
we do not think we can walk away from those responsibilities, and I am quite
happy to take issue with anybody who says that is the wrong thing to do. That was eight months ago Premier Rae said
those words defending a $9.7 billion deficit.
What, in eight months, a conversion, has happened to the ideological
hidebound New Democrats of Ontario? They
are not mimicking spend, spend, spend like we hear from the New Democrats in
What
did it do for the
Laughren said, given the severe limits on what we can afford over the
next few years we must all share the responsibility for reforming the cost and
delivery of public services. What an
immaculate conversion in eight months.
That is a New Democrat talking about cutbacks in
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Do
you know what? There is hope in
Madam Deputy Speaker, do you know what really makes we wonder about the
commitment of the New Democrats? We want
to listen today to hear their policy direction and what they will do, if they
were government of
I
have to tell you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I think that was a very, very
fortuitous strike that the New Democrats are going through, because you know
what? At their annual general meeting,
there would have not been one single new initiative that would work that would
have come out of their policy meeting this past weekend to help Manitobans and
to help the Manitoba economy. Cancelling the meeting saved the embarrassment of
coming up flat on new policy.
I
almost think that my honourable friends created that strike just to get out of
this meeting last weekend. I think that,
because look at why their workers are on strike. They are on strike for what‑‑job
security. They are on strike for
maternity benefits, and they are on strike protesting contracting out. Now,
where have we heard cries of protest in this House from New Democrats against
our negotiating. They want us to employ
everybody in the Civil Service, no layoffs, yet they will not give job
protection to their own employees.
Maternity leave, they will not give them maternity leave which is as
generous as what we gave to the MGEA employees.
What a group.
Madam Deputy Speaker, do you know what has happened to the New Democrats? Do you know why they are negotiating so
toughly with their own employees? Do you
know why, because they cannot go to the taxpayers to pay the benefits. They have to raise that money like any
business would, and that is why they are bargaining tough with their
employees. It is their own money they
are spending this time. You know
what? It comes from all those small
Manitobans who give them small donations because Reverend Blackjack marches on
the picket line with every other striking union member but not his own party
members‑‑not his own.
I
want to close by challenging my honourable friends in the New Democratic
Party. Give us some new ideas. Tell us what the new philosophy of the New
Democratic Party of the 1990s will be. Do not give us the old genuflexion to
the big deficit, big taxation, and big government. Surely you have learned the lessons of the
world that that is not working. Tell us. Tell us the new ideas of the New Democratic
Party. Give us your ideas. That is the
purpose of this debate. That is why we
agreed to it.
Do
not tell us that this statistic or that statistic is not good. Tell us what you would do differently if you
were government. Give us your
ideas. Lay them out for Manitobans
because our ideas are lowering the deficit, lowering taxes, creating an
environment where investment and profit and job creation is not a dirty word,
where Manitobans can take control of their own future, build on the strengths
of this province, Madam Deputy Speaker, which are large and which continue to
grow.
That
is the economic opportunity offered by such notable newcomers to investment in
this province as Phillip Stimpson, wherein he said investing in medics in
That
Madam
Deputy Speaker: Order, please. The honourable minister's time has expired.
Mrs.
Sharon Carstairs (Leader of the Second Opposition): Madam Deputy Speaker, the Minister of Health
(Mr. Orchard) has just said that we want to live in a province where the people
can take control of their future‑‑I do not think I am misquoting
him here‑‑but there is one essential way in which we have to take
control of our future that this government tragically is not adequately
addressing. That is that we cannot keep
and we cannot take control of our future if our young people and those who are
unemployed do not have adequate training opportunities available to them. In this province, we have the unenviable
record of being 10 out of 10 in
Most
recent statistics will show us that your opportunities of getting a job are
extremely limited if you do not graduate from high school and yet, we have in
common with many provinces across this land a dropout rate in senior high of
between 25 percent and 30 percent. That
means that right now, our young people, between 25 percent and 30 percent of
them, are not going to have the minimum academic requirement necessary to
obtain employment‑‑25 percent to 30 percent of them. Go into any high school in this province and
you will come up, unfortunately, with those kinds of statistics.
We
have to come up with a program and initiative which will help to keep those
young people in school. Now the question
is, why are they dropping out? Well,
they are dropping out for a variety of reasons.
Some of them are dropping out because they are bored. They may be bored because they are very
bright‑‑and unfortunately, that happens all too frequently‑‑but
many of them drop out because they find the academic experience frustrating,
frustrating because the types of experiences that they want to have are not
available to them at the high school level.
I
spoke with a teacher just yesterday in St. James‑Assiniboia, who reported
to me of the number of young people who register for a course at the senior
high level only to be told after the second or third day of class that he or
she must re‑register because they cannot offer that particular course at
that particular semester.
It
does not take too many of those kinds of positions and situations for some
youngsters to say, that is it, I am no longer going to continue with my
education because the programs are not available to me. That is why we have to have a review of
school division boundaries, because one of the real difficulties in this
community is the inability of youngsters to move from one division easily to
another division.
When
those young people graduate from high school, the 75 percent of them that are
left then look for additional training opportunities.
This
government, to date, since 1988, has increased tuition fees at our universities
by some 54.8 percent cumulatively. The
universities are now talking about an additional 40 percent increase. We cut a great many young people off from
that kind of an opportunity simply because they cannot afford to go. Now this is not entirely the problem of this
government, because the federal government has not increased its student loan
program in real dollars since 1984, but there is also an inadequacy in the
bursary program which is making accessibility at our universities less and less
for those who are lower‑income Manitobans.
What
we are seeing is the spreading again, that those who come from well‑off
families will, in fact, be given an opportunity to continue their
education. Those students who did not
look toward university, but looked at community colleges, found themselves with
fewer and fewer opportunities last year specifically because of this
government's policies.
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The
Minister of Education of the day liked to talk about the fact that there were
some programs which were obsolete. While
indeed there may have been, one of the strengths of a community college system
is its ability to make rapid adjustment and to offer programs which the labour
market demands, but that is not what he did.
What the Minister of Education did was to cut across the board so that
there are now fewer young people in this province in community colleges than
there were in preceding years at a time when young people and older people are
seeking job training at a rapidly increasing level.
Every single school division in this community will point to the tremendous
increase in demand for continuing education programs this year. Some of them saw as much as a 200 percent
increase. We saw additional students
going off to our universities, unfortunately far too many them of a part‑time
nature because they could not afford to go full time. The only place where we saw a decrease was
community colleges, fewer students at Red River, fewer students at Assiniboine,
fewer students at
In
the 1990 campaign, I proposed a concept of trying to have a literacy corps work
with our high school students and our junior high school students. That may not have been the optimum in
suggestions, but that is the kind of new idea I think we have to examine.
Can
we take graduates from high schools, give them an honourarium for a year, the
old peace program concept, and ask them to go and work in the elementary and
the junior highs and the senior highs for a year, particularly in our core
areas, particularly in our remote communities.
I
think it will accomplish two things. I
think it will help to upgrade our students, but I think it also will give these
young people, some of whom are a bit rudderless at the end of Grade 12, some
understanding of what they want to do with the rest of their lives. It will give them an opportunity to serve the
community.
We
also need to have programs which will train people who are in the work force
that have lost their jobs. In the last
few days, I think a number of us have met with licensed practical nurses. Their dilemma is very much one which reflects
what is happening in the society at large.
There are hospitals which are saying we think that we can make a better
mix by having the eliminations of LPNs and the replacement with RNs and nurses'
aides.
Some
of those LPNs are saying, well, maybe I should go back for retraining. A noble objective, but we just cut that
program. The one‑year upgrading
program they used to have is no longer available to them. Then they are saying, well, all right should
I contemplate going back for a two‑year program? Then they are faced with the dilemma that the
registered nurses are now saying that by the year 2000 we want BNs.
Are
they supposed to go back for a four‑year program? How are they to pay for it? How are they to support their families? If
indeed we are going to demand that people upgrade, then we also have to say,
what is the practical program by which they can do it? What kind of negotiations do we have to take
place between us and the federal government with respect to using UIC benefits
for upgrading, when you look your future in the eye and you know that there is
not perhaps a future with the qualifications that you presently possess?
Madam Deputy Speaker, I know there will be a number of other issues that
are addressed, but I want to say very clearly that if we are to be truly
competitive, if that word is going to mean anything at all in the next few
years, then what it is going to mean more fundamentally than anything else is
that our young people and those who are employed or unemployed or underemployed
must have the opportunities to upgrade their skills, to get retraining, to
continue their education, to complete their education, so that when economic
times get better, as I believe we think they will, then there is a group of
trained people ready to grab that new market and make an opportunity for
themselves and their families.
Mr.
Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Madam
Deputy Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to join in this debate this
afternoon, because it indeed is the No. 1 issue in the country, in North
America, and certainly the No. 1 issue in the province of Manitoba.
I
want to say categorically at the beginning that I do not care what the Minister
of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Mr. Stefanson) has said in the past in his
speeches or what the Minister of Finance (Mr. Manness) has said, the economic
indicators reveal that
What
really bothers me, Madam Deputy Speaker, because you can say, well, that is
because of the recession‑‑what really bothers me is that we have
weakened relative to the other provinces in
Certainly, if you look at us compared to the national average, out of
the 11 basic indicators, nine of the 11 are showing
So
let the record be clear, Madam Deputy Speaker, the economy of
I
would also maintain, however, that we got into this depression ahead of the
The
Free Trade Agreement has been a disaster for this entire country. The GST has been a disaster. You talk about consumer confidence. How can we have confidence among Canadian and
Even
George Bush, the President of the
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I
will give you as my first example Doug Peters, the chief economist of the
Toronto Dominion Bank, and he says, and I am quoting: The first thing the government has to do is
say, look, this recession is deeper and worse than we expected and then start
to do something about it.
What
he is saying, Madam Deputy Speaker, is that
Another source, the chairman of the Bank of Montreal, Mr. Matthew
Barrett, has said, and I am quoting:
Helping Canadians without work makes good business sense.
The
bank chairman then went on to recommend that Ottawa create a $3 billion multi‑year
program to stir job creation and launch a significant training and retraining
program for the unemployed. This is the
chairman of the Bank of Montreal. This
is not a union leader. This is a Bank of
Montreal chairman.
Miller Ayre, president of
Incidentally, Mr. Ayre is the current president of the Canadian Chamber
of Commerce, and he told Maclean's magazine that he used to be a firm supporter
of the federal government's approach to controlling the deficit by reigning in
spending, but today he said the recession is so severe that it has convinced
him that Ottawa's eight‑year‑old campaign to restrain spending and
fighting inflation has gone too far. I
will quote Mr. Ayre, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. He says:
The government has to face the fact that there are short‑term
economic problems that have to be dealt with.
They cannot continually look to the long term for solutions.
At
the same time, Madam Deputy Speaker, he rejects suggestions of the rising
unemployment and business bankruptcies as evidence that the economy is
undergoing some sort of necessary beneficial readjustment. He says:
Right now there is a perverse logic that the sicker we are the healthier
we must be getting.
Another person, Tim O'Neill, president of the Atlantic Provinces
Economic Council in
William Dimma, the deputy chairman of Royal Lepage Limited of Canada
which is one of the largest real estate companies in the country based in
Toronto said, and I am quoting him: In
the short term, I still lean a little more to controlling the deficit, but I do
think there is room for some spending on public works projects.
Donald Savoie, an economist in
John
Bulloch, the president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and a
longtime critic of government deficits now says the provincial sales taxes and
Madam Deputy Speaker, I have given you enough examples. There is
thinking among business leaders, among economists, among bankers in this
country that we have got to do something about this depression, and this is a
depression that is going to carry on for some time. I dare say we could look back in a few years
from now and talk about the depression of the early 1990s and not simply a
recession that is going to go away in a few months.
We
have a problem in this province that I have documented. I have done some research on this, and I am
sad to say, in spite of some of the comments made by some of the ministers
opposite, we have no firm industrial plan in this province to stop the
industrial erosion. We do not seem to
have any economic goals.
There have been previous Conservative governments that have had economic
plans and economic goals. I remember the
targets for economic development presented by Mr. Spivak who was then
minister. They had some kind of a plan,
some kind of goals. There was some idea of where the province would be going or
should be going.
I
would suggest, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we have to get on with it. We have to take this aggressive approach to
the federal government. We have to press
We
also believe that there is room for a federal‑provincial joint capital
works project, and indeed there is room for joint provincial‑municipal
capital works projects. Many
municipalities have needed public works that could be brought forward and
undertaken at this time, instead of some future time, in order to provide
jobs. Indeed, we could set up other
programs that would put people to work.
I
reject the notion that because you spend money on a job training program in the
private sector, not in the government, in the private sector that some‑‑
Madam
Deputy Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member's time has expired.
Hon.
Harry Enns (Minister of Natural Resources):
Madam Deputy Speaker, if the issue, of course, was not so serious and
for everybody, whoever, whether it is the head of a household or a young person
just coming out of our education system looking for a job that has not got a
job, it is an extremely serious matter, but to hear the debate in this Chamber
and indeed throughout the land it borders on the comic because there are, of
course, some simplistic solutions at hand.
Some of us even remember how we got into some of the problems that we
are in.
I
was reminded of that when I listened along with many, many North Americans and
could hardly believe our ears and eyes when we heard the chief executive
officers of the largest corporate business venture in
It
is not a question of what my friend the member for Brandon East (Mr. Leonard
Evans) just talked about of what policies are good for the '80s or '90s; the
policies that are being scrapped and have been scrapped are those that bear no
relationship to the market and are not driven by the market. It does not matter whether you are a nation,
an empire like the Soviet Union, the giant of big business like General Motors,
a small Manitoba farmer, or a small Manitoba businessman trying to do business,
trying to compete, that is what the message surely that all of us ought to be
able to grasp.
I
can recall, coming back to the auto workers for just a moment, and some of us,
not too many of you because you are all too young, but I can vividly recall
what the clarion call of organized labour was in the late '40s and in the '50s
when it came time to wage negotiations in our Golden Triangle of Oshawa‑Windsor,
you know the Canadian automobile workers association, a group that Bob White,
the potential leader of the New Democrats, nationally now heads up.
What
was that cry? Parity. That word, I was only 16, 17 years old, but I
remember it because that was the cry of Canadian automobile workers. They wanted parity with the wages that their
American cousins were getting just across the river in
We
have not heard that cry for the last 20 or 25 years, have we, because we are
not talking about parity anymore, we are paying ourselves 20 to 25 percent more
than the American cousins across the river in Detroit. We are producing 20 to 25 percent less, and
we are wondering why we are not selling, why we have not got job security. You need not be a rocket scientist to know
where most of those 70,000 cutbacks in North American GM plants will occur. They will occur in this country. Surely, let us understand that.
I
cannot but take the opportunity for this rather exceptional debate, a debate
that I welcome. The member is quite
right. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having this kind of pre‑budget
opportunity for individual members to put on the record some strongly held
views, and in fact perhaps to add some further advice to the Minister of
Finance (Mr. Manness) as he puts his finishing touches to the budget.
As
much as I would like to deal with the world and the national events, let me
offer, because what my colleague the Minister of Health (Mr. Orchard) has
already said, we are not hearing anything practical, nothing practical, from
members of the opposition. I want to offer
you now three practical things that I want to see some action. You have called, you have asked for this
emergency debate; we believe it is an emergency matter.
Well, let us make some decisions.
Let us decide whether or not 12,000 jobs in
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The
member for The Pas (Mr. Lathlin) asked me before Christmas why have we laid
off, why have we shut down the tree nursery at The Pas in his community? I have news for him. We have shut it down for the winter
operation. We will shut the thing down
completely if we as legislators decide that we do not want to cut down trees in
this province. Now where is the New Democratic
Party on this issue? Where are you? Are you going to start supporting Repap? Where are you going to stand with the
environment hearings?
Some
Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Madam
Deputy Speaker: Order, please.
Mr.
Enns: Has one of you stood up and
asked what is the government doing to help Repap get through the environmental
hearings? Has one of you asked why is
the government not speeding up the process?
Why is it taking 16 or 17 months?
No, you have done just the opposite.
You have paraded with every environmentalist group; stop Repap, stop
cutting trees, stop doing anything to our environment. When you are doing that, you are talking
about 12,000 jobs you do not want to see in
Let
us understand one thing. We have this
session starting up. Let us hear a clear
definitive statement where the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party
stand. Should we utilize trees in this
province for our use? We do not have
to. We do not have to cut a single tree
down in this province, not a single one.
Ninety percent of it is for export; the 10 percent that we need we can
get from all parts of the country. Let
us make that decision.
What
is No. 2? Conawapa. Where do we stand on Conawapa? Thousands of
jobs that trek right through the whole economy, not just in the North but in
the South here. Now some of the northern
members fought very hard in their last convention, the NDP convention, to try
to bring that across, but the convention went against it. Well, where do you stand? Why are you not encouraging my colleague,
Minister Cummings?
We
have set up a panel. It is going to take
20 months to review what we all know in our hearts, and I know that the
honourable member for Flin Flon (Mr. Storie), any northern member, knows that
the Conawapa project is the most environmentally benign project. We know that.
Now why are you not standing up and saying cut down the 20‑month
environmental hearing process to 10 months?
Why are you not saying cut it down by 10 months so we can get on with
the creation of jobs?
An
Honourable Member: Where are the
Liberals on that?
Mr.
Enns: Where are they? You want jobs? Where are we?
We are talking thousands of jobs.
Where are you? I said three,
Madam Deputy Speaker. Reference is
sometimes made, and I confess that it always provides me with a little bit of
pride that I was able to be part of it, going back to the late '50s and '60s,
the Roblin administration that did many things in this province. What did they
do? They saw the need to build new water
projects, they saw the need to build highways, things like that.
We
are faced with a situation right now. My
colleague from
Madam Deputy Speaker, what I have tried to say is that we are a group of
57 legislators in this province. As much
as we are tempted from time to time and indeed some of us, particularly our
Attorney General (Mr. McCrae) and our Premier (Mr. Filmon), have additional
tremendous responsibilities in nation building at this current time, and it is
not our task, even though we are tempted from time to time to comment on the
world situation.
What
I have attempted to show in these short 20 minutes, there are three very
specific issues facing us in this Legislature right now as we start this
session. They involve thousands upon
thousands of jobs for Manitobans. That
is what this debate is about, is it not?
That is what this debate is about.
I am talking about the 10,000 to 12,000 jobs involved in the forestry
industry, so let us hear a word of support for the forestry industry, let us
see some encouragement.
As
minister of forestry, why is not somebody asking me questions, what am I doing
to ensure that the 600‑800 people in the northeast at Abitibi are being
gainfully employed?
Madam
Deputy Speaker: Order, please. The honourable minister's time has expired.
Mr. John
Plohman (Dauphin): Madam Deputy
Speaker, I do not know if you have recognized me yet.
I am
pleased to join in this very important debate for
A 30
percent increase in bankruptcies, even farm bankruptcies increasing
dramatically in this province‑‑'91 over 1990, certainly large
increases in bankruptcies and farm bankruptcies, staggering job losses from the
Free Trade Agreement and through other reasons, a scandalous Free Trade
Agreement that has cost thousands and thousands of jobs in this province.
I
want to say to this government, as my colleagues have enunciated the issues
here with the components of this crisis, that we will ensure that this
government is accountable. They seem to
forget that they are government, that they are accountable, and they must come
up with the solutions, and they must provide the action. They have refused to do that, or else they
have taken action that is counterproductive to the long‑range interests
of the
Day
after day, Madam Deputy Speaker, we will rise in this House and make certain
that this government is accountable to the people of this province. We will demand action. I listened to the Minister of Natural
Resources (Mr. Enns) talk about the auto workers, that they are getting too
much now. They received 25 percent more
than American workers. Now I see why
people like him, the Minister of Natural Resources (Mr. Enns), the MLA for
Lakeside, want to see a free trade agreement with
These members in this brief time want some solutions, want some
suggestions. I will give them some
suggestions, certainly I will.
In
housing: they have to stimulate the
housing industry, jobs through housing renovations. There are many programs‑‑[interjection] Listen to these ministers. They are waiting with bated breath. They do not have an idea in their heads of
their own. They do not have a clue.
(Mr. Marcel Laurendeau,
Acting Speaker, in the Chair)
What
about the Critical Home Repair Program?
What about RRSPs being used for renovations? What about for purchase of new homes? What is wrong with these ministers? Can they not advocate that to the federal
government, through RRSPs? Can they not
put in place a housing program that will ensure that there is stimulation of
much needed co‑operative housing programs, various programs that will
ensure that people are put to work?
Where are they?
Mr.
Acting Speaker, I just talked to the minister about the idea of RRSPs. Now he says, where are they going to get the
money? That money is there already, it
is from the individuals. It does not have to come from the coffers here.
In
forestry, reforestation: the minister is
crying about the forestry industry while he is cutting back on reforestation,
trees for our future environment and for our children. Why is he cutting back on the reforestation
program? We had a $35‑million
federal‑provincial agreement on reforestation.
Just
think of all the jobs that are created through reforestation and this
government is ignoring the reforestation issues. Why are they doing that? That is money well‑spent, money that
will come back in many dividends to the province in the years ahead. They are shortsighted, and they do not know
how to‑‑they cut off their nose to spite their face. They make decisions that hurt the long‑range
future of this province.
He
talks about water, and he talks about the
No,
they hide that information. They say,
where are you on it? Is that how you
make decisions? Is that how the Minister
of Health (Mr. Orchard)‑‑without having the information. We know now why we are in such a mess, why
the health care system is in such a mess, if he makes decisions without
information.
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Now
looking at education and training, Mr. Acting Speaker, increase distance
education, a very economical way to provide post‑secondary education and
high school education to the rural areas, northern areas of our province. This government is cutting back in distance
education. We heard that from division
after division, from individual after individual, and we went out throughout
rural
No
cutbacks, simply streamlining so there is no duplication. Why should a student
in high school not get credit for the trades that he has taken, for the
technical training he has taken towards a diploma? Why should those not be integrated to a
certain extent? This government has
refused to look at that basic kind of opportunity to improve services and, at
the same time, to save money.
They
can stop their increases to private schools.
That is where they can save money.
They can improve the student loan program for rural and northern
students so that they have greater access to education and post‑secondary
education, and they can stop the punitive audits of students and their loans
which is costing the government more money than they are getting back‑‑the
punitive audit. They can put in place in
co‑operation with small business which generates jobs in this province,
the small business sector, the job generator, the generator of the
economy. They can work in partnership, a
partnership with small businesses, to create jobs, to provide training and
incentive to provide this, similar to the kinds of programs we had in place
during the time that we were in government.
In
health care, the Minister of Health (Mr. Orchard)‑‑now we see why
he makes the terrible decisions he does because he does not have the
information. He can start employing
LPNs, the most efficient deliverer of services in our health care system. He can start expanding home care instead of
cutting back on it because it saves money insofar as institutional care.
(Mr.
Speaker in the Chair)
Now
there is the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Findlay). He does not understand. He does not know that increased home care
saves money in institutional care. He
does not know it saves the government money, so he says, where is the money
going to come from? I am just pointing
out where he can actually save money and create jobs for home care workers and
attendants who are now being cut back by this minister across this province.
I
say, Mr. Speaker, that there are several and many ways for this government to
save money, streamline their operations, and create jobs. They have not created jobs that are necessary
during this time, and that is why I take issue with the Minister of Finance
(Mr. Manness) when he reads selected excerpts from the Premier of Ontario.
I
watched his presentation, and I can tell you he advocated the use of RRSPs in
housing and renovations. He advocated
increased training. He advocated
accelerating capital works, some pumping of the economy to get people back to
work. The reason why that is necessary
is so that people can get off the welfare rolls, off the unemployment rolls and
back producing, earning a wage and paying taxes so these governments can
continue to offer the services that are necessary. This government does not seem to understand
that.
In
agriculture, this government has presided over the greatest disaster in
agriculture since the mid‑'30s.
They sat back while farmers were forgotten with deficiency
payments. They were not out fighting for
them. Now they got a measly five bucks
an acre when they needed $30. Through
these rallies the minister heard that.
Where is he out standing up for those farmers who need those deficiency
payments desperately now? What has he
said since the lobby to
Mr.
Speaker, there are huge inequities in GRIP which this minister has put in
place, farmer to farmer, region to region. Some 23 different improvements are
being proposed as a result of the meetings that were held, major changes to
improve the fairness of this program.
This minister should ensure that those farmers remain viable, that they
can stay on the land by ensuring that the GRIP program is improved.
What
he does instead is that he drops the coverage levels, he increases the premiums
and he calls this a good, fair program. Well, some people are getting only half
their cost of production in southwestern
I
want to say thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity to speak on this
important issue as well as many other opportunities to speak on agriculture
with this minister.
Mr. Jack
Penner (Emerson): I take some pride
in being able to get up and speak on this subject; however, I find it
interesting that the opposition members would want to debate the economy on a
priority basis at this time.
When
you look at the history of the NDP party or our opposition party when they were
in government and what they did when they were in government, one has to wonder
what priorities they would at this time try to place on the economic impact of
the current state of affairs.
When
you look at the Ed Schreyer government and their history, I do not think there
has ever been a time in government history when the incomes of government have
been greater than at that time, yet during Schreyer's administration they kept
on borrowing and borrowing and borrowing.
Throughout the NDP history in this provincial government, they kept on piling
on debt after debt after debt, deficit after deficit after deficit.
Similarly, the federal government, during that same era, kept on
borrowing more money and borrowing more money till the time when the
Conservatives defeated the Trudeau regime.
We were faced with a $38 billion deficit. The federal Conservatives have, during a
period of time, brought that deficit down, during a time where we have had
great economic difficulty meeting our commitments, to $30 billion.
Why
do I raise those numbers at this time when we are debating the real essence of
why we are here today, why we are faced with the economic dilemma that
government faces? Because somebody at
some point in time has to say no more spending.
Bob Rae, the newly elected Premier in
Is
he creating a great affluent society? Is
he creating huge numbers of jobs that we can point at, saying that is the way
to do it? No, General Motors is saying
we are going to lay off in spite of spending $14 billion in
I
find it interesting that the housing market has gone right through the floor in
As a
matter of fact, the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) said when we adjourned
the House last session, he said, I would be proud to debate the record of the
Bob Rae government. I wonder if the
Leader of the Opposition today in this House would stand with pride and debate
the record of the
I
think we can stand here in this Legislature today and very proudly stand on our
record and say we have decreased our borrowing.
In our economic situation we have come from a position, Mr. Speaker, of
being the second highest taxed province in the nation, yet today we are only
the sixth highest taxed province in the nation.
Have we done a significant amount to keep our taxes lower? Yes, we have.
We have decreased our income tax by two percentage points. We have kept all our other taxes in a
relative state of permanency, not increasing the tax load to our provincial
people, and yet we have brought our taxable position in this nation down to
sixth place simply by holding the line on spending, not increasing our tax
burden.
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What
is the
Agriculture has faced, probably in this province, some of the toughest
times that we have ever faced in this country's history, yet through that tough
period of time we have increased our exports to the very nation that both the
Liberals and the NDP have continually criticized‑‑whom we are co‑operating
with through our Free Trade Agreement.
We have now increased our exports of grains to the
You
have to wonder why. They do not
understand very much. Is it because we have decreased our salaries to be able
to compete with them? No, I do not think
so. Is it because we are facing with
reality the inevitable subsidy war? I
say to you, yes, I think it is. We have
a group of farmers in this country that are not only willing to but able to
compete because they are better at it than anybody else in the world. That is why we are able to access some of
those markets.
I
found it interesting that the honourable member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman) would
stand there in his place and criticize our Minister of Natural Resources (Mr.
Enns) for not reforesting our cut areas.
I should say to the honourable member that I stand here with pride on
our record of reforestation. We were the
first party, the first government, to sign an agreement with an industry that
would make them plant or leave a live tree for every tree they cut. Where were the NDP when they negotiated with
their own company that they owned? Did
they reforest? I do not think they did.
Are
we supporting our rural communities, our urban communities in encouraging the
establishment and creation of jobs? Yes,
we are. How do you do it? By providing an economic climate that will
allow these communities to build. How do
you build? By providing the
infrastructure that will encourage the building, the establishment of
industries. Ninety million dollars we
are spending on infrastructure‑‑water, sewer, provision for our
communities.
Have
we done anything for agriculture? I say
to you we have spent more on agriculture in any single year than the previous
government ever has. I think we can
proudly say that we are positioned, Mr. Speaker, well enough for the future
development and the enlargement of an economic base in this province that will
allow for and encourage job creation into the near future. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Neil
Gaudry (St. Boniface): Mr. Speaker,
it gives me great pleasure to stand up on this debate this afternoon.
I
think what should have happened was more people should have come to the
festival in St. Boniface over the last 10 days and have seen how good
management was done. It was a very
successful festival. It think it helped
tourism in
An
Honourable Member: Creating jobs.
Mr.
Gaudry: Creating jobs, yes, we have
heard that all afternoon, and it is very important when we look at the 57,000
people who are unemployed here in
We
seem to say that we blame the previous government. We blame the government in
An
Honourable Member: Not from the
opposition.
Mr.
Gaudry: I know that. I mean from the official opposition who have
said that before. I mean they have just
about bankrupted our province, if it is not bankrupt. It is because of the high taxes we have had
in this province, because we talked that‑‑okay, the Conservative
government say they have kept the lid on the taxes. Yes, I agree with that to an extent, that
they have done so in the last couple of years.
You
look at the taxes the city has on our properties for example. Look at what happened in our last 10‑day
session before Christmas. Those are
taxes, they are hidden taxes, if you want. It is the same thing with taxes in
gas, in all kinds of taxes. Do not say that the Conservatives did not increase
taxes, because we look at our salaries today, no matter who you are, 50 percent
of your salary goes into personal taxes.
Then you go shopping, another tax‑‑over tax. You buy gas, you pay tax. You buy clothes, you pay tax. Taxes have increased and increased over the
years‑‑[interjection]
Yes,
you have, I mean hidden somewhere along the line. Of course, today we also heard that‑‑well,
it has been for a week now we have been talking about harmonizing the tax. What is that going to do to our economy? What is it going to do to our job creation we
are talking about?
An
Honourable Member: It is not going
to help.
Mr.
Gaudry: No, it will not.
An
Honourable Member: How can you know
yet? Do you know where it fits? You do not know yet.
Mr.
Gaudry: Yes, but it is quite obvious
that something is going to happen. It is
obvious that it is going to be harmonized.
The minister denies it here in the Legislature. The calls we are getting from the people in
our own constituency‑‑just this morning I had four calls. People said, if it comes into the House we
vote against it, the harmonizing.
*
(1720)
It
is important to them, because how many people are out of jobs and why? Is it the government before? Is it the Conservative government in
No,
I think we have to work together as three parties here in the House. We have been elected to represent the people
of
An
Honourable Member: Will you tell
them to quit cross‑border shopping?
If they quit cross‑border shopping we do not need to worry about
taxation.
Mr.
Gaudry: Well, I think maybe you are
one of them and I am one of them who objects to cross‑border shopping.
[interjection] That is right. [interjection]
Where did you get that?
Cross‑border shopping is not helping our economy. We are losing thousands and thousands of
dollars because of cross‑border shopping.
I am sure if we asked some of the people that are sitting in this
Legislature, who go across the border to do shopping‑‑
It
is like support of private schools, for example. We have the official opposition talking about
the private schools. How many of them
have gone to private schools? That is
hypocrisy. Yes, it is hypocrisy. If you
have people who have gone to private schools and are supporting private
schools, I do not see why your party should take a stand on it.
In
1988, when I campaigned, one of the private schools said, I have got my NDP
card because they are supporting private schools. He says, I would never vote for the Liberals
or the Conservatives; I will vote the NDP.
In 1990, I went to the same person and I said, how are you? What is your card now? Which party is it for? He says, the NDP, no more. At that point, I explained to them that the
NDP party was morally bankrupt.
It
is like this afternoon, we listened to‑‑
An
Honourable Member: They will all
vote Liberal.
Mr.
Gaudry: That is right, and they will
the next time around. We will make sure that the NDP is not elected the next
government. Rest assured, member for
Burrows (Mr. Martindale), that I will never cross the floor to the NDP‑‑[interjection]
That is right. There will be more next
time.
Anyway,
let us face facts. The economy is one of
the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930's. It is‑‑[interjection] No, I am
not moving over nowhere, I am fine where I am sitting here. That is right.
Je
le
[Translation]
I know, Mr. Speaker,
that the Conservatives would find it delightful for me to cross the floor and
sit with them, but they will not have the pleasure of welcoming me either.
[English]
No, no, I am just listening to what you are
saying, not making sense like you did in your speech. So, I mean it is as simple as that.
[interjection] That is right. I am just
listening to the NDP because they have nothing to say. Again, like I say, I think our aim here in
this Legislature, as representatives of Manitoba, we have to see the economy
move, we have to work together, we have to work with the government, we have to
work with all the members of the opposition, so that we will have a strong
economy for Manitoba, a strong economy for Canada.
Thank you very much.
Hon.
Darren Praznik (Minister of Labour): Mr. Speaker, to the member for St. Boniface, I
am very pleased to point out that there is a long history of members from St.
Boniface leaving the Liberal Party to come and sit with the government. If he would like to add to that tradition, we
would be honoured to have him in our benches.
The
member for St. Boniface spoke about the need for all of us in this House to
work co‑operatively. That is an
offer that I think all members of this House should take very seriously,
because the problems facing the province, which are facing every jurisdiction
in Canada today and certainly virtually every economy in the world, are very,
very serious. They are there, as I have
said in this House on previous occasions, because of a host of changes that are
taking place in the world.
Over
the last 20‑30 years, particularly the last 10, governments all across
the world, particularly governments in
Mr.
Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Doer) and his colleagues have said
many times that they would like an all‑party task force to deal with the
economy in
Mr.
Speaker, I just want to touch base for a moment on a few items that other
speakers have raised that I think are worthy of comment. We see today several industries in
Abitibi‑Price, a major employer in this province, a major employer
in my constituency, is undergoing a very difficult time right now as they are
looking at a management buy‑out.
This government has been working with them on that particular proposal
as hosts of details are being worked out.
Let us not forget for one moment that when Howard Pawley was Premier of
this province, the attitude of the government of the day, of members opposite
when they were on this side of the House was they had total disdain for that
company, did very little, very little to work with that company.
Mr.
Speaker, let us not forget they brought in the payroll tax, a host of tax
increases generally in this province.
Also, let us not forget when they created
If
you think that did not affect decisions in the Abitibi chain as to where
investments would go for updated machinery and updated equipment, then you are
living on another planet. One of the
problems we are dealing with today in that company is that over the last
decades the investment did not come to upgrade equipment. If you look back to that time, I would
propose, Mr. Speaker, that was the result of the kind of treatment that they
had from the government of the day.
I
think those same scenarios apply to companies like Interbake, who had to make
decisions as to where they were going to invest, and they chose other jurisdictions
because
*
(1730)
You
know, Mr. Speaker, Fisons, a company that operates in my constituency, a
company that is operating and doing reasonably well at this particular time,
you talk to them and you hear the same thing.
When Howard Pawley was Premier of this province, they did not even want
to be here because they could not even get a friendly meeting with government
to have a discussion about very real issues.
They were basically told, we do not want you here, on and on.
The
member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman) talked about suggestions and, only after the
goading of this side of the House to make some concrete suggestions, what does
he suggest? Stimulate housing. We had the federal government make a move
with the reduction of the‑‑did he mention one bit about that? Did he give any credit? No, not at all, Mr. Speaker. Reforestation, we know what the New Democrats
did when they were in power. The first
government to sign a one‑for‑one reforestation agreement was this
government, not them. They did nothing.
Mr.
Speaker, the members talk about hiring more LPNs. That is another suggestion. What is happening in
Mr.
Speaker, the member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman) talked about the need for
stimulating construction.
I
want to make another comment about the member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman). The member for Dauphin talked about the need
to help small business, who is the largest creator of jobs. We on this side of the House agree with that
fully, but let us not forget when the CFIB polled its members in the latter
years of the Pawley administration, what were their two biggest complaints?
An
Honourable Member: Workers
compensation.
Mr.
Praznik: Workers compensation, an
absolute mess, and taxes. What have we heard from this side when we try to
reform the workers compensation system?
Oh no, we cannot do that, not at all.
When they talked about increasing expenditures, oh, give us more taxes,
give us more expenditure. Then they say
we have to help small business. All that
says to me‑‑it is even worse than hypocrisy as my colleague the
member for Pembina (Mr. Orchard) points out.
Quite frankly, they do not have one concrete suggestion to bring to this
debate.
We
are debating this today not because members opposite want to get into a firm
discussion, as the member for St. Boniface (Mr. Gaudry) has suggested we do,
and work together to try to deal with these problems. No, Mr. Speaker, they wanted, quite frankly,
in my belief, a quick little headline that they have done something today to
catch the issue, that they really care about the unemployed, and they really
care about that.
Every member of this House should‑‑at least the members on
this side of the House care about those people who are unemployed, but we are
not going to get into quick little fixes. In fact, the members opposite have
not even suggested quick fixes. They
have not said anything other than there is hurt out there. We know that.
Do they have a plan?
Nothing. Do they have a
suggestion? Nothing. They have nothing to offer this debate. They have nothing to offer this province in
terms of the economy. Yes, there are
tough issues to be dealt with.
This province has been leading the country
in terms of its strategy to make our province competitive. Mr. Speaker, all we have to do is point to
Mr. Romanow in
Mr.
Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to participate in this debate.
Mr.
George Hickes (Point Douglas): I am
pleased that we have a chance to debate the economy today, because I have been
doing quite a bit of door knocking, visiting people in the constituency of
Point Douglas, and that is one of the biggest concerns that people have. Where are the jobs, where are the training
opportunities, and how can we get the economy going again?
Yes,
we have not heard too many positive announcements to stimulate the economy from
the government. When we hear the
government talking about, we have done this, we have done that, the welfare
rate alone over last year is up 51.1 percent, yet we hear comparisons to
Ontario is doing this, Ontario is doing that, Ontario is cutting jobs, Ontario
is laying off people.
If
you look at the number of people in
We
heard the honourable member for Lac du Bonnet (Mr. Praznik) talking about his
government and what happened under NDP, but even under NDP I never, ever heard
of a food bank being opened in a rural community where most of the population
were farmers. Most of the people in
Beausejour are farmers. When I was up
there, there was a food bank open there and the person who was running it was
saying, yes, we have farmers who are using it.
That is exactly what that person was saying.
So
instead of standing there and blaming the NDP and Liberals and our blaming the
Conservatives, we as a party, through our leader, have proposed an all‑party
economic strategy. Now, why not accept
that? Like the member for St. Boniface
(Mr. Gaudry) says, let us work together on this and try and make this a better
economy for all of Manitoba, not just a fortunate few that we have.
Also, when I was door knocking in Point Douglas, a lot of people said,
well, if the economy is so bad, so many of us are out of work, why do the
federal government and the province not try and get us into training programs,
because we, right now, are not working and we have a lot of free time. If we take retraining or upgrading programs
when the economy picks up there are jobs available, we would have a shot at
those jobs and, which, if you think about it, makes a lot of sense. The people that are on welfare, on U.I., it
is not by choice.
I
went to the City of
We
hear people criticizing the NDP governments in
If
you looked at the whole Free Trade Agreement, people say it is a good agreement
and we here disagree with that. We have
lost so many jobs to that, and now they are going into another agreement with
The
government is even aware of that. Also,
it says, it is easy for the critics of free trade to point out where the job
losses are, most likely. Unfortunately,
it is very difficult for economists and industry experts to state with any
degree of confidence where job opportunities will arise.
*
(1740)
Even
the experts cannot tell you where we are going to be benefitting from those
kind of jobs. If you look at our whole
manufacturing sector, we have lost so many jobs through the Free Trade
Agreement with the States, and then if we go into another free trade agreement
with
An
Honourable Member: That is not true.
Mr.
Hickes: It was in 1983 and '84 when
he made those statements, and yet they went ahead with it and who is
suffering? We are suffering here in
We
have a lot of beautiful places like northern
If
you look at the whole scope of
That
is over two years now. Now, when people
are out of work and people cannot get jobs, this is the time to train them, get
some positive training programs going and, hopefully, put some money into job
opportunities. There is a small
initiative underway now; we look at the community of
You
have individuals who have invested their whole lives into buying homes and
stuff like that. The government saw that
coming and they are putting money into exploration. Hopefully, they will find ore to keep the
people working. We talk about where the
money is. How much is it going to
cost? Well, I will tell you that through
the government's moves to‑‑the filter‑down theory that the
government has of not raising taxes but cutting the opportunity, and cutting
the funds to municipalities and making the municipalities raise their
taxes. That is a trickle‑down
theory.
So
that way you understand that whole theory, that trickle‑down theory. If you reversed it and you say, how much does
it cost? Look at how many people that
you lay off.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Hon.
Clayton Manness (Minister of Finance):
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand on this very important
debate. I feel badly in the sense that I
have not been able to follow all of the representations made this afternoon,
but I had an opportunity to ask my colleagues in the Chamber how many solutions
have been presented by members opposite.
I was given three or four different answers. I was given zero, nil, zilch or absolutely
nothing. That is the challenge that I
think the government laid before the opposition when we engaged in debate
roughly three hours ago, when we challenged the members opposite to come
forward with solutions.
I am
intrigued by one element. I also asked
my colleagues how much the members opposite asked us to spend. I was told, much to my surprise, but much I
say to my favourable feelings, that we had not been asked to spend too much to
this point in time in the debate. That
tells me that finally there is a realization grasping the members
opposite. There is a problem with‑‑
An
Honourable Member: . . . surplus.
Mr.
Manness: Surplus. Since when is a half a billion dollars a year
over six years a surplus? Since when is
taking $1.1 billion to $5.5 billion general debt in six years a surplus? What kind of nonsense is this? What kind of surplus are you talking
about? Maybe surplus in the sense of
Atlantic‑Canada type of budgeting where capital is stripped out, maybe
even federal type budgeting where you assume away the interest cost, you say it
is not there, and you say, on a programming sense we are matching our
expenditures, and therefore we are surplus.
Mr.
Speaker, we do not account that way. I
think members opposite are happy we do not account that way.
An
Honourable Member: We did not
either.
Mr.
Manness: Ah, they did not
either. Give them another two or three years
in government and I am pretty sure Mr. Eliason and others would have convinced
them to begin to divide the books again.
Mr.
Speaker, I digress already and I have not even started.
I
had an opportunity this weekend to read a book called "Money Has No
Country", written by Anne Shortell, who has looked at Canada from the
perspective of somebody who is not an economist but obviously understands
economics, who is not an investment banker but who understands high finance, is
not a labour leader but obviously understands the give and take as between
labour and management. She makes a
powerful presentation as to our nation.
I am
not going to recite her concern with national debt. I am not going to talk about her support for
the Free Trade Agreement. That is not
important, because she makes some powerful statements. She was damning, by the way, of business,
damning also of big business, damning of those in our society who have large
amounts of money and yet are unprepared to make a commitment to Canada in
renewal of structure, unprepared to make a commitment to Canada by way of
technology, bringing in new technology, research and development, training, Mr.
Speaker, all of the elements that have been discussed here today, at least I
think they have been discussed.
I
take the book has some balance, because nobody escaped the attack and the
reasons why the nation is in difficulty right now from an economic point of
view‑‑I will not mention Constitution. What struck me a week ago
today, when I was with our First Minister in conference with others, was the
willingness at least by Premiers to set aside their partisan positions for the
well‑being of the nation.
I
guess that is the challenge that I am going to be, of course, throwing across
the hallway, Mr. Speaker, as to whether or not there are going to be solutions
provided, or whether it is going to be pure rhetoric, and whether there is
going to be the mistaken belief that the solution to this problem that we have
in Canada is just going to borrow more money and make work projects. Whether the belief, because I keep reading it
daily, whether it is certain people out of academia, whether it is certain
individuals, even members of our party, members of our party at times, who come
to us and say: Prime the pump; it is
time to do it; prime the pump. It is not
just adherence to the NDP party; it is also people in all walks of life.
*
(1750)
Mr.
Speaker, one thing that caught my attention, a week ago today, was that when
you sat down with Ministers of Finance from other provinces, when you sat down
with Premiers from other provinces, they recognized three things:
One,
you could not prime the pump and find the solution out of the dilemma that we
are in right now.
Two,
you had, in government policy sense, you had no alternative but to ask those
who are taking their livelihood, i.e., employed by government, you could not do
anything more, but to ask them to take in real terms less, if you really wanted
to meaningfully do something with government spending.
Thirdly, Mr. Speaker, you had to try and convince the people outside of
government, business and labour, that they had better come to the realization
that our well‑being over 15 or 20 years was based on a low‑valued
dollar, and secondly, incredible input by way of U.S. exports, 85 percent of
our exports going to the U.S., and the realization of structural changes here
and it was not ever going to be the way it was, again, in the context of the
'90s leading into the next century.
If
you could not understand those basic tenets, the reality was you would never
ever agree on solutions, because you would still have those out there saying
the quick fix is to get the consumers spending, "prime the
pump." Every premier I listened to,
in a most attentive fashion‑‑Liberals, NDP, Conservatives‑‑said
that that was not the solution, that we had to, that we have to look at some
structural change within government.
Mr.
Speaker, I came away feeling from that particular meeting that at least
leaders, our leaders, were in agreement that:
One,
we had to attack government spending.
Two,
there had to be a balance as between reduction and government spending and
taxation.
Thirdly, to the extent that you could stimulate within capital spending,
that was fine.
Fourthly, do not expect to have success over night, and do not expect to
find the quick fix. Do not expect the
miracle, as Premier Bob Rae said from
I
will close by addressing some misinformation put on the record today by the
Leader of the Opposition, when he was talking about capital. When he made it try to appear as if in
Starting in 1980‑81, $204 million, $229 million, $238 million,
$263 million, $292 million, $276 million, $249 million, $253 million, our first
year, $284 million, $298 million, $305 million, $302 million, $305 million. Mr. Speaker, every year an increase since we
have been in government, every year we have been in government over any other
year of the NDP level.
We
are the only jurisdiction in
Thank you very much.
Ms.
Rosann Wowchuk (
I
hope that while they were out of session, they took the time to meet with some
of the rural people. I speak
particularly about the rural people who at the present time are just unsure of
what is going to happen, what direction they are going to take, because this
government is showing no leadership as far as creating any jobs or stimulating
any of the economy. Our farmers are
suffering because of low grain prices, but this government is not showing any
leadership to farmers. They are not
listening to farmers.
They
have had many, many complaints about the GRIP and NISA programs, but the
government does not choose to look at those programs, to improve them to help
the farming economy meet their real costs by looking at the true costs of
production. We have a government that,
instead of addressing the economy and the farm crisis, chooses to join the
federal government and talk about transportation costs, taking away supports
for farmers.
(Mr. Marcel Laurendeau,
Acting Speaker, in the Chair)
To
change the method of payment and change the transportation cost is going to
hurt our farmers tremendously, but this government chooses to go along that
line and participate in a process that is feeding rhetoric to the farmers that
they are going to benefit from changing the transportation payment. The people involved in marketing boards and
orderly marketing are very concerned about their industry and the number of
jobs that will be lost if we lose orderly marketing, but this government
chooses not to take a strong stand and fight for the marketing boards as they
have‑‑[interjection]
There are many broiler producers and many turkey producers in this
province who are going to be devastated if the government does not show support
for marketing boards.
On a
couple of issues that relate to my constituency, Mr. Acting Speaker, the
government talks about the great deal they did on Repap and how this side of
the House is holding them up. Where are they on the environmental
assessment? We have been asking for the
environmental assessment. They are
proceeding on it. So that is just an
excuse. You do not want to go ahead.
They do not want to proceed with providing jobs and stimulating the forestry industry. Instead of stimulating jobs, they are just
cutting back on Natural Resources jobs, cutting back on Highways jobs.
Mr.
Acting Speaker, the other side of the House tends to exaggerate the situation
as far as environmentalists. We are very
concerned about what is happening with the economy, what is happening at the
environment. The government is not
taking any leadership on this, not doing anything about the environmental
assessments, and stalling rather than really creating jobs, which is what is
needed.
They
tell the rural people and they tell farmers that they should be taking a
secondary job to support their farm.
Where are the jobs? They cut back
on the jobs in Highways department which are mostly rural people. They cut back in jobs in Natural
Resources. Well, how is this supposed to
be helping the rural economy? You give
us this farce about decentralization, but none of the jobs are there.
[interjection] Where? Where are the
jobs?
For
example, in Housing, we have the Housing minister (Mr. Ernst) get rid of the
housing authorities, because they are going to save a lot of money. What are they doing to save this money? They
imply that they are saving money, but they fired a bunch of volunteers. Six hundred volunteers are gone. This is supposed to save money.
An
Honourable Member: Do you support
Repap?
Ms.
Wowchuk: Yes, we support Repap.
The
government takes away their local housing authorities providing they meet the
environmental requirements.
(Mr. Speaker in the
Chair)
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please.
Mr.
Enns: Yes, I just wonder if the
honourable member would permit a question?
Mr.
Speaker: Order, please. The hour being 6 p.m., when this matter is
again before the House, the honourable member for
This
House is now recessed until 8 p.m.