First Anniversary
Provincial Election
Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, one year ago, exactly 365 days ago to this day, on April 25, 1995, the people of Manitoba spoke. They listened to all those individuals, sought their trust. They reviewed past actions and they reviewed future initiatives, and after five weeks of thought votes were cast and the Filmon government was re-elected.
What is significant here is that for the first time in nearly 40 years--
Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.
Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would ask the co-operation of all honourable members in this Chamber to give the courtesy deserving of every member. I feel very strongly about this. This is Members' Statements, and as private members, each individual member has the right to take and express a two-minute statement.
* (1430)
Mrs. Vodrey: Madam Speaker, what is significant here is that for the first time in nearly 40 years, a Manitoba government has won a third consecutive term. In 1988, our government came to power under the strong leadership of Premier Filmon. In 1990, the people of Manitoba again gave us their vote of confidence, and now, exactly one year ago, our government received an almost unprecedented third consecutive term.
Our unbroken time in office, thanks to the confidence of the people of Manitoba, has allowed our government to ensure continuity of policy. This is the policy which has directly benefited Manitobans. It is a policy that has ensured Manitoba remains a place that people want to live in, to work, and to raise a family.
The last election campaign was not about yesterday, no matter how great the achievements. Our campaign was about tomorrow, about new ideas and new plans, about energy and commitment, about saying to Manitobans, there is more we can do and there is more we can be.
This government, through three terms of office, has many accomplishments. We have created tremendous job growth. We have kept major taxes down. We have strengthened the education system so our children can accomplish more for themselves than we ever dreamed possible.
We have provided the people of Manitoba with the benefits of a balanced budget in order to protect our valuable social programs. We have taken steps to make this province a safer place to live in our streets and neighbourhoods.
Madam Speaker, I wish the government a happy one-year anniversary on their 1995 election victory. I know we will continue to hold the confidence of the people of Manitoba and celebrate many more anniversaries.
Canada Book Day
Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, earlier in the spring, the Writers' Development Trust, a national charitable organization, declared April 25 as Canada Book Day.
Today, April 25, 1996, is the first of what is hoped will become the annual Canada Book Day, a day designed to celebrate books and the love of reading. It is a day to give books to friends or to donate books to schools or libraries. Many of my New Democratic colleagues will celebrate Canada Book Day by making presentations to their local schools or libraries. I hope colleagues opposite will support this initiative with book donations of their own. Please spring for a book.
Manitobans, as writers, publishers, editors and booksellers, have made enormous contributions to Canadian literature. A visible sign of their commitment and creativity is the presentation of the Manitoba Literary Awards, entitled Brave New Words, to take place at eight o'clock on April 27 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
They include: The Manitoba Book of the Year and the Manitoba Book for Young People, both sponsored by McNally Robinson Booksellers; the John Hirsch Award for the most promising Manitoba writer, sponsored by the estate of the late John Hirsch; the Heaven Art and Book Cafe Chapbook Prize, sponsored by Heaven Art and Book Cafe; and the Manitoba Book Publishers'Award for book design.
The Manitoba Writers' Guild and other sponsors of the Manitoba Literary Awards invite all Manitobans to join them on April 27 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery to celebrate this event.
Wellness Centre
St. James-Assiniboia
Mr. Gerry McAlpine (Sturgeon Creek): Last week, I attended the official opening of the Wellness Centre in St. James-Assiniboia, located in the constituency of Sturgeon Creek, along with the Minister responsible for Seniors (Mr. Reimer).
Madam Speaker, this health initiative is one which is designed to assist in the creation of health in society, rather than simply the treatment of disease. This centre will help seniors at risk for disability and poor health, and it will give those in the general senior population education and support to enable early appropriate cost-effective management of health needs and optimal use of the health care system.
Madam Speaker, Manitoba Health provided financial support for this project in the amount of $17,100 to the seniors centre, $12,800 to the support services to seniors, and $61,700 to the Wellness Centre, for a total contribution of $91,600. This is an example of the commitment this government has to the long-term needs of our province's seniors, and we recognize that the health of seniors is dependent upon more than the institutionalized care.
Madam Speaker, the government recognizes the need to work with the seniors in Manitoba as such seniors will be active participants in the identification of needs and the prioritization, development, delivery and the evaluation of the Wellness Centre initiatives. The Wellness Centre will operate as a community-based service, a model in the meeting of the needs of seniors in the St. James-Assiniboia area and will also act as the model for other areas in Manitoba.
This government is committed to the health of our seniors and this centre reaffirms that commitment. Thank you.
Job Creation
Mr. Leonard Evans (Brandon East): Madam Speaker, Statistics Canada has recently released a report entitled Historical Labour Force Statistics showing among other things the rate of job creation in Canada and the provinces. I have studied these figures and examined the growth of employment in Manitoba under this government since 1988 and compared it with the growth of jobs under the previous NDP government from 1981 until the end of 1987. During the NDP period of government, Manitoba gained 35,000 new jobs, where, under this present Filmon Conservative government, Manitoba only achieved 14,000 new jobs, that is, there has been a major drop in total job creation in this province under the present government.
On average, Manitoba realized over 5,800 jobs per year under the previous NDP government, whereas only 1,750 per year were created under the present Filmon government. In other words, we achieved a 7.4 percent increase in employment during the NDP years but have slipped down to 2.8 percent under the present government's term of office. Even relative to the national job picture, we have declined in Manitoba under the present government, whereas during the NDP years, Manitoba's employment growth rate was about four-fifths--[interjection]
The Minister of Finance would have us believe that their economic policies have resulted in a great expansion of the Manitoba economy. The facts show otherwise, however. We have experienced a major slowdown in the rate of job creation under this government and, obviously, the economic policies of the present administration have not been successful. No amount of government propaganda can wipe out these facts about the poor job creation performance of this government. The lack of good job opportunities in this province explains why we are losing some of our best and brightest to other parts of Canada.
I trust the government and the Conservative Party will acknowledge that the figures on job creation contained in their recent pamphlet sent to Manitobans are not correct, that Manitoba did not realize 32,000 jobs but only 14,000. The government's economic and fiscal policies have failed to maintain the rate of job creation experienced with the previous government and no amount of government propaganda can erase the truth. Thank you.
First Anniversary
Provincial Election
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, I want to reflect on what the Minister of Justice (Mrs. Vodrey) just finished commenting on in her political statement.
Yes, it is one year as of today that this government--and what has happened over that last 365 days is that we have seen a government that has demonstrated that it has a focus and that focus, quite frankly, is to freeze personal income tax and to freeze sales tax and to balance the budget and that is, in essence, what it is that they want to be able to say to Manitobans more than anything else in terms of their accomplishment. Well, I would ultimately argue what this government has been most successful at doing is demonstrating to all Manitobans that this is not a caring government, and we have seen that through changes in health care, changes in education and so forth.
I would rather pick up on a theme that it was eight years ago as of tomorrow where we had an election in which there were a few more Liberals that were elected at that point in time. The theme then was competence with heart. I do not believe for a moment that this government has the heart, and one has to question very strongly the competence of this particular government. But I applaud all of those colleagues and join with the member for St. Boniface (Mr. Gaudry) and those who were elected back in 1988 because we will not be sitting tomorrow.
I see I only have about 30 seconds left. The only other thing I would like to say is I did not really give the comment on the resolution earlier today regarding recycling. Recycling is very important. In fact, we would like this government to take a look at what it is they are doing with BFI and to take a more co-ordinated approach dealing with the landfill site or garbage dump, depending on which side of the House and whatever it is you want to call it. Thank you.
* (1440)