ORAL QUESTION PERIOD

Healthy Child Strategy

Implementation

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, the report on Manitoba's children clearly documents the close connection between the economy and poverty in children. It further goes on to document the challenges that we have in social, economic and health challenges in our communities to deal with the 60,000 children who are living in poverty here in Manitoba and to deal with some of the health care challenges that those children have in our society.

The report talks of and recommends a number of strategies to deal with early treatment, early prevention programs. Of course, the government, after keeping this report secret for close to a year, released it on March 17 just prior to the election, and then on March 30 in the election campaign the Premier promised to implement a Healthy Child, putting children first program.

Why has this Premier not implemented a Healthy Child strategy and program, and why has he in fact gone backwards on the promises and commitments to our future--that is our children?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition makes the right linkage when he talks about the health of the economy as being the foremost way in which we can build the health of our children and our population. Indeed, that has been the area of major responsibility that we have undertaken, of major effort.

Indeed, all he has to do is look at the forecast of people like the Conference Board of Canada, who in their most recent report gave the most glowing tribute to the health of Manitoba's economy that we have seen in two decades. It was entitled, Manitoba economy steamrolling ahead. It reflects the fact that we have kept the taxes down in this province, that our job creation created 10,000 additional jobs in 1995. It reflects the fact that in the foreseeable two years the Conference Board expects us to have the second-best growth rate of all 10 provinces in Canada, and it reflects the commitment that we are making--[interjection]

Madam Speaker: Order, please. The honourable Leader of the official opposition.

Mr. Doer: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and of course--

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, I was not finished--

Madam Speaker: I apologize. The honourable First Minister, to complete his response.

Mr. Filmon: So, Madam Speaker, our commitment has been to work on the creation of jobs, economic opportunities and to build our economy stronger. That is the foremost commitment that we can make to solving the problems that have been outlined by the Leader of the Opposition, and that is where we have focused our attentions.

Special Needs Children

Program Funding

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Hungry children cannot eat forecast, Madam Speaker, and the Conference Board does not provide health programs for children at a preschool age to allow the Premier to fulfill an election promise that he cynically made last year.

I would like the Premier to explain to Manitobans why his government cut some 31 percent out of the special needs programs for children, programs that will affect the programs for kids in language and adaptive skills, early childhood programs. Why have they cut those programs, contrary to his promise to expand those programs for children and expand the preventative programs for our kids as recommended by the Postl report?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): We are not asking that they accept forecasts. Last year our province's economic growth exceeded the national average. We added 10,000 jobs. We had the highest capital investment in the history of this province at almost $4 billion with one of the largest increases, second-largest increase in capital investment of any province in Canada. Our export growth was amongst the highest in Canada. Our increase in retail sales was amongst the highest in Canada in every respect, Madam Speaker. We are talking about reality. We are not talking about forecast, so the Leader of the Opposition had better at least brief himself before he stands up to ask a question.

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Mr. Doer: The Premier should brief himself in his own words when he promised to enhance programs for children, when he promised to implement the Healthy Child program, a program now that he has not only broken his promise on but he has gone backwards.

Can the Premier explain why we have had over a 25 percent increase in the number of children who are on waiting lists for audiology programs, for early childhood prevention programs? What kind of damage are you going to do to the lifetime of those kids because you cannot keep your word, Mr. Premier?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, the only damage that is being done has been done by the New Democrats, who while they were in government ran our deficit and debt up to the highest levels ever seen, who tripled the net provincial debt in this province, who now cause us to spend over $600 million a year on interest on their debt that should be going to services to children and families. Those are the people who ought to take the responsibility because those are the people who are condemning those young children and families to poverty.

Video Lottery Terminals

Social Costs

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): The Premier's shouts will not change his election promise.

I have a new question for the Premier. While the government was cooking the books with the lottery slush fund that they had, they also had in the Healthy Child report, a report on VLTs in rural Manitoba where they talked about the tremendous impact on the nutritional value for children in rural Manitoba. They made strong statements about--the report indicated a number of children who were left alone and had been impacted in their nutritional levels by massive VLT expansion in rural Manitoba by this government. The Postl report recommends, as part of dealing with this poverty, that the government conduct impact studies and research on the expansion of VLTs and the nutrition and quality of life for children living in poverty.

Has the Premier done that? This report was prepared for him two years ago.

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): One of the highest proportions of our children living in poverty is our aboriginal people, Madam Speaker, and this is the person who wanted to create more casinos on reserves so that he could influence more money being spent in these purposes that he says are inappropriate. He is the one who wanted to increase gambling on reserves to in fact further the problem. That was one of his election commitments and he should be ashamed of it.

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Gaming

Advertising Ban

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): I assume then that the Premier, who did not answer the question, has not conducted the research on the impact on children.

I want to further ask a question. In the Desjardins report, there is a recommendation to ban lifestyle advertising or political advertising, in the case of this Premier, and we know in the Province of Alberta now that they are proceeding with a ban on advertising. Can the Premier indicate whether the Province of Manitoba will ban advertising in lotteries?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister charged with the administration of The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act): Madam Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition knows, the Desjardins report made a series of recommendations, of which that is one, the issue of dealing with the forms of advertising that can take place here in Manitoba. We will be coming forward shortly with positions on all of the recommendations of the Desjardins committee report, but as the member knows we have had a moratorium in place in terms of both gaming expansion and advertising here in Manitoba, other than jackpot advertising, which is what Alberta is retaining after their adjustments. So that is one issue we take very seriously that we will be addressing, and I encourage him to wait till we deal with that entire report.

Video Lottery Terminals

Community Referendums

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, of course, the government has expanded lottery, VLT and image advertising dramatically over their years in government and one would think that a government would be committed enough to have a response to a report that took months to produce and has been released to the public months ago.

I would like to ask the Premier (Mr. Filmon), Madam Speaker, in light of the fact that the Desjardins committee recommends a plebiscite be allowed in communities to deal with the impact of VLTs, a plebiscite be allowed or a referendum be allowed for communities to decide whether they want to keep the Filmon VLT machines in their own communities, can the Premier indicate today whether they are going to allow communities to vote on this proposal as recommended by the commission, or are they not going to be able to vote?

Hon. Eric Stefanson (Minister charged with the administration of The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act): Madam Speaker, once again, that is one of the recommendations from the Desjardins committee. I encourage the Leader of the Opposition to stay tuned, that we will be coming forward with a position on all of the recommendations. We take that report very seriously. It was a report prepared by some 14 Manitobans from all backgrounds, walks of life, regions of our province, and that is one recommendation they have made.

As I have indicated, Madam Speaker, we will be coming forward on a comprehensive basis outlining our position on all of the recommendations of the Desjardins committee report.

Social Assistance

Food Allowance

Mr. Doug Martindale (Burrows): Madam Speaker, all indicators and all the experts point to the importance of adequate nutrition for infants and children, whether it is the Scientific American article that I tabled earlier this session, or the Nutrition and Food Security Network of Winnipeg, or Dr. Sarah Kredentser writing in the newsletter of Winnipeg Harvest or the government's own report, the Postl report, Recommendation No. 32: That food allowances within social assistance programs be increased to allow for adequate nutrition of infants.

I would like to ask the Minister of Family Services or the Premier (Mr. Filmon), what has this government decided to do in order to implement this recommendation or to follow the advice of the experts, including Dr. Fraser Mustard, to end the poverty that 7,000 children in the city of Winnipeg are forced to endure because of the cutbacks of this government?

Hon. Bonnie Mitchelson (Minister of Family Services): Madam Speaker, I thank my honourable friend for that question. It does allow me to tell Manitobans that we take the issue of child poverty and family poverty very seriously, and that is one of the reasons we have moved ahead with our welfare reform that does talk about employment first and it does speak to, in fact, a job being the best form of social assistance in our province and in our country.

Madam Speaker, we are working very diligently to try to ensure that parents, women with children, are not condemned and committed to a life of poverty on welfare. In fact, the opportunities that are provided through our new initiatives will ensure that parents have jobs, and jobs provide more income and better nutrition and support for children.

Mr. Martindale: I would like to ask this minister, if she believes that she and her government take child poverty seriously, why did they cut the food allowance and other increased incomes for children of municipal assistance by up to 26 percent in the City of Winnipeg? If this is taking it seriously, then what is she going to do to reverse this deplorable situation?

Mrs. Mitchelson: I reject outright the preamble and the question from my honourable friend that indicates that it was our decision to reduce the rates in the City of Winnipeg. There is a City Council that is elected by the citizens of the city of Winnipeg, and they are elected to govern and to make decisions and that was their decision. It was not our decision.

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Mr. Martindale: Madam Speaker, the fact is the city rates are higher than the minimum of the Province of Manitoba, but this rate decrease was forced on them by this province and their policies.

I would like to ask the Minister of Family Services what she is going to do to implement the policies of their government that were promised by the Conservative Party during the 1995 election when they said that they would do something about the health, the well-being, and the overall economic status of families and children. What is she going to do to implement their election promises?

Mrs. Mitchelson: Madam Speaker, we have already started along that path with our welfare reform initiatives that talk about jobs first. I have said many times, and I will repeat again for my honourable friend, that we believe as a government that women and children, families in the province of Manitoba deserve more than a life of poverty on welfare. We are working very proactively and very progressively to try to ensure that employment opportunities are there for those people with the economic initiatives that we have undertaken and the welfare reform initiatives that put employment first.

I want to indicate also that I have had much opportunity to discuss with the community out there, with places like the Andrews Street Family Centre that is doing a wonderful job, with the Community Kitchen that helps women learn how to cook and prepare meals to take home to their children, prepare nutritious meals. Those are the kinds of programs and partnerships that we are looking to develop so that in fact children do not go to bed hungry at night.

Women's Poverty

Reduction Strategy

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, this government's policies and actions have destroyed any pretence of social and economic equality for Manitoba women. Regressive measures from 1990 to '95 set the stage, while the 1996 prebudget announcements and the budget read as a litany of badly cracked or broken election promises: cuts in social assistance for single parents, freezing subsidized child care cases, cuts to family disputes, surcharges on the use of Legal Aid, no women chairs of the 10 regional health boards, restructuring health care or laying off workers, and this is a--

Madam Speaker: Order, please. Could I please request that the honourable member for Osborne pose her question now.

Ms. McGifford: I want to ask the Premier how he justifies the deleterious consequences of his government's policies and actions on the economic and social status of women.

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, for the edification of the member for Osborne who joined the sinking ship in 1995, the fact of the matter is that for most of the decade of the '80s when her party was in office, they tripled the net provincial debt. They quadrupled the amount of money that is spent on interest on the debt. As a result of that, we have $600 million that is being spent on interest on the debt--most of it accumulated by the Pawley government--that we could and should be spending on programs and supports for people such as she speaks about but is not there thanks to the philosophies and the priorities of the New Democratic Party.

Report Request

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Madam Speaker, since the Premier has not answered this question, I want to ask him if he will ask his Human Resources Committee of cabinet to prepare analysis on women's poverty and report back to the House.

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, as we have said on numerous occasions, the best response to issues of poverty is job creation, economic development and opportunity. Last year we added 10,000 jobs in this province, one of the best records in Canada. We continue to have investment increases, $4 billion last year of capital investment in Manitoba, one of the highest increases of any province in Canada. We continue to have new announcements of additional capital investment, additional job opportunities being announced virtually every month in this province as a result of the fact that we are creating a climate that is attractive to investment, attractive to economic opportunities, that will therefore also benefit those women who need to have an improvement in their economic status.

Western Premiers' Conference

Ms. Diane McGifford (Osborne): Who, indeed, Madam Speaker--real full-time jobs. Since I understand that next week the Premier will attend the Western Premiers' Conference, will he commit to raise women's poverty, which is once again increasing, with his colleagues at the conference?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): One of the things that I always commit to do when I go to Western Premiers' Conferences or annual Premiers' Conferences is to deal with all of the issues that are of concern to the people of this province, that are of concern to the people of Canada. We do that because we believe that there are issues of concern to all Manitobans, and whether those issues are child poverty or whether those issues are the status of women in our society or whether those issues are general economic trends, national unity or anything else, I will speak out strongly on behalf of all Manitobans.

BFI Landfill Site

Cancellation

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

The city of Winnipeg and the capital region do not require another landfill site. This has, in fact, been pointed out through the Clean Environment Commission which has called upon this government to show some leadership in resolving this particular issue. The City of Winnipeg circulated material and asked for citizens of this city to return to the city--

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I am experiencing great difficulty hearing the question that the honourable member for Inkster is posing.

Mr. Lamoureux: Over 16,000 residents in the city of Winnipeg have asked this Premier, in particular 600 from his own riding of Tuxedo, to kill the BFI deal and retract the licence. Will the Premier make that commitment today?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, I note from a very quick review of the issues that were raised in the appeal that I understand was delivered this morning by a representative of the City of Winnipeg, an appeal to an environment licence that has been issued as a result of extensive review by the Clean Environment Commission of all of the various matters of substance that were presented to it by everybody including representatives of the City of Winnipeg, environmentalists and other groups in society, that there is only one of the issues that they raise which is an environmental issue, that principally their concern is a loss of revenue, a loss of revenue that manifests itself because the city has chosen to raise rates beyond those which are justifiable or competitive in order for people to access landfills in this city.

It is no different than their recent bleating about the fact that they had to pay a lot of money to convince a company, Schneider's, who had decided to locate in Manitoba, that they ought to locate in the city of Winnipeg, and so they had to pay them a significant amount of money because their sewer and water rates were not competitive with other jurisdictions and their property taxes were not competitive with other jurisdictions. So, instead, they then had to take taxpayers' money to then give to this company to locate here to overcome those disincentives that they have created by their own economic decisions. This is no different than that. On the other hand, I know that the minister will be very interested in reviewing the application that has been put before him and the appeal to see whether or not there is any substance upon which he can make his decision.

Mr. Lamoureux: I take it from the answer from the Premier that he does not support Schneider's coming to the city of Winnipeg, and that is fine from his perspective.

My question to the Premier is fairly simple and straightforward. BFI is proposing to build a landfill site north of the city of Winnipeg; CEC has suggested that this government should show some leadership, and that is what we are asking the government to do. Will the Premier acknowledge that the city of Winnipeg and the capital region do not require another landfill site to service this area?

Mr. Filmon: Not only do I support Schneider's coming to this province, but it is in fact as a result of the policies and decisions of this government that Schneider's have come to Manitoba. If he needs any further support to that, he can read the press release that Schneider's put out in which they acknowledged the policies of this government as being instrumental in attracting them here.

With respect to the BFI decision that has been the subject of an extensive review by the Clean Environment Commission, hearing dozens of presentations, receiving many written analyses and obviously a great deal of technical and other environmental information that went to the decision, we will review the appeal that has been put forward. But I say this, that the Clean Environment Commission has done a thorough analysis and has made its recommendation. This is not something that should be dealt with lightly based on economic concerns of people such as the member for Inkster.

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Mr. Lamoureux: I would ask the Premier what impact he believes this irresponsible, lack-of-leadership government decision to allow BFI to put this landfill site north of Winnipeg is going to have on the relationship between the City of Winnipeg and the provincial government when you cannot even sit down with the city and the capital region to resolve this particular issue? What impact is this going to have on your relations with the City of Winnipeg?

Mr. Filmon: We are willing to sit down with the City of Winnipeg at any time, but when all they want is for us to give them more money, when all they want is for us to enable them to raise more money and not take a look at their responsibility to live within their means and to address their own expenditures--and that is the kind of thing that the member opposite supports. Well, he can support that all he wants, and he will be in opposition for a long time if he supports irresponsible spending and irresponsible economics.

Urban Aboriginal Strategy

Status Report

Mr. Eric Robinson (Rupertsland): My question too is for the First Minister.

The Postl report and also the profile of Manitoba's aboriginal population that was done by the Department of Northern Affairs reaffirmed something we knew already, the dire social conditions that aboriginal people in this city and this province are faced with. I would like to read in part what it says on poverty about aboriginal people: Over half of registered Indian families living on Manitoba's reserves live in poverty. In Winnipeg alone in the inner city, seven out of 10 aboriginal households live in poverty.

We have heard for the last eight years now about an urban aboriginal strategy to address this and other issues. I would like to ask the First Minister what action his government is doing on the status on the initiative of an urban aboriginal strategy.

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): With due respect, the quote that he refers to refers to aboriginals living on reserve, and the fact of the matter is that is the sole constitutional responsibility of the federal government. We have argued in the past that in circumstances, for instance, in which the federal government used to have responsibility for transfer of funds to the provincial government to cost-share social costs of aboriginals who moved off reserve and moved into the urban areas--they pulled out of it.

It is costing us $23 million a year that we have lost as a result of the federal government's withdrawal from support for aboriginals living off reserve. I would ask that he support us in our efforts to try and convince the federal government that this is not the way to go, that they are not doing their responsibility constitutionally either for aboriginals who are living on reserve or for aboriginals who are living off reserve.

Mr. Robinson: Madam Speaker, certainly the Premier will have my support, but on the other hand, this government must commit itself to establishing a partnership with both First Nations and the federal government to develop a dialogue and a realistic approach in addressing these long-standing issues. I would like to ask this Premier whether or not he will commit his government to pursue this initiative.

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, absolutely. That is why this government, as a first ever in this province--was not done by members opposite when they were in government--have entered into agreements that allow the First Nations of this province to collect and keep the taxes that they generate in gasoline and cigarettes and, in fact, entered into an agreement that is turning over almost $30 million to the First Nations of this province for back taxes that were collected that we are now turning back to them.

This province has entered into gaming agreements with First Nations that are providing millions of dollars of additional revenue that they never had before directly to the bands who have entered into gaming agreements with us. This government has been in the process of settling long-standing issues with respect to northern flooding, turning over hundreds of millions of dollars directly to the aboriginals in the First Nations of this province, giving them an economic base and security that they have never had before. This government will continue to work co-operatively with everybody in this province, including our First Nations, to ensure that we operate fairly and that we address the issues that face them.

Education System

Funding Formula

Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, in a classroom of 30 students in the inner city of Winnipeg, 25 of those students would come from homes where poverty is deep and where the parents are unemployed. It means the children are hungry, their attention span is limited, their physical health is poor and hope is a very scarce commodity.

I want to ask the Minister of Education to tell the House why she knowingly chose to take away $75 of grant support from every one of those children in order to add $230 worth of support to every child in the private, exclusive schools of Manitoba.

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I think the member knows that what she said is incorrectly put, to put it mildly. The member knows that we have over the course of our time in government increased funding to education from $660 million to $745 million, that we have put in the Children and Youth Secretariat that is seeing money being directed from Health into Education to deal with certain kinds of special needs. The member knows as well that we have a massive transfer cut from Ottawa and we have the interest on the debt, which the equivalent cut in education is equivalent to about seven days worth of interest on the debt that her party left us.

The member also knows that the agreement we have entered into with the independent schools saves the taxpayers of this province some $8 million a year, and I do not think that she would want us to have to take another $8 million out of the system away from those very students. While she does obviously want us to do that, that seems to be contradictive to her question.

Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, would the minister recognize that, because in 1995 the unemployment rates for parents of children in inner-city schools have increased in amounts ranging from 4 percent to 7 percent, whatever jobs the Premier is talking about are not going to the inner city, that we have a serious deteriorating situation? Will she table any plan that she has prepared to deal with what is a tragic situation facing those parents, those children and those teachers?

Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, every division has trustees, and I would like to indicate that one of the biggest problems trustees have identified, the biggest problem bar none, is the escalating cost of wages in their school divisions.

The member is fully aware it is a people industry, the cost of wages should be the biggest expense, but it has become far bigger than trustees have been able to manage. It has been said, and I have not done the calculation, that if the average teacher's salary of $51,000 were, in fact, $50,000, that 2 percent would be eradicated. Boards and teachers together can choose to negotiate as to what their wage increases will be. Boards and teachers together have come to settlements. We have been recently talking about trying to assist the boards in having their ability to pay at least considered as one of the arguments that is allowed to be heard in front of an arbitrator. I believe the member has that document; there is no need to table it.

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Education System

Child Poverty

Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education.

There is a strong and clearly proven association between a student's standard of living and their level of academic achievement. We know more and more schools are forced to provide the basic needs for their students, evidenced by Kelvin High School's food bank.

Will the minister admit that the failure of her government's social policies, as reflected in the child poverty rate, is the major reason for this new role for our educational system?

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, the member draws erroneous conclusions from her observations.

I would indicate that we are extremely concerned about situations where children, students of all ages, require assistance over and above the actual learning experience. The Department of Education is mandated to provide education and through the years, particularly when the members opposite were in government, that was the only role of the Department of Education.

We have been seeing things come into the schools to assist in ways that were never there to assist when the opposition was government and we have done something more: We have started to look at the child as a whole child that should not be chopped up into little pieces and dealt with by this department, this department, this department, 15 caseworkers, et cetera. So we now have the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health, the Department of Family Services coming together to co-ordinate activities so the situation she identified that they never addressed we can now address and are beginning to address, Madam Speaker.

Standards Tests

Ms. MaryAnn Mihychuk (St. James): Madam Speaker, my supplementary question to the Minister of Education: She is talking about the whole child, and I ask her, will she assure this House that when her department's standards tests are reported, they will provide indicators on nutrition, health, shelter conditions as well as academic indicators to provide the true assessment of the whole child?

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, in attempting to prepare the whole child for a society, that child upon graduation, now an adult, has to go out into the world and be judged according to the world's standards, and we do no whole child a favour if we bring all standards down rather than try to raise the child up.

We will be working with additional incentives in the schools, with additional help in the schools to ensure that children are able to be lifted up, and we think that is important. The assessments will provide profiles on each child for each family and for each teacher, so that teachers will be able to use those tools of assessment as diagnostic tools to help them move the child on to the next stage of learning, knowing in their analysis that the child has a solid foundation and a proper prerequisite for the next level of learning. We think that is very important for the child.

Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation

Audit Committee

Mr. Jim Maloway (Elmwood): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Premier and concerns the audit committee at the MPIC and his role in loading it with former Tory candidates and a business associate. On June 14, 1991, Mr. Peter Wintemute, a long-time business associate of the Premier, was appointed by him and the minister to the board of directors of MPIC where he served as chairman of the audit committee plus on the board's executive.

I would like to ask the Premier, what role did Mr. Wintemute play in the determination of the provision for outstanding tort losses as of March 1, 1994, and what was the amount of the provisions for losses as of that date?

Hon. Gary Filmon (Premier): Madam Speaker, my understanding is that all of the decisions that have been made were in accordance with the recommendations of the actuaries, and those decisions were simply taken by the board and translated into information that was presented to the Public Utilities Board. I have no information that anything else was done.

Mr. Maloway: I would like to ask the First Minister, when did Mr. Wintemute and other audit committee members learn of the extent of the losses? When did they do that?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, I have no information on that. I suggest the member ask that at committee when MPIC is being reviewed.

Mr. Maloway: My final question to the Premier is this: What role did Mr. Wintemute and the audit committee play in preparing the corporation's submission to the Public Utilities Board three months later on June 10, 1994, asking for rate reductions in time for the 1995 election?

Mr. Filmon: Madam Speaker, I think that would be an excellent question to ask the MPIC executive and the minister responsible when they go to committee.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.