LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF
Monday,
March 9, 1992
The House met at 1:30
p.m.
PRAYERS
Message
Mr. Speaker: Prior to going into Orders of the Day, I have
a message from Her Majesty the Queen, the Head of the Commonwealth.
On this Commonwealth Day, I ask you to
remember that we share this world with many other living things. The Earth is a gift to all of us, whoever we
are, wherever we live. We have but one
planet and all life on it is interdependent.
Our Commonwealth is a partnership of 50
nations, and we are responsible for one‑third of this planet. We all share the task of ensuring that our
world will remain fit for life and capable of sustaining us and those who will
come after us.
For too long, our natural environment has
been taken for granted. It is now only
too evident that we have to take serious steps to make certain that we cause no
further destruction nor permanently degrade the very natural resources on which
we depend. For example, unless we take
action now to halt the rise in global temperatures, rising sea levels will
threaten the very existence of several islands and low‑lying Commonwealth
countries.
The United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development will be held later this year to draw attention to
the many environmental problems that we have either inherited or created for
ourselves. At this conference, and in
many other ways, Commonwealth countries can make significant contributions.
Together we represent a wide variety of climatic landscape and ecological
conditions, and we are at all levels of economic and social development. The Commonwealth can truly be described as a
cross section of the contemporary world.
Democratic governments reflect the will of
their people. In our system, the views
of the individual can be translated into government action, so it is possible
for everyone to make a contribution, however large or small, to ensure the
future health and vitality of the natural world around us. Bringing about the necessary changes will not
be easy, particularly if it involves restraints and sacrifices, but it must be
done, and we can all help in one way or another, individually or collectively.
The living world is a God‑given
heritage, and we have to be more responsible in our stewardship of it. We all need air to breathe, water to drink
and food to eat, but we must be careful, not selfish or greedy, about the way
we exploit scarce natural resources and about the demands we make on the natural
environment. Gradually we are waking up
to the challenges, but we especially need the rising generations to help us
take the right decisions and actions now.
I ask the young people of the Commonwealth
to make themselves aware of the critical problems and issues. There is no time to spare. It is our future that is at stake.
Signed, this 9th day of March, 1992, Her
Majesty, the Queen.
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ROUTINE
PROCEEDINGS
Mr. Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the
honourable member, and it complies with the privileges and practices of the
House and complies with the rules. Is it
the will of the House to have the petition read?
The petition of the undersigned citizens
of the
THAT child abuse is a crime abhorred by
all good citizens of our society, but nonetheless it exists in today's world;
and
It is the responsibility of the government
to recognize and deal with this most vicious of crimes; and
Programs like the Fight Back Against Child
Abuse campaign raise public awareness and necessary funds to deal with the
crime; and
The decision to terminate the Fight Back
Against Child Abuse campaign will hamper the efforts of all good citizens to
help abused children.
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray
that the Legislature of the
I
have reviewed the petition of the honourable member, and it complies with the
privileges and practices of the House and complies with the rules. Is it the will of the House to have the
petition read?
The petition of the undersigned citizens
of the
THAT child abuse is a crime abhorred by
all good citizens of our society, but nonetheless it exists in today's world;
and
It is the responsibility of the government
to recognize and deal with this most vicious of crimes; and
Programs like the Fight Back Against Child
Abuse campaign raise public awareness and necessary funds to deal with the
crime; and
The decision to terminate the Fight Back
Against Child Abuse campaign will hamper the efforts of all good citizens to
help abused children.
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray
that the Legislature of the
PRESENTING
REPORTS BY STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Mrs. Louise Dacquay
(Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Law Amendments): Mr. Speaker, I beg to present the First
Report of the Committee on Law Amendments.
Mr. Clerk (William
Remnant): Your Standing Committee on Law Amendments
presents the following as its First Report.
Your committee met on Thursday, March 5,
1992, at 7 p.m. in Room 255 of the
Your committee heard representation on
Bill 5, The Manitoba Advisory Council on the Status of Women Amendment Act; Loi
modifiant la Loi sur le Conseil consultatif manitobain de la situation de la
femme, as follows:
Jean Altemeyer ‑ ChoicesJenny
Robinson ‑
Written Submissions:
Hazel M. Blennerhasset ‑ Executive
Director, Women'sPost Treatment Centre Inc.Gwen Parker ‑ Executive
Secretary,
Your committee has considered:
Bill 5‑The Manitoba Advisory Council
on the Status of Women Amendment Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur le Conseil
consultatif manitobain de la situation de la femme
Bill 7‑The Real Property Amendment
Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur les biens reels
Bill 8‑The Garnishment Amendment
Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur la saisie‑arret
Bill 46‑The Jury Amendment Act; Loi
modifiant la Loi sur les jures
and has agreed to report the same without
amendment.
Mrs. Dacquay: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the
honourable member for La Verendrye (Mr. Sveinson), that the report of the
committee be received.
Motion agreed to.
MINISTERIAL
STATEMENTS AND TABLING OF REPORTS
Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson
(Minister responsible for the Status of Women): Mr. Speaker, I have indeed the great pleasure
and honour of tabling Speaking to the Future, A Statement of Government Policy
on the Status of Aboriginal Women in
I also have a statement for the House,
with copies.
Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, March 8, 1992, the
world celebrated the 81st Annual International Women's Day. Around the globe, men and women gathered in
celebration of the achievements of women.
Just an hour ago, in this
Over the past decade or so, more women
have moved into the work force. They
have entered a wide variety of nontraditional occupations and have excelled. Canadians recently celebrated with astronaut
Roberta Bondar and with Olympic gold medalist, skier Kerrin Lee‑Gartner. These women achieved their goals and
ambitions through hard work and dedication, just as other Canadian women do
every day. Again, it is the individual
and personal victories that have measured women's progress over the years.
Improvements to social and family
services, child daycare, employee benefits, maternity and paternity packages,
as well as more flexible working arrangements, Affirmative Action initiatives
and educational opportunities have enabled women to enter, compete and succeed
in the workplace. Yes, Mr. Speaker,
women have made great progress and will continue to dedicate themselves to
promoting equality in the legal, political, cultural and economic realms.
Despite our gains, however, we have much
to do. One of the areas of greatest
concern to me and to our government is the issue of domestic violence and
violence against women. Our government
has taken a strong stand on this issue.
We will not tolerate violence against women. We initiated the Domestic Violence Review,
which involved a consultative process and resulted in a report which detailed
recommendations to our government.
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We look forward later today to unanimous
support for our government's resolution to make
The Manitoba Women's Directorate has
compiled and released a national listing of violence prevention materials that
will prove to be a very effective educational support tool in schools across
the country. The Manitoba Advisory
Council on the Status of Women has also undertaken a number of initiatives in
keeping with its mandate to represent
Unfortunately, our government and its
departments and community agencies cannot alone change harmful and destructive
attitudes and values. Manitobans must
work together to foster healthy and positive attitudes and values that will
ensure all women live lives free of fear, anger and violence.
Violence against women is a serious
societal problem that must be addressed by educators, employers, groups and
organizations, the media, professional associations, women and men, by all
segments of our society. Working
together we can make a difference. We
must make a difference, and we must bring about change.
Mr. Speaker, I want to underscore the fact
that issues related to education, child care, health and welfare and violence
against women are not solely women's issues, nor are issues related to finance,
business, the economy and political process solely men's issues. We must each take equal responsibility for
issues and concerns that affect us.
Our government cannot sit in isolation and
single‑handedly bring about economic prosperity, change social values and
attitudes, establish equality, eradicate violence and end poverty. As citizens of
In celebrating International Women's Day,
we are recognizing women's achievements and progress, and have underscored the
necessity of vigilance and determination in meeting the challenges that the future
surely holds.
Mr. Speaker, in recognition of
International Women's Day and to underscore our government's commitment to the
women of Manitoba, today at 11 a.m., the Honourable Jim Downey, the Minister of
Native Affairs, and I had the pleasure of introducing Speaking to the Future, A
Statement of Government Policy on the Status of Aboriginal Women in
Manitoba. The establishment of this
policy is an achievement in itself, and aboriginal women are to be commended
for their participation in the policy‑making process.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge
the important role aboriginal women played during the policy exploration phase
and in its development. Over 200
aboriginal women participated in the provincial forum, five regional meetings
and numerous local and individual meetings which were held throughout
As I have already noted, the establishment
of our government's policy on aboriginal women was not accomplished in
isolation. It was done, in large part,
with the help and input from groups and individuals from across the
province. Through this policy, our
government acknowledges the aspirations of aboriginal women in
The government of
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The government further recognizes this
partnership is the cornerstone in successfully developing provincial policies,
programs and services. This policy shall
encompass those provincial programs, services and activities within provincial
authority and jurisdiction. Recognizing
that economic independence remains an important goal for aboriginal women, the
government of
Aboriginal women, including those who live
in remote and isolated areas, have the right to access and benefit fully from
provincial programs, services and activities along with all
Government will focus its own resources in
two main areas: those that have shown positive results for aboriginal women;
and those that demonstrate untapped potential for aboriginal women's presence,
benefit and contributions. As we
celebrate past achievements, we must also consider the future of all women in
Ms. Becky Barrett (
I would like to add another congratulatory
message to the astronaut Roberta Bondar and Olympic gold medalist Kerrin Lee‑Gartner,
and that is Connie Laliberte, from
Mr. Speaker, I will be brief in my
comments. There is a great deal of
content and thought‑provoking comments made by the minister, and I will
very briefly speak to just a couple of them. We talked about the domestic violence review
and the resolution to make
Two‑thirds of the women over the age
of 65 are poor. Over half of the people
living in poverty, who are increasing daily, are women with children. Women still make up less than half of the
major jobs in many of the major job categories in this province. Women are still paid less than 70 cents for
every dollar that men earn, on average.
We have come a long way, but we have an enormously long way to go. We on this side of the House look forward,
with a great deal of interest and not a little skepticism, to the actual
implementation of some of the concepts that this government has shared with us
over the last several International Women's Days and in other ministerial
statements and discussions in this House.
We will be looking forward to the actual
implementation of the recommendations in the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. We will be looking forward to the actual
programs and policies that will be resulting from the Pedlar commission. We look forward, as women who work in
government, to the actual implementation of the Hay report‑(TO BE
VERIFIED)‑ recommendations. We
look forward to the actual implementation of the policies as first brought
forward today on the status of aboriginal women in
We have shared our concerns many times
with the government over their lack of follow‑through, their lack of
programs that actually respond to the needs that they address. We will be looking forward to discussing
those concerns and those issues in great detail, and I am confident that we
will have a much better idea of the government's actual commitment to women and
children and violence and equality when we see the budget.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
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Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Mr.
Speaker, I rise on the comments the minister has put on the record on the
celebration of International Women's Day, the day of bread and roses.
Mr. Speaker, the government made an
announcement today with regard to a policy.
I have no difficulty with the policy as such, but I have a great deal of
difficulty with a policy which is announced with great fanfare and which has no
performance guarantee attached to it‑‑none.
They said they wanted to develop a
partnership to develop provincial policies, programs and services. This is the same government that has turned
down an independent aboriginal justice system.
That is the most fundamental policy need of aboriginal women as well as
aboriginal men. They said they wanted to
help aboriginal women achieve economic independence by creating equality of
opportunity. The way to ensure equality
of opportunity is through educational programming, and yet this is the
government that has cut ACCESS programs.
This is the government who has sat by and watched while the
They said they want to ensure that
aboriginal women have access to provincial services and programs. Well, I was hoping today that maybe we would
see an announcement about some money for some safe houses and some shelters in
remote aboriginal communities, but that tragically was not announced today.
Mr. Speaker, words are cheap. They cost nothing except the paper they are
printed on. The community requirement is
for programming initiative, and programming initiative was not announced today,
sadly. I see nothing in this wonderful
announcement, with all of its fanfare, that is going to ensure that one
aboriginal woman would be better off tomorrow than she is today.
While I would have liked to have joined in
this announcement today congratulating the government, I cannot congratulate a
government that has only rhetoric and not action to offer.
Hon. Eric Stefanson
(Minister responsible for Sport): Mr.
Speaker, I have a ministerial statement as well.
Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure
that I rise before the members today, on this day, as we are honouring
International Women's Day, and on behalf of the province and citizens of
Manitoba, extend congratulations to five Manitoban women: Connie Laliberte and her Fort Rouge rink of
Laurie Allen, Cathy Gauthier, Janet Arnott and Arlene MacLeod, on winning the
Scott Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's curling championship in Halifax
this past weekend.
I am certain, Mr. Speaker, those who
followed the rink's progress throughout the week, and all who watched Saturday
afternoon's nationally televised final, will agree that
It was in 1984 that another
I want to ask all members to join me in
extending congratulations to the Laliberte rink and in extending best wishes to
Connie, Laurie, Cathy, Janet and Arlene as they represent
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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Mr. Leonard Evans
(Brandon East): It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the
official opposition, to join with the minister in congratulating this great
team that has just won the Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's
curling championship in
Regardless, as the minister indicated,
Connie and her team will be in
Again, Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the
team, and we certainly wish them the very best in the upcoming world event in
Mr. Reg Alcock
(Osborne): Mr. Speaker, I would like to join with the
members from the other two parties in congratulating the rink. It seems that
I would also like to join with the House
in extending our congratulations to Connie and Laurie, Cathy, Janet and
Arlene. I would also point out that two
other champion teams came home yesterday, and that was the men's and women's
rinks from the deaf curling championships that won both the men's and the
women's. I would like to add their names
to the list of people who we are congratulating today. Thank you very much.
INTRODUCTION
OF BILLS
Bill 36‑The
Health Care Records Act
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(
Motion presented.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, this bill reflects our changing
health care system. Nowhere is such
change more apparent or more necessary than when it comes to patient rights and
self‑determination among health care consumers. Bill 36 is in the spirit of that consumer
movement and consistent with health care reform. It provides for a legislative mechanism to
enable health care consumers to have access to their own medical records and it
proposes to enshrine the principle of confidentiality in law. The bill can only mean, in our view, better
informed health care consumers, more openness and trust between patients and
health care providers and a higher quality and more effective health care
system.
Motion agreed to.
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Bill 56‑The
Public Health Amendment Act (2)
Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis
(
Motion presented.
Ms. Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, Bill 56 recognizes mandatory
reporting of adverse reactions to vaccinations and calls for information on
both the benefits and the risks of vaccinations to be provided. This bill accepts that immunization has been
a factor leading to reduction of many diseases but recognizes the evidence
linking vaccinations with disability and death in some healthy infants.
Like Bill 36, Bill 56 proposes to ensure
that active involvement by consumers in our health care system leads to more
informed consent, decision making and enhanced quality of health care
services. For both Bills 36 and 56, I
acknowledge the hard work of the health care consumer's rights committee of
MARL, Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties, and other organizations, as
well as the efforts of a former colleague Jay Cowan, who was our health care
critic and who did most of the work involving the drafting and consulting
around these bills. I hope these bills
form the basis for all‑party collaboration and co‑operation in this
important policy area. Thank you.
Motion agreed to.
Introduction
of Guests
Mr. Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, may I direct the
attention of all members to the gallery, where we have with us this afternoon
47 visitors from
On behalf of all the members, I welcome
you here this afternoon.
ORAL
QUESTION PERIOD
Cross-Border
Shopping
Government
Action
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): On February 21 in this Chamber, the Premier
said to questions that were asked on the issue of cross‑border shopping
that thousands of jobs have been removed from Manitoba's retail operations and
put into operations on the other side of the border where they do not pay
taxes, where they do not support our medicare or anything else. You cannot have it both ways, Mr.
Speaker. Yet, on Friday, it appears that
his own ministers in government want to have it both ways. They are calling work going out of the
country, south of the border a, quote, win‑win situation.
I ask the Premier, what action is he going
to take to ensure that his leadership and his words in this Chamber will be
followed through by his own ministers so that taxes will remain in Manitoba, so
that medicare will be supported in Canada and that we will not try to have it
both ways, as the Premier indicated we could not?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition
brings forward an interesting point of view.
When between eight and 10 jobs are created by a new company in
competition with Canada Post, offering services out of Winnipeg‑‑eight
to 10 additional jobs in Winnipeg‑‑he takes the position that this
is not good, that these are not jobs that should be supporting our
economy. He is out there only because
they are unionized jobs at Canada Post, taking his typical position that only union
jobs are valid jobs in this economy.
Here you have a new company with eight to
10 new jobs in Winnipeg, saving the taxpayers of Manitoba, I might say, $20,000
in a fiscal year and creating eight to 10 additional jobs, he says those are
not valid jobs and that there is a problem with them. I say, shame on the Leader of the Opposition
for taking sides as to whether or not unionized jobs are better than other jobs
in the economy. We will support having
jobs in the economy in
Manitoba‑U.S.
Trade Deficit
Government
Strategy
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, in 1988, prior to free trade, a
position supported by the Premier, the deficit of trade in
Will the Premier tell the people of
Manitoba, in light of his conflicting rhetoric every day, what he is going to
do about the $500‑million increase in deficit of trade with this province
and the United States so that we can get Manitobans working again? What is he
going to do about the $500‑million change since he has been in
government?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition,
like Rip Van Winkle, has obviously been sleeping for a long, long time. He does not recognize that there is a
recession out there and that 80 percent of the exports from
He does not want to recognize that. He is not aware of these patterns throughout
the world. Hopefully, somebody will
inform him about the things that are happening out there so that he will not
ask questions of this nature that ignore the reality of what is happening
throughout the world.
Mr. Doer: Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the First Minister
of this province would trivialize a $500‑million increase in deficit of
trade, not with
I would ask the Premier to tell Manitobans
and advise Manitobans, what is his government going to do to reverse the
situation with a $500‑million change in the balance of trade with the
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, firstly, again, the Leader of
the Opposition does not recognize that same pattern is reflective of the entire
pattern of trade between
The fact of the matter is that, unlike the
previous NDP government that raised taxes and made this province uncompetitive,
what we are doing is keeping taxes down and making this province more
competitive so that organizations and operations such as Versatile are now able
to get an entire two‑wheel drive tractor operation here so that there
will be more sales to the United States and to all of our trading partners, as
there will be with many of our corporations who are now becoming more
competitive because we have kept taxes down for four straight years.
Community
Colleges
Funding
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, every Manitoban knows that
education is the basis for our economic recovery, yet this Minister of
Education has refused to commit herself to even restore the more than 10
percent cuts her government made to community colleges last year. The reason is now clear.
Mr. Speaker, we have learned today that
the Minister of Education is this year requesting additional cuts of $4.6
million, amounting to a further 8 percent decrease in support for community
colleges.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the
minister what, in her mind, can possibly justify this further attack on
community colleges?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr.
Speaker, I will remind the member that the information regarding funding for
community colleges will be released when the budget is released this Wednesday
in this House.
Ms. Friesen: Mr. Speaker, we have seen the numbers.
Will the minister explain to the House why
she proposes a 57 percent increase for departmental administrative purposes and
yet believes that our community colleges and their programs, with their long
waiting list, must be cut even further?
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Mrs. Vodrey: Mr. Speaker, I will simply remind the member
again that the initiatives relating to community colleges will be revealed on
Wednesday of this week when the budget has been revealed.
Post-Secondary
Education
Ms. Jean Friesen
(Wolseley): Mr. Speaker, will the minister change the
course of her predecessor, the privatization of post‑secondary
education? Will she go back to Treasury
Board and demand that these funds for post‑secondary education, for
community colleges, for young Manitobans who have nowhere else to go‑‑will
she restore those funds?
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey
(Minister of Education and Training): Mr.
Speaker, I think it is important again for me to remind my honourable friend of
the commitment of this government to education for all Manitobans and education
in the post‑secondary level, access to training programs at our community
colleges. Our commitment to those community colleges will be seen on Wednesday
when our budget is tabled in this House.
Child Care
Centres
Funding
Formula
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): My
question is to the Minister of Family Services.
It is unfortunate that the minister has been neglected in the same way
that our children are being neglected.
Can the Minister of Family Services tell
us with‑‑
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Is that a confession?
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, the Premier of the province, in
his usual north‑end street‑fighting style‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, it is clear that our child care
centres are suffering. They are
suffering as a result of a recession which has required many parents to
withdraw their children because they have no job, and therefore, they have no
monies to pay for fees.
We also know that they are suffering as a
direct result of actions taken by this minister. As of last July, he restructured the way in
which child care centres are funded. Can
the minister stand in the House today and tell this House how many child care
centres in the province receive less dollars than they received prior to his
restructuring proposals?
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): I
welcome the opportunity to respond to that question on the daycare
centres. This government has put a
substantial amount of new dollars into daycare in
The restructuring we did last year was to
put more dollars into subsidies and less into grants for those centres, but by
the amount of money that we increased our funding to daycare last year, centres
had the ability, if they followed the provincial standards, to increase their
funding by some 2 percent. The variable
that perhaps the member does not understand is that that amount of income is
dependent on the fact that those spaces are full. We do have centres at this time with spaces
that are not occupied, but I would mention to the member that some of them have
had to draw on their surpluses to tide them through, and some have had to make
adjustments in their staffing complement.
During this time, no centres have closed,
and I noted a comment made today that some centres have had to tighten their
belts. I say to the member, it is the
same belt tightening that small businesses and individuals across this province
have done. In meeting with the executive of the MCCA just last week, one of the
positive things that came out of it was a very good working relationship that
exists between the government, the daycare directorate and the MCCA.
Staff
Layoffs
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): The
minister knows full well that centres have received far less in operating
grants, from a couple of hundred dollars up to $24,000 less for our
children. Can the minister tell the
House today how many trained staff have been laid off in child care centres
across this province because of his and his government's unwillingness to
ensure that there is 100 percent trained staff at centres?
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Mr.
Speaker, I indicated in my previous answer that the grants to the centres were
reduced but that the subsidies were dramatically increased and that in our view
of daycare‑‑and I thought shared by the Leader of the Liberal Party
from statements that she had made previously‑‑that funding should
go to individuals, to children, to families.
That was the direction that we took and one that she is on record of
supporting.
In respect to the trained staff, this
province has the highest standards for daycare training and staffing throughout
Mrs. Carstairs: In other words, inferior‑quality
training is acceptable to this Minister of Family Services.
Subsidized
Space
Allocation
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs (Leader
of the Second Opposition): Mr. Speaker, the
Liberal Party is on record as saying‑‑
An Honourable Member: Anything.
Mrs. Carstairs: Well, it is better than nothing.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Mrs. Carstairs: Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party in
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Well, Mr.
Speaker, it is difficult to follow policy that is being created by the Liberal
Party moment by moment. We have
certainly, self‑admittedly, some vacancies in the daycare centres and
daycares at this time. We have agreed
not to license any more positions in those centres until later in this year.
There are a number of reasons why we do
have some vacancies. There is a recession in place. There has been a dramatic increase in the
number of licensed spaces. We will be
monitoring how the uptake goes and monitoring the situation, and we have agreed
with the MCCA to review this some time in June of this year.
Aboriginal
Women
Program Accessibility
Ms. Becky Barrett (
One of the eight platform statements in
this policy was, aboriginal women, including those who live in remote and
isolated areas, have the right to access and benefit fully from provincial
programs, services and activities along with all
How, in the light of this flip‑flop,
can
* (1420)
Hon. James Downey
(Minister responsible for Native Affairs): Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that
question and their interest in the policy which has received general acceptance
from the aboriginal women of this province after two years of hard work.
I take this opportunity to say that I am
extremely disappointed in the Leader of the Liberal Party (Mrs. Carstairs) in
the negative approach of after two years of hard work from the aboriginal community
and in putting this policy forward.
Dealing specifically with it, I really am
putting forward that not necessarily speaking of the aboriginal women in
isolated remote communities where in fact it is not possible to deliver a
provincial program. Whether it is the
remote North or anywhere else, one has to say it as it is, and one does not
want to try to mislead. There are other
parts of the province where programs are not available as they would be in the
North, so that is what I want to bring forward to the member.
Ms. Barrett: Then the principle perhaps should have been‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. This is not a time for debate.
ACCESS
Program
Ms. Becky Barrett (
Hon. James Downey
(Minister responsible for Native Affairs): Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that the
provincial government maintained our funding for the ACCESS programs, that it
was the reduction from the federal government that the reductions took place.
Let me as well say, and the member should
be aware of this, that the changes to the Communities Economic Development Fund
clearly speaks to the support for aboriginal people, not only off of reserves
but on reserves as well, in support under that program. Through the exercise of further announcements
today dealing with the awareness of programs like that, we encourage the
aboriginal women to participate fully in those provincial programs which are
available through economic development activities.
Training
Programs
Ms. Becky Barrett
(Wellington): Mr. Speaker, how do the Department of
Education cuts to special programs for women at Keewatin Community College and
employment orientation for women programs at Red River Community College, which
have been available for aboriginal women, match the government's stated aim in
its policy, Speaking to the Future, today that they will put in place training
programs for aboriginal women so that they can achieve equality of opportunity
and economic independence? Which is
it? Are you going to cut, or are you
going put in‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please.
Hon. James Downey
(Minister responsible for Native Affairs):
Mr. Speaker, I am quite prepared to put the record of this government
against the record of the former ministers.
It was this government which gave the first support to the indigenous
women of this province. The first
funding ever for the indigenous women of
Employment
Resources
Regional
Offices Closure
Mr. Leonard Evans
(Brandon East): Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the
Minister of Education (Mrs. Vodrey).
Employment Resources Regional Offices are involved in administering the
CareerStart Program, among others, and in assisting labour adjustment
committees in dealing with plant shutdowns and major layoffs.
Given that unemployment is still at
unacceptably high levels in the city of
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Mr.
Speaker, we are in the process of making some budget decisions which will be
announced on Wednesday when the budget is tabled. I can assure the member that
the CareerStart Program will be in place and that there will be jobs for youth
on the same basis as the previous years.
Mr. Leonard Evans: I invite the minister to go to
I have a supplementary question. Can the minister tell the House whether this
government plans to close the Employment Resources Regional Offices in Dauphin,
Steinbach, Winkler, Teulon and Killarney, as well as the city of
Mr. Gilleshammer: Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance (Mr.
Manness) indicated how many sleeps there were last week before we get into the
budget, and we are down to two more.
Some of the details that the member is looking for will be contained in
the budget which will be tabled on Wednesday.
Decentralization
Mr. Leonard Evans
(Brandon East): How can this government even begin to pretend
that it is decentralizing jobs to the city of
Hon. Harold Gilleshammer
(Minister of Family Services): Mr.
Speaker, it was not more than a week and a half ago that the Minister of
Justice (Mr. McCrae), the Minister of Education and Training (Mrs. Vodrey), myself
and, I believe, the member for Brandon East were in attendance of the opening
of a new office in
Hay
Commission Report
Government
Response
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Mr. Speaker, this is‑‑[interjection]
It is true. It is a report that the
minister himself has tabled. The
Minister of Labour responsible for the Civil Service said that, and I quote: I
am going to act as quickly as possible, he said; we have a long way to go.
Well, this minister is going
backwards. I am going to ask the
minister quite specifically. When does
he plan to act on his commitments that he has made, not only to the Legislature
of this Chamber, but to the people of
Hon. Darren Praznik
(Minister responsible for and charged with the administration of The Civil
Service Act): Mr. Speaker, I am not familiar with what
report the member for
Mr. Lamoureux: This review, for the minister, if he wants to
know, is the Review of the Recruitment, Selection and Classification Process
within the Manitoba Civil Service. It
was the Hay Management Consultants‑‑familiar with the report? I would advise the minister‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Question, please.
Women's
Directorate
Hiring
Process
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson
(Minister responsible for the Status of Women): I have to say with great dismay that the
questioning from the ethics critic from the Liberal Party is quite unethical.
Mr. Speaker, this is a serious issue, and
rather than members of the Liberal opposition laughing, I would appreciate
their listening to the answer so that in fact they can understand. Obviously,
from the critic's comments in the paper last week, he has absolutely no
understanding of a Civil Service process.
An open competition was held for the position of ADM of the Women's
Directorate. A Civil Service board was
held, who screened the applicants, and their recommendation to the minister was
that there was only one person who should be interviewed by the minister.
Minister
of Culture
Hiring
Authority
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Does the honourable member have a question?
* (1430)
Mr. Lamoureux: I ask the Premier, Mr. Speaker: Will he today agree to have an independent
Civil Service study of the whole matter regarding the hiring, not of this
particular case, but additional cases through this particular minister? He has a responsibility here. Will he live up to his responsibilities?
Hon. Gary Filmon
(Premier): Mr. Speaker, I just point out the
contradiction in the member's questioning that, when he starts out by quoting the
Hay commission report‑(TO BE VERIFIED)‑, the Hay report‑(TO
BE VERIFIED)‑ was commissioned by this government as an independent study
at the request of the Manitoba Women in Government at a meeting that was
attended by all three Leaders. They all said this independent commission should
come up with a report. That report
indicated that there were not enough women being promoted into senior levels of
the Civil Service, among other things.
This government has appointed a long‑term civil servant who has been
there for almost 15 years and is eminently well qualified to an assistant
deputy minister position within the framework of the responsibility of this
government, in a manner that is available to the government, to ensure that
qualified people can be appointed to senior levels of government.
Here we are increasing the numbers of
people at senior levels of government, who are women in senior responsibility,
and we have the Liberal Party criticizing it.
I cannot believe it, Mr. Speaker.
I cannot believe the contradiction.
They are all over the map, and they do not know where they are on any
issue.
Economic
Growth
Wage
Levels
Mr. Steve Ashton
(Thompson) Mr. Speaker, this government has had some
difficulty in understanding just how hard hit Manitobans have been by the
recession, seeing day after day the impact on average Manitobans. Now the news from Stats Canada that, during
the last year,
My question is to the Minister of
Industry, Trade and Tourism. I am
wondering if the minister has studied the impact of this depression level of
wage growth in the province, the impact on the
Hon. Eric Stefanson
(Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): Mr. Speaker, I have difficulty in tying
the honourable member's logic to the figures that he is quoting to job creation
in terms of the percentage increase in wage levels to the actual creation of
jobs. He is quoting from Statistics
Canada, and I would hope that he has had an opportunity to read all of
Statistics Canada's projections for the economy of
Mr. Ashton: Mr. Speaker, is the minister not concerned about
what is happening, the fact that Manitobans are 10th out of 10 in terms of
income growth and the fact that it is killing the retail sector, killing the
Mr. Stefanson: Mr. Speaker, obviously I do not accept any of
the preamble of the honourable member from across the way. Clearly we do have concerns, and that is why
we have taken the kinds of steps that we have over the last four years in this
province to create the positive economic climate for individual Manitobans.
That is why the Conference Board of Canada is predicting in 1992 that
I have already cited the statistics in
private sector investment, the second highest in
When you compare
Mr. Ashton: Mr. Speaker, how can this minister continue to
say that when even just this very minute I have received news that another
plant‑‑
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member kindly put your
question, please.
Borden
Company Ltd.
Closure
Mr. Steve Ashton
(Thompson): I asked how the minister can say what he just
said when we have just received news that another plant, the Borden Catelli
pasta plant, in
Hon. Eric Stefanson
(Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism): I
am not sure what the question was there, Mr. Speaker, but clearly the member
need look no further than a week ago and the kinds of positive announcements
that are also taking place in this province.
Once again, far too often, members from across the way always attempt to
dwell on the negative instead of the Versatile announcement of a week ago
whereby 600 to 700 Manitobans will retain their jobs, and 100 new jobs will be
created through a company that will distribute throughout the world by
relocating an outfit from Belgium here to Manitoba. We have Advance Acoustics manufacturing, 25
new jobs announced last week.
There are all kinds of positive
announcements out there. I have already
cited the economic indicators, Mr. Speaker, that
Indian
Birch Reserve
Child-Welfare
Worker Ban
Mrs. Shirley Render (St.
Vital): My question is for the Minister of
Justice. In Saturday's paper, there was
an article which alleges that a Native child welfare worker and her family were
expelled from the Indian Birch Reserve.
The same article goes on to allege that that woman's social assistance
was cut off by the chief and council. It
also goes on to say that this child welfare worker was assaulted by members of
the band councillor's family. Now, it
seems as if there was an abusive action against this woman and, perhaps, an
abuse of power. I am sure that all
members in this Chamber share a concern with me. Could the Minister of Justice tell us what he
is going to do about it?
Hon. James McCrae
(Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Mr. Speaker, if the allegations contained
in the weekend's news media are true, then more than ever, we need to get aboriginal
leadership involved with the kinds of issues discussed earlier today by our
Premier (Mr. Filmon) and by the Minister responsible for the Status of Women
(Mrs. Mitchelson) respecting the status of aboriginal women.
The reports that I have seen are shocking
indeed. The allegations are shocking in
terms of the way aboriginal women are going to view their situation in this
province on reserves. The allegations
such as that the chief and band councillors are uncles of the children
apprehended, allegations like one of the band councillors is the stepfather of
the people alleged to have beaten this worker, the fact that this worker is a
mother herself with six children and alleged to have been banished from her
residence are all extremely serious matters which I propose to take up with the
chief of the band, and if I do not receive satisfactory explanation, to take it
further.
Workers
Compensation Board
Medical
Specialist Reports
Mr. Daryl Reid
(Transcona): Mr. Speaker, for at least the last two years,
there have been ongoing concerns of injured workers and others in Manitoba as
to the conduct of some medical staff employed by the WCB, the Workers
Compensation Board in Manitoba.
Threatening letters, Mr. Speaker sent by
WCB lawyers to worker representatives only inflame the already serious
situation that we have here.
Will the minister responsible for the
Workers Compensation Board explain the policy of his department when the
dispute arises between reports from independent medical specialists versus that
of paid WCB medical staff?
* (1440)
Hon. Darren Praznik
(Minister responsible for and charged with the administration of the Workers
Compensation Act): Yes, Mr. Speaker, I would be very pleased to
explain the process to members of this House and to the member for Transcona.
Mr. Speaker, medical staff for the Workers
Compensation Board, which have been in place there for many, many years, going
back to various administrations including the last administration of the member
for Transcona, are advisors to the board.
They do not make decisions in individuals' cases of adjudication.
Adjudication is conducted by the adjudicators.
Of approximately 85,000 cases that can be dealt with at the board during
a year, about 50,000 new ones and about 35,000 ongoing in any given year, only
about less than 5 percent have a review by the board medical branch.
Wherever there is a dispute, the actual
adjudication, as I said, is made by adjudicators, not by medical practitioners
at the board. Where there is a
difference of opinion between board doctors and outside doctors, the claimant
is entitled to a medical review panel.
Of all of those claims, there were only 32 medical review panels
conducted last year. Certainly there are
procedures in place, processes in place, and the recommendation or commentary
by an individual board doctor would not be the deciding factor, or would not be
the place where a decision is made.
Mr. Reid: Can the minister explain then why the WCB can
refuse to accept the unanimous opinions of three independent medical
specialists and, instead, reject an injured worker's claim of recurring injury
resulting in the loss of income and the break up of the family unit?
Mr. Praznik: Mr. Speaker, the member for Transcona is
bringing an individual case, I gather, on which a situation is based. I will tell him, of 85,000 potential cases
that are handled in a year, there are about 300 appeals and about 32 medical
review panels. Just to put it in
perspective, again, where there is a difference of opinion between medical
practitioners, either inside or outside of the board, claimants are entitled to
medical review panels, adjudicators make their decision.
There is also an appeal process in place
where a claimant unhappy with the decision can make an appeal to the appeal
commission on which there is a commissioner nominated by labour. I can tell the
member, in some of the cases which he has raised with my office, some of the
issues that he has raised, the appeal has resulted in a unanimous decision by
the appeal panel. Although we are concerned about cases, there are processes in
place, Mr. Speaker, to deal with that and ensure that claimants have a fair
opportunity to present their case.
Mr. Speaker: The time for Oral Questions has expired.
Nonpolitical Statements
Mrs. Louise Dacquay (
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable member for
Mrs. Dacquay: I rise today also to express my sincere
congratulations to Connie Laliberte and her
As the MLA for Seine River, I would be
remiss if I did not wish skip Connie Laliberte, a resident, and her team
continued success and best of luck in Germany on behalf of the constituents of
Seine River. I would request that all
members of the House join with me in extending Connie and her team our best
wishes for continued success as
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable member for St. Norbert
have leave to make a nonpolitical statement?
An Honourable Member: Leave.
Mr. Speaker: Leave.
It is agreed.
Mr. Marcel Laurendeau
(St. Norbert): Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute and
congratulate the Fort Richmond Centurions on their win of the first ever
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to salute
the head coach Mr. Gord Poulton and his staff for their efforts and
dedication. In addition, I would like to
single out the MVP of the game,
I salute this team of young people for
their accomplishments in hockey and for their demonstrated ability to perform
so well as a team. Congratulations to
all of them.
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable Leader of the Opposition
(Mr. Doer) have leave to make a nonpolitical statement?
An Honourable Member: Leave.
Mr. Speaker: Leave. It is agreed.
Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of
the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, I want to add our
congratulations to all the people involved in the high school hockey tournament
and the playoffs that took place right across
I have always believed that high school
hockey‑‑I think this is very important‑‑is a great way
for
Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Is it a confession,
Mr. Doer: The Premier (Mr. Filmon) says it is a
confession. There is only one way to find out, when his ankle is better we can
go out on the ice and find out.
Mr. Filmon: I meant about the lack of education.
Mr. Doer: Oh, okay.
Confessions are big. Confessions
are very big in the school I used to attend.
I would like to congratulate both the winner the Fort Richmond
Collegiate and the runners up who beat
I think we should congratulate everyone
who has really pushed high school hockey in
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable Minister of Rural
Development have leave to make a nonpolitical statement?
An Honourable Member: Leave.
Mr. Speaker: Leave.
It is agreed.
Hon. Leonard Derkach
(Minister of Rural Development): Mr.
Speaker, this past weekend
To begin with, I would like to
congratulate and thank the Foxwarren community for being excellent hosts at
this tournament. Mr. Speaker, I would
like to congratulate the Foxwarren home team, the Fort Ellice Atoms, for
capturing the silver medal. I would like
to ask members of the House to join me and my constituents in congratulating
the Russell Atoms team for an excellent performance, an outstanding
performance, in gaining the Provincial B Atoms championship for the year.
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable member for Thompson (Mr.
Ashton) have leave to make a nonpolitical statement?
An Honourable Member: Leave.
Mr. Speaker: Leave.
It is agreed.
Mr. Steve Ashton
(Thompson): Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, I had the
opportunity to attend a banquet commemorating the 20th anniversary of Inter‑Universities
North. I was pleased to be able to be
joined by my colleague the member for Rupertsland (Mr. Harper) and many staff,
many representatives from the three universities that provide programming to
Inter‑Universities North‑‑University of Manitoba, University
of Winnipeg and Brandon University‑‑and most importantly to many of
the instructors and students who have participated in the last 20 years of
Inter‑Universities North.
There were a number of presentations that
were made which I feel should be noted in the Legislature. Recognition was given to Emily Swicki, a
former resident of Thompson. She was the
first all IUN graduate. She took all her
courses through Inter‑Universities North, in fact, graduated in 1979, the
first of a number of students who have gone all the way through using Inter‑Universities
North.
There were also presentations of the newly
established Dr. Willard J. Condo award.
Dr. Condo was very involved in university affairs and before his death
was the head of the Universities Grants Commission, a very strong supporter of
Inter‑Universities North.
Recognition was given to Shirley Lyon, the previous director of IUN for
her efforts and Dr. Blainer who also was very involved in the development of
Inter‑Universities North through his role as Dean of Arts and through his
various associations with
I would like to, I am sure, express the
best wishes of all members of the Legislature for the past 20 years and the
hopes, Mr. Speaker, that Inter‑Universities North, with its unique
combination of three separate institutions all working together providing
education in the North, could be used as a model for many other jurisdictions
across the country. Thank you.
* (1450)
Mr. Speaker: Does the honourable First Minister have leave
to make a nonpolitical statement?
Some Honourable Members: Leave.
Mr. Speaker: Leave.
It is agreed.
Mr. Filmon: Mr. Speaker, I want to join in the
congratulations that are being given to a number of very worthy sporting
organizations as a result of tremendous achievements by
I want to congratulate in particular the
GPAC men's championship basketball team, the
If indeed there is I think honour and
respect amongst those who choose the wild card berths, there may indeed be two
teams because Brandon University has been rated No. 2 in the nation throughout
most of the season and may be a candidate for one of the wild card berths to go
along with the University of Winnipeg to the final eight in Halifax next
weekend.
Congratulations not only to the Wesmen and
their coaching staff, all the players and fans who supported them throughout
the year, but also to those who were recognized for their achievements in GPAC
this year. It was a great year for
Manitoba players, and I might say that the entire first team all star from GPAC
were Manitoba players beginning with Eric Bridgeland of University of Manitoba,
Keith Vassel and Dave Nackoney of Brandon University, Jeff Foreman and Norm
Froemel of University of Winnipeg, and the most valuable player for GPAC was,
of course, Eric Bridgeland. The second
team all‑stars included as well players from the
ORDERS OF
THE DAY
Hon. Clayton Manness
(Government House Leader): Mr. Speaker, would
you call the government resolution standing in the name of the Minister of
Justice (Mr. McCrae), to be followed by Bill 45 and the bills listed on the
Order Paper in the order as shown, Debate on Second Readings.
PROPOSED
RESOLUTIONS
Hon. James McCrae
(Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the
honourable Minister responsible for the Status of Women (Mrs. Mitchelson), the
following motion,
WHEREAS the government of Manitoba, based
on the recommendations of the Women's Initiative Report, endorsed the
philosophy that abuse is a crime and must be stopped; and
WHEREAS a public awareness campaign was
undertaken in February, 1990, to promote awareness that partner abuse is a
crime; and
WHEREAS the Pedlar Commission recommended
the community must take an active role in reducing and eliminating domestic
violence.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislative
Assembly of Manitoba support the position adopted by the government of Manitoba
in declaring Manitoba as a domestic violence‑free zone, where partner
abuse is viewed as a criminal offence, and in adopting a tough stance against
partner abuse.
Motion presented.
Mr. McCrae: Mr. Speaker, this is an auspicious day for me to
have the honour to move this resolution in this House.
In beginning my comments it would be good,
I believe, for all of us to remember the work done by the Women's Initiative
and the report presented by that initiative, headed up by Gerrie Hammond, a
former member of this House and former distinguished Minister responsible for
the Status of Women, and to thank her and those who participated in the Women's
Initiative for the work they did to help instill in all of us, government and
community, an understanding of the importance of the issue of domestic violence
in our society.
Flowing from the Women's Initiative, there
was indeed a public awareness campaign in 1990 to promote awareness that
partner abuse is a crime. That campaign
also promoted the fact that for abused women in our society there is indeed
help and there is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by coming
forward and seeking help in the times when violence renders the lives of women
in our society as a terrible experience.
A number of other initiatives came
forward, Mr. Speaker, not the least of which, of course, was the Pedlar review
and the work done by Dorothy Pedlar and those with whom she consulted in
preparing her report for government, so that we can go forward and try to help
create that violence‑free zone that we want
(Mrs. Louise Dacquay, Deputy Speaker, in
the Chair)
It is a very noble goal for us to work
toward, and it is not a goal that can be achieved solely by government working
in isolation from everybody else. I
believe everyone is going to agree about that.
There will be various degrees of disagreement about how we achieve the
goal that we all agree we want to achieve.
The deaths of too many
Our government's release of the report
last November sent a strong signal to the community and to the women of
Today, Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to
highlight the actions this government has taken to date or is actively pursuing
to tackle domestic violence. I want to
do that partly because honourable members opposite sometimes in the heat of
debate tend to try to minimize the work that this government has done, and I am
always going to agree with honourable members opposite when they say, as the
honourable member for Wellington (Ms. Barrett) did earlier today, that we have
an enormous distance to go.
I am not going to disagree with that
because all you have to do is look at the daily cases in our courts and the
daily police files to know that there are still far too many women facing
terrible and terrifying experiences and sometimes paying the supreme price for
the lack of better systems to protect them.
* (1500)
I want to do it for that reason, because
honourable members opposite will make inaccurate allegations about the progress
of the government. I also want to do it
to underline that there is reason to be hopeful about that enormous distance we
have to go and how we are going to get there.
There is reason to be hopeful because of the performance of the past
nearly four years of the present government, and I should say the previous
government and actions it took as well, Madam Deputy Speaker.
We have expanded and strengthened and
standardized the charging directive.
That was the charging directive brought in by Roland Penner in
1983. We have expanded, strengthened and
standardized it, ensuring that the police lay charges in all cases of partner
abuse where evidence exists. There is
mandatory prosecution by our Crown attorneys of all partner abuse offences
where evidence exists. We are pressing
for no bail, or at the very least, conditions on bail for all domestic
offenders. We are strengthening the
mandatory education programs for domestic violence offenders at all corrections
and probations facilities. We are prosecuting offenders who fail to attend,
participate in or complete the mandatory education programs. We will develop standard policies and
protocols throughout the justice system to ensure domestic violence is dealt
with as a priority and in a consistent manner.
With respect to education and training of
participants in the justice system on the social dynamics of domestic violence,
in June, our Prosecutions Division will be hosting a joint conference with the
judiciary and the private bar to examine domestic violence. Our Crown attorneys will also be
participating in the upcoming western Crowns' conference on domestic violence.
In 1990, Madam Deputy Speaker, we
established the family violence court, and that was something that Ms. Pedlar
commented on in her report, and she commended the government for the
initiative. That is a centerpiece, in a
way, of our efforts in the area of domestic violence. The independent analysis of the performance
of that court has been extremely positive in the sense that domestic violence
cases are being handled much more expeditiously in our court system and much
more sensitively as well.
Expeditiously is extremely important, the
experts tell us and, of course, you do not need to be an expert to know that
for every day that a victim is facing an abusive issue without resolution,
every day can seem like an eternity. If
you are frightened, if you are scared, if your children are frightened, scared,
it is a terrible, terrible experience, and the shorter we can make that
experience, the better. It is too bad it
has to happen in the first place, but when it does and we are realistic enough
to know that things like this type of offence will continue against our will,
even in a domestic violence‑free zone, and when it does happen, we have
to deal with it as sensitively and expeditiously as we possibly can.
That court has been held to be an example
for other jurisdictions. It is the first
of its kind in our country, perhaps beyond and judging by the results it is
achieving, we feel that we might see that kind of concept developing
elsewhere. It is actually a specialized,
integrated unit devoted exclusively to abuse cases, and we are going to
continue our commitment to ensuring that victims of abuse are treated
compassionately and sensitively by enhancing the operations of this court, as
that is so very much required.
In the past, Madam Deputy Speaker, when
the traffic, if you like, before that court has increased to the point where it
has put significant pressure on the system, this government has responded by
ensuring that that court is properly resourced so that we can keep meeting our
targets. The independent analysis shows
that we have been doing that. We remain
committed to the operation of that court, touching as it does so many people
involved in abusive situations in this city.
I am not satisfied either that this kind
of concept can be available only to women in the city of
Of course you cannot expect conditions to
be exactly the same in all areas outside the central city of this province, but
certainly we owe it to our citizens right across this province to bend every
effort, to ensure that reasonable services are available to people. We want to extend the concept of the family
violence court all across the province, but certainly we are making good
headway in terms of setting up such a court system in
We are committed to strengthening and
enhancing the women's advocacy program which serves the family violence
court. That was another matter
recommended by Ms. Pedlar, and another recommendation we take very seriously
indeed. We have begun discussions with
our provincial and federal counterparts on ways to eliminate delays in the
court system. I refer specifically here,
Madam Deputy Speaker, to the preliminary hearing that that anachronism of the
justice system, as I have called it in the past‑‑I have raised this
matter repeatedly with federal and provincial ministers. I believe the idea is beginning to be
received more positively than it has in the past.
The fact is there are ways to see that the
defence in criminal cases are given the kind of disclosure that they need in
order adequately to represent their clients.
We do not have to have a preliminary hearing everytime there is a case
of assault, or many kinds of cases that are dealt with in that way and have
been for generations need not be dealt with that way any more.
Even the British, who began this British
system of justice, gave up the preliminary hearing sometime ago. We still have it, and I think that the reason
we still have it is that I have not yet been successful in making sure my
colleagues across this country, including the federal Minister of Justice, feel
that it should be done away with. I
think the preliminary should be done away with as quickly as possible and replaced
with another system to provide the same kind of disclosure that defence counsel
need. I do not question for a moment
that defence counsel need disclosure in order to adequately represent their
clients and to ensure that the principle of presumption of innocence is carried
forward, because I do believe in that principle, and I believe that guarantees
our liberty in this country, that principle among other things.
The liberties of those people who are not
guilty of offences, those are the ones I am most concerned about because those who
are guilty of offences I feel differently about. I feel we need to go eyeball to eyeball with
those people who are offenders and abusers.
We need to do that in a way that works, not just a way that is strict
retribution, because we know already retribution and revenge does not really
solve anything. We know that it does not
protect women and children.
What we do know works best is some kind of
way to make abusers understand what they are doing is wrong, for them to take
some kind of responsibility for their actions and to stop abusing their power
which is sometimes balanced too much in their favour, and to stop abusing their
spouses, partners and children.
* (1510)
We need to examine more effective ways of
protecting women by both strengthening the existing system of restraining
orders as well as looking at possible alternatives within provincial
jurisdiction.
Honourable members have heard repeatedly,
women especially, saying that restraining orders are not worth the paper they
are written on. We take that criticism
seriously, Madam Deputy Speaker, and we propose to strengthen the restraining
order. In doing that we are going to
develop proposals to make restraining orders easier to obtain, while ensuring
stricter enforcement and punishment for breaches as well as consultations with
police officials to greater enforce peace bonds and prosecution of breaches.
Maybe one of the reasons that some people
have said that restraining orders are not worth the paper they are written on is
because, in the past, police authorities have prioritized these restraining
orders differently from what they are today, and what we expect will be the
case as we go forward. We expect to see
restraining orders being given a new respect in the justice system, and that
women and children will be the beneficiaries of that protection.
We expect to have ongoing discussions with
policing agencies and the judiciary to discuss those recommendations affecting
them. I have to say that rather than
being frustrated, like I sometimes am, I have to say I am pleased and I am
encouraged by the response that I received so far from these groups.
We are examining ways of utilizing the
resources of the Victims Assistance Fund to enhance counselling and services
for the victims and child victims of domestic violence. This Victims Assistance Fund, which is often
discussed in this House by the honourable member for St. James (Mr. Edwards),
was recently used to provide a grant of over $100,000 to victims of domestic
violence in the Interlake area, and here I refer to Nova House in Selkirk.
I would like briefly to comment on some of
the initiatives undertaken by my cabinet colleagues. I commend the Minister of Family Services
(Mr. Gilleshammer) for his foresight in appointing Ms. Marlene Bertrand as
director of Family Dispute Services. As
the former director of Osborne House, Ms. Bertrand will be a valuable asset to
this government as we continue our efforts in this area.
I know Ms. Bertrand because of my job as
Minister of Justice. I have had occasion
to consult with Ms. Bertrand; in fact, I consulted with Ms. Bertrand in the
setting up of the Pedlar review which has proved to be so helpful to us. I look forward to a very, very positive
working relationship with Ms. Bertrand because her extensive experience and
knowledge in areas relating to family disputes is not questioned, I do not
think, by anyone. I do not think even
the member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux) would want to get after Ms. Bertrand's
qualifications, and so far I have not heard anything, but you never know with
that honourable member, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Other initiatives undertaken by the
Minister of Family Services (Mr. Gilleshammer) include the development of a new
funding model to shelters. This new
model will allow shelters to plan over the long term their staff and service
requirements without being hampered by short‑term fluctuations in bed
nights, cash flow problems and deficits.
This government has increased funding
support for women's crisis shelters, crisis lines and women's resource centres
by $2.5 million or 193 percent since 1987.
I know the honourable member for
The performance of the last four years by
the present government belies the kinds of comments honourable members opposite
sometimes tend to make about Progressive Conservative administrations, as if
they alone had some kind of monopoly on looking after problems like this.
When you look at the record, it almost
makes me want to cry, when I see the record of the New Democratic Party in
these areas. It makes me want to cry
more when I see the hypocrisy that I see day in and day out in this House, and
I say hypocrisy without fear of contradiction by the honourable member for
Wellington (Ms. Barrett) because if she wants to contradict, then we can get
into a debate about how the New Democrats have sat idly by and allowed a very
powerful labour leader in this country to treat grandmothers working in the
union movement with such disdain, and the use of violent expressions with such
abandon.
I can only assume by the silence of
honourable members opposite that they put their union bosses ahead of what is
really right in this country. What Daryl
Bean stands for is not right in this country, and I expect to hear from
honourable members opposite that Daryl Bean must go; otherwise, if I do not
hear that, I am going to assume that anything the New Democrats tell me about
violence against women is coming from hypocrites. The silence is indeed deafening, Madam Deputy
Speaker.
The development of a major media campaign
in 1990 which I referred to earlier, Abuse is a Crime, aimed at the prevention
and the reporting of partner abuse, that was a very important turning point in
the way we Manitobans view domestic violence.
I will tell you, the government learned a lesson or two from that
campaign, too. We learned that
governments taking leadership roles can create activity and can create demand
on systems that have heretofore been funded to a large extent by government.
We did that with our eyes open, in the
same way that we established the family division of the Court of Queen's Bench
in the city of
I am proud of that, Madam Deputy Speaker,
and I am proud that I helped create the pressure that is going to ultimately
result in better court facilities in the Westman area. But I am also proud to have been part of
government that put forward that Abuse is a Crime, television media campaign,
because, yes, we did face an increase in pressure on our shelter system. But we matched that increase of activity with
funding increases for the shelter system, probably second to none anywhere in
this country.
It certainly dwarfs the performance of the
previous government in this province. So
sometimes you know, I say, we move forward with our eyes open. Some would like to say that there has been no
planning, but those people who say that do not look at the numbers, do not look
at the budget figures year over year for the provision of support for the
shelter system and other systems that are intended to help women and children
in our province.
I have a note, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I
cannot read the signature at the bottom, so I will not be able to quote that
person.
As I was saying, we can be proud of the
progress we have made so far, but that is never to say that there is not much
work to be done. No one is going to say
that as long as there is one woman, as long as there is one child in this
province who is being abused and not being afforded proper protection, that
problem will remain with us, and as long as I am in this job I will remain
vigilant about this and keep moving forward in this area.
The government of
It is estimated that one in six women in
I take it the honourable member for
I am very disappointed that the leader of
that party would trivialize the issue of aboriginal women's rights and
aboriginal women's status in this province the way that she did today.
Normally, that honourable member has more class than she had today. Some of the things I have spoken of are just
some of the actions that our government has taken to try to break that cycle of
violence.
* (1520)
While government will continue to do its
part, it is critical that we recognize domestic violence as not just a
government problem. Ms. Pedlar stated in
her review, and I quote: While the
response of the justice system to domestic violence is critical, the larger
issue of the role of the community must be addressed to achieve long‑term
preventive measures.
This means that government and the
community have to work together to stop the violence. The way to work together is to stop all the
sniping that goes on and seriously to work together and understand that we have
serious problems in this province. Community input is key in order to eradicate
those societal attitudes and perceptions that allow violence against women to
continue. It is those same societal
attitudes and perceptions that led to the kind of situation that we have at the
Indian Birch Reserve, Madam Deputy Speaker, and all of those things that we do
not like to see seem to be played out in a newspaper story that was reported in
the weekend's Free Press respecting an aboriginal child‑care worker who
allegedly was beaten after apprehending children on the Indian Birch
Reserve. This person allegedly has been
banned from the community by the chief and council.
As I said a little while ago, we need
support and we need a new direction from aboriginal political leaders, some of
whom, former aboriginal leaders, sit in this House. I look for leadership from them, too. I look for leadership from the member for
Rupertsland (Mr. Harper), I look for leadership from the member for The Pas
(Mr. Lathlin)‑‑both of them former chiefs. I wonder what they think about stories like
this and whether they view issues like this and the alleged abuse that had to
be undergone by the woman named in this story.
I wonder how they feel about it, and why are they not here to speak out
against that kind of thing.
Now the fact is, these are allegations,
and I am always careful about allegations that we see in the newspapers as I
think we all ought to be. When I see the
allegations that I see in Saturday's paper I get very, very concerned, and I
have instructed my department to draft for me a letter so that I can get a hold
of the chief of the Indian Birch Reserve to find out if there is any truth to
this. The chief, apparently, was not‑‑what
does it say in the paper? It says that
the chief refused to explain the actions yesterday when contacted at home.
Well, when such serious, serious allegations are coming forward, I wonder why
it is that no explanation is forthcoming immediately.
Chief Stevenson is very concerned about the
reputation of the chiefs in this province when it comes to allegations of
misconduct in relation to child welfare cases, very concerned about the
reputation of the chiefs. It did not
take him very long with a whole lot of other chiefs to find themselves here at
the Legislature for a meeting with members of this government. Those same
chiefs could not find it possible to meet with us about the Aboriginal Justice
Inquiry about which their friends in the New Democratic Party and, notably
today, the Leader of the Liberal Party (Mrs. Carstairs), speaking in such
glowing terms of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry report, but those chiefs were
not there to talk about the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. They were there to talk about comments made
by me and others that might have some negative impact on their reputations.
Well, I am more concerned about the
negative impact on aboriginal women and children in this province, who daily
are subjected to abuse. I am more
concerned about them than I am about the perceptions of the damage to the
reputation of the chiefs. I do not want
anybody's reputation to be damaged unnecessarily or wrongly. Of course, that is what I am supposed to be
here to stand against, and I do.
It seemed an unholy haste to me, almost an
indecent haste to me, to be out looking after one's own reputation. I just wonder where our honourable members
opposite stand on those kinds of issues when they rise in their place to
criticize this government about the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. Where do they stand? You get the honourable member for Point
Douglas (Mr. Hickes) for example, who says, oh, well, let us go with every
single recommendation in the AJI and enact it as those two judges suggested we
should.
We got the Leader of the Liberal Party
(Mrs. Carstairs) today using a new word, "independent" justice
systems, so she does not have to use the word "separate." Well, you know, she is a pretty clever
politician, Madam Deputy Speaker, and she is watching her words closely. I know exactly what she is doing, trying to
play both sides of the fence as she has been doing around here since she came
here in 1986, elected the same day I was, and playing that game for six years.
An Honourable Member: Ah, you have been watching her.
Mr. McCrae: Yes, I have been watching close, and I will
tell you Madam Deputy Speaker, the aboriginal women of this province are not
impressed.
Point of
Order
Mrs. Sharon Carstairs
(Leader of the Second Opposition): Madam
Deputy Speaker, I think the minister, in an issue on domestic violence, would
want to make sure that his voice did not have overtones of violence in it.
Madam Deputy
Speaker: The honourable Leader of
the Second Opposition does not have a point of order. It is a dispute over facts.
* * *
Mr. McCrae: Madam Deputy Speaker, I am not going to take any
lessons on voice intonation from the Leader of the Liberal Party. She does not like it when she is criticized
for the way she uses her voice, and I really do take some offence that the
honourable member for River Heights (Mrs. Carstairs) should talk like that
about me when I get a little bit emotional about the issue of domestic
violence. I say shame on that honourable
member for playing petty politics with that, too. If I was her, I would say I demand an
apology, but I am not going to say that, because coming from her, I do not know
if it would be worth getting anyway.
So I think I have made myself clear. I hope I have. If anybody wants me to repeat the way I feel
about violence against women, aboriginal women, and other women and children in
our society, I will tell you one thing, I disagree with Daryl Bean. I disagree
to the point where I think that man should be removed from his office, and I
ask all honourable members to join with me in calling for that. I disagree with the allegations I have been
seeing and hearing about the treatment of aboriginal women and, unfortunately,
allegedly at the hands of their own political leaders.
Madam Deputy Speaker, if these allegations
in the newspaper are true, can you imagine how any aboriginal woman in this
whole province can feel vis‑a‑vis their relationship with their
political leaders at the reserve level?
Does anybody care around here in the opposition? When have I heard anybody in the opposition
say that the chiefs ought to do a better job in protecting the women on their
reserves?
What does Phil Fontaine say about this
article in Saturday's Free Press, Madam Deputy Speaker? I have not heard a peep. Why? Phil Fontaine has a very delicate job on his
hands. He is selected by whom to speak
for aboriginal people in this province?
Selected by the chiefs. Something
is wrong here. Everybody knows there is something wrong here, and everybody on
that side of the House is afraid to talk about it. They want to rely on the Aboriginal Justice
Inquiry report‑‑talk about, no not separate anymore, but
independent court systems so that the elected people of
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am certainly not
here to defend federal and provincial governments' performance for the last 125
years in their dealings with aboriginal people.
Make no mistake about that. I am
here to tell you that I know enough about what goes on on Manitoba reserves to
know that there is a very, very big problem which will not be solved without
their being addressed by aboriginal leadership, i.e., chiefs and councils
working together with aboriginal women who are showing real leadership in this
province, and not getting enough support from honourable members opposite in
the Liberal and New Democratic Parties.
Now, you know, if I have raised my voice,
Madam Deputy Speaker, and this offends the honourable Leader of the Liberal
Party (Mrs. Carstairs), then it is only because she does not understand how
important this issue is. She has
demonstrated to me by her laughter today and her attitude today in response to
the honourable Minister responsible for the Status of Women (Mrs. Mitchelson),
she does not understand aboriginal women's issues, and she has demonstrated
that very clearly to me. I am very
disappointed because I thought the Leader of the Liberal Party was better than
that, I honestly did.
* (1530)
She is talking about picking cheap
political personal shots at the Premier (Mr. Filmon), and taking cheap shots at
me because of the tone of my voice. I
just cannot figure that out. I am
obviously not impressed, and the honourable member for
The honourable member for
It causes me concern that the likes of
Chief Stevenson should occupy a position of power, a position like justice
chairman for the Assembly of Chiefs, when he suggests that the provincial
government has no jurisdiction on First Nations lands. That caused me no end of concern, but of
course it does not bother the member for
I hope that the honourable member for The
Pas (Mr. Lathlin) will read my comments in Hansard. I think they need to be read by people like
the honourable member for The Pas, because he is an influential person. He has a chance to make a difference. That is
why I presume he‑‑
An Honourable Member: Your whining has backfired, right. You made mention of that earlier.
Mr. McCrae: If the honourable member for Thompson (Mr.
Ashton) wants to get in on the act and defend the silence in the light of
allegations like this, then let him do that.
Point of
Order
Mr. Steve Ashton
(Opposition House Leader): Yes, Madam Deputy
Speaker, the minister brought in a resolution.
Debate on the resolution should obviously relate to that. The minister ought not to be bringing in the
kind of personal accusations he has made against members of this House or
attempting to put words in the mouths of others and attempting to take
political advantage of very serious allegations.
That member should withdraw some of the
comments he has made today about the member for The Pas (Mr. Lathlin), the
member for Rupertsland (Mr. Harper) and other members of this House. It is uncalled for and has no basis to do
with this resolution. I would like to
ask you to have him withdraw those inappropriate comments and to restrict his
comments to this resolution.
Hon. Darren Praznik
(Deputy Government House Leader): The
Minister of Justice (Mr. McCrae) is debating a very important serious
issue. The member for Thompson (Mr.
Ashton) has talked about politics, has talked about political innuendo. He is certainly an individual who has been on
that opposite side of that question and on many occasions done the exact same
things as he is now accusing the Minister of Justice of doing.
Madam Deputy Speaker, this is a debate on
a resolution before this House. The
Minister of Justice certainly had the opportunity to put the questions to this
House that he has about the actions of the opposition parties on this issue.
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Thompson does not
have a point of order, but I would request all honourable members to choose
their words carefully. I would suggest
that the honourable minister should keep his debate relevant to the proposed
resolution before us.
* * *
Mr. McCrae: I will indeed, and have, I hope, been choosing
my words carefully because of the position I hold in this province, but I will
use this position that I hold in this province to bend every effort to bring
people on side and to understand the seriousness of the issue that I am talking
about.
The honourable member for Thompson (Mr.
Ashton) clearly either does not understand the gravity of this problem or else
wants to overlook it. For what reason, I
will not guess, because that is not the right thing to do. If the honourable member wants to talk about
sleazy personal attacks, he can direct his comments to people like Chief
Stevenson and talk to him about those kinds of attacks that have been made.
Let us talk about the real issue, Madam
Deputy Speaker, instead of the cheap politics which the honourable member for
Thompson wants to talk. Let us talk
about the real issue. Whether you use the words "separate justice
system", "independent justice system," as the Leader of the
Liberal Party (Mrs. Carstairs) now wants to use that kind of language, tell me
how a separate justice system or an independent justice system would have saved
the J.J. Harper tragedy. Tell me how
Helen Betty Osborne would be walking with us today if we had a separate or
independent justice system. Tell us how
that would have saved either of those individuals whose lives were tragically
snuffed out.
Tell us how a separate justice system or
an independent justice system would help a single mother looking after children
in the city of
The honourable member for
You can tell me that he just found this
quote somewhere and accidentally it found its way into his letter to those
three grandmothers who were writing to him, but she will never have me believe
that he did not adopt that kind of description of scabs, as he called them, and
what ought to be done with them, that they ought to be hanged or drowned.
Now honourable members opposite have been
very silent about this. [interjection] Yes, the honourable member for Point
Douglas (Mr. Hickes) does not agree. The
honourable member for Radisson (Ms. Cerilli) belongs to an organization that
does not agree. Well, what are you doing about it?‑‑is my
question. What are you doing about
it? You sit in your place and talk about
sleazy politics and yet you let your union politics hold sway over what is
right for the people of this country.
That is wrong. [interjection] I would like some order so I can finish my
comments.
* (1540)
Madam Deputy Speaker, I rarely see the
honourable member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton) get so worked up unless it has to
do with protecting some union boss somewhere, getting in the way of what is
right for the people of this country‑‑[interjection]
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order, please.
Point of
Order
Mr. Praznik: Point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker, I
appreciate that we all react in the course of debate, but the member for
Thompson (Mr. Ashton) has pushed that beyond the limit when his heckling from
his seat‑‑which I admit we all engage in from time to time‑‑has
silenced the member who has the floor.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I would ask if you would call that member to
order.
Mr. Ashton: Madam Deputy Speaker, I apologize if I took
offence to the remarks of the minister.
My concern was that the minister was using the Chamber inappropriately,
particularly libelling individuals previously, chiefs, former chiefs as a
group, making specific reference to individual members. That was why I took offence.
I put my apologies forward for having
disrupted this House by it, but I also hope that the minister would refrain
from those types of comments and stick to the very serious issue.
Madam Deputy Speaker: I thank the honourable member for Thompson
for those comments.
* * *
Mr. McCrae: Madam Deputy Speaker, a careful review of my
comments will demonstrate that I have slandered or libelled no one. The honourable member for Thompson is simply
very extremely sensitive when it comes to union bosses and the language they
use when it comes to calling people scabs and suggesting that the only good
thing to do with a scab is drown them or hang them. It is in the name of protecting union bosses
who want to use that kind of language that the honourable member for Thompson
takes his part in the House today.
Now, it will be interesting to hear where
he stands on where Daryl Bean stands with relation to people generally and how
he writes letters to grandmothers working in federal public service in
particular. I am very concerned about
that, and I would like that concern to be shared by people in the opposition.
This is International Women's Day. This is a day for us to support things that
move in the right direction and to condemn things that have the tendency to
move us in the wrong direction. I have been talking about attitudes today. I have been talking about silence today. I have not attempted to malign anyone,
personally or inappropriately. If we do
not talk about these things when are we ever going to do something about abuse
against aboriginal women? Are we ever
going to, or are we going to continue to protect those who sit silently by
while it happens? [interjection]
Yes, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will shout
about issues like that because what is going on in this country is wrong, and
honourable members opposite want to stand in their places and defend what is
wrong. I want no part of it.
The honourable member for
An Honourable Member: She has not yet.
Mr. McCrae: She has, Ed.
She has made positive contributions.
She is also in a very uncomfortable
position having to sit with that lot over there who defend the likes of Daryl
Bean and defend the comments of Louis Stevenson who makes such outrageous
comments from time to time. I did talk
about domestic violence being a community matter, and to ensure critical
community input, Madam Deputy Speaker, I have established a community advisory
committee to work in tandem with the government working group on domestic
violence. This committee is comprised of
key representatives, including the aboriginal, northern and immigrant women's
communities. They will have a direct
input in the prioritization and implementation of recommendations.
Our government has taken the lead, Madam
Deputy Speaker, by adopting the Domestic Violence Review's fundamental
principle, namely, that Manitobans must work for and practice living in an
environment free of domestic violence, an environment where family violence and
partner abuse are not acceptable and will be treated as criminal offences.
It is absolutely vital and imperative that
this principle be adopted by all individuals and groups in the community, to
heighten public awareness that partner abuse is a crime. Domestic violence cannot
be tolerated in our society. We talk
about how civilized we are. Look at the
facts. They will bear out just how
civilized we are. The abuse and murder
of women in
In a sense, it is too bad that this is the
focus for discussion today on a day when we are celebrating. We are celebrating International Women's
Day. But, as all spokespersons will tell
you, we have got a lot to do. This an
area where this is much to be done. It
is not an area where we should be hampered by important people in the
communities, not an area where powerful leaders should be intimidating other
people, or allegedly intimidating other people, and those issues should be
straightened out and everybody should get on the same side. That includes all honourable members in this
House. I ask honourable members to
support this resolution which I suggest is not hard to support.
I ask all honourable members to join with
me and to join with everyone else who is involved in celebrating the
achievements that have been made over the years but also to join me in
committing themselves to working‑‑and I mean really working, not
just pretending some of these things do not exist. I mean, in a sincere and united way, to pull
together to help solve these problems.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Mrs. Carstairs: Madam Deputy Speaker, I had hoped that we
were going to keep this resolution today very clearly on topic, but because the
Attorney General (Mr. McCrae) has chosen to go into a number of areas, I think
it is appropriate that we respond to those things.
First and foremost, I would like to
address the issue that he raised with respect to the Indian Birch Reserve and
his concerns as to what may or may not‑‑or what has alleged to have
happened on that reserve. He is right
when he says that we must be concerned.
We must ensure that aboriginal women and children are protected. Therefore, I wonder why the Minister of
Justice did not respond to the request of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to
hold an independent inquiry. That is
what they asked. They too were concerned
about the number of allegations being made.
They too were concerned about the lack of protection for their women and
their children, and so they called for such an inquiry. The Attorney General turned down their request. Then he comes into this House today and
criticizes one chief in particular, but many chiefs in his other remarks, about
their failure to do anything when he is the one that refused their request.
Madam Deputy Speaker, one of the concerns
that we must all have with regard to the constitutional negotiations going on
at the present time is the protection of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
because the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is there primarily to protect the
vulnerable. Those who are not vulnerable
have always had protection. They protect
themselves. It is the vulnerable in society who do not have protection. That is what the charter, that was made a
part of our constitution in 1982, was supposed to protect and guarantee.
I attended a breakfast this morning for
the Legal Education and Action Fund, LEAF, an organization primarily of women
but of certainly some men who have chosen to fund an organization to take legal
challenges to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Almost all of the cases which they have taken, and I say almost all
because some of them indeed have been cases affecting men, but the vast
majority of those cases have been cases affecting women, women of colour, women
of aboriginal ancestry, to try and make the charter into a living document to
ensure the adequate protection of vulnerable women and children.
That is why I am very clearly on the
record, as is my party, of saying that the inherent right to self‑government
of our aboriginal people must be subject to the charter. I also agree that any distinct society
granted to the
* (1550)
Madam Deputy Speaker, there is much that
needs to be done in the whole field of domestic violence. Yes, it is true the government has addressed
some parts, but their response to the Pedlar report was like their response today,
on International Women's Day, to the aboriginal women's issues. They talk piously. They tell us what needs to be done, and then
they do not provide one cent of money to make sure that what they have said
needs to be done actually is done. There
is no point in talking about what needs to be done if you are in fact going to
not ensure that it happens.
In fact, Madam Deputy Speaker, it can be a
negative thing. It can give rise to expectations which are not met, and when
expectations are not met, a frustration level sets in. So by the use of pious phrases without the
implementation, you are in grave danger of giving rise to those expectations
and then watching those expectations go splat on the ground.
I would like to talk about a number of
things in the Pedlar inquiry today which the government has not indicated that
it is prepared to adjust and to address.
In income response, the Pedlar inquiry
says the following: It is recommended that Manitoba Family Services, Income
Security, increase the initial allowable stay for a woman at a shelter to 30
days from the current 10 days. While
that is in the Pedlar report, it is not a new recommendation. It has been around for a very long time. The reasons are really quite simple. When a woman has been badly assaulted,
physically and perhaps sexually, and in some cases both, she goes through an
adjustment period. Most experts will tell you that 10 days is woefully
inadequate in that adjustment period.
Within that 10 days not only does she have to find new accommodation for
herself and her children, she has to set up a support system. She has to hopefully obtain counselling, and
it cannot be achieved in 10 days. Anyone
involved in the shelter business in the
If the Attorney General wants to know of
something he should be addressing that he is not addressing, then have him look
at the income response section of his Pedlar report.
The Pedlar report goes on to say that it
is recommended that Manitoba Family Services, Income Security, implement a
policy of including the cost of telephone services as a basic need for victims
of domestic violence. It is not
considered a basic need in our social allowance system. Yet we have public relations campaigns, good
advertising campaigns, very good advertising campaigns, but what do they flash
on the bottom? The bottom of the ad
flashes a telephone number. If you are
on social assistance, Madam Deputy Speaker, and you do not have a telephone,
that telephone number is not of a great deal of value to you. The moment that you need the telephone the
most is the moment when the door is being banged down. It is the moment when perhaps the abuser has
walked out temporarily and you need to get to a telephone quickly. If you are on social assistance in the
They recommended in the Pedlar report also
under Income Support that transportation costs for women and their children to
attend shelters or emergency housing be covered by income security. That, too, is not covered. Can you imagine the dilemma faced by a woman
on welfare who is abused who has no money?
She has no money. There is no
cash in the house. I doubt if any of us
have experienced that. She needs to get
a cab to get to a shelter and she has no money.
That has not been addressed by this government, at least not to date.
The Pedlar report called for an
educational response in a number of areas.
The minister has indicated that they are prepared to move into an
educational response system for those working within the justice system, and
for that I congratulate him. He has also
indicated that there will be treatment for those who have been convicted of
abuse when they are incarcerated in provincial institutions, and for that I
also congratulate him. If we are
genuinely serious about turning the tide, then we have to change attitudes, and
we have to change attitudes among our children.
I was quite shocked just last week in
reading an article about the amount of physically violent action and word used
by young teenage boys against teenage girls.
One response was a young woman was standing apparently outside of a
cafeteria and the young man came up to her and said, I told you to stand in
front of your locker, as if she was to be ordered around by this young teenage
boy. Those are the attitudes which are
very prevalent out there.
I recommended to the Minister of Education
not once, not twice, but many times, and I will now recommend to this Minister
of Education (Mrs. Vodrey), that she take a very careful look at the Thumbs
Down program that has been written by the Canadian Teachers' Federation. It is not a curriculum that needs to be
rewritten. It is a curriculum that has
already been written. It is one that we
could impose within our school system without spending any money on writing a
curriculum. It is there. It is all ready to go. It is already in use in the
It deals with this very issue of how we
can create a climate in our school system to talk about attitudes towards
violence, to dialogue with young people about violence issues and to change
their attitudes before they become the perpetrators of domestic violence,
because we know sadly that children who have been abused, abuse. That is the tragedy. Unless we get to them when they are being
abused or shortly thereafter, the chances are excellent that when they grow up
they, too, will become child and wife abusers.
Pedlar recommends this. She says
that educational institutions in
Madam Deputy Speaker, the Minister of
Justice (Mr. McCrae) today got quite carried away with the word
"independent" justice system which I used, but to my understanding of
the aboriginal justice system that is what it would be, an independent justice
system. Why he thinks that is a brand
new word on the horizon, I am not sure.
* (1600)
I do indeed believe that we need an aboriginal
justice system in
The government introduced this resolution
today because it said that it believed that we needed to take action. Yes, we do need to take action, but that is
not what the government is doing. The
government is releasing press releases, the government is coming up with
policies, but the government is not specifically addressing the needs out there
as recommended by Pedlar herself. That,
Madam Deputy Speaker, concerns me very much.
There is a great deal of violence in our
society, much of it perpetrated against women.
Some of those statistics are indeed shocking, and I think they need to
be repeated today. One out of four
female children under the age of 12 will be sexually assaulted, 25 percent of
our young female population. One out of
10 women in our society will be assaulted by her spouse or her significant
other. One out of 10. We know the stresses and strains that create
it, but we also know that it crosses all socioeconomic lines. We do not know, by looking at the outside of
an individual, who may have been assaulted, and yet, if we ask enough
questions, we are shocked, because so many women never tell the truth about it.
I remember my own sister telling me that
the bruises on her arm were caused by the fact that she had fallen, only to
discover some six months later that she had been pushed into the stove by her
husband. I think everyone of us have had
experiences like that close to us. I
know some of the members on the other side have had experiences close to them
about a loved one who has been assaulted.
It is a common occurrence in families in
Yes, it is frequently more difficult in a
reserve situation, because everybody knows everybody else. It is more difficult in a rural community,
because everybody knows everybody else. Sometimes it is easier in a big city
because there is an anonymity attached, and therefore it is even more important
that we reach out to rural communities, and we reach out to aboriginal
communities and make sure that the services are there on site, to make sure
that when someone needs that help and support that that help and support will
be there for them.
The Justice minister today accused members
on this side of the House of trivializing‑‑trivializing‑‑and
he said that the New Democratic Party did not have the key to justice and
equity. I do not think they believe
that. Nobody has a key to anything. We
just have to hope at a given moment in time that movement is taken, policies
change, initiatives begin, so that the system through successive governments,
no matter what their political stripe, gets better and better, and there is
more equity, and there is more equality, and there is more opportunity for
those who have been hurt in our society.
Madam Deputy Speaker, domestic violence
occurs. We have to admit it; we have to
face it; we have to deal with it, but pious phrases will not do it. We need fundamental changes in the way we
deliver service, and let me take just one instance. Women say over and over again, and in fact
Dorothy Pedlar said it herself, that restraining orders are not worth the paper
they are written on. Well, maybe they
are, but as long as there is a perception that they are not, as long as various
agencies refuse to act on those restraining orders, then they are not worth the
paper they are written on.
The Attorney General knows of several
cases that I have raised with him of people who have tried to abuse the
restraining order in any way, shape, or form that they can. There has to be a clearly defined policy about
restraining orders that is uniform across the province. The Minister of Justice (Mr. McCrae) says
that he is going to work on that, but again some dollars must be provided so
that work happens.
If we are going to have a master computer
system which makes a restraining order against some individual instantly
available, then some dollars have to be found to put into that system, so that
they are there instantly. So, when an
RCMP officer wants to know about a situation, when a City of
While I agree in spirit with the motion
and the resolution proposed by the government, I move, seconded by the member
for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux), that the following words be added after the word
"abuse" in the last line:
"but this House regrets that this government has chosen not to
provide the appropriate resources to ensure Manitoba is truly a domestic
violence‑free zone."
(Mr. Speaker in the Chair)
* (1610)
Mr. Speaker: The honourable Leader of the second
opposition party has moved an amendment to the proposed resolution of the
honourable Minister of Justice. Her
amendment is indeed a complex matter and I will take this matter under
advisement to save the time of the House, and I will recognize whoever wants to
speak on the original resolution.
Ms. Becky Barrett (
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to speak to the
resolution put forward by the Minister of Justice (Mr. McCrae), supporting the
position adopted by the government of Manitoba in declaring Manitoba as a
domestic violence free zone where partner abuse is viewed as a criminal offence
and in adopting a tough stance against partner abuse. I would like nothing better than to be able
to stand here and say that yes, the official opposition can wholeheartedly
endorse this resolution. I would like
nothing better than to be able to say that.
However, I am not, in all good conscience, able to make that
statement. Nor is anyone else in the
official opposition caucus.
It is because, like so much that this
government has put forward, particularly in dealing with issues that relate to
women and children, that relate to the economic violence that is perpetrated
upon women and children and northerners and rural Manitobans and people in the
inner city in Winnipeg by this government and its federal counterparts; particularly
in light of the complete lack of concrete forward‑looking programs,
proposals and actions on the part of this government in dealing with these
issues, I and my colleagues are unable, regretfully, to respond in a positive
manner to this resolution.
The government has brought forward a very
general resolution speaking to the need to have a province that is violence
free, a violence‑free zone. Mr.
Speaker, the government has done, as I have stated earlier, virtually nothing
specifically to implement those high‑sounding phrases. The government does not even have as a
rationale for its lack of action, that there is no information, that there is
no research, that there are no suggested forms of action that could be taken. That is perhaps the most distressing part of
this whole process that we have been undertaking in this House and in this
province for the last four years.
When you are dealing, Mr. Speaker, with a
physical illness or a mental incapacity where we as a society do not understand
the causes and do not have a cure or even any palliative care that can be
offered to people, that is tragic. It is
very distressing for the people involved and for us as a society as a whole. In many of those cases, we are working day
and night on attempting to come up with solutions to these medical
problems. We hope that with additional
research and additional funds and support, we will be able to find cures or at
least assistance for some of these major medical problems. While it is a tragedy that individuals are
struck down by these problems, it is something that we cannot, with our limited
understanding, always find an answer to.
What is so really frustrating and
horrifying, Mr. Speaker, about this whole issue of domestic violence, about
support for women and children and families in this province is that we are not
in that situation. We are not at the
beginning of looking for results. We are
not at the beginning of looking for answers.
There are answers to be had.
There have been answers to be had for some time now. The women and the children and the families
of this province are being held hostage by this government's inaction in any
meaningful way on the issues that we are discussing here today and that we have
been discussing for years in this House, Mr. Speaker.
We have an enormous range and depth of
understanding of these issues. We know
many of the causes of domestic violence.
We know many of the causes of poverty, the economic violence it has
perpetrated on many Manitobans. We know
not only the causes but we have a large list of potential programs, initiatives
and ideas for ameliorating if not curing these major problems that are facing
Manitobans today. We know on this side
of the House, the government knows on the government side of the House, and
they choose not to listen. They choose
not to act.
* (1620)
Mr. Speaker, there are several very
detailed reports that have come out just in the last year dealing with these
issues. We have been discussing quite extensively the Pedlar report, which was
given to the Minister of Justice (Mr. McCrae) in August of last year. We also have the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry,
which was also given to the government last year. We have available to us the Social Planning
Council of Winnipeg proposal for a safer Winnipeg for women and children given
to the mayor and members of City Council and also to members of the Legislature
in November of last year. We also have a
large number of well‑informed, dedicated, competent caregivers in our community. We do have programs that work to alleviate
and hopefully prevent domestic violence, economic violence, social violence.
There is a vast reservoir of expertise in
this province that the government only has to call on. The government is choosing not to call on
that level of expertise. The government
is choosing not to listen to, not to take seriously the recommendations in its
own reports.
Mr. Speaker, when the Pedlar Commission
was announced by the Minister of Justice, he stated, and I would like to quote
here from his press conference:
Government action in the provision of vital support services, protection
of victims and the apprehension and rehabilitation of offenders is crucial.
We on this side of the House concur
completely with that statement. Those
are the major areas that the Pedlar Commission report addresses: vital support services; protection of
victims; apprehension of offenders; and rehabilitation of offenders. Now, the Pedlar report addresses very
carefully and extensively each of those four areas.
Also in his press release, the minister
stated that over half of the recommendations of the Pedlar report were either
completely implemented or on their way to being implemented. The concern of the community and the concern
of the people and women and children in
Those are the areas of vital support
services and the rehabilitation of offenders.
The government is making a beginning on protection of victims, not
nearly enough, but there is something happening there, and in the apprehension
of offenders through the provisions in the judicial system.
Well, Mr. Speaker, I say to you and to
members of the government opposite, that if we do not begin to address all of
the areas of the Pedlar report, we will end up no further ahead than we are
currently, and most likely will actually be further behind. As the Pedlar report states and as the
government members have also said, this is a problem and an issue that crosses
boundaries that must have complete and total community commitment to change.
Well, the community commitment to change
must begin with the people who have the ultimate responsibility and authority
and power to institute programs and policies and provide resources so that the
community commitment can actually be played out.
The idea that the government can just make
a presentation of a report after months and months of deliberation, can issue a
glowing press release and then do nothing, seems to be the modus operandi of
this government in many areas, but particularly in areas that deal with social
policy.
Effective social policy today requires an
activist government, and members of the government opposite, benches opposite,
have even stated that they believe that the best government is less
government. Well, in the area of social
policy, Mr. Speaker, it has been proven time and time again that the less
government is the worst government.
There must be a commitment on the part of the government to provide
adequate, effective, accessible resources for all people in the
(Mr. Marcel Laurendeau, Acting Speaker,
in the Chair)
The Minister of Justice (Mr. McCrae), in
his discussion about his motion, read from the Pedlar Commission report and
stated that, I quote: The consultations
made it clear that while the response of the justice system to domestic
violence is critical, the larger issue of the role of the community must be
addressed to achieve long‑term preventive measures.
I would like to continue to quote that
paragraph which the Minister of Justice did not conclude. That paragraph goes on to say: Without greater awareness at the community
level, along with concrete actions and initiatives, the justice system and
other crisis services will only continue to react after the occurrence of the
abuse in virtual isolation.
I stand here today, Mr. Acting Speaker,
stating very strongly that this government has not followed through on that
portion of the Pedlar report. There is
virtually no concrete action, no initiatives, no long‑range planning, no
additional resources into this enormously important area.
The Pedlar report talks about the need for
long‑term services for victims, their children and abusers. It talks about community‑based programs
for abusers that will allow for a longer‑term focus to assist them in
changing their behaviours and their attitudes and their values.
Again, the educational system has a major
role to play in the effective implementation of the recommendations of the
Pedlar Commission report.
This government has not apparently, by
anything that we can see so far, understood the fact that you cannot have an
effective service delivery system to assist victims and perpetrators of
domestic violence and other forms of social and economic inequities without the
inclusion of long‑term programs and working with all parts of the
community.
There does not appear to be a commitment
to deal effectively with domestic violence, which also is one of the major
components of the Pedlar Commission.
Quote: The need for a genuine
commitment to hold abusers accountable for their actions and to ensure that
appropriate services are available to abused women, children and abusers was a
predominant theme throughout the consultations.
This need must be met through the community.
The community, as defined by Ms. Pedlar in
her report, is a very inclusive term. It
does not only reflect the voluntary sector, it does not only reflect the
extragovernmental components of our system, it also very clearly states that
community includes the justice system, the social services system and the
education system. Without all of those
elements involved in the solution to the problems, the problems will only
continue to get worse.
Mr. Acting Speaker, the government has
chosen to date not to effectively involve the parts of the community that they
have ultimate responsibility for: the
education system, the social services system.
They are beginning on the justice system, but they have not begun to
address the middle‑ and long‑range goals that the Pedlar report
speaks to.
* (1630)
Finally, in my beginning remarks, Mr.
Acting Speaker, the resolution states that
I would state, Mr. Acting Speaker,
unequivocally, that to this point in time it not only appears to be nothing
more than rhetoric, but it is nothing more than rhetoric. This government has not shown its commitment
to dealing effectively and in a long‑term way with the issues of domestic
violence.
There are several major areas of medium‑
and long‑term recommendations by the Pedlar Commission that the
government has not begun to address. Now
the government did put together a working group. It did institute a very capable list of a
number of women in the province to work with the government in implementing the
Pedlar Commission recommendations.
Again, with a great deal of fanfare the government announced the names
of this volunteer component that would work with the government working group
on December 6, the second anniversary of the Montreal massacre.
Mr. Acting Speaker, it is only in the last
week to week and a half that the government working group has begun
meeting. The community group has not yet
had a chance to meet and talk with the government working group or the
ministers involved in the implementation of the Pedlar Commission
recommendations since early December.
Now to me when the Minister of Justice (Mr. McCrae) talks about
hypocrisy, in this particular context he knows very well of what he speaks,
because this appears on the surface to be an example of the most blatant kind
of hypocrisy, the most blatant kind of politicking, the most blatant kind of a
government announcement with absolutely no content to back it up.
Mr. Acting Speaker, we will await with
great anticipation the actual meeting together of this working group and the
community volunteers to begin the process of medium‑ and long‑term
application of the Pedlar Commission report.
Some of those medium‑ and long‑term
recommendations have been discussed by the Leader of the Liberal Party (Mrs.
Carstairs), particularly the income security recommendations. I think this area is a really good example of
a situation where we know what will help alleviate the problem. We know how to deliver the service that will
help alleviate the problem. We have a
pretty good idea about the impact of some of those services on helping
alleviate the problem. The only thing
that is missing is a political commitment to do something about it.
I would particularly like to discuss the
shelter allowance proposal. The
recommendation in the Pedlar Commission is that there be an increase in the
maximum allowable stay in shelters from 10 days to 30 days. It is a very simple recommendation, one that
anyone who has had the least bit of contact with the shelter movement, with the
whole abuse process and cycle, knows is the minimum that should be done in
alleviating the immediate concerns for women and children who are leaving
abusive situations. This government has
chosen not to act on that recommendation which would be very simple to
implement.
Again, the telephone as a basic need under
income security‑‑I will not speak long to that issue, because it
has been brought up on many occasions.
Again, it is an example where the government is saying we talk about the
need to help abused women and children, we talk about the need to provide
services and yet a very simple additional inclusion in the basic income
security manual is not occurring. This
government certainly knows how to change regulations as we have seen in the
change to The Child and Family Services Act, as we have seen in several other
instances by the government. They
certainly do know how to change laws and regulations, but they are choosing not
to do so.
The covering of transportation costs to
shelters for women and children and covering of transportation costs to
shelters for women and children on reserves, those are two really essential
components. The Minister of Family
Services (Mr. Gilleshammer), in our first Estimates process in the late fall of
1990, said to me, and I am paraphrasing here, we were discussing the need for
24‑hour fully staffed shelters throughout the province. The minister suggested that if there were
less than a full complement in a shelter that perhaps some staff could be sent
home, because they would not be needed at that time. When I asked the minister, what does a woman
do if she goes to one of those shelters and there are not staff available to
deal with her situation at that time.
The minister said, well, the family could go to another shelter which is
like only 30 or 40 miles away.
Mr. Acting Speaker, that whole concept or
the whole lack of understanding of what an adequate shelter system is all about
permeates this government's response to domestic violence. Shelters are not
fast‑food outlets. Shelters must
be staffed adequately 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, because no one knows
when a family is going to need the shelter services.
Another element to the fact, particularly
outside the city but even within the city, the transportation costs for a
family to go to a shelter‑‑a major component in why many families
actually do not access the shelter system.
They are trapped in their homes.
They have no financial means of getting to a shelter. That could mean less than $2 for a family to
go within the city of
There are many women who are completely
without financial resources. That is a
very classic way of an abusive partner to control a woman and her children is
to not give her any access to financial independence whatsoever. Particularly outside the city, Mr. Acting
Speaker, transportation becomes an almost unsurmountable difficulty for women
attempting to leave abusive relationships.
For the government not to have,
immediately upon the recommendation of the Pedlar Commission, instituted these
income response recommendations very clearly says to me, to my caucus
colleagues and I would venture to say to many of the women and children in
Manitoba and service providers in this province, that this government's
commitment to ending domestic abuse, to ending this cycle of violence, is less
than 100 percent.
* (1640)
Mr. Acting Speaker, one other area that is
of great concern to us on this side of the House in the Pedlar report is the
response to abusers. It is well known
that there are very few services in this province for abusers. Most abusers go in and out of the justice
system without having any contact with any kind of education or rehabilitative
support services at all. That is largely due to the fact that we have one
program in
That is virtually all that is available in
the
Again, Mr. Acting Speaker, it goes back to
my earlier comment. It is not that we do
not know what to do. It is not that we
do not have the skill and the understanding to make changes. It is just that we do not seem to have the
political will to do it.
An Honourable Member: Becky, speak for yourselves.
Ms. Barrett: I am speaking that the "we" in this
context is the government. I want to
make that very clear.
In the Pedlar report there is a
recommendation that an educational program for women who abuse their partners
be developed and this program be a component of services offered by probation
services. This recommendation I have
always found to be very interesting, because it recognizes the fact that the
long‑term services for abusers in particular are very understaffed and
underresourced. The Pedlar report states
that very clearly.
What the Pedlar report says is, because
those are understaffed what Pedlar was recommending is an educational program
involving no more than 10 sessions, which would enable intervention in many
more cases than at present. This
recommendation I have a great deal of trouble with, and I believe people who
provide services to abusers have probably found a great deal of problems with
as well. That is, that in 10 sessions
there is no way you can even begin to understand or to scratch the surface of
assisting a person who has been an abuser, who most likely was abused as a
child, to come to grips with what the problem is, an understanding of the
responsibility that that person has and for making changes that have any long‑term
effect.
In effect, Mr. Acting Speaker, this
recommendation is more harmful than not doing anything, in my opinion, because
if this program were implemented it would give women a false sense of security
that because their abusive partner had gone to a 10‑session program they
would be rehabilitated. This is false.
It will not happen. It is an
understanding on the part of the Pedlar report of an enormous problem and an
attempt to provide an intermediate solution, but it also says, in effect, that
the Pedlar report knows that the government is not going to do what the
government needs to do in implementing really long‑term change.
Mr. Acting Speaker, I know my time is
limited. I would like to make a few
final comments. I would also like to put
on the record my congratulations to the new head of Family Dispute Services in
the Department of Family Services, Ms. Marlene Bertrand, who has provided years
of extensive knowledge and understanding of the shelter movement. She began the shelter in
I would also like to respond to only two
of the comments that were put on the record by the Minister of Justice (Mr.
McCrae). The minister stated that he hoped, but he was not sure, the members on
this side of the House were concerned about the negative impact of abuse and
violence on aboriginal women and children, and questioning when are we going to
do something about abuse against aboriginal women.
Mr. Acting Speaker, the comments that were
put on the record by the Minister of Justice, I would like to respond to. We on this side of the House are very
concerned about the negative impact of abuse, physical, psychological,
emotional, sexual, economic and social, that has been perpetrated on aboriginal
women and children and many non‑aboriginal women and children in our
province today. I would like to turn the
question around to the Minister of Justice and ask the Minister of Justice when
he is going to do something about abuse against women and children. What he has
put on the record so far is certainly going to be cold comfort to the women and
children of
(Mr. Speaker in the Chair)
The public policy statement made today has
eight guiding principles. We have
absolutely no problem with supporting wholeheartedly those guiding principles,
but we put this government policy in line with the government policy statements
that have been made with the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, with the Pedlar
Commission report and in a larger context about issues dealing with women, the
Hay committee report and what do we see, Mr. Speaker? We see lots of rhetoric, lots of good guiding
principles, and virtually no action at all on these issues of vital importance
to all Manitobans.
* (1650)
So excuse us, Mr. Speaker, if we do not
quite stand up and unanimously, immediately fall all over ourselves in tugging
at our forelock and saying, yes, you have done a wonderful job, Mr. Justice
minister, because you have not, Mr. Justice minister; you have not, Minister
responsible for the Status of Women (Mrs. Mitchelson); you have not, Minister
of Family Services (Mr. Gilleshammer); you have not, Minister of Northern
Affairs (Mr. Downey); you have not, the First Minister (Mr. Filmon).
You have done an abysmal job of supporting
the women and children of this province.
We are prepared on this side of the House to support wholeheartedly
government initiatives that actually do something for the women and children of
We have also asked for independent
inquiries into a whole other set of problem situations that have arisen in this
government, in this community. We have
asked for years that recommendations be made public or, at the very least, be
given to the agencies when there have been inquiries arising out of problems in
service delivery, particularly as it deals with children, and are disturbed now
to find out that while those recommendations are now available in written form,
they are not always or even in a majority of cases given to in writing the
agencies where the problems occur.
In the last four years there have been
many instances where those recommendations and reports were given verbally to
agencies. I would suggest that that
means that is another example of this government saying one thing and doing
another, or this government's example of saying one thing and not doing
another. This government has a very poor
record when it comes to actual concrete proposals, programs, actions and
resources for services for women and children in this province, for services
for people on low incomes, for employment programs, for assisting families to
break the cycle of violence.
There is no excuse for it. We know what to do. We have people who can deliver those programs. We have structures in place to deliver those
programs tomorrow. We on this side of
the House will be looking with a great deal of interest to the budget that is
being brought down later this week. We
will not be the only people in this province who will be looking with a great
deal of interest to the budget that is brought down by the government this
week.
There are tens of thousands, if not
hundreds of thousands of Manitobans, who are desperate for some positive action
on the part of this government. They
have had four years of inaction. They have had four years of rhetoric, and they
are tired of it. They want action. We
demand action, and we will be holding this government accountable on behalf of
those tens and hundreds of thousands of Manitobans that this government refuses
to listen to.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker: Prior to recognizing the honourable member
for Wellington (Ms. Barrett), I had taken under advisement an amendment moved
by the honourable Leader of the second opposition party (Mrs. Carstairs),
seconded by the honourable member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux), to be added
after the word "abuse" in the last line, "but this House regrets
that this government has chosen not to provide the appropriate resources to ensure
Manitoba is truly a domestic violence‑free zone."
After perusing our Rule Book and
Beauchesne's, I find that the honourable member's amendment is in order.
I would just like to remind the honourable
minister that she will be speaking to the amendment.
Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson
(Minister responsible for the Status of Women): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand in the
House today on a day where government has recognized the women of Manitoba and,
indeed, the women throughout our country and our world on the achievements that
they have obtained and will continue to look forward to better years to come as
women take their rightful place as equal members of society.
I speak with some sense of disappointment,
I suppose you might say, with members of both opposition parties when they have
chosen not to recognize and not to agree that
I find that somewhat disappointing because
on a day when we should be recognizing and celebrating women's achievements and
looking towards the future and trying to make positive things happen for the
women throughout our province, we have two opposition parties who have stood
here in this House and indicate clearly that they do not support declaring
Manitoba as a domestic violence‑free zone where partner abuse is viewed
as a criminal offence.
They have stood up here in this House and
we have listened for several hours now to debate and both opposition parties
have come forward and indicated no support.
I have real problems, and I think the women in
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for St. James, on a
point of order.
Point of
Order
Mr. Paul Edwards (St.
James): I just wanted to reflect on the minister's
comments and in particular mention that the amendment you have indicated is in
order does say that the appropriate resources should be allocated to ensure
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for St. James does not
have a point of order. It is a dispute
over the facts.
* * *
Mrs. Mitchelson: Mr. Speaker, I take some offence at the member
for St. James commenting on my interpretation of the amendment and my interpretation
of where the Liberal Party is coming from, not being able to support the
resolution and having to amend that resolution.
I think that we have not only today in our
celebration of International Women's Day but also in our introduction of a policy
for aboriginal women‑‑and I have to say it is the first policy as
such by a province throughout our country.
I know that my time is very short right now, and I know that I have
several minutes this evening to get into a full and detailed explanation of our
consultation with the aboriginal women community on the aboriginal women's
policy.
I listened with great interest to the
Leader of the Liberal opposition (Mrs. Carstairs) in her response to the
aboriginal women's policy and her complete lack of understanding. I am sure she did not consult with one
aboriginal woman before she made her comments here in the Legislature
today. She stood up and spoke from her
tongue without even understanding where the aboriginal women in this province
are coming from. She did a great
disservice, Mr. Speaker, to those women.
Mr. Speaker: Order, please. I am interrupting the honourable
minister. The hour being 5 p.m., when
this matter is again before the House, the honourable minister will have 35
minutes remaining.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (
Mr. Speaker: Is it the will of the House to waive private
members' hour? Is there leave of the
House to waive private members' hour?
Some Honourable Members: No.
Mr. Speaker: No.
Leave is denied.
The hour being 5 p.m., it is time for
Private Members' Business.
PRIVATE
MEMBERS' BUSINESS
PROPOSED
RESOLUTIONS
Res. 4‑Reproductive
Health
Mr. Speaker: Resolution 4, Reproductive Health, standing
in the name of the Speaker will remain standing.
Res. 7‑Domestic
Violence
Mr. Speaker: And in its position Resolution 7, Domestic
Violence, standing in the name of the honourable member for Fort Garry (Mrs.
Vodrey).
Prior to calling Resolution 8, our Rules
22(4) where the resolution of a member other than a resolution for an Order for
Return or an Address for Papers is reached for the first time on the Order
Paper during private members' hour, if the member is not present or does not
proceed with the resolution at that time, the resolution shall be placed on the
Order Paper at the bottom of the list of the resolutions of that type. That is exactly what is happening with this
one.
* (1700)
Res. 8‑Safety
on PTH 101
Mr. Edward Helwer
(Gimli): Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the member
for Sturgeon Creek (Mr. McAlpine),
WHEREAS the Minister of Highways and
Transportation officially opened the Perimeter interchange north and south‑bound
over PTH 101; and
WHEREAS the new interchange will make
travelling much safer for the transportation industry and for Manitobans who commute
to and from
WHEREAS the stretch of road where the
interchange is presently situated has had 142 accidents over the last 10 years;
and
WHEREAS the interchange allows for the
free flow of traffic along the
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba encourage the continuation of partnerships
between municipal and provincial governments in their continual efforts to
upgrade
Motion presented.
Mr. Helwer: Mr. Speaker, it is a real pleasure for me to
rise this afternoon and speak to this resolution. The No. 7 interchange at Highway 101 that I
spoke about in the resolution, construction was started back in September of
1988. We were elected to government in
April of 1988, and in September our Minister of Highways started construction
on the overpass which included north‑bound and south‑bound lanes to
add to the four‑lane section of Highway 7 which goes out to Stonewall.
It actually took three years, but finally
in October of 1991, I had the pleasure with the honourable Minister of Highways
and Transportation, Mr. Driedger, and also with the honourable Minister of
Natural Resources, the Honourable Harry Enns, and myself, we were glad to take
part in the opening of this interchange at Highways 7 and 101. This serves the people north of
The traffic on this route has increased
dramatically over the last six years and the average daily car count now is
9,700 cars a day, which is one of the busiest highways in
An Honourable Member: No,
Mr. Helwer: I am not sure about that, but you have had an
interchange on
In the 10 years preceding the overpass
there, we have had 142 accidents and there have been six people killed at that
intersection, so this is just how important to Manitoba and to the Interlake
area the interchange is, and the priority that our Minister of Highways and
Transportation (Mr. Driedger) puts on the safety of our roads in the
construction.
(Mr. Marcel Laurendeau, Acting Speaker,
in the Chair)
As a matter of fact, I have a quote from
the Minister of Highways and Transportation that was in a magazine that he
wrote on Manitoba heavy construction and he says: The safety, quality, and cost effectiveness
are the goals of the Manitoba government's highway program; fiscal
responsibility and a well‑maintained infrastructure are both a priority
and a challenge for our government.
That is a quote from our minister and he
knows what is going on when it comes to highways. He does an excellent job and we are really
pleased to see Highway 7 and that interchange.
Also, just a little more about highways
and some of the things north of
Yes, I am going to mention that, the toll
bridge too, the toll booth.
Just to emphasize how important is the
safety of our roads, back in 1989 about a year after we were elected to
government, I had the member for Lac du Bonnet (Mr. Praznik) go out to an event
in Gimli for me while I was away on holidays.
On the way back from Gimli, the member for Lac du Bonnet, the Honourable
Darren Praznik, had an accident at the two‑lane section of McPhillips and
just inside the Perimeter. They wrote
off his car and luckily he was not injured or anything‑‑
An Honourable Member: He did not tell us?
Mr. Helwer: He did not tell us. That is right. He had a real serious accident. He is lucky he was not hurt actually. His new car was written off.
An Honourable Member: It cost him two merits.
* (1710)
Mr. Helwer: No, it was not his fault. Someone pulled over on his side of the road
and he hit the people. That is how
important the four‑lane road is for safety and at the present time on
Highway 7, on Route 90 between
I just wanted to mention, one of the
councillors from the City of
An Honourable Member: Spending money.
Mr. Helwer: Spending money, we want to spend our money in
An Honourable Member:
Mr. Helwer: That is right.
Toll roads I think would be a very backward, very negative approach to
take to things. Certainly, I hope‑‑[interjection]
The funny part about all the city councillors, and the 29 of them, not one
spoke out against it, so obviously they must all agree. That is unfortunate. I do not know where their thinking is coming
from.
Here we are in
How can we expect companies to come and
locate in
We want to work together, this government
and the City of
We have many programs. One of the things is the driver training
program that we teach in our schools that the Department of Education and
Training has for our high school students.
This is an excellent program. I
know, my children have gone through this program, and certainly this is a great
program. I think it not only teaches the
students how to drive but also defensive driving. I think that is important‑‑[interjection]
Certainly it is important, especially in
rural areas. When the kids want to come
to
The other thing is the factor of safety
belts. I was not always a proponent of
safety belts, but I really feel now that since I have seen some accidents
whereby seat belts have really saved lives‑‑as a matter of fact, I
can relate an accident a couple of years ago that my own children were involved
in where they were not seriously injured at all, even though the car was
written off, it was because they had safety belts on.
I think the information we have, the seat
belt program has been excellent, and I hope we can continue to use them and
keep them in
An Honourable Member: Are we going to abolish seat belts?
Mr. Helwer: No, we are not. Also, another item that we consider a safety
item‑‑just recently the Highway Traffic Board in their wisdom have
decided to make the section of road on Highway 7 at the number 67 junction to
have a mile there of 80 kilometres. I
think this is a step in the right direction.
At that corner, there have been a lot of accidents. I know, I travel that road every day, and it
is a dangerous section of Highway 7.
Just a year ago actually, during the
election of '90, there was a very serious accident where three of my
constituents, three people from the Teulon area, were killed
unfortunately. There have been many
accidents there, and I think slowing it down to 80 kilometres on that section
would certainly be an improvement, even though we know that on a four‑lane
road everyone wants to travel 100 kilometres.
I think to slow down for 80 kilometres for a mile section there is
certainly not going to create any hazard or any problem for people. It might make them a minute or so later, but
they would make that up with the new overpass anyway, because that certainly
saves a lot of time for me when I come into
Another place where we opened an overpass
last year is on the
An Honourable Member: Safety.
Mr. Helwer: Safety.
There is another safety factor, right‑‑on 240. That is another big improvement to our
highway system. I know our minister is
working very diligently on Highway 75 to the border to hook up to Interstate
29.
An Honourable Member: To bring in those American tourists and
American dollars.
Mr. Helwer: That is important: to bring in American tourists, to bring in
tourists. A lot of Manitobans use that
road also. That is important, and I hope the minister puts a priority on that
construction and gets that done as soon as possible, because that is certainly
an addition to Manitoba that we have been looking forward to for a long time.
An Honourable Member: The city has to do their portion.
Mr. Helwer: That is right. There again, on the south end of the city,
there is a portion through St. Norbert there that belongs to the city of
I know another safety factor at the border
that the minister is working on, and that is the relocation of the scale there
and the redirection of the four‑lane highway where it comes into
Interstate 29. That is certainly going
to be a big improvement safety‑wise, and a big improvement for the people
of
Another program, I think, that serves the
people of
I know when I was the mayor of Teulon, we
used this program very extensively, and the towns and the communities still
do. It is a good program, excellent,
whereby we pay 50 percent of the market roads.
This is of the main highways coming into or out of a town or
village. This is also another safety factor
in that it improves the safety for drivers and motorists in
So I just want to commend our minister and
our government in closing, Mr. Acting Speaker, that I think we have made a lot
of big improvements to the roads in
Thank you.
Mr. John Plohman
(Dauphin): Mr. Acting Speaker, it is interesting to see
the member for Gimli bringing forward this resolution this afternoon, which
deals with a very narrow portion of the Highways department's responsibilities
in this province. It does not consider many other actions that the government
has taken. It has armed municipalities
in particular, and the province in general, with regard to the Department of
Highways and Transportation over the last number of years that this minister
has been in office in this province.
Now, Mr. Acting Speaker, I think that the
member for Gimli should have used a little broader interpretation of what is a
successful program by this minister before he brought forward this
resolution. So we will be looking at
some amendments to it. I want to
highlight a few major points that I believe this minister should be chastised
on, and should be brought to his attention because they are very important.
While the one aspect dealing with the
interchange is a positive development, the minister, at the same time, to find
the money for that, has off‑loaded some 2,000 kilometers of provincial
roads onto municipalities. He has done
this in a unilateral way. He did not say
to the municipalities, we would like your input into making this kind of
decision. He simply made a decision and
said, you are going to have these roads.
You are going to have 2,000 kilometres of roads.
* (1720)
Now, I have to say, Mr. Acting Speaker,
that there was some flexibility in the political envoy that was sent out to do
the job of consulting with the municipalities, the former member for Swan River
for the Conservative caucus, Mr. Doug Gourlay, did, in fact, discuss some of
the things and did renege on some of the old conceived decisions that were made
by this minister initially. He did back
off a bit on those, and the minister may want to take some credit for that. Of course, with regard to the
As I said earlier, the member for Gimli
(Mr. Helwer) did not even mention that.
I thought that he, in defending his municipalities in this area, should
have at least mentioned that in his speech.
He should have also considered that the bridge program which this
minister put in place, the Municipal Bridge Assistance Program, which was much
needed, put in place for only two years and then slashed it from his program
again. That was not mentioned by the
member for Gimli either. Why did they not
mention that this Minister of Highways and Transportation (Mr. Driedger) first
identified a need, said it was important and backed off and said that program
is going to be cut.
Meanwhile, a municipality in my
constituency, the R.M. of
In addition to that, the minister has
slashed the grant‑in‑aid program.
One part of the capital program for Highways and Transportation is grant‑in‑aid
to municipalities. The grant‑in‑aid program has been slashed by
some 34 percent in this last fiscal year.
Who knows how much more by this minister, in the same callous fashion in
the next budget that is coming up in a couple of days, how much more will it be
slashed? Grant‑in‑aid has been cut to a point where if it was not
so serious, it would be a joke by most towns and villages. They cannot access it any more. There is nothing there. There is not enough to go around to even do
one meaningful project in most communities.
There is nothing left there and the minister knows that. I know he is embarrassed about it.
He is going to have to cut it right out,
so they will not even see it in a line in the budget, or else he is going to
have to substantially increase that budget beyond where it was even when he cut
34 percent out this past year. Again,
the member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer) did not even mention that in his resolution.
I do not know why he is ignoring these serious points, major cuts, hurt to his
own constituency. He ignores those and
he talks about a multimillion dollar interchange.
I thought he would have also talked about
where the rest of the money is going, to assist trans‑border shopping
down to the
The Minister of Industry, Trade and
Tourism (Mr. Stefanson) is going down there to see about postal services. I am sure the Minister of Industry, Trade and
Tourism spends a lot of time driving down and recruiting people and businesses
for the postal service. He obviously
wants to see what the possibilities are down there, so he likes to see this
four‑lane highway down to the
Why will this minister not announce such
an agreement? Why can he not work with
his federal counterparts on a national highways program? Those are some of the major failures of this
minister after four years in office. We
would think that if the member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer) wanted to at least put a
balanced position before this House, he would have brought those points out
clearly when he moved his resolution. It
is unfortunate that he has missed those major points.
Of course, he did not mention Highways 8
and 9. What about to Selkirk, one of the
most dangerous highways, Highway No. 9? The Selkirk corridor study was
completed when we were in government.
This government has failed to implement any of it. Highway No. 9, an
undivided four‑lane highway, one of the most dangerous highways that can
exist, and this minister has not done anything on that particular highway in
the last number of years.
I point out, Mr. Acting Speaker, in my
most diplomatic way possible, that this minister has failed in regard to his
job as Minister of Highways and Transportation, and he should not forget that
when we were in government that his responsibility in Highways and
Transportation goes well beyond just building highways. Transportation, rail and road and air are all
of his responsibility and, of course, the
We had an agreement for $93 million over
five years with the federal government, $58 million of which was provincial
money; over $10 million a year, in addition to the Highways budget, went into
the Churchill agreement, which was necessary for rolling stock to be insured
for the port, to upgrade facilities there. We were working together with the
federal government to ensure that there was a future for Churchill. That is something that this government has
failed to do, and we see it in the results insofar as the throughput, insofar
as grain throughput at that port over the last four years that this Conservative
government has been office.
Mr. Acting Speaker, I wish to move an
amendment to this resolution. I move,
seconded by the member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton),
THAT the resolution be amended by
substituting all words after the first WHEREAS with the following:
the Department of Highways has by
government policy offloaded some 2,000 kilometres of provincial roads onto
various
WHEREAS the union of Manitoba
Municipalities has called on the provincial government to rescind its
unilateral policy of offloading provincial roads onto the municipalities; and
WHEREAS the budgets of the various
WHEREAS the provincial Department of
Highways and Transportation has slashed its Municipal Bridge Assistance program
by some $200,000 or 40 percent during the current budget year; and
WHEREAS the provincial Department of
Highways and Transportation has cut its financial aid to villages by some 34
percent or $500,000; and
WHEREAS all modes of transportation
including road, rail and air are important to the economy of this province.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the
Legislative Assembly encourage the provincial Department of Highways and
Transportation to restore these programs and to play a financial role in all
modes of transportation in
Motion presented.
* (1730)
Mr. Edward Connery (
Mr. Acting Speaker, I sat in this House
when the member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman) was the Minister of Highways, and I
can tell you if you want to see a contrast between ministers that is pretty
graphic. When you go from one of the
worst Ministers of Highways to one of the best ones we have had, it is pretty
graphic to members of this House what an improvement it has been since this
government took office.
Mr. Acting Speaker, the former minister,
the member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman), when he was Minister of Highways, his
department was putting toxic and hazardous waste in local dumps. I remember the
article in the paper and they had rousted this out and so they questioned him
on it. He said, I did not know. Well, I
guess he could be called the "Minister of I‑did‑not‑know
Highways," as he did not know what was happening in his department.
One can remember the road to the
Waterhen. Sure, the people in the
Waterhen are very happy that they got a paved road there, but how many people
does it serve in the sense of all of the people who require upgrading of
highways throughout this province? I
guess it is no surprise that we would find out that the member for Dauphin (Mr.
Plohman) had a cottage at the Waterhen.
Now I am sure that was not the reason he would have paved the road to
the Waterhen, but just by coincidence the member had a cottage at the Waterhen.
It is also interesting to note that he was
the minister when they built "the bridge to nowhere." That was very interesting to have been a
backbencher in opposition‑‑
An Honourable Member: There was the bridge over the River Kwai and
there was the bridge to nowhere.
Mr. Connery: The bridge over the River Kwai and the bridge to
nowhere. Yes, that makes sense, as the
member for Interlake (Mr. Clif Evans) says.
Mr. Acting Speaker, I remember sitting as
an opposition member and listening to the Minister of Highways being questioned
over this bridge to nowhere. It started
off at somewhere around $10 million, and it ended up at $20 million. Somebody said to him, why did it cost $20
million?
He said, they built it too low. They built it too low. Well, what did they
mean by building it too low? There is
the Minister of Highways, they plan a bridge, and they did not even know they
were building a bridge over a navigable waterway. They built it; they planned it too low.
Then when they raised it up in the air,
now, of course, it was a way, way up in the air, and they had to put all kinds
of extensions to it so they get on and off.
I remember the previous member for Minnedosa asking the then minister if
they were going to catapult the cars off the bridge to get them to the other
side. It caused for a lot of humorous
debate in this Legislature.
I think maybe he had some one‑legged
ducks and one‑winged ducks that could not swim, so they had to get a bridge
for them over from Libau.
Mr. Acting Speaker, the safety of highways
is important, and as the member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer) spoke about the overpass
at Highway 7, yes, very important to have the safety of people going down the
overpass.
Highway 101 has a little bit of special
significance to me, because we started growing vegetables in
I can remember that, when they first
opened that bypass, that was really something to whip around there to get out
to
The member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman)
criticizes this government for their thrust on trying to complete the twinning
of Highway 75 to Emerson. Let it be said
that we need tourism in this province, Mr. Acting Speaker.
The previous government did nothing for
tourism, and I also say that we have to do more to develop tourism. One of the ways to develop tourism is having
a decent highway for people to come up into
The member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton) is
not concerned about the twinning of Highway 75.
He should be, because it brings Americans up into this province and they
spend their dollars. They come up into the North. They go fishing on our beautiful lakes. They spend money in
It is also curious, Mr. Acting Speaker,
that we have Gloria Mendelson, an NDP member, suggesting that they have tolls
for rural people coming into
(Mr. Speaker in the Chair)
So we would do it all in rural
Mr. Speaker, it is quite enjoyable
sometimes making speeches to these resolutions when you get a lot of assistance
from members on our side and assistance from members on the other side.
We do have at Portage la Prairie, as
mentioned by the member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer), a new overpass that I had the
pleasure of opening last October 9, about a $10‑million federal‑provincial
program, part of the Yellowhead $50 million, I think it was, that was a joint
funding with the federal, provincial governments that was signed when the member
for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman) was the minister, I acknowledge that. We now have that overpass completed.
Mr. Speaker, I have to compliment the
Minister of Highways (Mr. Driedger) and the Premier (Mr. Filmon) for having
that project go forward. If you remember
when the air base at
The member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer) talks
about safety and I have a couple of incidents that took place at that particular
intersection before the overpass was in.
One morning on my way to work at the farm,
which is on the other side of the overpass, south of the
* (1740)
Mr. Speaker, I must compliment the
Minister of Highways (Mr. Driedger) for continuing on with Highway 227, which
is a branch off of the northern Perimeter route for people who are heading
west. To go around
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about safety,
and we talk about overpasses and highways, I am sure there are some of the PSAC
members that cross over those intersections.
Members of the opposition are very familiar with Daryl Bean and his
treatment of people in the Civil Service, people involved in the provincial
Civil Service.
An Honourable Member: Nobody out here has ever met them.
Mr. Connery: The member for Flin Flon (Mr. Storie) says he
has never met them, but then why do they do call people they have not met,
brother? This is the way they call each
other. So, for the NDP, it is brother
Daryl Bean. Now in the sense of safety,
what did Daryl Bean write to three grandmothers? He said, after God had finished the
rattlesnake, the toad and the vampire, he had some awful stuff left with which
he made a scab. A scab is a two‑legged
animal with a corkscrew soul, a waterlogged brain and a backbone of jelly and
glue. Where others have hearts, he carries
a tumour of rotten principles. No man
has a right to scab as long as there is a pool of water to drown his carcass in
or a rope long enough to hang his body with.
While we are looking for safety on our
highways, members opposite, members of the NDP party, support people like Daryl
Bean who threatened people from their own union, grandmothers, men and women,
and that to me is despicable on their part.
Mr. Speaker, the member for St. James (Mr.
Edwards) wanted to put a few words on the record. I want to say that this Minister of Highways
(Mr. Driedger), who we have continuing on with a hundred‑million‑plus
dollars for highway construction where the previous government, the NDP, had
lowered it down into around 80‑million a year. It was dropping like a stone. If they had stayed in power, we would be
lucky if we were building any highways at all.
I want to say, I want to compliment this minister and this government in
their highways program. Thank you very
much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Paul Edwards (St.
James): I am very pleased to rise and speak on this
resolution brought forward by the member for Gimli (Mr. Helwer), which raises
an important issue, I think, for many Manitobans and I am sure in particular
members of his constituency, but indeed all of ours. I intend to be short, because I know others
want to add their comments, in particular I note the member for St. Norbert
(Mr. Laurendeau) may want to put some comments on the record.
I have listened closely to the sponsor's
comments in this regard and those of my colleagues, even though they have
digressed, I am sure they would even admit, slightly from the subject matter
which we are here to deal with.
Mr. Speaker, I must say that I am pleased
to see that this interchange has been upgraded.
I acknowledge the human cost, the human tragedy, not to mention the
property damage that is caused by ill‑conceived, and therefore very
dangerous interchanges as this was. I
simply note for the record and for the minister that I am sure each of us in
our constituencies has interchanges, or highways, roads, that we know to be
tragic areas, areas that could be improved.
I want to bring to the Legislature's
attention again, and I have done it through a petition previously‑‑I
know members from the St. James‑Assiniboia area will also be familiar
with the terrible rate of tragedy that is experienced on Sturgeon Road in St.
James‑Assiniboia. It is a
situation long overdue for rectification, and the provincial government does
have a role to play. I have put a
petition on the record, signed by many hundreds of people. It was sponsored initially by the former
member for Sturgeon Creek, Ms. Iva Yeo.
She brought it forward; I have continued that work.
I hope that the members from that area
have not lost sight of the importance of dealing with that issue in that area,
because it, too, warrants some immediate action in terms of rectifying what we
all know to be‑‑those of us who know the area‑‑a
consistently tragic, a consistently sad scene of many, many accidents on a
regular basis. They happen literally
with very predictable regularity.
Anybody who lives in the area knows that week in, week out these
accidents occur. Sometimes people get
hurt and sometimes they do not, and sometimes people get killed. I suspect
that, when the member who sponsors this resolution came forward with a 142
accidents over the last 10 years, people lost their lives.
We cannot make every road a superhighway,
and we would not want to. We do not
suggest that there is no limit to the amount that we can spend; we cannot do
that. We understand that we have to
prioritize, but we hope that the prioritization is done first and foremost on
the grounds of safety. I know that the
minister would agree with me on that, that we look at the safety of those who
use the roads first and foremost. Of
course, a lot of that has to do with the extent to which certain roads are
used.
The roads in the case of provincial trunk
Highway 101 on the perimeter, there is a relatively high level of use. While these interchanges are welcome, I know
from living in the city and taking that
I think the member for
You will look long and hard, Mr. Speaker,
before you find a province, a region in this world that has more to offer in
terms of natural beauty and also in terms of developed sites, resorts. The
service industry here has more to offer, I believe, than most locations on the
face of this globe, so we are starting from an enormous advantage in this
province. It has been a consistent
frustration to me and, I think, to many of us here, that we are not doing
more. We seem to not be able to do more
to not only hold our own people to vacation here, but attract others. A part of that we cannot do much about. For instance, I was speaking to an American
just over the weekend who was telling me he used to come here‑‑he
was from the state of Minnesota‑‑to fish regularly. He does not come anymore. I asked him why. He said there are two reasons. One is he finds it too expensive. He can go other places, and it is less
expensive. Secondly, he was critical of
our service industry.
I do not intend to lump all of the service
industry and the hotel owners and everything else into the same framework. I know we have some work to do in terms of
better preparing our service industry to deal with tourists who come here
willing, I think, to spend the money that it takes to take advantage of what we
offer, but they do want a high level of service. It is a competitive environment out there. I do not think I have to tell the minister
that when you are competing for tourist dollars the standards are very high.
* (1750)
As I say, we start from a great advantage
in this province with our natural resources and our lakes and the events that
we hold, the multicultural events that we offer, the diversity of things that
are offered in this city and around this province. We have an enormous amount
to offer. Why are we not maximizing
it? It is a constant source of
frustration, I know, to myself and members of my party that we are not doing
that.
Mr. Speaker, just on that note, I think
that the service industry to my knowledge is making efforts to improve the
situation. They recognize they are
functioning at a detriment in terms of cost.
There are certain things like the GST we just cannot do anything
about. Costs are higher here, taxes are
higher. You have to then charge the
tourists more money. There is only so
much you can do about that.
They are, I think, recognizing that we
need training programs, perhaps accreditation programs, with respect to those
in the service industry that ensure as much as possible that we offer the
highest level of service to potential tourists.
It has been my experience as a tourist,
and I think it is the same with others, that people will try a place once, and
if you do not impress them then, you will never see them again. First impressions are extremely important in
tourism. You want people to come and
want to come back to
I saw an ad on TV about
We have so much more to offer than the
state of
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member for
bringing this resolution forward. I want
to add our support for that upgrading. I
do however want to express to the minister that we look for a consistent policy
of highway development. I know that he
has on occasion suggested toll roads, and I must acknowledge he retracted from
that awfully quickly. I recall the day
he said it, and I think it was a matter of hours before he retracted that. Maybe it did not even last an hour. So to his credit, he had an idea. Unfortunately, he said it before he perhaps
reflected enough, but he was quick to retract and back up and that was the
credible thing to do. Perhaps he had no
choice, but I like to believe that he did have a choice and he just made the
right choice. In any event, I am sure
there was a flurry of phone calls when he suggested toll roads, but I think he
came to his senses and pulled back from that.
We certainly join with that, I do not think we do want to put toll roads
into place as was suggested and has recently been suggested by the NDP
councillor in City Hall, Ms. Mendelson.
In any event, Mr. Speaker, I do note that
others want to speak, and again I look forward to the Department of Highways
and Transportation Estimates in which we will go over in more detail the many
projects which the department is undertaking.
We will look for a consistent approach which puts the safety of the
travelling public first in this province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Marcel Laurendeau
(St. Norbert): Mr. Speaker, I do have to stand and just put a
couple of words on the record after this amendment that was brought forward by
the honourable member for Dauphin (Mr. Plohman).
I was really happy to see how the member
for Dauphin supported the initiatives of the government with the extension of
(Mr. Jack Penner, Acting Speaker, in the
Chair)
This government has committed, Mr. Acting
Speaker, to the widening of the
This government made the commitment back
in 1990, Mr. Acting Speaker, to see that went forward. Only, the City of
Mr. Acting Speaker, the jobs that are
created by the Highways and Transportation department in this province, by our
minister, are very important to the community of
I mean, they built the bridge and for
years I went out there just to see this bridge somewhere around Selkirk,
somewhere, and it went over the river but it had nowhere to go. It seems something that the NDP party was
headed in the right direction, because they are always going over the river but
never knew what direction to take after that, always lost their direction.
Point of
Order
Mr. Jerry Storie (Flin
Flon): The rules of Beauchesne clearly directs each
speaker to each resolution and each motion before this House to be
relevant. The member for St. Norbert
(Laurendeau) in implying somehow that a bridge to nowhere had been built in
Selkirk, when the mayor, who was a Tory candidate, clearly chastised every Tory
for making that bridge‑‑
The Acting Speaker (Mr.
Penner): The honourable member does not have a point
of order.
* * *
Mr. Laurendeau: As I was stating, I do believe the Honourable
Mr. Plohman was the Minister of Transportation at the time that highway to
nowhere was built and the highway to nowhere with a bridge to nowhere. I do not know where this member gets his
information from to write motions like this, but I really do think that this
member should go to his researchers and try and get some straight facts. He is coming up with items here that do not
make any sense whatsoever.
They do fall within the prevalence of
where the‑‑[interjection] Boy, did he. I do have to say, that even though it was
very close to the wire, I think that this should have almost been considered a
little further away, but we do have to rule it in order because of where it was
coming from. [interjection] I am questioning my own ruling on this one, Mr.
Acting Speaker.
Mr. Acting Speaker, there is another
project that I would like to see brought forward in the near future. In St. Norbert we have what is called the
Brady landfill which will, in the near future, be the only landfill for the
city of
Some Honourable Members: Spend, spend, spend.
Mr. Laurendeau: It is not spend, spend, spend, as the NDP
state it is, Mr. Acting Speaker. It is
job creation when job creation is necessary.
These are true jobs, it is not just painting signs, as the NDP
government did. This is job creation in
the true fact, the true fact of job creation.
You are going out and you are getting something for those dollars, not
just a bunch of painted green signs.
Thank you, Mr. Acting Speaker.
The Acting Speaker (Mr.
Penner): The hour being 6 p.m., in accordance with the
rules, I am leaving the Chair and will return at 8 p.m.