VOL. XLV No. 60 - 1:30 p.m., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1995
Wednesday, November 1, 1995
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Wednesday, November 1, 1995
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
PRAYERS
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTING PETITIONS
Emergency Health Care Services--Community Hospitals
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, I beg to present the petition of Chris Pawley, Sharon Overwater, Sergio Molina and others requesting the Legislative Assembly to request the Premier (Mr. Filmon) to consider maintaining 24-hour access to emergency health care at community hospitals, as was promised in the 1995 election.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I beg to present the petition of Lorrie Fry, Lynn Forbes, Joey McMillan and others requesting the Legislative Assembly urge the Minister of Health (Mr. McCrae) to consider making a commitment to the people of Manitoba that emergency health care services in Winnipeg's five community hospitals will remain open seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Mr. Daryl Reid (Transcona): Madam Speaker, I beg to present the petition of Don Krueger, Norm Franklin, Trevor Dysen and others requesting the Legislative Assembly to request the Premier (Mr. Filmon) to consider maintaining 24-hour access to emergency health care at community hospitals, as was promised in the 1995 election.
Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, I beg to present the petition of Diane Stepaniuk, Archie Orlikow, Walter Drewniak and others requesting the Legislative Assembly to request the Premier (Mr. Filmon) to consider maintaining 24-hour access to emergency health care at community hospitals, as was promised in the 1995 general election.
READING AND RECEIVING PETITIONS
Emergency Health Care Services--Seven Oaks General Hospital
Madam Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the honourable member for Kildonan (Mr. Chomiak). It complies with the rules and practices of the House. Is it the will of the House to have the petition read?
An Honourable Member: Dispense.
Madam Speaker: Dispense.
The petition of the undersigned residents of the province of Manitoba humbly sheweth
THAT on at least six occasions during the 1995 provincial election the Premier promised not to cut health care services; and
THAT following the election the Minister of Health promised that emergency services would not be reduced at community hospitals in Winnipeg; and
THAT the Minister of Health on October 6 announced that emergency services at these hospitals would be cut back immediately; and
THAT residents of the Seven Oaks Hospital vicinity depend upon emergency service at this hospital.
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba go on record requesting the Premier to consider maintaining 24-hour access to emergency health care at Seven Oaks Hospital as was promised in the 1995 general election.
Emergency Health Care Services--Community Hospitals
Madam Speaker: I have reviewed the petition of the honourable member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux). It complies with the rules and the practices of the House. Is it the will of the House to have the petition read?
An Honourable Member: Yes.
Madam Speaker: Yes. The Clerk will read.
Mr. Clerk (William Remnant): The petition of the undersigned residents of the province of Manitoba humbly sheweth
THAT emergency health care services are the core of Manitoba's health care system;
THAT Manitobans deserve the greatest possible access to this care;
WHEREFORE your petitioners humbly pray that the Legislative Assembly urge the Minister responsible for Health consider making a commitment to the people of Manitoba that emergency health care services in Winnipeg's five community hospitals will remain open seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
PRESENTING REPORTS BY
STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Standing Committee on Law Amendments
Sixth Report
Mr. David Newman (Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Law Amendments): Madam Speaker, I beg to present the Sixth Report of the Standing Committee on Law Amendments.
An Honourable Member: Dispense.
Madam Speaker: Dispense.
Your Standing Committee on Law Amendments presents the following as its Sixth Report.
Your committee met on Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at 10 a.m. in Room 255 of the Legislative Building to consider bills referred.
Your committee heard representation on bills as follows:
Bill 16--The Highway Traffic Amendment Act; Loi modifiant le Code de la route
Al Harris, Manitoba Trucking Association
Your committee has considered:
Bill 16--The Highway Traffic Amendment Act; Loi modifiant le Code de la route
and has agreed to report the same without amendment.
Your committee has also considered:
Bill 31--The Highway Traffic Amendment Act (2); Loi no 2 modifiant le Code de la route
and has agreed to report the same without amendment.
Your committee has also considered:
Bill 8--The Off-Road Vehicles Amendment Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur les véhicules à caractère non routier
and has agreed to report the same without amendment.
Mr. Newman: Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable member for Pembina (Mr. Dyck), that the report of the committee be received.
Motion agreed to.
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Standing Committee on Municipal Affairs
Second Report
Mr. Mervin Tweed (Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Municipal Affairs): Madam Speaker, I wish to present the Second Report of the Standing Committee on Municipal Affairs.
An Honourable Member: Dispense.
Madam Speaker: Dispense.
Your Standing Committee on Municipal Affairs presents the following as its Second Report.
Your committee met on Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at 10 a.m. in Room 254 of the Legislative Building to consider bills referred.
At that meeting, your committee heard representation of bills as follows:
Bill 34--The Municipal Amendment and Consequential Amendments Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur les municipalités et apportant des modifications corrélatives
Bev Sawicki, University of Manitoba, Legal Counsel
Richard Lobdell, Private Citizen
Greg Selinger, University of Manitoba Faculty Association
Steve Coppinger, University of Winnipeg
Bill 36--The Municipal Assessment Amendment Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur l'évaluation municipale
John Petrinka, Private Citizen
Your committee has considered:
Bill 34--The Municipal Amendment and Consequential Amendments Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur les municipalités et apportant des modifications corrélatives
Bill 36--The Municipal Assessment Amendment Act; Loi modifiant la Loi sur l'évaluation municipale
and has agreed to report the same without amendment.
Mr. Tweed: Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable member for St. Vital (Mrs. Render), that the report of the committee be received.
Motion agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS
Contaminated Sites Remediation Act
Hon. Glen Cummings (Minister of Environment): Madam Speaker, I have a statement for the House, a copy of my remarks for my critics.
An Honourable Member: You do not have critics.
Mr. Cummings: They are all friends.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to table today a discussion document on a Contaminated Sites Remediation act. I am tabling this for public consultation. This represents the consensual work of a multistakeholder advisory committee, and they brought this act to the stage where Legislative Counsel have applied legal wording to the principles and concepts developed by that committee.
Now that we have this in draft form, I would like it to go back to the committee and to others and to members of this Legislature for discussion and consideration.
The main purpose is to establish a fair and equitable system for the apportionment of liability for the remediation of contaminated sites.
In Manitoba and across this country, there are hundreds of sites where land has been contaminated by industrial and other commercial activities, in some cases, many times over the years, and it is often technically impossible to determine which of the past owners actually contaminated the land and at what time during the time that they owned it.
Manitoba led a national multistakeholder initiative under the auspices of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment to develop a series of principles to be used by each government in the development of legislation in this area.
This document is designed to institute an apportionment process that avoids the litigious joint and several liability system that is presently in effect in the United States, and where up to 88 cents on the dollar goes to transaction fees and only 12 cents to the actual remediation. We hope to avoid a situation whereby innocent people are held liable because possibly their grandfather many years ago deposited a battery at a site that is now contaminated.
The designation of contaminated sites will be based on health and environmental risk. It provides for the establishment of a registry of contamination sites and it is meant to ensure appropriate public notice and information available for land transactions. This encourages voluntary and mediated cost apportionment with a fallback to directed apportionment by the Clean Environment Commission. It discourages defaulters by instituting a system of joint and several liability for recovery of defaulted amounts.
The process is intended to provide comfort to lenders and to others in the financial community who will not be held responsible for the remediation of a contaminated site simply by virtue of the fact that they had made money available for the operation. There will be recognition to municipal corporations that they will not be responsible for the cost of remediation of contaminated sites that they have involuntarily acquired through tax sale. They will be able to assess land for contamination prior to expropriation and be exempt from liability for remediation of existing contamination where they have expropriated for certain approved reasons.
Madam Speaker, I table this Contaminated Sites Remediation act as a discussion document. I will undertake public consultation for a period of months and then return with the appropriate changes that reflect the public view and interest.
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Mr. Gregory Dewar (Selkirk): Madam Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the minister for his statement this afternoon.
On this issue, it is our position, and I hope it is the position of all members, that human health is the main concern. In the State of the Environment report it is stated that there are over 600 identified sites in Manitoba at this moment and more sites are added to that list day by day.
Contaminated sites, Madam Speaker, include both soil and ground water. We all remember the contamination of the ground water in the Rockwood-West St. Paul area from solvents from the Bristol Propellant Plant and affected residents in the area are now served by a pipeline. The issue was resolved only after tremendous cost to the residents and to all Manitobans. It is my understanding that Bristol is only paying for 25 percent of the $800,000 cost of that pipeline. The rest of that money is being paid by Ottawa and by ourselves, and that does not even include the thousands more that will be necessary to do the actual cleanup.
The minister has mentioned some of the problems associated with the liability. It is difficult to date when contamination occurred. Old sites are operated under various owners and the ownership changes frequently. Responsible individuals may be deceased or corporations may now be defunct. We support the concept, Madam Speaker, of polluter pays but the problem is that the difficulty lies in the determining of that responsibility.
Of course, we encourage a voluntary settlement and perhaps as the minister has mentioned, the Clean Environment Commission could be used to render a binding decision. We have a little bit of concern about that, of course. It is a government-appointed board and sometimes the government is involved in some of the disputes. We also suggest the government should investigate the establishment of what is a so-called super fund, which is a pool of resources established from contributors from various stakeholders in the industry to help alleviate the high cost of remediation.
Madam Speaker, these are some of our concerns and our suggestions. We look forward to the next while to review the minister's comments today, to review his discussion document. We hope the minister includes environmental groups when he is out there in the discussion period over the next two or three months. We encourage him to include those groups in that discussion. We also will be, on this side of the House, meeting with them as well. We look forward to the government tabling this legislation next session. Thank you.
TABLING OF REPORTS
Madam Speaker: I am pleased to table, this afternoon, the 1994 Annual Report of the Ombudsman with relation to Section 55, The Freedom of Information Act.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
Bill 209--The Health Reform Accountability and Consequential Amendments Act
Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the member for Crescentwood (Mr. Sale), that leave be given to introduce Bill 209, The Health Reform Accountability and Consequential Amendments Act; Loi concernant l'obligation redditionnelle en matière de réforme de la santé et apportant des modifications corrélatives, and that the same be now received and read a first time.
Motion presented.
Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, I am very pleased on behalf of all of my colleagues and the people of Manitoba to rise to introduce this bill to the Legislature which has been introduced on several other occasions in other sessions.
This is a new bill that will deal with health care in a new way in the province of Manitoba. For the first time it will require the Minister of Health to provide quarterly reports to the Legislature about which changes the Health department is embarking upon. For the first time it will require the Minister of Health--something new--to hold public hearings on changes that he is undertaking in the Department of Health.
For the first time, Madam Speaker, this new legislation will require health care institutions and others to hold public hearings so the public can have input and involvement in health care changes.
Finally, for the first time, this new legislation will require the Ombudsperson or Ombudsman be designated to hear complaints and act on complaints on behalf of all of those in the health care field, whether they be at institutions, at community-based care, et cetera, so allow them a voice to deal with the health care department.
I hope sincerely that all members of the House will join us in supporting this new legislation to start a new era of public accountability in health reform in Manitoba. Thank you.
Madam Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [agreed]
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Introduction of Guests
Madam Speaker: Prior to Oral Questions, I would like to draw honourable members' attention to the loge to my right where we have with us this afternoon the former member for Riel who served in this Legislature from 1986 to 1994.
On behalf of all honourable members, I welcome you this afternoon.
Also seated in the public gallery we have seventy-five Grade 7 students from Cecil Rhodes School under the direction of Ms. Irene Loewen and Mr. Julian Rhoda. This school is located in the constituency of the honourable member for Wellington (Ms. Barrett).
On behalf of all honourable members, I welcome you this afternoon.