Wednesday, September 20, 1995

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA

Wednesday, September 20, 1995

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

PRAYERS

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

PRESENTING PETITIONS

Federal Immigration Policies

Mr. George Hickes (Point Douglas): Madam Speaker, I would like to present the petition of Josefina Bundoc, Henry Tang, Jannie Tang and others requesting the Government of Canada to cancel fee increases and instead institute policies that will encourage immigration to Manitoba.

READING AND RECEIVING PETITIONS

Federal Immigration Policies

Madam Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the honourable member (Mr. Santos), and it complies with the rules and practices of the House. Is it the will of the House to have the petition read?

Some Honourable Members: Yes.

Mr. Clerk (William Remnant): The petition of the undersigned citizens of the province of Manitoba humbly sheweth that:

WHEREAS Manitoba has been immeasurably enriched socially, economically, and culturally by immigrants and their families; and

WHEREAS it was for this reason that successive provincial and federal governments have encouraged immigration to Manitoba; and

WHEREAS since 1993, the current federal Liberal government has reversed these policies by instituting a series of changes making immigration more difficult; and

WHEREAS the 1994 changes in quotas for family reunification class of immigrants were unfair and punitive; and

WHEREAS the fee increases for immigrants instituted in the 1995 federal Liberal budget are neither fair nor justifiable and border on racism; and

WHEREAS the new $975 fee being imposed on adult immigrants is more than many immigrants make in their home country in an entire year and will make it even more difficult for people from these countries to immigrate to Canada;

WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba may be pleased to request that the Government of Canada cancel these fee increases and instead institute policies that will encourage immigration to Manitoba.

* (1335)

TABLING OF REPORTS

Hon. Leonard Derkach (Minister of Rural Development): Madam Speaker, I would like to, first of all, table the Annual Report for the Manitoba Municipal Employees Benefits Board.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS

McCain Foods Expansion

Hon. Leonard Derkach (Minister of Rural Development): I have a statement for the House.

Madam Speaker, I rise this afternoon to congratulate McCain Foods for the decision to embark upon a major expansion of their potato processing plant in Portage la Prairie, which will have a major impact on the economy of both Portage and the province.

The company plans to invest almost $56 million over the next two years, with the possibility of additional expansion which will bring the total to $75 million.

Madam Speaker, McCain has shown a great deal of faith in Manitoba's ability to compete and to supply high-quality raw product to which to add value.

I would like to point out McCain looked at many different locations throughout North America for a location for their plant and chose Portage la Prairie and Manitoba because of our advantages, including, in the words of Arnold Park, the executive vice-president and general manager of McCain Canada, location, quality raw material available, superb workforce and our potato producers. Mr. Park also cited the support the company has received from the community and the government. This is a strong testimonial to Manitoba.

This plant will be the largest and the most modern in McCain worldwide operation. It will create hundreds of jobs during the construction phase and also create as many as 150 jobs within the plant, as well as creating potentially hundreds of spin-off jobs throughout the agricultural community. This project will make a significant positive impact on our province's already impressive record of exports to the United States.

This expansion, as well as an announced $18-million expansion at the Nestle-Simplot plant in Carberry will further fuel value-added processing and export growth, and that means even more jobs for Manitobans.

Madam Speaker, through these private-sector investments, Manitoba will continue to be a leader in job growth. We are the only province to record eight consecutive months of uninterrupted job growth in 1995, which gives us the highest level of employment since our all-time high in 1990.

Expansion within the agri-food industry in Manitoba is all the more important because of the need to diversify in light of recent federal government changes to agriculture, in particular as it relates to the cancellation of the Crow rate. Manitoba farmers are looking for ways to improve returns on their farming operations, and these projects provide that opportunity.

Madam Speaker, we are now seeing the benefits of a climate of opportunity provided by this government to make Manitoba an attractive place for investment and job creation. Almost every day we see new examples of companies putting their faith in Manitoba and in Manitobans, and we are all seeing the benefits. Thank you very much.

* (1340)

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, we would be pleased to join our voices with those of the government in welcoming the new employment opportunities in these two plants. We are always happy when there are new economic development and export opportunities for Manitobans.

Madam Speaker, we are, at the same time, deeply concerned that in a number of submissions to the Environment Commission and at hearings, in particular, I recall, on the diversion of the Assiniboine River, that our provincial departments have acknowledged that they do not have the staff nor the test wells to monitor adequately the Winkler or the Oak Lake or the other major aquifers, including the Carberry aquifer.

The drawdown rates of these aquifers are very significant, Madam Speaker, and we would like to see the government put in place sufficient measures that they can adequately monitor the drawdown rates and provide a really seriously examined sustainable development plan for that region of Manitoba. We do not want the Carberry desert to become the dominating feature of western Manitoba.

So I thank you for the opportunity to respond. We welcome the jobs. We are deeply concerned about the sustainability of the underlying water supplies which are so essential to the common methods of potato farming now used.