ORAL QUESTION PERIOD

Manitoba Telephone System

Privatization

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, we have asked a number of questions dealing with the Manitoba Telephone System at the committee meetings just held about 10 weeks ago.

We would like to ask the Premier whether the provincial go77vernment or the Manitoba Telephone System acting under the authority of the provincial government, have they engaged or entered into any arrangements with brokers in the province of Manitoba to privatize whole or part of the Manitoba Telephone System?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I can tell the member that the Manitoba Telephone System has not entered into agreements to privatize the Telephone System, nor have we.

Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, the Premier did not answer the question. I asked the Premier whether the provincial government or the Manitoba Telephone System acting under the authority of the provincial government, have they engaged or entered into arrangements with brokers to deal with the shares of a whole or part of the Manitoba Telephone System?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, I have said before and I will say again that we have not entered into agreements with brokers to privatize, not we nor the Telephone System.

Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, have the companies--Richardson Greenshields, Wood Gundy and Dominion Securities, could the government inform the people of Manitoba what function they will have in terms of the shares or assets of the Manitoba Telephone System, either the parts of the Telephone System that were established by the government in their announcement in July or in the whole company?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, it is my understanding, and I spoke about it yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon, that we have an obligation to review the operations of all our Crown corporations, particularly those that operate in fields in which a significant part of their revenue is now open to competition, to evaluate their operations and to decide the best way in which their operations ought to continue in the future in order that they can meet the tests of their market needs, the tests of their customers, and the tests of ownership that will obviously do the best job on behalf of the people of Manitoba.

Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, I just simply want to know from the Premier, given the fact that in the Manitoba Telephone System he talks about privatization and other roles of monitoring that are going on--we would note that the Saskatchewan telephone system, which did not enter into the CRTC arrangements, made $80 million in the last reported year compared to the most recent report from this Telephone System.

I just want to know, what is the role of the three brokerage firms I listed? What is the role they have with the provincial government and the Manitoba Telephone System in terms of the assets that are presently owned by the public through the Crown corporation?

Mr. Filmon: The evaluation that I spoke about in response to the last question is one in which we are going to evaluate the new and changing circumstances in which our Crown corporations now operate, which is that some of them, particularly the Telephone System, gain a significant part of their revenue in a field that is open to competition. I think it is very much within the mandate and the responsibility of this government to be able to operate in a way that continues to examine those and see what is in the best interests of the people of Manitoba in the way in which ownership may restrict, confine or in any way alter or evaluate their operations. So the firms that have been referenced are part of the evaluation process.

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Mr. Doer: The firms that the government has listed or we have noted, which the Premier has now confirmed have been engaged to analyze the situation, are firms that make their money selling shares from one corporation or one operation to other operations. They are brokerage firms. They are not independent, analytical organizations.

So I would like the Premier, in light of this new honesty and openness and this new removing of the veil of secrecy from everything, to let Manitobans know what is going on.

His minister, 10 weeks ago, said in the committee that they have no intention of privatizing any part of the corporation and we will not change the ownership; there is nothing in front of me, 10 weeks ago, to change the ownership of a whole or part of the organization.

What is the role of brokerage firms, Madam Speaker, and why are they hired by the government to analyze this decision when in fact it is their job to sell shares?

Mr. Filmon: Their role is to be part of the process that evaluates whether or not the Telephone System ownership is appropriate as it is today or whether there are alternatives that would be more appropriate for the people of Manitoba.

Mr. Doer: The minister, 10 weeks ago, stated that privatization was not on the table as the result of this new organization, not at all. The only person raising the issue of privatization, dare I say it, was the opposition in questions we were raising.

I would just like to know from the Premier whether the brokerage firms have been hired to sell shares of the Manitoba Telephone System, whole or part? Why would he hire firms to analyze whether we should be selling part of the corporation? Why would we hire firms whose job it is and whose profits are made by, in fact, selling shares? Is this not in a conflict of interest?

Is it not really the job that they have been hired to do to sell whole or part of the shares of the Manitoba Telephone System?

I would ask the Premier, just tell the public what is going on behind those closed doors.

Mr. Filmon: Among other things, brokerage firms do evaluations of assets, evaluations of values and alternatives. That is precisely part and parcel of the evaluation that they will be engaged in.

Manitoba Telephone System

Privatization

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): Madam Speaker, we have been trying to get some straight answers from this government on MTS for quite some time.

In July of 1995 they restructured MTS into four new divisions. They said at the time it had nothing to do with privatization. On September 26, in committee, I repeatedly asked the Minister responsible for MTS if the government had any consideration whatsoever, either in regard to the restructuring or any other consideration for privatization.

He repeated in committee on numerous occasions they had no consideration of privatization. The only persons raising the issue of privatization are the NDP opposition. I am not involved in that in any fashion. I have not discussed the issue of privatization with anybody.

What I would like to ask, since we now have this new structure, four new COs, since these brokerage firms have been put in place, will the Minister responsible for MTS finally indicate to Manitobans, is he and this government looking at privatizing any part of MTS?

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Hon. Glen Findlay (Minister responsible for the administration of The Manitoba Telephone Act): Madam Speaker, these are challenging and changing times, particularly the telecom industry.

The member references a reorganization over at Manitoba Telephone System. Clearly, we are under a new regulator, and it is important that we respond to what that regulator wants. It wants the monopoly component separated from the competitive divisions of the company. The reorganization process has done that, and four very, very capable individuals have been hired to lead that corporation with regard to those four companies in the upcoming future of the telecom industry in Manitoba and in Canada.

Mr. Ashton: Perhaps I will state it very simply for the minister and perhaps the Premier (Mr. Filmon) would like to answer it. I asked back in September about privatization and the minister said no.

Is this government looking at privatizing any part of MTS?

Mr. Findlay: Madam Speaker, we have done the reorganization. We are now going through an evaluation process, as the Premier has indicated, to determine how we can be sure that MTS is the strongest possible telecommunication delivery network in the province of Manitoba.

Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, as a final supplementary then, will the minister finally admit in clear words that what he said in September to the committee of this Legislature was not true, that one of the main reasons the government reorganized MTS was to sell it off and they are now in the process of privatizing MTS, something that has been a Manitoba institution for 75 years, that is owned by the people of Manitoba, with no consultation whatsoever with the public of Manitoba? Will he come clean?

Mr. Findlay: Madam Speaker, my answer to the second question stands. We want to be sure that the Manitoba Telephone System is structured and operating in the most cost-effective, strong way to deliver telecom services to Manitobans in competition with many, many suppliers.

Health Care System

Emergency Services

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, yesterday in the hallway, the Minister of Health said he would be making an announcement on the emergency room closures or reopenings today. Now the Minister of Health has been wrong so often in regard to the emergency wards that I would like to ask the Premier (Mr. Filmon), will he table the recommendations of his emergency task force report so the public of Manitoba will know the reasons as to why the government is doing what it is doing?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, yesterday in the hallway, in an exchange with my friend a reporter with one of the television companies here in the city, the word "tomorrow" slipped out, and when pressed on the matter, I said, well, I wish it could be yesterday. Actually, I would expect early next week to make an announcement.

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, again, my question to the Premier (Mr. Filmon).

Will the Premier release the recommendations and the studies so Manitobans will know why the government is making this decision, and will he override his Minister of Health and ensure the five emergency wards are reopened as the public of Manitoba has been demanding for the past two months?

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, the honourable member has been asked to participate in discussions many, many times and only on a few occasions has he actually taken us up on that offer. We certainly appreciate each and every time that he has, but it has not been very many times, I am sorry to say.

If he has some data that he would like to share with us and with those with whom we have been consulting, we would be happy to have data that points to good health outcomes for Manitobans as we move toward integrating our emergency services system, as well as other clinical programs in the city of Winnipeg.

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Public Consultations

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): My final supplementary is again to the Premier (Mr. Filmon).

Will the Premier, who is prepared to travel the globe on all kinds of missions all the time, is the Premier prepared to attend public meetings, nonpartisan public meetings that we will set up in the vicinity of Misericordia Hospital and Seven Oaks Hospital, two hospitals--[interjection]

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, will the Premier, who is prepared to travel the globe, be prepared to attend nonpartisan public meetings that we will set up around Misericordia Hospital and Seven Oaks Hospital--

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable member for Kildonan, to complete his question.

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, will the Premier, who is prepared to travel the globe and attend all kinds of meetings, be prepared to set up meetings, even if Barb Biggar sets them up, even if Barb Biggar sets them up for him around Misericordia Hospital and Seven Oaks Hospital to explain to residents of those communities the rationale why those two hospitals are on the chopping block under this Minister of Health?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, it has been well documented that when New Democrats are in office, as they have been in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, they there make decisions as they did in Saskatchewan to close 52 rural hospitals, in Ontario as they did to close 10,000 beds, as they did in British Columbia to close a major downtown hospital in Vancouver, and all of those things.

So what you have here, of course, is the member for Kildonan doing what he does best, his only preoccupation, which is to play politics with every issue. When he says he will set up nonpartisan meetings, he gets exactly the same credibility as he does with everything else he does.

Point of Order

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, I believe I said the Premier could attend meetings set up by Barb Biggar, who has been hired by the Department of Health to do advertising. The Premier could attend those meetings. We do not have to set them up.

Madam Speaker: On the point of order, the honourable member for Kildonan does not have a point of order. It is clearly a dispute over the facts.

Health Care System

Emergency Services

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Inkster): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.

We in the Liberal Party will acknowledge right up front that there is a need for change in health care. In fact, this is something which we believe is important for us to provide constructive criticism.

But ultimately we would argue, the core to health care is community-based hospitals. In fact, community-based hospitals have to offer emergency services, absolutely essential along with intensive care units.

My question to the Minister of Health is, is he prepared, given the changes that he is looking at, to at the very least make the commitment to the Misericordia and Seven Oaks Hospitals that those two very important components will be incorporated in the Seven Oaks and Misericordia Hospitals?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I do appreciate the honourable member's assertion that he believes change is necessary, and that is fortunate because with his colleagues in Ottawa removing $147 million from health and social service budgets next year and $220 million the year after that, I think change is in the wind. The honourable member, if he is going to support that, then we are going to appreciate that, although the honourable member is preoccupied with acute care.

Acute care is a very important part of our health care system, but we would like the honourable member to talk also about community health, community health centres, home care, long-term care, public health nursing, disease prevention, health promotion, those sorts of things as well, rather than have a single-minded sort of preoccupation simply with acute care.

We are advised that we have sufficient acute care. If we used it appropriately, then we would have a lot more acute care capacity than we need. That means we need to make adjustments, as the honourable member has said.

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Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, what I am asking the minister is, is he not prepared to give the assurances to the residents that live in the communities around the Seven Oaks Hospital and Misericordia Hospital that in fact there will be emergency health care services provided through those hospitals?

Can he not make that commitment today?

Mr. McCrae: The honourable member, I think, agrees with all the other people with whom we consult, Madam Speaker, that we have a greater level of supply of emergency services than we have demand, so, that being the case, it is not appropriate for the honourable member just to insist that everything go back to the way it was where we had an excess of supply. We cannot afford to do that in a health system that we need to see integrated throughout the city.

So the discussion about the question the honourable member raises is ongoing, and it is not the kind of thing that I think would be appropriate for him or for me to jump ahead of all of those discussions and consultations and say, well, here is the bottom line. I do not think that is appropriate, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, when the Minister of Health makes his announcement next week in terms of what his government's intentions are, is he prepared to provide this Chamber and all members the facts that he used in order to determine which hospitals were in fact going to be closed or reconverted or have certain components shut down?

Mr. McCrae: Well, Madam Speaker, I think it is fair to say that there are a lot of facts and data out there. A lot of it has existed for a long time, and to some extent, we are really just going over the same territory that we have been over. I invite the honourable member to take an active part himself. I invite him to be in touch with the KPMG consulting people who can bring him up to date on the discussions that have been undertaken, and I will share as much information as I possibly can with the honourable member.

Misericordia General Hospital

Emergency Services

Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health.

In August of this year the minister received a report on the Emergency Department of the Misericordia Hospital. This report gives clear evidence that the Misericordia has the highest percentage of patients who are most seriously ill on arrival. This hospital is situated next to one of the areas of the deepest poverty in Manitoba. A high proportion of those patients are seniors. Many of them do not have their nutrition needs adequately met as it is. They do not have cars. Increasingly, they do not have telephones.

I want to ask the Minister of Health, with all of that evidence, why did the minister choose to close the emergency room for this community?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I know the honourable member has been listening to the debate and discussions about emergency services in the city of Winnipeg. Really, it is repetitive for me to do this, but I refer to the fact that we have a population here in the city that has been and remains well served by emergency services, and the plan that we put into place for the longer-term future will take into account the needs of the people who have used in the past all of the different hospitals in the city.

But I do encourage the honourable member to take a look at the system and agree with me that what we need is something that is integrated city-wide.

Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, what I want the minister to do is to make a commitment to the people of this community to reopen the 24-hour emergency room service at their hospital. It serves the poorest members of our community. It saw an increase of 32 percent in its patients over the last four years, and the government in fact has been forced to reopen the Misericordia on an ad hoc basis, acknowledging the fact that it needs that emergency room service. Please, reopen that emergency room.

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Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, the role and contribution of the people at Misericordia General Hospital for many, many years is certainly acknowledged by me and by, I think, all Manitobans who are aware of the contribution it has made. We also appreciate the present role of the Misericordia Hospital and the people who work there in helping us plan for the appropriate future for Misericordia Hospital and for all the facilities that are under discussion.

Women's health is something that is somewhat of a specialty at Misericordia General Hospital. We are very proud of the Eye Care Centre that exists there. We are doing hundreds and hundreds of additional procedures because of the consolidation of eye care services at Misericordia Hospital.

I ask, where were honourable members opposite when those changes were happening? Were they there assisting in helping and promoting the Eye Care Centre at Misericordia Hospital or were they complaining about changes elsewhere in the city to make that possible? The point is we have to look at Misericordia's role in an integrated health care system.

AIDS Prevention

Government Strategy

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, my questions, too, are for the Minister of Health.

The 1992 Quality Health for Manitobans: The Action Plan promised health care consumers and providers heaven on earth when it came to participation and consultation, yet Manitoba Health appears to have celebrated December 1, International AIDS Day, by deciding to shelve the much touted and long-awaited AIDS strategy, to close the Village Clinic and remove all HIV-AIDS services to Misericordia Hospital. In other words, to act arbitrarily and with disregard for the AIDS community.

Will the minister alleviate fears in the AIDS community and confirm that the planned Manitoba strategy has not been shelved, that the Village Clinic will remain open and continue to provide services for persons living with HIV-AIDS?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, I know full well the honourable member's concern in this area, and I respect that.

There was some disappointment about the level of consultations, but I will certainly take the honourable member's questions seriously and work towards the best services that we can provide here in the province of Manitoba for people affected with this terrible disease.

Ms. McGifford: I would like to ask the minister to explain why, after a year of community time and consultations, Manitoba Health has broken faith to claim that they do not have enough community support to proceed with the strategy. That is absolutely insulting to the people who have participated and given their time, their energy and, in some cases, their lives.

Mr. McCrae: Certainly nothing like that is intended. We want to develop the best services we can, and we would like as much input as we can get. Honourable members opposite are always the first ones to tell us that we have not done enough consultation on one day. The next day they tell us that just a little bit of consultation would be all right. Well, let them tell us which way they really want it.

Ms. McGifford: Since the minister has evaded the question, I want to ask him to explain to this House and to the people of Manitoba how he plans to provide lifesaving HIV-AIDS education and prevention, treatments and support for people living with HIV-AIDS.

Mr. McCrae: We will look at the input that we have had and also address the opportunity to see if there is an opportunity for more input as well. It is not a question of the quality of the input, Madam Speaker, it is a question of the quantity. We need to see more participation in this regard.

Manitoba Telephone System

Privatization

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, the First Minister has indicated clearly that the government is on track in using three different brokerage houses to prepare for the privatization of all or part of the Manitoba Telephone System.

I would like to ask the First Minister why, if this is not the case, independent brokers have confirmed that it is intended to privatize all or part of MTS. They have confirmed that in conversation.

If that is not the case, why will the minister continue to give the answers that he has given to this House?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, you know the members opposite always bring rumours and unsubstantiated statements--

An Honourable Member: It has been confirmed.

Mr. Filmon: No, the comment was made.

We have openly told you, and I referred to it in my speech yesterday to the Chamber of Commerce, that we are going to be evaluating the operations of all of our Crown corporations to see whether or not they are appropriate under today's circumstances and whether or not, with the competition that occurs, particularly in the telephone company where a very large part of their revenues are in fields in which they have open competition with other private sector operators, this is the best way in which we ought to continue to operate in those Crown areas.

The fact of the matter is that there are three brokerage firms that are part of the review and evaluation process and decisions will come after that review and evaluation process. Madam Speaker, none of those decisions have been made.

Mr. Sale: Can the First Minister explain why it takes three different brokerage firms to assess the value of something when brokerage firms typically alone assess the values of corporations far larger than the Manitoba Telephone System?

Will he not simply use the word which they are using, "privatization," Madam Speaker?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, we are dealing with a corporation that has an exposure to the taxpayers of $800 million. We want to get the best advice possible and we want to avoid the advice being driven, as the member says, only on the basis of a decision to sell shares that obviously would be in the interests of a brokerage firm. We are trying to evaluate information from other brokerage firms so that we do not just get one opinion on the issue, and I think that is appropriate.

Dauphin Regional Health Centre

Renovations--Funding

Mr. Stan Struthers (Dauphin): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.

The Dauphin Regional Health Centre took seriously this government's election promise concerning increases to capital funding and has been renovating its fourth floor in preparation for mental health services to patients in the Parkland. These preparations have cost money and have caused hardship for the former patients of this floor, and staff has spent much time on this project.

Given this minister's freeze on capital funding, can he assure the Dauphin hospital that their efforts have not been in vain and that there will be funds from his department available to complete the renovations on the fourth floor for mental health patients?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): I thank the honourable member for raising the questions related to mental health service delivery. As we review our capital program, the points the honourable member makes will certainly be taken into account.

I remember meeting, Madam Speaker, with some nursing professionals in the Dauphin area and discussing the issues related to mental health. I also would be urging the unions involved in our hospitals, as well as the MGEU which represents staff at Brandon Mental Health Centre, to work out whatever other problems need to be worked out as well in the spirit of co-operation so that we can put the patients first and get on with the proper delivery of mental health services.

Mr. Struthers: Madam Speaker, that answer does not help the folks back at the Dauphin hospital one bit.

Can the minister tell this House where the mental health patients from the Parkland area will receive the services they require if the hospital does not receive the funds it needs to complete its renovations?

Mr. McCrae: Well, I guess the problem that I see is that when the honourable member frames his question like that, he is just like his Leader and the member for Kildonan (Mr. Chomiak). It is always to scare people.

Madam Speaker, he says, if it does not happen, what are you going to do?

Well, we have not said it will not happen. We said, we are reviewing our capital budget. We are very proud of the progress we have made in the area of mental health reform, as well as other health reforms, but certainly that area is very key.

The downwinding or the unwinding of the Brandon Mental Health Centre is dependent on other services being available, and that includes services like psychiatric care at the Dauphin centre or Portage or Brandon.

So those are things that we are indeed looking at very carefully.

Mr. Struthers: Well, in that case, Madam Speaker, can the minister indicate what percent decrease in funding the Dauphin Regional Health Centre will receive from his department in the upcoming year, so that the hospital staff can make some plans to cope with this government's cuts?

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Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, I have discussed this matter with the Minister of Finance (Mr. Stefanson) and I am advised that he is going to do his best to announce as early as possible what allocation there will be for next fiscal year for the hospital, personal care home sector.

You will recall last year, Madam Speaker, he was nice and early and everybody really appreciated that, so this is the nature of my discussions with him for this year.

But I have to again remind the honourable member and others in this House that our poor old Minister of Finance is going to be dealing with $147 million less next year from the government in Ottawa and the year after that $220 million less, so, you know, I feel sorry for him, but I think he probably feels sorry for me too because we have very, very difficult decisions to make.

Winnipeg Jets

Purchase Offer

Mr. Tim Sale (Crescentwood): Madam Speaker, many times during the fall sitting the Minister of Finance assured this House that the sale of the Winnipeg Jets to Mr. Burke and Mr. Gluckstern was a done deal, but clearly it was not. Now it appears that the Phoenix deal is exactly the same, a tentative arrangement at best--if, as and when. It may go, it may fail.

Can the Minister of Finance tell the House whether the government has received a bona fide current offer to purchase the Winnipeg Jets?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister of Finance): As has been confirmed by the current majority owners, by the prospective buyers, there is an agreed offer to purchase that has been signed by both parties. There are various conditions relating around that offer to purchase in terms of one of the most significant being NHL approval.

I believe the prospective buyers will be going before the NHL board this month. All indications are, from the discussions we have had with the prospective buyers, with the current majority owners and with all parties to that agreement that this deal will be concluded and the Winnipeg Jets will be sold and relocated by July of next year.

It is also interesting to note that discussions are taking place now in our city with a different group that is looking to buy a different professional team to bring it here next year, Madam Speaker, also tying into that relocation of the Winnipeg Jets.

Mr. Sale: Will the minister tell the House what the closing date on the deal is and what the schedule of payments to the province and to the Winnipeg Enterprises Corporation for their share in the deal is? Will the minister tell us that information today?

Mr. Stefanson: I believe, as was discussed before, the closing date is the earliest date that can be agreed to by both parties subject to the conditions that have to be met. As I have indicated, the current prospective buyers, I believe, will be going before the NHL this month. All indications are that this deal will conclude. It appears that it will be the city of Phoenix that the Winnipeg Jets will be locating to.

Certainly all of the information that we have is that there is no reason that the deal will not conclude.

As a result of that sale, the two levels of government will be receiving their share of the proceeds, some 36 percent, which will be approximately $30 million to the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba, of which we will receive 50 percent.

Rural Development Institute

Hog Marketing Study

Ms. Rosann Wowchuk (Swan River): Madam Speaker, farmers are very concerned with this government's decision to move to dual marketing of hogs, but they are not the only ones.

Dr. Richard Rounds of the Rural Development Institute is very concerned about the impact of this change on small farms but also the impact on small communities. The institute is so concerned that they have asked for three years now to have funding to do a study on the vertical integration of farming.

I want to ask the Minister of Rural Development why for the last three years he has chosen to deny funding for a study on vertical integration, an issue that will have such an impact on rural Manitoba. Why has he denied funding for this study?

Hon. Leonard Derkach (Minister of Rural Development): Madam Speaker, each year the Rural Development Institute along with the Department of Rural Development go through a series of topics that they would like to research, and each year there is a joint group that works on these initiatives and they come forward with a list of their priorities. Those then are the priorities that are researched.

There is not an unlimited amount of money to research each and every topic that comes forward, so therefore priorities have to be chosen. Those priorities are based on the decisions made at the Rural Development Institute along with people from the Department of Rural Development.

Ms. Wowchuk: I want to ask the Premier (Mr. Filmon) if he will intervene and delay the plan to move to dual marketing of hogs until such time as a study of this issue is done through the Rural Development Institute, recognizing that people, Dr. Richard Rounds, who is very concerned about this--will he insist that a study be done before any changes are made to dual marketing of hogs?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): When we brought the throne speech in this week, members opposite criticized us because they said, all these places, we are doing studies. We are doing studies and consultations. Why are they doing all these studies and consultations? Why do they not do something? Well, Madam Speaker, we are doing something on an issue, and we believe that we have more than adequate grounds for the decision we have made and the policy that we are pursuing.

Ms. Wowchuk: Madam Speaker, this move by the government to move to dual marketing has not been researched.

Will the government put money into a study into the Rural Development Institute to have a look at the impacts? We see the impacts here in the United States where the family farm is being destroyed by vertical integration. Why will they not put the money into the study to see what is going to happen in Manitoba?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, the decision was based on evaluation by probably the foremost agricultural economist in Manitoba, Dr. Clay Gilson, along with the assistant deputy minister, Dave Donaghy, from the Department of Agriculture, along with Mr. Gerry Moore who has a career in the agriculture industry of Manitoba in the value-added sector, and so on. That kind of extensive analysis was done, was the product then of a year's discussion and that is how we arrived at the decision.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.

Speaker's Ruling

Madam Speaker: I have a ruling for the House.

On Wednesday, November 1, the opposition House leader raised a point of order requesting that the Speaker add time to Question Period when disruptions by government members take away from time for members of the opposition to ask questions.

I have inquired as to past practice about Question Period because all that our rules provide is that Question Period shall be 40 minutes in duration. It has been the practice of Speakers in Manitoba, I understand, since the mid-1980s to only add to the 40 minutes, time which is used for points of order. In the past, other matters related to Question Period have been resolved by consultation with House leaders and the Speaker.

I think that rather than have a Speaker rule on the matter that the opposition House leader raises, it would be more in accordance with the past practice of this House to have the House leaders discuss this matter and try to come to some resolution. If it is the will of the House, your Speaker will then implement agreed-to changes for Question Period. This approach is in keeping with a 1983 ruling of Speaker Walding on a similar kind of matter relating to Question Period.